Spidey: Back in Black

Training Training Logs
381

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]spar4tee wrote:

[quote]PlainPat wrote:
Omars right you arent getting very much leg drive. Set up biger arch and kick one foot down at a time and try to keep them closer not spread apart like you have yours. Most people i know do better with them closer together

Also you lower the bar pretty damn low which makes you lose a lot of tightness. Look at your 3rd rep. It looks like youre pressing from a complete deadstop because you lower the bar so far down the chest that you cant keep your back tight or elbows in line

[/quote]
Which is where the arch comes into play. Don’t worry, Kev. You’ll get it down.[/quote]

Well I have to put my feet like that. Any closer, and knees are above my hips, which makes all leg drive into my humping the air and my ass flying off the bench. the benches here at school are very low, and I have extremely long legs lol[/quote]
I keep my legs as wide as absolutely possible and also out in front of me. In fact I’ll put my feet as wide as I can, and then kind of rotate them back and forth to squeeze them even farther apart.

I agree with the second part though, the first thing I thought when I saw your video was “He’s bringing the bar way too far down”. Experiment with bar path a little, see if anything sticks.

382

This guys got a really solid set up. He does the feet out and drive back kind of set up. Stupid strong too.
I don’t think you’re touching too low but a different angle might be different. You’re right around the xyphoid (sp?) process.

383

Yeah the videos above show the form I’m ‘trying’ to emulate. lol. The bar path thing, I was touching to high at first, and now too low. lol. Dammit

Are my elbows flaring too much during my press as well? Seriously I’m horrible at Benching and need any advice ya’ll have lol

384

[quote]csulli wrote:

I keep my legs as wide as absolutely possible and also out in front of me. In fact I’ll put my feet as wide as I can, and then kind of rotate them back and forth to squeeze them even farther apart.

[/quote]

^^ This is what I do with my legs. Honestly, Csulli the way you set-up in your videos is the set-up I’ve been using for awhile and what I’ve tried to emulate lol

385

1 thing I noticed is that it seems hard for you coming out of the bottom portion of the lift. We have a similar body and your right handed right? It seems that when you tuck your elbows at the bottom it is hard to resume the pressing phase. Try to find a style where bar path doesn’t jerk around may be keeping bar in line with your chest more I dunno tho just looks similar to my bench which is crap as well. I call it lanky arm messed shoulder syndrome Interested to see how it goes for you since your determined to fix it. I’ll steal your perfected style once you get it!

386

[quote]Jlabs wrote:
1 thing I noticed is that it seems hard for you coming out of the bottom portion of the lift. We have a similar body and your right handed right? It seems that when you tuck your elbows at the bottom it is hard to resume the pressing phase. Try to find a style where bar path doesn’t jerk around may be keeping bar in line with your chest more I dunno tho just looks similar to my bench which is crap as well. I call it lanky arm messed shoulder syndrome Interested to see how it goes for you since your determined to fix it. I’ll steal your perfected style once you get it![/quote]

So maybe tuck a little less? Dammit I’m just going to have try a little bit of everything lol. Thanks for your input though. And feel free to steal whatever secrets I manage to find out, that’s what this log is for lol

387

DL Lower

Conventional DL: This is wasn’t too bad. First set hook-grip.
295x5
315x5
335x5
355x5
315x5

Paused Squats: Just used my indoor soccer shoes (flat) instead of my Oly shoes. I noticed Jeremy Hamilton does that on his Paused Squats too, so mine as well. these were so difficult, as I get a lot of rebound out of the hole on regular Squats
185x2x6
205x2x6

SLDL’s: These were tough after the Squats
255x4x8

Hip Thrusts:
225x3x8

Good workout, way harder than it looked. One of my tougher ones in a while.

388

What worked for me was paused bench using under70 percent. Do 5 or more reps and let the bar rest on your chest for close to a second.Then press. Should be a light enough load that you wont have to move around your elbow to get extra torque. It gets you better at pressing off the chest, Not sure if you already do this. Also try bottom half partials with light weights and do them fast. Just work on the fluidity of the lift/ I usually do a light bench day and then a heavy day as well.

389

[quote]SSC wrote:
During the exercise, are you focusing on:

  • “Reaching” out as far as possible
    [/quote]

Thanks for this tip, SSC! I’ve been focusing on this the last few weeks with my laterals, big difference

390

Thanks for the tips Jlabs

OHP Upper

OHP: I’m so bad at these right now
95x8
105x6
115x4
100x8
110x6
120x3

Rope Pulldowns:
4x10-12

CGBP:
185x2x6
165x2x6

DB Rows: Trying to stay strict with these, but these are the heaviest DB’s at my gym
120’sx3x8

Cuban Presses:
3x10

Laterals:
4x10

Not a great workout honestly. OHP technique is unpolished, so I’ll be repping the weight, then just hit a sticking point point. So some of these reps were grinders, and honestly whenever that happens it kind of messes with me for the rest of the workout, idk why. Ah well, got the work in, can’t be awesome every time haha

391

Dumb question…but you’re using a false grip on the OHP right?

392

Spidey, I can promise you based on your other numbers and vids that the 120’s are WAY too fucking heavy for reasonable form rows. You’re more than likely should be in the 60-75 lb range to get what you’re looking for. Guy’s who can legitimately row the 120’s are 300+ lb benchers. Just something to think about.

393

[quote]chobbs wrote:
Dumb question…but you’re using a false grip on the OHP right?[/quote]

Yessir

394

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Spidey, I can promise you based on your other numbers and vids that the 120’s are WAY too fucking heavy for reasonable form rows. You’re more than likely should be in the 60-75 lb range to get what you’re looking for. Guy’s who can legitimately row the 120’s are 300+ lb benchers. Just something to think about. [/quote]

Seriously? I mean i may need to lower the weight, but anything under 100 it seems i can get 12+ strict reps, even with a pause at the top.

You have a video of the type of form you think I should be aiming for?

395

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Spidey, I can promise you based on your other numbers and vids that the 120’s are WAY too fucking heavy for reasonable form rows. You’re more than likely should be in the 60-75 lb range to get what you’re looking for. Guy’s who can legitimately row the 120’s are 300+ lb benchers. Just something to think about. [/quote]

Seriously? I mean i may need to lower the weight, but anything under 100 it seems i can get 12+ strict reps, even with a pause at the top.

You have a video of the type of form you think I should be aiming for?[/quote]

I don’t know, WhiteFlash. Spidey’s back strength surprises me. Nothing at all against you, Spidey. It’s just that I weigh about 50 pounds more than you and you aren’t pulling much less than I am. Impressive. Although, I am kinda fat right now. Ha.

396

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Spidey, I can promise you based on your other numbers and vids that the 120’s are WAY too fucking heavy for reasonable form rows. You’re more than likely should be in the 60-75 lb range to get what you’re looking for. Guy’s who can legitimately row the 120’s are 300+ lb benchers. Just something to think about. [/quote]

Seriously? I mean i may need to lower the weight, but anything under 100 it seems i can get 12+ strict reps, even with a pause at the top.

You have a video of the type of form you think I should be aiming for?[/quote]

Yeah. I can db bench the 90’s for 15 and crank out over 30 strict chins and I use the 90’s for db rows. I could go way heavier, but it would compromise what I’m trying to accomplish. Just 'cause you can “pause” the rep doesn’t mean you’re working what you’re trying to. I’ll try and finda vid, but think full extension, pulling back Iin an arch while simultaneously contracting your scap, pausing with the contraction, then reversing the steps 'til extension. Took some getting used to, but when done right it feels like where your lat connects to your armpit has a vice attached to it.

Also, you still hoopin’?

397

[quote]J. Prufrock wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Spidey, I can promise you based on your other numbers and vids that the 120’s are WAY too fucking heavy for reasonable form rows. You’re more than likely should be in the 60-75 lb range to get what you’re looking for. Guy’s who can legitimately row the 120’s are 300+ lb benchers. Just something to think about. [/quote]

Seriously? I mean i may need to lower the weight, but anything under 100 it seems i can get 12+ strict reps, even with a pause at the top.

You have a video of the type of form you think I should be aiming for?[/quote]

I don’t know, WhiteFlash. Spidey’s back strength surprises me. Nothing at all against you, Spidey. It’s just that I weigh about 50 pounds more than you and you aren’t pulling much less than I am. Impressive. Although, I am kinda fat right now. Ha.
[/quote]

Not trying to be a dick, or discouraging, but based on his pullup and bb row vids, he’s wasting time on the 120’s. I’d say he could use 2/3’s of that and get twice the effect.

398

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]J. Prufrock wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Spidey, I can promise you based on your other numbers and vids that the 120’s are WAY too fucking heavy for reasonable form rows. You’re more than likely should be in the 60-75 lb range to get what you’re looking for. Guy’s who can legitimately row the 120’s are 300+ lb benchers. Just something to think about. [/quote]

Seriously? I mean i may need to lower the weight, but anything under 100 it seems i can get 12+ strict reps, even with a pause at the top.

You have a video of the type of form you think I should be aiming for?[/quote]

I don’t know, WhiteFlash. Spidey’s back strength surprises me. Nothing at all against you, Spidey. It’s just that I weigh about 50 pounds more than you and you aren’t pulling much less than I am. Impressive. Although, I am kinda fat right now. Ha.
[/quote]

Not trying to be a dick, or discouraging, but based on his pullup and bb row vids, he’s wasting time on the 120’s. I’d say he could use 2/3’s of that and get twice the effect.
[/quote]

Just so it’s known, I really hadn’t ‘seen’ my form before that video. I haven’t rowed more than maybe 195 since then (was using like 245 lololololol). That wasn’t what I thought I was doing, and have considerably lowered the weight on pulling movements since, and done a lot of work on form. I’ll get a vid of the DB Rows next week. It’s easier for me when someone says ‘you’re doing this wrong’ as opposed to just saying ‘use tighter form’, ya know?

I do appreciate you being honest with me, don’t think I’m getting offended or anything. lol.

But yeah, I still try to hoop once a week at least. I have 2 friends, both about 6’4"-6’6", athletic dudes. Been playing with them a lot. Growing up I was taller than average, so got stuck in the post, but as you know, being 6’2" isn’t ‘tall’ in ball anymore, at least not in college haha. So trying to force myself to get better on the high post, and also ball handling, getting around bigger defenders, and trying to work on a floater to get over the bigger guys.

399

Today did some light arms with a friend. This time of year kind of sucks. I’m an RA, and it’s New Years resolution time. Everyone knows I’m in to lifting and for a small college campus, I look like I lift in comparison, so residents trying to ‘get into shape’ always ask me to show them the ropes. It’s nice in that people see me as some kind of ‘authority’ on lifting, and they are comfortable to ask me, but it end up kind of dragging out my sessions, just because they want to talk or they want to do something they saw in FLEX or from old football days. And as an RA, I’m kind of ‘obligated’ to be nice and let them tag along.

Most the time I just take them through a Squat workout and they don’t come back lol. It’s just aggravating, as I’ve been asked, and I’m not exaggerating, by 9 people this week alone to show them how to lift or be their gym buddy (not partner, because in reality they just want me to drag them to the gym to keep them motivated). It’s annoying because I’ve helped many, made them simple 2-3x a week TBT programs, whatever, but they rarely keep up with it and I feel I wasted my time.

This kid is my friend, about 5’7", 120 lbs, and has been here for 3 years and always scared to go to the gym. We are friends, but it was like pulling teeth seeing as I’m extremely extroverted and he is introverted as I’ll get. So I actually was trying to help him out, so just took him through arms so it wouldn’t scare him off. If he keeps with it, I’ll get him on a simple routine and hopefully help him get a little bigger. So I don’t mind helping him as much, but dammit the others are annoying lol.

400

Just a thought: I have a lot of people do the same as what you mention–ask the usual “how do I start” or (worse) the “how do I make progress.” Here’s how I save myself (and them) some time:

Instead of taking them for a workout, I’ve found that it’s much more helpful (and a better use of both of your time) to say “We’ll do it [x-day]. First, give me your email address.” Then I give them a link to some John Meadows videos just to see what they might be doing.

I also find it helps to avoid taking them on the workout by saying (and this is true): “Your ‘routine’ isn’t what’s going to determine progress for you. It’s going to be the other things–if you work hard, diet, etc. So you should really be asking me about those.”

The biggest thing is though that it’s important that they realize that 95% of people who “lift weights” have no idea what they’re doing, and that for that person they probably fall into that category. That’s probably the hardest thing to make people realize, ime. And it’s hard to drill into people that shit they think matters usually doesn’t: the routine, their t-level (haha, I’ve gotten that as an excuse more than once), that they should be using ‘teh creatinez.’

So yeah, you should avoid that “take them on a spin around the gym” nonsense and provide them with information, imo. It’s a waste of time for both of you.