But you feel your back, right?
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12-31. DE Upper
Pre-Garbage
Band Pushdown
Band Pull Apart
Reverse Hyper
Sidebend
Twice each
Chest Supported DB Row
Flat DB Bench
Twice
Floor Press
145 +70 chains x3, 9 sets, close to wide grips
Chinese Row, Cambered Bar
135 x20, 3 sets. Great for astronauts, because you get no oxygen
Paired With Rolling DB Tri’s
25s x20 reps x3 sets. Back position better, shoulder position better, elbows in better position. The whole move is just “tighter” without my shoulders unconsciously shrugged to my ears. Way more tension on Tri’s. Did the last set on decline bench. The negative felt never ending!
Cable Row/Upright Row Motion x20
Seated Bottum Up KB Press, 25s x15 reps
Cable Curls x20 reps
3 circuits
Morning workout. Everything felt very Taxing. It was kinda hard. Early workouts feel more difficult. Like I could do less than in the afternoon, and my poor muscles all got tired. As if I were worse at that time. But if I got a more stimulating training session, with less wear and abuse, doesn’t that mean the workout was Better?
Either way, not a bad session to end the year on.
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This is my go to triceps builder. I’ve built up to 27.5x40 or 50 in one set, and 40x20. High reps spare the elbows, and have actually strengthen them. Hitting them today actually!
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1-1 ME Lower
Bad Girl Against Band
Single Leg Curl
Single Arm Pull down
Suitcase Walk
2 times thru
SSB Good Morning
A few working up
155 x3
170 x3
185 x3, 10 pounds more than last time.
Stiff Leg Deadlift, Sumo Stance, Plates on 4 inch blocks
135 x5-6 for a bunch of sets, trying to get the move down
135 x18
Medium, Almost Underhand Pulldowns
4 sets Ramp up to 200 x12 and 220 x9
Leg Extensions
x35 for 4 sets
A few Sidebends
Worked junk in between sets of stiff deads.
Had PL dude cue me/teach me on them, so I did a bunch. When I finally seemed to get it, he said do 15 and see where you feel it. The first 3 sucked, so I did 18. Hamstrings worked, but lower back un-pumped.
4 Likes
1-3 ME Upper
2 sets of shrugs on Pull Down
2 sets of shrug on Chest Supported T Bar
2 sets of Dumbbell Shrugs with High Angle Chest Support
4 sets of 1 arm Tricep Pushdowns(no handle, grab little ball on Cable)
2 sets in incline dumbbell bench
6 Push/Pull pairs, it was smooth in real life
Dumbbell Bench
A few going up
85 x11 (definitely felt the sensation of pacing myself, & holding push power back so back muscles would not tire out and shoulders could stay in position. I was pushing the light dumbbells so fast I would bounce off the bench at the top.
JM Press
5 sets, Ramp to 125 x4 (lost the groove, rolled tension to shoulder)
Chest Supported T Bar Row, Paired with JMs
4 sets, Ramp to 3.5 plates x 8 reps
Chest Supported Dumbbell Upright Rows into Shrugs
Dumbbell Side Delt Raise ( fat grips handle plus false grip)
Dumbbell Curls with Fat Gripz
3 loops
Band Pull Apart x35
Band Pushdowns x85
Two times for the tendons
Really good session. Delt raised 15s x15 reps without shoulder pinches! I feel like I can train them now, not baby them. Which is good, because I need them to be stronger to bench more.
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Imo These are better than with a handle anyway. Have you tried triceps kickbacks with no handle as well? Probably my favorite cable isolation exercise.
Haha! I haven’t messed with Tricep Kickbacks since I was your age. I may have to give them a try, they may challenge my shitty posture/shoulder position while working my triceps.
1-5 DE Lower
Junk to get back and side going.
Front Box Squat, 45 Plate on Box
145 x2, 12 sets
Pin 1 Conventional Deadlift, Stand on 5 inch Block + 1 matt
205 + 90 Chains x2, 10 sets
Sumo Stiff Leg Deadlift, Plates on 4 inch blocks
135 x15, 3 sets
Paired with Close, Neutral Grip Pulldowns
180 x16 reps x 3 sets
Leg Extension x35
Seated Calf x25
Reverse Hyper x15
Three loops.
Front Squat to Box, just above parallel. Same as last wave, but will go 5% heavier. These felt great today.
Deadlifts in rack, from pin 1, still with 90 chains. But I’m standing on a slightly taller block, with a little matt on top. Same as last wave, just a slightly longer ROM. These also felt great today.
Dumbbell Bendovers “out”, stiff leg deadlift with Sumo Stance “in”. I put the plates on the 4 inch blocks so I could bend over without rounding over. With feet wide, it’s much harder to use back and easier to push Out and use glutes and hams. I like these. Like a cable Pull Thru, but less Puss-Looking. These were great after conventional deads.
Great session. Super pleased with this work, and optimistic about continuing it.
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Nice looking work. Building on main with accessory work.
Hey, thanks man. That’s definetly the approach I’m trying for. I’m glad it looks that way, and not like some crazy mess.
1-7 DE (or maybe Repetition Effort) Upper
Back/tri warm-up and some dumbbell benching on incline. Felt terrible!
Bench Press
165 x6 reps x 6 sets with 3 widish grips
Chinese Row, Cambered Bar
150 x15, 3 sets
Paired with Rolling DB Tri’s
30 x15, 3 sets
Cable Row/Upright Row x20
Seated Bottom Up KB Press (25s) x20
Curls on Cable x15
3 loops
Sunday morning workout, it was 6 degrees outside, Warm-ups were awful. Bench presses were light, tight and easy. Will build up weight for six sets of six for a few or 6 weeks. Rows felt better than last week, they will continue. Dumbbell Tri’s felt like waving my arms around, will switch them out next week. Upside down KB presses are on track, 30s next week.
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1-8 ME Lower
Band Glute Walks
Sidebends
Single Leg Curl
Box Squat with 2 Inch Cambered Bar
5 sets working up. These felt lighter than I expected, I started too low.
250 x1
265 x1 -maybe dive bombed the box a little
275 x1
-Legs felt bendy today, butt dropped, arms easily reached the bar and upper back squeezed tight. Squats felt like squats! The bottom couple inches of the descent is weak, I’m a little unsure down there. I could have gone heavier, but I’m not sure where my hips would have gone. Tucked under or popped out the back.
Sumo Stance Stiff Leg Deadlift, Plates on 4inch blocks
165 x15, 3 sets
Some cable Pushdown Sidebends and cable shrugs between sets. Trying to lock the hips to the shoulders.
Seated Calf
Leg Extension
Stir The Pot
4 times. Less reps and more weight than DE day.
Some dude said I looked like I lost weight. Shoulders and traps must be bigger because I actually gained 6 pounds from whiskey, cake and cookies.
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1-10-18 ME Upper
2 sets Pull down shrugs/ 2 sets Williams shrugs
4 sets Tricep Pushdowns with long rope
3 sets of Dumbbell Rows with chest support
3 sets of flat dumbbell bench
Close Grip Incline Bench
A few working up
195 x1
210 x1
220 x1 (made 205 in Jan-'17, missed 210 in Feb-'17)
Chest Supported T Bar Rows
4 sets, ramp to 3 plates + 35 x 8 reps
Paired With Close Grip Bench Press
135 x10
135 x10, 2 sets, switch to Spoto press execution
- I’ve been making progress avoiding “targeted” exercises with the barbell for high reps. Should I be doing these 10 reps sets?
155 x3
175 x3
Dumbbell Shrugs on High Incline Bench (ramp to 75 x15)
Dumbbell Side Delts with Fat Gripz, thumbless(ramp to 17.5 x15)
Dumbbell Curls with Fat Gripz (ramp to 40 x12)
3 sets each, loop style
+15 pounds on the close grip incline, without doing it for 11 months. I’ll take it!
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1-12-18 DE Lower
McGill Action
Band Walks
Suitcase Walks
Box Front Squat, 45 Plate on Box
155 x2, 12 doubles
Pin 1 Conventional Deadlift, Stand on Block + Mat
185 + 90 Chains x2, 12 sets
Focus today was not shrugging traps, depressing shoulders and rotating elbows back, to keep back straight and tight. I really got it going for several sets, but then couldn’t get the same tightness as I got tired. Weight is lower next week, and I’ll really try to try to do them all correctly.
Sumo Stance Stiff Leg Deadlift, Plates on 4 inch blocks
165 x17, 17, 20
Paired with Close Neutral Pulldowns
180 x20, 3 sets
High reps had me nauseous a couple times. Posterior wanted oxygen.
Seated Calf
Leg Extension
Side Plank
3 times
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C. Thibadeau on hitting weaknesses;
The later. But really, it’s more a long-term thing. Building muscle takes time. A natural trainee, in an optimal state, might be able to gain 1-1.5lbs of muscle in a month. And that is actually a pretty good month (that would mean 12-18lbs of solid muscle tissue, or about 18-24lbs of body weight in a year… when is the last time you did that?).
And of course this pound of muscle will not be all in your biceps, but rather across your whole body. So it might take a while before you see a significant size change in your arms. If you add 0.2lbs of muscle to each arm per month it will take a few months to see a difference.
I understand that for you, arm size is an emotional issue (to the point where all your insecurities and questions are really annoying to me) and you want your arms bigger YESTERDAY. But you can’t bypass physiology.
What is likely to happen is …
Step one you start to feel a much better mind-muscle connection with your biceps…during that time strength and mostly your capacity to do reps with a given weight on biceps exercises might DECREASE. It’s not that the biceps are getting weaker: it’s that you are more efficient at recruiting the biceps’ fibers on each rep and as a result they get fatigued quicker.
Step two your strength will go back up while maintaining the same level of mind-muscle connection
Step three your strength will reach a higher level than before
Step four your biceps tone will increase: your biceps will feel harder even at rest
Step five you will notice visual changes in size
How long to reach step 5? Who knows… could be anywhere between 4 - 20 weeks depending on how deep in a hole you were, your nutritional status, your recovery, etc.
That’s why few people are able to fix their weak points: they expect immediate results and when they don’t see them they think the strategy is not working and they stop or look for something
3 Likes
Excellent advice.
1-14-18 Upper, Reps
Warm up junk. I did a few Tricep kickbacks on the cable. McGill mid section stuff. Incline Dumbbells.
Bench Press
175 x6 x6 -three widish grips
Chinese Rows
150 x20, 20, 14-6. Had to get up and Rest/Pause third set
Tate Press x25 between sets of rows.
Chest Supported Dumbbell Shrugs x20
Bottom Up KB Press, 30 x15 reps
Cable Curls x until they got tired
3 times.
Rows were the hardest part, and took the most rest. I had to rest/pause to get all the reps in. I worry that I’m racing to finish and getting many low quality reps in. Bad row mechanics/shoulder position halted my progress in the past. To stick to the mission, I’m going to use slightly lower reps and continue with this lift. 3 x12, 4 x10. Not easier, but Better.
Also, my left upper lat (teres minor or some shit?) is vaguely irritated and I had to rest/pause some Pulldowns Friday. I’ll switch handle/grips and adjust the reps for that too. There are a million alignments for Pulldowns. Many of them will probably work better. I’d be a real asshole to mess up the whole program out of loyalty to that one handle.
1 Like
1-15 ME Lower
McGill 3
Band Butt Walk
Seated DB Clean
Suitcase Walk
Leg Curl
Twice
Front Squat
A few working up
190 x1
210 x1
225 x1 - not a big number but 2 wheels, psychologically satisfying
245 x1 - bonus
Dimmel Deadlift
95 x25
115 x25 - just right for hams
135 x25 - just a little too much weight
Straight Arm Pull down x15
Standing Calf x15
Stir The Pot x stirred
3 times
Reverse Hypers
150 x20 x 3 sets
I didn’t expect to front squat that much. Good workout.
2 Likes
1-17 ME Upper
Reverse Pec Deck/Band Pushdowns
Fat Man Chins/ Incline Dumbbell Bench + Mini Band
Decline Bench Press
Go up
250 x1
265 x1
275 x1, +5 pounds
Seated Cable Row, Almost Underhand Grip x12-15
Close Grip Spoto Press (up to 195 x5, 2 sets)
4 pairs
Fat Man Chinups x 25
12 Dumbbell Side Delt Raises then 12 rear Delt raises
4 pairs
Some Band Pushdowns.
-Close grip is 2 fingers on smooth of Texas Power Bar. 4 sets of 25 is a record for Fat Man Chinups. Rear delts were dying.
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1-19 DE Lower
Box Front Squat, 45 Plate on Box
165 x2, 10 sets
Conventional Deadlift, Plates on 4 inch blocks
165 + 90 Chains x2, 12 sets
Stiff Leg Sumo Deadlift, Plates on 4 inch blocks
185 x10, 3 sets
Close, Almost Underhand Pulldowns, paired with Stiff Deads
200 x12, 11, 15
Leg Extension
Leg Curl
Seated Calf Raise
Band Bad Girls
3 sets each, shooting for high reps. Did 25 a few times
Felt more like work than a euphoric experience today. Took advantage of Light deadlift week to jump ahead and lower the bar to 4 inch blocks.
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1-21 DE ( Maybe Repitition Effort) Upper
Reverse Pec Dec/Long Rope Tri Pushdowns x 2 sets
Rear Delt Dumbbell/Long Rope Tri Extension x 2 sets
Bench Press, with Wider Grips
185 x6 x6
I did 3 warm-up sets on bench, plus 4 sets of 25 barbell rows with just barbell. Then sets of 6 with a 2 count hold with 65 between work sets of bench. It felt good, Bench Press felt “squared up” and tight. I think I’ll have to take my medicine and do many light barbell rows to rebuild this position/motion.
1 Arm Dumbbell Rows on Incline Bench (30/40/50) x15
Paired with Tate Press (20/25/30) x 20
Low Cable Row-Upright Row combo x15 x 3 sets
Paired with Seated Upside Down KB Press 30s x20 x 3 sets
Arm Focus:
Band Pushdowns with Monster Mini
Alt. Dumbell Curls into Hammer Curls as I fatigued
3 sets each
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1-22 ME Lower
Conventional Deadlift, Stand on 35 bumper for defecit effect
Some bands on bar to make it feel weird to my brain.
255 x1
285 x1
305 x1
Stiff Leg Sumo Deadlift
185 x12, 3 sets
Pulldowns with shoulder width grip between sets. 3 x12, not very hardcore.
Standing Calf Raise
Leg Extension
Single Leg Curl
Reverse Hypers
3 sets of 15 or 20 or 25 each.
I made a “tough” deadlift from a Defecit, Bottom Position Conquered! Now I have the confidence and positive attitude to hit a nice regular Deadlift in 3 weeks.
Edit:
Also, extend your legs, not your back. Duh!
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