Spidey: Back in Black

Training Training Logs
401

Damn, that’s pretty rough man. IIRC you don’t have financials to allow you to go to a different gym?

One thing you can try doing is just saying, “Hold on a sec, I need to hit a set real quick.” It’s not douchey, but you are there to work out. You can continue the conversation between that and it won’t make you out to be a prick. It’s gotten me out of a lot of jams. Plus - I don’t know about you, but I feed off when people watch me. Normally they will - and that’ll also allow them to see what intensity looks like when in the gym and what it should involve.

Just my .02

402

Yeah the gym I go to is my university gym. It’s got a lot of good equipment, is already paid for, and literally 3-5 minutes walking distance from my dorm.

I think I’ll go back to the ‘earphones in with no music on’ tactic to maybe keep myself from getting approached at the gym as much, so at least there I’ll have some peace lol. I’ll also takes DoinWorks plan, and maybe show them how I lift or tell them they have to track their eating for a week before even lifting with me. It’s still a bit tough, just because even though there is a large student population, the town and campus are small, this is my 4th year here, and this will be my 7th semester as RA. So I’m recognizable I suppose, and I think people confuse my friendliness to ‘help’ as an agreement to be their trainer lol.

More RA stories: Last night, my floor kitchen flooded. The kitchen is in between mine and my suite mates room, and I was lucky to not have water in my room, but his shit got flooded. It was crazy, like it started pouring out the ceiling tiles and lights. I had to pick up all his expensive computer shit, move it in to my room through a bunch of water, and then used buckets to keep the flooding down for about 2.5 hours straight. This happened at about 3 am, so I wasn’t done until 5:30 am. I had to get my macros, so ate another meal, and finally got to sleep at when the sun was coming up lol. Pretty nuts, but my suite mate didn’t have any real damages minus his rugs getting soaked. So yeah. On top of that, today is the first day of training, so it was a great way to go from doing nothing all break to jumping right back into RA hell lol.

403

Hows that bench going buddy??

I have almost 0 leg drive also and I wouldnt mind fixing that, although I dont have hours to spend playing around with my bench to try and correct it.

tweet

404

Yeah don’t waste time and energy on those who aren’t already taking the initiative. I train a couple close friends for free. In your situation you can probably start a business training these kids. Take their meal plans for payment , or you probably get free food though? It should be reciprocated somehow though so your not wasting your time! I too have ridiculous back strength and shitty pressing strength so I’ll keep watching to see what you do, I’ll let you know if I figure something out.

405

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
… I had to get my macros, so ate another meal,… [/quote]

I love how you so casually drop in this comment. Awesome. To paraphrase one of the best episodes of one of the best sit-coms of all time:

Mere mortal: “Dude, you fought the flooding all night and then ate another meal?”

Spidey: “I had to get my macros.”

Mere mortal: “Dude, you’re Spiderman!”

Spidey: “Yeah, I am Spiderman.”

406

[quote]theBird wrote:
Hows that bench going buddy??

I have almost 0 leg drive also and I wouldnt mind fixing that, although I dont have hours to spend playing around with my bench to try and correct it.

tweet[/quote]

It’s moving, slowly but surely. Learning to push ‘back’, not ‘up’ through my heels, and keeping my feet wide and only slightly externally rotated.

407

[quote]Jlabs wrote:
Yeah don’t waste time and energy on those who aren’t already taking the initiative. I train a couple close friends for free. In your situation you can probably start a business training these kids. Take their meal plans for payment , or you probably get free food though? It should be reciprocated somehow though so your not wasting your time! I too have ridiculous back strength and shitty pressing strength so I’ll keep watching to see what you do, I’ll let you know if I figure something out.[/quote]

I’ve thought about asking for some kind of compensation, but never have the heart. I think it comes from how much time I wasted early on trying to figure out how to lift, and if I had just known someone who knew the basics and could have shown me, I’d be a lot farther along.

Yeah keep me updated on upping your pressing strength. You seem to be lanky like me, so we need to work together lol

408

[quote]Captain Needa wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
… I had to get my macros, so ate another meal,… [/quote]

I love how you so casually drop in this comment. Awesome. To paraphrase one of the best episodes of one of the best sit-coms of all time:

Mere mortal: “Dude, you fought the flooding all night and then ate another meal?”

Spidey: “I had to get my macros.”

Mere mortal: “Dude, you’re Spiderman!”

Spidey: “Yeah, I am Spiderman.”
[/quote]

LOL thanks man. I’m trying to stay consistent with my macros, especially now that we are in this B.U.L.K.I.N.G. race :slight_smile:

409

MLK Jr, while a great man, interfered with my gains and caused the gym to be closed. No biggie, I have to re-construct my schedule now, though, due to my new schedule. So may hit OHP again tomorrow, take Wednesday off, then start it over with Squats Thursday.

410

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]Jlabs wrote:
Yeah don’t waste time and energy on those who aren’t already taking the initiative. I train a couple close friends for free. In your situation you can probably start a business training these kids. Take their meal plans for payment , or you probably get free food though? It should be reciprocated somehow though so your not wasting your time! I too have ridiculous back strength and shitty pressing strength so I’ll keep watching to see what you do, I’ll let you know if I figure something out.[/quote]

I’ve thought about asking for some kind of compensation, but never have the heart. I think it comes from how much time I wasted early on trying to figure out how to lift, and if I had just known someone who knew the basics and could have shown me, I’d be a lot farther along.

Yeah keep me updated on upping your pressing strength. You seem to be lanky like me, so we need to work together lol[/quote]

I wont even hand out a sample week without a $10 commitment… $25 a month otherwise… it keeps the nonserious away

411

[quote]PlainPat wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]Jlabs wrote:
Yeah don’t waste time and energy on those who aren’t already taking the initiative. I train a couple close friends for free. In your situation you can probably start a business training these kids. Take their meal plans for payment , or you probably get free food though? It should be reciprocated somehow though so your not wasting your time! I too have ridiculous back strength and shitty pressing strength so I’ll keep watching to see what you do, I’ll let you know if I figure something out.[/quote]

I’ve thought about asking for some kind of compensation, but never have the heart. I think it comes from how much time I wasted early on trying to figure out how to lift, and if I had just known someone who knew the basics and could have shown me, I’d be a lot farther along.

Yeah keep me updated on upping your pressing strength. You seem to be lanky like me, so we need to work together lol[/quote]

I wont even hand out a sample week without a $10 commitment… $25 a month otherwise… it keeps the nonserious away[/quote]

Damn really? You make a decent amount of cash that way? I mean I don’t feel I’m an expert by any means, but I guess if there is a demand I should cash in on my opportunity. lol

412

OHP Upper

Repeated this workout, because last one sucked, and the way my schedule has to be it just worked.

OHP: Reps were much better this time, with just a bit less weight
90x8
100x6
110x4
95x8
105x6
115x4

Neutral Pulldowns: Such strict form
150x4x6-10

Paused CGBP:
185x6
175x6
155x2x6

Incline DB Rows: Don’t like lying on the Bench or pad (hurts my chest), so just put my forehead on the an incline Bench to keep form strict
40’sx3x10

Dips: Fatiguing myself with the lifts before, and using slow eccentrics, allowed me to do these without pain
BWx3x10

Laterals:
20’sx3x12

Good quick workout. Have had little sleep last few nights, but have been getting int 2-3 20-30 minute naps which have helped. OHP form is coming together a bit. Definitely will be the hardest lift for me in this BULKING race lol

Also, about 195 BW. Slow but steady gains.

413

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]PlainPat wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]Jlabs wrote:
Yeah don’t waste time and energy on those who aren’t already taking the initiative. I train a couple close friends for free. In your situation you can probably start a business training these kids. Take their meal plans for payment , or you probably get free food though? It should be reciprocated somehow though so your not wasting your time! I too have ridiculous back strength and shitty pressing strength so I’ll keep watching to see what you do, I’ll let you know if I figure something out.[/quote]

I’ve thought about asking for some kind of compensation, but never have the heart. I think it comes from how much time I wasted early on trying to figure out how to lift, and if I had just known someone who knew the basics and could have shown me, I’d be a lot farther along.

Yeah keep me updated on upping your pressing strength. You seem to be lanky like me, so we need to work together lol[/quote]

I wont even hand out a sample week without a $10 commitment… $25 a month otherwise… it keeps the nonserious away[/quote]

Damn really? You make a decent amount of cash that way? I mean I don’t feel I’m an expert by any means, but I guess if there is a demand I should cash in on my opportunity. lol[/quote]

I mean, at my peak I made 100 bucks for a few months straight but right now im making nothing, although im not working as hard as getting myself out there as usual so not really suprising. for a college kid it was alright money for doing practically nothing all i did was monitor macros and send out non shitty programming

EDIT: by no means am i an expert either but im still a lot stronger than 95% of my college so by comparison… plus good coaching is upwards of 30 a week so 25 a month is cheap as fuck

414

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

Paused CGBP:
185x6
[/quote]
Gainz

415

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[/quote]

I am your bench sherpa, here to guide you to swoledome. I agree with what people have already said about possibly touching too low, so that’s something to think about.

My main concern is the false grip. There’s nothing wrong with it in theory, and I’ve used it in the past, but it’s going to take a chunk of your pecs out of the movement. Maybe try going to a closed grip and get those knuckles pointing straight up. A cue that I give people often is “rev the bar,” as in try to turn your wrist forward as you drive up. If your wrists drop back, that cue really helps get you into a position to lock out strong. The problem with false grip is that encourages a dropped wrist, and that will put you in a position to fail at lockout. No matter what the “gurus” try to tell you, good raw benchers use their pecs primarily in the bench press, which is what you’re doing when you let your elbows flare, so don’t be afraid of that. Your ROM is stupidly big, but mine is pretty big too and I still bench successfully with a narrow grip.

PS-WE NEVER LIFTED OVER BREAK, YOU SON OF A BITCH.
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jk, that was my fault too. Get your ass to Lexington and I’ll rape y…er, lift with you.

416

[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:

I am your bench sherpa, here to guide you to swoledome. I agree with what people have already said about possibly touching too low, so that’s something to think about.

My main concern is the false grip. There’s nothing wrong with it in theory, and I’ve used it in the past, but it’s going to take a chunk of your pecs out of the movement. Maybe try going to a closed grip and get those knuckles pointing straight up. A cue that I give people often is “rev the bar,” as in try to turn your wrist forward as you drive up. If your wrists drop back, that cue really helps get you into a position to lock out strong. The problem with false grip is that encourages a dropped wrist, and that will put you in a position to fail at lockout. No matter what the “gurus” try to tell you, good raw benchers use their pecs primarily in the bench press, which is what you’re doing when you let your elbows flare, so don’t be afraid of that. Your ROM is stupidly big, but mine is pretty big too and I still bench successfully with a narrow grip.

PS-WE NEVER LIFTED OVER BREAK, YOU SON OF A BITCH.
.
jk, that was my fault too. Get your ass to Lexington and I’ll rape y…er, lift with you.[/quote]

Dammit, you’re literally like the first person I ever saw on these forums advocate for the false grip, and now you say it is holding me back?!?!?

But ok, I’ll try thumbs around. The whole reason I started using the false grip was to try and keep my wrists tighter, but I should probably just grip the bar harder. My grip right now it middle fingers on the rings. Are you saying a LOT closer of a grip? Or just to like Pinkies on the rings?

So touch higher, full grip, rev the bar. You don’t see an issue with the flaring though?

I mayyyy be in Lexington in the upcoming months for a Law School thing. Never know, could move there next semester depending on how applying goes!

417

I drop my benches free-fall style to my chest with a thumbless grip. I call it suicide bombing.

418

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

Dammit, you’re literally like the first person I ever saw on these forums advocate for the false grip, and now you say it is holding me back?!?!?[/quote]
Haha, I see how that’s confusing. But think of it as a context thing. I like the false grip, and I take particular offense to all the parrots who tell people not to do it because it’s “unsafe.” However, I don’t know that it’s benefiting you.

It’s great for easing shoulder stress, and I think it probably works better for people with short ROMs because it makes more sense for them to be triceps benchers. It took me a long time to actually accept that my ROM is big, but it helped me decide to ditch the false grip as my primary grip.

From what I could see in the video, your hands are no longer a variable in the benching equation, and what I mean by that is you’re letting the bar sit back and not thinking about it. And that CAN be fine for some benchers, I just don’t think that’s necessarily you. And to be fair, false grip probably did improve your wrist position if you were letting them drop back before. I used to have a terrible time with that as well, and the only real way to fix it is to bench correctly (knuckles up).

The “squeeze the bar” cue and “rev the bar” are essentially the same thing, I just happen to think the important consequence of squeezing the bar is getting the knuckles up. Also, I made a confusing statement in that last post. I wasn’t saying you should grip narrower, just using my own narrow grip/big ROM to illustrate that it isn’t necessarily a deterrent to a big bench.

I would also use a narrow, false grip as an accessory to hammer the tris.

Good luck, my bro.

419

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
I mayyyy be in Lexington in the upcoming months for a Law School thing. Never know, could move there next semester depending on how applying goes!
[/quote]
My best friend and former training partner (before he moved away) is currently going to law school at UK in Lexington. Let me know if you end up there.

Ironically for what you were just talking about, he actually does need someone to motivate him to go to the gym lol. He’s 6’7", 300lbs, 20" arms, and can bench 400. But he’s not really that into lifting. I need someone to keep turning him into a juggernaut while he’s out of my reach.

420

[quote]csulli wrote:
He’s 6’7", 300lbs, 20" arms, and can bench 400. But he’s not really that into lifting.[/quote]

I quit