I love that Ms. Strick has a PR at every workout. Ahh, the benefits of being a newbie and seeing exponential strength growth.
Thanks for the vid, Punnyguy. Your knowledge and ability to intelligibly communicate it never fails to impress me.
[quote]kpsnap wrote:
I love that Ms. Strick has a PR at every workout. Ahh, the benefits of being a newbie and seeing exponential strength growth.
Thanks for the vid, Punnyguy. Your knowledge and ability to intelligibly communicate it never fails to impress me.[/quote]
Thanks, Snap. And damned if she didn’t get 5 (yes FIVE) of them today. Gotta love the newbie gains.
Chest and Back
Kind of an off day. I got all of my reps, but everything felt a bit heavy. I think it was because my left shoulder was hurting going into the workout. That kind of knocks everything off a bit.
That being said, the video makes it look like the reps took no effort. Again, just like with MP, that was not my actual experience. VIDEO LIES…sometimes.
Bench
barx20
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x5
260x3
290x5x5 - Some sort of PR for reps at or above 290#
Set 1
Set 5
Seated Rows - close neutral
100x15
160x15
210x15
280x5x5
Lat Pulls - wide neutral
235x5x5
160x15
Mrs. Strick’s Workout
Bench
barx8
65x5
80x5
90x2 - PR +1 Rep
95x1 - PR +5#
100x0 - stalled halfway up
85x2
75x8 - PR +3 Reps
Deadlift - made some changes to foot placement and angle. This helped immensely. Also used video to SHOW her. So much easier than explaining.
135x5
155x5
175x5 - PR +3 Reps
185x4 - PR +10#
135x10x2 - form work
Pushdowns
30x10
50x5
45x8
Lat Pulls
70x10
100x5
100x7
When she doubled 90#, on bench, and almost got a 3rd. We had to try 100#. Just not enough gas.
Deads are really taking off!
You aint kiddin strick, it looked like you could get 10 reps of 290, awesome.
Yeah, the 5th set looked easier than the 1st, you had some bar path wiggle in the 1st set. The last one looked rock solid, damn.
You look like you are ready to rip the bar in half in these last few vids.
And the Mrs.'s #'s are moving right along.
Thanks, gents.
Ogre, the 5th set FELT better too. 1st set always seems to just be adjusting to the weight.
Mrs. Strick is doing well. And, her own words, “having fun”.
Deadlies tomorrow. Hope the back si ready!
Nice bench, Skip. I can’t remember if you’ve tried close grip only benching for a few months. Helped with my shoulder. Now I bench with a thumbs length away from the smooth part of the bar. My shoulder is still pain free.
[quote]ecogenx wrote:
Nice bench, Skip. I can’t remember if you’ve tried close grip only benching for a few months. Helped with my shoulder. Now I bench with a thumbs length away from the smooth part of the bar. My shoulder is still pain free.[/quote]
Change my bench grip??
I have not gone CGB only in a while. Of course, CGB makes my shoulders hurt anyway. Likely because I have done them after regular bench. I did go CGB only for a couple of months…I think it was last year. It really didn’t help.
I am going to try the rehab exercises/stretches and see what they do. If all else fails, I will look into narrowing my grip. I just hate to go there before I break 400#. Necessity will dictate, though.
[quote]LittleStrick wrote:
[quote]ecogenx wrote:
Nice bench, Skip. I can’t remember if you’ve tried close grip only benching for a few months. Helped with my shoulder. Now I bench with a thumbs length away from the smooth part of the bar. My shoulder is still pain free.[/quote]
Change my bench grip??
I have not gone CGB only in a while. Of course, CGB makes my shoulders hurt anyway. Likely because I have done them after regular bench. I did go CGB only for a couple of months…I think it was last year. It really didn’t help.
I am going to try the rehab exercises/stretches and see what they do. If all else fails, I will look into narrowing my grip. I just hate to go there before I break 400#. Necessity will dictate, though.[/quote]
That blows. Wonder what it is. Do you think you’ve torn something? Maybe try the Cressey 3 pulls to 1 push for upper body. (I think that was Cressey)
Looking “feakishly” strong on the bench again. Do you have to rub it in so much. Some people lift their whole lives and never manage 290 and here you are pumping out 5 sets of 5 with it.
Bloody show off!
[quote]ecogenx wrote:
[quote]LittleStrick wrote:
[quote]ecogenx wrote:
Nice bench, Skip. I can’t remember if you’ve tried close grip only benching for a few months. Helped with my shoulder. Now I bench with a thumbs length away from the smooth part of the bar. My shoulder is still pain free.[/quote]
Change my bench grip??
I have not gone CGB only in a while. Of course, CGB makes my shoulders hurt anyway. Likely because I have done them after regular bench. I did go CGB only for a couple of months…I think it was last year. It really didn’t help.
I am going to try the rehab exercises/stretches and see what they do. If all else fails, I will look into narrowing my grip. I just hate to go there before I break 400#. Necessity will dictate, though.[/quote]
That blows. Wonder what it is. Do you think you’ve torn something? Maybe try the Cressey 3 pulls to 1 push for upper body. (I think that was Cressey)[/quote]
Steve, it appears to be the bicep tendon. (same issue as I was initially diagnosed with) I am starting to wonder, though, if there aren’t a multitude of things contributing to it. Muscle imbalances in the shoulder, poor posture, working at a desk all day, etc… So I am going to try the rehab (shoulder savers) stuff and see what I can do. I am also dropping anything but the 5x5 bench, for chest, on that day. So that I get a higher ratio of back sets to chest sets.
Also, dislocates, windmills, internal and external rotations, that stretchy thing in the video that PG posted. I am going to try it all.
[quote]FarmerBrett wrote:
Looking “feakishly” strong on the bench again. Do you have to rub it in so much. Some people lift their whole lives and never manage 290 and here you are pumping out 5 sets of 5 with it.
Bloody show off![/quote]
Thanks, Brett. Believe me, it didn’t feel as easy as it looked. I will be pleased to get 5x5 with 300# and thrilled to get it at 315#.
It is frustrating, though, that my bench is where it is in relation to my military press. Off the top of my head, Bulldog and Steve (Eco) both MP around where I do. But both of them have considerably higher bench maxes. Why?
Some would say that it is a ROM issue, since they have shorter arms. Wouldn’t that come into play with MPs as well, though? I am just not sure.
I feel like my form is pretty good. I have a good arch. I can 3 board over 405#. I have done 2 board presses with 385#, for sets of 3. So…??? Weak chest maybe?
Well, my overhead is about 2/3 of my bench, so if that’s normal, a 200 overhead would be right for 290 bench. Which doesn’t solve the question of why Bulldog and Eco have such high benches. However, many people train their bench out of proportion to other lifts. I keep seeing people with huge benches relative to squat or deads.
If your bench is about 3/4 of your squat and 3/5 of your dead, you’re probably developed correctly.
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Well, my overhead is about 2/3 of my bench, so if that’s normal, a 200 overhead would be right for 290 bench. Which doesn’t solve the question of why Bulldog and Eco have such high benches. However, many people train their bench out of proportion to other lifts. I keep seeing people with huge benches relative to squat or deads.
If your bench is about 3/4 of your squat and 3/5 of your dead, you’re probably developed correctly.[/quote]
Thanks, Cav. Thing is my military is 3/4 of my bench. I have put up a 275# military press, but only a 370# bench. If I was at the 2/3 proportion, like most folks, my bench would be 405#, which is what I am shooting for.
Deadlift
Well, today was the day, of sorts. I decided to play with the weight and see if I could get some heavier singles.
Looking back in my log, I found that this little stint of deads (starting 3/1) are the 1st full deads that I have done in 11 months. That is a long absence. I did do some rack pulls up into last May. So, it had been 9 1/2 months since I had any pulling.
Notables from today… As suspected, form looked pretty good until the weights got heavier. At heavier weights, my ass started lifting before my shoulders and I got a bit in front of the weight. Looking at the videos, and feeling myself during the lifts, I never did get on the balls of my feet.
I think several things are happening… 1) My back is stronger than my legs. So, I am lifting my ass (like everyone) to get my legs to a more advantageous angle and shifting the load to my back. 2) I have a REALLY fucking long torso. Once my ass is elevated, and my back more horizontal, my torso is so long the my shoulders almost have to be in front of the weight.
I could try to sit back more, which I will do, but am afraid that I will lose my balance backwards. I was on my heels, with toes up, on a few reps. Not sure if it is in the posted videos or not.
Option 2 is to start the lift with my ass a little higher, and see if I can pull back into my shins better.
I will play with both and see where it gets me.
Deadlift
135x5x2
225x3
295x3
315x3
335x3
365x1
385x1
405x1
405x3
315x3
315x5
315x3 - Nice smooth set. Pretty good form.
335x3 - Still a pretty good set. You can see me on my heels.
385x1 - Ass 1st. Not horrible, but not great. Shoulders are starting to move forward.
405x3 - Form lacking. Ass up, shoulders forward, weight pretty manageable.
Work in progress…
Mrs. Strick’s Workout
Seated DB Press
25x8x2
25x7x2
Squats
barx8
75x5
100x5x3
105x3 - PR +2 Reps
Seated Rows
70x8
100x5
100x8x2
She is really struggling with the seated DB presses. She is tired of the 25’s feeling heavy. This is good. 30’s are right around the corner.
Squats are still looking good. AND…LOOK HERE…she told me her favorite exercise is…ready?..SQUATS!
I am so proud! lol
W/o knowing what your max is, I honestly thought the slight difference in form between your 405 and 315 was fully justified by the 90 lb increase in weight. And I think your DL form is pretty darn good.
And as far as I know, if you’re pulling heavy, and something happened to make you lose your grip, you’re supposed to pretty much fall over backwards if you’re doing it right.
[quote]LittleStrick wrote:
AND…LOOK HERE…she told me her favorite exercise is…ready?..SQUATS!
I am so proud! lol
[/quote]
Good girl! They’re my favorite, too, even though I can pull a lot more. I really love squatting.
Thanks, PG. Looking back at it, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. And I think that I am misreading the shoulder location, slightly. I am still getting forward a bit, but I was not judging it by the angle of my arm as much as the protruding delt. Not as bad as it seemed, but still needs work.
You may be on to something with the 2nd paragraph. I will lean back a tad more and see what that does.
Thanks!
Snap, she is really enjoying it. She dive-bombs her squats and I am trying to limit that, somewhat. I have a fast descent too, but she really goes down fast. I am just thrilled that she enjoys doing squats. It is a tough exercise, especially when you go to depth. She never ceases to amaze me.
Congrats on being able to deadlift again. Good to see the back is healthy agian.
[quote]ecogenx wrote:
Congrats on being able to deadlift again. Good to see the back is healthy agian.[/quote]
I just hope that it holds. I have made a decision to stop squatting, while I pursue deadlift. Both of them together is just too much. And, to me, deads are more important. We will see how it goes.
I have some form tweaks that need to be done, at higher weights. That is going to be a slow process, what with only hitting it once a week. We do what we have to, though.
Thanks for checking in…