How do you like those Pendlay Rows? They’ve never felt quite right to me, but I just don’t like the way my lower back feels doing them.
[quote]AngryVader wrote:
How do you like those Pendlay Rows? They’ve never felt quite right to me, but I just don’t like the way my lower back feels doing them.[/quote]
I love them. One of my favorite exercises. I pretty much treat it like a full body stiffening exercise. Everything on me is tight and the only thing that moves is my arms.
Today I did them with my upper body just about parallel with the ground- my stomach touching my upper legs. I breath into my stomach deeply and tighten everything, then I pull. That’s about as detailed as the lift gets for me I think. I see a lot of other people start with some back extension, but I don’t feel comfortable doing that with my back issues. I’d rather move my arms mostly and everything else minimally.
An old video. Last week was the first time I had done them since I hurt my back. That’s actually 130 in the video. Didn’t know my bar was 40 lbs. then.
During the PM of the 6th I did:
A. Prone Internal Rotations
20X20/sideX2
B. CoC RE
#1X8/sideX2
#1X15/side PR(+7 reps)
[u][i]1-8-09[/u][/i]
AM Weight: 199.6
What. The. Fuck.
Back Pain: 0 out of 10
Right Pec Pain: 0 out of 10
[u][i]Lower Body 2[/u][/i]
Dynamic Flexibility
A. Front Squat
45Xreps
95X3
115X3
135X3
155X3
175X1
185X1
205X3
215X3 PR
225X1
205X3X2
B. Good Morning
185X12 PR
195X12X2 PR
C. Single leg RDL to low box (5" roughly)
45X10/side
45X12/sideX3L2R
D. Double Leg Deadbug
BWX15X2
BWX20
[quote]Flow wrote:
[u][i]1-8-09[/u][/i]
AM Weight: 199.6
What. The. Fuck.
[/quote]
I wouldn’t worry about it. You’re weight can fluctuate like that sometimes. When I’m not cutting, I’ll sometimes have wild, day-to-day fluctuations.
I think I’ll give those Pendlay Rows another shot. Since I might be using my upper traps a little too much on normal BB Rows, that might be a good change of pace since I’m going to try and focus on strengthening the lower traps more.
[quote]AngryVader wrote:
Flow wrote:
[u][i]1-8-09[/u][/i]
AM Weight: 199.6
What. The. Fuck.
I wouldn’t worry about it. You’re weight can fluctuate like that sometimes. When I’m not cutting, I’ll sometimes have wild, day-to-day fluctuations.
I think I’ll give those Pendlay Rows another shot. Since I might be using my upper traps a little too much on normal BB Rows, that might be a good change of pace since I’m going to try and focus on strengthening the lower traps more.[/quote]
You’re right. I shouldn’t sweat it. 
I do think I need to to up my intake a bit because I’m walking an extra ~30 minutes a day to get around campus now that classes have started back up.
The Pendlay Rows are amazing. I can’t wait to do them with 225 That’ll be nice.
I measured some stuff yesterday:
Left Arm: 15.5
Right Arm: 15.0
Left Leg: 24.5
Right Leg: 25 and 1/8
Chest: 42.5
Left Forearm: 11.75
Right Forearm: 11.75
Left Calve: 15.5
Right Calve: 15.5
Waist: 36
So the larger left arm concretes my observation that my left pec is weaker and my tricep has to do more work in pressing. The opposite can be said for my right side.
[u][i]1-9-09[/u][/i]
AM Weight: 202.2
Back Pain: 0 out of 10
Right Pec Pain: 1 out of 10
Once during incline Neutral grip presses
[u][i]Upper Body 2[/u][/i]
Dynamic Flexibility
A. Push Press
military press warm up
45Xreps
65X5
75X1
Push Press
95X1
105X1
115X1
135X1
155X3
165X3 PR
175X1 PR
160X3
165X2
B. Wide Grip Pullup
Leg Assisted in SmithX10
JumpingX5
BWX7 PR
BWX5
BWX4
C. Incline Neutral Grip Dumbbell Press
25X10
35X6
50X8X2
55X5
D. Face Pulls
55X8
115X15
125X15
135X15
E. DB Curls
25X10
30X8
40X7
45X3
F. Cable Lateral Raises
50X15,15
G. Smith Machine Shrugs
2 45’s a side X 10,15,15
A BBer showed me how to do smith machine shrugs and get crazy trap stimulation.
Basically you lean forward over the bar, keep your back arched well, unrack the weight, let your shoulders sag down until you feel a stretch in your upper traps, then pull up quickly and hold the weight for at least 1 second. The stretch at the bottom and the hold at the top really makes them difficult.
D.
[quote]Flow wrote:
G. Smith Machine Shrugs
2 45’s a side X 10,15,15
A BBer showed me how to do smith machine shrugs and get crazy trap stimulation.
Basically you lean forward over the bar, keep your back arched well, unrack the weight, let your shoulders sag down until you feel a stretch in your upper traps, then pull up quickly and hold the weight for at least 1 second. The stretch at the bottom and the hold at the top really makes them difficult.
D. [/quote]
This is why I like incline DB shrugs on a bench. You really can’t cheat at all and get a great stretch and contraction of the traps.
Those Smith Shrugs remind me of a old M & F article where they called them ‘modified shrugs’. They had you doing them with just a BB though. I’m not sure why I never thought to do them on a Smith Machine.
Behind-the-Back Shrugs with a BB are good too.
[quote]AngryVader wrote:
Flow wrote:
G. Smith Machine Shrugs
2 45’s a side X 10,15,15
A BBer showed me how to do smith machine shrugs and get crazy trap stimulation.
Basically you lean forward over the bar, keep your back arched well, unrack the weight, let your shoulders sag down until you feel a stretch in your upper traps, then pull up quickly and hold the weight for at least 1 second. The stretch at the bottom and the hold at the top really makes them difficult.
D.
This is why I like incline DB shrugs on a bench. You really can’t cheat at all and get a great stretch and contraction of the traps.
Those Smith Shrugs remind me of a old M & F article where they called them ‘modified shrugs’. They had you doing them with just a BB though. I’m not sure why I never thought to do them on a Smith Machine.
Behind-the-Back Shrugs with a BB are good too.[/quote]
I’m going to have to try them incline on a bench.
Just a little bit of thinking:
I want to, first and foremost, get really fucking strong.
I also love bodybuilding.
Where do I draw the line there? I know very well you can get strong as hell on a body part split, and I don’t mind (in fact I’d enjoy) spending a whole day just doing arms, or going to back/triceps, chest/biceps days.
HRmmmmmm.
After this 9 week cycle I may just go into an all out hypertrophy bodybuilding program.
Something like 4X6-8 reps for the ‘main’ exercise of the day, 3X10 reps for a few others, and 2X12-15 for the final exercise. I dunno
[u][i]1-10-09[/u][/i]
AM Weight: 202.0
Back Pain: 1 out of 10
Slight tightness
Right Pec Pain: 0 out of 10
[u][i]Conditioning[/u][/i]
Foam Rolling
Dynamic Flexibility
A1. Tire Flip
555lbs.+full of waterX5,5
A2. Burpees
BWX12X2
B. Sprint
20sX4
R40s
Short and sweet. It was raining and I was soaked afterward.
[quote]Flow wrote:
[u][i]1-10-09[/u][/i]
AM Weight: 202.0
Back Pain: 1 out of 10
Slight tightness
Right Pec Pain: 0 out of 10
[u][i]Conditioning[/u][/i]
Foam Rolling
Dynamic Flexibility
A1. Tire Flip
555lbs.+full of waterX5,5
A2. Burpees
BWX12X2
B. Sprint
20sX4
R40s
Short and sweet. It was raining and I was soaked afterward. [/quote]
Ha! It must have been sprint day. I just got back from doing them myself.
[quote]AngryVader wrote:
Flow wrote:
[u][i]1-10-09[/u][/i]
AM Weight: 202.0
Back Pain: 1 out of 10
Slight tightness
Right Pec Pain: 0 out of 10
[u][i]Conditioning[/u][/i]
Foam Rolling
Dynamic Flexibility
A1. Tire Flip
555lbs.+full of waterX5,5
A2. Burpees
BWX12X2
B. Sprint
20sX4
R40s
Short and sweet. It was raining and I was soaked afterward.
Ha! It must have been sprint day. I just got back from doing them myself. :)[/quote]
Rofl
I think I need to work on sprinting form. I stride too long from my cross country days :X
Ever get ab soreness from sprinting?
[quote]Flow wrote:
AngryVader wrote:
Flow wrote:
B. Sprint
20sX4
R40s
Short and sweet. It was raining and I was soaked afterward.
Ha! It must have been sprint day. I just got back from doing them myself.
Rofl
I think I need to work on sprinting form. I stride too long from my cross country days :X
Ever get ab soreness from sprinting?[/quote]
A few times I have, but not usually. You?
EDIT: I should have waited until this morning to respond. Yes, my abs are very sore this morning! Even up the sides of the ribcage. Good stuff.
[quote]AngryVader wrote:
Flow wrote:
AngryVader wrote:
Flow wrote:
B. Sprint
20sX4
R40s
Short and sweet. It was raining and I was soaked afterward.
Ha! It must have been sprint day. I just got back from doing them myself.
Rofl
I think I need to work on sprinting form. I stride too long from my cross country days :X
Ever get ab soreness from sprinting?
A few times I have, but not usually. You?
EDIT: I should have waited until this morning to respond. Yes, my abs are very sore this morning! Even up the sides of the ribcage. Good stuff.[/quote]
Yeah, I’m experiencing the same type of soreness in my abs after doing those sprints. I like.
[center][u][i]HIGH VOLUME; YEAH BUDDAYYYYYYYYY[/u][/i][/center]
[u][i]1-12-09[/u][/i]
AM Weight: 202.0
Back Pain: 0 out of 10
A-OKAY
Right Pec Pain: 0 out of 10
Hellz yeah
[u][i]Lower Body 1[/u][/i]
THE GYM WAS PACKKKKED TODAY. The only available areas were the power racks and squat racks. This hardcore oly lifting woman that I work out with occupied the one next to me, so it was cool to shoot the breeze between sets. She does squats with 175 for sets 3. Nice? 
Foam rolling
Dynamic Flexibility
A. Box Sqwatz
45Xreps
135X3
155X3
175X3
185X1
205X1
225X1
245X3X10 PR
B. Rack Pull from knee
365X6X3
365X5F@6 (GRIP SUXORS WHEN SWEATY)
C. Modified single leg squat
BWX20/sideX3
D. Single hand push up hold (close feet)
BWX30s/sideX3 PR
Great session.
EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT.
EAT
[quote]Flow wrote:
B. Rack Pull from knee
365X6X3
365X5F@6 (GRIP SUXORS WHEN SWEATY)
[/quote]
If your gym doesn’t allow normal chalk:
http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&cid=114&pid=1008
I use it, but still prefer the real thing. It depends on who’s working at the gym that day.
[quote]AngryVader wrote:
Flow wrote:
B. Rack Pull from knee
365X6X3
365X5F@6 (GRIP SUXORS WHEN SWEATY)
If your gym doesn’t allow normal chalk:
http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&cid=114&pid=1008
I use it, but still prefer the real thing. It depends on who’s working at the gym that day.[/quote]
Thanks for that, Vader. Another item for the wish list
BTW, I did this before box squats yesterday:
A. Power Snatch
45X warm up
65X3
75X3
85X3
85X5X3
95X5
Worked on extension and keeping the bar close particularly. Very fast reps.
[u][i]1-13-09[/u][/i]
AM Weight: 202.0
Back Pain: 0 out of 10
Right Pec Pain: 5 out of 10
[obscenities]
[u][i]Upper Body 1[/u][/i]
Dynamic Flexibility
A. Bench Press
45Xreps
95X5
115X3
135X3
145X1
155X1
165X1
175X2 -_- Fuck.
B. Pendlay Row
45Xreps
95X3
115X3
165X6X6 PR
C. CGBP
135X8
135X7
135X6
135X5
D. Retraction first DB Row
90X6X4 PR
E. Skull Crushers
70X6X3
F. Prone Internal rotations
20X20X2
Alright well my pec is a wuss. That’s the best I can put it. Apparently the misloaded bar mishap last week had more of an effect than imagined. I was getting pain when pressing on bench presses. I feel very pathetic. I feel like I’m doing most things right compared to the successful folks, but I still suck.
Anyway, (I can only be a bitch for so long)
Aside from CGBPs with elbows hella tucked and some band pushups, I’m not going to do be doing heavily loaded horizontal adduction for a month or so. I think I just have to rotate between overhead pressing variations as my focus and horizontal pressing as my focus so my pec tendon can recover. Also, I need to get my triceps hella strong. Also, I need to pull the bar apart even more because I can’t rely on pecs at all for benching. What’s more, I’m going to bring my grip in further.
Push pressing is in.
New goal is to push press 190+ when I get to the maxing week in a month. I’ll bench 225 later.
Oh, and fuck you [insert my hometown’s name here] highschool football coaches. If you had coached me to lift weights correctly, this shit wouldn’t be a problem.
[u][i]1-15-09[/u][/i]
AM Weight: 202.8
Back Pain: 0 out of 10
Right Pec Pain: 1 out of 10
Just here and there. A slight feeling of discomfort. Nothing that worries me.
[u][i]Lower Body 2[/u][/i]
Afternoon session:
Dynamic Flexibility
A. Front Squat
45Xreps
95X3
115X3
135X1
155X1
175X1
185X1
200X3X10 PR
B. Good Mornings
205X8X4 PR
Night Session:
Foam Rolling
Dynamic Flexibility
A. Single Leg Romanian Deadlift to 10 pads (low box essentially)
Right side:
40X12X3
Left side:
40X12X5
B. Double leg Deadbug
BWX20X4
I did a ton of extra volume on the SLRDL for my left side because glute medius doesn’t pull its weight on there.
Today went well. Pretty indifferent about it though.
Things have been sucking lately.
[u][i]1-16-09[/u][/i]
AM Weight: 203.4
Back Pain: 0 out of 10
Right Pec Pain: 1 out of 10
Just here and there. A slight feeling of discomfort. Nothing that worries me. Same as yesterday.
[u][i]Upper Body 2[/u][/i]
Foam Rolling
Dynamic flexibility
A. Push Press
MP warm up
45X10
65X5
push press
95X3
115X1
135X1
145X1
155X3X10 PR
B. Wide Grip Pullup
BWX6,5,4,4
C. DB Overhead Extension (unilateral)
25X8
25X7R3L
25X6R0L
D. Face Pulls
X0
E. Smith Shrugs
225X15
225X13
225X13
F. DB Curls
15X12
25X10
30X8
40X8F@9
For two or three weeks I’m going to hit my right tricep much harder than my left one. I’m going to balance out my triceps strength and then take it very slow getting back into bench pressing. The goal is to get my pecs and tris balanced out perfectly so I don’t have anymore pec issues
My AC joint on the right side was bugging me today. I dropped the face pulls because of this. When I got over to the smith machine to do shrugs, I tried the same method that a BBer showed me recently. This aggravated my AC joint, telling me that that motion is responsible for causing the pain, as it is the only thing I’ve changed in my program for the last week aside from the bench stuff.
Push presses and wide chins felt very solid. This week was a lot of work.
Next week I’m doing:
3X5s on the first 1 or 2 exercises
2X8-12 on the other exercises, which I will rotate to newer movements (some of which I have done in the past).
The focus will be on overhead pressing instead of benching, but I won’t neglect to get some horizontal pressing in if my pec allows.
[u][i]1-19-09[/u][/i]
AM Weight: 203.0
Back Pain: 0 out of 10
Right Pec Pain: 1 out of 10
Slight
[u][i]Lower Body 1[/u][/i]
Foam Rolling
Dynamic Flexibility
A. Power Snatch
45X5
65X3
85X3
95X5X3
B. Box Squat
45Xreps
115X3
135X3
155X3
175X1
195X1
205X1
225X1
235X5X3 PR
C. Romanian Deadlift
135X5
255X5
265X5
D. Dumbbell Reverse Lunge
40X10X2
E. Ab Roll-out Hold from knees
BWX20sX3
I’m doing assistance in 2X5 or 2X10 and 3X5s for the ‘big’ exercises this week. Lower volume, but not by a whole hell of a lot.
I don’t like the dumbbell reverse lunges because they don’t help with the sub-lateral system very well.
Lawl.