training is looking good- breaking machines and all.
and two job prospects- nice work Cav
They were interviews, KM, not offers, so who knows.
Changing program. Scaling back on work, seeing about spending less time in gym. Going for a few weeks of light work, then seeing what happens. Painful not knowing what I’m doing in the next month.
Bench
45 x 12
95 x 8
95 x 8
115 x 8 . x 8 . x 8
pausing on chest, pausing at top, working on smooth movement. Finally remember to squeeze butt, seems to help.
DB flies
25 x 8 . x 10 . x 10
Seat cable row
70 x 12
100 x 10
110 x 10
been a while since I’ve done these, pleasantly surprised they were easier
OH Press
55 x 10
75 x 10
85 x 8
real trouble on these, pulling on one side, have to work torso to stay stable. Always had this problem, sure it’s scoliosis.
Rope pulldown
80 x 12
100 x 8 . x 8 . x 8
Even though I’m sore from the deads, today went quite well.
Paused reps are the ballz!!! ANd here is hoping that the interviews turn into offers!!
[quote]cavalier wrote:
OK, but I hope you have a strong stomach . . .
wow! that’s amazing! I was going to ask what part of your body it was hurting but then later you said your back. I hope you recovered! Thank you for posting that.
Thanks, Goat. I’m pausing them because 1. one day I’ll bench in competition and want to be sure I pass form 2. if I can’t bench as much as the others, I can try and console myself that I’m doing them harder.
Reconstruction, I got DOMS in low back, lats, and traps. I dunno, everyone admires how I sweated, but really . . . it just hurt. Physical exertion just hurts me. All my life, I’ve driven my body until it HURTS, that’s exercise. I just can’t understand how anyone can push weights around and not strain from it. I try very hard to ignore the pain, tell myself it isn’t there, anything to endure it.
Squats today. Tried to pause an instant at the bottom:
95 x 12
105 x 12
125 x 8 . x 8 . x 8
man, these whacked me, guess I’m not used to relatively hi rep
Sumo DL - 25 lb plates to keep bar low, feet far apart near plates
95 x 8
115 x 8 . x 10
hope these will work squat getting out of the hole
GM
95 x 8 . x 8 . x 10
haven’t done GMs with this hi rep before, seem to do OK
Im gonna try pause squats tomorrow, YAY!!!
Not that your asking for it, but I would do GMs in a strength rep range maybe 135x5x5?
Solid work Cav.
And keep up your spirits. You seem to be getting more interviews now which has to be a good thing!
james
Matty, enjoy. I watched one guy at the gym pausing 300 or 400 lbs squats for several seconds, and I can’t give up until I’m matching that.
You’re spot on, I have done GMs at 135x5x5. I took the weight down because I was looking for hi reps, next time won’t wuss out so much. And I’m never offended by anyone who thinks I can do more weight.
James, thanks. I’ll be better company as soon as I’m settled in a job.
Pause squats. Egads. I’ve never tortured myself with those. I have enough trouble getting outta the hole.
Great lifting.
Damn it, now I have to try pause squats.
Great log. You’ve really fought and won, at least to me. Just out of curiosity, do you have an idea what your body fat is (if you dont mind me asking)?
BTW, F=ma; 2nd law is applied a lot in weight lifting.
Snapper, have you considered taking weight down a bit and trying it? Think it might help? Also, I’ve tried extreme sumo DLs, light, to help me in the low squat position.
Joe, thanks. To be honest, I’m only pausing a split second, but that’s enough to break the momentum and make it harder. A few reps got up to over a half second.
Srpres, thanks. Have you read the whole log? Holy $#!*, it’s over 900 entries now. I kept intending to check bodyfat and keep forgetting, guessing it’s 15 - 20%. Someday will take the plunge and lose 20 lbs.
Yes, I know about F=ma . . . my degree, um . . . is physics.
OK.
Absolutely determined to do something about all this stress I go through when I work out. Have been completely traumatized in the past over sports, the emotional strain has stuck with me. Most of you are probably lucky not to have gone through it yourselves.
So today made a total effort to push the stress aside and just let the strength come out. Result: a really stress-free workout, actually felt pretty refreshed leaving the gym. And seems like the weights went up easier than before.
Bench - pause on chest, pause at top
45 x 12
85 x 8
95 x 8
115 x 8
120 x 8
125 x 8
tempted to increase even more, but patience . . . there will more sessions.
OH press
65 x 10
75 x 8
85 x 8
Incline DB flies
20 x 10
25 x 8 . x 10
Standing rope tri extension
60 x 12
80 x 8
90 x 9
Rear delt machine
70 x 12
80 x 8 . x 10
Assisted dip
-80 x 10
-70 x 8 . x 8
solid training Cav.
nice work
Thanks, KM.
Heard back from one interview. Didn’t get the job. Nobody did, in fact, 4 interviews and he didn’t like any of them. Recruiter doesn’t know what’s going on.
Found some good openings in another place, but can’t get through to the recruiter, keep leaving messages.
Another recruiter has submitted me for almost a dozen openings, I’m qualified for each one, she thinks the employers somehow think I’m not “expert” enough.
Meanwhile the national unemployment rate keeps rising.
The prez tells Congress to get on the ball and start passing jobs bills. So our Congress Critters spend the entire week . . . voting on a new national motto. I’m not making this up, I swear.
Deadlift day.
155 x 10 . x 10
185 x 8
195 x 8
205 x 10
funny - as I take the weight up, they seem to get a little easier. Must be the concentration I’m doing.
Arm Curl
55 x 12
65 x 10
75 x 8 . x 8
same weights as before, but now using less body english and more arm
GM
115 x 8 . x 8
125 x 10
something about doing the he-man exercises that feels so satisfying
More job hunting, more rejection, very depressing. Dragged myself to the gym and forced myself to a workout.
Bench
45 x 12
85 x 8
95 x 8
115 x 8
125 x 8 . x 8 . x 8
Pulldown machine
70 x 12
90 x 10
110 x 10
130 x 8
I like these, because can look in the mirror and see muscles tensing, hey we take what we can.
Rope Tri Pulldown
70 x 12
90 x 10
110 x 8
Pec Dec
70 x 15
100 x 8 . x 8
OH Press
45 x 12
65 x 12
75 x 10
85 x 8
Assisted Dip
-70 x 12
-60 x 8 . x 8
feeling better, thank goodness.
Squat day, hi reps:
Squat
95 x 12
115 x 12
125 x 8
135 x 8
145 x 8
not bad, bit easier than I thought
Leg Extension
8 x 12
10 x 10
12 x 8
pausing at top and bottom of movement, boy, does that burn
Extreme sumo deadlift to help squat low position
115 x 12
125 x 10
145 x 10
what’s going on with these? it’s the most awkward exercise you can imagine, yet I just keep pumping the weights up and down. Is there some kind of beginner’s gains going on?
Hi Cavalier. Well, you know that I am a newbie but I wonder why the pausing? Because I just watched a video the other day by Stuart McGill (a back expert that T-Nation likes) and he said they key for avoiding (and healing) back injuries is endurance not strength per se. So that is going to have an effect on my program choices . So I wonder, is the hold at the bottom of the squat for strengthening endurance? Also, the Bret Cont? article here about “The truth about glutes”- he also precribes isometric holds at the top of movements, I forget why but I agree it makes it harder. ttyl
Not to crash in cavs thread, and i am sure he will come back with some excellent reasoning but :
Basically a pause takes the muscle stretch ‘rebound’ that happens immediately at the end of the eccentric phase–muscle is stretched and 'wants, to spring back like an elastic band.
Taking this out of the equation by pausing for a moment allows the stretched muscle to relax a bit but makes the return a lot harder.
This apparently is why guys ‘bounce’ their weights eg off their chest during the bench press.
Sorry to butt in.
Hiya cav–steady hard work recently eh…
Thanks, Nurse. Absolutely correct, I do it to make the exercise harder. True, I’m envious of the guys who take a lot of weight and bounce it up and down, they look strong. But I’ve also seen guys control the bar very thoroughly, like a machine. It looks like real strength to me.
Oh, and some day I’m going to bench and squat in competition, need to make sure form is impeccable.