100% is training max ye? Singles RPE nine are pretty chill but not the most sustainable way of keeping top end while minimising fatigue. Great practice tho. Could go lighter if maintaining is the goal.
100% is the TM, but I am being pretty conservative with it. It is probably more like RPE 7 in this case. That is why the joker sets are thereā¦if I feel like it, I can go past TM. Can also do more back off sets. I train by auto regulation probably 75% of the year, so I am pretty adept at staying in the proverbial zone.
Put another way, anything that keeps me doing a moderate amount of DL work without causing me fatigue but still keeps my real world 1RM around 200ā¦thatās all I need. This appears to do that.
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Had not done calf work in 5 years so I think the secret will be just doing them lol
For bone structure I have wide hips, not so much shoulders/clavicle so I always focused in some extent on delts. Lateral raises at least once a week, focusing on pushing the weight outwards, not upwards. Not going too high, parallel to floor at most. No front delt isolation but a lot of rear delts. 100 band pull-aparts everyday. And a lot of overhead pressing
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Hmm. No gimmicks I dig. Easy to skip Delt isolation work after the heavy stuff. Iāve half arsed it in the past because thought itās just the realm of AAS users to have the sexy Delts. Thnx brah
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Yeah, I am also trying to be more mindful of the isolated delt work. My fronts do okay from just pressing, but the overall look needs some isolation work it seems.
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I used to think the same, but you know my delts only have the 3D look with the pump. Better than nothing though ahahah
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How much u press overhead bigdeltdaddy?
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Not that much I reckon, best must have been 75 x 3 at BW of 82
Iāve trained for 6 years for strength/athleticism but I have come to the conclusion that itās probably not in my genetics to be super strong ahahah my frail joints do not withstand it (6,5 inches wrist for a 6"1 individual, got carpal tunnel surgery on both knees, ACL reconstruction on both kneesā¦)
And last year I dabbed into pure bodybuilding work with CT and I had great results so Iām gonna go mostly in that direction from now on
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Hmm. The answer is always more I guess. Strength is relatively so just need to get bigger and stronger relative to myself. Have u found pushing weight on isolation useful or is more the volume? Has ur weights gone up over time anyways?
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Yeha weight has gone up on isolation a good deal. Like I can do 18 kgs DBs raises with good form, or 90 kgs leg extension.
Went I started I was super bulkign and yeah after what, 2 years or less I got to a respectable 200 kgs DL, 160 squat, 120 bench, but these numbers havenāt moved much because I have lost a good 30 kgs since, and TBH I donāt think I was supporting my training with enough food, and wanting to get too lean most of the time, because as an ex-fatty I was afraid of putting weight on again.
But this last program I did I had great results strength wise. I feel that for me, focusing on assistance is better than the lifts
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What you are doing seems to be working pretty well, so may as well keep at it. I mean, assuming your main goals are aesthetics related, which appears to be the case.
Real deload starts tomorrow, so today was an easy day with some bullcrap MUs (feels like it is getting harder to get my fat ass over the bar after the first few) and a lot of biceps work that I didnāt bother to log:
-
Pull-Up
- 3 reps
- 3 reps
- 3 reps
- 3 reps
-
Muscle-Up
- 1 reps
- 1 reps
- 2 reps
- 3 reps
- 4 reps
- 5 reps
- 4 reps
- 3 reps
- 2 reps
- 1 reps
- 1 reps
- 2 reps
Will play around with some squats tomorrow, but I am a little concernedā¦something in my knee went all āsproink!ā the other day when walking down the stairs of all things. It keeps reminding me it is there. Hopefully it will hold up fine under something a bit heavier than usual.
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@guineapig, Iām on the same track as this, but I might do even more delt work. For the past six weeks, Iāve been doing rear delt work on squat and deadlift day. Iāve been doing OHP and lateral raises on OHP and Incline day. I basically do some isolation work every session for my stubborn delts. Itās fairly easy to burn out lateral raises and I think it has a minimal impact on the body overall. Form and MMC > weight used.
As stated, itās your TM so it should be like 80-90% of your āany day of the week gym maxā.
Being super strong (for most people) requires that you focus on specific lifts and do everything possible to increase them. It could be improved technique or neural efficiency but neither of these means you have bigger, stronger muscles. It just means youāve improved your skill on a movement.
I think the way you and I have started training is better for our joints. Some people can chase strength for decades and be fine. Iāve had two shoulder surgeries, a knee surgery, and a hip surgery. No, thanks. Iām still chasing strength, but itās multi rep strength and I wonāt ever peak properly. My strength is more real world (in my opinion) because itās closer to my everyday strength instead of peaked strength.
I think you could view it just like body fat. People who step on the platform prepare for that moment. The goal is to hit a 1RM and PR. People who step on the stage prep for that exact moment. They train hard and diet hard to reach that level of body fat.
Neither that strength or that level of low body fat are sustainable. The training and prep for those competitors goes up and down with peaks and valleys. Iād like to think my training is more of a flat line with an (hopefully) upward trend.
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100% agree with you there.
I have spent like months and months on always doing the big basics, doing neural and technique work. Never spending a week without it because I thought I would lose strength. But I didnāt gain any. I think filling my frame and working hard on the assistance, and higher reps indeed, is better for me.
And yeah I completely agree, I prefer a slower, and safer, more sustainable approach. And youāre right about real world strength. Does going from a 500 to a 600 deadlift will help you tackle a guy more efficiently? I agree with Lee Boyce there, if you can deadlift 315 x 10 with good form, you most likely wonāt get healthier getting to 405 x 10.
We forget it on this site because we aim for greatness, elite. I mean, youāre huge and strong in the real world! Sometimes I feel like a twig but yesterday when I was deadlifting and shrugging 160 kgs people were looking me like I was not from this world
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Go hang out with college kids who are supposed to be in their physical prime. I donāt know how or when it happened, but suddenly we stand out in the general public. I feel average at best around here, but thatās because we all take this a bit further than āhealth and fitnessā and push the boundaries. Our perception is skewed because weāre all above average.
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Speak for yourself my dude.
I do get your point though. Itās shirts off season down here in Brighton, and the amount of guys my colleagues have been checking out because ālook at the body on himā, and all I can think is āIs he ill?ā āWhatās wrong with him?ā Because he looks like a crack addict. We seem to have got to the point where āa good bodyā for an under 30 means ānot being obviously overweightā.
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Bingo. Lucky for me, my wife thinks a muscular guy who has a little bit of fat is attractive so Iām right where I need to be.
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Late to the party, but that towel was the color āsalmonā, end of debate.
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Get a new gym lol
Donāt listen to Hamster. He is a compact ball of muscle and connective tissue, we normals cannot hope to compete with that.
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