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The only improvement I've had with my little peckies was from a long run of heavy incline DB presses. Dips don't even seem to do any good; I just like doing them.
 
I know what you mean.

I have worked my back with heavy weights/ light weights/ high reps / low reps and I have been training seriously for 13 years and I don't have half the back developement you have Tot or some of the other guys.

Genetics do play a big part!
 
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(Lol @ Mar. 25 2008,20:47)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I wasn't blessed with pecs either. All my life I've pretty much had no pecs to speak of but finally they are starting to be more than nothing - it's probably fat though!</div>
I don't have pecs. I have tits...
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IttyBittyTittieCommittee?
One thing I didn't mention is that with the extra BW, the genetically lagging parts will come up at least a little. They just won't be your favorite parts yet. It's my belief that with iso's, not overdone, and bulking, you get the best you can.
 
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(quadancer @ Mar. 25 2008,22:07)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">IttyBittyTittieCommittee?
One thing I didn't mention is that with the extra BW, the genetically lagging parts will come up at least a little. They just won't be your favorite parts yet. It's my belief that with iso's, not overdone, and bulking, you get the best you can.</div>
We're not eligible for IBTC. That is for women only. However, we are all eligible for the BPA - Big Pecs Anonymous.
 
Well today I did flat bench for my chest exercise, rest pause style. I used 205 and got 8 reps on the first part, then 15 deep breaths, then 5 reps, then 15 breaths, then 3 reps. So... according to the RM calculators, I should be able to do 255 for a single. I'm going to try next upper day and see. If I get it, well, I'll figure out where to go from there...
 
I used to train with a guy who I was stronger than by about 10 to 15 pounds in the bench press. No matter what I was always stronger than him...however when we would use lower amounts of weight he could do more reps?

I never understood this?

For example I could bench 315 for 1 rep he could do 300 for 1 reps.

But we would drop down to 225 for say 5 sets of 10 reps and he could do them with ease and I couldn't do them all
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(Totentanz @ Mar. 26 2008,19:47)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Well today I did flat bench for my chest exercise, rest pause style. I used 205 and got 8 reps on the first part, then 15 deep breaths, then 5 reps, then 15 breaths, then 3 reps. So... according to the RM calculators, I should be able to do 255 for a single. I'm going to try next upper day and see. If I get it, well, I'll figure out where to go from there...</div>
It's good to see your bench press is coming along!
 
Well, my forearm is bitching at me again so I think I'll have to take it easy and stop pushing for PRs so much. I'm going to keep the DC split but quit doing the rest-pause, opting for 3 sets of 5 instead. I'm going to keep the same lifts and same rotation, the only difference will be that I won't be going to failure at all.

Also, since I'm having trouble fitting into all my clothing, I think soon I'm going to attempt to drop a few pounds. It's not really a big deal, it's just something I want to experiment with. I know the idea of recomping might sound good on paper but rarely plays out in life - almost everyone I've seen try it has failed - but I'm going to experiment with it anyway.
I'm heading into an IF type of setup, except I won't be cutting calories. I will fast and then break the fast when I lift, but I'll keep calories at maintenance or slightly above. At worst, I'll end up spinning my wheels. At best, I may drop a little bit of fat while gaining or maintaining muscle mass. What I think is most likely is that I'll gain a couple pounds of muscle while maintaining fat mass. Whatever, it will be fun and I'm sure I'll keep increasing my strength which is my main priority right now.
So basically, I'm still sort of bulking, but my calorie excess will be lower and I'm arranging calories around workouts to try and see what happens. Usually, it would be near impossible for me to take in enough calories in such a short window, but lately I've been having no problem taking in massive amounts of calories. I guess being on a 5000 calorie a day diet for so long has caused my body to adapt to taking in huge calories. Bonus!

I think I might start logging my workouts again, albeit infrequently...

YESTERDAY: (I said today originally, for some reason)

Flat Bench - 215 x 3 x 5
Skullcrushers - 95 x 3 x 5
Chins - BW+40 x 3 x 5
Rack Pulls - 495 x 3 x 5

I'm not doing shoulders anymore, as you all may recall. Overhead pressing bothers my forearm. I may try some upright rows next upper day though.
 
I think for legs I'll do them 5x5 style except ramping up the sets, because doing 3 sets of 5 across with squats is quite taxing. Also, I'm dropping forearm and bicep work on lower day because it bugs my forearm.
So... in other words, lower day is only hamstrings and quads. That's all. Yeah, you are supposed to do calves on lower day but I don't like calf work.

RDL - 135 x 5, 155 x 5, 185 x 5, 195 x 5, 200 x 5
SQUAT - 185 x 5, 225 x 5, 245 x 5, 275 x 5, 300 x 5

I was surprised with the squat. I really didn't think I'd get all 5 or even more than 1 rep after all that other stuff.
My hams and quads feel like they are going to explode right now.
 
Oh, I also played around with some power cleans today, just for fun. I did 185 for 3 and then 200 for a single. Maybe I could have done more, but I didn't want to try and risk ruining my workout. It didn't bother my forearm either, but if I had pushed it, who knows. Once I'm healed up, I may play around with them some more. The only problem is that though I can do them in the rack, I don't have bumper plates, so it kind of sucks putting it back down.
 
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(Totentanz @ Mar. 30 2008,11:26)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Oh, I also played around with some power cleans today, just for fun.  I did 185 for 3 and then 200 for a single.  Maybe I could have done more, but I didn't want to try and risk ruining my workout.  It didn't bother my forearm either, but if I had pushed it, who knows.  Once I'm healed up, I may play around with them some more.  The only problem is that though I can do them in the rack, I don't have bumper plates, so it kind of sucks putting it back down.</div>
if you get a chance, I'd benefit from a video. even if you do them wrong.

my cleans are more like a hang clean immediately succeding a deadlift. can't seem to get the entire movement pieced together.

I did manage to bruise my thighs today by bumping them into the bar, which pleased me greatly.
 
Tot,

I have been trying to follow your log.

What type of frequency are you doing with DC?

Its appears to be an upper / lower 2 a week?
 
Congrats. Your squats are on the up already. I will not be surprised if you catch me up really soon esp. as I'm about to SD for a week or so while I spend a week in the Scottish Highlands. (Och aye the noo, Jimmy!)

That's pretty cool cleaning for a first effort but not having bumpers sucks once you are in the region of 200lb. Maybe a hefty rubber mat or two would help?

Cleans really bug my left forearm when I push it but then so does everything else at the moment. I am looking forward to the healing time for my upper body but my lower body would be fine to carry in with the heavy stuff for a while yet. I have thought about targeting SD to certain muscle groups but that's a whole other discussion...
 
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(Joe.Muscle @ Mar. 31 2008,13:37)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Tot,

I have been trying to follow your log.

What type of frequency are you doing with DC?

Its appears to be an upper / lower 2 a week?</div>
Basically, Mon Wed Fri. Except I end up doing it on different days than that a lot, due to my messy schedule at work. Also, some weeks I end up doubling up, like this weekend when I did upper on Sat and lower on Sun, because I had missed Thurs and Fri.

With regards to my cleans - I think they were probably pretty sloppy. Mostly what I think I have a problem with is catching it in the proper position. My arm/wrist flexibility has gone downhill to the point where I'm having to do my front squats with the cross-armed form. So... I'll have to work on that before I get serious with the cleans.
I might try some rubber mats, I think they'd have to be pretty thick though to prevent breaking another bar or cracking a plate.
 
Tot,

The last I saw this thread, about 3 months ago, one of your main focuses was bringing up your chest that you felt was lagging. How's that been going for you? Your strength on bench seems to have really popped. Nice work!
 
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(soflsun @ Mar. 31 2008,19:44)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Tot,

The last I saw this thread, about 3 months ago, one of your main focuses was bringing up your chest that you felt was lagging. How's that been going for you? Your strength on bench seems to have really popped. Nice work!</div>
There has been some improvement but not as much as I would like. Mostly what I've seen improvement in is my triceps, which I think is why my bench is going up finally. I was at about 15 inches for arms before I started this thing (maybe slightly less...) and now I'm at 16 inches when my arms are cold. Now my chest girth has gone up about 2 inches, but I think that is mostly because my lats and back have grown. It's kind of disappointing. Maybe I'm wrong and the increase isn't from back growth, I don't know. It's kind of hard to tell with my pecs anyway because I have dense hair all over my chest, so who knows.


Anyway, in other news, I've decided to quit weightlifting. I'm getting really into sewing and knitting lately. I think I'm going to focus my energies on that instead.
 
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(Totentanz @ Apr. 01 2008,06:59)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Anyway, in other news, I've decided to quit weightlifting. I'm getting really into sewing and knitting lately. I think I'm going to focus my energies on that instead.</div>
My, oh my, isn't that nice...?

I have some wonderful dress patterns I can share with you...
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Comparing your bench to your skulls, it looks like triceps aren't your problem, and your chins show lat and bicep strength, so that isn't it. Looks like you're stuck with the same problem as me, chest.
Now if you knit those hairs down close and tight, you may be able to see what the problem was back when you used to lift.

My bench finally came up (slowly) after correcting to PL form, bulking, and alternating between regular stretch reflex bench and the chest pauses using lighter weight. Those things really shame ya, but develop strength in the hole to which you add the stretch reflex in later for that big PR! They might not help if your sticking point is higher, in which case you could try perhaps board presses? (not that you don't allready know this stuff, I imagine you do)
 
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(Totentanz @ Apr. 01 2008,11:59)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Anyway, in other news, I've decided to quit weightlifting.  I'm getting really into sewing and knitting lately.  I think I'm going to focus my energies on that instead.</div>
A wife is wyce eneuch that kens her guid man's breeks frae her ain kirtle.
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Eh, raise nae mair deils nor ye can lig!

Have fun working that one out!
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