Absolutely Ray, Yates said as much when I attended a seminar of his in 98. Hes now doing certifications in the 4 way split he used the last few years of his pro days, like it’s the holy grail.
Same here, Dr Ds is a reasonable approach for most, but as he mentioned on the old site, in his bodybuilding heyday he trained 4 days per week with 3 sets of 10 reps per exercise. Again, that’s a reasonable approach imo, but its a great deal more than say what MM was advocating with his “ideal” routine.
Hey BD, but sure setbacks are half the fun lol
You and I have different definitions of fun…
Oh by the way @hit_sirloin I have faith that you will man up and power through that cheesecake.
Haha, that cheesecake is long gone, along with about 2000cals worth of mac n 3cheese with gammon bites and broccoli…this dieting is killing me .
Best
Rob
Last few workouts…
Today…
Reeves TBDL (holding tri grip plates)
Top set was 227kg x 3
Wide stance leg press
Top set 3 cluster sets of 5 (10 second RP between clusters)
Power shrugs
Top set 3 cluster of 5 again
Prowler pushes
2x20metres with 200kg
Yesterday…
Viking press (parallel grip facing away from Machine)
142.5kg x 2
Machine pullover
Top set 3 cluster sets of 5
Hammer row
Top set of 10
PM in home gym…
Onr arm machine curl
2 max static holds, one hold palm up, one hold hammer grip
V bar pushdowns
Top set of 10
Overhead rope cable extension
Top set of 10
Mobility work and several mile brisk walk tomorrow
Great work on the Reeves Deadlift. 227kgx3 is excellent going.
Is the Leg Press another model? I seem to recall you had some “issues” with the exercise a few weeks ago?
Slainte,
Ray
Hey Ray, cheers bud. I actually find the Reeves tbdl easier than the high handled regular tbdl. Feel I can get the quads into it more.
Nah it’s the linear one i popped something in my hip on, just taking it easy on it (320kg I’d ok) hip has been good thankfully🤞
All good yourself?
Best
Rob
Hi Rob,
More quad with the Reeves TBDL? I have to admit, I’ve not felt any quad in the standard TBDL, despite the low hips. It’s a deadlift but curious to see how things go lifting Reeves style. Will milk my current routine and try this out.
Good work on the Leg Press. The variety is incredible when you consider the basic template of the machine. I used an old Nautilus model some years back (after Jones had left the company) and loved it, but the rest tended to be more glutes than anything and never like the rounding of the back.
As for self: lots of good and a little bit of … meh! Upper body is building up nicely. Not expected and at 45 a minor miracle but I’m not complaining. Lifting light weights and progressing on the PR week. If I can get over the 250kg TBDL PR next week then I’m onto something. Surprise (and a dispiriting one) is that I have to admit that isolation exercises do work. I always subscribed to the school that said if you want to increase a lift then do that lift and nothing else. Didn’t work. A mixture of compounds and isolation has done wonders. Not rocket science but, well, I’m even doing Flyes and suffering on every rep. Boring as hell.
The only neg is a slight back strain. An odd one too. Deadlifting with only 80% of 1RM and went to write in my workout log. A strain when leaning over the desk. After that I had a lot of discomfort when standing up in between each rep. The lifting was easy but it feels like a weight pressing down vertically on my lower back. Same today doing Presses.
Did you see Tom Stoltman bailed out of the Atlas Stone record? He felt a slight twinge on his biceps. Probably a wise move not to force the record with WSM coming up.
Slainte,
Ray
Hey Ray,
Yeah, the Reeves TBDL allows me to stay more upright, whereas the regular TBDL is still a hinge (not a bad thing of course). I do prefer those leverage leg presses, loved the one i was using but i just cant stand commercial gyms, theres not the same camaraderie or encouragement thats in Phils backstreet gym.
Happy days on the upper body gainz, somethings line up right, so stay on track. Reckon you pull a 600lber TBDL before Christmas or new year? But here dont lie, you love those sweet flyes, the Olympias just around the corner ha😉. Hopefully the back strain eases up soon and doesnt interfere with progress.
Yes, seen Tommy boy. I agree, no point tearing a biceps just before a big show. I reckon hes as good a chance as any, hopefully he stays injury free.
Best
Rob
Hi Rob,
Gains will slow, of course, but I think 600lbs is doable within 6 months. Get that and I’ve achieved more than I ever thought possible.
I see Glenn Ross’s competition (is it Britain’s Strongest Man?) is imminent. Not sure what to make of it as it’s trying to replicate the Arnolds and Glenn does seem to antagonise a lot of people but will be interested anyway.
Best,
Ray
Hey Ray,
Sounds good mate. Same at this end, given my back issues I didnt think if ever pull 275kg for a double, high handles or not.
Glenn’s show, the UKs, ive not heard much around the camp fire. His shows are good, but sometimes I think he asks too much from the competitors, I.e., too many events.
Best
Rob
Back in the gym today after a 3 day mini break…
Viking strict press
Top rest pause set of 5 / 3 / 2 plus a mid range static hold at the end of the last rep
EZ bar BOR
Top rest pause set of 6 / 4 / 3 (20 second rest pause each time)
Static parallel grip chin
BW x 2 holds ALAP
V bar cable pushdowns
3 x 12 with same weight
Bilateral DB supine curls
3 x ramping sets of 12,10,10
First time squatting today after a year or so, felt good, well, in all the right place lol, didnt go too heavy…
Hatfield overload squat
2 top sets of 5 with 125kg
Deadlift hold
300kg without straps x 15 seconds
320kg with straps x 22 seconds
(Home gym during lockdown)
Wide stance leg presses
4 clusters of 5 reps with 320kg
5lb off this last two weeks, no major restrictions, just smaller portions.
Damn strong pull and even more impressive hold. Feeling any lose of strength with the lose of weight?
Cheers mate, was trying to replicate a car hold. Thankfully no strength loses so far hel, as long as my strength is overall lb4lb better by the end I’ll be happy enough. But yeah, so far so good.
Best
Rob
Nice work, Rob. The height of the deadlift frame looks to be about knee height on you too. Decent deadlifting to get the thing into position for the holds.
Slainte,
Ray
Cheers mate, yeah lower knee. The weight of a car at the end is 300kg…ish. That was several months ago though, holding it slightly longer now, longer again with straps.
Did some light sets with the Reeves deadlift today. I used an Olympic barbell and it’s a bit of a stretch. Also, I don’t have 45cm plates that I can grip. My tri-grip plates are c.39cm.
Still, quite a nice feel to it. Oddly, there’s very little by Reeves on this exercise. I think I wrote on Dr D’s forum that the main reason Reeves used it was to widen his shoulders. It’s arguable whether this is possible but what I did find on Youtube was a post that said Reeves did it more as a shrug movement and primarily a delt blaster. I always used it years ago as a sort of variation on the snatch-grip deadlift and liked it–using the trap bar sounds like the ideal combo. But I might see what I can do with it for this cycle as a shoulder exercise only. Don’t know if Reeves set the bar on the ground in between reps or simply took it off the squat stands. The latter makes more sense but worth trying.
Slainte,
Ray
Interesting. Theres nothing really mentioned in the books i have on his training (dynamic muscle building and building the classic physique the natural way) on the lift, just the picture. He did advise against directly working the traps thought, over developed traps he felt detracted from V taper. Who knows, possibly it was staged just for pictures to show off his width? Not sure. No matter what though, theres merit to it imo.
I went with isometric deadlifts and banded speed deads after today, the ID at mid shin doesnt half drain the batteries. Performed 5 x 5 second max efforts. Then several sets of speed deads. Liked how it felt. Quads are already sore. Keeping all else low stress while i work on these IDs.
Take it easy
Rob
Hi Rob,
I’ll see if I can locate the post on the Reeves Deadlift. The thing to bear in mind though is that although Reeves had an inquiring mind his variant may have had its pros and cons. He used it for his delts and shoulder width (not quite the same thing in this case) but if it can be amended in a better way then why not? I only tried it with a light weight yesterday (67kg) but it had a nice feel to it. More upright. Yes, decreasing the ROM but, then again, there’s nothing magical about the 22.5cm height of the bar off the floor … other than it being chosen decades ago to prevent head injuries.
Not tried isos in years. How are you finding them or, more to the point, how is your back feeling?
I’ve been popping into Dr D’s board and I can see why HIT has baffled many. Have you seen the kettlebell thread? Using Dr D’s 30/10/30 protocol for kettlebell swings? What? Normally I’d say a troll is on the prowl but I’m having my doubts.
Best,
Ray