Brotherhood of Iron 2.0

Training Bodybuilding
2801

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
josh86 wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
hungry4more wrote:
Josh, I say try BB bench,

One session ain’t gonna hurt you.

Ha!

Ya really, it only takes 1 session to tear a pec. But I don’t think I’m at a high risk for that. I bench elbows tucked and control the eccentric, touch the chest, then go. No bouncing or sloppiness. But who knows how good my form would be on the third miniset of the triple RP…haha

If you have to RP it, then go with 15-30 or better: 20-30RP.
[/quote]

I don’t “have” to…but I definitely have like fallen in love with triple RP. If I can do it, I want to. I RP almost everything now, except quads, calves and back thickness (which I would RP if I was using a chest-supported row).

Anyway as my upper chest is lagging compared to the lower/mid chest I think I will probably go HS Incline and Smith Low Inclines and see how that works out.

2802

[quote]josh86 wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
alright so im having a problem.

my DB flat bench is stalling.

for the 2nd week in a row i havent busted any new reps on any set.

heres how its looking

100 lbs
x7/x5/x3

85 pounds
x6

my DB incline has been slacking too

75 lbs

x7/x5/x5/x4

and my BB decline has been progressing slightly

today was

175x8/x8/x8 145x7

yea its light weight on a decline but its after 2 other chest workouts so im pretty beat.

AAAAAAAAnyway, i was thinking of dropping the DB flat bench and switching it out for HS horizontal bench press.

or maybe ill switch back down to the 95s til i can hit 8 reps on 3 sets.

any other suggestions?

Erm, maybe start doing less work-sets so that you don’t slow your strength gain down so much?
(seriously)
Or at least use a barbell for a while…

do you mean less work sets total or less work sets for DB press?

Less work sets total…the more work sets you are doing the harder it is to progress for strength[/quote]… when using 5+ reps. When doing singles up to triples, this effect reverses itself (more sets needed for better progression, but that’s PLing). Also: Less work sets total means do 1-2 work sets (if you do 2 work sets: Do them at different rep-ranges/weights… Like one heavy and one less heavy=4-6 or 6-8 coupled with another 8-12 or so.) for each exercise… Either ramp up the weight on all of them or do it like Yates and ramp up on the first big exercise for each bodypart and then do 1 (at most 2) warm-ups for successive exercises.
Might be worth watching a few BB DVD’s… Yates’ stuff, Ronnie, McGrath…
[/quote]. The BB thing was suggesting to maybe try doing BB bench instead of DB bench for a while then go back to DB’s when you stall on that and you will smash your previous PRs. [/quote] Not just for a while but to the point of stagnation or near stagnation on the BB exercise. Then switch back and repeat.

This of course just me pretending to be C_C. But I’m 99% sure this is what he was getting at.[/quote]

Sure that your imagination is big enough for me to fit into it? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Kidding, pretty good. (which is neat because I’m not going to be able to post much in the near-future and you can just answer if anyone wants to know my opinion ;P)

2803

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
josh86 wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
alright so im having a problem.

my DB flat bench is stalling.

for the 2nd week in a row i havent busted any new reps on any set.

heres how its looking

100 lbs
x7/x5/x3

85 pounds
x6

my DB incline has been slacking too

75 lbs

x7/x5/x5/x4

and my BB decline has been progressing slightly

today was

175x8/x8/x8 145x7

yea its light weight on a decline but its after 2 other chest workouts so im pretty beat.

AAAAAAAAnyway, i was thinking of dropping the DB flat bench and switching it out for HS horizontal bench press.

or maybe ill switch back down to the 95s til i can hit 8 reps on 3 sets.

any other suggestions?

Erm, maybe start doing less work-sets so that you don’t slow your strength gain down so much?
(seriously)
Or at least use a barbell for a while…

do you mean less work sets total or less work sets for DB press?

Less work sets total…the more work sets you are doing the harder it is to progress for strength… when using 5+ reps. When doing singles up to triples, this effect reverses itself (more sets needed for better progression, but that’s PLing). Also: Less work sets total means do 1-2 work sets (if you do 2 work sets: Do them at different rep-ranges/weights… Like one heavy and one less heavy=4-6 or 6-8 coupled with another 8-12 or so.) for each exercise… Either ramp up the weight on all of them or do it like Yates and ramp up on the first big exercise for each bodypart and then do 1 (at most 2) warm-ups for successive exercises.
Might be worth watching a few BB DVD’s… Yates’ stuff, Ronnie, McGrath…[/quote]

Yeah I didn’t figure I needed to point out that more sets are needed when working in the 1-3 range. From what I know live isn’t tryin to be a Powerlifter. =P

[quote]
. The BB thing was suggesting to maybe try doing BB bench instead of DB bench for a while then go back to DB’s when you stall on that and you will smash your previous PRs. Not just for a while but to the point of stagnation or near stagnation on the BB exercise. Then switch back and repeat.[/quote]
Yeah this is exactly what I meant. I said “when you stall” geeez! :wink:

[quote]
This of course just me pretending to be C_C. But I’m 99% sure this is what he was getting at.

Sure that your imagination is big enough for me to fit into it? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Kidding, pretty good. (which is neat because I’m not going to be able to post much in the near-future and you can just answer if anyone wants to know my opinion ;P)[/quote]

Yeah that part sucks, I’m going to miss you C_C. no homo Where am I going to go when I need advice?? lol

2804

[quote]josh86 wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
josh86 wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
alright so im having a problem.

my DB flat bench is stalling.

for the 2nd week in a row i havent busted any new reps on any set.

heres how its looking

100 lbs
x7/x5/x3

85 pounds
x6

my DB incline has been slacking too

75 lbs

x7/x5/x5/x4

and my BB decline has been progressing slightly

today was

175x8/x8/x8 145x7

yea its light weight on a decline but its after 2 other chest workouts so im pretty beat.

AAAAAAAAnyway, i was thinking of dropping the DB flat bench and switching it out for HS horizontal bench press.

or maybe ill switch back down to the 95s til i can hit 8 reps on 3 sets.

any other suggestions?

Erm, maybe start doing less work-sets so that you don’t slow your strength gain down so much?
(seriously)
Or at least use a barbell for a while…

do you mean less work sets total or less work sets for DB press?

Less work sets total…the more work sets you are doing the harder it is to progress for strength… when using 5+ reps. When doing singles up to triples, this effect reverses itself (more sets needed for better progression, but that’s PLing). Also: Less work sets total means do 1-2 work sets (if you do 2 work sets: Do them at different rep-ranges/weights… Like one heavy and one less heavy=4-6 or 6-8 coupled with another 8-12 or so.) for each exercise… Either ramp up the weight on all of them or do it like Yates and ramp up on the first big exercise for each bodypart and then do 1 (at most 2) warm-ups for successive exercises.
Might be worth watching a few BB DVD’s… Yates’ stuff, Ronnie, McGrath…

Yeah I didn’t figure I needed to point out that more sets are needed when working in the 1-3 range. From what I know live isn’t tryin to be a Powerlifter. =P

. The BB thing was suggesting to maybe try doing BB bench instead of DB bench for a while then go back to DB’s when you stall on that and you will smash your previous PRs. Not just for a while but to the point of stagnation or near stagnation on the BB exercise. Then switch back and repeat.
Yeah this is exactly what I meant. I said “when you stall” geeez! :wink:
[/quote] Sry, I overlooked that part (you can tell that I’m stressed out lately :wink: I even vastly restricted my posting in all those idiotic new threads we have… [quote]

This of course just me pretending to be C_C. But I’m 99% sure this is what he was getting at.

Sure that your imagination is big enough for me to fit into it? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Kidding, pretty good. (which is neat because I’m not going to be able to post much in the near-future and you can just answer if anyone wants to know my opinion ;P)

Yeah that part sucks, I’m going to miss you C_C. no homo Where am I going to go when I need advice?? lol
[/quote]

You may direct your brotherly love at Sentoguy and ScottM.

2805

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Sry, I overlooked that part (you can tell that I’m stressed out lately :wink: I even vastly restricted my posting in all those idiotic new threads we have…

You may direct your brotherly love at Sentoguy and ScottM.
[/quote]

No problem man, just givin ya a hard time…though its probably not good timing for that now that I think bout it. lol

Good idea, with any luck I wont need any questions answered for a while though.

Side note: If you noticed this week I switched to leg press for my quad exercise so I can put rack pulls w/ shrug on my back day for a while. Looking forward to tomorrow’s back session. Really really wish I had someone to put DBs on my lap for me to do Rack Chins though…I can only keep adding external weight to the lat pulldown stack for so long. lol

2806

Just wanted to post a pic of the winter wonderland that is my home state. Who needs sun and warm weather when you have cold and snow plows!

2807

[quote]josh86 wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Sry, I overlooked that part (you can tell that I’m stressed out lately :wink: I even vastly restricted my posting in all those idiotic new threads we have…

You may direct your brotherly love at Sentoguy and ScottM.

No problem man, just givin ya a hard time…though its probably not good timing for that now that I think bout it. lol

Good idea, with any luck I wont need any questions answered for a while though.

Side note: If you noticed this week I switched to leg press for my quad exercise so I can put rack pulls w/ shrug on my back day for a while. Looking forward to tomorrow’s back session. Really really wish I had someone to put DBs on my lap for me to do Rack Chins though…I can only keep adding external weight to the lat pulldown stack for so long. lol

[/quote]

Hmmm. Shift workout days so that back day falls on saturday/whenever you train with your girl?

2808

Damn, I’m glad I live in California when I look at that pic…haha

2809

here’s my quick leg workout from today:

Romanian Deadlift
135 x warm-up
225 x10
315 x5/10/12+4

Leg Press
6 plates x12
8 plates x12
10 plates x6+2

Leg Curl (lying)
85 x10
90 x10
95 x7+3+1

Leg Extension (2 sec pause @ top)
“10” x13
“11” x12
“12” x12

10:00 fast walk on treadmill (4.3MPH @ 3.5 incline)

2810

[quote]josh86 wrote:
Damn, I’m glad I live in California when I look at that pic…haha[/quote]

Yeah, even if I wear a pair of injinji socks with my KSOs, it won’t make much of a difference!

2811

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
josh86 wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Sry, I overlooked that part (you can tell that I’m stressed out lately :wink: I even vastly restricted my posting in all those idiotic new threads we have…

You may direct your brotherly love at Sentoguy and ScottM.

No problem man, just givin ya a hard time…though its probably not good timing for that now that I think bout it. lol

Good idea, with any luck I wont need any questions answered for a while though.

Side note: If you noticed this week I switched to leg press for my quad exercise so I can put rack pulls w/ shrug on my back day for a while. Looking forward to tomorrow’s back session. Really really wish I had someone to put DBs on my lap for me to do Rack Chins though…I can only keep adding external weight to the lat pulldown stack for so long. lol

Hmmm. Shift workout days so that back day falls on saturday/whenever you train with your girl?
[/quote]

Yeah I’ve thought about that…but the only problem is that I really do not like lifting on the weekend. I never feel as strong. My sleep and eating is not as routine as it is Monday-Friday and it causes me to feel crappy or just not as strong if I lift on the weekend. That’s why I stopped training on Saturdays and just do abs/calves/cardio and train her.

Damn I’m a pain in the ass…lol

Anyway I’ll figure something out, I figure I can keep adding external wight to the lat pulldown for at least another 2 months give or take. Then it’ll be time to really decide what to do next.

2812

I’m working on intensifying my sets now, and I did (semi-wide stance) leg presses today. Shoulder still not 100% functional, so it was only leg presses.

First a heavy set of 500lbs x 8, (a little lighter) but way deeper than last time. Then a lighter set of 270lbs x 25.
That was quite a humbling experience. I couldn’t get my shoes on for 10 minutes, and I had serious trouble standing up for a few minutes.
My neck and skull still hurts from those sets, I gotta work on not tightening up my neck on those last, most brutal reps.

I’ve been walking a lot lately so I didnt feel like working out calves heavily. Therefore I decided to test out the incline threadmill calf-training walking stuff in the “Random thoughts by dante again”-thread at IM. It worked well, and it made my calves burn like hell. Definitely gonna use these for some of my cardio when I take the DC-plunge in 0,5-1 year. I’ll use them sporadically before then too, as they’re not as boring as normal cardio :stuck_out_tongue:

2813

today was absolutely bullshit.

i think i may set my standards too high or something, because i expect to increase at least 1 rep on my heavy sets each week, but idk.

either way, today was back day

i go to do deadlifts, last week i hit 405x4 on my first then 385x3 on my second.

i go in today hit 405x4, with better form. but could only do 385x2 or something. when i cant break my old numbers im bummed out and it throws me off. when i LOSE numbers i get fucking pissed and want to leave.

so i did my Cybex rows which ive been increasing by 1 weight stack each week while keeping the reps 7-8 for all 3 sets and of course this week i did the same, so i was happy.

then i was going to leave but decided to try out facepulls. IMO, they suck.

then i went over to the HammerStrength seated shoulder press, i was like, ok just for shits and giggles lets see where my shoulders are since i havent trained them directly for about 2 months. i go over and do more reps than i did last time i did them with the same weight, go figure.

but anyway, WTF IS WRONG WITH MY DL?? should i just give it a go again next week and see if i improve or should i just say fuck it and find a new back exercise?

my stalling is getting me very frustrated.

it dont think my problem is food either since im estimating at 300 grams of protein a day and 5-7k cals

2814

Don’t worry Live, get it next week. If you don’t, then maybe it’s time to change shit up a little.

Had a solid chest session.

Decline bench

135lbs x 15
185lbs x 10
225lbs x 10
275lbs x 6
315lbs x 7 (PR baby)

Incline DB bench

70’s x 10
90’s x 8
115’s x 9 (10 with a little spot help but I’m not counting it… PR regardless)

Pec deck

90lbs x 12
110lbs x 10
130lbs x 12 + 6 + 5

attempted chest stretch, but I felt a little pinch in my pec so I stopped. Felt similar to the pain/pressure from weeks… need to watch this carefully. It better not slow me down. I wanna be taking 315 to the bank for 10 ASAP.

Seated calf work, 20 minute walk home. Me hungry.

2815

Increasing weight or reps every week is a bit harder IMO when you are in the lower reps. I train most of my lifts where the first miniset hits about 8-10 reps and I am able to jump anywhere from 10-30 lbs every week and still meet/beat the reps of the previous week.

Personally I would change up your rep ranges. If you like hitting it that heavy maybe do one set of heavy 4-6 reps and then a lighter but still heavy set of 8-12 reps. What’s the point in dropping down to 385 lbs and then doing less reps than you do at 405? Is the 385lb pull IMMEDIATELY following the 405? Like with no rest? Pretty much like a drop set?

2816

[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
but anyway, WTF IS WRONG WITH MY DL??[/quote]

DLs are a more CNS-taxing exercise than the others you do on those days… It seems unlikely, but have you tried some of CTs (I believe it was him) tests to see if your CNS is ready to go, or need rest?
But this could be many things, and some wiser people than me would give you better advice on form, changing exercises, etc than I could.

2817

Also Live, if it is truely stalling and time to swap it out…don’t freak out. You can build a big, thick back without deadlifts I promise. I haven’t done a deadlift or rack pull in about 5-6 months and my back width/thickness is still definitely my best feature.

Try some Yates Rows, T-bar Rows (chest-supported or not), HS Rows, Kroc Rows (if you gym has DBs heavy enough, mine doesn’t), Rack Pull + Shrug, etc…

Edit: Also, aren’t you a fairly lean 200+ lbs? Have you considered bumping protein to 400g/day?

2818

live - I would chalk it up to just a shitty day in the gym. You aren’t going to set new PRs and increase the weight/reps every time you step into the gym.

A couple of weeks ago I was really off weight & rep wise while benching. I was pissed. I left the gym in disgust. However, the next time I benched, I was back in my groove. Can’t explain it. Just let it go this time and hit it hard again next time.

2819

[quote]josh86 wrote:
(if you gym has DBs heavy enough, mine doesn’t)[/quote]

Alright, is anyone getting the idea that Josh might be bragging about this a bit? That’s the second time he’s mentioned it today! We get it Josh, yer freakin’ hyooge dude… haha

2820

[quote]dre wrote:
josh86 wrote:
(if you gym has DBs heavy enough, mine doesn’t)

Alright, is anyone getting the idea that Josh might be bragging about this a bit? That’s the second time he’s mentioned it today! We get it Josh, yer freakin’ hyooge dude… haha[/quote]

Lol whatever man. Its nothing to brag about at all, doing Kroc Rows with more than 100 lb DBs is nothing special. That’s pretty light weight for Kroc’s. Commercial gyms DBs stop at 100 lbs fairly commonly from what I’ve seen and if Live can 405x4 deadlift I’m guessing those would not be heavy enough for him. I want a gym with DBs up to 200s! Then I could start doing DB PJR’s again too! lol