i’m a machine whore as well. i use the hack squat machine all the time. when my lower back is fried i’ll go to that or the leg press.
i’ll post a vid of one of my zercher’s off of pins. they are brutal but carry over well to squats and deads.
I just hope my forearms won’t tear off my elbows when I do those (seriously, is there any trick to holding the bar there? I guess arm-musculature is the one thing I’m not lacking for that kind of stuff…). Nice lift.
the trick is getting the bar over your hips and keeping the bar close to your body. get it into the crook of your arm and then get your hands under your chin. lift from the hips. get your hips under the bar and start with the chest really high and the back arched. force your knees out hard as you lift the bar off the pins. as the bar starts to move off the pins, forcfully push your hips through and flex your ass.
[/quote]
Not so different from screwing a 500 lb chick then, I suppose.
i’m a machine whore as well. i use the hack squat machine all the time. when my lower back is fried i’ll go to that or the leg press.
i’ll post a vid of one of my zercher’s off of pins. they are brutal but carry over well to squats and deads.
I just hope my forearms won’t tear off my elbows when I do those (seriously, is there any trick to holding the bar there? I guess arm-musculature is the one thing I’m not lacking for that kind of stuff…). Nice lift.
we call that hogg’n down here in the South:)
the trick is getting the bar over your hips and keeping the bar close to your body. get it into the crook of your arm and then get your hands under your chin. lift from the hips. get your hips under the bar and start with the chest really high and the back arched.
force your knees out hard as you lift the bar off the pins. as the bar starts to move off the pins, forcfully push your hips through and flex your ass.
Not so different from screwing a 500 lb chick then, I suppose.
You know, back in the 70s there was a rumor that McDonald’s shakes were actually made from chalk. Actually it was a high school chemistry teacher that told me this.
Of course, they didn’t call it a milkshake anyway. Maybe they couldn’t.
(As to whether it actually was made from chalk, I don’t know.)
You know, back in the 70s there was a rumor that McDonald’s shakes were actually made from chalk. Actually it was a high school chemistry teacher that told me this.
Of course, they didn’t call it a milkshake anyway. Maybe they couldn’t.
(As to whether it actually was made from chalk, I don’t know.)
[/quote]
I’m fairly sure that there was chalk in just about all of the early protein-shakes though lol
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Goodfellow wrote:
jackreape wrote:
This just in: There is no Magic Bullet of sets and reps that will make everybody jacked.
But the Classic Gymrat Pyramid is a disaster for both Hypertrophy and Strength Building. By Gymrat Pyramid I mean a few high rep warmup sets then adding weight and dropping reps and each set to failure then a few forced reps with help from the spotter.
I covered this subject a bit in this article:
5x5, 3x8, either with static, undulating, or climbing loads are all good workouts. The sheiko Wednesday BP marathon is great too. Downsets after a top set are interesting in that you can do more reps on the way down with a given weight after a 1RM or 3RM.
Bottom Line:if you ever hear a mullet yelling “It is all you!”, with the same weight you did last week and the week before, you are doing it wrong.
Dead-End #1: Pyramids
This poor excuse for a training approach is the bad combination of lack of training information coupled with reading too many bodybuilding magazines.
…What?
So you are saying every single bodybuilder uses a poor excuse for a training approach?
I don’t know about you, but when I ‘pyramid up’ to my final set, I am in no way fatigued.
Perhaps you are analysing the wrong people when you are shitting on this training method?
If you look at how bodybuilders use it, they usually use the bar, then a 1/3rd of what they will use in their final set, then 1/2, then 2/3. They don’t go to failure and they usually use the same amount of reps for each set.
I don’t think jack was referring to our kind of ramping up.
Some people just go to failure on pretty much every set while still ramping, that’s obviously rather idiotic.
This was more popular in Arnold’s time, too (they ramped but used way more sets than we do now, often going to failure on the last 3 or so ramping sets while increasing weight until they could only get 4 reps or so)… We’ve since moved on and only go to failure on the last set on standard BB ramping… As you mentioned.
That being said, there are so many ways to go about this… Many do indeed use the same amount of reps on every of their warm-up ramping sets (without going to failure on them), but a lot nowadays reduce reps to save energy for their work-set:
(bar12)
1358
2255
3153
working weight * 8 or whatever.
[/quote]
Right, traditional “pyraminding” was where you continue to add weight to the bar and your reps dropped (often times giving substantial effort, possibly even going to true concentric failure on every set) until you were grinding out a max single. You then went back down the rack and repeated the process in reverse until you were repping out with a very “light” weight (which wouldn’t feel light at the time).
Someone else already mentioned this in this thread.
“Ramping” on the other hand is what most BB’ers actually do (and what C_C is describing above).
Some people use the terms interchangeably. I prefer not to as it can confuse those who are familiar with the traditional pyramiding model as to what is really intended.
You know, back in the 70s there was a rumor that McDonald’s shakes were actually made from chalk. Actually it was a high school chemistry teacher that told me this.
Of course, they didn’t call it a milkshake anyway. Maybe they couldn’t.
(As to whether it actually was made from chalk, I don’t know.)
[/quote]
It’s not chalk, it’s kaolin, a white clay used to give consistency to the milkshake. And it’s only a small bit compared to the total volume of milkshake, but there really is some dirt in there.
You know, back in the 70s there was a rumor that McDonald’s shakes were actually made from chalk. Actually it was a high school chemistry teacher that told me this.
Of course, they didn’t call it a milkshake anyway. Maybe they couldn’t.
(As to whether it actually was made from chalk, I don’t know.)
It’s not chalk, it’s kaolin, a white clay used to give consistency to the milkshake. And it’s only a small bit compared to the total volume of milkshake, but there really is some dirt in there.[/quote]
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Goodfellow wrote:
jackreape wrote:
This just in: There is no Magic Bullet of sets and reps that will make everybody jacked.
But the Classic Gymrat Pyramid is a disaster for both Hypertrophy and Strength Building. By Gymrat Pyramid I mean a few high rep warmup sets then adding weight and dropping reps and each set to failure then a few forced reps with help from the spotter.
I covered this subject a bit in this article:
5x5, 3x8, either with static, undulating, or climbing loads are all good workouts. The sheiko Wednesday BP marathon is great too. Downsets after a top set are interesting in that you can do more reps on the way down with a given weight after a 1RM or 3RM.
Bottom Line:if you ever hear a mullet yelling “It is all you!”, with the same weight you did last week and the week before, you are doing it wrong.
Dead-End #1: Pyramids
This poor excuse for a training approach is the bad combination of lack of training information coupled with reading too many bodybuilding magazines.
…What?
So you are saying every single bodybuilder uses a poor excuse for a training approach?
I don’t know about you, but when I ‘pyramid up’ to my final set, I am in no way fatigued.
Perhaps you are analysing the wrong people when you are shitting on this training method?
If you look at how bodybuilders use it, they usually use the bar, then a 1/3rd of what they will use in their final set, then 1/2, then 2/3. They don’t go to failure and they usually use the same amount of reps for each set.
I don’t think jack was referring to our kind of ramping up.
Some people just go to failure on pretty much every set while still ramping, that’s obviously rather idiotic.
This was more popular in Arnold’s time, too (they ramped but used way more sets than we do now, often going to failure on the last 3 or so ramping sets while increasing weight until they could only get 4 reps or so)… We’ve since moved on and only go to failure on the last set on standard BB ramping… As you mentioned.
That being said, there are so many ways to go about this… Many do indeed use the same amount of reps on every of their warm-up ramping sets (without going to failure on them), but a lot nowadays reduce reps to save energy for their work-set:
(bar12)
1358
2255
3153
working weight * 8 or whatever.
Right, traditional “pyraminding” was where you continue to add weight to the bar and your reps dropped (often times giving substantial effort, possibly even going to true concentric failure on every set) until you were grinding out a max single. You then went back down the rack and repeated the process in reverse until you were repping out with a very “light” weight (which wouldn’t feel light at the time).
Someone else already mentioned this in this thread.
“Ramping” on the other hand is what most BB’ers actually do (and what C_C is describing above).
Some people use the terms interchangeably. I prefer not to as it can confuse those who are familiar with the traditional pyramiding model as to what is really intended.[/quote]
People have been eating clay for centuries.[/quote]
Yeah, I know that. Pica.
Lots of people are surprised to learn that it’s a fairly common food ingredient, though. And it’s not consumed in the quantity or manner of someone with Pica, either.
In my younger days I was quite partial to an 8/6/4/4 program. It’s not really a pyramid scheme but It helped me build a lot of strength and muscle. I honestly don’t understand the principle behind going back down in weight, but there may well be something to it beyond my training IQ.
Lots of people are surprised to learn that it’s a fairly common food ingredient, though. And it’s not consumed in the quantity or manner of someone with Pica, either.[/quote]
Well, shit, if it’s good enough for the Spartan’s then it’s good enough for me. I’m off to the local park’s sandbox. Wish me happy hunting!
What works for me is, I do a reverse pyramid. I warm up first, then I start with the most weight first, then work my way down. Say I do sqwat, my first set is 435lbs for 10-12 reps, second set of 435lbs, I try to get 8-10 reps and on my third set I may only get 6-8 reps with 435lbs. Pyramiding up dose not work for me.
[quote]kandra wrote:
What works for me is, I do a reverse pyramid. I warm up first, then I start with the most weight first, then work my way down. Say I do sqwat, my first set is 435lbs for 10-12 reps, second set of 435lbs, I try to get 8-10 reps and on my third set I may only get 6-8 reps with 435lbs. Pyramiding up dose not work for me.[/quote]
[quote]kandra wrote:
At times I may drop the weight to get the reps I want, the more sets I do, the weaker I get. Thats why I can’t pyramid up.[/quote]
I am not sure whether the problem is being unfamiliar with this particular bit of bodybuilding terminology, or perhaps not being a native English speaker (though there would be no other clue that that would be a reason as, if you are not, your writing is every bit as good as most native English speakers.)
Pyramiding up – or usually stated just as pyramiding – means using increasing weights with each following set, until a final weight is reached. Then one might use that for just that one set or perhaps two or some small number.
The sets on the way up are not done to the point of near death or anything like that. Instead at the very least one rep is left in reserve. More commonly these sets are ended at a point where at least 2 more reps would be possible, but it’s chosen not to do them as the point is to work up, not to annihilate the muscle before you get to your top weight.
It’s also possible to pyramid with very many reps left in reserve on the way up, with the intent being simply to get the system ready rather than to make the muscles do any actual hard work. It is a matter of choice as to whether the sets on the way up should be moderately hard work, or kept quite easy by doing very many reps less than would be possible for these sets.
good question. most people don’t know how to perform a 5x5 or 3x3 correctly. most people get caught up in thinking that they have to get all five sets of five reps or all three sets of three reps. if you can get all of them then the weight is way too light. what you should do is pick a weight that you can get the first set for all five or three reps leaving on rep in the tank. then each set after that you will probably start dropping reps. you DON"T want to go to failure on this stuff. always leave a rep in the tank. so a normal progression would look like this-
bench press
495x5
495x4
495x4
495x3
495x2
this is what a good 5x5 would look like. this is what my normal fatigue would look like over 5 sets. i would stick with this weight again next time and if i got the first two sets for all 5’s then i would up the weight by 5 or 10 pounds the next week. i typically stick to a set routine for a four week cycle, take a deload week and then retest my max on that particular area.
Do you perform 3x3 in a similar manner? How would that look, would it be like 3 reps, and then 2 reps and then 1 final rep? Would you stay at this weight until you got all 3 sets of 3 since it’s less volume?
Are we in a time warp of errors resurfacing, sort of like the body coming out of the ground in, I dunno, whatever the hell 70’s movie it was.
Oh yeah, “Deliverance.”
I am sure that I have explained already either today or yesterday in this forum that if one’s plan is to do only two reps in the last set, three reps in the next to last, etc. then this is NOT doing five sets of 5 reps.
And that only a person who is perfectly happy calling cats “dogs,” squats “deadlifts,” curls “extensions,” and two “five” would insist that it was.
Let alone that not doing five sets of 5 reps was the CORRECT (quote) way of doing five sets of 5 reps.
Give us a break. Why ridiculously misuse words like this. It does not help communication whatsoever.
It’s one thing to advise that you think it is more productive to use a protocol such as you describe. But to claim it is five sets of 5 reps when it is patently not and is deliberately avoiding being that – definitely not trying for it – is just whacked.
And this has been explained already. However, one can lead a horse to water, etc.
Actually the wording is so extremely similar to the previous post engaging in the same thing that I tend to think that this new post is from a sock puppet account, trying to show that “someone else” thinks the same. But that is neither here nor there.
[quote]cueball wrote:
kandra wrote:
What works for me is, I do a reverse pyramid. I warm up first, then I start with the most weight first, then work my way down. Say I do sqwat, my first set is 435lbs for 10-12 reps, second set of 435lbs, I try to get 8-10 reps and on my third set I may only get 6-8 reps with 435lbs. Pyramiding up dose not work for me.
LOL[/quote]
What the hell?
Kandra, say hello to pulled/torn muscles for me.
The worst mistake I could make is walking into a gym and using my heaviest weight on my first set.
