I’ve found the bodyweight skullcrushers a tad hard on the elbows…any substitutions?
[quote]Jamesliftsheavy wrote:
I’ve found the bodyweight skullcrushers a tad hard on the elbows…any substitutions?[/quote]
Diamond push-ups with the elbows tucked to your side
Christian, I’m just curious of what you think of Bertil Fox’s technique on these. It seems to be pretty fast-twitch oriented.
[quote]MytchBucanan wrote:
Christian, I’m just curious of what you think of Bertil Fox’s technique on these. It seems to be pretty fast-twitch oriented.
Bertil was one of those guys who basically did everything wrong, horrible, horrible lifting form. Amazing genetics and maybe something else… I wouldn’t recommend anything he is doing form-wise.
Yeah I can see your point. I don’t get why he pulls them so high up and behind his head. But the stretch overload at the reversal (bottom) looks huge.
[quote]MytchBucanan wrote:
Yeah I can see your point. I don’t get why he pulls them so high up and behind his head. But the stretch overload at the reversal (bottom) looks huge. [/quote]
It’s just a dumb move, let’s not try to rationalize it. Some people do get huge by accident because of factors other than training. There are not that many, but he is one of them. End of discussion.
@ CT:
So last night on the negatives I went sets of 5 instead of 3. Totally forgot and basically went all out to failure. (I’m in Beast Mode what can I say.)
My besides the fact that my arms are sore as hell…my right bicep was really weird looking and had a square peak and bulged in a strange way…thinking this is just inflamation. It’s better looking today. I was thinking to let it recover a couple days before hitting them again.
[quote]brandon76 wrote:
@ CT:
So last night on the negatives I went sets of 5 instead of 3. Totally forgot and basically went all out to failure. (I’m in Beast Mode what can I say.)
My besides the fact that my arms are sore as hell…my right bicep was really weird looking and had a square peak and bulged in a strange way…thinking this is just inflamation. It’s better looking today. I was thinking to let it recover a couple days before hitting them again. [/quote]
Hence why you should do as recommended 
Yeah, that is likely just inflammation and oedema, I wouldn’t worry about it.
brandon, don’t listen to CT – keep hammering it till you perfect the square biceps. It won’t be weird at all.
@ matterofdark:
Will keep that not in mind. lol
I do have a feeling these steps are going to bring some good results though. Pics will be posted after the reactive pump program ends, so you all have 3 months to sit on the edge of your seat.
Have now done CT’s Triceps program 5 days in a row. Tired on 3rd day, weak on 4th day and yesterday the 5th day I was strong as could be. Great pump too. Triceps looked like a ham hanging off my arm after the session. Elbows feel great too.
@ CT:
So in regards to muscle imbalances, my left (weaker side arm) curl is weaker by about 4 reps. I hit muscle total failure faster on this arm. I’ve been training the other side equal to the amount of work performed on the left side. Adding in extra sets on the weak side.
Here is the thing: My left bicep seems fuller than the right, pumped or unpumped…but a slight difference, hard to really notice. The problem is the left arm is still weaker than the right.
This may be due to other muscles taking over i.e. the shoulder.
So whats the recommendation? Stop the extra volume on the the left side and work the right now full reps? Then equal the work out later?
[quote]brandon76 wrote:
@ CT:
So in regards to muscle imbalances, my left (weaker side arm) curl is weaker by about 4 reps. I hit muscle total failure faster on this arm. I’ve been training the other side equal to the amount of work performed on the left side. Adding in extra sets on the weak side.
Here is the thing: My left bicep seems fuller than the right, pumped or unpumped…but a slight difference, hard to really notice. The problem is the left arm is still weaker than the right.
This may be due to other muscles taking over i.e. the shoulder.
So whats the recommendation? Stop the extra volume on the the left side and work the right now full reps? Then equal the work out later? [/quote]
That’s not uncommon… often what happens when you have a weaker side is that you actually have to recruit more muscle fibers to do the job because you are inefficient… basically the weaker muscle must work harder because it is less coordinated… as a result it gets bigger while still having a strength lag.
Actually the thing is that if you want to solve the issue you need to improve the coordination of the weaker side. I’d train both arms the same, not extra work for the weak side.
But there are two things you can add:
-
Dexterity/coordination work for the weaker side… juggling two balls with the weaker hand would be an example
-
Isometric curling of the weaker arm… for example set up the safety pins in the power rack so that it’s about sternum-high and try to curl it with the weaker side.
I came across a new technique for curling. I have adjustable dumbbells and train my biceps at home mostly. I notice when I put more weight on the outside (thumb side) of the dumbbell I got a much bigger biceps contraction and pump. I do incline dumbbell curls and supinate as I come up. I put two ten lb plates on the outside (top if hammer curl) and one on the other.
It’s strange because the extra weight on the outside seems to aid in the supination. So I start like a hammer curl on the bottom with the extra weight on top and then supinate as I curl up. My form has been very strict and the pump and mind-muscle link has been huge because of this.
[quote]MytchBucanan wrote:
I came across a new technique for curling. I have adjustable dumbbells and train my biceps at home mostly. I notice when I put more weight on the outside (thumb side) of the dumbbell I got a much bigger biceps contraction and pump. I do incline dumbbell curls and supinate as I come up. I put two ten lb plates on the outside (top if hammer curl) and one on the other.
It’s strange because the extra weight on the outside seems to aid in the supination. So I start like a hammer curl on the bottom with the extra weight on top and then supinate as I curl up. My form has been very strict and the pump and mind-muscle link has been huge because of this.[/quote]
What you are doing actually is, by using the thumb side DB weight more, you are involving the bracialis along with biceps brachii to a larger extent. Bracialis is just the muscle underneath biceps and hitting it adds to the peak of the biceps. We hit bracialis with the closer grip preacher curl,hammer curl and the reverse curl and while doing the standard DB curl by 2 ways:
1.as u said , using the thumb side DB weight more.
2.holding the dumbbell , not in the middle but gripping it towards the pinky finger side more.
Try this new type of DB curling just with a change in grip placement, the feels is different and awesome.
Merry Christmas…HO HO HO!!
@ CT:
Happy New Year buddy. Quick follow up on the Arms Stages you prescribed. It worked nicely. Avatar proof.
Thanks for the help as always.
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