EyeDentist, How Do You Train?

Training
181

[quote]1 Man Island wrote:
I was reading about some ULC stuff the other day. I think it said that anything below 10g of protein doesn’t produce an insulin spike. This got me thinking about your IFish approach of a spoon of PB every couple of hours on off days. If you switched some of that PB to, say, an ounce of cheese, you could squeeze in some extra protein each time you ate, plus the casein would probably do a great job of keeping you full in addition to decreasing your carb intake even more.[/quote]

Hi 1 Man Island, thanks for stopping back by! Your suggestion would def help me hit protein goals more easily. That said, I’m leery of consuming milk products on low-carb days, as they can spike insulin levels far in excess of what their glycemic index score would indicate. It is my understanding this tendency owes to their high BCAA content (especially the leucine fraction). I have long suspected that it is milk’s super-insulinogenicity (if that’s actually a word) that makes it such a good weight-gain food; think of the GOMAD diet, or Rippetoe’s SS recommendations.

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Hi EyeDentist,

On the second page of this topic, you outlined the different splits that you have/are currently using in your training:

Split 1: ‘Push/Pull’
–Push: Chest, front delts, rear delts, triceps
–Pull: Lats, lateral delts, rear delts, biceps, forearms
Advantage: Tendon-friendly
Disadvantage: You lose out on the fascial-stretching benefits of simultaneously pumping antagonistic muscle groups (particularly Chest/Back, and Bis/Tris).

Split 2: ‘Antagonists’
–Chest, Back
–Delts, Arms, Forearms
Advantage: Get the fascial-stretching benefits of simultaneously pumping antagonistic muscle groups
Disadvantage: Tendon-unfriendly (ie, bis and tris are getting worked every other day)

What specific exercises, sets, reps, etc do you utilize for the above splits? I’m new to this thread, and I’ve considered applying your principles in the near future.

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Split 1: ‘Push/Pull.’ Note: Muscle groups are worked sequentially (ie, Chest, then Ant Delts, then Tris, etc)

Push Day

CHEST

  1. Activation/warm-up movement: HS sideways single-arm incline peaks (I described the basic idea in an earlier post)
    –ROM = contracted third
    –4 sets, 30-60 sec rest (alternating between arms with little to no down time), ramping the weight
    –Reps: 20-30; nowhere near failure

  2. Hypertrophy movement: Smith inclines
    –ROM = middle 3/5s
    –4-6 sets, 2-3 min rest, reverse-pyramid style
    –Reps: 8-12. Every set is within 1 rep of failure, and last set employs intensification technique(s)

[2a) May also do a couple of sets of Smith declines, same way]

  1. Stretching movement: Machine bench
    –ROM = stretched third (machine lets my hands go back past my anterior chest wall, thus allowing a deep stretch)
    –2-4 sets, 30-60 sec rest; weight changes by feel (ie, can go up or down depending on how the stretch feels)
    –Reps: 20-30; within 2-3 reps of failure

ANTERIOR DELTS

  1. Activation/warm-up movement: Neutral-grip machine OH press
    –ROM = upper half
    –4 sets, 30-60 sec rest, ramping the weight
    –Reps: 15-20; nowhere near failure

  2. Hypertrophy movement: Seated DB press
    –ROM = middle 3/5s
    –4-6 sets, 2-3 min rest, reverse-pyramid style
    –Reps: 10-15. Every set is within 1 rep of failure. I usually don’t use intensification techniques as my shoulders are pretty hinky and thus get injured easily

  3. Stretching movement: None (again, hinky shoulders)

TRICEPS

  1. Activation/warm-up movement: Occluded rope pushouts
    –ROM: The contracted fifth. I use a very light weight, and pull the rope handles down and OUT (this is key!) as hard as I can. My thought is to pull the rope hard enough to literally render it straight (ie, parallel to the floor). I hold this extreme-contracted position for a 4-count, then ‘break’ the peak contraction, slowly lower the weight stack a few inches, then it’s right back to the max contracted position for another 4-count. I can’t emphasize enough just how short the ROM is–my hands NEVER get close to one another, and other than the first and last reps, the movement has no vertical (ie, up and down) component. (This is why I call them rope pushOUTS, not pushDOWNS.) Done correctly, these are brutal, and the pump is insane. (Credit Meadows for this one.)
    –3 sets, 15-30 sec rest, ramping the weight
    –Reps: 15-25; within 2-3 reps of failure

  2. Hypertrophy movement: Conventional cable pushdowns
    –ROM = middle 3/5s.
    –3-4 sets, 2-3 min rest, reverse-pyramid style
    –Reps: 8-12, reverse-pyramid style. Every set is within 1 rep of failure, and last set employs intensification technique(s)

  3. Stretching movement: DB supine stretchers
    –ROM : The stretched half. Basically, these are skullcrushers done with DBs (one in each hand, hands in the ‘neutral’ position), but with my head hanging off the end of the bench. I reach ‘out and back’ with the DBs (my upper arms are almost parallel to the floor) to put the triceps on-stretch. When I bend at the elbow, the DBs come back almost under my head.
    –2-3 sets, 30-60 sec rest; weight changes by feel (ie, can go up or down depending on how the stretch feels)
    –Reps: 15-25; within 1-2 reps of failure

‘PUSH’ REAR DELTS
At this point I’m pretty gassed, so will usually just do 4-5 sets (15-30 reps/set) of a triceps-dependent rear delt exercise (eg, DB rear-delt laterals; band rear-delt straight-arm pulls).

OK, I’m going to stop there for now. Will do more later.

EDIT: Forgot to mention the HS inclines were done one arm at a time (fixed).

EDIT 2: Forgot to mention the triceps rope pushouts are done occluded (fixed).

EDIT 3: Forgot to mention the amount of rest between sets (fixed).

184

Split 1: ‘Push/Pull’

Pull Day

Note: More often than not, I will alternate sets between Lats and Delts exercises.

LATS

  1. Activation/warm-up movement: HS single-arm pulldown peaks. To facilitate MMC (which I struggle with on lats), I place my free hand on the working lat to make sure I’m feeling it contract.
    –ROM = contracted third. I really work on contracting my lat as hard as I can, and holding that contracted position for a second or so.
    –4 sets, 30-60 sec rest (alternating between arms with little to no down time), ramping the weight
    –Reps: 20-30; nowhere near failure

  2. Hypertrophy movement: Neutral-grip pulldowns. I do these on a Cybex machine.
    –ROM = middle 3/5s
    –4-6 sets, 2-3 min rest, reverse-pyramid style
    –Reps: 8-12. Every set is within 1 rep of failure, and last set employs intensification technique(s)

  3. Stretching movement: Neutral-grip pulldowns. Same machine, but much lighter weight, and really working to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the lats as much as possible. I try to perform this movement as biceps-less as I can.
    –ROM = stretched third
    –2-4 sets, 30-60 sec rest; weight changes by feel (ie, can go up or down depending on how the stretch feels)
    –Reps: 20-30; within 2-3 reps of failure

LATERAL DELTS

  1. Activation/warm-up movement: Lateral peaks. Sometimes I do these with DBs; sometimes with bands; other times on the seated lateral-raise machine. Whichever way, the movement is very short.
    –ROM = upper fifth (ie, from arms just below parallel to just above it)
    –4 sets, 30-60 sec rest, usually with the same level of resistance throughout
    –Reps: 15-30; nowhere near failure

  2. Hypertrophy movement: DB laterals
    –ROM = Full
    –4-6 sets, 2-3 min rest, reverse-pyramid style
    –Reps: 8-15. Every set is within 1 rep of failure, and last set employs intensification technique(s)

  3. Stretching movement: I have experimented with behind-the-back cable laterals to see if I could safely create a stretching sensation in the lateral delt. Meh.

‘PULL’ REAR DELTS

  1. Activation/warm-up movement: By this point my rear delts should be good to go, so I sometimes go straight to the Hypertrophy movement. If I feel they need activation, will do a few sets of Face Pulls with a light weight, limiting the ROM to the contracted third.

  2. Hypertrophy movement: Smith machine Haney rows. These are hard to describe, but feel great. I stand with my back to the Smith bar and grasp it overhand, a fist or two wider than shoulder width. My feet are almost directly under the bar, and I’m leaning forward slightly at the ankles (not hips). (Note this could not be done with free weights–you’d fall over.) Keeping my head up (important), I raise my elbows up (and a little out) as high as I can behind me. Be sure to think ‘elbows as high as possible,’ not ‘hands/bar as high as possible.’
    –ROM = Upper half only (bottom half has zero rear-delt MMC for me)
    –4-6 sets, 1-2 min rest, reverse-pyramid style
    –Reps: 15-25. Heavier weights/lower reps cause me to completely lose the delt component of the MMC, and it becomes a biceps exercise. Every set is within 1 rep of failure, and last set employs intensification technique(s)
    Note: As an added bonus, this hits the upper traps really well.

  3. Stretching movement: None for me (shoulder issues).

BICEPS

  1. Activation/warm-up movement: Occluded cable-curl peaks. I use a handle with separate grips for each hand joined by long tethers (allows the hands to move fairly independently of one another).
    –ROM: The contracted fifth. Very light weight, very high reps, squeezing the biceps hard throughout.
    –3 sets, 10-20 sec rest (just enough time to catch my breath), same weight throughout
    –Reps: 15-35; within 2-3 reps of failure

  2. Hypertrophy movement: I don’t usually do this for biceps (tendon issues). When I do, it’s either cable or EZ-bar curls, and they are performed with an abundance of caution.
    –ROM = middle 3/5s.
    –3-4 sets, reverse-pyramid style
    –Reps: 8-12, reverse-pyramid style. Every set is within 1 rep of failure, and last set employs intensification technique(s)

  3. Stretching movement: DB incline curl stretchers. (Also frequently skipped; I’m including it in case anyone is wondering how I approach stretching the biceps in a safe manner.) The key is to recognize that the biceps must be stretched across the shoulder joint, NOT THE ELBOW. Biceps stretchers are done seated at a 45o angle or so, with the upper arms/elbows well past the body, pointing straight down or nearly so. The DBs are lowered SLOWLY until a good stretch is felt in the biceps, at which time they are raised about halfway up before being lowered slowly again. Important: The elbow should never be allowed to fully extend during this movement.
    –ROM : As above
    –Reps: Lots, stopping well short of failure

FOREARMS
3-5 sets of hammer curls. (I really should do more forearm work.)

More later.

185

Re the HS sideways single-arm incline peaks: for those that don’t have access to this HS machine (like me who works out at home), you can somewhat mimic this with bands (not that they’re equals, but not bad).

Wrap a band around the rack upright, put some tension on it and press across your body, angling upward (so your hand starts at chest level and ends about shoulder level or slightly above). I’ve been doing three sets of these before my chest workout. First set is half reps, then three-quarter and, finally, full. I definitely feel my chest working (especially upper) on subsequent exercises. Great movement.

186

[quote]Tyler23 wrote:
Re the HS sideways single-arm incline peaks: for those that don’t have access to this HS machine (like me who works out at home), you can somewhat mimic this with bands (not that they’re equals, but not bad).

Wrap a band around the rack upright, put some tension on it and press across your body, angling upward (so your hand starts at chest level and ends about shoulder level or slightly above). I’ve been doing three sets of these before my chest workout. First set is half reps, then three-quarter and, finally, full. I definitely feel my chest working (especially upper) on subsequent exercises. Great movement.[/quote]

Great tip.

187

I really appreciate your taking the time to write such a long post; thanks!

188

[quote]nchann2 wrote:
I really appreciate your taking the time to write such a long post; thanks![/quote]

You’re welcome. If you decide to run some aspect of it, please let me know what you think.

189

Ego-crushing moment of the day. Saw the Infection-Control nurse at the hospital for my annual TB skin test. The following conversation took place during that visit.

Nurse: Do you run?
Me: Yes, I run a little bit.
Nurse: I thought so. You look like a runner.

Ouch.

190

Ooof.

Damned with faint praise.

191

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:
Ego-crushing moment of the day. Saw the Infection-Control nurse at the hospital for my annual TB skin test. The following conversation took place during that visit.

Nurse: Do you run?
Me: Yes, I run a little bit.
Nurse: I thought so. You look like a runner.

Ouch.[/quote]

You have to remember that the majority of the population does not exercise regularly (which can be easy for “fit people” to forget; I’ve generally surrounded myself with fit people because most of my friends are people that I meet through the yoga studio, climbing gym, running group, cycling club…but then when I look at a different cross-section of society, like looking around at the people on the bus, in the grocery store, or at my office, I remember that there are more people who do ZERO exercise than there are people who exercise >3 days per week), and that to them, anyone who “exercises” is basically the same. They don’t really have a different “picture” of what someone does to get fit.

“You look like a runner” is their code for “you look like you’re in good shape.”

I forget where I first saw it, but I read an interesting article once about endurance training vs. strength training and how their perceptions varied across socioeconomic status (i.e. wealthier people tended to be more drawn towards marathons and triathlons and running). I’ll see if I can find it.

192

I had a hot chick I worked with years ago approach me once, I can’t remember the exact words but it was something like:

her: you look good, do you work out?
me: yeah, a bit
her: do you train your arms?
me: a little, don’t really bother with them that much
her: you should

what a bitch! haha

193

[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:
Ego-crushing moment of the day. Saw the Infection-Control nurse at the hospital for my annual TB skin test. The following conversation took place during that visit.

Nurse: Do you run?
Me: Yes, I run a little bit.
Nurse: I thought so. You look like a runner.

Ouch.[/quote]

You have to remember that the majority of the population does not exercise regularly (which can be easy for “fit people” to forget; I’ve generally surrounded myself with fit people because most of my friends are people that I meet through the yoga studio, climbing gym, running group, cycling club…but then when I look at a different cross-section of society, like looking around at the people on the bus, in the grocery store, or at my office, I remember that there are more people who do ZERO exercise than there are people who exercise >3 days per week), and that to them, anyone who “exercises” is basically the same. They don’t really have a different “picture” of what someone does to get fit. “You look like a runner” is their code for “you look like you’re in good shape.”

I forget where I first saw it, but I read an interesting article once about endurance training vs. strength training and how their perceptions varied across socioeconomic status (i.e. wealthier people tended to be more drawn towards marathons and triathlons and running). I’ll see if I can find it.[/quote]

Yep. “Are you a runner?” is just code for “You look like you’re in shape.” It was a compliment.

I saw an article recently about what your workout says about your socioeconomic/ educational status. Ugh. Let’s not go down that path. Yoga, pilates, tennis, golf, running, triathlons… all classier. Whatever. I have to admit, those tennis skirts are super cute. Unfortunately, I finally had to admit that I’m terrible at tennis.

You’re doing absolutely great EyeDenist. I admire all your discipline with diet. Amazing progress. BTW, I started to type E.D. for short, but then I realized that nobody wants to be known as E.D. on this website. :slight_smile:

194

[quote]Powerpuff wrote:
I saw an article recently about what your workout says about your socioeconomic/ educational status. Ugh. Let’s not go down that path. Yoga, pilates, tennis, golf, running, triathlons… all classier. Whatever. I have to admit, those tennis skirts are super cute. Unfortunately, I finally had to admit that I’m terrible at tennis.
[/quote]

I’m pretty sure we’re talking about the same article. I wish I could find it now… wait, I found it.

195

[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:

[quote]Powerpuff wrote:
I saw an article recently about what your workout says about your socioeconomic/ educational status. Ugh. Let’s not go down that path. Yoga, pilates, tennis, golf, running, triathlons… all classier. Whatever. I have to admit, those tennis skirts are super cute. Unfortunately, I finally had to admit that I’m terrible at tennis.
[/quote]

I’m pretty sure we’re talking about the same article. I wish I could find it now… wait, I found it.

[/quote]

That’s the one. I had to take an informal survey of a couple of friends and they admitted that lifting seems lower class. The day we were talking about it, my husband and I were having lunch with a friend who plays squash. His wife is into sailing her sailboat. You start assuming some things about social class, right? Of course, we don’t like to think that class differences even exist in America, or if they do that they are very fluid. Most of us probably get a little angry thinking about it.

BTW, I think Crossfit may be changing a lot of perceptions. Memberships tend to be expensive, and I’ve seen more articles of very successful professional people in the Wall Street Journal What’s Your Workout segment mention it. Maybe lifting is coming up in the world at least a bit.

End threadjack. Back to EyeDentist.

196

[quote]Powerpuff wrote:
Yep. “Are you a runner?” is just code for “You look like you’re in shape.” It was a compliment.

I saw an article recently about what your workout says about your socioeconomic/ educational status. Ugh. Let’s not go down that path. Yoga, pilates, tennis, golf, running, triathlons… all classier. Whatever. I have to admit, those tennis skirts are super cute. Unfortunately, I finally had to admit that I’m terrible at tennis.

You’re doing absolutely great EyeDenist. I admire all your discipline with diet. Amazing progress. BTW, I started to type E.D. for short, but then I realized that nobody wants to be known as E.D. on this website. :)[/quote]

Hi Power, thanks for reaching out! I think you (and AG) are right, it was just her way of saying ‘You look like you keep fit.’ I wasn’t too broke up over it–more amused than anything else (I knew it would be worth a chuckle here at TN). But if she ever says it again, I’m gonna pull off my shirt and show her what I’m working with. ;^)

Speaking of chuckles: It so happens today is my b’day. My clinic staff normally use someone’s (anyone’s) birthday as an excuse to bring cookies, brownies, cupcakes, etc, to the office. However, given my fanatical avoidance of carbs at work, they instead brought…beef jerky. I was highly amused.

Oh, and thank you for refraining from referring to me as ‘E.D.’

197

[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:
Ego-crushing moment of the day. Saw the Infection-Control nurse at the hospital for my annual TB skin test. The following conversation took place during that visit.

Nurse: Do you run?
Me: Yes, I run a little bit.
Nurse: I thought so. You look like a runner.

Ouch.[/quote]

You have to remember that the majority of the population does not exercise regularly (which can be easy for “fit people” to forget; I’ve generally surrounded myself with fit people because most of my friends are people that I meet through the yoga studio, climbing gym, running group, cycling club…but then when I look at a different cross-section of society, like looking around at the people on the bus, in the grocery store, or at my office, I remember that there are more people who do ZERO exercise than there are people who exercise >3 days per week), and that to them, anyone who “exercises” is basically the same. They don’t really have a different “picture” of what someone does to get fit.

“You look like a runner” is their code for “you look like you’re in good shape.”

I forget where I first saw it, but I read an interesting article once about endurance training vs. strength training and how their perceptions varied across socioeconomic status (i.e. wealthier people tended to be more drawn towards marathons and triathlons and running). I’ll see if I can find it.[/quote]

The general non training pop believes running will get you ripped and huge. Weight lifting doesn’t. I think that’s a massive perspective difference that makes anyone who looks like they have muscle and abs must run

198

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:

Speaking of chuckles: It so happens today is my b’day. My clinic staff normally use someone’s (anyone’s) birthday as an excuse to bring cookies, brownies, cupcakes, etc, to the office. However, given my fanatical avoidance of carbs at work, they instead brought…beef jerky. I was highly amused.

Oh, and thank you for refraining from referring to me as ‘E.D.’[/quote]

I lol’d. funny stuff. I’m the same way at work when it comes to treats. I get a lot of compliments on my diet though. Not too many people cracking open cans of sardines.

199

[quote]StevenF wrote:

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:

Speaking of chuckles: It so happens today is my b’day. My clinic staff normally use someone’s (anyone’s) birthday as an excuse to bring cookies, brownies, cupcakes, etc, to the office. However, given my fanatical avoidance of carbs at work, they instead brought…beef jerky. I was highly amused.

Oh, and thank you for refraining from referring to me as ‘E.D.’[/quote]

I lol’d. funny stuff. I’m the same way at work when it comes to treats. I get a lot of compliments on my diet though. Not too many people cracking open cans of sardines. [/quote]

Yep–same with me and my jars of PB.

200

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:

[quote]StevenF wrote:

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:
Speaking of chuckles: It so happens today is my b’day. My clinic staff normally use someone’s (anyone’s) birthday as an excuse to bring cookies, brownies, cupcakes, etc, to the office. However, given my fanatical avoidance of carbs at work, they instead brought…beef jerky. I was highly amused.

Oh, and thank you for refraining from referring to me as ‘E.D.’[/quote]

I lol’d. funny stuff. I’m the same way at work when it comes to treats. I get a lot of compliments on my diet though. Not too many people cracking open cans of sardines. [/quote]

Yep–same with me and my jars of PB.
[/quote]

I had a coworker thank me for doing some work outside my job description by giving me some of these:

He knew that I wasn’t really the type who wanted cookies.