[quote]Quick Ben wrote:
Those Meadows rows look like a great rear delt exercise, but it doesn’t look like it’s doing much for your lats. I’ll have to give them a try, maybe they feel different than they look.[/quote]
The way we did these today is keep the form very strict for sets of 8, really focusing on feeling the lats. The sets in the video might look like they’re hitting the rear Delts a lot, which they likely are, but I’ve found a range of motion where, for me, even if I have looser form on those last sets, I feel them a ton in my lats because I really focus on squeezing and contracting them. Try them out and find your perfect ROM.
Agile 8
Foam Rolling
Couch Stretch x 4 minutes each leg
Back Squat (focus on speed, 45-60 seconds between sets…work up until speed slows)
135 x 6
185 x 6
205 x 6
225 x 6
245 x 6
265 x 6
285 x 4 x 6
HIIT
“Ab Shredder Routine”
Aerodyne Bike Sprints/Abs
5 minute warmup
6 Intervals
15 second “work up” into a 30 second all out sprint at as high resistance possible/1 minutes of ab work: 3 sets decline reverse crunches/3 sets weighted crunches
1 minute bike
Repeat
Cooldown
Awesome session. Electors and back was pretty destroyed from yesterday, making speed squats a bit less enjoyable haha, but still put in the work there. Hopefully hitting them twice a week will help me get that movement pattern back down.
Decided to try out a routine I’ve done before called the “ab shredder,” coined in a Tnation article, where you intersperse ab work with high intensity cardio. I was beat after these. Felt like I was back at football practice running sprints, getting that fiery burning sensation in my chest/lungs.
Arms/Calves tomorrow.
Weighed in at 195.6 today, which matches my contest weight again, despite increasing cals. Right direction!
Arms/Calves
Stretching
Couch stretch x 4 minutes LR
Neck stretches
Biceps and triceps stretches x 15 seconds each
Rope Pushdown/Cable Curl warmup
2 x 15 each
Seated Dumbbell Curls
20 x 12
25 x 10
30 x 8
35 x 8
40 x 2 x 8
40 x failure (12) + alternating to failure + partner assisted reps + 2 Iso tension reps
2 sets of the above
Dumbbell Hammer Curl
30 x 12 + 8 partials
30 x 12 + 8 partials
25 x 12 + 8 partials
25 x failure to alternating x failure to partials x failure
Occluded Incline Barbell and Dumbbell Curls (alternate each set)
Short bar x 25
15s x 15
Short bar x failure + partner assist
15s x failure + partner
Heavy Rope Pushdowns (lean forward, keep constant tension, flare out)
Stack x 12, 12, 12
130 x 12
Seated OH Rope Extensions
40 x 30 (just shy of failure)
40 x 20 (same)
40 x failure + 3 Iso tension reps
40 x failure + 3 Iso tension reps
Lying EZ Bar Extensions (get a deep stretch on each rep, pause in stretched position on last few)
40 + bar x 4 x 12
Standing Calf Raise/Tibia Raises
245 x 10/70 x 15
300 x 10/50 x 25
345 x 10/50 x 20
405 x 10/50 x 15
495 x 10 + 20 partials/50 x 15
Sick arm session. I was able to train with Thoughts again today and we just went at it. We were both dead after the seated curls, where we each pushed each other a ton to eke out as many reps as possible.
The Iso tension work on the OH triceps extensions was brutal. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone that is looking for something new on triceps.
[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
Logged in. Welcome back!
Can you describe the iso-tension work on the Seated OH extensions? I am definitely interested in trying it.[/quote]
The way we did it was we went to failure on full reps, then we got the rope to full extension over the head, lowered it to the half-way point between the stretched position behind the head and extension, and then tried to hold it there, pushing against the partner who was pulling down on the rope.
Hopefully that make sesne…Let me know how they go!
Here’s a video of the occlusion training from today…these are a really great finisher for biceps, triceps, quads, hamstrings, or calves in my experience.
[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
Logged in. Welcome back!
Can you describe the iso-tension work on the Seated OH extensions? I am definitely interested in trying it.[/quote]
The way we did it was we went to failure on full reps, then we got the rope to full extension over the head, lowered it to the half-way point between the stretched position behind the head and extension, and then tried to hold it there, pushing against the partner who was pulling down on the rope.
Hopefully that make sesne…Let me know how they go! [/quote]
That makes perfect sense. I actually figured it was something like that so I tried something similar today before reading your post.
OH Cable Extensions - first did some reps pullover-style with straight arms (my own idea), then standard reps, then using some body english for a few reps, then holding in the mid-range. I didn’t have a partner to pull on the cable, but it still worked well. Arms were screaming.
[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
Logged in. Welcome back!
Can you describe the iso-tension work on the Seated OH extensions? I am definitely interested in trying it.[/quote]
The way we did it was we went to failure on full reps, then we got the rope to full extension over the head, lowered it to the half-way point between the stretched position behind the head and extension, and then tried to hold it there, pushing against the partner who was pulling down on the rope.
Hopefully that make sesne…Let me know how they go! [/quote]
That makes perfect sense. I actually figured it was something like that so I tried something similar today before reading your post.
OH Cable Extensions - first did some reps pullover-style with straight arms (my own idea), then standard reps, then using some body english for a few reps, then holding in the mid-range. I didn’t have a partner to pull on the cable, but it still worked well. Arms were screaming.[/quote]
Awesome stuff man! Gotta get that partner there though…really takes it to a sadistic level haha.
Barbell RDL using 25s (nice stretch, 3/4 lockout)
95 x 15
145 x 15
195 x 8
245 x 8
295 x 8
345 x 8
395 x 8 to 245 x 8 to 145 x stretch reps
Leg Press (3 second negative, no lockout)
Empty x 10
2 pps x 10
4 pps x 10
6 pps x 10
8 pps x 10
10 pps x 10
11 pps x 10
12 pps x 10
Back Squats
135 x 15
225 x 15
315 x 15, 15, 15
Walking Dumbbell Lunges
80s x 12 LR
50s x 12 LR (slower) to bodyweight to failure
105s x 6 LR to 50s x 6 LR to bodyweight to failure
Occluded Lying Hamstring Curls
70 x 20-30 (didn’t count)
70 x 20 + Iso tension
70 x 15-20 + Iso tension
Standing Weighted Ab Crunch/Serratus Cable Side Bends
12-15/12 LR
3 work sets
Seated Calf Raises/Tibia Raises
70 x 10/20 x failure LR
120 x 10/20 x failure
160 x 10/20 x failure
180 x 10 + 20 partials/20 x failure
Nasty, nasty leg session. Really tried to take it to the limit today. We started with RDL’s today, which is a change, so was able to hit some heavier weight with them. 395 with all 25s looks pretty silly haha.
Leg press felt awesome today. Really emphasized controlling the eccentric and my quads were on fire by the top set.
Squats were mentally very taxing. My final set of 15, however, might have been the strongest set of the 3…meaning next time I have to hit more!
Decided to deviate a little from the 3 sets of 12 on lunges and hit some nice dropsets…these finished the quads off. Occlusion work on hamstrings is incredibly painful. Add in the isotension, and it’s a perfect finisher.
Slight Decline Dumbbell Press
30 x 20
40 x 20
50 x 15
60 x 12
75 x 8
95 x 8
105 x 8
120 x 8
130 x 8
Incline Barbell Press (high incline)
135 x 6
185 x 6
225 x 6
245 x 6
255 x 6
Banded HS Iso Wide (hard flex at top)
1 pps x 6
2 pps x 6
3 pps x 6, 6
3 pps + 25 x 6, 6 (partner assisted to flex on some)
Incline Dumbbell Flies with Iso Tension
40 x 12 to 40s x 3 Iso reps (2 sets like this)
40 x 15 to 30s x 3 Iso tension reps (20 seconds on final rep) to bodyweight (just arms) x 3 Iso tension reps
Pec Dec Rear Delt Flies (hard flex at back)
120 x 25, 25, 25 + 3 Iso reps
Dumbbell Laterals (8 with good form, then cheat a few more)
30 x 8 + 8
35 x 8 + 8
35 x 8 + all out
Cage Press
115 x 3 x 5
125 x 2 x 5
Awesome chest/shoulder session. Really started off nicely hitting the 130s for solid reps on the decline. Incline barbell felt good. The combination of those two were great to start because the focus was constant tension. This transitioned nicely into HS and the flies where the focus was squeezing and tension at the point of flex. The Dropset on flies was pretty brutal.
[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
We started with RDL’s today, which is a change, so was able to hit some heavier weight with them. 395 with all 25s looks pretty silly haha.
[/quote]
lol…yeah 7 25-lb PPS would make the uneducated gym goer think “What the hell! Why not just use 45-lb plates?”
[quote]ebomb5522 wrote:
We started with RDL’s today, which is a change, so was able to hit some heavier weight with them. 395 with all 25s looks pretty silly haha.
[/quote]
lol…yeah 7 25-lb PPS would make the uneducated gym goer think “What the hell! Why not just use 45-lb plates?”[/quote]
Haha, ya, definitely a head turner to the “lay-person” (non-Meadows disciple lol).
