Oh hey Masch, I reread your post. The DeFranco sound very similar to what I am doing. I have added in a LOT of yoga stuff like bridges, headstand, handstands… and conditioning work such as jumprope.
oh my goodness arachane–check out that avi 
Mmm nice midsection you have there.
I’m like you - I can only give one big lift my all. I find it OK to train the big lifts once a week, to be honest. I am in the over 40 club and need more time to recover but YMMV.
Regarding bench, this (new) article may answer some of your questions: Muscle Specific Hypertrophy: Chest, Triceps, and Shoulders
(See the bit about 80% theory)
Ooh ooh! I have a question, I have a question!
Why are seated GMs considered safe to do, but the back ext machine is not??
Thanks for the avi-love guys. xoxo
Cal, that article is what got me thinking about this puzzle again. It’s been at the back of my mind, and the article made me think it might be something about not working the fast twitch upper body. I’m considering doing some plyo (clapping) pushups to see what that does to my bench.
Betty, who says that?? Sounds like the usual nonsense to me. People coddle their feet and backs and just make things worse.
Hey arachne-how did you end up finding the mike robertson program?
lululula, I liked that program A LOT. I’ve retained several things from it, especially: ball rollouts, single leg work, and RDLs/GMs. It also improved my understanding of my body i.e. do I have one more rep in here? Two? I may very well go back to it next year. The only thing that disappointed me is the bench lockouts didn’t break me through my bench plateau. I felt sure those would help but… no.
Yeah, I didn’t know the back extension machine wasn’t safe. I take it you mean a resistance machine, not the hyperextension bench. With hypers, the danger is a lot of people do them wrong but I think any PW capable of doing hypers properly.
ya, the weighted machine. You are seated and you push back.
I don’t know where I heard it.
I hear all low back exercises criticized together: “I can’t do back extensions/good mornings/deadlifts because it will kill my back”. (Also “I can’t squat because I have bad knees”.)
I just tell them my back used to hurt before I started doing those things, slowly and gradually. I assumed back pain was inevitable after 40. It turns out this is not so!
[quote]arachne12 wrote:
Right, ouro? So according to a rep calculator you should be able to hit 138.
Any arguments based on lower upper body strength in women are insufficient, because this is apples to apples for each woman. What about any of you women who are using Westside? Does the dynamic effort help to break this pattern?[/quote]
I train Westside, prior to surgery I was doing 180 x 5 and my 1 rep max was around 205-210, according to the 1 RM calculator I just plugged it into, it was accurate.
Lil Power - That’s AWESOME!
Spidey - That’s a beautiful belly up there. 
Ok, we are of a similar BW so maybe this is interesting.
I looked back at my benching record. Granted, I’ve been benching for 10 months so take this for what it’s worth. 1RM 105, 5RM 90. So there’s only a 15 pound difference there. I’ve done 95x3x5 (that’s weight x reps x sets). I often do a working set of 85x5x5 with ease and without a spotter.
If I look at the 5RM numbers, or the 95x3x5, I’d think my 1RM should be a bit higher.
pp, lil, I’m glad you commented! But you know, if I use the calculation from 5/3/1, both of you are actually dead-on what your 1RM should be, based on that 5RM. So, maybe there’s nothing to this theory anyway.
Anybody have experience with taking gyrokenesis classes?
I cant even pronounce it…I have never done it whats it all about?
[quote]coyotegal wrote:
I cant even pronounce it…I have never done it whats it all about?[/quote]
It’s sort of a pilates/yoga thing. I’m trying to rehab my torso from my abdominal surgery, and work on my flexibility and ROM. I’m planning to take ballet, but I couldn’t work it into my schedule this fall so I’m shooting for January. I’m trying to be more flexible going in, so I can at least do the movements.
[quote]Powerpuff wrote:
[quote]coyotegal wrote:
I cant even pronounce it…I have never done it whats it all about?[/quote]
It’s sort of a pilates/yoga thing. I’m trying to rehab my torso from my abdominal surgery, and work on my flexibility and ROM. I’m planning to take ballet, but I couldn’t work it into my schedule this fall so I’m shooting for January. I’m trying to be more flexible going in, so I can at least do the movements. [/quote]
Hey mama! I actually looked it up and it looks pretty cool! I’d definitely do it if it were offered around my parts and wasn’t pricey. The machines look fun!
And that’s super cool on the ballet! I’m sure you’ve heard me mention, but i do mat-based pilates, which is a lot like floor ballet-barre work, and I love, love, LOVE it! I find that it definitely helps with my flexibility, as well as works a lot of the tiny, unseen muscles that are deep, deep inside (hello, pelvic floor!). I’d be interested in hearing how the ballet and gyrotonics works for you.
Are still planning on lifting? Also be interested in how the ballet/lifting/everything else works together!
I used to do a mat pilates class and you’re right about the pelvic floor. I always felt like I needed to pee after that, and mentioned this to someone else who took the class and apparently that’s pretty common!
Hey Maschy and Cal!
Yep, still lifting. Now just thinking more about flexibility. A dancer friend of mine has me doing some ROM stuff, and she’s talking up the gyrokenesis since it really focuses on the core. The comments about pee made me think I better add kegels to the list, or I could just take the path of least resistance and buy some depends. LOL!
About class prices, I’m going to take them at the local community college. Here in California, community colleges are amazingly cheap. Like $45 dollars a quarter. The ballet class is two days per week for two hours per session. That’s the hard part, fitting it into my schedule.
I took a modern dance class from a flaming gay guy a couple of years ago. So much fun. Think dance class with Carson Kressley. I haven’t done any ballet since I was a kid, so this will be a stretch, in more ways than one. I’m going to be pretty terrible, but I don’t care.
Has anyone ever used/heard about A.R.T. (Active Release Therapy)? I’ve heard some great things about it helping people with tendon, ligament and sciatica issues. I just found a doctor within walking distance of my house who is trained in it and I’ve heard good things. Just wondering if anyone here has any success/horror stories?