First Cycle, Have Some Questions

[henald]

Hey forum, I'm new here and also new to weight lifting. I am about to start the second week of 10s and I have some questions:

Metabolic work during the 5s? - Have heard that this can be added to improve growth in some lagging areas, but in the eBook it says it isn't recommended to beginners because "those who are early in their training need to focus on building the foundation". What does this mean? I was planning on adding some lateral raises, some form of chest work (cable crossover or squeeze press) and maybe some tricep work. Currently my routine is:

Incline DB press
Cable row
Dips
Chins
Arnold press/ overhead DB press
Leg extensions
Leg curls
Cable crunches

All of this 3x a week MWF

I think this is a pretty solid set of exercises considering my gym has no barbell and dumbells up to 30kg.

Large loss of chin up strength? - So up until now my chin up progression has been entirely using the assisted chin up machine. Besides the last day of 15s, the chin ups should have been a walk in the park for me (pre SD I could do 12 BW before failure so I took my 15 rep max as the lowest increment on the machine, -5kg) however I have been having great difficulty reaching the designated reps for the first set from about -12kg ish on the machine, let alone the second set if I planned on 2 sets. I have had to start clustering my chin ups in this last week. None of my other lifts have been affected this much by my SD. My weight didn't change during SD either. However, I never actually tried the assisted chin ups pre SD, so it could be significantly different to unassisted chins, which could be why I found them so difficult. Tomorrow is my first day doing unassisted chins so I will have to report back.

I am away for several separate weeks this summer - what kind of useful work can I fit in 2 weeks training - 1 week away - 3 weeks training - 1 week away - 2 weeks training - 1 week away? Is it at all possible to fit in some kind of HST cycle here?

Thanks for responses.

 

[Sci]

Stick to the fundamentals, is how you build a foundation.
Progressive overload is the name of the game. Continually be improving your strength, by increasing loading over time.

The rest is petty details.


Sent from my iPhone using Crapatalk.

 

[Bryan Haycock]

Welcome henald.

The ebook is just trying to emphasize that when just starting out, don't worry about certain things that won't significantly improve gains and will just make everything more complicated. Metabolic stress can be increased during the 5s by adding a drop set to the final set of each exercise (where feasible). But if you really are a beginner, this may or may not offer anything as far as gains go if you're lifting consistently.

As for working around a busy travel schedule, I would suggest working withing the 10 rep block whenever you are back training. Not perfect, but such is life.

 

[henald]

Thanks for the reply guys. Have one week left of negatives/5s and have received good gains in mass and strength. However last Monday I actually partially dislocated my left shoulder in the gym so that has slowed down the end of my cycle unfortunately.

 

[NWlifter]

Thanks for the reply guys. Have one week left of negatives/5s and have received good gains in mass and strength. However last Monday I actually partially dislocated my left shoulder in the gym so that has slowed down the end of my cycle unfortunately.

Yikes, how did you do that to your shoulder?

 

[henald]

Yikes, how did you do that to your shoulder?

Well, I was shoulder pressing 20kg dumbells (which I had done the Friday before, and with good form) except this time I retracted my shoulder blades at the top of the motion. I couldn't actually remember if you were meant to or not because it had been a while since I had watched any videos explaining how to shoulder press as I had done them in my workouts ever since and I also knew that in a lot of other exercises you are meant to retract the shoulder blades. Seems as though my shoulder joints lost the support they needed.

Basically, I made the rookie mistake of experimenting with heavy weights, which I now know definitely not to do in future.

 

[NWlifter]

Well, I was shoulder pressing 20kg dumbells (which I had done the Friday before, and with good form) except this time I retracted my shoulder blades at the top of the motion. I couldn't actually remember if you were meant to or not because it had been a while since I had watched any videos explaining how to shoulder press as I had done them in my workouts ever since and I also knew that in a lot of other exercises you are meant to retract the shoulder blades. Seems as though my shoulder joints lost the support they needed.

Basically, I made the rookie mistake of experimenting with heavy weights, which I now know definitely not to do in future.

Oh man ouch...
Overhead pressing seems to be the spookiest exercise, I've had a few upper back and shoulder issues from those. Never like you had , dang. I always use good form, but within what 'feels' right also. People's joint mechanics can be different enough that one guys good form, even if text book, might be another person's risky form.

 

[henald]

Oh man ouch...
Overhead pressing seems to be the spookiest exercise, I've had a few upper back and shoulder issues from those. Never like you had , dang. I always use good form, but within what 'feels' right also. People's joint mechanics can be different enough that one guys good form, even if text book, might be another person's risky form.

Yeah, at least I now know what not to do

I also read that the safest position for your shoulders when pressjng is between 45-75 degrees from your body, so I will be doing that now.

 

[NWlifter]

Yeah, at least I now know what not to do

I also read that the safest position for your shoulders when pressjng is between 45-75 degrees from your body, so I will be doing that now.

I found that too and not going too low either. I have funky shoulders, so have to be careful. I do OHP with my arms more in front like that and I don't go too low

 

[_Simon_]

Ah youch... yeah as far as I know with overhead presses, your scapula naturally rotate and elevate so letting them do that is safest. Whereas with alot of pulling exercises the shoulders naturally want to come back and down which assists in the movement and recruits the muscles needed naturally. Yeah the shoulders back and down doesn't apply to everything