Cephalic Carnage: How Do You Train?

Training Bodybuilding
621

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
Hey C_Cizzle (I hope you don’t mind me calling you that lol) :slight_smile:

So, my chest development still blows and I’m thinking about changing things up. I had those goals of 405 incline and 500 bench and I already hit the 405 incline easy and I’m pretty sure I’m close to 500 on the bench. I’m thinking I need to put the ego away for a while and just focus on hypertrophy again since I think my chest is pretty much the one thing throwing off my upper body physique.

Anyways, I was thinking about pre fatiguing with some cable flys then moving on to my bench and incline workout using a wider grip and just working the bottom 1/2 range of motion.

Thoughts on that?

EDIT: Or I could do CGBP first as pre exhaust and save cables for the end

Still can’t manage to get your chest to do the work?
I’m no fan of pre-fatiguing… I get the idea and all that, but hm.

DB’s not helping? Do some lighter, higher volume DB work or some HS machine work?
Or just stick to higher reps in general… I find that when I go heavy on presses, my tris take over as they’re now probably my strongest pressing-muscle-group, same for my shoulders. Doing something like a double with my 2RM on the bench or incline is all delts and tris, no matter what I do (probably safer that way, too).

As for half-reps, go for it… Hey, make sure you do some heavy tricep and shoulder press work, but make your chest presses somewhat higher rep (perhaps even non-failure), maybe higher set-stuff… And stop the bar a few inches off the chest, as well as avoid lockout (or even the entire upper third of ROM)… Really control the negative there.

That should pretty much be mostly chest, no need to tuck your elbows much at all in that case… Start light… That kind of technique isn’t made for huge weights, but it should get your chest good, and you can keep your overall benching strength up thanks to the delt and tri pressing work.

[/quote]

Yah man, fuck my idea, I tried it the other day and it sucked lol. I’m just going to make sure I keep reps 6-8 and do my best to not lock out.

I did that pre exhaust and wide grip and it just ended up hurting my shoulder, not to mention 225 on incline felt heavy as shit, not my cup of tea.

I think you’d be proud to hear that I got 405x2 on close grips at the end of my chest session today, yay! lol, they are finally starting to pop

622

Wassah you silly German !

Anyways i need a small favor !

This poor mis-fortunate soul i somehow found within myself to help (:P) needs a program desperately. Nothing to over the top, i put him on Lyle’s RFL to get him down to size a.s.a.p. but be damned if i know anything about calorie restricted programs :smiley:

Any help appreciated, i told him you were the program guru :slight_smile:

Hope all is well with you and yours.

623

Hi C-C,

haven’t posted here for a long time time but reading about all the 250lbs+ members here has me all fired up to at least get back to my previous best of 230lbs now that I have gotten serious again with my training.

However I think that before starting with the really heavy (for me) weights I should do my best to protect my joints as much as possible.

So here’s my question: I cannot find the thread but I read somewhere that you use wrist wraps and knee sleeves, could you recommend a certain make or model ? I live in Germany, too so I would not mind buying locally.

Thanks !

624

sorry, double post
I forgot that it can take hours for posts to pop up on this forum

625

[quote]growth wrote:
Hi C-C,

I have not posted here for a long time time but reading about all the 250lbs and more members has me all fired up to at least get back to my previous best of 230lbs now that I have gotten serious again with my training.

However I think that before starting with the really heavy (for me) training I should do my best to protect my joints as good as possible.

So here is my question: I cannot find the thread but I read somewhere that you use wrist wraps and knee sleeves, could you recommend a certain make or model ? I live in Germany, too so I would not mind buying locally.

Thanks ![/quote]

I got mine from overseas…
Google prowriststraps (APT).

I got the 24 inch black reaper wrist wraps (you shouldn’t need wraps until you’re pressing upwards of 315 imo…) and Tommy Kono sleeves for knees and elbows (Use them all the time on any press or extension etc) the TK’s have the advantage of coming in only 3 sizes, you won’t have to order new sleeves due to growing arms and legs as often as with the rehband’s, which come in a billion sizes… But rehband sleeves are very popular as well).

Knee wraps won’t be an issue for you until you get to the heavier weights on quad work.

626

[quote]300andabove wrote:
Wassah you silly German !

Anyways i need a small favor !

This poor mis-fortunate soul i somehow found within myself to help (:P) needs a program desperately. Nothing to over the top, i put him on Lyle’s RFL to get him down to size a.s.a.p. but be damned if i know anything about calorie restricted programs :smiley:

Any help appreciated, i told him you were the program guru :slight_smile:

Hope all is well with you and yours.[/quote]

Training on a cal. restricted diet… Huh.

Non-failure stuff for higher sets doesn’t cause as much systematic/“nervous system” fatigue as failure and beyond-failure stuff, that may be worth trying as you can potentially still get stronger while dieting and won’t burn out as easily. Though mass-gain will likely be impaired due to the diet.
Just don’t overdo the volume here, as joint and tendon recovery is likely down as well and it’s easy to get carried away with the “x reps at y% of 1RM” crap when failure(as in going to failure) isn’t there to remind you that you’re just a wimpy human and doing 3000 doubles at 90 percent of 1RM every day is not a good idea.

Unfortunately, this isn’t something I use a lot… Fattyfat and Gluteus Gigantis may be able to help you out here though.
I could put something together I guess, but those 2 have, I believe, much more experience in that particular area.

(what stats does the person in question have, anyway?)

627

[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
Hey C_Cizzle (I hope you don’t mind me calling you that lol) :slight_smile:

So, my chest development still blows and I’m thinking about changing things up. I had those goals of 405 incline and 500 bench and I already hit the 405 incline easy and I’m pretty sure I’m close to 500 on the bench. I’m thinking I need to put the ego away for a while and just focus on hypertrophy again since I think my chest is pretty much the one thing throwing off my upper body physique.

Anyways, I was thinking about pre fatiguing with some cable flys then moving on to my bench and incline workout using a wider grip and just working the bottom 1/2 range of motion.

Thoughts on that?

EDIT: Or I could do CGBP first as pre exhaust and save cables for the end

Still can’t manage to get your chest to do the work?
I’m no fan of pre-fatiguing… I get the idea and all that, but hm.

DB’s not helping? Do some lighter, higher volume DB work or some HS machine work?
Or just stick to higher reps in general… I find that when I go heavy on presses, my tris take over as they’re now probably my strongest pressing-muscle-group, same for my shoulders. Doing something like a double with my 2RM on the bench or incline is all delts and tris, no matter what I do (probably safer that way, too).

As for half-reps, go for it… Hey, make sure you do some heavy tricep and shoulder press work, but make your chest presses somewhat higher rep (perhaps even non-failure), maybe higher set-stuff… And stop the bar a few inches off the chest, as well as avoid lockout (or even the entire upper third of ROM)… Really control the negative there.

That should pretty much be mostly chest, no need to tuck your elbows much at all in that case… Start light… That kind of technique isn’t made for huge weights, but it should get your chest good, and you can keep your overall benching strength up thanks to the delt and tri pressing work.

Yah man, fuck my idea, I tried it the other day and it sucked lol. I’m just going to make sure I keep reps 6-8 and do my best to not lock out. [/quote] I’d go even lighter than that, 8-12 or so… 6 reps to failure is already tricep territory [quote]

I did that pre exhaust and wide grip and it just ended up hurting my shoulder, not to mention 225 on incline felt heavy as shit, not my cup of tea.

I think you’d be proud to hear that I got 405x2 on close grips at the end of my chest session today, yay! lol, they are finally starting to pop[/quote]
Good job man!

You’ll get 585 within the next 30 lbs of bodyweight :slight_smile:

628

Way and I have th same problem. I’ll try some of this advice too.

Btw just wanted to say hi CC. The BOI misses you.

629

Ps the pour soul can’t do Squats as he has no access to power rack, and he is to overweight to do pull ups / chins.

Here:

630

[quote]josh86 wrote:
Way and I have th same problem. I’ll try some of this advice too.

Btw just wanted to say hi CC. The BOI misses you. [/quote]

Ceph these days has been enjoying life !

:smiley:

Or has he been every so slightly been drifting to IM i see you ! :smiley:

631

So I have a bit more time and I’m moving from DC to Yates-3-way. DC taught me great intensity, I just think a bit more volume could be what the doctor ordered right now. Here it is: rip it up!
Take a look at my Dorian 3-way-split let me know what you guys think:

Alternating between the 1 and 2 workouts.

A1.
Incline bench 12-15rp
Flat bench 15-20SS
Incline DB curls 12-15RP
Pinwheels 12-20SS
1-arm-spider-preachers 2x15SS(for a pump, pretty light)
PJRs 15-25RP
Tricep Pushdowns 15-20SS

A2.
Flat Bench 15-20RP
Incline Bench 15-20SS
Alt DB Curls 10-15RP
RG Cable Curls 15-20SS
Concentration Curls 2x15SS(As you can see biceps are a focus)
Overhead Tri Extensions
Dead stop skullcrushers

B1.
Seated Calf Raise(Heavy)
LP Calf Raise(Light)
Squats 1 heavy set 8-15 depending on the day. 365x15 last week!
Unilateral Leg Press WM(my left leg needs to be brought up) 20-30 reps
SLDLs Super light focusing on the stretch

B2.
LP Calf Raise Heavy
Seated Calf Raise light
Leg Press heavy set of 15-20 reps
Standing lunges for WM(1-leg at a time)
GHRs 15-20SS

C1.
DB MP 15-20RP
Cable Lateral Raises 25-30 RP
TBar Rows 12-15SS
Rack Chins 15-25+end range stuff, rp
(Maybe throwing in Kroc rows here? db’s only up to 125…)
HS Shrug 15-30SS

C2.
SHIPS 12-15RP
Leaning Away DB Laterals 15-20SS
Maybe adding Deads back into my program…Low back is feeling a bit better, might get a sports massage just to make sure. I previously worked up to 585 for an easy single.
If not deads, Kroc rows
Arnold style Lat seated rows 15-25RP
Incline Rows 15-20SS, maybe RP depending on how much juice is left.

…

D

632

Hey C_C could you check out my training log and check my routine?

633

Sir,

You mentioned a while ago that the 3-way split you had created for someone ending up being very popular. Did you mean:

Day 1: Chest + Back + Traps
Day 2: Legs + Abs
Day 3: Delts + Bis + Tris

What do you think of:

Day 1: Chest + Front Delt + Tris
Day 2: Back + Bis + Rear Delt
Day 3: Legs + Med. Delt + Abs

I have a shit schedule this semester and am working 5 days a week. I can only go 3 days a week to the gym.

Thanks in advance.

634

Feeling better these days, by the way.

635

[quote]PonceDeLeon wrote:
Sir,

You mentioned a while ago that the 3-way split you had created for someone ending up being very popular. Did you mean:

Day 1: Chest + Back + Traps
Day 2: Legs + Abs
Day 3: Delts + Bis + Tris
[/quote] Back then it was probably the yates three-way: Chest+Bis+Tris, Legs+Abs, Delts+Back. The two are pretty much interchangeable though. [quote]

What do you think of:

Day 1: Chest + Front Delt + Tris
Day 2: Back + Bis + Rear Delt
Day 3: Legs + Med. Delt + Abs

I have a shit schedule this semester and am working 5 days a week. I can only go 3 days a week to the gym.

Thanks in advance.[/quote]
The splits above can be done over only 3 days a week just fine.

Another option:

-Chest+Back
-Bis+Legs+Abs
-Tris+Delts (CGP coming before OHP)

(this is what Mike Ruggeria used to do, though he did biceps after legs.)

And:

Chest+Tris
Back+Bis
Delts+Legs

Just thought of something though… You could do 5/3/1 (with 4 workouts cycled over 3 days a week, Wendler standard basically)…

With the right assistance template, you can basically hit every bodypart 3 times in 2 weeks, same as DC frequency on the 2-way… Your 4 main exercises would still be done at a slightly lower frequency than 1/week.

That should work fine… If you want, I can post an example template.

636

[quote]PonceDeLeon wrote:
Feeling better these days, by the way.[/quote]

Glad to hear that.

637

CC,

Just wanted to say thanks alot for helping me out with the program. I gained 7 lbs in 4 weeks. Made huge jumps in weights on almost every exercise. Inc DB 90x10 → 105x9 Back Squat 315/12 &
285/15 → 345x7 & 315x20.
Brought me up to a whole new level of intensity (I threw up in the dining hall after a couple of workouts.) And I can’t thank you enough.

I’m running a smolov base cycle to get ready for a squat comp and will be right back on this program after I finish that up.

Thanks again!

638

Hello C_C:

My brother is tired of looking like a powerlifter in a gym of bodybuilders, so he wants to add some arm work after his back routine, we just did this:

EZ bar Steep preacher curls: ramping up w/sets of 5 reps, he went on to about 35lb per side (it sucks but I think he really isn’t used to this kind of exercises).
Pinwheel curls: he went up to the 70’s (I beat him on those even though he squats and deadlifts more than 500).

I talked to him about the matter and he decided to do a DC style workout, so that’s I’m looking up to you.

Thanks in advance.

639

[quote]ballsout wrote:
CC,

Just wanted to say thanks alot for helping me out with the program. I gained 7 lbs in 4 weeks. Made huge jumps in weights on almost every exercise. Inc DB 90x10 → 105x9 Back Squat 315/12 &
285/15 → 345x7 & 315x20.
Brought me up to a whole new level of intensity (I threw up in the dining hall after a couple of workouts.) And I can’t thank you enough.

I’m running a smolov base cycle to get ready for a squat comp and will be right back on this program after I finish that up.

Thanks again![/quote]

No problem (what did I give you again? Too many people to keep track of :slight_smile:

640

[quote]MEYMZ wrote:
Hello C_C:

My brother is tired of looking like a powerlifter in a gym of bodybuilders, so he wants to add some arm work after his back routine, we just did this:

EZ bar Steep preacher curls: ramping up w/sets of 5 reps, he went on to about 35lb per side (it sucks but I think he really isn’t used to this kind of exercises).
Pinwheel curls: he went up to the 70’s (I beat him on those even though he squats and deadlifts more than 500).

I talked to him about the matter and he decided to do a DC style workout, so that’s I’m looking up to you.

Thanks in advance.[/quote]

Hmmm. What numbers is he putting up, exactly?

Does he want a completely new routine?
If he’s advanced enough, full DC would be a good option… Lots of guys who stop competing in PL or just want a change from their regular PL work love it.

Otherwise, some 5/3/1 with a few rest-paused exercises or something like that perhaps…
If he wants his arms to grow, then Pinwheels are a good choice, but the bicep-focused exercise should imo be something that allows for better progression and are safer than preacher/spider curls…

You could just post his current routine here and we’ll talk about how to inclide some arm work though.