[quote]Heracles_rocks wrote:
Hey Justice, try cutting your bench and shoulder training in half and double the back training for a few weeks(particularly upper back and lats) and palpate your traps, pecs and shoulders and manually massage the knots out and see if that helps your shoulders.
Also try shoulder dislocates with bands or a broomstick. [/quote]
Thanks for the advice Tyler. At this point I definitely think that it may be some type of muscular strain, given how it was relatively sudden in onset, moreso than imbalances, especially considering I’ve always made upper back work a priority. But yeah, I intend on doing plenty of upper back work, and I’ve never really tried doing much of any soft tissue work, so that’s probably something I could try.
I’m planning on finding a band or something to do shoulder dislocations with, since a broomstick is too painful at this point. I’ve also look at some shoulder warmup stuff from Diesel Crew, and I’ll probably try that out my next bench session.
45 x some
135x8
225x5
275x5
(325x3)x2
(350x3)x2
375x1 (reps two and three assisted)
375x3
(305x5)x3 (paused)
(295x2)x4 (high-bar, long pause)
Felt really good today. Target was (375x3)x2. Unfortunately, this dude I know spotted me prematurely on the first 375 set. Nevertheless, I was very happy with how the first rep felt…the set would have been cake. Took it again, and although I’m slightly offset by the fact that the 375 wasn’t as easy as it could have been (actually it was pretty damn hard), for whatever reason, I was glad to hit it regardless. 380 for two triples soon for redemption.
Incline Bench
45 x some
135x5
165x2
190x1
215x1 (PR)
So I’m not sure what exactly possessed me when I got the idea of working up to a single on the incline bench, but it aggravated my shoulder slightly. At least the single wasn’t too hard.
Some scapular retraction, front and side raises on incline bench
CGBP
(45 x some)x2
(135x6)x2
165x2
(180x4)x4 (paused final rep of each set)
(195x3)x6
Kept my feet up until the 195 sets. They felt kind of heavy, but improved later on. Shoulder wasn’t feeling stellar, but it wasn’t too bad. Work in various pauses and staggered reverse flies with many of the sets.
Speed Squat
45 x some
135x5
(225x3)x2
(260x3)x5
I use the term “speed” rather loosely…lower body was still trashed from Tuesday. Went as fast as I could though.
135 x some, 225x5, 315x3, 370x3 (one set sumo, one set conventional)
—switched to sumo exclusively—
(430x3)x2
(470x3)x2
(510x2)x6 ( 10 lb volume PR)
(400x6)x5 - conventional, touch and go
Topsets felt rather heavy. The second rep of the third double actually moved down on the way up…not sure how I managed to do that since it has never happened before. Pseudo-shart myself, too. Conventional pulls started to catch up and feel heavier on the latter sets, but they were still polished off pretty easily. All of this volume left my shins and knees in shambles. Still good pulling.
OHP
45 x some
95x6
125x1
Bugged my shoulder. Moved on.
Lateral Raise —SS— HS High Row: (20x20)x2 — (2PPSx12)x2
45 x some
135x8
225x5
275x5
(325x3)x2
(355x3)x3
-switched to high bar and added long pauses-
(295x2)x3
(310x2)x3
Bleh. Squats weren’t strong today. Just put the work in.
Pullup
BWx12,11
BW 20x4,7,6,8
Clearly, doing a bunch of bodyweight sets of ten hasn’t done a thing for my back strength. I’m going to try and start slowly adding weight to the volume and actually get stronger.
Shoulder Traction
Lateral Raise - (20x15)x2
Dip - BW x shoulder no me gusta
Face Pull - 2 sets
CGBP
45 x some
135x8
165x5
(195x3)x6
Kept my feet up until the last set. Paused the final rep of each set sans the final set, in which I paused all of them. The difference in strength between feet up and actually setting up is like night and day. Reverse flies staggered with this stuff.
Front Squat
45 x some
135x5
175x5
210x3
240x2 (paused)
260x2 (paused, but got too far forward…angered my shoulder)
240x2 (paused)
Surprised by how good the first 240 set felt…it’s almost as if I’m stronger with a pause.
Pullup - BW 20x11,6,5,5,5 (32 total reps)
Incline DB Bench
45’s x 12
65’s x 10
65’s x 9
Tricep Pushdown —SS— Cable Curl - some x 20 — some x 20
135 x some, 225x5, 315x3 - one set sumo, one set conventional
—conventional—
365x4
(385x4)x4
—sumo—
(415x3)x2
(465x3)x2
(485x3)x4
Conventional pulls felt alright, but sumo pulls felt obnoxiously heavy. That’s fine. I was running off of nothing but a banana and a quart of water. I also had difficultly eating much yesterday…possibly due to stress from some “issues.”
[quote]xjusticex2013x wrote:
I also had difficultly eating much yesterday…possibly due to stress from some “issues.”[/quote]
Couldn’t be blue balls. You would’ve PR’d due to rage. Did you go soft inside?
[quote]xjusticex2013x wrote:
I also had difficultly eating much yesterday…possibly due to stress from some “issues.”[/quote]
Couldn’t be blue balls. You would’ve PR’d due to rage. Did you go soft inside?[/quote]
[quote]xjusticex2013x wrote:
I also had difficultly eating much yesterday…possibly due to stress from some “issues.”[/quote]
Couldn’t be blue balls. You would’ve PR’d due to rage. Did you go soft inside?[/quote]
Not exactly. Don’t really want to talk about it.[/quote]
I’ve been having issues too m8. Very, very serious.
[quote]xjusticex2013x wrote:
I also had difficultly eating much yesterday…possibly due to stress from some “issues.”[/quote]
Couldn’t be blue balls. You would’ve PR’d due to rage. Did you go soft inside?[/quote]
Not exactly. Don’t really want to talk about it.[/quote]
I’ve been having issues too m8. Very, very serious.[/quote]
[quote]xjusticex2013x wrote:
I also had difficultly eating much yesterday…possibly due to stress from some “issues.”[/quote]
Couldn’t be blue balls. You would’ve PR’d due to rage. Did you go soft inside?[/quote]
Not exactly. Don’t really want to talk about it.[/quote]
I’ve been having issues too m8. Very, very serious.[/quote]
[/quote]
LOL I’m srs though man
[quote]xjusticex2013x wrote:
I also had difficultly eating much yesterday…possibly due to stress from some “issues.”[/quote]
Couldn’t be blue balls. You would’ve PR’d due to rage. Did you go soft inside?[/quote]
Not exactly. Don’t really want to talk about it.[/quote]
I’ve been having issues too m8. Very, very serious.[/quote]
[/quote]
LOL I’m srs though man[/quote]
[quote]xjusticex2013x wrote:
I also had difficultly eating much yesterday…possibly due to stress from some “issues.”[/quote]
Couldn’t be blue balls. You would’ve PR’d due to rage. Did you go soft inside?[/quote]
Not exactly. Don’t really want to talk about it.[/quote]
I’ve been having issues too m8. Very, very serious.[/quote]
[/quote]
LOL I’m srs though man[/quote]
[quote]xjusticex2013x wrote:
I also had difficultly eating much yesterday…possibly due to stress from some “issues.”[/quote]
Couldn’t be blue balls. You would’ve PR’d due to rage. Did you go soft inside?[/quote]
Not exactly. Don’t really want to talk about it.[/quote]
I’ve been having issues too m8. Very, very serious.[/quote]
[/quote]
LOL I’m srs though man[/quote]
45 x some
135x8
225x5
275x5
(325x3)x2
(350x3)x2
(365x3)x2 (volume PR?)
380x3
—switched to paused high bar—
(300x2)x2
(315x2)x4
Didn’t feel too hot initially. Worked up conservatively and it felt reasonably good, so I went up to 380 like I wanted to. Only did one set though…probably could have done another, but I was feeling slightly beat up and didn’t feel like risking a drop outside of the rack. Form was probably pretty screwy at times, and my back probably could have had better alignment going on…feels a bit iffy actually. Still, glad about the squatting overall.
Incline DB Bench
55’s x 12
75’s x 10
75’s x 7
60’s x 11
Neutral-Grip Pullup - BW 20x10,9,5,6 (30 total reps)
135 x some, 225x5, 315x3, 375x3 - one set sumo, one set conventional
—sumo—
(425x3)x2
(470x3)x2
(495x2)x2
(520x2)x6 (volume PR)
—conventional, straps/touch and go—
(410x8)x2
410x5 (bailed at the top of rep six)
Up 10 lbs from two weeks ago on the topsets, and I didn’t use straps until the touch and go sets, which I sort of unintentionally went for broke on. Strong all around though.
Moved on.
