Are Weak Men Allowed To Post Routines!?

[lifesnotfair]

Nice work on that #2 and sledge.

ARGH! I only get compliments when I make a TYPO!!! I meant Filed #1 (for left hand), I haven't filed my #2 yet!

But thanks, I'll now try to get there sooner so you can make that comment again!

24.02.2007

10 mins eliptical @ levels 16 and 17.

Shoulder stuff: pretty much same as tuesday, wont even post it. It takes so long! Between the 10 mins warmup and this, I'm already darn tired. Thanks goodness it's the end of week 7, so, just one more week to go with this!

Squats:

1x10 @ 45lbs

1x8 @ 95lbs

1x6 @ 145lbs

3x6 @ 175lbs - had to man up and use 175 again! Yeah. Almost didn't get up in the 6th rep of 2nd set. Didn't use Mantaray thing....

Lunges: I've grown to like these!!

1x8 @ 35lbs

1x5 @ 45lbs

3x5 @ 50lbs - tough excercise, not only on the bums/quads, but tougher on the forearms for me.

Skull crushers:

1x8 @ 60lbs

3x5 @ 80lbs - good.

EZ-bar curls:

1x5 @ 50lbs

1x5 @ 70lbs

3x5 @ 90lbs - YEAH! Not exactly strict, but not huge swings. It felt nice, specially being so tired.

Donkey Calves:

5 sets of 10 reps, slow reps, pretty tough, calves felt burning after every set!

No energy to perform wrist curls today, but I felt my forearms pretty worked out from the lunges and everything else.

Edited February 24, 2007 by lifesnotfair

[Scott Styles]

You're making good progress. Nothing wrong with using straps on the work sets in your deadlifts if your supporting grip isn't getting the job done. No sense in holding the rest of your body back.

[lifesnotfair]

26.02.2007

Grippers:

LH:

Filed T x10, x10

Filed T x25, 20 (got interrupted), 21, 26 .. something like this.

Filed #1 x0, x0 (but held at 1-2mm for a few secs).

Filed T x10.

RH:

Filed T x10

Filed #1 x5

Filed #1.5 x5, 4, 4, 4, 4 .. Wanted 5 in all of those 4's, but couldn't! Forced in and turned into a negative.

Filed #1 x10 - very hard.

6lb sledge:

Front raises (12 and 11")

Back raises (20" and 19")

No twists today, no gas left in the tank...

Mouse Pinch:

60lbs x 15 secs or so.

85lbs x 10 secs or so.

106lbs x0 ... not even off the ground, ouch!

93lbs x 7-8 secs or so.

98lbs x 7-8 secs or so.

100.5lbs x 5-7 secs or so.

Not the best day on this. =(

Pegasus extension:

I did some sets... I think I will quit on this. I believe it hurts my left wrist, as I have little flexibility and can't fully pronate my left forearm while keeping the elbow close to my body (can pronate the wrist at arm's length of course).

After this week, I have a week in which I probably wont do any type of lifting (will be in the USA on a business trip). After that, I'll start off again with something different. I've been thinking of a routine mainly of pushups, pullups (Armstrong's pullup routine, which has daily pushups and pullups), and some lifts like squats and deadlifts ... lower body stuff.

[Teemu I]

Nothing wrong with using straps on the work sets in your deadlifts if your supporting grip isn't getting the job done. No sense in holding the rest of your body back.

I have to disagree here. I see deadlift as a supporting grip exercise as well. Once you start using straps on most of your heavier sets, there's no turning back. The grip will of course get stronger on the deadlifts as well by doing them without straps.

Edited February 26, 2007 by Teemu I

[lifesnotfair]

I read on a site not too long ago, that before someone starts training for strength, one should have at least 2 years of "lifting experience". I think they meant lifting to "look good", like a bodybuilder, in other words.

I started lifting for "strength" while still being very weak. Yeah, I do some isolation excercises, but I still do squats/deads/rows, and I suck at them. I wonder if I should've first tried to build some muscle mass doing the things 99% of the people do in gyms (which probably have results for a few months, then nothing) and THEN give strength-training a try. It's just a bit frustrating to see that others, who don't train for strength, are still way stronger than me. Just look at my squat or deadlifts numbers, they're laughable.

Also, I read on a site something about some old gyms, were they wouldn't let a guy lift weights unless he proved he could do 20 pullups or dips, and 50 pushups. Heh, I can't do that. Not even close. Maybe I should do some bodyweight excercises and then hit the weights again?

I'm confused right now. Blah. I'll keep thinking about it.

[lifesnotfair]

New toys arrived!

Darn, wish they had arrived in the morning.

I got from IronMind:

Rolling Thunder - holly crap, this is FAT. My puny little hands are gonna have problems with this. I try to make my thumb and middle finger touch, but there is AT LEAST 3/4" sepparating them. But I just had to get one of these... everyone says how this RT pumps up the entire forearm, plus everyone mentions the benefits of working "thickbar"... this qualifies as thickbar, doesn't it? ...

Actually, if this turns out to be a very Thumb-dependant lift, I will do one day Mouse Pinch, one day RT, and so on. We'll see. I'm already dying to use it. I might go nuts and use this today! =P

CRAP! Tomorrow is independence day! I totally forgot about that, should've went to the gym today.... so there is a chance that tomorrow I wont get my workout in. That truly stinks...

I also got:

New #1 - I HOPE I am able to get at least 3-4 reps with my left hand. My left hand is not at it's peak right now... I was once able to get 3-4 reps with my BBSA... but it's been crap ever since. I can't close my very filed #1 right now, but get very close. We'll see how I do. I also just wanted a #1 that didn't have a chunk filed off of it.

New #2 - Maybe I'll wait and see what I can do out of the package with this one. My rusty #2, after being closed, will probably be filed, heh. So I also wanted to have a "normal" #2. =)

[StalwartSentinel]

You're making good progress. Nothing wrong with using straps on the work sets in your deadlifts if your supporting grip isn't getting the job done. No sense in holding the rest of your body back.

Agreed. Don't let your deads, cleans, shrugs or rows suffer, for the sake of a weak or tired grip. Eventually, your grip will get stronger and you may reduce the need for straps in your workouts.

[lifesnotfair]

27.02.2007

This was a horrible day. It's independence day, so the day before I got together with my friends and drank lots of vodka. Man, what long and funny night. At one point i started armwrestling all my friends, and actually got beat by most, LOL.... I was too drunk and tired to be honest, as I was taking them one right after the other. I think fresh for fresh there's only 1 guy I might not be able to beat. We then went to a casino, and I won like US$10 .. hah. We then drove and drank by the sea (common here in the caribbean). I got home at 4am... wife was not happy, but hey, I hadn't been with my friends in a long while! .. so, today I had a hangover ALL day... gym was closed, but I wouldn't have gone if it were open. Still, at night I decided I shouldn't let the day go by excercise-less, so I quickly stretched and did, at about 10:30pm, the following:

4 minute pushups - 10 pushups and about 20 secs rest (which totals about half a minute). So, I had planned to do 100 pushups in 5 minutes. But I cut it at 80 pushups in 4 minutes, that last set was TOUGH.. triceps felt very pumped. After 2-3 minutes rest, then I did...

4 minute squats - 16 squats in 20 seconds, then 10 seconds rest. 8 sets again. Thigs are TRASHED. This is way harder than it sounds.... at least for me, a weak squatter.

[superfeemiman]

I read on a site not too long ago, that before someone starts training for strength, one should have at least 2 years of "lifting experience". I think they meant lifting to "look good", like a bodybuilder, in other words.

I started lifting for "strength" while still being very weak. Yeah, I do some isolation excercises, but I still do squats/deads/rows, and I suck at them. I wonder if I should've first tried to build some muscle mass doing the things 99% of the people do in gyms (which probably have results for a few months, then nothing) and THEN give strength-training a try. It's just a bit frustrating to see that others, who don't train for strength, are still way stronger than me. Just look at my squat or deadlifts numbers, they're laughable.

Also, I read on a site something about some old gyms, were they wouldn't let a guy lift weights unless he proved he could do 20 pullups or dips, and 50 pushups. Heh, I can't do that. Not even close. Maybe I should do some bodyweight excercises and then hit the weights again?

I'm confused right now. Blah. I'll keep thinking about it.

Rest assured that I lift less than you on deads and squats.

Anyway, I've never heard that said before. A lot of knowledgeable lifters I've heard said that you should always lift more strength first anytime, even if you want to be a bodybuilder because you need a solid base first, and after that you can worry about "fine-tuning".

Also, just because they don't train for strength, doesn't mean they don't train for strength. If you know what I mean.

Edited February 28, 2007 by superfeemiman

[lifesnotfair]

That's interesting. And it does make even more sense. Thanks a whole lot for that input. I'll re-think my routine well over the next week, since I wont lift anything that week because of my visit to the US.

This week started out bad, as yesterday was lifting day and I couldn't lift. So I'll just finish this week doing some random stuff anyways, as it's the last week before a 1 week break, and then a whole new plan.

28.02.2007

10 mins eliptical @ levels 16 and 17.

Lateral raises:

1x12 @ 15lbs

2x12 @ 20lbs

Shrugs:

1x16 @ 70lbs

1x16 @ 75lbs

Not sure if I did a third set, I think not.

Standing military press: I'm convinced I will never be able to do these... shoulder doesn't feel right when I lock the weight. Shoulders were fine when I was doing partial presses though! So I might keep doing partial presses, without locking the weight overhead, just from the very bottom possition to about 90 degree elbows.

1x8 @ 65lbs

1x8 @ 75lbs

1x7 @ 85lbs

1x6 @ 80lbs

Deadlifts: I went nuts with these!

1x8 @ 135lbs

1x8 @ 165lbs

1x8 @ 185lbs

3x6 @ 215lbs

Dumbell rows:

1x8 @ 55lbs

1x8 @ 70lbs

3x6 @ 80lbs - don't know if these are very strict, I think not.

Donkey Calves:

5x10 at various weights.

And for some reason I decided to see how many pull-ups I could do at this point, in which I was DEAD TIRED. Overhand grip at about shoulder width or slightly wider, got 3, regrip, a 4th, regrip, a 5th. I had to regrip because the bar I grabbed kinda revolves around itself (has some rubber).. that, and my supporting grip probably wasn't too good after the deads/shrugs/rows. Still, with overhand grip this was a PR, even the 3 consecutive ones are a PR, previous best was 1 or 2 with this grip.

Nothing of what I did today made my wrist hurt, that's great. I wanted to do wrist curls, but I was incredibly tired and already took too long today. However, I plan on doing some grip training after work. Don't know if it's the best of ideas though, but I'm excited with my new RT which I haven't tried yet, and want to try it out!!

[lifesnotfair]

Grippers:

LH:

Filed T x10, x10.

Brand spankin' new #1 x6 - Yeah!! Not even oiled yet.

SH with Filed #1, failed at 10lbs, turned into a negative.

Then lifted 7.5lbs for about 3 sets of at least 7 seconds, felt good. This might be a PR, I think.

Filed #1 x0 - held at 1-2mm for a few seconds. It's very filed.

Filed T x10.

RH:

Filed T x10

Filed #1 x5

SH with Filed #1.5, got 7.5lbs and felt easy!

SH with Filed #1.5, got 10lbs for about 7-10 seconds, about 3-4 sets. This might be a PR, I think.

Filed #1 x9.

Filed T x10.

6lb sledge:

Twists - 1 warmup set, then:

3x6 @ 15" RH and @ 13.5" LH. Little progress!

And, the new grip toy...

ROLLING THUNDER!!!!:

60lb x10 reps each hand, was not easy! My hand is so small, there's almost a 1" gap between my thumb and middle finger. I was using chalk.

80lb x8 reps each hand, was much harder with the left. I decided to just test what I could lift, so the next lift was just held for time.

90lb x1 rep of about 5 seconds hold, with both hands. Still, mighty hard.

98lb x0 - strength went away at this point. Mind you the sledge twists were a KILLER, I spent more energy on those than on the grippers.

80lbs x8 both hands.

85lbs x6 RH, x3 LH.

87.5lbs x4 RH

82.5lbs x4 LH

I can do better with my right, but not enormously better like I do in grippers. Man, this is tough! But fun!!! ... It also works out the lower back, lol, unless I'm doing it wrong. How much does one need to lift this thing? I use IM's loading pin and to a deadlift possition it's not a huge travel.

I can do reps with this and it doesn't hurt the skin. On the 2HP setup it always hurts my thumbs' skin a bit to do reps, so I do holds with that. I gotta say I loved this RT.

I have so many grip toys, I gotta divide them for each workout, because some grip workouts were taking too darn long. I'm thinking of doing something like this for grip workouts:

Workout 1: grippers (reps), sledge twists, RT.

Workout 2: grippers (strapholds), mouse pinch, sledge front/back raises.

And do workout 1, rest one day, workout 2, rest one day, workout 1, etc.... does it sound like a good plan? .. I'll do my wrist curls at the gym (with dumbells), and I wont do any type of forearm extension excercise, as I just don't like them and they hurt. I'll do IM's "Expand your hand bands" of course.

I hope each session takes less than 1 hour doing them like this. Trying to do too much stuff in one session can be very tiring.

[tja]

Standing military press: I'm convinced I will never be able to do these... shoulder doesn't feel right when I lock the weight. Shoulders were fine when I was doing partial presses though! So I might keep doing partial presses, without locking the weight overhead, just from the very bottom possition to about 90 degree elbows.

1x8 @ 65lbs

1x8 @ 75lbs

1x7 @ 85lbs

1x6 @ 80lbs

Have you tried incline presses or dips, how would your shoulder like these? I hurt my shoulder a year ago. Still cannot bench press much, but for me OHP's work fine already. Maybe for you some other pressing movement would work. And continue that shoulder rehab work, it'll pay off in the long run.

[lifesnotfair]

I haven't tried either of them in about 2 months. Dips made my shoulder hurt. Inclines felt fine, I should get back to doing them!

[Scott Styles]

You might try dumbell overhead presses instead of using a barbell. Feels better to my bad shoulder a lot of the time.

Enjoy the trip to the US and watch the food.

[lifesnotfair]

02.03.2007

I want to squeeze 3 workouts this week, but starting on wednesday due to a holiday, it means training on consecutive days, at least two days. Yesterday I rested and did absolutely nothing. Today I limited myself to some compound movements, so tomorrow I'll do deadlifts, maybe lunges, and some isolation. And grip, I hope, since I'll be doing it from a 2 day rest.. I hope I do good.

Chin-ups: (underhand grip).

1x10 @ 140lbs in the lat-pulldown machine, for warmup.

3x6 @ BW - chin cleared the bar in all reps, and didn't use leg drive. Nice!

Dumbell bench press:

1x10 @ 40lbs

1x8 @ 55lbs

2x7 @ 55lbs - failed the 8th rep on both sets. I've actually lost strength here, it would seem. Didn't feel right, still don't like this.

Squats:

1x10 @ 45lbs

1x10 @ 95lbs

1x8 @ 145lbs

2x8 @ 155lbs - didn't wanna go with very low reps today, for some reason. Maybe because I'll lift tomorrow. So I didn't use the max weight I can.

Don't ask me why, but I decided to do leg press too... something I had not done in months.

Leg Press:

1x8 @ 2 plates a side.

3x8 @ 3 plates a side.

I still suck at these! BIG TIME. I've seen guys doing 8 plates a side. Damn my legs are weak. Maybe I should include this excercise in my routine. These 8 reps felt truly hard. I liked the fact that it was pure leg strength, where in Squats also my lower back gets tired. Kinda liked these.

And since I didn't feel I worked out my forearms at all, I decided to at least do some wrist curls...

Dumbell wrist curls:

BH: 1x10 @ 40lbs

BH: 1x10 @ 50lbs

LH: 3x6 @ 55lbs - last 2 reps of last set needed assistance. Still, a PR for reps with this dumbell on the left hand.

RH: 3x6 @ 60lbs - only last rep needed some help. First time ever using the 60lb dumbell, so this is a PR, I'd say.

I guess I did well with these today because no other excercise worked my forearms much. Maybe the chins, but just a bit.

This might look messy, but remember I'm just letting this week go by... next week is full rest, and then I'll come back with a formal routine, heh.

[honk]

If I were you, I would start out light after your rest week and than gradually work back to some solid PRs over a few weeks. Works good for me at least.

[lifesnotfair]

I forgot to mention yesterday I warmed up with 10 mins stair master, levels 10 and then 9.

03.03.2007

Last day of lifting before a whole week's rest. I did compound yesterday and I wanted to lift 3x this week, so today I did mostly isolation... although I did some deadlifts which I love.

10 mins eliptical @ levels 16 and 17.

Deadlifts:

1x10 @ 135lbs

1x8 @ 175lbs

3x6 @ 215lbs

I then supersetted the following two excercises:

Preacher curl:

1x8 @ 60lbs

3x5 @ 80lbs

and

Skull Crushers:

1x8 @ 60lbs

3x5 @ 80lbs

I then tried supersetting another bi/tri combo....

EZ-bar Curls:

1x8 @ 60lbs

1x6 @ 80lbs

1x5 @ 80lbs - failed on the 6th, decided to leave it here, biceps were too tired from the heavy preacher's.

and

Tricep pushdown, V-handle:

1x8 @ 60lbs

1x5 @ 80lbs

1x5 @ 80lbs - decided to leave it here, triceps were too tired from the heavy skull crushers.

Finally, I supersetted these two.....

Donkey Calves:

4 sets of 8 reps.

and

Lateral raises:

1x12 @ 15lbs

2x12 @ 20lbs

Awfuly tired.

Oh, and after the 10 mins warmup, I weighed myself: 184 pounds !!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!! I proved my point!!! Exactly 2 weeks ago I was 187. This is awesome, because in the last two weeks I've done little or no cardio, just check the log.... so it is true, with proper diet and lifting weights, you'll still lose the fat... This is awesome news. If I would've known this 1 year ago when I did 6 straight months of PURE cardio (no weights) and diet... maybe I wouldn't have been so weak after the weightloss. The only cardio I'll do is a sport, since it's fun... like playing tennis. But just like in these two weeks, I will NEVER again go to the gym to just do cardio. That is just too boring. Pumpin' Iron + Proper Eatin' = good freakin' results.

Too bad tomorrow I'll be in the USA... I will do my best to try and not gain a lot of weight while in there, but it's oh-so-hard in that country!! Everything has fat, even the water!!! LOL.

[superfeemiman]

If I were you, I would start out light after your rest week and than gradually work back to some solid PRs over a few weeks. Works good for me at least.

Agreed. It's also good to have a back-down (as in half the reps, or 90% of the weight) week, every once in awhile because it will help refresh you.

[lifesnotfair]

This week will be of FULL REST, and next week will be low weight then, I'll take your advice fellas.

Also, I kinda need it... my right shoulder is in some pain, has been for a while... and even my right hand was hurting a little bit! (it never hurts! only the left!), so I didn't even bring the grippers to the USA.

04.03.2007

I trained my jaw and my tongue... as in, my sense of taste. Texas de Brazil... I just _HAVE_ to go there every chance I get, me and my brother (we work together) spent the best 117 dollars we can spend in food. Picanha is unvelievable, I ate like an animal. I reckon I'll get back to Dom. Rep. a bit heavier... but starting tomorrow I'll watch my diet a bit more. But I plan on going to Fogo de Chao on thursday or friday... I've also eaten there (Houston), it's also as expensive, but as GOOD.... man, we don't have this kind of meat in the dominican republic, it sucks. I also ate some killer sushis for dinner. Wow, I've eaten a lot today. I'll try to at least do some cardio this week, even if I don't lift. Maybe some of those intense interval cardios to raise the metabolism a little bit.

We drove from Miami to Tampa. I wonder if any top gripster lives here... or in Atlanta, it's the two cities I'll be able to have a little (just a little) spare time. I wouldn't mind spending 1-2 hours training with someone :P Even if it's only to be made fun at, when I fail the #2 and light blobs if they have them :P But it'd be fun to meet another gripster, damn.

[aquilonian]

Oh, and after the 10 mins warmup, I weighed myself: 184 pounds !!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!! I proved my point!!! Exactly 2 weeks ago I was 187. This is awesome, because in the last two weeks I've done little or no cardio, just check the log.... so it is true, with proper diet and lifting weights, you'll still lose the fat... This is awesome news. If I would've known this 1 year ago when I did 6 straight months of PURE cardio (no weights) and diet... maybe I wouldn't have been so weak after the weightloss. The only cardio I'll do is a sport, since it's fun... like playing tennis. But just like in these two weeks, I will NEVER again go to the gym to just do cardio. That is just too boring. Pumpin' Iron + Proper Eatin' = good freakin' results.

GREAT! not bad he?

[lifesnotfair]

I'm pissed, for so many reasons.

It's 1:30am here.. I'll be back home in less than 24 hours, which is great, though.

My right shoulder has been bothering me for a couple of weeks now. It's not getting any better despite not even lifting anything this week. WTF?

My right thumb and middle fingertips are weird, skin is coming off, and it almost bled today on the thumb. I'm going to a dermathologist on monday, this is starting to bother me a lot... it hurts!!

I'm fat as hell, ate a TON during my stay here in the USA... and I don't know if I'll lift this week, with my right thumb's skin being all delicate and with what looks like a cut, and my right shoulder bothering me... ARGH!!!

I didn't meet any gripster here in the US.

I seem to have catched a cold though! Sheesh.

Life's not fair. :-)

[aquilonian]

he, he, in a week you'll be back on track and you'll forget about everything.

these bad days make us appreciated the good.

Edited March 10, 2007 by aquilonian

[lifesnotfair]

13.03.2007

After 10 days off... I should've resumed working out today, but no way. I went to the doctors, I have sinusitis... I have to take 2 different pills for 5 days. I've felt weak, with headaches, forhead pain, even my eyes hurt.. for a few days. I caught this crap in the US... argh!! Maybe I wasn't wearing enough clothings... that's probably it. It was damn cold over there.

So, it seems instead of 1 week off, I will take 2 weeks off, for better or for worse. My left wrist doesn't hurt, and it hurts constantly when I do any type of workout, lol... also my right shoulder is pretty much pain-free by now, I imagine it'll be even better in a few days. I don't know how I will feel in the next couple of days, but 2 weeks off is a lot.... if I feel fine anyday before sunday, I'll lift.

Also, I'm gonna take the advise some have given me, and I will start off really light. I'll do high-reps though.. then I'll gradually increase the weight and lower the reps again.

[Cannon]

Take it easy. The iron will be there when you come back.

[lifesnotfair]

I woke up today (wed) with swollen hands. WTF? Both hands, swollen, fat fingers.. not too much, but noticeable, I feel it a lot... went back to the doc, said if it gets worse, I should stop taking the Avelox he prescribed me for 5 days. I've taken two pills, as this is day two.

Grip training? Yeah right!