Short Review:
Good set of fractional plates for microloading.
Fits just right on 2″ Olympic Barbells and works as intended for what you need to use it for.
Detailed Review:
Decently priced compared to other brands.
Arrived in a box and wrapped in ziploc bags as can be seen in one of the pics.
Each one is painted differently per weight and looks like a decent layer of paint.
Good texture also.
Weight of each plate is stamped into each one on one side only.
I somehow managed to hurt my left hip by the end of my training using the Mad Cow Intermediate 5×5 program.
This left me with a left hip that has been bothering me for over a year.
Some mobility work and time off helped but my left hip hasn’t been the same since.
By this time I have been using Rehband knee sleeves and read up on their warm pants.
After a long time debating, I ended up buying these and they have been great!
Just like the Elbow and Knee sleeves, they are made of neoprene material.
(So definitely will make you sweat and washing them is a must!)
They definitely help provide adequate amount of warmth in the groin, hip, thigh and butt areas.
They also provide some, but not much, compression in the areas.
I HIGHLY suggest wearing a “wicking” type underwear due to the amount of sweat you will be creating.
Wearing these, they “May” provide a very small “Bounce” at the bottom of the squat.
Probably more noticeable if you choose a much smaller size.
The only Con I would note about this is that a part of the seams somehow unraveled and I had to resew them together.
I don’t know how they compare to the newer version but I do wish they came in black.
At one point since I started lifting I managed to have some knee and elbow issues.
After researching on how to reduce this issues I somehow stumbled upon elbow and knee sleeves.
A brand that stood out among the rest is the Rehband brand for sleeves.
Since I have used them for a couple years now I agree with the many reviews about them.
There are other brands that can be bought (Tommy Kono, Vulcan, etc.) but I have not any experience with them.
I have been using my Rehband sleeves for a few years now and they seem like they will last a few more years longer!
I believe that these sleeves helped keep my joints warm and helped with doing the movements I needed to do for my training session for the day.
Rehband Elbow Sleeves:
When my elbows started acting up this is one of the sleeves I tried.
This provided a nice amount of warmth without adding any support for your elbows.
I like using these when I am doing upper body work or during any movements that would cause some strain on my elbows.
This is definitely something I would highly suggest for those than want an elbow sleeve that provides good warmth without any support added.
They are made of neoprene so they will make your joints sweaty as well and suggest washing them every now and then.
Inzer Elbow Sleeves XT:
This was the first elbow sleeve I bought before getting the Rehband ones.
The main difference I noticed when I got these is that the Inzer does not provide as much warmth as the Rehband ones.
BUT they do add some additional support.
I guess this could help when you need that extra bounce at the bottom of the bench press.
But I didn’t want any support for the sleeves and just wanted the warmth so I ended up returning these and got the Rehband instead.
They are made partly from wraps so that may be the reason they do not provide as much warmth as neoprene sleeves.
Rehband Knee Sleeves:
This knee sleeve is the first I bought before getting the elbow sleeves months later.
Whenever I do any lower body work I always put these on!
Just like the Rehband Elbow sleeves, these provide a great amount of warmth to the joints without adding much support.
I have never worked with knee wraps, yet, so cannot currently say the difference of using knee sleeves versus knee wraps.
I did read that for max attempt squats would be the good time to use knee wraps.
But for general use, knee sleeves are better.
They are also made of neoprene and just liek teh elbow sleeves, will make your joints sweaty and highly suggest washing them every now and then!
There will come a time when you start reaching a plateau and you need to be creative to get pass it. One of the ways to do this is microloading.
Sometimes progressing your weights by 5 lbs can be too much at certain times but most places only have 2.5 lbs as their smallest plates (2.5 x 2 = 5 lbs duh). So we do some microloading to surpass plateaus with even smaller weight progression than 5 lbs.
In order to do some microloading we need to get ourselves some Fractional Plates. There are many ways to get one. There are commercial versions and then the homemade versions.
Going to show below how to get a cheap version by using steel washers which is what I use. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the useful tools that I discovered to be extremely helpful in my lifts is the camera. Filming yourself doing your lifts can be helpful so you can see what are the things you are doing wrong or right and improve upon it.
There are times when I thought my form was good and after viewing a recording of myself doing the lift I noticed how horrible my form and technique was. Then of course there are also some days when I thought my form was awful and it ended up being one of my better lifts! So it is a good tool to have, specially if you train by yourself like I do. You can review your lifts and see what worked and what needs to be fixed.
What I have been using is my old smartphone. At this time it is my old Samsung i910.
When I first discovered some issues with my squats and other lifts I was looking for a way to fix it. One of the things that kept popping up was the use of a foam roller. I didn’t understand at first what using a foam roller can do to help on my lifts. I then read up more about it and found out about Self-Myofascial Release.
After reading more about SMR and Foam Rollers I then decided to buy one and try it out. I decided to get the Foam Roller Plus by Perform Better. It is basically a PVC pipe with some foam wrapped around it and a fabric bag to cover it all. I tried some of the other types of foam rollers at the PT department of my nursing facility and at the gym I used to go to. The ones without a PVC pipe in the middle would just flatten under my weight and I can see become useless after a few months of use. So those types are not for me and and my plan of owning it for a long time.
You can even make your own foam roller and there are tons of instructions on “How to make a foam roller” on the internet just by googling it.
When I 1st started lifting again back in 2008 I did not use a belt. This is when I started a basic program I found online then switched to Stronglifts 5×5,which I stumbled upon while trying to understand Starting Strength by Mark Rippletoe.
I was lifting for a few months then stopped for ~1.5 years and then hit it hard again back in 2010. I hit it hard with renewed fervor and was so against using a belt for my lifts for such a long time. Read the rest of this entry »
