Strong
Bug, do you think guys of our height (6’1 to 6’4 ish) have to lose about 40ish pounds (give or take) to get into contest shape, assuming they’re not completely larded out during the offseason?
Also, do you ever front squat these days? I feel like front squats really nail the vastus lateralis (sweep) more, especially for us tall guys
Also, when you shrug, how do you protect your man parts? Mine always take a beating from the bar
questions 1: totally depends on the individual and what bodyfat he’s at. i’m still 20-30lbs from contest condition.
question 2: I haven’t been front squatting too much lately. I will probably throw them back in sometime in the near future.
question 3: I mean they get tossed around a bit, but i dunno, I’ve learned how to position my body to not severely hurt myself? i’ll pay attention next time.
Oh yeah, I hit up a quick arm session today. Squeezed it in between some stuff so food situation was not ideal (I was painfully bloated… still very bloated for like 2+ hours AFTER i was done lifting, lol). w/e, just arms.
Copied some stuff Evan did.
Rope pressdown / EZ Cable curl superset
3 sets of 15 for each, low rest.
CGBP - legs were so sore, traps were so sore… made it hard to bench well, ha. kept the reps high and weight low
95 x 15
135 x 12
185 x 12
225 x 12
Seated alt. DB curls - sexi form
30s x 12 LR
40s x 10 LR
50s x 8 LR
65s x 8 LR drop 25s x dat burn
Incline skulls
60lbs x 15, 15 - uncomfortable on my elbow / wasn’t feeling em, so switched to DBs
30s x 10
35s x 10, 10 - meh.
Machine preacher curls
3 sets, idr the weight.
Finished with some v-bar pressdown / one-armed cable curl superset for sets of 10-12 or so.
As you’ve got more experienced, have you found you benefit more from focusing on muscle contractions and not jerking weights (say for back, still accelerating as fast as pos in concentric though) or do you like to have a mixture? I’m debating in my head, but am starting to think it’s best to leave ego at the door for back unless you get teh pumpz real easy regardless of form… opinions?
what? page 3? this is horse shit!
[quote]gregron wrote:
what? page 3? this is horse shit![/quote]
truth. Where da bug at?
Took today off. Did absolutely nothing physical, lol.
Jake, a good mixture is good, but all things being equal, I think an emphasis on good technique is important especially with such a complex muscle group. That said, one has to know when it’s time to sling some heavy iron. 
you’ll figure it out!
FINALLY had a halfway decent chest session. For like 2 hours leading up to it I was just thinking about lifting, watching vids, etc etc. I was super stiff getting to the gym, did some thorough warming up, then got down to business. The beginning of this workout is inspired by the James Henderson video (10 to 6), if you haven’t watched it and you are a powerlifter you are a noob.
5-10 minute warmup n stuff.
Bench press - no partner, so no lift off or anything. benched in the cage.
bar - stiff
135 x 10 - stiff
185 x 8 - still kinda stiff
225 x 6 - loosening up a little
275 x 5 - felt solid, decided to go up
315 x 4 - These were solid reps. I was happy. Technique felt really good too.
Close grips
185 x 10
225 x 8 - felt really strong, especially considering this was my top set on c. grips 2 days ago lol
275 x 5 - all reps solid!
Incline
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 8
275 x 2 - racked it. got greedy. was too aggressive coming off the hooks and bar almost slipped out of my hand. nice and easy, young padawan.
One-armed smith bench
25/side x 12 LR
35/side x 12 LR drop 25/side x 20 (arms together)
Cable fly/press thingies
3 sets, last set was rest paused, TEH PUMPZ.
Rope pressdown / overhead extension superset
7 x 14/14
9 x 12/10
11 x 12/6 - low rest equals GOD THE PUMP.
Overhead EZ extensions - dat long head (supersetted with some kickbacks to really squeeze the long head)
70lbs x 15 / 15 x 10 LR - 3 run throughs of that. arms hella pumped. that was that.
pleased with today!
I’m happy when you’re happy, so I’m happy. Good stuff
Nicely done Bug
hlss, dixie, thanks boys. Feels good to have a good bench session on the books.
Good work bro. Keep doin big things!
thumbs up for your benching.
I like that chest session. Good numbers too. Consider me jelly… FOR NOW!
[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:
Jake, a good mixture is good, but all things being equal, I think an emphasis on good technique is important especially with such a complex muscle group. That said, one has to know when it’s time to sling some heavy iron. you’ll figure it out![/quote]
Mixture sounds good. It’s just the ongoing debate for me. The one thing I HAVE concluded though is I should at least aim to end with a decent lat pump regardless of lifting method. In my university gym I pretty much used up the usage of DBs for kroc rows when I hit 110x28, which is all they go up to. Also hit 3 plates for 10 reps loose BOR. At this stage I’m thinking I’m decently strong or find it easy as hell to increase back ‘strength’ compared to everything else… yet my back is far from hyuggeee enough. My observationz = this will change when I increase pull-down/pull-up strength to match rowing…
jake, don’t overthink it. Just get in there, do work, and things fall into place. Or if they don’t, then ask for advice, haha. Especially with back, I’m not using any crazy weights (I was first barbell rowing over 3 plates probably 2 years ago) but I’m still in that range, just with different form/goals. Want a big back? Have to learn how to work it, and that takes time.
Speaking of back, had a killer session today, inspired by josh86 and ebomb. Training partner has been busy this week, so I figured I’d try out some stuff he doesn’t normally do while flying solo.
Pullups - controlled negative, lowered to just above deadhang, then DAT SQUEEZE
bw x 15
+25lbs x 10
+55lbs x 6, 5 - been awhile since I’ve done these, lol.
Close-grip pulldowns - don’t think i’ve ever done these (close grip on the straight bar).
100 x 12
162.5 x 10
200 x 10 - pumpz
Stretcherz
112.5 x 12
125 x 12
137.5 x x10 - owwie.
1 set of chest supported machine rows per arm, but was feeling awkward.
Rack pulls 3in below knee - WOOT. Been so long! 135 made my lowerback tighten up a bit, but tightened up form and rest of sets felt good.
135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 3
405 x 3
455 x 3
495 x 4 - bump it up 20lbs next time.
Rope pulldowns finisher
Rest paused set.
DB curls, palms facing forward, back against wall - kingbeef told me to.
20s x 15
25s x 12
30s x 10 - tough
DB preacher curls
35 x 8 LR
40 x 8 LR
45 x 6 LR
Seated alt. hammer curls
50s x 10 LR
60s x 11 + 5 + 3 (RP)
Leg raises, pulldown abs, and doneski.
sweet session bug. I’m gonna try those curls with my back against the wall tomorrow. A lot harder?
Man, I consistently like your exercise selections. Pull-ups then pulldowns is appealing for back, rack pulls are awesome and the order of your biceps exercises seems like they would really keep pressure on the biceps as forearms aren’t really doing much until the hammers. Food for thought.
Were the rack pulls mixed grip or with straps?
gregron, ya, definitely a lot harder, especially when making a constant effort to keep everything tight against the wall and use a nice, controlled tempo. I dunno how much more I felt it than regular DB curls (I’ve gotten pretty good at achieving the MM connection on those), BUT i will definitely give them a shot.
jake, thanks bud. yeah, my forearms try to take over all curls anyways (prob a combination of their muscle attachment type vs. bicep attachment type). RE: rack pulls: done with straps. I’m not a powerlifter, and I’m mostly using these to stimulate the muscles, and I’d rather pull with straps and be able to go double overhand.
[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:
jake, thanks bud. yeah, my forearms try to take over all curls anyways (prob a combination of their muscle attachment type vs. bicep attachment type). RE: rack pulls: done with straps. I’m not a powerlifter, and I’m mostly using these to stimulate the muscles, and I’d rather pull with straps and be able to go double overhand.[/quote]
I’m also not a powerlifter and am adopting the same approach to straps- started using them for deadlifts today and think theres real potential for great increases without worrying about forearm recovery or tearing a bicep due to mixed grip in advance (bit easier on CNS without grip involved as much too, imo). When I rack pull next I will be doing it strapped, been up to 440lb for reps with mixed but literally haven’t done them in over a year iirc.
If I’m forearms dominant like you, I guess I should either not be doing standard BB curls& hammer curls or at least doing them after the bicep is thoroughly worked? Eg. Starting with preacher or quite strict alternating DB…
sorry for thinking out loud and clogging your thread