Forgot to mention, down to 222 as of yesterday. No Hawt ABZes yet though.
I’m supposed to go on up to a 5x6 on my main lifts but I don’t think I’m going to try that much heavy volume while dropping weight and am going to skip to the lower volume part of the cycle.
11/12/10 PM
Squat
barx5
135x5
225x3
315x2
405x1 Add belt
455 3x2 Add wraps
Bench
barx15
135x10
225x5
315 5x2
11/13/10 AM
Seated military press
bar x10
135 5x10
Leg extension
135 3x15
So, the large knuckle on my right middle finger had been hurting. After the PM workout on the 12th it got much worse. Did what I could on the 13th without being able to grip a bar and made it even worse. Going to have to rest it a while and hope its not a stress fracture or something. keeping it taped up for now.
221 this morning.
So a little catch up. Been traveling this past week. Did a lot of body weight stuff, calisthenics, ran stairs and such. Hand has been feeling better, doesn’t hurt doing stuff around the house. Went down stairs to attempt a deadlift workout planning to use tight straps. Did a few reps with just the bar and my hand was hurting when I let go. So I decided to do good mornings instead, but just holding the bar on my back up over about 200 pounds hurts. It really doesnâ??t hurt bad enough to stop, but Iâ??m afraid of making it worse.
I have been talking with C_C about possibly doing some DC and had been reading and laying out a possible start into DC.
So pretty much I drove to the gym and basically followed a DC routine. Iâ??m having to adjust some things though. Real heavy gripping (DB rows, Deads) are out. Controlling heavy free-weights (bench and presses) are out. I think I can find a safety squat bar to use, so squats and good morning might be in, Iâ??ll have to try it out. I have access to plenty of machines lots of good plate loaded hammer strength and stack life fitness machines.
What I did today (not including warmups):
HS incline bench 320 pounds X 14 rest pause
HS shoulder press 190 pounds X 22 rest pause
Cable rope push downs 72.5 X 23 rest pause
Wide grip lat pull down 220 X 22 rest pause (strap on right hand)
LF chest supported row 210 X 22(strap on right hand)
The strap with the larger cushie handle seem pretty tolerable on my hand. This was kind of an experiment and I must say I really liked it. Started out a bit on the light side for a lot of these but I havenâ??t done this kind of work in a long long time, so Iâ??ll have to get a better feel for it. Pace of the workout is a big change. Total time in the gym was pretty short, BUT there is almost no down time.
I think the biggest problem is going to be figuring out some doable back thickness exercises. Iâ??m going to ask for some help on possible exercise selections with my current limitations. Iâ??ll probably also post in the DC thread.
It is going to be quite the change of pace for me to go to machines and higher rep ranges not to mention going to failure. Hopefully this will shock my system into some good growth. Iâ??m down to 219 as of this morning with a lot less man-gut (and actually gained a pound of muscle according to my bodyfat measuring scale, and yes I know they arenâ??t very accurate) so Iâ??m going to be adding some calories back in and start gaining but I donâ??t want to get as chubby as I was. I may experiment with some of these new protein fasts to keep my bodyfat in check (Iâ??ve actually already done 2).
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
So a little catch up. Been traveling this past week. Did a lot of body weight stuff, calisthenics, ran stairs and such. Hand has been feeling better, doesn’t hurt doing stuff around the house. Went down stairs to attempt a deadlift workout planning to use tight straps. Did a few reps with just the bar and my hand was hurting when I let go. So I decided to do good mornings instead, but just holding the bar on my back up over about 200 pounds hurts. It really doesnâ??t hurt bad enough to stop, but Iâ??m afraid of making it worse.
I have been talking with C_C about possibly doing some DC and had been reading and laying out a possible start into DC.
So pretty much I drove to the gym and basically followed a DC routine. Iâ??m having to adjust some things though. Real heavy gripping (DB rows, Deads) are out. Controlling heavy free-weights (bench and presses) are out. I think I can find a safety squat bar to use, so squats and good morning might be in, Iâ??ll have to try it out. I have access to plenty of machines lots of good plate loaded hammer strength and stack life fitness machines.
What I did today (not including warmups):
HS incline bench 320 pounds X 14 rest pause
HS shoulder press 190 pounds X 22 rest pause
Cable rope push downs 72.5 X 23 rest pause
Wide grip lat pull down 220 X 22 rest pause (strap on right hand)
LF chest supported row 210 X 22(strap on right hand)
The strap with the larger cushie handle seem pretty tolerable on my hand. This was kind of an experiment and I must say I really liked it. Started out a bit on the light side for a lot of these but I havenâ??t done this kind of work in a long long time, so Iâ??ll have to get a better feel for it. Pace of the workout is a big change. Total time in the gym was pretty short, BUT there is almost no down time.
I think the biggest problem is going to be figuring out some doable back thickness exercises. Iâ??m going to ask for some help on possible exercise selections with my current limitations. Iâ??ll probably also post in the DC thread.
It is going to be quite the change of pace for me to go to machines and higher rep ranges not to mention going to failure. Hopefully this will shock my system into some good growth. Iâ??m down to 219 as of this morning with a lot less man-gut (and actually gained a pound of muscle according to my bodyfat measuring scale, and yes I know they arenâ??t very accurate) so Iâ??m going to be adding some calories back in and start gaining but I donâ??t want to get as chubby as I was. I may experiment with some of these new protein fasts to keep my bodyfat in check (Iâ??ve actually already done 2).
[/quote]
Are you switching to DC based on your end goals (which seems to be body comp) or because of your hand?
Either way good log 
a lot of factors really. hand, not making a ton of progress, just need to change some things up for a while. my overall goal is to get an elite total and that isnt going to change. but I need to just plain add some muscle to do that. so thats what i’m going to focus on right now, just building some muscle.
And thanks for reading.
11/20/10 - 40 minute bike ride with the misses.
11/21
seated DB curls 60s x10(not alternating) RP
Donkey calf raise 360x28 RP
lying leg curl 150x19 RP
Front squat ATG 255x3
155x20
LF Crunch 70x28 RP
ouch. The front squat widow maker was one of the least pleasant things I’ve done to myself. I’ll come back later to fill in my reps, I don’t have my journal with me.
Hm. Very heavy DL’s/Rack Pulls, Rows, Inclines etc are all more or less a core component of DC.
You can do things the way you’re doing them now of course until your hand heals, but don’t expect any crazy progress then.
Also, sessions tend to end up at 1-1.5 hours with the heavier exercises (warm-ups) and extreme stretching (almost a workout in itself, but most of the stretches are probably not for you right now with your hand. You could do the quad and ham stretches… Plus make sure you do your calves the DC way for some extra pain
Quad widows on the 2-way don’t have to be done on the same exercise as the heavy set in case of front squats… Could do them in the smith for some added stability, or a leg press (something you aren’t already doing as a main quad move elsewhere).
First priority should be dealing with your hand injury though… What’s the doctor say?
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
First priority should be dealing with your hand injury though… What’s the doctor say?
[/quote]
Going Wednesday.
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Hm. Very heavy DL’s/Rack Pulls, Rows, Inclines etc are all more or less a core component of DC.
You can do things the way you’re doing them now of course until your hand heals, but don’t expect any crazy progress then.
Also, sessions tend to end up at 1-1.5 hours with the heavier exercises (warm-ups) and extreme stretching (almost a workout in itself, but most of the stretches are probably not for you right now with your hand. You could do the quad and ham stretches… Plus make sure you do your calves the DC way for some extra pain
Quad widows on the 2-way don’t have to be done on the same exercise as the heavy set in case of front squats… Could do them in the smith for some added stability, or a leg press (something you aren’t already doing as a main quad move elsewhere).
[/quote]
I haven’t added in the extreme stretching yet. This has really just been experimentation to see how the workouts feel.
For the back stuff I think I may be okay with heavy work on the machines with straps and not having to control the weight but yeah, deads are out, which is essentially the reason I had to scrap the cycle I was in.
The seated DB curls even hurt with my hand taped up and using a strap.
I know it isn’t going to be ideal, but I would expect to make as much progress with this as some other program with my current limitations. Hopefully it will help me ease into the new style of training and get a feel for it by the time I’m healed up.
As for calves, I’m trying them the “DC” way for now. As long as I can. Whenever I start hitting them hard I get tightness and sharp pains in the bottom of my feet. They aren’t as bad now thanks to stretching and some rolling, but they still cause some problems. It’s why I seem to train them inconsistently.
Oh, and 1 to 1.5 hours is short. It just depends on your frame of reference.
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Quad widows on the 2-way don’t have to be done on the same exercise as the heavy set in case of front squats… Could do them in the smith for some added stability, or a leg press (something you aren’t already doing as a main quad move elsewhere).
[/quote]
Yeah, but I need the work on my front squats. I shouldn’t be able to back squat twice what I front squat or bench 1.5 time my front squat.
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Hm. Very heavy DL’s/Rack Pulls, Rows, Inclines etc are all more or less a core component of DC.
You can do things the way you’re doing them now of course until your hand heals, but don’t expect any crazy progress then.
Also, sessions tend to end up at 1-1.5 hours with the heavier exercises (warm-ups) and extreme stretching (almost a workout in itself, but most of the stretches are probably not for you right now with your hand. You could do the quad and ham stretches… Plus make sure you do your calves the DC way for some extra pain
Quad widows on the 2-way don’t have to be done on the same exercise as the heavy set in case of front squats… Could do them in the smith for some added stability, or a leg press (something you aren’t already doing as a main quad move elsewhere).
[/quote]
I haven’t added in the extreme stretching yet. This has really just been experimentation to see how the workouts feel.
For the back stuff I think I may be okay with heavy work on the machines with straps and not having to control
[/quote] ? [quote]
the weight but yeah, deads are out, which is essentially the reason I had to scrap the cycle I was in.
The seated DB curls even hurt with my hand taped up and using a strap.
[/quote] Skip bicep work then… [quote]
I know it isn’t going to be ideal, but I would expect to make as much progress with this as some other program with my current limitations. Hopefully it will help me ease into the new style of training and get a feel for it by the time I’m healed up.
[/quote] Do you have a reverse-capable pec deck or so or a dedicated rear delt machine which allows you to move it with your upper arms/elbows only? That might work for upper back work until you’re healed up…
[quote]
As for calves, I’m trying them the “DC” way for now. As long as I can. Whenever I start hitting them hard I get tightness and sharp pains in the bottom of my feet. They aren’t as bad now thanks to stretching and some rolling, but they still cause some problems. It’s why I seem to train them inconsistently.
[/quote] Ah, ease into it then… I used to have something similar as a kid (no training required haha), but I have no idea why it’s stopped… [quote]
Oh, and 1 to 1.5 hours is short. It just depends on your frame of reference.[/quote]
How long did your sessions take previously?
About 2h is the longest I’ve trained in one day before… That was an arm day with really long rest periods
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Quad widows on the 2-way don’t have to be done on the same exercise as the heavy set in case of front squats… Could do them in the smith for some added stability, or a leg press (something you aren’t already doing as a main quad move elsewhere).
[/quote]
Yeah, but I need the work on my front squats. I shouldn’t be able to back squat twice what I front squat or bench 1.5 time my front squat.[/quote]
True, true.
Are your quads the culprit?
I expect a 600+ front squat by this time next year. Get to it…
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Hm. Very heavy DL’s/Rack Pulls, Rows, Inclines etc are all more or less a core component of DC.
You can do things the way you’re doing them now of course until your hand heals, but don’t expect any crazy progress then.
Also, sessions tend to end up at 1-1.5 hours with the heavier exercises (warm-ups) and extreme stretching (almost a workout in itself, but most of the stretches are probably not for you right now with your hand. You could do the quad and ham stretches… Plus make sure you do your calves the DC way for some extra pain
Quad widows on the 2-way don’t have to be done on the same exercise as the heavy set in case of front squats… Could do them in the smith for some added stability, or a leg press (something you aren’t already doing as a main quad move elsewhere).
[/quote]
I haven’t added in the extreme stretching yet. This has really just been experimentation to see how the workouts feel.
For the back stuff I think I may be okay with heavy work on the machines with straps and not having to control
[/quote] ? [quote]
the weight but yeah, deads are out, which is essentially the reason I had to scrap the cycle I was in.
The seated DB curls even hurt with my hand taped up and using a strap.
[/quote] Skip bicep work then… [quote]
I know it isn’t going to be ideal, but I would expect to make as much progress with this as some other program with my current limitations. Hopefully it will help me ease into the new style of training and get a feel for it by the time I’m healed up.
[/quote] Do you have a reverse-capable pec deck or so or a dedicated rear delt machine which allows you to move it with your upper arms/elbows only? That might work for upper back work until you’re healed up…
On the machines with the fixed handle (won’t roll), rubber, and a strap I can hold on with very little grip pressure and is seems to be okay. it also seems to help not having to control the weight. So I may be able to do some haevy machine rows.
For curls, I’m going to try some machines and see if I can get the handles to sit up on my palm towards my wrist.
the peck deck thing is a good idea. I don’t have one to use, but I may have to try to rig something up with some heel straps or something.
Depends, a heavy deadlift workout on a 2-way split could go about 2.5. Lots of main movement sets (as many as 8) with long rest intervals…
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Quad widows on the 2-way don’t have to be done on the same exercise as the heavy set in case of front squats… Could do them in the smith for some added stability, or a leg press (something you aren’t already doing as a main quad move elsewhere).
[/quote]
Yeah, but I need the work on my front squats. I shouldn’t be able to back squat twice what I front squat or bench 1.5 time my front squat.[/quote]
True, true.
Are your quads the culprit?
I expect a 600+ front squat by this time next year. Get to it…
[/quote]
well, they aren’t exactly small. They are weaker in proportion than the rest of me though. At my lighter weight I’ve actually even gotten a tiny bit of definition.
the other problem I have is keeping the weight racked.
This is where I am so far with the DC routine:
Chest
HS incline 11-15 RP
Neutral grip HS bench 15-30 RP
HS decline 11-15 RP
Shoulders
HS shoulder press 11-15 RP
LF shoulder press 11-15 RP
xxxxxxxxxx 11-20 RP
Tris
Dip machine 11-15 RP
Rope Cable push downs 15-30 RP
Tri machine 11-20 RP
Back width
Lat pull down 11-15 RP
DB pullover 11-15 RP
Rack pull up 11-15 RP
Back thickness
LF neutral row 11-15 RP
HS overhand row 15-30 RP
HS high row 11-15 RP
Biceps
xxxxx 11-20 RP
xxxxx 11-20 RP
LF preacher curl 11-20 RP
Forearms (on hold for hand)
Barbell hold
DB curl 10-20
Gripper 10-20
Calves
DCR 10-12
Seated calf raise 10-12
LF standing calf raise 10-12
Hams
Lying leg curl 15-30 RP
Ham position LF leg press 11-20 RP
Band assisted NGHR 11-15 RP
Quads
Front squat 4-8 WM
HS squat 4-8 WM
Safety bar squat 4-8 WM
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
This is where I am so far with the DC routine:
Chest
HS incline 11-15 RP
Neutral grip HS bench 15-30 RP
HS decline 11-15 RP
[/quote] Looks good, but raise rep range on the 11-15RP exercises if you don’t feel them in your chest (i.e. if it’s all arms). Otherwise everything looks fine here. [quote]
Shoulders
HS shoulder press 11-15 RP
LF shoulder press 11-15 RP
xxxxxxxxxx 11-20 RP
[/quote] Got a lateral raise machine which allows you to move the handles via upper arms only? If so, you could use that for now. [quote]
Tris
Dip machine 11-15 RP
Rope Cable push downs 15-30 RP
Tri machine 11-20 RP
Back width
Lat pull down 11-15 RP
DB pullover 11-15 RP
Rack pull up 11-15 RP
[/quote]All of these are 15-30RP or 15-25 or so… Backwidth usually ends up with people using their arms etc too much rather than their lats if they go too heavy in relation to their max.
DB pullovers for lats you definitely don’t want to do 11-15 RP… That can be downright dangerous (tricep long head).
[quote]
Back thickness
LF neutral row 11-15 RP
HS overhand row 15-30 RP
HS high row 11-15 RP
[/quote] With Rowing machines your hand doesn’t bother you? Cool actually, that’s something at least.
You can rest-pause stuff like cable rows and some machine rows, but usually it’s either
1x10-12 for bt rows, or 1x5-8 + 1x9-12 (i.e. 1 heavy, 1 light, though not necessarily in that order) sets for backthickness in general (can be done for rows as well).
High Row is more of a width exercise usually, though.
Hahaha, almost all upper body work is machine stuff… Poor cripple
Not much direct low back stuff, but I guess that won’t be a problem for long (provided your hand injury isn’t too bad).
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
This is where I am so far with the DC routine:
Chest
HS incline 11-15 RP
Neutral grip HS bench 15-30 RP
HS decline 11-15 RP
[/quote] Looks good, but raise rep range on the 11-15RP exercises if you don’t feel them in your chest (i.e. if it’s all arms). Otherwise everything looks fine here. [quote]
Shoulders
HS shoulder press 11-15 RP
LF shoulder press 11-15 RP
xxxxxxxxxx 11-20 RP
[/quote] Got a lateral raise machine which allows you to move the handles via upper arms only? If so, you could use that for now. [quote]
Tris
Dip machine 11-15 RP
Rope Cable push downs 15-30 RP
Tri machine 11-20 RP
Back width
Lat pull down 11-15 RP
DB pullover 11-15 RP
Rack pull up 11-15 RP
[/quote]All of these are 15-30RP or 15-25 or so… Backwidth usually ends up with people using their arms etc too much rather than their lats if they go too heavy in relation to their max.
DB pullovers for lats you definitely don’t want to do 11-15 RP… That can be downright dangerous (tricep long head).
Yeah the I didn’t mean that low of reps for DB pullover, I have cut a pasted and replaced a lot of stuff on this. The pullover is pretty iffy anyway, I haven’t tried it yet. I was incorporating the high row because I’d like to focus on width, and don’t have a lot of back thickness options.
I honestly don’t know if the gym has a “forearm pad” lateral raise machine. I’ll have to look around. They have a couple of different walled off areas setup with machines in circuits I have never seriously looked at.
With the DB curl on forearms I was meaning a wrist curl.
It was my general understanding that back thickness stuff wasn’t rest paused generally because of possible form danger issues. with the chest supported machines I didn’t figure it would be dangerous so I was going to rest pause them. You think it’s better to do straight sets on them? And the machine stuff I can practically just lay my hand on the grip with the strap and the strap will stick to the rubber. I’ve also been trying to not use my middle finger while gripping, but it isn’t working out so well.
I could add in some safety squat bar good mornings or hyper extensions as ham exercises to get some more lower back work.
Hey, I’ve been on almost nothing but free weights so long God is apparently trying to even things out.
Thanks again for the help.
You can rest-pause the rows if you want… Although again, once you get tired it’s possible you’ll end up arms more than anything else (depends on the individual).
I was mostly just giving you the different options available, just in case.
