Fattest 198 of All Time. OF ALL TIME.

Training Training Logs
441

[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:

[quote]spar4tee wrote:

[quote]grettiron wrote:

[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:
Once again for anyone listening, “pinching the shoulderblades” and keeping elbows tucked throughout the movement impinges the shoulder. This is anatomical fact.
[/quote]

What do you do with the shoulder blades? I’ve had some luck flexing the lats to spread them, then flexing the erectors to pull them down, and trying not to touch too low or tuck too much.

Maybe pinching the shoulder blades together works if you’re in a shirt? Recipe for wrecked shoulders with raw work, I think.

Looks like you have a lot of rehab challenges. Good luck man.[/quote]
Hmmm what I’ve done is tighten my lats while I get arch and tighten my traps when pinning myself into the bench. It’s more a subtle tension than a violent tension. Then after I liftoff, I row the bar done (almost as though I’m pulling against my lockout) for max tension and rebound (works amazingly well with a handoff). It also sets up my bar path perfectly. Hope this helps; I couldn’t think of a better way to explain it, but that’s how I bench.[/quote]

There’s a lot going on during a raw press, but I’ve always had the best luck with a relatively narrow grip. I tuck my shoulder blades toward my ass as much as I can before I unrack, then squeeze everything on the way down. Keeping the lats tight and back squeezed will control the elbows a little, but I feel the most work being done by my triceps. My elbows never tuck too far (maybe 30 degrees abduction at most) because they can’t; I’ll get searing pain in my shoulder past that point. I start flaring pretty close to my chest and always press back. This is essentially what guys like Wendler recommend for raw benching now. With a wide grip, I’m almost all chest. I can’t do wide grip for more than 2 months or so for that reason, as I start to get tendinitis in my pec/shoulder tie-in.

Thanks for following, guys.[/quote]
Yeah. The bulk of benching is done with a close grip. I only switch to a medium grip when testing a max. The part with the lats and upper back that emphasized is just about getting the initial momentum and setting the groove. I’ve noticed that benching that way I can get more out of my triceps. I always feel my pecs when benching no matter what.

442

[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Yeah. The bulk of benching is done with a close grip. I only switch to a medium grip when testing a max. The part with the lats and upper back that emphasized is just about getting the initial momentum and setting the groove. I’ve noticed that benching that way I can get more out of my triceps. I always feel my pecs when benching no matter what.[/quote]

Yea man, I don’t get these people on the bodybuilding forum claiming they “don’t get a good chest pump” from bench. Bench 405 before you start complaining that the bench press doesn’t work. A guy like Waylander is the exception, not the rule.

443

Friday

Snatch Pull (knee height)
455, 505, 555x3 (PR), 405x10
All reps were deadstop, which really ass-raped me on the last set with 405. Glutes were fried too.

HS Pullover
180, 230, 250, 270x10
Love this plate-loaded machine. Wish we had it at work.

Seated FP
85x8x5
Would like the weight to start a little lower.

Biceps Curl
100x8x5
UGH. Got killed on those last two sets.

Bad Girl Machine
110x10x2, 120x10x2
Better.

Played around on some rings in there. Needless to say, I don’t have the flexibility to do much of anything, but I tried an iron cross anyway. I think I almost tore all of my upper body muscles. Good workout, had some fun. NO KNEE PAIN.

444

Tuesday

Kneeling Squats
225x6, 275x6, 315x5, 335x4, 225x10 (speed)
You know, I’ve spent the better part of 3 months feeling like shit every time I attempted to do any kind of leg work because of knee pain and subsequent discouragement. Contrast that with today, where I finally was able to put a load on my back and do SOMETHING with it. My knee felt totally unaffected during this, and if I could make love to an abstract thing, I would make love to kneeling squats. I did get some pain in the side of my leg where I was sitting on it, but I imagine it will go away in time. These are a lot more enjoyable than glute bridges, at any rate.

Leg Curl
75x10x5
Nothing fancy. Had to keep it super light because of that weird leg pain, but I did 2-3s negatives and pauses, so I ended up getting something out of this.

Good Girl Machine
2 Platesx10, 3 Platesx10x3
This one is plate loaded, and it wrecked me pretty hard.

Extremely modest return to some form of leg training, but I’ll take it. I’m going to do snatch pulls on this day next week, but I didn’t want to do them twice in a week. I’ll probably add one more thing to make it a more well rounded workout. It’s the little things that make you feel good.

445

Wednesday

Speed Bench
225(+50lbs in chains)x7x5
I was going to do 8 sets, but a small mishap on the last rerack caused me some shoulder pain, so I omitted the last set. Felt good after I found a good groove, which took a few sets. 1-2 minutes rest.

DB Neutral Narrow Bench
50x10, 75x10, 100x10+4+3
It’s tough to do DC with these, because you have to keep the DBs in your lap, but it makes for a hell of a workout.

Low Cable Flye
25x10, 30x10x2

DB Rear Delt
30x8x5

Felt pretty good, and I think I’ll be sufficiently sore from this.

446

Friday

Reverse-grip Row
315, 335, 355x8
Solid, starting to even out and my left side is getting stronger. I think.

Shrug
455, 495, 535x8, 575x6
Staying away from a belt as long as I can.

Meadows Row
75, 100x8,10,12
Paused at top, slow negatives.

Pullover Machine
225x8, 240x8x3 (1 min rest)
Too heavy to do 8x5, so I’ll consider that next week.

Curls on the machine hurt my shoulder, so I stopped…but I don’t really care. My God I hate biceps. I think I promised a video on rows about a year ago, and I finally got it. My new phone has a better camera, so let’s see how this works…

447

Not great, but I’m touching the crease of my hip

448

That’s some damn good rowing man. Solid form at such a heavy weight. Good work man.

Does that mainly hit your lats, or more so upper back??

449

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
That’s some damn good rowing man. Solid form at such a heavy weight. Good work man.

Does that mainly hit your lats, or more so upper back??[/quote]

Thanks man. On that set, probably a lot of traps, but mostly because the weight got too heavy to pause. Rowing to the crease of the hips makes me feel it in the lats a lot more. 315 I can really squeeze and reduce the upper back activity, but the really heavy stuff just becomes a free for all that gets most of the back involved.

450

Saturday

Tri Pressdown
112.5x8x5
Warmed up with just about every possible weight on my way to 112.5 to get the elbows warm.

OH Tri Bar
125x8,8,8,8,7
A little heavy for the 40 rep hell, so I had to take a little more than one minute between the last two sets.

Strict Lat Raise
40x8x4
Nice and slow.

Skullcrusher
60+band tensionx13
No idea what the bands added, but a few of my trainers were doing this so I jumped in for one set to failure. Tris were cooked by that point.

Cable Curl
100x10, 110x10x3

451

Monday

Kneeling Squats
315, 335, 355, 375x6
Weight is easy. I’m being limited in the early going of this lift by that tightness on the inside of my leg I described last week. Since it’s only occurring in my left knee, I think it might have contributed to my knee issues. Maybe the sartorius? It was better this week though. Also, I see why half-squatters think squats are so easy. I didn’t even feel like I had started my workout until the last set.

Snatch Pull Below Knee
405, 455, 500x4
Last set was balls to the wall. Knee felt fine.

Leg Curl
112.5x8x3
I was going to go for 40, but the weight was too heavy to do 2 more good sets.

Adduction Machine/Rope Crunch
3platesx10/80x10
3+10x10/80x10
3+20x10/80x10

Glutes are shot, and my quads even feel hit a little. Loving this, should get 405 or so on kneeling squats next week.

452

Tuesday

Speed Bench
225+50chainsx5, 235+50, 245+50, 265+50, 275+50, 285+50, 295+50x3
I felt really good up through 265+50, but past that the load was too much for my shoulder. Naturally, I came to that conclusion after doing a few more sets. Speed stayed high through 265 as well.

Dumbell Narrow Neutral
100x8x5
I like these. Should be able to handle more next week if I don’t decide to destroy my shoulder first.

Narrow Machine Press
200x10, 175x7, 150x5
This was a drop-set. I grabbed one of those little bars they use in group fitness classes to allow for a narrow, pronated grip. That was an innovation pioneered by one of my trainers.

Was done after that…pushed my shoulder too hard and ended up taking two days off after this.

Friday

Reverse-grip Row
305, 335x8, 365x7

Shrug
455, 495, 535, 575x8
Easy today. Pretty much a rack pull from my knee to get it up, too.

Pullover
232.5x8x5
Better this week…might stay with it for one more bc my form still kind of broke down at the end.

Face-pull
100x8x5
Had to be careful with these because they’ve been bothering my “good” shoulder. I need a replacement I think.

Sunday

Tri Pressdown
112.5x8x5
Not too hard. Could have moved up, but I wanted to have a little more in the tank for the next thing.

OH Tri Bar
125x8x5
Good, rest was pretty close to 1 minute. One more week, maybe.

Lat Raise
40x8x5

Cable Curl
120x8x5
God I hate this shit.

Front Raise to External Rotation
25x8, 10
This is tough, good at the end of a workout.

453

Monday

Kneeling Squat
Topped out at 315x6
So the main issue with this lift seems to be the pain it causes the lower legs. I need to figure out a stretch for this, because I couldn’t go past 315 after pulling about 8 muscles in my legs.

High Box Squat
Topped out at 225x4
Felt light, but I had to go incredibly slow, and any deviation in form caused knee pain. My right leg is still doing too much of the work. It was better, though.

Speed DL
Topped out at 365+40lbs Chains
Did several singles at that weight. Not awful, but I’m lifting scared still.

Gave my knee some tests tonight. It’s still not close to 100%. The pain on the kneecap is almost completely gone, but my quad tendon near the VM is sore today. I’m hoping it’s because it’s weak and needs to catch up. God knows how long a tear would take to heal.

Tuesday

Paused NGB
285, 305, 325, 335x3
Pretty liberal use of “pause” on that last set, but everything else was good. Decided to give these a shot on a whim, and I went back to false grip and moved my hands onto the smooth part of the bar. Shoulder held up well, so I’ll give these a shot again next week.

DB Narrow Neutral
105x8,10,10,13
Wasn’t strong enough to do 40 rep hell, so I rested a little longer in between sets and went near failure on the last. Still got some good volume in that way.

Machine Narrow Pyramid
150x10, 175x8, 200x6
20-30s between each.

DB Rear Delt
30x10x3 (strict), 40x12 (loose)
Didn’t swing the last set or anything, but didn’t pause at the top and didn’t focus on the eccentric.

Encouraging day. Hopefully my shoulder will continue to hold up on NGB.

454

Friday

Reverse-grip Row
305, 335, 365x8

Shrug
455, 495, 545x8, 585x7

Pullup
BWx16
Supinated grip. We have a pullup contest going on at our gym, so I’m going to see how many I can get over the next few weeks. Shoulder felt fine while doing them, but my knees were almost hitting a bar on every rep, so I didn’t try to go to failure just yet.

Pullover
240x8x5
Crazy. Last few reps on the last two sets didn’t have a slow eccentric, but otherwise I kept tight form.

Monday

Trap DL
400x5, 440x5, 460x4, 480x3, 500x3
Not bad at all, and my knee never hurt. I tried to push through my legs as much as I could. This should be a good strengthener for my quads until I can do some kind of heavy squat.

Snatch Pull Below Knee
405x3, 455x2, 505x3
Moved slow as hell after that fatigue from trap DL. Might have grinded out a 4th, but I didn’t want to kill my knee.

Goblet Squat/Crunch Machine
60/50x10
75/75x10/12
75/75x10/12
Not bad. My knee felt a little funny during the second set, but not on the third when I watched myself in the mirror.

Rotary Hip
62.5, 75, 80x10
Definitely felt this today.

Great day. I rolled my quad tendon with various bars after every set, and that seemed to help a lot. I’ll post a video of the Trap DL momentarily.

455

Bar is 80 pounds. If you look closely, you can almost see a quad…

456

Tuesday

NGB
285, 305, 325, 345x3
Paused up until the last set, but only came close to pausing the first one there. Shoulder felt good, though. I had to stop myself from jumping to 350 this week…need to exercise some self control.

DB NG Neutral
110x8,10,10,12
Doubt I’ll get 10+ with 115 next week.

Low Cable Flye/Floor DB Flye
35/50x10
40/50x9/10
40/50x9/10
Nice.

DB Rear Delt/Band Pull-apart
40/mini-bandx10/12x3
Barely got through these, but shoulder felt good throughout…good sign.

Again, good day. That’s the first strong of good bench days I’ve had in awhile. I’ll look for 350 or 355 next week.

457

345x3

458

Friday

Reverse-grip Row
305, 335, 370x8
I’m going to allow myself to get a little looser on the last set.

Shrug
455, 495, 545, 585x8

Neutral Pullup
BWx19
Big improvement, should get 20+ next week.

Pullover
240x8x5
Only the last 2 reps or so of the last two sets were iffy. Maintained a controlled eccentric throughout and stuck to one minute rests pretty firmly.

Did some weird cable upright row variation, but it wasn’t very serious. Lats feel done, as do traps.

459

Saturday

Tri Pressdown
117.5x8x5 (1 min rest)
Jumped 5 from last time. Will stick at this weight at least for another week.

OH Tri Bar
125x1 set of fail. Did 8 reps, but this killed my right elbow today. That probably had something to do with the increased load on pressdowns.

Floor Skullcrusher
80+40lbs chains
3x12
This was what I came up with to sub for OH tri bar, and I really liked it. There was no stress at the bottom, and it was really difficult in the 8-12 rep range. I stopped on the floor on every rep, lowering to about an inch behind my head. Will go a little heavier next time.

Cable Curl
115, 125, 135, 135x10

Front Raise to Ext Rotation
30x8x3
That’s a harder lift than it sounds, and honestly I felt more of a shoulder burn from that than any other variation I’ve ever done.

I’m happy with that. I wanted to rep out on straight bar curls, but I ended up playing with a wide grip bench up to 275 instead.

460

Nice CG pressing. Damn you’re thick.