Damn, even as a pharmacist that’s a lot of money to spend on a single item. Do other brands not have the option to choose the width?
I like it because it also has push up handles at the bottom.
It has held up for 2.5 years now with regular use.
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Most tend to be welded/bolted in place. You’ll see with the ironmind one that the base can be adjusted.
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Does it feel overly wide? I’m 6’2 and have a wingspan of around 75". I think you’re around my height, right?
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Why did you delete the post?
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Got the chance to do dips again and did 50 total reps in like 20 minutes. Break was me calling my wife haha.
Mostly feel dips in my triceps. Push ups pump up my chest a lot more than dips. However, I can’t say much until I’m doing 100 total reps easily at the end of my push days.
Now to enjoy the vacation and become a fatass!!!
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Wtf I just did 12 dips in a row!!!
Definitely not recovered from pre-vacation training, and I did dips the last two days (for the first time ever). But I still have access to the dip station where I’m staying at and am eating enough to recover instantly, so why not be purposely stupid haha?
Did 42 total reps in around 12 minutes like this:
8 x 1
2 x 2
2 x 3
1 x 4
1 x 6 (felt EEEEZZZZZ)
1 x 12 (only slightly hard!!!)
Felt like I had 20 in a row in me, but stopped far from failure like usual. Then did:
1 x 12 count pause at bottom
1 x 16 count pause at bottom
These two with long pauses at the bottom were by far the hardest sets, despite being singles.
Weight was 230lbs exactly with shoes. Using online 1RM calculators, that’s an easy “322lbs” dip. Most places online claim your 1RM bench max is about your 5RM - 10RM dip. So that puts me at a “hypothetical” 240 - 275lbs bench.
Can I claim a 275lbs bench now? 
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Definitely NOT recovered from yesterday, but I had an hour to spare so I did:
100 total dips @ 231lbs BW
100 total DB curls
200 band pull aparts
Was sleepy, walked all day, and pre-workout was oranges and some watermelon lol.
There were only 25lbs DBs available so I made the curls as hard as possible (palms always up, drag curl style, holds at the top, etc). Would’ve tried to do 100 total chin ups instead of the curls, but I would’ve needed another hour haha. Chins are still hard for me.
Left shoulder feeling overworked, so time for a break haha. The fatigue hit HARD with the dips. I got up to 60 total in like 10 minutes, then needed another 20 minutes for the rest. I aim to go as low as I can, and I could feel myself able to get deeper towards the end.
Also, one my female friends touched my arm today and joked about how “terrifying” it was that it was so “hard” (as in has muscle now). 
On that note, everyone absolutely sucks at guessing my weight. Girls seem to think I’m 170 - 190lbs, while guys think I’m like 250+ lbs. How is everyone so off haha?
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Alright, last time I’m gonna workout until I’m back home (so maybe 2 weeks from now?).
Just did some push ups, and this is by far the EASIEST they’ve ever felt. My shoulders and chest were DONE from the 100 dips from two days ago, but even then the push ups flew up and it all felt so light. It’s been less than a week since I started dips, but I can already tell they’re such a good exercise.
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When I come back home and can train again, I’m planning to do assistance work like Wendler lays it out in Forever. Push, pull, single leg/core assistance every session. Since I barely grind reps anyway, I often recover within a day, so why not go this route? It makes fitting in assistance so much easier since I barely do any as it is (which I plan on changing).
The increased assistance should hopefully help build my pressing. When my shoulder stability improved last year, my DB OHP rapidly improved from 45lbs to 70lbs, and my DB Incline from 45lbs to 75lbs. And arguably with a lot better form/control. However, that was logically from improved shoulder stability and not a real strength gain. I actually didn’t build much muscle from those jumps. Time to build some muscle now that I can do stuff like dips, tricep extensions, and high rep DB pressing with stability.
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On that note, I really need to hit some basic markers for bodyweight moves. Like 100 push ups in 5 min, 50 dips in 5 minutes, 50 chin ups in 5 min. I could maaaaaybe do the push up one lol. And I really need to up the lat pulldown volume to build up my lat strength. I can literally do paused DB rows with more weight than in a chin up. The fuck Since I couldn’t put my arms overhead at all until recently, my vertical pulling strength is dogshit.
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Horizontal pulling strength is awesome! Gonna stick with 227.5lbs for DB rows until it becomes a joke weight. I mean, steploading got me from 3lbs → 227.lbs. Now let’s see if it can get from hard —> super easy with this weight by sticking with it. Also, let’s see what seated cable rows, db shrugs, rack pulls and other moves due for my back.
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And time for 531 on legs!! No clue what my maxes are at all for legs. Bar RDLs… uhhh 315 x 10? I can do DB bulgarian split squats with 210lbs total but that’s after RDLs. What does that equal for a back squat onto a low box while fresh lol? I did 135lbs to test the movement and it felt like squatting air despite it being my first time seriously back squatting EVER.
I can hang power clean 185lbs after my legs are toast from running. So I can do 225lbs while fresh, right? Still, I have to be careful with my barbell moves and make sure to progress slowly. Where do I want to be in 3 - 5 years? Not where I want to be 2 months from now haha.
Also, time to actually do assistance on legs haha. Let’s see how all this works out in a year or two!!
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You actually read all that nonsense?
If someone figured out how to row 220+ pound dumbbells, the least I can do is pay attention lol
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Haha. What I did will probably sound idiotic.
- Start at like an 8 rep max but do quick sets of 1 with that weight to get used to it.
- Progress until you’re doing a bunch of 4s, 5s and 6s with minimum rest time. Basically, volume.
- Do 3x10 or so to prove you’ve “mastered” the weight
- Up the weight like 5-10% and start with sets of 1 again.
So a “progression” looked something like this:
5 x 1
15 x 1
14 x 2
12 x 3
10 x 4
8 x 5
6 x 6
1 x 7
3 x 10
The first two sessions are so easy that they’re basically a deload. And with so many sets with so little rest time, the weight just sort of starts feeling light in your hand after a while. I’ll go up in reps only if it’s easy. So once 12x3 with short rest is easy, for example, only then will I go up to 4s.
To be honest, even though I love steploading since it fits my personality, it probably sucks for muscle building. I mean, my upper back is the only reason why a lot of XXLs are tight on me, but I’m confident someone rowing no more than the 120s would get more muscle using normal bodybuilding methods. And this is even accounting for me pausing at the top of each rep.
Something seems to be lost from the muscle building process if you’re almost always like 5 or more reps from failure (or even grinding).
Still, I got here from a 3lbs DB row!! Haha.
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FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKKKK!!!
6 one-handed “girl push ups” @ 227lbs
Did 2 doubles then 2 singles
Randomly decided to do some “one hand push up progressions” today for fun and they were EASY, so I tried to do an actual one handed push up and FAILED HAAAAAARD.
Got the girl version though!!! Haha.
I haven’t tried these in over a year, so they’re a great test to see how much stronger I’ve gotten versus “better” at my gym movements. I’m PISSED though that I couldn’t do the full one handed push up since that would’ve been awesome. Still, I’ll take this win.
Timeline of Pressing Woes
2014- Shoulder issues start
March 2020- Fail at 3lbs floor press x 9 reps
Sept 26, 2020- Finally get to one (horrible) push up
Jan 22, 2022- Do 222 total push ups with feet on couch @ 222lbs
Feb 28, 2023- First dip
March 10, 2023- First “girl” one handed push up
UGGGGGGGHHH why is the full one handed push up so hard lol?
Edit:
And here’s Francis Ngannou casually doing one arm push ups @ his off season weight, which goes to around 305lbs. I need to start eating some Cameroonian food!! Haha.
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Probably last post in a LOOONG time (will explain why at the end). Just got home!!
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Risk of my DB handle falling apart at 227.5lbs for DB rows was too high, so I changed my “step” to 220lbs. And it’s getting easier!!! I just started this “step,” so the reps are low, but sets are high and rest periods are very low. And lots of longer pauses at the top of each rep. For fun, I did 220 x 6 after all the other sets and it was SOOOOO much easier than expected!!! I’m half dead from travel + flights, so this was awesome!!!
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Since this is my last “step” for horizontal pulling, I genuinely have no clue what to do now. As fun as getting to 300lbs DB rows would be, I’d rather be lazy now with horizontal pulling lol. I mean, once I get to the point where I can do a perfect, paused 220 x 3 x 10 at the END of a back workout, isn’t that enough? So… do I just do something similar to 5s PRO and just up the assistance volume? No clue lol.
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8 count pauses with 220lbs for DB rows actually easy. I wanna do a 22 count cuz 220lbs lol. Also, pausing these heavy DBs is harder on the core than my back lol. You have to keep your body stable with literally 220lbs squeezed against your torso. I still have no clue how the hell I’m doing this haha.
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First step where getting the DBs up for pressing is annoying. Bringing up the weights for Incline DB presses with 75lbs AFTER my shoulders are toast is annoying, even though the rep flies up once I get them into position. Probably gonna have to split DB OHP and DB Incline into separate days. Right now, I do DB OHP then DB Incline.
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On that note, I’m probably at 85lbs for Incline DB presses if I do them first. Going from 45lbs to 75/85lbs was SOOOOOO EASY compared to going from 3lbs to 45lbs. FUCK all of you who got beginner gains lol. Going from 3lbs to 10lbs felt so much harder than 45lbs to where I am now. And you guys started at like 25lbs DBs haha.
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No clue what my “split” will be now that I have a gym membership, since I love training at home next to my wife. It’s the major issue lol. I just love training next to her, even though she’s doing something competely different. Maybe do half at home and half at gym since it’s only 10 min away?
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Why I’m leaving for a while:
Getting results from lifting takes a long time, so there’s no point logging anything until like 2 years from now. For chest, for example, until I’m doing 120lbs Incline DB presses, and easy one arm push ups and endless weighted dips as assistance, what’s the point of logging? I JUST started pulldowns/vertical pulling in general, so unless I’m at the stack or near it for paused pulldown reps, who gives a fuck how my lats are going? I still can’t even legpress due to hip issues, so why log anything about my quads until squats/legpresses are way up? Hopefully you get the idea. We’ll see how everything is when time has allowed progression to be made.
For comparison, two years ago I couldn’t DB OHP 25lbs, and could barely do 15lbs with a full ROM. I could do a few RDLs with 45lbs DBs probably. I couldn’t get my arms halfway overhead for a pulldown/pull up. DB rowing 60lbs was beyond difficult, and that’s even with horizontal pulling being what’s least affected by my condition. I’m still an absolute newb and have still barely figured things out.
Good news, though!! Hip is good enough to stand for 10 hours on most days!! My right hip is the ONLY joint issue remaining!!!
I’ll still lurk and will post if I have a question and can’t Google/Youtube it. Good luck to all of you!!
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Oh hey, I’m still here!
Been sick the last week and unable to workout. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be healthy again.
Okay, serious question: What the hell do I do with DB rows now? I was like half asleep and my upper back fatigued when I did 220 x 6 last week. Since my joint issues affect horizontal pulling the least (but it’s still affected), I treat DB rows as where my lifts would be at if Elhers Danlos wasn’t cock blocking me. But truthfully, I didn’t expect getting to the 220 x 6 to be this easy.
I mean, do I just go towards 300 db rows and try to beat Kroc? My reps are paused at the top and have a mini-pause at the bottom too, but do I just aim to make this weight feel lighter and stricter over time to get more hypertrophy from it? I’ve sort of lost my motivation here
I aimed for 220lbs due to a Larry Wheels video, but now that I’m here… I feel bored lol. Shouldn’t hitting a goal feel more fun?
Also, 70lbs on Seated DB Press is the first weight where getting it up is annoying. I mean, it’s easy now, but I have a feeling 85lbs and above is gonna be really annoying, at least in the beginning for each weight jump. It’s extra annoying because I like high sets, low reps and low rest times. So getting the DBs up is irritating for this if the rest times get too low. Maybe I’ll do backoff sets? Eh, we’ll see.
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Did DB Bulgarian Split Squats seriously for the first time in like a year and did an easy 120 x 3 (so 240lbs total on one leg) after other leg stuff. I 100% know I could’ve done 6 reps without grinding, and since this is my first time seriously doing them in so long, I also know that the weight will jump up pretty quickly.
So fuck it, I proclaim I can do a 315lbs Bulgarian split squat haha (160lbs DBs x 1)!!!
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still making progress?
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Hey!
I just came back from another vacation, so no training other than physical therapy. I’m done reading 531 Forever and am gonna start this weekend and just follow the book as needed for at least 5 years. Now that I can train mostly normally, it’s time for me to follow a real program. I just need to pick a template to start.
TMs are absurdly low since I’m completely brand new to all barbell lifts outside of RDLs. My squat TM will be 165, which is something I can bulgarian split squat for 20+ reps haha. Better to be safe at first. Just need to find a TM for seated OHP since the standing OHP is tricky with my joint issues.
I’ll still make posts for form checks and questions, but I don’t feel like logging anymore for now.
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Honestly, DB rows are what’s annoying me the most haha. I’m focusing on getting my elbow back as far as possible, but it’s tricky since my scapula sometimes resists the end ROM. @TrainForPain I’ll make another form video for rows eventually. With my joint issues, a “full ROM” for me changes day to day on a lot of lifts, but I’m trying my best to push my elbows as far back as I can every time. 
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Actually, I do want to make another post. Bulgarian split squats were the ONLY lower body move I could do at first since they were unilateral but stable. And even then I had to start at the lowest couch at my home, and I could only do the top half BARELY haha. Here’s a timeline of memorable progressions and PRs since they do mean a lot to me. When just a bodyweight partial lunge is HARD, every little PR at first is super memorable and meaningful.
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April 2020: Can barely do top half split squats off lowest couch at home
June 2020: 5 x 10 @ BW off highest couch at home
August 2020: 25lbs x 5 x 10 per leg
Nov 2020: 85lbs x 1
Feb 2021: 67.5 x 12
April 2021: 85 x 16, 120 x 1
August 2021: 70 x 10 x 10, 150 x 1
Sept 2021: 100 x 20
Oct 2021: 120 x 20
Nov 2021: 150 x 12
Dec 2021: 170 x 12
Jan 2022: 210 x 1
Feb 2022: 140 x 10 x 10, 150 x 5 x 10
March 2022: 190 x 10 x 5
Have to stop due to suddenly worsening hip issues. But am able to finally go hard on RDLs
Try bulgarian split squats again after a year off
March 2023:
150 x some (warmup)
200 x 5 (felt waaaaay too easy despite layoff)
240 x 3 (had plenty more in the tank, but knees felt weird from suddenly doing heavy split squats after a year)
Fuck Elhers Danlos, but also fuck all of you who got to start with the bar on squats
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