Yeah that might be it.
Great workout followed by a weird dermatology appointment. I destroyed my skin’s protective barrier with a harsh product and part of my face is on fire. So, what’s the solution? Vasoline! Yep, straight from the dermatologist’s mouth. I need to lay off all the “skincare” crap and just oil up my face with dinosaurs for the next couple weeks.
Workout:
Loaded Walking Lunges: 4 sets every minute on the two minutes (EMO2M)
Arnold Press (complete pause at the bottom): 4 x failure
That pause makes every rep feels like it’s starting from a dead stop and fires up the shoulders dramatically. I also like to press slightly in front of my body rather than straight above to add even more tension to the delts. This is not the best way to lift the most weight, but it works for my purposes.
Superset EMO2M
T-Bar Row: 3 x 10 slow eccentric
Lateral Raise: 3 x failure
Attempted the Hammer Strength chest press. No dice. Pec is still not 100%. But I’m actually super okay with this.
The Adjacent Body Part Theory
I have a theory that when you stop training a muscle or muscle group, the closest adjacent area will grow even bigger if you’re still targeting them hard and intentionally.
My shoulders always seem to blow up when I stop hitting either chest or back. And if I stop hitting shoulders, my back and chest seem to get huge. This could be all in my head but even if it is, I don’t care. It brings me joy.
I’ve seen the same thing happen in relation to quads, hams, and glutes. When my quads and hams were their largest I had a relatively flat butt. But when my glutes are enormous, my legs don’t really stand out.
So maybe the key is to preemptively de-emphasize a muscle group, shift focus to areas you want to build, then rotate. I think Coach Thibaudeau wrote an article and a plan for something like this. Or you could be like me and let your minor injuries dictate what you de-emphasize, then consider it a win for another area of your body.
Somewhat related to my day but not really.
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I wish I had a problem where my body got huge when I didn’t train it.
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But you are training it. You’re just avoiding the problem areas, and continuing to pump growth factors into the muscles nearby.
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Years ago, John Meadows demonstrated his rear delt destroyer sets at T Nation HQ and I loved the idea but never quite felt it until today. You position yourself chest-down on an incline bench and target your shoulders using momentum with a partial-rep flye.
But I get it now. My problem was that I went too light and controlled the ROM too much… which, sure, that might have some value but it’s not the same exercise and it won’t “destroy” the rear delts the way Meadows discovered his version did.
And once you do get it right, the back and medial heads of your shoulders will feel that pump like nothing else. The way Gareth Sapstead explains it here (he calls them Meadows Rear Delt Swings) is one of the best explanations.
So anyway here was my workout:
Superset
Hip Thust: 5 sets x various reps depending on stance (staggered vs. normal)
Pull-Up: 5 x 5
Meadows Rear Delt Swing: 4 x Failure (one drop in weight per set)
Straight Arm Pulldown: 3 x Failure (2-3 drops)
Bicep 21s: slow and controlled for the full ROM, a little more momentum for the bottom partials. Serious ouch.
Other Stuff
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My friend Charlie brought his new puppy to the gym parking lot and he got so excited that he peed all over my gym shoes (the puppy not Charlie) which I’ve only ever worn to the gym because I wanted them to stay clean.
You can’t be mad at puppies though. So my response was, “I tend to have that effect. It’s ok.” And then I got to snuggle a deliriously excited black lab.
So this workout was brought to me by puppy pee. It’s the new ergogenic aid. 
Leg Press: 5 x 5
I’m only using 230 right now, but my range of motion and control are excellent compared to what I usually see at the gym.
Superset:
Seated Cable Row: 4 x failure
Arnold Press: 4 x failure
This ended up being a descending set rep-wise for the rows, with an increase in weight. Arnold press stayed relatively light with 15 pound dumbbells. Full stop at the bottom of each rep.
Drop Set:
Meadows Rear Delt Swing → Controlled Flye: 4 x Failure
For the rear delt swings I’m hitting 30 reps, which seems like a lot but you should see what Meadows used to prescribe. I don’t feel the delts turn on until around rep 15, but once they do, they’re on fire. Then with the lighter dumbbells, I did a standard rear delt flye with a full ROM and controlled rep speed.
Superset:
Pull-Up: 3 x 5
Tricep Pulldown: 3 x 8-10
Last week I did another spontaneous set of pull-ups at T Nation HQ and surprisingly hit 10 reps. So I’m thinking that just adding them back into workouts has been “greasing the groove” to some extent. I’ve also been playing around with a mixed grip. Maybe I’ll graduate to a pronated grip if the elbows allow.
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That really made me miss my black lab. He is in the army now, hope he is doing a good job.
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What?! That’s a euphemism I hadn’t heard before. Awww, hope you are able to get another furry friend.
So now he’s sleeping in pup tents and eating MRE kibble?
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Whew! I’m so glad to hear that. What a good boy he is! 
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Maybe, we had him for 2 years as part of the Australian border force puppy training scheme. He went in to be trained as a scent dog, I assume sniffing for wither arms / explosives or people. Once they go in you don’t get any updates on how they are doing unfortunately. He really did like kibble though, and plants pots, and watering cans and socks and chairs. pretty much anything he could chew and eat really.
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“I came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. And I’m all out of bubble gum.”
- Rowdy Roddy Piper (wrestler)
- Also Army Dog (possibly attributed)
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I was first cued into these with Krocs version, which is pretty much the same thing.
More interestingly though, is the 2 different trains of thought for style:
-1 says “fill the muscle with blood first, then do heavy/explosive movements”. This aligns with Meadows
-2 says “do the heavy reps first, then use the lighter reps (or easier movement) as an intensifier”
One of the few people I take training advice from had me on a program where most exercises had a form of intensification aligned with method 2.
An example of this is:
DB Flye Press to failure → DB Press (without resting) to failure.
It was putting the harder movement first (in your case, Controlled Flye → Meadows Rear Delt Swing)
I’d be interested to hear your take or experience with this as I see value in both methods.
Is there a trend here you’re not telling us?
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Yes! There’s a really good video out there of Kroc demonstrating it.
I like the idea behind both approaches, but the second seems to be more of a go-to for me.
Well that looks like fun!
YES, good eye. That’s a really astute observation.
Since the swings are relatively new-ish (the way Meadows intended them) I’m still playing with load and figuring out what’s heavy enough to make the movement effective, but not so heavy that the tension shifts away from the rear delts onto the mid back.
So I knew 30 pounds was a good weight to use for the initial swings, but for the drop in load I wasn’t sure what to use, and actually made the mistake of only picking up 10-pound dumbbells for that part. But they were hilariously light.
So after going to failure with the heavier swings, and dropping to the 10 pound dumbbells, I had to make it harder by increasing the ROM and time under tension… otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to feel the swings. Maybe if I had done several drops in weight from 30 to 20 to 15 and then to the 10 pound dumbbells it would’ve worked, but for some reason I couldn’t get a good mind-muscle connection going from 30s to 10s.
I was going to just replace the lighter set of dumbbells with heavier ones, but coupling those two different moves ended up making my shoulders feel like they were going to explode. So I stuck with it. Next time I’ll probably just up the weight for the second part and make it a more conventional drop set.
Floofers just can’t get enough of me. 
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Today’s Workout…
Was brought to me by Spike Energy. I taste-tested a Ghost energy drink first, and I don’t know how anyone drinks that swill. So then I opened a Spike to wash away the disappointment.
Spike has spoiled me to most other energy drinks. There are a couple flavors of Monster that are delicious but nothing – literally zero things in this world – taste as good as Strawberry Lemonade Spike. And if you disagree you are wrong and you should fire your tastebuds.
Hip Thrust
Set 1: Staggered Stance x Failure (each side)
Set 2: Normal Stance x Failure
Set 3: Staggered Stance x Failure (each side)
Set 4: Normal Stance x Failure
I make the hip thrust harder with the stance, number of reps, pauses, posterior pelvic tilt, and rep speed. The load for these rarely ever goes above 135. Adding more weight is just not necessary if your goal is to have a great ass. But feel free to add more plates if it makes you feel productive.
Low Incline Dumbbell Bench: 4 x 8
These didn’t feel right nervous system wise. Pec seems okay.
Superset:
T-Bar Row: 3 x 15, 12, 10
Lateral Raise: 3 x 15
Doing anything back related always makes me feel like a rockstar. I’ve been using a 45-pound plate lately and just making it harder with a slower eccentric or pauses at the top.
Cable Rear Delt Flye: 3 x Failure
I go crazy light with these. Adding load on this particular move always shifts tension to the lower traps which is not my goal. So for these, I use pauses and really control the eccentric. Once my shoulders start to feel that delicious burning sensation, the pauses aren’t as necessary and I can use a more even pace between the concentric and eccentric.
Does Fall Make People More Introverted?
I just want to hibernate lately. So these are more relatable than usual:
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Superset
RDL: 4x8, controlled eccentric
Pull-Up: 4x5
• First set: Pronated Grip (woohoo!)
• Second set: Mixed Grip (right hand over, left under)
• Third set: Mixed Grip (reverse of the last set)
• Fourth set: Underhand Grip (chin-up)
Superset
Straight-Arm Pulldown: 4 x failure
Tricep Pulldown: 4 x failure
Machine Lateral Raise: 2 long drop sets
EZ Bar Bicep 21’s
Pec is irritated again. Probably going to take a longer hiatus on chest work. No biggie.
Other Stuff
The husband is out of town, so I’ve been trying not to think too much about suspicious sounds around the house. Luckily I have a really good alarm system.
Half of the really good alarm system:
Got any TV or movie recommendations? I try to watch stuff that Chris probably wouldn’t be into if he were home, so I’m in the middle of the Netflix series, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and it’s pretty entertaining.
And this is absolutely true. 
Haunt me, just don’t mess with the pipes or foundation.
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I just started Anyone But You on Netflix. I’m only 2 episodes in but it seems promising and I heard that they’ve renewed it for another season.
And because I’m a sucker for “low stakes TV”, Love Is Blind and The Great British Baking Show both have new seasons.
I’m gonna check this one out!
On another note, have you read Freida McFadden’s new one, “The Boyfriend”? I’m just finishing it and it’s not too shabby!!
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Oh, I’ll have to find that one! I just had to edit my response to you because my brain for some reason thought of Nobody Wants This.
Ha! Good ideas and that is absolutely relatable. We got hooked on Big Brother, and Survivor is basically appointment viewing. 
I haven’t yet! I’m working through your list and a few books that keep popping up online. But I’ll for sure put it on my list.
You were so right about The Next Mrs. Parish. Incredible read! I couldn’t put it down. I also just finished Verity. And the plot was good with lots of suspense, but kinda smutty. Like overkill on the sex for me at least. But the ending was good and twisty and the story was interesting.
Next on my list is One Perfect Couple. Thanks again for all the great recommendations!!
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Yellowstone
Chris might be into that one, though.
Show makes me want to move to Montana. At least, more than i already did.
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