[quote]big nurse wrote:
…
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.
…[/quote]
OIC! Thanx 
OK, been eating like a madman for the past couple of days. Slept like a baby, put on a pound of bodyweight, up to 217. Tummy is getting a bit smoother . . . yech. Don’t like. But muscles feel swole . . . much like.
Bench with pause
65 x 12
95 x 10
115 x 8
135 x 8 . x 8 . x 8 . * * * PR * * * PR * * *
bench actually felt a bit easier - what a thrill.
OH Press
65 x 12 . x 12
75 x 8
85 x 10
95 x 6
pretty sure there’s a PR or two in there somewhere.
DB fly
20 x 15
25 x 12
30 x 10
Reverse bench or whatever the hell’s it’s called on lowest bar Smith machine
x 6 . x 6 . x 6
Rope pulldown
70 x 15
90 x 12
120 x 6 . x 8
A Bench PR…give the man a ceeegar!! well done Cav…
Nice one cav.
Your doing great Cav, I have started hitting consistantly, your results speak of good hard work.
Congrats on the PR, nothing like beating your numbers.
This was a horrible workout.
Still no progress on the job front, will hear tomorrow whether I got the one, have been trying to phone recruiters, no answer, applying for positions, no response. In a very nasty mood. So went to gym for deadlifts.
It made things worse.
Take a look at my painful performance on the Meathead Challenge post, well, that shit kicked in big time tonight. This kind of workout is torture - and I mean absolutely, literal, banned by Geneva Convention TORTURE. Everything hurt so goddamn much, it is PAIN, I was wailing, retching, begging for it to stop, people asked me if I was OK, what can I say, it is PHYSICAL PAIN.
Yet when I finish the set, there’s no pain. My body is fine.
All my life has been this horror story, the sheer effort of physical movement feels like a taser stuck in me - but there’s no real pain, just the screaming effort. EFFORT. Why does effort HURT SO MUCH??? Is there something fucked up with my nervous system? Can’t the doctors find something???
And if I have so goddamn much willpower to inflict this on me, WHERE’S THE RESULTS??? Where’s the muscles? Where’s the strength? How do I keep fighting year after year without the reward?
Deadlift
155 x 10 . x 10
185 x 8
215 x 8 . x 8
Arm Curl
35 x 15
65 x 10
75 x 9 . x 9 . x 9
GM
95 x 10
115 x 8
125 x 8
Lost my appetite, can’t eat. Praying a good night’s sleep will help or else they’ll find me in a puddle of blood tomorrow.
Not that anyone has asked me, but I’ve found that increasing limit strength lets you increase rep strength faster. When I was doing 90-120lbs on pullups for triples or singles I was able to knock out 22 body weight pullups with no rep training beforehand. I couldn’t do that now with the “program” I’m using and won’t be able to for quite some time, if ever.
This is a response to your post on the last page about machine-like reps in good form. Not a criticism of your plan either, just putting forth an idea to consider. I’ve done it both ways now (8-10 reps x3-5 sets when I was much younger and limit work in my late forties) and I feel working limit strength gives you both worlds. And You can always go back and do reps when you want to.
Consider this, too: It’s always easier to add 2.5 pounds for a PR than it is to get another rep. You get to succeed more often, which seems to be an important component towards getting stronger.
And I’ll shut up now. Please excuse my butting in - I do mean well.
That’s a good point Albino. I’ve encountered the same thing. The only problem (at least for me) is that building up my limit strength is really hard on my joints and I find myself constantly sore from that type of training. For me it’s trying to find a balance.
james
I’ve got to say I think DCA is making a lot of sense in his post.
sorry to hear about the rough workout.
i do remember something that dan john says in his book about quality of workouts, along the lines of 'some will be poor, most average, and only a few really good-then once in a while one will be exceptional.
I guess that on a ‘bell curve’ distribution there will be some bad ones as well.
The last week of my fat loss diet , workouts had me in a cold sweat and running on empty and sleeping badly too, eating certainly helps.
[quote]cavalier wrote:
I was wailing, retching, begging for it to stop, people asked me if I was OK, what can I say, it is PHYSICAL PAIN.
155 x 10 . x 10
185 x 8
215 x 8 . x 8
[/quote]
OK, I appreciate that you work hard in the gym. I get it. But, frankly the other patrons in the gym need to be considered. This would be very distracting while they are trying to train.
There is no wailing, retching and begging in the gym.
Sorry to be the asshole.
An, if high rep sets hurt then do a lot of low rep (3) sets but do them as explosively as possible. Think Olympic lifter instead of bodybuilder.
[quote]giterdone wrote:
[quote]cavalier wrote:
I was wailing, retching, begging for it to stop, people asked me if I was OK, what can I say, it is PHYSICAL PAIN.
155 x 10 . x 10
185 x 8
215 x 8 . x 8
[/quote]
OK, I appreciate that you work hard in the gym. I get it. But, frankly the other patrons in the gym need to be considered. This would be very distracting while they are trying to train.
There is no wailing, retching and begging in the gym.
Sorry to be the asshole.
An, if high rep sets hurt then do a lot of low rep (3) sets but do them as explosively as possible. Think Olympic lifter instead of bodybuilder.
[/quote]
I think was git is trying to say is that everyone of us struggles through heavy weight and if we were all wailing, retching and begging, that ear plugs would be MANDATORY at gyms. 
It can be distracting to others when a gym member is making a commotion.
you werent really wailing and stuff were you?
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Why does effort HURT SO MUCH??? Is there something fucked up with my nervous system? [/quote]
It’s genetics, to some degree. Some people have a higher threshold for pain. Some people build muscle easier. Some people are smarter. Some people are more artistic. Accept it and do the best you can do. Or you can spend your life whining and beating up on yourself. Do your best and hold your head high. But no need to be overly dramatic.
Got a very long sleep last night, 11 hrs. Had a bit to eat, then back to bed for lot more rest. Feel better now.
Trust me, I’m trying to keep things quiet when training, I know it can be distracting to others. But other people don’t do the same thing, so what on earth is bothering me so much? Best I can figure is Snapper’s suggestion about pain thresholds, I seem to be more sensitive than others. I’ve gone to rock concerts and everyone else was enjoying themselves, I was holding my ears and begging for it to stop. I can’t stand spicy food. Beer tastes like vomit to me, that sort of thing.
And I’m not being dramatic about anything. Nothing would please me more than to walk into the gym and toss around hundreds of pound without effort.
Agreed with the Albino that raising my max also raises rep weights, but I don’t see that that’s the problem.
Lots of experienced people here, would like to know if anyone has ever gone through or heard of stuff like this. Cuz I sure as hell don’t want it.
Cav, just getting down to the bar from a wide sumo position makes my knees and hips protest. My understanding is that the sumo emphasizes the hips a lot more and the back a lot less. Since you have scoliosis, it seems logical that the conventional DL would cause you more pain. If you are interested in switching to sumo, I suggest consulting with Ms. Ouro or L’il Power, because they are the experts at it here.
I know Joe switched to sumo from conventional in the interests of his back health.
[quote]kpsnap wrote:
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Why does effort HURT SO MUCH??? Is there something fucked up with my nervous system? [/quote]
It’s genetics, to some degree. Some people have a higher threshold for pain. Some people build muscle easier. Some people are smarter. Some people are more artistic. Accept it and do the best you can do. Or you can spend your life whining and beating up on yourself. Do your best and hold your head high. But no need to be overly dramatic.[/quote]
This.
When I’m putting forth a close to max effort I don’t hurt I just zone out and only start to hurt when the lift is over.
Big job interview this week. Very excited about it.
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Big job interview this week. Very excited about it.[/quote]
Good Luck…