Definitely making progress, good work man.
One thing I’d recommend, spend some time working on your posing. Not because it makes the pictures better, but because it does look in some pics like you’re really not too sure how to flex some things… Spending some time on the posing can really help you with the MMC, and help you when you’re in the gym.
[quote]Gmoore17 wrote:
Definitely making progress, good work man.
One thing I’d recommend, spend some time working on your posing. Not because it makes the pictures better, but because it does look in some pics like you’re really not too sure how to flex some things… Spending some time on the posing can really help you with the MMC, and help you when you’re in the gym.[/quote]
Thanks broseph.
Yeah, flexing everything at once seems to be my problem. Probably not a coincidence that staying ‘tight’ is my biggest issues with all my major lifts. Also my weakest body part, my lats, is also the one i can not flex for shit. So I definitely need at least try some posing. lol. Any tips on where to start?
After my backload (AKA heaviest BW), and an intense back workout, I just decided to see how many pullups I could do. Ended up getting 10 with a 1 sec pause at the bottom of each rep. Surprised, seeing a I hardly ever do them. I think like sets of 6 use to be my max. lol. Just good to know I’m getting stronger all around. lol
Got a nice little base of muscle going there in those pics bro. Keep it up, put in the work/time and you’ll be reaching your goals.
And nice faces in the pics haha
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
[quote]Gmoore17 wrote:
Definitely making progress, good work man.
One thing I’d recommend, spend some time working on your posing. Not because it makes the pictures better, but because it does look in some pics like you’re really not too sure how to flex some things… Spending some time on the posing can really help you with the MMC, and help you when you’re in the gym.[/quote]
Thanks broseph.
Yeah, flexing everything at once seems to be my problem. Probably not a coincidence that staying ‘tight’ is my biggest issues with all my major lifts. Also my weakest body part, my lats, is also the one i can not flex for shit. So I definitely need at least try some posing. lol. Any tips on where to start?[/quote]
I’m certainly no expert, but what helped me was just whenever I was in front of my bathroom mirror, work on learning how to do a lat spread, and when I’m sitting at the computer sometimes I’ll just work on flexing one lat at a time, for 5-10 seconds. Helped me a lot as far as feeling my lats work. Another thing would be doing a lot of squeezing your shoulder blades back and together at the end of rows and such, or doing the 1.5 rep technique some people have talked about recently, that you’ve probably seen, I know you follow a lot of the same training logs that I do.
Or, taking it up a notch, here’s a video Waylander posted in Tankman’s contest thread. While you certainly don’t need to practice posing as much as someone who is competing soon does, you can definitely pick up some tips in here as to how to flex certain muscles, and going through it a few times, I think, could really help. Although to be honest I haven’t even watched the whole thing, but I know if I did, it’d help me haha LONGEVITY (FULL DVD) Chapter 8 Posing - YouTube
[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
Got a nice little base of muscle going there in those pics bro. Keep it up, put in the work/time and you’ll be reaching your goals.
And nice faces in the pics haha[/quote]
Appreciate it, I’m trying man. And I never black out the faces for the lulz.
[quote]Gmoore17 wrote:
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
[quote]Gmoore17 wrote:
Definitely making progress, good work man.
One thing I’d recommend, spend some time working on your posing. Not because it makes the pictures better, but because it does look in some pics like you’re really not too sure how to flex some things… Spending some time on the posing can really help you with the MMC, and help you when you’re in the gym.[/quote]
Thanks broseph.
Yeah, flexing everything at once seems to be my problem. Probably not a coincidence that staying ‘tight’ is my biggest issues with all my major lifts. Also my weakest body part, my lats, is also the one i can not flex for shit. So I definitely need at least try some posing. lol. Any tips on where to start?[/quote]
I’m certainly no expert, but what helped me was just whenever I was in front of my bathroom mirror, work on learning how to do a lat spread, and when I’m sitting at the computer sometimes I’ll just work on flexing one lat at a time, for 5-10 seconds. Helped me a lot as far as feeling my lats work. Another thing would be doing a lot of squeezing your shoulder blades back and together at the end of rows and such, or doing the 1.5 rep technique some people have talked about recently, that you’ve probably seen, I know you follow a lot of the same training logs that I do.
Or, taking it up a notch, here’s a video Waylander posted in Tankman’s contest thread. While you certainly don’t need to practice posing as much as someone who is competing soon does, you can definitely pick up some tips in here as to how to flex certain muscles, and going through it a few times, I think, could really help. Although to be honest I haven’t even watched the whole thing, but I know if I did, it’d help me haha LONGEVITY (FULL DVD) Chapter 8 Posing - YouTube
[/quote]
Thanks for the link man. Even from just watching a little of it, I can kind of ‘feel’ my lats and hammies a bit more, which are parts I rarely can flex without touching.
I’ll definitely take some time to practice posing, because I’ve noticed my pictures NEVER seem to look near as good as I (feel) I look in real life. I mean, my pics are always mediocre, but I get asked and commented on about working out often. I think it’s because I can’t pose for shit while taking a picture. lol
4/7/12
AM: HFS
Back Squat: Pretty fast
225x3x2
Flat Bench: Still some weird trap pain, but smooth explosive reps
185x3x2
Conventional Deadlift: So easy
285x3x2
PM: Legs and Traps
Back Squats: Felt good. Bar at gym was skinnier, but longer. Really knurled, could really lock it into my back/shoulders
205x3
235x3
265x4 <— ugly, but got it up. lol
225x8 <— good for the energy I used on the previous set. lol
Front Squat Holds: Did these due to STB prescribing them. If he says it helps his lifts, I’ll try it. Literally everything between my shoulders to my ass shook vigorously. Lol
225x 10 seconds
275x 10 seconds
315x 12 seconds
225x 25 seconds
Leg Press: The one at this gym feels like sex, but is so much harder… like sex
3ppsx6
4ppsx6
5ppsx15
Incline GHR: SorryBoutYa Hammies. Weights used because I was too busy to go walk and get straight bars. Just used plates. lol
BWx10
+50x10
+90x12
Single Leg Press: THE CONTRACTION!!!
140x10
180x15 ← wanted to die
Smith Shrugs: Did these in smith so I could angle myself just a bit, always feels better. Will do traps on Chest/Bi day as well, all because Spartee told me too. lol
225x12 <— pause and squeeze each rep
135x40 something I just went until I died. lol
Then i went and raped Golden Corral. Good workouts today. Squats were good like I Promised, but as the set progresses, I start goodmorning-ing the weight. Shows I have a weak core. Hopefully Front Squat holds will help that.
Today was an excellent day. Saw my extra GF, and we talked a lot. Basically, we aren’t together right now, we both need time. But once we’ve both fixed some things, we are going to get back together. We never got a chance to be single (both came straight from other relationships into ours). So I’m treating the situation like I do lifting: I just got a put in the work and effort, and then have patience that time will give me the results I desire. I feel a huge metaphorical weight has been lifted off my shoulders, so not that means I can just load more literal weight on them. lol
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Saw my extra GF, and we talked a lot. Basically, we aren’t together right now, we both need time. But once we’ve both fixed some things, we are going to get back together.[/quote]
Thats good news buddy. What needs fixing? If you need any advice, dont hesitate to ask uncle bird.
tweet
[quote]theBird wrote:
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Saw my extra GF, and we talked a lot. Basically, we aren’t together right now, we both need time. But once we’ve both fixed some things, we are going to get back together.[/quote]
Thats good news buddy. What needs fixing? If you need any advice, dont hesitate to ask uncle bird.
tweet
[/quote]
Just kind of being our own people for a little while, not being identified solely be eachother, if that makes sense. I appreciate it man. You, all the rest of you guys in this log, have been tremendously helpful through this process.
Today is Easter, and an off day. Just going to take it easy. I think I need it. I’m starting to kind of get sore all the time. Shoulders, knees, ankles and wrists all seem to start accumulating some fatigue. Nothing crazy, just enough for me to notice. I haven’t taken a week, or even like 3 consecutive days off, since August I think (took a weekend and a Monday off. lulz).
Really don’t know if I should or not. Definitely don’t feel over-trained or anything. I think I’m just in that nice phase where all my big lifts are going up 5lbs or so every week. According to John Meadows’ article, I’m in/entering the ‘intermediate’ stage of a lifter, so I may need to start trying to actively ‘manage’ fatigue. IDK though, I’m making such good progress, I don’t want take time off. lol.
I wanna say I’ll rest up real good today, see how I feel tomorrow, but I know that no matter what, I’ll wake-up tomorrow and train if I go by ‘instinct’. lol. Any one have a god idea of how to ‘know’ when a deload would be beneficial??
Ohh, and Happy Easter everyone.
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
I wanna say I’ll rest up real good today, see how I feel tomorrow, but I know that no matter what, I’ll wake-up tomorrow and train if I go by ‘instinct’. lol. Any one have a god idea of how to ‘know’ when a deload would be beneficial?? [/quote]
You could do HFSW only for a week at about 40-50% of your 1RM. That’s worked pretty well for me in the past. You might want to include some light pulldowns/assisted chins as a fourth HFSW move for the week just to balance out the pressing (or you could just throw in light rope face pulls or band pull aparts as active rest on bench work). If you really care about OHP, you could do some light work on that once or twice during the week just to maintain neural efficiency.
HFSW with loading like that should be great for a deload, as it should charge up the CNS nicely while helping to maintain neural efficiency on the big lifts and avoiding fatigue. Just my two cents, enjoy the holiday/off day man- Happy Easter.
[quote]bigmac73nh wrote:
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
I wanna say I’ll rest up real good today, see how I feel tomorrow, but I know that no matter what, I’ll wake-up tomorrow and train if I go by ‘instinct’. lol. Any one have a god idea of how to ‘know’ when a deload would be beneficial?? [/quote]
You could do HFSW only for a week at about 40-50% of your 1RM. That’s worked pretty well for me in the past. You might want to include some light pulldowns/assisted chins as a fourth HFSW move for the week just to balance out the pressing (or you could just throw in light rope face pulls or band pull aparts as active rest on bench work). If you really care about OHP, you could do some light work on that once or twice during the week just to maintain neural efficiency.
HFSW with loading like that should be great for a deload, as it should charge up the CNS nicely while helping to maintain neural efficiency on the big lifts and avoiding fatigue. Just my two cents, enjoy the holiday/off day man- Happy Easter.[/quote]
Yeah that doesn’t sound bad man. Just HFSW for the weak, with a little pump work for my back, arms and shoulders maybe. Basically, nothing all that neurally draining. Sounds like I could take a break from the heavier stuff while not going crazy from not lifting. lol. Thanks for the advice bro. You’re pretty knowledgeable on the type of training I do, so any of your advice is helpful.
4/9/12
AM: HFS
WOke up feeling great. Got some bands yesterday. Before I hit the gym I warmed up with 100 shoulder dislocations and 100 pull-aparts
Back Squat: Went up fast. Experimenting with bar placement a bit
195x3x6
Flat Bench: Still got that trap weirdness, going to see if the dislocations help it out
150x3x6
Conventional Deadlift: Felt strong
255x3x6
PM: Upper Back, Delts, Arms
Conventional Deadlift: Good reps on everything, despite kind of having not 100% form. Not like cheating, more like made it harder on myself on the top set. lol
290x3
330x3
370x4
315x6 ← had one more maybe but was dead at this point
Kroc Rows: Benches were taken. Think I’ll go back to these. Great upper back pump. Form was strict, will loosen up as weights get heavier
75’sx30
Rear Delt Flies: Great pump
20’sx20,15,14
35’sx(swings)x20
Lateral Raises: Ohh gawd these were good
25’sx11,8
20’sx12
45’sx(swings)x20
Seated DB Press: Okay, so top set, midway through, my left shoulder just flipped shit and gave out, so had to reset up and do it again. Probably kept me from a PR.
30’sx6
40’sx6
50’sx4,8
Pushdown/Curl Superset: Goooood. Used different attachments then last time
70x15/15
90x12/10
110x9/7
Good workouts today. Was a tad bit tired, but felt great. The DL’s went up easier, despite shitty execution, s happy about that. HFS felt great, except that weird trap thingy. Like tingles at the top of each rep. Trying to just do band work, foam roll,and keep form tighter on Bench, hope it stops.
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Leg Press: The one at this gym feels like sex, but is so much harder… like sex
[/quote]
The sex you have must be pretty crazy if it feels like a leg press. lol
Good workouts keep killing it. ALso i second what bigmac said. I did a week kinda like that excpet it involved ring work as well to get the feel for them. It was my only week deload since jan 2011 lol
[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Leg Press: The one at this gym feels like sex, but is so much harder… like sex
[/quote]
The sex you have must be pretty crazy if it feels like a leg press. lol
Good workouts keep killing it. ALso i second what bigmac said. I did a week kinda like that excpet it involved ring work as well to get the feel for them. It was my only week deload since jan 2011 lol[/quote]
Yeah, I’ve upped my mobility work a good deal lately, so the aches and pains making a deload necessary aren’t there, but I’ll probably take one once gains kind of stall. I’m on such a role right now, I’m scared to lose it! lol
4/11/12
AM: HFS
Back Squat: Figured out how to consistently set-up super tight, shit was SOOO fast
195x3x6
Flat Bench: Been stretching and foam rolling the shit outta my trap. Still felt funny, but getting a lot better
150x3x6
Conventional Deadlift: These actually felt off today. Dunno why, just kinda bleh.
255x3x6
PM: Chest and Biceps
Played some two-on-two Bball to warm up.
Flat Bench: Weighed myself, 191. This was my first time going for a BW Bench I think #newb #lulz. Ass popped off the bench a bit, but nothing that bad. And 4th rep wasn’t a grinder.
155x3
175x3
195x4!!
135x13
DB Incline: These take a huge hit being the 2nd lift. Chest feels like it can hardly stabilize them
40’sx6
50’sx6
60’sx8
Chest Flies: After these, pecs looked like balloons. So pumped. lol
10x10
12x10
14x15
Hammer Curls: Solid form
25’sx8
30’sx8
35’sx12
Pulldown Curls: Ahhhh theses are painful!!
50x10
60x10
75x20
Straight Bar Curls: Bicep death
55x6
65x6
75x7
Incline Shrugs: Feel like high reps hit the lower trap part better. Dunno why
30’x30,20
Awesome session today, Happy that 1) my trap is healing up and 2) my Bench is going from sucking major donkey balls to only sucking regular balls. I guess I’m accident;y recomping, with the weight loss/ strength gain thing, just going to let it happen. Hopefully by the time I come back to school next semester I’ll be throwing around slightly-big boy weights.
ohh, find out I may graduate a year early. Kind of not sure if I want to though. It would be hard to do, and to imagine applying to law school this time next year is scary. Idk, thinking about it. Lot’s of adult shit is starting to happen, which is weird, considering I still use a Spiderman back pack. lol. Idk, got lots of thinking to do.
4/13/12
AM: HFS
Back Squat: Easy
195x3x6
Flat Bench: Still got trap weirdness, getting it checked out next week
150x3x6
Conventional Deadlift: <3
255x3x6
PM: Lats and Triceps
Straight Arm Pulldowns: upped the reps a tad
80x12
100x12
120x15
Yates Rows: Solid Form, felt good
205x6
225x6
245x6 ← nearly no body english
Pullups: Overhand, wide grip, getting chin ways over the bar each rep
BWx8,7,5
Stretchers: Great finisher
105x10
125x13
Cordovas: Felt good, but gives kind of a shoulder pump. LOLWUT?
40’sx8
50’sx8
30’sx14
JM Presses: Hmm… these are starting to feel weird
75x6
95x6
115x9
OH DB Extensions: These felt great
15’x10
20’x10
25’x12
YTWL’s just for healthiness
Great workouts today. Felt explosive, got great pumps from the workouts.
Diet-wise, I re-worked my shit to compensate for the fact I’m 190 now due to random weight loss, and am trying to CBL more effectively. Right now macros are:
Training Days:
230g Protein, 500g Carbs, 75g Fat
Off Days:
220g Protein, 60g Carbs, 170g Fat
Not all that different, but more of a ‘maintain-a-gain’ diet. I was going to try and do what in CBL is called ‘Density Bulking’, but that’s for gaining muscle while MAINTAINING leanness. In all honesty, I’m not as lean as I’d like, and plus, at my strength levels, strength is my biggest concern. So I’m just going to try and hopefully stay in 190-200 lb range this summer, hopefully get a good deal leaner, and gain a SHIT LOAD of strength. Then come fall/winter, I’ll go for the Density Bulking.
My right trap is really going full retard recently. Basically it tingles/burns when I set up on Bench. Not really painful, just strange. Rolling over it with a golf ball is helping a decent amount, but it’s a hard area to hit, so I’m going to try and see a chiro this coming week. Hopefully they can help me out.
I’m happy for your gains bruh
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
I’m happy for your gains bruh[/quote]
Thanks man. Wouldn’t be nearly as possible without guys like you helping though.