Are Weak Men Allowed To Post Routines!?

[lifesnotfair]

Thanks, Teemu!

21.11.2006

15 mins stair master.

Dumbell bench press:

1x5 @ 40lbs

1x5 @ 50lbs

1x5 @ 70lbs - very strict reps, lowering all the way, but was pretty much a max effort.

1x2-3 @ 70lbs - The previous set killed me. So I moved on to barbell bench press, maybe this is a bad move by me, as last week I did the same and just got 2 reps with 155... so today:

1x3 @ 155lbs - at least got 3 reps this time, still a pitiful weight to be making 3 reps only.

1x8 @ 135lbs - Yeah, I took off the 10lb plates and got 8 reps, but they ALL felt really hard for some reason. I think I was tired to begin with. Good reps, no bouncing and lowering a lot. Still, the weight used truly honors the name of my blog.... argh.

If next week I don't get at least 1 good set and 4 reps on the 2nd one, I'm gonna give up on those dumbells and change to barbell permanently! They're pissing me off!! But I still like them better.

Dips @ BW: 9, 9, 4 !! - I got mad and quit on these for the moment.

Chin-ups, underhand grip with about 16 inches between hands: 5x5 @ BW. Still quite hard.

Dips again @ BW: 10, 6 - because I was still angry for making just 4 minutes ago.

Pendlay rows, did 5x5 with these weights: 55, 95, 115 [Here I went and did dips and got 8.75, almost locked a 9th but couldn't] 125, 125.

Then I did 5 more chin-ups, the last two I was moving my legs/knees so they were a bit cheated, but got all the way up.

Then I did 6 more dips.

I was kinda pissed off today, that's why the mess.

As you can see, I did pendlay rows. Last week when doing dumbell rows with 80lbs I wasn't sure if I was cheating myself or not, so I found this excercise which is compund and looks to be very good, and harder to cheat on!! I found that to make them properly the trick is to keep the back parallel to the floor, use no leg/hip drive to pull the weight up, and just like in deadlifts, one should deload in every rep. I kept all of that in mind. With the 125lbs I was having a hard time and in the last 1 or 2 reps I didn't touch my ribcage with the bar. I placed my ring fingers in the smooth line between the knurlings of the oly bar, so it's a bit wide, I think. I liked it, gonna do these instead of dumbell rows from now on.

[lifesnotfair]

23.11.2006

10 min stairmaster.

Standing military press with dumbells:

3x5 @ 25, 35, 45lbs.

1x3 @ 45lbs - only 3 reps, then felt really hard.. I find it awfuly hard to stabilize, so I decided to see what I could do on a barbell.

1x3 @ 70lbs - kept it at 3 reps because it felt easy.

1x5 @ 80lbs - felt hard, but not like my max. effort.

1x5 @ 90lbs - this felt like a max effort for sure. The gym has this little barbells already assembled together, all the way up to 110lbs I think, in increments of 10, they are like 3 feet long at most... I'm using this for the time being, I think I will stick to these and once I get over that weight I'll start using the oly bar. So no more dumbell overhead press for now.

If someone is reading this:: Is there any risk in arching the back a bit while doing this? Like, maybe sticking the chest out some? Because it's almost inevitable for me...

Preacher curls (the "pumpin & fluffin" one, heh.. goal is 3x10 with working weight).

1x10 @ 50lbs.

1x10 @ 70lbs.

1x10 @ 70lbs - first time I do two consecutive sets of 10!! At least something went right today.

1x7 @ 70lbs - crappy set even with a 3 minute rest! Oh well, I made a huge effort on that 2nd working set.

Squats:

6x5 @ 45, 95, 125, 165, 165, 165 lbs.

Those 165lbs still feel hard, but my knees didn't go inward this time, at least I was not letting it happen though they wanted to, I was focusing on that, and keeping my back in possition, as sometimes when I push with my legs, my torso moves forward a bit, I think it's lack of lower-back strength. Although I got all reps, I just don't wanna move up on weight until I feel I'm dominating this weight with good form, so I'll repeat it next time.

I felt pretty tired after squats. I went to see how I felt on dips, did about 5-6 dips, decided to call it a day.

I'm planning on doing a grip session after work today, I'll post it later tonight.

[lifesnotfair]

23.11.2006 at NIGHT! (bad idea)

Certain circumstances didn't allow me to train directly after work today, so I had dinner just shy of 7pm, and decided to work out just shy of 9pm... not the best idea, but I wanted to work out!

Grippers first:

RH:

BBA x5

BBSM x0 - I'm far from closing it, almost half an inch I'd say! But forcing it in, it didn't open to 1/4" !!

BBSM x0 - same as above.

BBSM x0 - same as above. Oh, and in case I forgot, I do 3 BFN on each attempt.

BBSM x0 - in this one, I think it was opening to 1/4" or 5/16" at most, was getting tired.

#2 x0 - didn't come close! (argh!), and it opened to maybe 3/6", don't know, my hands were tired at this point and it was a bad idea to even try it.

BBSA x5 - felt really hard after all this.

BBA x5 - even this felt hard :P

I realized my #2 has a much wider spread than the BBSM, hence it's much harder to set! Damn. But I'll keep doing negatives on the BBSM to help on the close part!

LH:

BBA x5

#2 x0 - horrible idea, I'm very far from this, couldn't even set it right. An immediate Filed #1 attempt followed, not even close (gased out on the #2) but did a negative and held at maybe 2mm. (Note: I can't even hold this shut because I filed it off so much it pinches my palm skin; 1mm at best maybe).

Filed #1 x0 x3 sets - didn't close any of them, but got close and performed negatives on all.

BBSA x0 - 1mm, was very tired at this point.

Filed T x5.

BBA x5.

I decided to add another 5lb plate to my pinch setup, but I ran out of the flat plates I'm using, so I had to use a Bollinger one which is slightly bigger, makes it more uncomfortable. I place it in the middle of the other four plates (25lb between them), and use weight at both ends of the loading pin between them.

I did holds with these weights: 25, 35, 40, 40, 40. It's harder now that it's wider, must be 3.75" or close to 4", I will measure it soon.

For some reason, I wanted to see how my plate curling was. The biggest plate I have is the 20lb Bollinger, and I got 5 reps each hand! ... then, I placed it in the dumbell pin, leaving the other side empty.. don't know how much weight it adds (the pin and the big nut I screwed on it to keep it in place), but as the pin is far away and in the middle of the plate, it must add something. I got 2 reps right and 3 reps left (WTF?), heh, I think I will include this on saturday, I liked this excercise.

IM Yellow bands, sets of 20, 25 and even 30. I tried combining other bands as the Blue are too tough for me, but even two whites are considerably tougher than the yellow. I'll just keep repping the Yellow with ocational sets on the blue to see how I end up.

I was disappointed about the spread issue (BBSM way easier to set than #2!).. if I work only with the BBSM, will I lose my setting technique? Who knows! But I'll keep doing negatives on it since they open to 1/4" at most even on the fifth attempt, so it's a correct gripper for negatives. Eventually the #2 will fall, I know it. I don't know what a current plan for my left hand would be, as negatives with the #2 are out of the question. Maybe with the BBM, I gotta check the spred on that one, I have never included that gripper in a training session. Or maybe strapholds with my Filed #1, that'd be perfect as it's very filed... yeah, I'm gonna do that!

[lifesnotfair]

25.11.2006

I went to the gym as soon as I woke up, skipped work today (well, I'm at work now, but came here at almost noon, it's good when you can do that... working saturday's stinks anyways).

10 mins stairmaster - felt hard! LOL, I couldn't get myself "warmed up" for some reason. I wasn't feeling too strong!

Incline Bench Press:

1x5 @ 65lbs.

1x5 @ 95lbs.

1x5 @ 135lbs.

1x5 @ 135lbs.

1x3 @ 135lbs - I lost the rythm on that third rep, I could've gotten it, but halfways it felt awkward, so I lowered it again to raise it from the beggining, but a guy nearby thought I had lost it and came to help. I knew I could get it up, so it was a bit embarassed. So I went and did two sets on a calves machine... then came back to take my vengance!

1x5 @ 135lbs - and I just had to try and see where I was with a bit more.

1x2 @ 145lbs - PR. Not a huge PR, but it's something. Maybe next time I gotta start with this.

Then did some more sets on the calves machine.

EZ-Barbell Curls:

2x5 @ 50lbs, 60lbs.

3x6 @ 80lbs - very little or no swing, maybe on last reps of last set. It doesn't feel awfuly hard anymore. I will aim for 7 reps next workout, not sure if I'll get it, but I sure as hell will try.

Deadlifts: I decided not to use 45lb plates to make the ROM a bit bigger, so I'm using 35's and smaller.

5x5 @ 115, 165, 215, 215, 215 - PR! I think form was pretty good. I actually went for 6 reps on that last set, which is good. I need to ask someone to watch me from a side and confirm that my back is fully straight.. as my shoulders go down while pulling, I sometimes get the feeling the back is not straight, although I feel it straight, and make an effort to keep it straight. Everytime I do this excercise I remember Kubik's words "it's not uncommon for a dinosaur to fall on the ground after a set".. heh, I felt SOOO tired after these working sets on deadlifts, wow, almost dizzy! They sure work one out.

Hammer curls:

5x5 @ 25, 30, 40, 40, 40 - darn! No progress here! Still feels hard!! Although maybe my form is a bit better, not sure.

Bodyweight was 175lbs, which sucks, as it was like that on last saturday too. So I went home angry and ate some cookies and a big piece of cake. Blah. But I'll be even MORE strict on my diet this week (starting tomorrow of course, not today! heh). It seems these last few pounds I wanna get rid of are definitely the hardest.

I wanna do some gripping excercises too, I just didn't have time so far, but I wanna do it later today (not grippers though, that'll be on monday, fresh, to set some PRs hopefully, heh).

[lifesnotfair]

25.11.2006 - Several hours and lots of stuff later...

Grippers - couldn't resist, had to try at least a little bit, so not all attempts..

LH:

BBA x5

Filed #1 x0 - 2mm?

BBA x20

Filed T x don't remember...

BBSA x0 - 1mm or less, and I maxed out here, after this I couldn't close the BBA left handed.

RH:

BBA x5

#2 x0 - 3/16", forced in and opened it up to 1/8".

BBSA x10 - held there for a few secs, but didn't feel like I could do more reps actually.

Filed #1 x7 - but assisted to get 10. This is very hard to close completely due to all the filing, even right handed! No wonder I'm struggling left handed.

BBA x5

Then tried the #2 in PDA choker but was crap.

TTK - crap.

Pegasus extension - crap. 12.5lbs felt harder than ever!

Plate curls - these are nice!

2x5 @ 6kg Body Sculpture plates

1x5 @ 20lbs Bollinger.

2x10 @ 20lbs Bollinger - as I don't have a bigger plate, I'm gonna do reps here... or add the dumbell loading pin which makes it much harder, I'll do that next time.

IM Yellow bands.

I found out my BBSM has a smaller spread than my BBSA No wonder it's so easy to set in comparisson my COC#2.

[lifesnotfair]

26.11.2006

I did no excercise today. I ate INSANELY, hot dogs, burguers, cake, etc. So my aim is to weight the same next saturday as I did yesterday (saturday). If I manage to weight even a bit less, that'd be impressive, it'll require dedication. I've been eating quite a bit lately. I was in a beach house with a pool and jacuzzi... that was awesome, because even though it's winter, or spring? or whatever (you don't even keep track of this in the caribbean), it was very warm today, so it was a great day to be in water all the time with a BBQ....

[lifesnotfair]

27.11.2006

I felt weak today, I was doubting if I should workout... but I set my mind to do so and went ahead with it!!

Grippers: (was not too fresh as I did some work on saturday, which I wasn't supossed to do).

RH:

BBA x5

BBA inverted #5 - it felt like I was doing these with my thumb, I'm very weak on inverted work.

Then I did 5 attempts with the BBSM - I don't know where I would've gotten it on a normal attempt, maybe 1/2" but I can't be sure, because I was helping me quickly after setting it to perform the negative, and BFN at least 2 more times on each try. The first was the best, after cheat closing it opened up to 3/16". The others opened up to 1/4 on the first time, but the BFN's could have opened to 5/16". This gripper has a small spread, like 2.5" I think.

I then did 2-finger close (and 3-4 reps) of my filed T with a deep set. I never try stuff like this. Also inverted-closed that one with bottom 3 fingers.

LH:

BBA x5

BBA inverted #5 - it felt like I was doing these with my thumb, I'm very weak on inverted work.

BBSA x1 - held for a few secs, but it was not easy.

BBSA x1 - same as above!

BBSA x0 - missed by a hair it seemed.

BBSA x1 - hard, closed and held a few secs.

Filed #1 x0 - did some BFN's on this one. I can hold it at about 3mm for a long period of time it seems.

Tried a 2-finger Filed T close, don't think I got it. Also inverted Filed T with bottom 3 fingers, that I got.

Sledge twists with the 6 lber - after two sets of this, my right hand felt like crushing some more!

#2 x0 - 1/4" or so. Forced in, opened to 1/8" or 3/16".

Another sledge twists set.... then my right hand again felt like crushing!

#2 x0 - 1/4" or so. Forced in, opened to 3/16".

IM Yellow bands x a few sets of 10, 20 and 25 reps.

IM Blue bands x5 or so.

I have a feeling that if I take a big break from grippers (4-5 days) I would get very close to the darned #2.

[lifesnotfair]

28.11.2006

10 min eliptical machine switching levels 16 and 17 @ 65+ RPM for warmup.

Barbell bench press:

1x10 @ 45lbs

5x5 @ 95, 125, 155, 155, 155 lbs. Pretty tough weight for me right now. Embarassing.

Chin ups, underhand grip, hands @ about 16 inches appart.

5x5 @ BW (175lbs last saturday).

Pendlay rows:

5x5 @ 65, 95, 125, 125, 125lbs.

Squats:

5x5 @ 95, 125, 165, 165, 165 - kneeds wanted to go inwards some, ARGH!! Next session with this weight again.

Today's workout felt very fine. Starting this week, I will no longer perform Squats and Deadlifts only once per week each. I will do one of them on each of my three weekly workouts, alternating them in each workout, so it will be Sq/Dl/Sq this week, next week Dl/Sq/Dl, etc, etc. These two excercises are very important from what I've been reading, do why only limit myself on them?

I am considering doing the chins twice a week as well, maybe once a week is too little. I also wanna do dips twice a week. And pendlays. And everything! ARGH!!! I'll stick to the better ones.

[StalwartSentinel]

Barbell bench press:

1x10 @ 45lbs

5x5 @ 95, 125, 155, 155, 155 lbs. Pretty tough weight for me right now. Embarassing.

You have to start somewhere. No reason to be embarrassed.

[Teemu I]

Barbell bench press:

1x10 @ 45lbs

5x5 @ 95, 125, 155, 155, 155 lbs. Pretty tough weight for me right now. Embarassing.

You have to start somewhere. No reason to be embarrassed.

That is right! Just keep on training consistently and one year from now you will have progressed a lot.

[lifesnotfair]

Thank you both, Stalwart and Teemu.

29.11.2006

It was cardio day, but for the first time in a long while, I didn't feel like it.. I even got on my workout clothes and stared rope jumping, but 100 or so jumps into it, I called it quits. Good thing is, my friend (the pain in the arse guy) called me and we set up to play tennis after work! Once again, after two sets it was 1 set each.. but as I didn't workout on this day, I had more energy in me and played a third set, which I won 6-2. I'd rather play 2 hours of tennis than doing 45 mins of cardio any day of the week! I really should try to play sports more often, and replace the bloody cardio with that.

30.11.2006

10 min stairmaster level 9, felt very easy, I think I will up the level to 10 next time.

Standing military press with 3-feet barbell.

5x5 @ 50, 70, 90, 90, 90 lbs - I think I will give the 100lbs a try next week, not sure how it will go, but I'll try it at least.

Dips:

1x10 @ BW-50lbs. (wanted to warmup).

2x10 @ BW - left shoulder was bothering me, so next I tried another place where the handles are a bit more far appart, and:

1x8 @ BW on these other handles. But this apparatus shakes a lot, so went back to the original one, and:

1x9 @ BW - My left shoulder felt weird. I might quit on this if this continues.

I also supersetted the dips with a Donkey Calves machine - I hate doing calves.

Deadlifts:

5x5 @ 115, 165, 215, 215, 215 lbs - those 215 felt really heavy today, harder than last time probably.

Preacher curls:

1x10 @ 50lbs

1x10 @ 70lbs

1x?? @ 70lbs - some dude came over with advise, and helped getting it up in the latter reps, lost count.

1x8 @ 70lbs.

I was very tired after all of this. The deadlifts are a real killer, I should've left them for last.

[PowerHouse]

Dont push yourself on the dips, my brother hurt his shoulder and insisted on continuing to do dips. Well needless to say he hasn't been able to workout for the last few months because of it.

Nice workout!!

[Teemu I]

Just don't go too low on the dips and don't let your shoulders go up towards your ears and you should be fine.

Edited November 30, 2006 by Teemu I

[lifesnotfair]

I'm gonna revise the way I do dips next time. I go low enough so that my upper arms are at least parallel to the ground, isn't this how it's done?

30.11.2006 after work.

My hands were OFF today. I couldn't shut the BBSA left handed even once. And RH sucked as well! The only good thing, gripper-wise, was the very first BBSM negative with the RH, in which I seem to recall holding it 3/16" from closed. I repeat, it was a cheat close, and it opened that much - I cannot get that far with one hand even with a parallel set.

I tried pinching with the same setup as last week (5 5lb plates), and added 15lbs (7.5 a side) on a loading pin through them all, so it was 40lbs. Lifted and held for several seconds. Felt very hard today.

The only good thing were the Plate Curls (not wrist, just Plate Curls).

1x10 @ 6kg Body Sculpture

1x10 @ 20lb Bollinger

3x5 @ 20lb Bollinger with a dumbell pin through it, and of course the nut on the plate side to keep the pin from falling.

It makes it noticeably harder with that pin, as it extends at least 9-10 inches away from the plate itself. Next time, for microloading, I will just screw the other nut on the very end of the pin.. the nut must be 1lb a least, maybe less, but being so far from the plate itself is gonna make it hard. This plate has only a small rim, so it's hard to hold onto it, it has no smooth sides either.

IM Yellow bands (mostly x20), and a set with the blue (x5 or a bit more).

Last week I screwed things up by touching the grippers on saturday. This week I will try to control myself and wait until monday for the next gripper workout, I should be fresh and do much better than today. I think today's deadlifts might've taken a bit away from my hands too, at least from the left one, it gets tired so quickly! It felt tired after the first BBSA attempt! Hah! I should've waited till tomorrow to do this workout... oh well.

On a side note, I thought that Wheat Pita bread had very little carbs, but today I googled it up and found out that a 6-6.5" diameter wheat pita bread has around 33-35 grams of carbs. And I ate two this morning. I'm gonna limit myself to one a day MAX., as I've lost so many pounds on this low-carb regime. (not zero carbs no any means, but low). At least I had not eaten bread since last sunday at the BBQ in the beach house, where I probably ate about 5 hamburguers and 4 hotdogs... ... but I've been controlling myself since that day and I'm planning on eating healthy at least all the way until saturday dec. 9th, I wanna reach 170lbs at least by saturday dec. 16th.

[EmEx]

nice progress keep it up

[Chrisx9118]

Nice gripping session there bro, if you can hold your BBSM at 3/16" on your negative i really think you could get that #2 fresh bro! Get at it!

[StalwartSentinel]

I'm gonna revise the way I do dips next time. I go low enough so that my upper arms are at least parallel to the ground, isn't this how it's done?

My shoulders almost touch the dipping handles - below parallel. Get a good stretch at the bottom.

DIPS

[lifesnotfair]

Chris: My BBSM is harder than my COC #2 at the close, but for some reason the spread is very small on it, like 2.5" ... came like that brand new. Even my BBSA is a bit wider than that. And the COC #2 is at least 1/4" wider I think. I will try the #2 fresh on monday, I'm hoping to set a PR even if I don't close it.

Stalwart: in that video, check one of the comments, a dude said "goodbye elbows in 20 years, you don't have to go below parallel" ... could it be that going below parallel is bad? Lol, same issue as with squats

I think I'm not going forward as he was doing. I will check on my form next time and see what I can do about it.

Thanks both for the advise and encouragement!

[Scott Styles]

Much more important than whether or not you go below parallel on the dips is Teemu's advice to keep the shoulders down. Dipping with the shoulders up near your ears will screw them up.

[lifesnotfair]

Ok, I think I know what you guys mean, so I should try to do dips with the shoulders "down"... I'll try and see what I can do.

02.12.2006

20 mins eliptical machine, altering levels 16 and 17 every two minutes. This was TIRING!! I did this much "warmup" because last night I got angry, and when I get angry, I eat like a madman. And I did so last night, which sucks, I had been eating properly for 4 days in a row prior to yesterday. Oh well.

BW @ 174lbs after this warmup.

Incline Bench Press:

1x5 @ 65lbs

1x5 @ 95lbs

1x4 @ 145lbs - felt very hard, did not attempt a 5th as I had no spotter.

3x5 @ 135lbs - these felt hard too, but I managed all reps. I did a fourth working set because I had gotten 4 reps in the first one.

EZ-bar curls:

2x5 @ 50 and then 60lbs.

1x6 @ 80lbs.

2x5 @ 80, 80 lbs. In both of these I tried for a 6th but could not even move it. :-(

Squats:

5x5 @ 95, 125, 165, 165, 165 lbs. Maybe next week I could try for 175, not sure... next week will only have 1 squat session and 2 deadlift sessions though, so we'll see.

Hammer Curls:

5x5 @ 25, 30, 40, 40, 40 lbs. Form was pretty good I would say. Maybe the 5th rep left handed had a bit of cheating in the latter two sets. I gotta say something, my left wrist hurts when doing this!! I think it's because my left wrist is really weak, I feel nothing in my right one when doing this. Maybe I ought to include some front levers into my training.....

I also felt I should do an upper back excercise, and since I had done curls, maybe the chins would be too hard, so I went with the other one I'm doing:

Pendlay Rows (with back parallel to floor):

5x5 @ 65, 95, 125, 125, 125lbs.

I then got home and did the following:

TTK:

5x5 @ 15, 17.5, 22.5, 22.5, 23, 23.x lbs. Four working sets. On set #3 I placed the PDA choker over the 22.5 lbs, I don't know how much it weights. On the last set, I also placed my BBA inside the TTK's loading pin, heh. I'm microloading my way to 25lbs... :-)

IM Yellow bands: 2x20

IM Blue Bands: 2x5, then 1x10 .. I can't open these very much, but a bit more than at the beggining.

Wrist curls with a dumbell:

5x5 @ 26, 36, 46, 46, 46 lbs. Although the last set I used 41 left handed, as in the previous sets I had to assist with my right hand... my left wrist was just GONE after all the stuff I had done today. Possibly from the hammercurls. I also toyed around with the Filed T and BBA, as I'm not sure I know the correct definition of "active recovery"... I just did like 1x5 with each, in each hand. BBA felt pretty hard left handed. That hand was tired to begin with! But I managed to control myself and did not touch any harder gripper.. so I should be fresh enough on monday to own those grippers.

I will also try and eat correctly this weekend (always a hard task on weekends!) in my quest to end the year below 170lbs. That'd be about 75lbs lost in a period of 11 months, if I manage to do it. I think I can reach that goal, and I'm hoping I reach my other one too (close #2 this year).

[Chrisx9118]

Real nice session bro. Keep up the training along with grip, it will pay off!

[lifesnotfair]

Thank you Chris!

04.12.2006

Well well, first of all, let me say that while it was tough, I think I ate properly through saturday-sunday. No alcohol (which will change next weekend! :P), and nothing too bad, except for some mermelade on sunday... damn, that sure has a lot of sugar!! I should've read the back of it before eating some. While I'm the subject, I found out that peanuts (and peanut butter), while they have some "fat", it's mostly the "good fat", and studies have proved that subjects who eat peanuts regularly, have lower cholesterol levels and generally better health than those who don't! Interesting, I bought some of this yesterday =P ... Also sardines or herrings (oily fishes) have some oil, but it seems it's the good one. Good, coz I've been eating that stuff regulary lately.

Grippers: (I felt strong today!)

RH:

BBA x5

BBSA x3

BBSM negative, opened up to at least 3/16", then BFN two more times.

BBSM negative, opened up to 1/4", then BFN two more times.

BBSM negative, seemed to open up between 3/16" and 1/4", then BFN 2 more times (in which they certainly opened to 1/4")

BBSM - same as above.

BBSM - same as above, but I tried really hard in this last one, and even in those two BFN's it might have opened to 3/16" or 1/4".

Somehow I managed to resist the temptation and I did NOT try my #2. I think I wont try it in my next session either, but will try it next monday and will close the bastard!! Note that I'm still not even close on this narrow spread BBSM (2.5" spread), as I could get it to about 1/2" or a little less with just one hand probably. I don't know what this BBSM would rank as, but it's tough, it's the first gripper that makes my palm hurt a bit when trying to hold it shut, guess I'll get used to it eventually!

LH:

BBA x5

Filed #T x3

BBSA x3 - PR! And held for a few secs after the third rep!!

BBSA x1 x4 sets - all closed, but for a single, I didn't have reps on this hand anymore... and overcrushed for a couple of seconds. Only have doubts about the last one actually, but I think it closed at least for 3 seconds.

As a sidenote, I was making such a HUGE effort with this left hand, than in one or two of the attempts, I almost felt my sight was blacking out! Is this normal? Wow, weird feeling !!!

And in case I have never mentioned it before, I rest like 4 minutes between attempts on the same hand. They're still not used to being massively abused, specially the left.

Pegasus extension:

5x5 @ 7.5, 10, 12.5, 12.5, 12.5 lbs. Very hard, it was five 2.5lb plates.

6lb sledge 180 degree rotations:

5x5 at various lengths, nowhere near the end of the handle yet. (Note to self: RH I had 3 fingers lower on the inscriptions, LH I had 2-3 fingers above the inscriptions).

IM Yellow bands and some Blue bands.

[StalwartSentinel]

LH:

BBSA x3 - PR! And held for a few secs after the third rep!!

Nice work!

[Scott Styles]

Congrats on the PR. If you feel like blacking out on the attempts, it's quite possible you are holding your breath.

[Teemu I]

Great work.