4/8/14 Tuesday Lower Body Day (Sumo Deadlift) Time Lifting: 1:05
Sumo Deadlift
3x5
315
Leg Press
660x15
Leg Extensions
4x8
195
Stand Calf
4x13
10
1 sec pause top and bottom
Ab machine
2x13
155
4/11/14 Friday Upper Body Day. Time Lifting: 50 mins
Didn’t weigh or measure, will do next Friday 4/18/14. Hoping (but not expecting) to be 208 lbs and 15.5 inch arms, but that would be pretty substantial improvement in the arm department since my measure last week.
Ok, so since I usually miss my Wednesday upper day I decided to switch a couple exercises from that day into today’s workout. Next week will go back to normal workout. Also, I felt horrible. Like, my stomach felt in knots the whole workout and I thought I was going to throw up.
I’m not sure why, it might be because I’m taking in too much carbs/protein immediately after waking (which is right before my workout). I plan on reducing the amount of my pre-workout drink and see if that helps. Because of my stomach, I skipped rear delts and shrugs.
DB Paused Bench
4x8
60’s
1 sec pause botttom, no pause top
Wide Lat Pulldown
3x12
150
*Seated DB Laterals (paused at top)
4x10
15’s
1 sec pause at top
*DB Incline Curl
2x11, 1x10
25’s
*Overhead Rope Extension
2x14
110
Went for a third set, felt pain in inner elbow so I stopped. I don’t think it’s anything major, almost like a cramp but not.
The * lifts are lifts usually done on Wednesday’s Upper body day.
4/14/14 Upper Body day.
DB Bench
3x7, 1x6
80’s
Machine Fly
4x14
65
Chins
1x7, 3x5
BB Row
3x11
155
DB Laterals
4x15
25’s
I Raise/Rear Delt Fly
4x10/4x10
10’s/50’s
Pinwheel Curl
2x10, 1x7
35
Rope Pushdown
3x10
130
4/16 Upper Body Day
DB Incline
2x10, 1x8,5
60’s
Cable Row
4x9
170
Seated DB Laterals (1 sec pause at top)
2x17, 1x14,12
15’s
Incline DB Curl
2x11, 1x9
25’s
Overhead Rope Extension
1x14, 13, 11
110
Rope Curl *Thrown in at end because I wanted a pump
70x20
Lifted at night, so I did a short session. Gym was PACKED. I hate lifting past early morning, it’s too damn busy
4/18/14 upper body day.
Skipped both leg days this week for various reasons, therefore I did Trap bar deadlifts today as well as my upper body lifts.
Trap Bar Dead
3x5
275
Easy, lower back felt weird though
Paused DB Bench
4x9
60’s
Wide Lat Pulldown
3x8
160
Machine Laterals
2x10, 1x9,6
120
I raise/Rear Delt fly
4x10/4x11
10’s/50’s
BB Shrug
4x15
310
straps on all sets
EZ Curl
3x9, 1x8
70
V handle pushdown
4x10
140
Lower back felt odd during the trap bar deads. First time I’ve ever did them. Since I can’t do squat variations I figured I would try these out. Will have to play around a bit, maybe flip the bar over because my arms are so long I barely have to bend my legs.
I am sick today so skipped lifting. I fell asleep at 8:30 last night and slept pretty good throughout the night, so I figured I would get another couple hours of sleep. So basically got close to 11 hours of sleep, which I never do.
Planning on deadlift day tomorrow, hopefully feel better when waking.
4/23/14 Upper Body Day (DB Incline)
Was still pretty sick today, 10 minutes in felt like I was going to throw up. Cut some sets, didn’t do rear delt work because that takes a lot out of me mentally and physically. Managed to get most of my exercises/sets in though. Surprised myself when I was onto arms already, I had the mindset of “just one more set” every set of the workout.
Oddly enough, blasted through my previous PR’s for DB incline and Incline curls. Weird.
Cable Fly
4x14
17
DB Incline
4x10
60’s
Cable Row
2x10, 1x8
170
Close Lat Pull
2x10
160
Seated DB Laterals
3x17
15’s
1 sec pause at top
**No Rear delt flyes/I raise due to sick
Incline DB Curl
3x11
25’s
Overhead Rope Extension
2x14, 1x10
110
Not bad for feeling like I was going to throw up.
4/25/14 Upper Body Day
Was gonna lift tomorrow, woke up at 5:40, blinked and it was 7 am so that didn’t happen. Threw in leg press at the end today to get some leg work this week.
Paused DB Bench
4x10
60’s
Wide Lat Pulldown
3x9
160
Machine laterals
1x10, 6
120
1x8, 6
100
- Will have to drop weight next week, I’m not making progress here.
I raise/Rear Delt fly
4x10/4x12
10’s/50’s
BB Shrug
2x15, 1x10
315
Straps on all
EZ Curl
4x9
70
V Handle Pushdown
3x11
140
Leg Press
660x14
Good day overall.
4/28/14 Upper Body Day. Time Lifting: 1:20
DB Bench
3x7, 1x6
80’s
Machine Fly
4x15
65
Chins
1x7, 3x5, 1x4
BB Row
3x12
155
DB Laterals
4x16
25’s
I raise/Rear Delt Fly
4x10/4x13
10’s/50’s
Pinwheel Curls
1x10, 8, 6
35
drop set
20x4
Rope Pushdown
3x11
130
Average session. Didn’t improve on DB Bench, or curls. I’m possibly going to switch out the pinwheel curls for superman curls. This idea came about when I read Bradley Kelly’s post in the weak biceps contraction thread. Tried out the behind the head curl movement and could feel a sharp contraction, cramping feeling. I figure I’ll keep reps higher on that movement though, around 12-15 reps because my thought’s make me think it has more potential to cause injury if you start going heavy and grind through reps.
We’ll see though, that’s one week away.
[quote]staystrong wrote:
I’m only 21, but after the major surgeries I’ve had health and longevity is important. I’m not invincible appearently.[/quote]
[quote]staystrong wrote:
But I’ve made mistakes before, so always open to suggestions.
[/quote]
Your recent epiphany is refreshing for someone your age. I can’t promise that I’ll visit often but a few things did stand out and here are my thoughts.
I don’t know how you injured your wrist, the exact procedure and rehab (if any) that was done, and what restrictions you currently have. I can state with confidence that you should look into wrist wraps to support heavy pressing. Get the ones with the thumb loop so you can loosen them up and retain warmth.
And why is it important to keep them warm?
The wrist is a condyloid joint, which is a subset of synovial joints. Synovial joints comprise about 80% of the joints in the body and produce a fluid called synovial fluid. This fluid helps to lubricate the joints for proper mobility. The thing is, the synovial fluid does a better job when it’s warm. In addition to your wrist, elbows, shoulders, etc. this is something you want to keep in mind regarding your hip (which I may comment on in a later post if possible).
I’ve had my Schiek wrist wraps for close to four years now and they’re still holding up very well. They did take a little longer to break in than my previous pair from Animal; but the Animals’ velcro wasn’t very good and they softened up too quickly. If you are going to purchase the Schieks, get it directly from their website as they have excellent customer service. (btw, I’m not compensated at all by Schiek, so take this as an objective review)
And don’t be afraid to experiment with using the wraps on any other movements that cause irritation. For example, I use mine when doing heavy curls(!) Think I care what others think? All I care is that, at 38, I’m pain free every day and I’m still meeting my goals in the weight room.
Again, I don’t know the complete history of your wrist in addition to its current state. And you don’t want the wraps to hinder proper and complete recovery. But, like belts, they are a great tool to prevent any future issues while allowing your muscles and connective tissues to grow progressively stronger. In other words, don’t be afraid to use them if you think you need to.
As for the bicep comment in your recent post, keep in mind the bicep has three concentric functions:
-
elbow flexion
-
supination of the radioulnar joint (hold your hand out as if you’re going to shake someone’s hand, now turn your palm up towards the sky - that’s supination)
-
flexion of the humerus
The biceps also do several other things eccentrically and isometrically; for the purpose of this discussion, I don’t want to overload you.
So, the pin wheel curls you’ve been doing did NOT require the bicep to perform the second function.
Don’t get me wrong. I personally love the pinwheel curl as it gives my brachialis and brachioradialis extra work while keeping the wrist in a nice safe neutral position. The brachialis, when developed, gives your upper arm a more 3D look. The brachiradioalis, in addition to being an important forearm muscle, will help to give your lower arms that 3D look.
So, by all means, keep the pinwheel curl - with a 2-3 squeeze at the top - in the toolbox. Just don’t be afraid to put it aside once in a while. And include some work in which supination is involved. Little tricks such as gripping the db closer to the thumb side will help you get more out of less weight when performing supination with dbs (which is even more important when recovering from connective tissue injuries).
And, yes, with isolation movements, it’s rarely necessary to do heavy, low-rep work. There are always exceptions (arm wrestling-specific training would be one example). However, based on your history, stated goals, and where you are currently, it would be absurd to go for 3 or even 5 rep maxes on isolation work.
As always, use pain as the final arbiter; anything that causes the wrong type of pain should be re-examined and modified, or possibly shelved temporarily or, in some cases, permanently. And learn to recognize when you need to cycle one exercise out and another in.
[quote]56x11 wrote:
[quote]staystrong wrote:
I’m only 21, but after the major surgeries I’ve had health and longevity is important. I’m not invincible appearently.[/quote]
[quote]staystrong wrote:
But I’ve made mistakes before, so always open to suggestions.
[/quote]
Your recent epiphany is refreshing for someone your age. I can’t promise that I’ll visit often but a few things did stand out and here are my thoughts.
I don’t know how you injured your wrist, the exact procedure and rehab (if any) that was done, and what restrictions you currently have. I can state with confidence that you should look into wrist wraps to support heavy pressing. Get the ones with the thumb loop so you can loosen them up and retain warmth.
And why is it important to keep them warm?
The wrist is a condyloid joint, which is a subset of synovial joints. Synovial joints comprise about 80% of the joints in the body and produce a fluid called synovial fluid. This fluid helps to lubricate the joints for proper mobility. The thing is, the synovial fluid does a better job when it’s warm. In addition to your wrist, elbows, shoulders, etc. this is something you want to keep in mind regarding your hip (which I may comment on in a later post if possible).
I’ve had my Schiek wrist wraps for close to four years now and they’re still holding up very well. They did take a little longer to break in than my previous pair from Animal; but the Animals’ velcro wasn’t very good and they softened up too quickly. If you are going to purchase the Schieks, get it directly from their website as they have excellent customer service. (btw, I’m not compensated at all by Schiek, so take this as an objective review)
And don’t be afraid to experiment with using the wraps on any other movements that cause irritation. For example, I use mine when doing heavy curls(!) Think I care what others think? All I care is that, at 38, I’m pain free every day and I’m still meeting my goals in the weight room.
Again, I don’t know the complete history of your wrist in addition to its current state. And you don’t want the wraps to hinder proper and complete recovery. But, like belts, they are a great tool to prevent any future issues while allowing your muscles and connective tissues to grow progressively stronger. In other words, don’t be afraid to use them if you think you need to.
As for the bicep comment in your recent post, keep in mind the bicep has three concentric functions:
-
elbow flexion
-
supination of the radioulnar joint (hold your hand out as if you’re going to shake someone’s hand, now turn your palm up towards the sky - that’s supination)
-
flexion of the humerus
The biceps also do several other things eccentrically and isometrically; for the purpose of this discussion, I don’t want to overload you.
So, the pin wheel curls you’ve been doing did NOT require the bicep to perform the second function.
Don’t get me wrong. I personally love the pinwheel curl as it gives my brachialis and brachioradialis extra work while keeping the wrist in a nice safe neutral position. The brachialis, when developed, gives your upper arm a more 3D look. The brachiradioalis, in addition to being an important forearm muscle, will help to give your lower arms that 3D look.
So, by all means, keep the pinwheel curl - with a 2-3 squeeze at the top - in the toolbox. Just don’t be afraid to put it aside once in a while. And include some work in which supination is involved. Little tricks such as gripping the db closer to the thumb side will help you get more out of less weight when performing supination with dbs (which is even more important when recovering from connective tissue injuries).
And, yes, with isolation movements, it’s rarely necessary to do heavy, low-rep work. There are always exceptions (arm wrestling-specific training would be one example). However, based on your history, stated goals, and where you are currently, it would be absurd to go for 3 or even 5 rep maxes on isolation work.
As always, use pain as the final arbiter; anything that causes the wrong type of pain should be re-examined and modified, or possibly shelved temporarily or, in some cases, permanently. And learn to recognize when you need to cycle one exercise out and another in.
[/quote]
Thanks for the input man. I actually have some Inzer wraps I bought once I recovered from my wrist surgery. I haven’t used them at all however, and now that I don’t do barbell work I’m not 100% sure when I should use them. I don’t feel unstable or in pain during the movement, though occasionally my wrist hurts the next day or two. I attribute this to letting the DB “fall” back too much and letting my wrist cock back, but that’s speculation.
I remember seeing The Mighty Stu use wraps for curls a few years back, and even sent him a pm about them. He was nice enough to explain some things to me then, similar to what you mentioned in your post. I’m not sure when I should use them honestly, I don’t feel like I’m moving a heavy enough weight where I need the support but at the same time, I don’t believe I’ll ever mentally believe that. I always hesitate to use “support” in fear that I’ll hurt myself long term by neglecting stabilizing muscles, but that’s also an old habit I’ve had since I was 16 and “invincible”.
Supination is an interesting beast for me. I cannot do full supination (BB curls or fully supinated chins), but I can do EZ curls. I cannot do reverse EZ curls either. I can somewhat do DB laterals only because I can almost “limp wrist” and take the stress off the tendon/sheath.
I’ve been doing pinwheel curls for close to a year now because they are an exercise that puts minimal stress on my wrist, and they hit the forearm. However, after reading Brad’s posts and examining my training I think the switch to superman curls (or a similar movement) is worth trying. Part of me worries that doing a movement like superman curls has a greater risk of injury, primarily because my biceps cramps when doing them unweighted. I always worry about cramping and tearing something, though that’s never happened to me.
I have no desire to ever get under 7-8ish reps on biceps and triceps lol, even before my surgeries the likelihood of injury seemed to great to me.
4/29/14 Lower Body Day. Time Lifting: 1 hour
Someone was hogging the only area we’re allowed to deadlift, and he was there for 30 minutes, so I switched my sumo deadlifts out today for DB Lunges.
Leg Press
670x15
DB Lunges
3x10
65’s
Leg Extension
4x9
195
Stand Calf
3x14, 1x4
10
1 sec pause at top and bottom
Ab Machine
3x14
155
Elliptical
5 mins
10 resist
Got another PR on leg press. Got the first 9 reps with no pause, so that was cool. It’s getting to the point where there is little room left on the leg press for weights, so after another 50ish pounds I’m going to have to only do progression with 25’s and 45’s. That’ll be interesting. Either that or else I’ll start focusing on not pausing on my later reps. That’s still months away though.
Excited to do some superman curls now lol, maybe I’ll switch them in instead of incline curls tomorrow. We’ll see.
[quote]staystrong wrote:
[quote]56x11 wrote:
[quote]staystrong wrote:
I’m only 21, but after the major surgeries I’ve had health and longevity is important. I’m not invincible appearently.[/quote]
[quote]staystrong wrote:
But I’ve made mistakes before, so always open to suggestions.
[/quote]
Your recent epiphany is refreshing for someone your age. I can’t promise that I’ll visit often but a few things did stand out and here are my thoughts.
I don’t know how you injured your wrist, the exact procedure and rehab (if any) that was done, and what restrictions you currently have. I can state with confidence that you should look into wrist wraps to support heavy pressing. Get the ones with the thumb loop so you can loosen them up and retain warmth.
And why is it important to keep them warm?
The wrist is a condyloid joint, which is a subset of synovial joints. Synovial joints comprise about 80% of the joints in the body and produce a fluid called synovial fluid. This fluid helps to lubricate the joints for proper mobility. The thing is, the synovial fluid does a better job when it’s warm. In addition to your wrist, elbows, shoulders, etc. this is something you want to keep in mind regarding your hip (which I may comment on in a later post if possible).
I’ve had my Schiek wrist wraps for close to four years now and they’re still holding up very well. They did take a little longer to break in than my previous pair from Animal; but the Animals’ velcro wasn’t very good and they softened up too quickly. If you are going to purchase the Schieks, get it directly from their website as they have excellent customer service. (btw, I’m not compensated at all by Schiek, so take this as an objective review)
And don’t be afraid to experiment with using the wraps on any other movements that cause irritation. For example, I use mine when doing heavy curls(!) Think I care what others think? All I care is that, at 38, I’m pain free every day and I’m still meeting my goals in the weight room.
Again, I don’t know the complete history of your wrist in addition to its current state. And you don’t want the wraps to hinder proper and complete recovery. But, like belts, they are a great tool to prevent any future issues while allowing your muscles and connective tissues to grow progressively stronger. In other words, don’t be afraid to use them if you think you need to.
As for the bicep comment in your recent post, keep in mind the bicep has three concentric functions:
-
elbow flexion
-
supination of the radioulnar joint (hold your hand out as if you’re going to shake someone’s hand, now turn your palm up towards the sky - that’s supination)
-
flexion of the humerus
The biceps also do several other things eccentrically and isometrically; for the purpose of this discussion, I don’t want to overload you.
So, the pin wheel curls you’ve been doing did NOT require the bicep to perform the second function.
Don’t get me wrong. I personally love the pinwheel curl as it gives my brachialis and brachioradialis extra work while keeping the wrist in a nice safe neutral position. The brachialis, when developed, gives your upper arm a more 3D look. The brachiradioalis, in addition to being an important forearm muscle, will help to give your lower arms that 3D look.
So, by all means, keep the pinwheel curl - with a 2-3 squeeze at the top - in the toolbox. Just don’t be afraid to put it aside once in a while. And include some work in which supination is involved. Little tricks such as gripping the db closer to the thumb side will help you get more out of less weight when performing supination with dbs (which is even more important when recovering from connective tissue injuries).
And, yes, with isolation movements, it’s rarely necessary to do heavy, low-rep work. There are always exceptions (arm wrestling-specific training would be one example). However, based on your history, stated goals, and where you are currently, it would be absurd to go for 3 or even 5 rep maxes on isolation work.
As always, use pain as the final arbiter; anything that causes the wrong type of pain should be re-examined and modified, or possibly shelved temporarily or, in some cases, permanently. And learn to recognize when you need to cycle one exercise out and another in.
[/quote]
Thanks for the input man. I actually have some Inzer wraps I bought once I recovered from my wrist surgery. I haven’t used them at all however, and now that I don’t do barbell work I’m not 100% sure when I should use them. I don’t feel unstable or in pain during the movement, though occasionally my wrist hurts the next day or two. I attribute this to letting the DB “fall” back too much and letting my wrist cock back, but that’s speculation.
I remember seeing The Mighty Stu use wraps for curls a few years back, and even sent him a pm about them. He was nice enough to explain some things to me then, similar to what you mentioned in your post. I’m not sure when I should use them honestly, I don’t feel like I’m moving a heavy enough weight where I need the support but at the same time, I don’t believe I’ll ever mentally believe that. I always hesitate to use “support” in fear that I’ll hurt myself long term by neglecting stabilizing muscles, but that’s also an old habit I’ve had since I was 16 and “invincible”.
Supination is an interesting beast for me. I cannot do full supination (BB curls or fully supinated chins), but I can do EZ curls. I cannot do reverse EZ curls either. I can somewhat do DB laterals only because I can almost “limp wrist” and take the stress off the tendon/sheath.
I’ve been doing pinwheel curls for close to a year now because they are an exercise that puts minimal stress on my wrist, and they hit the forearm. However, after reading Brad’s posts and examining my training I think the switch to superman curls (or a similar movement) is worth trying. Part of me worries that doing a movement like superman curls has a greater risk of injury, primarily because my biceps cramps when doing them unweighted. I always worry about cramping and tearing something, though that’s never happened to me.
I have no desire to ever get under 7-8ish reps on biceps and triceps lol, even before my surgeries the likelihood of injury seemed to great to me.[/quote]
It’s that time of the day when things get hectic for me, so hope this post makes sense.
Yes, I do suspect that your wrist is not maintaining a solid neutral position during your workouts. It’s common for people to miss subtleties in the heat of the moment - only to feel the ramifications the next day.
As for things such as wraps and belts, etc. - remember that I stated in my earlier post to use these as tools to keep you injury free (or properly rehab an injury) while allowing your muscles and connective tissue to get stronger.
Think of it as a sliding scale.
Let’s say you can perform a certain exercise at 15 pounds without wraps and feel fine; however, 20 pounds is the threshold in which you just damn well know you’re the danger zone. So, one of your goals is to progress so you can eventually work 20 pounds without wraps and remain healthy. And now your new threshold becomes 25 pounds. Very simplistic, I know, but the fundamental principles is what you need to understand.
Also, it is VERY important that just because you had to wrap up or belt up at a certain weight (or a certain percentage of your max) on one session, it is ABSOLUTELY fine to wrap up or belt up on a LIGHTER weight in your next session IF this is the message your body is telling you.
The human body simply does not grow stronger in a perfect linear path. You’ll have up days and down days and you have to be tuned into that. Also, if you introduced a new exercise or rep scheme or even did something outside the gym that may have irritated the area, it would be smart to take precautionary measures in the your next gym session.
Your trepidation on introducing new variations of curls is perfectly understandable given your history. This Bradley Joe Kelley strikes me as a decent guy and he’s done an admirable job in rebuilding his physique. His main talent appears to be in collecting old-school bodybuilding training protocols and writing about them. He’s more of an information gatherer as opposed to a critical thinker. Furthermore, he’s given me no conclusive reasons to believe that injury prevention is his specialty.
As I told chobbs recently, some old-school tricks have and will stand the test of time. However - and this is important - some of those old school tricks are horrendous when it comes to injury prevention.
For you:
-
the initial bicep movements should keep the wrists in a neutral position
-
the traditional straight bb curl is most likely contraindicated for you at this current time
-
any movements in which the upper arm is fixed (such as a preacher bench curl) will also place additional stress at the wrist as well as the bicipital tendon; so if you must do these never do them first
-
when introducing a new movement do less than you want to with a lighter weight than you’re able to; then give your body 24-72 hours to see how it responds
[quote]56x11 wrote:
[quote]staystrong wrote:
[quote]56x11 wrote:
[quote]staystrong wrote:
I’m only 21, but after the major surgeries I’ve had health and longevity is important. I’m not invincible appearently.[/quote]
[quote]staystrong wrote:
But I’ve made mistakes before, so always open to suggestions.
[/quote]
Your recent epiphany is refreshing for someone your age. I can’t promise that I’ll visit often but a few things did stand out and here are my thoughts.
I don’t know how you injured your wrist, the exact procedure and rehab (if any) that was done, and what restrictions you currently have. I can state with confidence that you should look into wrist wraps to support heavy pressing. Get the ones with the thumb loop so you can loosen them up and retain warmth.
And why is it important to keep them warm?
The wrist is a condyloid joint, which is a subset of synovial joints. Synovial joints comprise about 80% of the joints in the body and produce a fluid called synovial fluid. This fluid helps to lubricate the joints for proper mobility. The thing is, the synovial fluid does a better job when it’s warm. In addition to your wrist, elbows, shoulders, etc. this is something you want to keep in mind regarding your hip (which I may comment on in a later post if possible).
I’ve had my Schiek wrist wraps for close to four years now and they’re still holding up very well. They did take a little longer to break in than my previous pair from Animal; but the Animals’ velcro wasn’t very good and they softened up too quickly. If you are going to purchase the Schieks, get it directly from their website as they have excellent customer service. (btw, I’m not compensated at all by Schiek, so take this as an objective review)
And don’t be afraid to experiment with using the wraps on any other movements that cause irritation. For example, I use mine when doing heavy curls(!) Think I care what others think? All I care is that, at 38, I’m pain free every day and I’m still meeting my goals in the weight room.
Again, I don’t know the complete history of your wrist in addition to its current state. And you don’t want the wraps to hinder proper and complete recovery. But, like belts, they are a great tool to prevent any future issues while allowing your muscles and connective tissues to grow progressively stronger. In other words, don’t be afraid to use them if you think you need to.
As for the bicep comment in your recent post, keep in mind the bicep has three concentric functions:
-
elbow flexion
-
supination of the radioulnar joint (hold your hand out as if you’re going to shake someone’s hand, now turn your palm up towards the sky - that’s supination)
-
flexion of the humerus
The biceps also do several other things eccentrically and isometrically; for the purpose of this discussion, I don’t want to overload you.
So, the pin wheel curls you’ve been doing did NOT require the bicep to perform the second function.
Don’t get me wrong. I personally love the pinwheel curl as it gives my brachialis and brachioradialis extra work while keeping the wrist in a nice safe neutral position. The brachialis, when developed, gives your upper arm a more 3D look. The brachiradioalis, in addition to being an important forearm muscle, will help to give your lower arms that 3D look.
So, by all means, keep the pinwheel curl - with a 2-3 squeeze at the top - in the toolbox. Just don’t be afraid to put it aside once in a while. And include some work in which supination is involved. Little tricks such as gripping the db closer to the thumb side will help you get more out of less weight when performing supination with dbs (which is even more important when recovering from connective tissue injuries).
And, yes, with isolation movements, it’s rarely necessary to do heavy, low-rep work. There are always exceptions (arm wrestling-specific training would be one example). However, based on your history, stated goals, and where you are currently, it would be absurd to go for 3 or even 5 rep maxes on isolation work.
As always, use pain as the final arbiter; anything that causes the wrong type of pain should be re-examined and modified, or possibly shelved temporarily or, in some cases, permanently. And learn to recognize when you need to cycle one exercise out and another in.
[/quote]
Thanks for the input man. I actually have some Inzer wraps I bought once I recovered from my wrist surgery. I haven’t used them at all however, and now that I don’t do barbell work I’m not 100% sure when I should use them. I don’t feel unstable or in pain during the movement, though occasionally my wrist hurts the next day or two. I attribute this to letting the DB “fall” back too much and letting my wrist cock back, but that’s speculation.
I remember seeing The Mighty Stu use wraps for curls a few years back, and even sent him a pm about them. He was nice enough to explain some things to me then, similar to what you mentioned in your post. I’m not sure when I should use them honestly, I don’t feel like I’m moving a heavy enough weight where I need the support but at the same time, I don’t believe I’ll ever mentally believe that. I always hesitate to use “support” in fear that I’ll hurt myself long term by neglecting stabilizing muscles, but that’s also an old habit I’ve had since I was 16 and “invincible”.
Supination is an interesting beast for me. I cannot do full supination (BB curls or fully supinated chins), but I can do EZ curls. I cannot do reverse EZ curls either. I can somewhat do DB laterals only because I can almost “limp wrist” and take the stress off the tendon/sheath.
I’ve been doing pinwheel curls for close to a year now because they are an exercise that puts minimal stress on my wrist, and they hit the forearm. However, after reading Brad’s posts and examining my training I think the switch to superman curls (or a similar movement) is worth trying. Part of me worries that doing a movement like superman curls has a greater risk of injury, primarily because my biceps cramps when doing them unweighted. I always worry about cramping and tearing something, though that’s never happened to me.
I have no desire to ever get under 7-8ish reps on biceps and triceps lol, even before my surgeries the likelihood of injury seemed to great to me.[/quote]
It’s that time of the day when things get hectic for me, so hope this post makes sense.
Yes, I do suspect that your wrist is not maintaining a solid neutral position during your workouts. It’s common for people to miss subtleties in the heat of the moment - only to feel the ramifications the next day.
As for things such as wraps and belts, etc. - remember that I stated in my earlier post to use these as tools to keep you injury free (or properly rehab an injury) while allowing your muscles and connective tissue to get stronger.
Think of it as a sliding scale.
Let’s say you can perform a certain exercise at 15 pounds without wraps and feel fine; however, 20 pounds is the threshold in which you just damn well know you’re the danger zone. So, one of your goals is to progress so you can eventually work 20 pounds without wraps and remain healthy. And now your new threshold becomes 25 pounds. Very simplistic, I know, but the fundamental principles is what you need to understand.
Also, it is VERY important that just because you had to wrap up or belt up at a certain weight (or a certain percentage of your max) on one session, it is ABSOLUTELY fine to wrap up or belt up on a LIGHTER weight in your next session IF this is the message your body is telling you.
The human body simply does not grow stronger in a perfect linear path. You’ll have up days and down days and you have to be tuned into that. Also, if you introduced a new exercise or rep scheme or even did something outside the gym that may have irritated the area, it would be smart to take precautionary measures in the your next gym session.
Your trepidation on introducing new variations of curls is perfectly understandable given your history. This Bradley Joe Kelley strikes me as a decent guy and he’s done an admirable job in rebuilding his physique. His main talent appears to be in collecting old-school bodybuilding training protocols and writing about them. He’s more of an information gatherer as opposed to a critical thinker. Furthermore, he’s given me no conclusive reasons to believe that injury prevention is his specialty.
As I told chobbs recently, some old-school tricks have and will stand the test of time. However - and this is important - some of those old school tricks are horrendous when it comes to injury prevention.
For you:
-
the initial bicep movements should keep the wrists in a neutral position
-
the traditional straight bb curl is most likely contraindicated for you at this current time
-
any movements in which the upper arm is fixed (such as a preacher bench curl) will also place additional stress at the wrist as well as the bicipital tendon; so if you must do these never do them first
-
when introducing a new movement do less than you want to with a lighter weight than you’re able to; then give your body 24-72 hours to see how it responds[/quote]
Sounds good, thanks for the write up.
4/30/14. Upper Body Day. Time Lifting: 1:10
Had to do DB Incline first cause both cable racks were taken. Didn’t work great.
DB Incline
2x11, 1x10
60’s
Cable Fly
3x10
13
Cable Row
3x10
170
Close Lat Pulldown
3x10
160
Seated DB Laterals
4x17
15’s
1 sec pause at top
I raise/Rear Delt Fly
4x10/3x14, 1x11
10’s/50’s
Superman Curls
2x12, 1x11, 1x10
13
Overhead Rope Extension
2x14, 1x10
110
Not a great day weight wise. Doing DB inclines first really burned my shoulders out, I couldn’t do anything on the cable flys. I only felt my shoulders completely burnt out during them, no chest activation at all even after dropping from my planned 4x14 at 17 pounds. Sucks. And I didn’t even hit a new PR for inclines despite doing them first. Blah.
Did the superman curls today. I’m decently tall (6 ft 3) and with my freakish long arms I had to kneel to be able to do this in the free motion cable machine thing. Once I got the positioning down I really liked these. First set I didn’t feel much, but the last 3 sets I really felt my biceps. I made sure to do a couple light warm up sets before the work sets, will continue to do so. I liked these.
Might skip leg day tomorrow, or else just do some light cardio. My legs are completely shot from yesterday’s leg press and lunges, walking and moving is painful. We’ll see how I feel in the morning.
Scale is broke so I couldn’t weigh myself. Arms measured 15.5 for right (biggest ever), 15.25 for left. 40 inch around the widest part of my stomach. Will buy a new scale hopefully in the next month.
5/2/14 Upper Body Day
I skipped legs yesterday. Riding my bike to school was one of the most painful things I’ve done in the last year, didn’t help there was a headwind. Overall, a leg workout wouldn’t have been useful I don’t think. If I’m feeling recovered and have a break from studying tomorrow I may get in a workout.
Paused DB Bench
4x11
60’s
Wide Lat Pulldown
2x10, 1x9
160
Machine Laterals
3x10
100
*Wanted 4x10 and could have easily gotten it, but started getting nausea again. No idea why.
BB Shrug
4x15
315
Straps on all sets
*Upset stomach went away, which is why i did these before the rear delt flyes. The flies take too much from me mentally and physically to do when feeling like that.
I raise/Rear delt fly
4x10/4x14
10’s/50’s
EZ Curl
4x10
70
V handle pushdown
3x12
140
Good workout aside from the sick stomach.
Well, I went back in my paper log and looked at where I was about a year ago. Here is where I was, and where I’m at now:
May 16, 2013
Weight: 190.5 lbs
Right arm: 14.5 inches
Left arm: 14.25 inches
Waist: 37 inches (widest part of stomach, relaxed)
September 1, 2013 (put this up because this is when my weight started moving up, I studied abroad 5 weeks between May and Sept 1, no lifting)
Weight: 191 lbs
Right arm: 14.4 inches
Left arm: 14.25 inches
Left calf: 15.25 inches
Right calf: 14.75 inches
Waist: 38 inches
May 2, 2014
Weight: 209 lbs
Right arm: 15.5 inches
Left arm: 15.25 inches
Waist: 40 inches (widest part of stomach, relaxed)
Not many lifts to use as comparisons, as with my wrist/hip injury I’ve switched up my training since last year:
DB Bench
5/16/2013: 65’s for 1x10
4/28/14: 80’s for 3x7
Leg Press
5/20/13: 550 for 15 reps
4/30/14: 670 for 15 reps
Cable Row:
4/29/13: 170 for 1 set of 9
4/30/14: 170 for 3x10
Some progress I guess, but I also looked at my pictures from a year ago compared to today. Despite gaining 20 pounds, I don’t look any better. Maybe that’s because the lighting is worse in the current photos because I moved houses so I didn’t have a consistent mirror to use, or because I’m not lean enough.
I’m disappointed honestly. 5 weeks of this past year I was studying abroad, so no lifting there. No regrets about that decision though. For about 2.5 months, I was stuck at 200 lbs.
Mainly, I’m dissapointed that I look no better in my eyes in my pictures. Despite that, I’ve gotten many comments from people at work how much bigger I look just in the past couple months, and these people I never mentioned I was trying to gain weight or anything. So that’s a confidence booster, but then I look at my photo comparisons and I get pissed off and sad.
So there’s two potential reasons to consider:
- I’m actually bigger/better looking, but due to the bad/different lighting it doesn’t seem that way in my pictures. That and the fact that I’m not “ab lean” makes it difficult to notice size gains.
- I’ve packed on pretty much just fat. Part of me wants to believe this because I’m very hard on myself, but I also notice just 2.5 months ago I could only do 2x9 then 1x8 with 75’s for DB, when just 2 weeks ago I did 3x11 with 75’s. So it looks like I’m improving, but it’s just so inconsistent it seems.
If anyone can tell me how to block out my face, I’ll post the pictures. I generally take pictures every 3-4 months and have been doing that since 2009.
5/5/14 Upper Body Day. Time Lifting: 1:25
DB Bench
4x7
80’s
Machine Fly
4x12
70
Chins
1x7, 4x5
- I switched to completely neutral grip, which for the equipment I have at the gym means the grip was incredibly close. I’ll see if I like this after a couple weeks.
T Bar Row
3x12
120
- A new piece of equipment sprang up in my gym. It’s a Hammer Strength power rack/squat rack/chin up hybrid thing. It’s awesome, has a side container that holds the bar for a T bar row. So I put on a medium v-handle (not the triangle grip I use for lat pulldowns, but the one that’s about 6 inches wider) and did some rows. Felt good. I switched out the BB rows because my wrist doesn’t seem to like them. So I’ll be doing T bar rows or back to DB Rows from now on.
DB Laterals
4x17
25’s
I raise/Rear Delt Fly
2x10/2x15
10’s/50’s
Just didn’t have it in me today.
Superman Curls
5x12
13
Was going to do 4x12 with AMRAP on the last set, but I literally forgot at the end of my 4th set. So I just did another. Felt good.
Rope Pushdown
3x12
130
Overall, good session. Got my goals for the day. Also, even though I’m disappointed with my size/appearance, I also realize 209 pounds isn’t that big for a 6 ft 3 guy with freaky long arms and unless I’m a low bodyfat I’m not big enough to look “good” yet. After re-looking at lemonyj’s thread, and seeing how he looked at the end of his bulk and now, it reminds me that I’m a long way from looking decent in my eyes. He got up to 250 lbs, and even though he was at a lower bodyfat than I am now, it’s clear he carried a significant amount more muscle than me. And though he definitely looked big, 250 lbs didn’t look massive honestly. The curse of being tall 
So I’ll continue to push my weight up for a while, I’m hoping to reach 225 lbs by October 1st (20 weeks, 0.75 lbs a week average) and have my arms be at least 16.5 inches (goal is 17, but that is a longshot. I’m not genetically gifted in the arms department). At my heaviest/fattest/strongest, I was 226 lbs with 15 inch arms and a 43 inch stomach. So the 225 lbs is kind of a mental stopsign in my head that says “heavy”, which is something I may need to break through.
The way I usually gain weight, I’ll likely have around that same stomach measurement when I reach 225 again but with 1-2 inches bigger arms I’m hoping to actually look like I lift. If I reach that 225 lbs by October 1st, that will be roughly 35 lbs in 13 months.
Just gotta stay healthy and consistently eat.
Also, I just realized what I call superman curls are usually called hercules curls or sometimes just overhead cable curls. So yeah, no one calls them superman curls really.
5/7/14 Upper body day. Time Lifting: 1:25
*Felt sick again midway through DB Inclines, went away around DB laterals.
Cable Fly
4x12
13
1 sec pause at contraction
DB Incline
2x11, 2x7
60’s
Cable Row
3x11
170
Close Lat Pulldown
3x11
160
Seated DB Lateral
4x12
20’s
1 sec pause
I raise/Rear Delt Fly
3x10/3x15
10’s/50’s
Incline Curls
1x12, 2x7, 1x6
25’s
Overhead Rope Extension
3x14
110
Average day I guess. DB Inclines aren’t going up at all, and incline curls are the same despite the fact the the incline curls torch my biceps when I’m doing them.
5/8/14 Lower Body Day
*Had upset stomach AGAIN midway through. After leg press, which isn’t too surprising because I can bring some real intensity to leg day. Always have been able to, so that’s one reason I’m not too worried that I only seem to hit legs once a week lately.
Sumo Deadlift
3x5
320
Leg Press
680x15
Paused a lot though, very hard to get the last 4 reps.
Stand Calf
4x14
10
1 sec pause top and bottom
*No Leg extensions, or ab machine due to stomach