Stopping by to say hi. I hope you are doing well. 
Dude, I’m flattered you could pry yourself off the floor long enough to say hi. Hope you’re feeling better.
Hi Kairiki. Yes, I’m doing well. A few months ago got invited to train at Ludus Magnus, Matt Wenning’s place. Hardcore gym, train pretty much like Westside. I’ve started seeing some actual progress for a change.
Upper body. Warmup: presses with 25 lb DBs, four sets.
Bench. He’s got the bamboo bar set up. For those who missed my early posts, these guys have two bars made of bamboo. They flex really weirdly. He loads up a couple of 10 lb plates, attached w elastic bands. Bench for one minute straight. Easy. Do again. A bit harder. Again. Getting tough.
Replace with thick bar. Keep going. Tricky keeping wrists straight.
Then cambered bar. Never tried one of these before. Oh, ouch. Arms didn’t want to bend that far. Pecs didn’t like it. I did them all.
Pulldowns, moderate weight, 25 reps. Did them all, last couple tough.
Lie on incline bench. Row 30 lb DBs. Three sets. Halfway through, they just stopped. I pulled with everything I had, but they just sat there. He’s saying “Move! Faster!” Managed to do some half reps or something.
Kickbacks for triceps, supersetted with curls. Arms were HURTING.
Last thing: reverse wrist curls to failure. I’ve done them sitting, he had me do them standing. A bit awkward, but knocked them out.
Time for eats.
All sounding good@ You even got krazyriki visit
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Time for eats.[/quote]
Sounds well deserved!
Speaking of new people/places, finally found a somatics class near me, she was calling it something else which is why I never found it when searching last year. Anyway we will struggle onwards!
Hi, Techno. Yeah, big problem is trying to eat enough. I’ve kicked up carbs and trying to keep food coming, but never liked cooking and cleanup and so on. Have put on about 3 lbs in past couple of weeks, hope it’s good weight.
Hmmm . . . somatics. Years back, got a somatics book and tried the exercises. Very useful for specific things. Good luck with it.
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- INTERVIEW WITH THE MATT (WENNING) * * * * * * * * * *
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Came into the gym today and there was a video crew shooting some benching. I think was a SPCA training video or something.
Upper body. Warm up with OH press, 20 lb DBs, 20 reps. Kindof tough, but did them all. Take bench back couple of notches, DB incline press. 30x 14, failure. 30x10.
Bench. Reverse bands on bar. 185 lbs. Triples for speed. Normally that would give me pause, but the bands took a lot of the pressure off. Soon I was whipping the puppy up and down. Trainer is very big on yanking bar down. Ten sets of triples.
Puts on plates, 205 lb. Bench to failure. Did 13, I think. Actually felt pretty easy.
30 lb DB rows for 1 minute. Did them all, improve on last time tried this.
10 lb DB front raise for 1 minute. Keep thinking big shoulders, big shoulders. (Shoulders have actually grown in past couple of months - starting to get fun.)
Tri pressdowns for a minute. Very close to failure.
Band pullaparts for a minute. Different this time - use 2 strands of band, not just the one. You REALLY got to want it.
Reverse wrist curls with kettlebell. 25 in first set, 15 in second.
At this point, they had Matt in front of the cameras and asking him questions. So trainer tells me no yelling, no grunting, nothing to disturb them. Now let’s do heavy bench to failure. Right. When we’re done, I watch for a while.
Highlights:
Matt likes to train people by going after weaknesses. You’re no better than your weak link.
He believes in hot tubs, massage therapy, and acupuncture.
He takes credit for changing the Army’s training program. Used to be testing recruits for 2 mile run. He convinced them soldiers spend a lot more time sprinting short distances with 70 lb backpacks.
He’s one of the few world class lifters with no big spine injuries. He credits it to decompression exercises after squat or DL - reverse hyper, pulldown, anything. He trains everyone that way.
What really bugs him is videos of people on the Internet doing poor form.
Final question: “Where in your facility would you put a juice bar?”
“A juice bar? I don’t know. I guess next to the toilet . . . that’s where I need hydrating.”
Cav, looks like things are going great in the gym. Band work sounds fun.
Hi Jack! (Gotta stop saying that in crowded airports.) Yes, the band work is fun, if you’ve never done any, you’re missing out.
Got my official Ludus Magnus T shirt. Comfy, thin, will be great in summer. Collar’s really tight, though. Weird. In the past couple of years, all the collars on my shirts suddenly started shrinking. What could be causing it?
Squats with safety bar in monolift. Onto box.
bar x 10
25 plates x 3
25 and 10 x 1
25 and 2 10s x 1
25 and 3 10s x 1
25 and 45 x 1 * * * * PR * * * * * OMAGAWD what a grinder that was. But Christian was cheering me on, somehow that always makes me complete the lift.
Very happy. Trainer says that’s more weight than I’ve had on the bar before. A 195 squat. But . . . I thought the safety bar weighed more than that??? I estimate 205 - or 210 - maybe 215?
Stiff leg DL with 2 60 lb DBs to failure.
x18
x12
x11
Had really killed my hams last week, took days for the DOMS to go away. Now will see if they toughened.
Standing abs with band. Couldn’t get all the way down, do my best. 25 reps. For 4 sets. Major pain.
Hyper extensions with 25 lb plate. x18. x12. x12. Absolutely determined to beat my previous record, it worked. Must have done something right - literally couldn’t walk away. Seriously, I looked like a crab tottering across the floor. Completely spent. So naturally I needed more work.
Leg extensions to failure. 8 plates. x18. x12. Trainer impressed, asked if I could do another 12. So I did. Gaggg.
Good to see you making PRs again Cav. And I see now that your trainer knows that they’re PRs so that’s good as well.
Afaik the safety squat bar is 55 lbs. I have no experience though so someone correct me if I’m wrong. But I also think that a 195 safety bar squat equates to something more than that on a regular squat, how much I have no clue.
Thanks, Punnyguy. Yeah, impressed that trainer is keeping track of it. Nice little ego-boost when he points it out.
Upper body. Warmup with standing OH press, 20 lb DBs. Supposed to be warmup, but hit failure on second set - jeez, I hate being so weak on that press. Shoulders have been growing some, so hope to make progress there.
Bench. Regular bar, chains, some plates. Singles. Knock them out. Kept going, adding a bit more weight until hit the tough one. Spotter gave a teensy help out of the hole, let me get it the rest of the way up. Don’t know what the weight was, I try not to look. Not counting chains, probably about 140.
Pulldown machine with thick bar. Heavy weight, doubles. I hate hate HATE that machine, pulldowns are so hard, which is why I gotta work it. First set good. He increases weight, second set, barely make it. He decreases, I make it. Then go to failure. Yech. Got about 4, more or less, until straining on damn thing, it’s not moving, but I’m pulling, pulling, until he tells me stop. Turns out I’ve made progress, a couple months ago couldn’t even do that. Yay.
Goal: do an actual pullup. Can already do chins, not many, but possible. I mention to trainer when I was in college, had to do 3 chins for required Phys Ed, took me about 5 or 10 minutes to complete. Funny how people can’t even believe anyone can be that weak, but it’s true.
Tri pulldowns w thick rope. 8 reps, easy peasy. Increase one plate, 8 more. Lather, rinse, repeat. Got about 6 or 7 sets before finally croaking.
Pec dec (yes, they really have one at this hardcore place). Three sets, each to failure. Fairly light weight. x28. x15. x12. Holey Schmoley, you just can’t believe the lactic acid burning.
Band pull aparts. When first started, did one strand, now doing both strands. 20 reps. Really surprised how shoulders hurt, threw me a bit. Barely made 20, had to pause a couple times. He tells me keep arms up, no resting. How could I possibly do the second set better when I was so trashed? Funny things happen when you want something bad enough. Deep breath, got the arms up, and damn I did all 20.
Spent the day eating. Today my pecs are SORE but swole. Love it.
Lookin like a W/O in hear. Good work Cav. What do you think of the pec deck, does it really serve any functional purpose other than making the swole better. I mean if there was a functional carry over I would be in, I have always shied away from curls and pec w/o because of my boxing coach’s belief that it slowed a boxers punches greatly.
hey Cav, you are sounding really great!! I agree the pulldown machine is a real challenge especially when not cheating! Your workout sounds different than the last time I was here
Hi, Dude. Of course the pec dec has functional use. Pecs are used in benching. We don’t do much because trainer believers my tris are my main weak part. So lots of tri work, occasional pec and shoulder. As for your boxing coach, well . . . stronger bench means more force in extending arms, which means higher speed. Nothing personal, but some of the dumbest bozos I’ve ever met were big strong guys, some of whom believed they had a right to charge money for their “advice”. I’ve come to believe what Ellington Darden once said: there’s an inverse relationship between a man’s bicep and his IQ.
Reconstruction, welcome. Thanks for the kind words, I’m struggling with this, it seems to be paying off. If you never tried pulldowns with a thick bar, you don’t know what you’re missing. (Oh, they have thick straight bar, thick bar angled toward you, thick bar angled away. Now THAT’S different!)
Yep, different workout. Trainer keeps me guessing. No two sessions are ever the same. You wouldn’t think such a small place could have so much variety, but they always surprise me.
Great work in here.
I notice they seem to be giving you quite a bit of work to failure. Is this because they think it contributes to strength increases or because they’re trying to pack some mass on ya?
Sounds like you are having some good hard working fun.
Brett, I believe the answer to your question is - yes. They know I’m looking at PL meets and PL is up their alley anyway. However, trainer has said hypertrophy is specific goal. So I believe they’re trying to bulk me up to get my strength up. (At 210, I’m a famine victim compared to those guys.)
True, quite a bit to failure. However. I spent many, many years training HIIT - one set to failure, stop. Zilch results. It’s hard to get past the notion that too much work will wear me down, despite the fact that strict HIIT never did shit for me. Note: they strongly believe that a major lift to failure (squat, bench, dead) stops immediately. They never go past that. Only assistance exercises get multiple failures.
Hi, Techno. Well, I wouldn’t call it fun . . . lots of straining, sweating, grunting. But it’s good to hit a PR from time to time. And the variety of exercises keeps things interesting.
No offence , but that guy, was 98 and 0 as a amateur and a world ranked OLY lifter, and used to spar with Floyd Mayweather senior. I am sure they have some carry over but I am at a loss for what. Sounds like your training is on track.
IMHO, punching speed is a genetic gift of skill which is marginally affected by external training aside from practice making perfect. Punching power can be assisted by more strength though I believe, maybe why pushups are such a staple?
^^A big increase in muscle weight might slow down hand speed, but I think it’s the bias of most skilled athletes against overly muscled dudes. Sprinters lift weights and get bigger hips/legs, but it helps their speed; not exactly the same sport of course…
I always did chest flyes with cable and dumbbells because I thought it would increase the power of my hooks, as well as absorb the shear force on my shoulders from throwing/landing the hook. No clue if it helped or not.
Funny story: there was an ex-NY Ranger hockey player (name escapes me now) who got into a lot of scuffles, and supposedly he told people he did a lot of curling in the gym because he thought it helped his punching prowess in his fights! (grab and scuffle up-close type of affairs) Maybe he just wanted a manly excuse for doing curls for the girlz!
Dude, I didn’t mean to imply that he was bad at boxing. I’m sure he’s very good at it. I’m just commenting on what seems a strange statement. In my experience, people who shot very quickly to the top start confusing the attributes that got them there, thinking some irrelevant factor was important or vice versa. I have no idea of how strong he is on pushing/bench, how he got there, and what he attributes that to.
I do know some basic physics, and know that greater force yields greater acceleration. If that screws up boxing skill, OK, but have never heard a boxer discuss that.
In my case, trainer is gearing me for powerlifting, and pec dec is part of it. He’s benched 400 in competition, and expects 450 in his upcoming meet. He accepts Matt’s training ideas. Do we tell him he’s screwed up?
Punnyguy, I have no idea how much boxers do pushups or other pushing exercises. Consider: here on TN a few months ago a boxer turner powerlifter posted his story. He had been training with weights for something like a month or 2 and was so frustrated he could only bench 200. This guy really couldn’t see he was doing great. Are boxers typically stronger than they think?
Funny you mention curls. Trainer tells me biceps are useless in PL, then has me curl now and then.
Just looking for a excuse to include them is all I was looking for. Your trainer is doing great your PR’s kinda say it all. I think curls have a carry over functionally if done in a dynamic/triple extension way. Like a Curl/power clean
Go right ahead and include them, Dude, can’t hurt. As for curls, he seems almost apologetic when he has me do them, but seriously . . . we do want to sneak peeks in the mirror flexing, right?
Been working heavy for couple of months, so trainer says next week is deload - just play with cardio stuff or whatever. Of course, you know what happens the workout just before deload - pile it on harder than ever.
Bench with band. Go for 45 secs, all I could do. Hard part is getting form the way he wants - he makes me put more tri into it, but it feels so awkward. Rest, then another set. Pump, pump, getting hard, hit failure. That’s it for bench, right? If you say yes, you’ve underestimated his sadism.
Put on 10 lb plates. Do single. Can’t - bar stuck on chest. He works with me: tighten back, hold breath, stay tense.
Do another. It gets half up. He’s not happy. Bring bar out farther. Stay tight.
Again. Concentrate. This time it gets up. Yay! He tells me don’t yell on the way up, but I was just so excited.
He plops on more plates. Concentrate. It gets up.
More plates. Concentrate really hard on how bad I want this. It gets up, shaky, but it does.
Another couple of plates. This time failure. “You lost it before it unracked” he chides me. I’m not happy.
He is determined to get my tris up. Tricep machine, 8 reps, no plates. Tough but OK. 5 lb plate, got 8. But he tells me I’m doing bad form. He holds my elbows in position. Oh my Gawd, it’s barely moving. Another set. Only get 6 or 7.
Pulldown machine. Thick bar with parallel grip. (Don’t you just marvel at the wild things these guys have?) Superset with pec dec. Four sets. Ouch, ouch, ouch.
Tri pressdowns with band. I told you he meant it. Three sets to failure. Superset with band pullaparts.
As I’m finishing up, he’s fixing dinner for himself: a plate piled high with cake. Cake??? Refined sugar? Gluten? No protein?? I ask him about it and he thinks it’s perfectly normal. Seriously. How do some people eat like this and not get sick as a dog? (As I did when I used to eat like that.)