[quote]Bill Roberts wrote:
Same thing for me.
Because of some shoulder/scapula issues I cannot follow the program as written or even closely, but I am employing the concepts.[/quote]
Do you mind giving some examples? My shoulders are pretty messed up right now, I dislocated the same one twice in 1 month, and then had it pop in and out a couple of times. If you’d rather not give the details that’s fine too, as it might be rather tedious.
Well, my problem is likely completely different from yours, and unfortunately I have no expertise at all regarding how people with various shoulder problems should train.
The exercises that I have found I can do without aggravating things are:
Smith Overhead Press, with some recline to the seat.
Front Delt Plate Raise
Machine Lateral Raise but only with light weight
Machine Rear Delt Fly
Chest pressing is also restricted but I can do barbell Incline Presses and Smith CGBP’s, as well as Hammer Strength Flat Bench and Seated Incline.
By the way, on the Smith machine, if you can unclip the cables that provide the counterweighting, this ENORMOUSLY improves a Smith machine. It also substantially changes the weight that you add to the bar. I am sure the machine I use employs at least 40 lb of counterweighting. With the cables in place, the empty bar provides only about 25 lb of resistance or less. Without the cables, the empty bar weighs at least 65 lb.
But this is not the important part: the important thing is that the thing is transformed into feeling alive in your hands and very quick-responding. I think you will find that for those specific exercises where the path is suitable, once the counterweighting is removed all objections to the Smith machine will disappear.
Anyway, yesterday’s shoulder workout was:
Smith Overhead Press. Turnaround point about 1 or 1.5 inches under the chin.
Starting with 60 seconds rest. 115/5, 135/4, 155/3, 165/2. Changing to 90 s rest: 175/2, 185/2, 190/2. Now 2 min rest: 195/2, 200/2. Then 3 min rest: 205/2. Felt done here. Last rep might have been slower than CT would like but is IMO suitable for me. Could have gotten a third rep but it would have been virtually or actually maximal.
Top Overhead Press, as in video
60 seconds rest: 115/5, 155/4, 175/3, 195/3, 205/3. 90 seconds rest: 215/3, 220/2, 225/2. Two min rest: 230/2, 235/2. Three min rest: 240/2, 245/3.
Incline Press. Slightly higher than normal incline. Turnaround point a few inches above the chest due to ROM. Still following CT’s rep method, except on the final set the extra reps were more “push them out” than focusing on explosiveness.
215/5, two min rest, 195/5. Then on 1 min rest, 175/4x5 and a final set of 10 reps that really surprised me.
The last was not a Thibaudeau protocol so far as I know, but the “Bear” protocol described by Pavel Tsatsouline. I wanted to finish off with some volume at more moderate percent 1RM. Though using the approximately-correct weight drops – 10% of the starting weight – I used too little weight, but that’s OK. The general method though is to be able to get no more than 5x5 at the brief-rest lightest weight and it’s perfectly acceptable to get only 3 or 4 sets of 5 and end there.
The reason for giving weights instead of percentages is I thought it would be easier to read. Besides, that saved the trouble of calculating them, and it makes clear that the weight jumps are simple rather than some highly precise calculated values.
Roughly speaking my planning was to use triples for midrange weights but switch to doubles on reaching about 80% 1RM, and when quite light do 4 or 5 reps if I wanted to, though triples would have been fine there instead. Part of the reason for doing for example the 5 reps at 115 lb was that after doing the third I felt there was still room for improving the explosiveness within the set.
All this worked the shoulders pretty thoroughly (not rear delts though but that was according to plan) and caused me no aggravation that I can tell.
But it’s possible it could be horribly inappropriate for you. Hopefully not, or at least hopefully there are some very effective exercises for you that will be acceptable for your shoulder.
Oh, to be more complete, I can also do shoulder presses using a standing squat machine that has a shoulder yoke. I just haven’t been doing that for a while, but plan to do it next shoulder workout to substitute for the Push Presses.
I can’t do snatches, but CT recommended doing double DB swings to eye level as a substitute when snatches cannot be done.
I haven’t been able to do upright rows, and I doubt I could safely do the version seen on the video, but it may be that I can do upright rows the way CT has explained them: keeping the barbell several inches ahead of the body and not going particularly high. I also actually have never tried DB upright rows, and will give that a try to see if they seem usable for me despite the shoulder problems.
As for how many sets I had ramping up in weight yesterday rather than being at or near the top weight: It was probably more than optimal but as CT has pointed out, if you put max effort into a lighter weight set it still is productive.
Lastly, another piece of CT’s advice that has really helped me is in determining the turnaround point, where one has ROM issues. Namely, put your empty hands into the same position as would be the bottom point of the exercise but without pulling down to get there: just see where they fall with only the weight of the hands. That’s the turnaround point. If for example it is several inches above the chest for the bench press, or just a little below the chin for an overhead press, then so be it, regardless of the fact that with the barbell’s weight you can touch the chest. Following this method has definitely decreased the stress on my shoulder: possibly it could help you also.
Wow, thanks a lot for the hugely detailed response. I’ll try and adapt it to my needs. But thanks again.
Sure!
Sometimes I think it’s clearest to just give an exact particular example, particularly when it’s derived from principles another person has already explained well.