Sooo what are these bicep DB rows? Good work on the deads!
[quote]MattyXL wrote:
Sooo what are these bicep DB rows? Good work on the deads![/quote]
Here’s the link:
that and close hand pushups are supposed to get arms into decent shape. Since my arms are pathetic even by my standards, thought I’d give them a try. I’m not hooking my feet on a ball, though - I’m sure that’s a practical joke to make me look funny.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be helping much with my bench, which I did today:
45 x 15
95 x 15
115 x 7
135 x 3 very, very hard, as always
Sixteen sets of 135 singles, yes 16 - I was pissed
one final set 135 x 3
stand barbell row
45 x 15
65 x 12
95 x 8
95 x 8
95 x 8
95 x 8
lat pulldowns
80 x 15
110 x 7 - hit failure (???)
110 x 12 - hmm, concentrated, somehow managed to do it
120 x 6
120 x 6
120 x 6
I am just flattened by the frustration of benching. Did I do too many warmup reps? Oddly, I put on a couple of lbs bodyweight, my chest and arms feel hard, I’m using pwerlifting technique. Maybe did some good today, hope so.
Cav, I think you answered your own question. You are fatiguing yourself too much.
Instead of:
45 x 15
95 x 15
115 x 7
135 x 3 very, very hard, as always
Sixteen sets of 135 singles, yes 16 - I was pissed
one final set 135 x 3
Try something like:
45 x 8-10
95 x 5
115 x 3
135 x 1 (or go for 3)
145 x 1 (or more)
115 x 5,5,5
Work up to your heavy set and get your reps in after.
[quote]cavalier wrote:
[quote]MattyXL wrote:
Sooo what are these bicep DB rows? Good work on the deads![/quote]
Here’s the link:
that and close hand pushups are supposed to get arms into decent shape. Since my arms are pathetic even by my standards, thought I’d give them a try. I’m not hooking my feet on a ball, though - I’m sure that’s a practical joke to make me look funny.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be helping much with my bench, which I did today:
45 x 15
95 x 15
115 x 7
135 x 3 very, very hard, as always
Sixteen sets of 135 singles, yes 16 - I was pissed
one final set 135 x 3
stand barbell row
45 x 15
65 x 12
95 x 8
95 x 8
95 x 8
95 x 8
lat pulldowns
80 x 15
110 x 7 - hit failure (???)
110 x 12 - hmm, concentrated, somehow managed to do it
120 x 6
120 x 6
120 x 6
I am just flattened by the frustration of benching. Did I do too many warmup reps? Oddly, I put on a couple of lbs bodyweight, my chest and arms feel hard, I’m using pwerlifting technique. Maybe did some good today, hope so.[/quote]
conventional thought says that you are lifting in the rep range to add muscle mass, mix that up with fewer reps and higher weight as Git suggested.
Git’s got it right,and make sure your gittin enough sleep. Ive found that at times stress and lack of sleep will drive my nimbers down. Now I actually cancel workouts if I didn’t get enough sleep ie at least 6 hours of good rest.
What program are you following because I’m pretty good at figuring that sort of thing out but I can’t figure your’s out.
Gotta agree, with Git and Soldog here, you are definitley wearing yourself out. Working up to a 1-2 rep max and then another 3-5 sets of work sets is ideal IMO.
Your body is a laboratory. time to break out the “evil science”
Looking back on yesterday’s workout, I had originally intended to do a hi rep, lo intense routine, ala what I had been doing for deadlift. However, things messed up halfway through the process. After doing the 115 for reps, I thought “well, that was easy, 135 should be a piece of cake”. When it wasn’t a piece of cake, got frustrated and wanted to see if lots of singles would accomplish anything.
True, I’m experimenting, only because no program I’ve tried seems to produce any results, at least on bench. I’ll try a program for several months, nothing really happens, will tweak, or change, or replace, watching for something to click.
Checked my training logs for last year. On Apr 6 2010, I did the following bench:
45 x 10
75 x 2
95 x 1
115 x 1
135 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 4
I was doing 5x5, obviously, and at bodyweight of 191, more than 20 lbs lighter than I am now. I had expected that now 135 would be light enough that I could work it into a hi rep routine, when it didn’t, couldn’t figure out what to make of it.
Dude, I’m getting 10 hrs sleep every night, one of the very few good things that come with unemployment.
Git, I’ll give your suggestion a try, got nothing to lose. 145 is definitely pushing it, will see what I can do.
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Git, I’ll give your suggestion a try, got nothing to lose. 145 is definitely pushing it, will see what I can do.[/quote]
Or go for 140. But if the rep is clean don’t go for 2. Rack it and save your energy for 145. And have a spotter handy. Make sure they know not to touch the bar unless it is obviously going in the wrong direction.
Just think of every set leading up to your top set as helping you get ready physically and mentally.
[quote]JoeGood wrote:
There is an enormous amount of shit talking on these forums. Unless you see pic or videos I’d ignore pretty much everything said.[/quote]
This.
[quote]giterdone wrote:
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Git, I’ll give your suggestion a try, got nothing to lose. 145 is definitely pushing it, will see what I can do.[/quote]
Or go for 140. But if the rep is clean don’t go for 2. Rack it and save your energy for 145. And have a spotter handy. Make sure they know not to touch the bar unless it is obviously going in the wrong direction.
Just think of every set leading up to your top set as helping you get ready physically and mentally.
[/quote]
Right, I always use a spotter for anything over 135. Agreed on clean reps, I hate hitting failure.
Come to think of it, your suggestion is very similiar to the program my friend outlined a few months ago and I followed for a while. Logged it a few pages ago.
ManfromMass, you lost me. This what?
Well, no one’s commented on my squat vid, so I assume I did everthing properly.
Gym friend let me play a bit with his new toy: bands for benching. He warned me to get a really good grip. He was right, they didn’t add much force but really tested your control, they shake the bar, making it more unstable.
Squat day. Pile up the boxes and get yer butt down:
65 x 8
75 x 7
95 x 6
105 x 5 PR
105 x 5
115 x 2 PR
115 x 2
115 x 2
could have done more reps with the 115, but wanted to focus on form and not get carried away. Previous squatting wasn’t a waste, strength is keeping up with the weights, but getting out of hole is damn tough.
Trying a wider stance for squats, got long legs, seems to get them out of the way.
Leg x
6 x 15
10 x 10
13 x 6
13 x 6
13 x 6
13 x 6
some GHR (halfway down only), and some CG pushups.
[quote]cavalier wrote:
[quote]giterdone wrote:
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Git, I’ll give your suggestion a try, got nothing to lose. 145 is definitely pushing it, will see what I can do.[/quote]
Or go for 140. But if the rep is clean don’t go for 2. Rack it and save your energy for 145. And have a spotter handy. Make sure they know not to touch the bar unless it is obviously going in the wrong direction.
Just think of every set leading up to your top set as helping you get ready physically and mentally.
[/quote]
Right, I always use a spotter for anything over 135. Agreed on clean reps, I hate hitting failure.
Come to think of it, your suggestion is very similiar to the program my friend outlined a few months ago and I followed for a while. Logged it a few pages ago.
ManfromMass, you lost me. This what?[/quote]
Just agreeing with JoeGood’s post - don’t believe everything you read on these posts - half of them are full of shit.
Congrats on the PRs Cav. Im curious on the type of bands that you were using that applied no pressure, I use bands for benching and they generally apply 70 - 120 lbs of pressure, depending on the tension, and I am using light bands
MassMan, check. I’ve learned the hard way to be skeptical of “experts”.
Matty, I can ask. Bear in mind when I say “not much force”, that means I could actually rep them. I tried them on an empty bar and did a few reps, suggesting the 2 bands together gave no more than 50 or 70 lbs resistance. They may be similiar to your light bands. Amazing how they turn the bar into a living thing, shaking and squirming.
Congrats on the PRs. The work, past and present, is paying off.
x2 on Git’s spotter training. Few things make me as angry as someone touching the damned bar before it is obviously going back down.
Thanks, Strick. And agree about spotters. I always tell them don’t touch the bar unless I can’t get it up. Really PO’s me to think I got a great PR, then finding out he was tugging it all along.
On a side note, some oddball things happening lately. Got a box with a heavy computer monitor in it, some stuff piled on top. Needed to move it, so I grabbed the handle, yanked, and the handle broke in half. WTF?? That never happened before. Then I was trimming my nails. Squeezed the clippers hard and they snapped in half. Does this sort of thing happen to you folks when you get strong?
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Thanks, Strick. And agree about spotters. I always tell them don’t touch the bar unless I can’t get it up. Really PO’s me to think I got a great PR, then finding out he was tugging it all along.
On a side note, some oddball things happening lately. Got a box with a heavy computer monitor in it, some stuff piled on top. Needed to move it, so I grabbed the handle, yanked, and the handle broke in half. WTF?? That never happened before. Then I was trimming my nails. Squeezed the clippers hard and they snapped in half. Does this sort of thing happen to you folks when you get strong?[/quote]
Ive done both of those things, but in my case they happened cos of a flimsy cardboard box handle and really thick toenails. I’m not strong (compared to the good folk on this forum)
I did rip a telephone book in half once, after watching Geoff Capes do it on WSM 19 eighty something. But it was a very thin book and it took me about 10 minutes. So I dont count that as being a feat of strength either. (and I was about 15 years old and 130lbs at the time)