Try a couple light sets before deads, and see if it helps you sit into the pull.
9-20 Press
20 minute warm up. Jumps instead of sled drag.
Press, paired with upright row/shrug
120x5
135x5
150x5
130x5x5
Upright Row, then shrugs when I got tired. 115x20
Band Tricep Pushdown, (15 elbows in, 15 elbows out, 15 overhead) light band
Dumbbell Rear Delts 15 x 20 reps
3 sets, with press back offs.
Then abs on ball between last 2 press sets.
Grip. Roller went OK, but I missed 170 on the Euro pinch. Hands were tired. Using the 35’s for pinch grip last week was a mistake. I should have used 25’s, the loading pin and some 2.5’s. Slow, methodical increases on volume day lead to PR’s on max day. Going too heavy on volume throws off max day. Duh.
Pec/shoulder felt a little tight, but nothing like last week. I think I may have to move my press grip out a little to make things smooth.
I rubbed some icy hot on my shoulder/Pec/upper arm. It felt good, till it got in my armpit.
Then a drank some Kentucky Whiskey, and it was so effective, I had another one, for my bro with a shoulder. Then another, for my other bro who hurt his shoulder too. It looks like bad shoulders are going around.
Warm Up, Band thru Belt walking around, some Upper Back GMs seated on a low box. Jump Around.
Power Squat Machine
A few working up. Did 2-3 light box squats between sets, for flexibility/hips.
230x5
270x5
300x5
230x5x5
Step Ups
45 Degree Back Raise
“Hise Shrug” in the power squat machine
3 loops, worked into back offs.
Sled Drag: 160x 36 steps x6 trips
Reverse Hyper: 180x25, 4 sets
My girl has been walking her squats out of the mono. Yesterday, she was thinking too long about her top set. Then she walked it way, way out. I tried to stop her, but she had her head phones blasting. During her descent, she hit the bottom of the safety straps, which jerked her forward, and she fell to her knees. She was OK, but I was worried that would take her out mentally. But she recovered, squatted 160x5 and finished her workout, no problem.
Lay on ground, arm extended, holding kettlebell. Keep arm straight and “Drop Shoulder” so the back of shoulder touches floor., 10-12 times. Then “screw the shoulder down” so hand/kettlebell/arm/shoulder do a slight external rotation. 5 more.
“Chinese Shrug.” Lay face down on table, arms straight, shrug shoulders back. x15
Face Pull x20
Repeat 4 times. Visualizing those little fuckers swelling up.
Bench Press, paired with face pulls and Chinese shrugs.
A couple
175x5
195x5
215x5
175x5x5
Facepull x20
Seated Cable Row x20
Dumbbell Flies in Dumbbell Tri Extension
3 circuits with bench back-offs
I rested the grip, but did some band Pushdowns with a Light band.
I could see the back of my arms and shoulders from the front.
9-25. Deadlifts
Get loose. Jump around. Some box squats, box GMs, sit on box and shrug with barbell on shoulders.
Plate Loaded Dead with Red Band
A couple sets, lots of shrugs in the dead setup.
75x5
85x5
95x5
75x5x5
Seated GM
Lunge with Back foot Up
Shrug in Deadlift setup
Repeat 3 times, during DL backoffs
Reverse Hyper
140 x30
Self Pep Talk
140x30
Gut Check
140x25
Make bargains with cosmos
140x25
Reverse Hypers were hard today. I didn’t want to get back up there.
I was sitting around, being all emo about my shoulder/neck/pec and shifty, shitty bench press. Is it technique, or programming, or not enough food? I watched some videos, and these dudes can’t decide if your lats or your pecs bench. Should I have as wide a grip as a 320 pound dude? I was getting anxiety.
Glutes/hamstrings/quads. Box Jumps and box squats, so Dynamic stretching and loaded stretching.
Power Squat Machine
A few sets working up
270x5
300x5
330x5
270x5x5
45 degree Back Raises
“Hise Shrugs” in the Power Squat Machine
Rear Leg Elevated Lunge
With squat back-offs
Reverse Hypers
190x25, 4 sets
No sled drag. No abs. As the weights get heavier, the “extras” drop out. I’ve read that.
My woman squatted 165x5. She just kind of transitioned from a close stance, quad dominant technique to a wider stance, hip dominant technique over a few sets. It was cool to watch.
Ha!
That one may depend on who you ask. Maybe in the old days Lunges were always done stepping forward and alternating legs.
Based on that, a split squat would be 1 leg forward, one leg back, all reps done 1 leg at a time. No stepping, or “lunging” forward, and no alternating feet.
Somebody (maybe you?) once mentioned “lunge in place.” Whoever it was, I lazily stole and started misusing the term.
You caught me.
I guess I only do non alternating split squats. When I call it a lunge I mean both feet on the same level. Rear elevated Lunges= back foot on low step. When I call it a split squat, the rear leg is on the high step.
“How did your bench press get all to hell?”
“Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”
One of my favorites is a Hemingway story called “50 Grand,” about a boxer and his big fight. I first read it as a kid, and even then, I was struck by the “realness.” I’ve read it again over the years, and every time, as I’m more experienced, I’m struck by how true to live everything in the story is. The boxer is with his bros at fight camp, and it’s not going well. Dude is crawling the walls, edgy, and generally pissed. He’s worrying about non-fight stuff, can’t sleep, and his workouts suck. Which makes everything more tense.
“What do you worry about-?”
" What don’t I worry about?"
One trainer guy aggravates boxer guy so much, boxer guy makes him leave the gym.
I am no good at book reports, but it’s a great story.
My girl is in school, working and getting some internship hours in and our schedule needed adjustment. Lower body sessions are now gonna be in the evenings, unrushed, instead of first thing and working against the clock. So I got an extra day off, and benched “first.”
10-5
Shrug, Facedown(135/155/185/205)
Dumbbell Curl/Dumbbell Extension (20’s - 35’s)
Fat Man Chin up
4 times through
Bench Press, paired with Fat Man Chin
A few up
175x5
195x5
215x5
175x5x5
Fat Man Chin, then “shrug” from bottom position
Seated Iso Row Machine, Done standing up
Dumbbell Tate Press on Incline
4 circuits, lead off by bench back offs.
Grip:
PVC Hub lift, singles to 35 pounds PR.
“My arms are long, and in the bottom position I was unable to use the muscles of my back. As a result, I constantly had injuries of shoulders and pecs. But my close grip bench press has always been good. I decided not to think too much about this, and I switched to close grip. After that I had no pain, no injuries and strength has been increasing slowly but constantly. But triceps must be very strong for such benching!”
-Konstantin Konstantinovs
Huh, this hits home a bit. My shoulders have been bugging me for a bit now when doing regular bench, barbell/axle inclines, even swiss bar work. I did close-grip for a heavy four a few days ago, and while there was still a little twinge the overall difference was huge.
A couple weeks ago, benching with pinkies against the rings, my girl told me my right shoulder was raising off the bench. I just thought the bench was crooked! Yesterday, with a shoulder width grip I could feel my shoulders digging in, like inch-worming into the bench.
