Back to Basics

Pulldowns: 285x16... Damn, no wonder your lats are so big. How do you like the NG vs overhand wide grip? I've been thinking of going with NG as I can move more weight that way.
 
It definitely feels better on my elbows. I've been having some elbow pain caused by computer usage and overhand pulldowns made it feel worse. I think I will be able to max out significantly higher with a parallel grip as well. Lats feel just as strained afterward so I see no downside to the switch.

Plus nobody ever uses this machine because it's plate loaded and you can't see yourself in the mirror while using it.

A guy at the gym today embodied a stereotype. His upper body was about the same as mine except arms were larger than mine. Calves were about the size of my forearms.
 
Holy crap...you move a lot of weight!
I'm down to 170Lbs last week...168 this week.
I know I have more fat to burn, but dammit, I hate going down! I'm why you call a... not quite a mesomorph...?

I think if I ever got up into the 220's (which I don't plan on doing ever), I don't think I'd ever be able to lift what you lift.
Impressive.
 
With regards to the amount of weight I lift, I've always been proportionally strong for my size. I move a lot more weight than guys who are the same size as me. I seem to have decent genetics for strength, just wish I had better genetics for muscle growth. I have to be the only guy deadlifting over 600 who's arms are only just barely 17 inches, and that's after years of weightlifting. See, thge guys moving the same amount of weight as I do are all way bigger than me. I definitely don't have the right frame or the right genetics to ever be a bodybuilder... and that's fine, I'm not enough of an attention whore to enjoy posing in front of hundreds of people anyway.

I know what you mean about not wanting to drop too much weight. I know in my mind that I look better than when I was 250 and fatter but what I see when I look in the mirror is just "small" as though my entire cut was a waste of time. Obviously that's not true but you know how it is. The mind plays tricks. I'm highly tempted to start bulking again...
 
Me too...
I walk past the mirror, and I like how my abs are starting to pop out, but to me, I'm looking less "thick" everywhere else and that bugs me!

I'm gonna try a little more daily calories and do a slower cut...
Buy it almost seems like my fat loss has stalled.
I hope I'm not going catabolic most of the day with the reduced calories!!
My daily interval training is s'pose to reverse that! Ugh!
 
In case you didn't know this, you can tell if your metabolism has dropped by taking your temperature each morning. When it drops, that means your metabolism has dropped. To bring your metabolism back up, take a week or so off from the diet and eat at maintenance. A single weekly refeed can also help prevent metabolic slow down.
 
Me too...
I walk past the mirror, and I like how my abs are starting to pop out, but to me, I'm looking less "thick" everywhere else and that bugs me!

I'm gonna try a little more daily calories and do a slower cut...
Buy it almost seems like my fat loss has stalled.
I hope I'm not going catabolic most of the day with the reduced calories!!
My daily interval training is s'pose to reverse that! Ugh!
 
Totentanz said:
In case you didn't know this, you can tell if your metabolism has dropped by taking your temperature each morning. When it drops, that means your metabolism has dropped. To bring your metabolism back up, take a week or so off from the diet and eat at maintenance. A single weekly refeed can also help prevent metabolic slow down.
Click to expand...

That's interesting.
I give myself 1 day a week to feed my face...and I mean just cramming it down! Of course, to help trip up my "engine".
 
Totentanz said:
In case you didn't know this, you can tell if your metabolism has dropped by taking your temperature each morning. When it drops, that means your metabolism has dropped. To bring your metabolism back up, take a week or so off from the diet and eat at maintenance. A single weekly refeed can also help prevent metabolic slow down.
Click to expand...

That's interesting.
I give myself 1 day a week to feed my face...and I mean just cramming it down! Of course, to help trip up my "engine".
 
Sci said:
Pulldowns: 285x16... Damn, no wonder your lats are so big. How do you like the NG vs overhand wide grip? I've been thinking of going with NG as I can move more weight that way.
Click to expand...

NG is great. I personally prefer a slightly wider neutral, closer to shoulder or clavicle width than the CG neutral, but those attachments aren't present at every gym.

Totentanz said:
It definitely feels better on my elbows. I've been having some elbow pain caused by computer usage and overhand pulldowns made it feel worse. I think I will be able to max out significantly higher with a parallel grip as well. Lats feel just as strained afterward so I see no downside to the switch.

Plus nobody ever uses this machine because it's plate loaded and you can't see yourself in the mirror while using it.

A guy at the gym today embodied a stereotype. His upper body was about the same as mine except arms were larger than mine. Calves were about the size of my forearms.
Click to expand...

Tried supinated?

wungun said:
Me too...
I walk past the mirror, and I like how my abs are starting to pop out, but to me, I'm looking less "thick" everywhere else and that bugs me!

I'm gonna try a little more daily calories and do a slower cut...
Buy it almost seems like my fat loss has stalled.
I hope I'm not going catabolic most of the day with the reduced calories!!
My daily interval training is s'pose to reverse that! Ugh!
Click to expand...

Fat loss always stalls. Your body doesn't want to burn it, evolution has taught it to hold and store energy as best it can for when you can't find food.

wungun said:
That's interesting.
I give myself 1 day a week to feed my face...and I mean just cramming it down! Of course, to help trip up my "engine".
Click to expand...

Don't go crazy on that, you can undo a lot of your would-be-losses if you just consume too much, especially re: simple carbs.
 
I guess I made it sound crazier than it actually is. I don't go outta my way to stuff it in...
I'll just eat larger meals of whatever I crave...but generally, still all pretty healthy, unprocessed foods.

I guess that's why we all usually have good fat loss in the beginning...bit then the body gets wise, and feeds on our muscles!
I believe heavy lifting certainly helps prevent that...as your body "sees" that it needs the muscle cause you're using them...

But there has to be more tricks to fool the metabolism?!

Sorry if I'm jackin' this thread!
 
The pulldown machine I'm using is about shoulder width when using a neutral grip. You can use a supinated grip as well but then it is a bit narrower. I'm avoiding the supinated grip currently because I'm doing the DC split which has biceps getting hit on the same day you do legs. When I do a supinated grip, I can pull a lot more weight but it also hits my biceps a lot harder. Also seems to stress my elbows a little bit more.

On the bright side, overhead work usually pisses off my shoulders but this shoulder press machine doesn't seem to cause any problems at all.
 
I thought you were using the cable Pulldown. 285x16 is INSANE for the cable Pulldown. I dont think i have ever seen anyone do that much.
Apples and oranges, I also can do a lot more on a plate machine generally.
 
Yeah someone broke that one so I had to sub with the plate loaded one. It's kind of a pain doing the math in my head because I'm so used to adding in the 45 lbs for the bar automatically when I load plates, so I have to be careful that I'm not adding in a phantom 45 lbs that isn't there. Unfortunately, the cable pulldown at my gym (which is now fixed) maxes out at 250 anyway, so it's not very useful for progression over the course of an entire cycle.
Same reason I've quit using the seated row machine.
 
Good point. Mine maxes out at 260. My gym is the first one I have been to that has a large selection of hammer-strength style machines, I am already doing the plate-loaded row, I think I might try the plate loaded Pulldown also, they have two choices, pronated hammer Pulldown and supinated hammer Pulldown. Or I could just be like Jay Cutler and do 4 sets for every Pulldown Machine in the whole gym. (Kidding)
 
At my old gym there was a seated row machine using the cable and stack, it went up to 150kg from memory. That definitely wouldn't suffice for me now but that was a great piece of equipment to use back then. Feed pads and height etc all worked out great for me.
 
I really enjoy the feel of the seated row machine and it definitely hits my back like nothing else but it just isn't something I can use for HST since I'd have to swap out to something else partway through the cycle. I like it for metabolic work though.
 
Totentanz said:
With regards to the amount of weight I lift, I've always been proportionally strong for my size. I move a lot more weight than guys who are the same size as me. I seem to have decent genetics for strength, just wish I had better genetics for muscle growth. I have to be the only guy deadlifting over 600 who's arms are only just barely 17 inches, and that's after years of weightlifting. See, thge guys moving the same amount of weight as I do are all way bigger than me. I definitely don't have the right frame or the right genetics to ever be a bodybuilder... and that's fine, I'm not enough of an attention whore to enjoy posing in front of hundreds of people anyway...
Click to expand...
Did you ever try arm wrestling? You look like you have similar proportions to Devon Larratt. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc9-Y1BNJKk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top