Brotherhood of Iron 2.0

Training Bodybuilding
2821

[quote]josh86 wrote:
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

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[/quote]

You could move to Texas and go to metroflex

2822

[quote]dre wrote:
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![/quote]

lol crazy. I wore shorts/sandals/ and a tshirt today in socal. lol!

different parts of the world for sure.

DG

2823

Weaklings. We have had snow and ice all over the place for well over a month, and I wore shorts and a t-shirt today as well.

Too bad you dont grow to be huge by being a little cold resistant.

2824

[quote]josh86 wrote:
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?

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.[/quote]

There are a couple of alternative ways to add resistance to rack chins.

  1. use a weight belt and turn it backwards so that the weight is hanging down below you- obviously the problem with this is that you need to be fairly high off the ground at the bottom so that the weight doesn’t hit the ground. Also a slightly different feel from having the weight on your lap (different center of gravity).

  2. use a weight belt, and have the weight resting in your lap- tough to balance the weight plate/DB though from my experience and it can be rather uncomfortable if it slips off to the side (or worse yet crushes your junk if it goes through the middle as you’re getting into position, ouch).

  3. Put weight in a heavy duty back pack and either wear it like you normally would or turn it around and wear it on your chest- probably the most comfortable option, but you need a good back pack for this (and you look like somewhat of a tool if you wear it on your chest LOL) as you are going to be putting some substantial weight in it and don’t want it falling apart in mid set.

Isn’t there anyone in your gym that you could get to put DB’s in your lap though? No other serious lifters who you would ask for a spot if need be?

2825

Back/Hams

SDLs
135lbsx10
225lbsx8
335lbsx9(grip failed)
315lbsx7
*Wow, I’m more flexible than I thought- these hit the ground on a couple reps.

Lying leg curls
45lbsx10
90lbsx8
115lbsx6
90lbsx8

Yates rows
135lbsx10
205lbsx8
225lbsx8
275lbsx5 crappy reps
245lbsx8

Wide-grip pullups
BWx11,7,6
*I was trying to focus on my lats with these, so they were fairly slow with a stretch at the bottom.

Pinwheel Curls(each arm)
50lbsx8
65lbsx8
*Could have done way more, but my hands hurt and I’m a pussy.

Josh, what do you do for lower back? All I ever see you do is upper back/lat work. Or maybe I’m wrong…

2826

[quote]josh86 wrote:
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?[/quote]

i have no rhyme or reason for it really. other than i probaly couldnt even pick up 405 again after my first set and i figure since its lighter perhaps ill have an easier time gettin some reps up.

i think i overshot switching to 405x reps from 385xreps

i hit 385x5 for two sets and didnt know whether to go up weight or to go up reps or go another set, so i said fuck it and went up weight.

maybe ill go down to 395 and see what i do. wait til i hit 2 sets for 6 reps before i go back to 405.

as far as DLing goes, i dont really want to switch it out. its the only major lift i actually like doing because i use more weight than anyone else at the gym so its definately an ego booster.

with all the pressure from finals and trying to bring up my math grade to a C before schools over and passing the final PLUS having a shitty day at work (only made 14 bucks in 2 hours) the shitty deadlift was more bad shit to dwell on.

but yea i think im dumping to 395 and im gonna update my MP3 too. hearing the same songs over and over again drives me crazy…even if they used to get me pumped up, now they just adgetate.

2827

[quote]josh86 wrote:
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? [/quote]

getting up to 400 would be hard. doesnt mean i cant do it, just gonna cost me more, but i got all this money laying around so might as well use it for something. im already taking 3 gainer shakes of 60Protein a day lol at LEAST but hey gotta do what you gotta do.

2828

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
josh86 wrote:
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?

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.

There are a couple of alternative ways to add resistance to rack chins.

  1. use a weight belt and turn it backwards so that the weight is hanging down below you- obviously the problem with this is that you need to be fairly high off the ground at the bottom so that the weight doesn’t hit the ground. Also a slightly different feel from having the weight on your lap (different center of gravity).

  2. use a weight belt, and have the weight resting in your lap- tough to balance the weight plate/DB though from my experience and it can be rather uncomfortable if it slips off to the side (or worse yet crushes your junk if it goes through the middle as you’re getting into position, ouch).

  3. Put weight in a heavy duty back pack and either wear it like you normally would or turn it around and wear it on your chest- probably the most comfortable option, but you need a good back pack for this (and you look like somewhat of a tool if you wear it on your chest LOL) as you are going to be putting some substantial weight in it and don’t want it falling apart in mid set.

Isn’t there anyone in your gym that you could get to put DB’s in your lap though? No other serious lifters who you would ask for a spot if need be?[/quote]

Thanks Sentoguy, I like option #3 quite a bit. I’ll invest in a good backpack sometime soon so I can start Rack Chins. I don’t give a shit about looking like a “tool” - I already wear Vibram Five Fingers to the gym every day. lol

There are some other serious lifters but they usually aren’t in there when I am or only train there on certain days and train at other gyms on others. The issue is that I am going to be triple RPing them and I don’t want to be a pain in the ass by asking someone to stand there and put the weight on my lap for all 3 mini sets. Even though its really not that long, it is long enough to fuck up someone else’s rest periods and shit.

2829

[quote]Vegg wrote:

Josh, what do you do for lower back? All I ever see you do is upper back/lat work. Or maybe I’m wrong…[/quote]

Ummm well Squats hit my lower back, and I do all of my rowing shit non chest-supported…that hits my lower back. I just switched Hack Squats to Leg Press this week so that I would be able to do Rack Pulls + Shrug, going to go with this for a few months.

I was doing shrugs with 495 like 2 weeks ago and just out of curiosity decided to rack pull it from like right below the knee and was able to do it no problem so, whatever I’ve been doing has been working lol. (Before dropping rack pulls I was barely able to do 495 for 1 very sloppy rep)

2830

[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
josh86 wrote:
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?

getting up to 400 would be hard. doesnt mean i cant do it, just gonna cost me more, but i got all this money laying around so might as well use it for something. im already taking 3 gainer shakes of 60Protein a day lol at LEAST but hey gotta do what you gotta do.[/quote]

Well its just an idea to see if it helps you continue packing on strength/size. Try moving some of your macro nutrients around, swap some carbs throughout the day for protein instead. I seriously eat very very little carbs all day until pre/post workout.

2831

Today’s Chest

HS Incline:

365x7, 3, 1 (11 RP) +1 partial rep

Smith Low Incline:

245x7, 3, 2 (12 RP)

Pec-deck:

220x12, 6, 4 (22 RP)

2832

[quote]Dirty Gerdy wrote:
dre wrote:
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!

lol crazy. I wore shorts/sandals/ and a tshirt today in socal. lol!

different parts of the world for sure.

DG[/quote]

DG, please don’t take offense to what I’m about to say but um, I hate you. ha!

2833

[quote]josh86 wrote:
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

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[/quote]

As the elder statesmen of the brotherhood (old guy), I feel it’s my duty to keep you young bucks in check. Which means busting your balls from time to time.

2834

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

One session ain’t gonna hurt you.

Ha!

[/quote]

Hey aren’t you supposed to be staying away from the interwebz for a while? Jerk.

As a side note, my chest is actually really sore from doing those pushups the other day. Must be because I did them slow…

2835

[quote]josh86 wrote:
Vegg wrote:

Josh, what do you do for lower back? All I ever see you do is upper back/lat work. Or maybe I’m wrong…

Ummm well Squats hit my lower back, and I do all of my rowing shit non chest-supported…that hits my lower back. I just switched Hack Squats to Leg Press this week so that I would be able to do Rack Pulls + Shrug, going to go with this for a few months.

I was doing shrugs with 495 like 2 weeks ago and just out of curiosity decided to rack pull it from like right below the knee and was able to do it no problem so, whatever I’ve been doing has been working lol. (Before dropping rack pulls I was barely able to do 495 for 1 very sloppy rep)[/quote]

To be honest if your deadlifting and squatting you don’t need a whole lot more lower back work imo.

I also do some stiff legged deads and hyperextions or wtf you call em, but I like to try and feel it in my hams .vs. lower back there.

I mean there really isn’t a variety of muscle to train there they kinda only do one thing. lol…unless we are talking lower lat work, then it’s a basic lat movement slightly tweaked to add in a different stretch imo.

DG

2836

Had a final this morning that threw off my eating and I woke up late so I didn’t have a proper breakfast. A bit annoyed but oh well. Prepping some PWO chicken and pasta as we speak.

Wednesday - Back

Rack chins

bw x 10
30lbs x 10
70lbs x 15 + 7 + 3 + partials (25RP)

Lat pulldowns

150lbs x 10
187.5lbs x 10
250lbs x 13 + 5 + 3 (21RP)

Rack pulls+shrug (grip was destroyed on my heavy set and my calluses… gonna start wearing gloves on this set)

315lbs x 10
405lbs x 8
515lbs x 11 (after 2 resets)

Yates rows (thanks Josh i kiss you)

225lbs x 10
275lbs x 10
365lbs x 6
315lbs x 12 (I’m gonna go a lot lighter next week since I think it’s easier to keep form tight on these as opposed to b-o rows, and maybe get a slight squeeeze at the top. I liked them a lot)

DC lat stretch w/ 30lbs DB (grip gave after 34 sec… tried again less successfully).

Good session.

2837

[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:

Rack pulls+shrug (grip was destroyed on my heavy set and my calluses… gonna start wearing gloves on this set)
[/quote]

You should wear a singlet too! The chicks would be all over you man.

2838

Bug - NP on the Yates Row suggestion, I love them. Getting a squeeze at the top feels good too, but makes weight progress harder so I just make sure I stay really controlled on the eccentric and keep overall form tight.

Grip - Wtf is with your grip giving out all the time. Are you doing your Rack Pulls and shit all without straps? Why oh Why would you do this to yourself? lol

Pretty sure I saw you using straps in your DB curl video, am I correct? Why wouldn’t you use them on Rack Pulls and the like?

And if you are using them and grip is still giving then you are probably wrapping in the wrong direction, sounds retarded but I’ve seen people do it.

2839

[quote]josh86 wrote:
And if you are using them and grip is still giving then you are probably wrapping in the wrong direction, sounds retarded but I’ve seen people do it.[/quote]

Alright, I’ve never used straps, which was do you wrap? Over & under or under & over?

2840

No josh ahhaahahah after your little rant… I DO use straps, I’m not dumb… and I’m prettttty sure I know how to wrap them correctly (strap goes under the bar and comes back up over the top)… the straps are usually fine though the ones I’ve been using are POS and tearing (I have some new ones from EliteFTS waiting for me at home) but I have some gnarly calluses on my hands that have been tearing so I’m in excruciating pain while I’m doing them. Does that make sense? And sometimes I get a better strap tightness then other times… idk.