Hi Spirited, those pullup numbers are really nice. I’m assuming you crank those out unassisted?
for the biceps why not keep a set of bands or DBs at home and use them between stuff so you don’t feel guilty about the kids? and Happy belated Mother’s Day.
cheers
N
Better safe than sorry for the shoulder! do you do any pre-hab stuff for it before training?
Yep. Blue’s right. The more you flare your elbows when you press, the more strain on the shoulder. Also, while a wide grip on the bar makes the stroke shorter, it transfers more stress to the shoulders. So my advice was going to be to perhaps narrow your grip a bit, keep your elbows tucked, and bring the bar down to the xiphoid process.
You’re making me a little nervous with your shoulder. It’s the tracking comment, specifically, that resonates with me. If you have ART available, I’d start there. Your practitioner can run you through some diagnostics to see if you could have something potentially wrong that requires more directed care.
I’m not a big fan of the Smith for much of anything because of the restricted range of motion.
speaking of smith mnachines there was a guy yesterday who came up with a circuit built around the smith machine. He was hugging it for an hour: squats, lunges, presses… an eyesore really. Just wanted to tell him to let that crutch go and pick up a freakin Dumbell already. - sorry spirit. end rant.
[quote]nlmain wrote:
Hi Spirited, those pullup numbers are really nice. I’m assuming you crank those out unassisted?
for the biceps why not keep a set of bands or DBs at home and use them between stuff so you don’t feel guilty about the kids? and Happy belated Mother’s Day.
cheers
N
[/quote]
N: I wish I could say they were unassisted, but I do my own spotting from a bench and a push off my feet if I need it. I love pullups but doing on my own has been HUGE struggle - my arch nemesis so to speak. I think I can eek out 1 on my own (wide grip), I can do three or four neutral grip but since my goal is to put on muscle I need to work through more reps. sucks b/c I really want to do ALL on my own. OK< that was a little lengthy…lol
Agreed on the smith; a whole workout around the thing? Ick! No respect for that dude. My trainer has me rotate it in for shoulders and that is about it. Usually we are using dumbbells or something else.
[quote]kpsnap wrote:
Yep. Blue’s right. The more you flare your elbows when you press, the more strain on the shoulder. Also, while a wide grip on the bar makes the stroke shorter, it transfers more stress to the shoulders. So my advice was going to be to perhaps narrow your grip a bit, keep your elbows tucked, and bring the bar down to the xiphoid process.
You’re making me a little nervous with your shoulder. It’s the tracking comment, specifically, that resonates with me. If you have ART available, I’d start there. Your practitioner can run you through some diagnostics to see if you could have something potentially wrong that requires more directed care.
I’m not a big fan of the Smith for much of anything because of the restricted range of motion.[/quote]
Blue and Snap:
My good friend’s husband is the manager of a phsyical rehab company here in town. they did my therapy for my back so that is going to be the first place I start. I trust him to point me in the right direction. Thanks for your advice.
Your leg press numbers are crazy…mine are seriously inferior, but then again, my squat sucks too!
You’re looking good on the numbers! Keep at it!
Oh, and I love the suit, deff a good one.
And for grip issues… I decided a few months ago to start doing more forearm and grip work. As well as the cessation of my use of gloves and wrist straps. My grip has greatly improved. I can do pull ups to failure without any grip issues, as well as pulling big weights for a decent amount of reps.
However, grip/forearm training is hard to recover from, and causes carpel tunnel. So do not do it more than 2 times a week.
_Mel
Ah leg day, each time I have a scheduled leg day with my trainer I have mixed emotions - fear and excitement. Fear, because I know he will up my weights and the next workout is always harder than the last. Excitement becuase I know I will be challenged and to see where and how much I can tolerate to failure. Here it was…had a few PR’s here…
Leg Press:
305x10
395x10
485x12
600x8
565x10
Step Ups (right leg, rest 30, left leg)
70x24
80x24
90x24
12 reps each leg
Scissor Jumps
3 x 20 (10 jumps each leg)
Lying Leg Curls
95x12
95x12
95x12
Lying Hip Raise to Hamstring Curl with Swiss Ball
3 x 12
I figured I would sleep well last night but I did not; only 5.5 hours, which for me is too little. I know some people can ‘hang’, w/o sleep, I cannot. i have learned the hard way, and that for me to recover I should have 8 hours of sleep. I never get that, I am usually very happy with 7. I sometimes feel like I am awake even though I know I am asleep. I am a light sleeper I guess, the littlest noise wakes me. I have a fan running ALL the time, I heart white noise 
Went to chiropractor yesterday, he worked on my shoulder a bit, adjusted my neck some and put ultrasound on my shoulder for about 20 minutes. Feels better, but not totally pain free. May warrant another trip, but he thinks its more of a ‘muscular’ rather than a chiropratic issue.
Well ladies, I am off to snoop around on here, post and then am going to look up some stuff on ART. This afternoon is filled with a home inspection, termite inspection with Jackie the sniffing termite dog (actually is pretty cool to watch) and a radon test. Woohhooo - do I know how to have fun or what?
[quote]melanieamber12 wrote:
Your leg press numbers are crazy…mine are seriously inferior, but then again, my squat sucks too!
You’re looking good on the numbers! Keep at it!
Oh, and I love the suit, deff a good one.
And for grip issues… I decided a few months ago to start doing more forearm and grip work. As well as the cessation of my use of gloves and wrist straps. My grip has greatly improved. I can do pull ups to failure without any grip issues, as well as pulling big weights for a decent amount of reps.
However, grip/forearm training is hard to recover from, and causes carpel tunnel. So do not do it more than 2 times a week.
_Mel[/quote]
Hey Mel!
Thank you
Thanks for the input on pullups. I suspect a weakness in my grip has a lot to do with my sucky pullups. What do you do for ‘grip’ training and ‘forearm’? I assume for forearm you do curls, anything else? And grip - like ball squeezing? HAHAHA - that came out funny, but you know what I mean.
Hiya Spirited - great training! So let me ask you, you wrote:
“Decline Sit Ups/holding plate above my head (ss with above ^) 35x12x3”
So basically you’re doing decline situps with a 35plate above your head, not BEHIND your head? You’re a mad woman!
Also, freaking impressive leg work. The step ups are with a BB?
Good stuff woman!
leg presses are freakin amazing!
grip work: plate flips, farmers walk, heavy rack holds…
It would be cool to see a vid of how you do your pull ups…I was playing around on the monkey bars yesterday(as I do most days) and I put one foot on one of the bars the kids use to get up to the monkey bars, and let the other leg dangle and from a dead hang I could pull myself up without much leg drive from the other foot…
sorry this probably makes no sense as I haven’t had all my coffee yet!
Those assisted chins sound like just what I should try, thanks for sharing that!
Masch - yes plate above my head, trainer said it makes it harder, lol, so then I HAVE to do it that way step ups are with a BB, yes. thanks.
nlmain - thanks, i am afraid for next workout…he will add weight again (the bastard…not sure why I pay him). grip work sounds interesting, I may have to try some of that.
MimD - I will try the vid, but it sounds just like what you are doing on the monkey bars. I try to focus on using my feet as little as possible. Maybe someday I can grow up and be like Blue and do weighted pullups…
pch - glad to help. let me know what you think.
Shoulder issue is better, not bothering me as much. Spoke to trainer, he suspects anterior delt might be over worked with the amount of lifting I am doing each week. I need to keep my elbow back during my lifts, it tends to fall forward in the bench and smith MP move.
yesterday was back and shoulders - no bar, no issues…
Pullups (assisted with feet on incline)
4x12
Wide Grip Pulldowns
75x12
82.5x 12
82.5x 12
DB Pullovers
40x12x3
Isolateral Shoulder Press (12 each arm)
25x12 (started lighter b/c of shoulder issue last workout, but this was too easy so up we go)
30x12
30x12
30x12
lateral Raise (machine)
25x12x3
reverse fly
15x12
12x12x2
Weights are down on some of my workout. sleep has been lacking, either due to thunderstorms waking me up in the middle of the night, or little kids calling for their mommy in the middle of the night. LOL, the only thing i think of is “I have to do legs, back, etc, tomorrow and NEED sleep”
I am going to make today triceps focused workout; I don’t need to do chest twice a week. Back Legs and Shoulder workouts twice a week are enough!
awwww, so sorry about the lack of sleep! I know how much it can really ruin your life sometimes!
regarding your elbow placement, where you say you need to keep it back… im wondering, i thought keeping your elbows tucked, powerlifting style, kept less stress on your shoulders than a right angle bench, bb style.
or are you aiming for something different?
oh and congrats on lifting despite the sleep/recovery issues. dont push yourself TOO hard, but im glad you didnt puss out!!!
Great that your shoulder is feeling improved. Don’t you hate it when your body doesn’t cooperate???
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
Don’t you hate it when your body doesn’t cooperate???[/quote]
Great choice of words Kimba. And yes, I do hate that.
Nice training Spirited. Also glad to hear that you’re shoulder is feeling better!
[quote]CBear84 wrote:
awwww, so sorry about the lack of sleep! I know how much it can really ruin your life sometimes!
regarding your elbow placement, where you say you need to keep it back… im wondering, i thought keeping your elbows tucked, powerlifting style, kept less stress on your shoulders than a right angle bench, bb style.
‘keeping it back’ - when I do my one arm shoulder press, as I was getting tired my arm was coming forward and most of my anterior delt was doing the work and that is where I get the popping noise. when I bring my elbow back, directly in line with my shoudler it goes away.
or are you aiming for something different?
oh and congrats on lifting despite the sleep/recovery issues. dont push yourself TOO hard, but im glad you didnt puss out!!![/quote]
Yes, sleep/recovery is a huge issue for me. I am lucky to get 7 hours a night, but am finding a nap during the day helps some. thanks. Puss out? Moi? ha! 
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
Great that your shoulder is feeling improved. Don’t you hate it when your body doesn’t cooperate???[/quote]
Yes, very frustrating. very, very frustrating.