Are Weak Men Allowed To Post Routines!?

[lifesnotfair]

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

Yes, I feel I can make a bigger effort if I hold my breath a bit. Is this bad? I'm gonna try to breath while overcrushing then.

Thanks Teemu and StalwartSentinel!!

[Teemu I]

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

Yes, I feel I can make a bigger effort if I hold my breath a bit. Is this bad? I'm gonna try to breath while overcrushing then.

Thanks Teemu and StalwartSentinel!!

Holding your breath isn't dangerous. But, just don't do it too long. On heavy, sustained efforts, try to breath shallow, but never let out all the air when you are under heavy load. Pavel Tsatsouline explains this pretty well on PTP. Of course grippers are a bit different than heavy squats etc..not much dangerous can happen, if you black out for a second squeezing a gripper!

[Scott Styles]

I find if I hold a lot of tension but slowly exhale as putting in the max effort on a gripper, I get the benefits of holding my breath without getting dizzy.

[Teemu I]

I find if I hold a lot of tension but slowly exhale as putting in the max effort on a gripper, I get the benefits of holding my breath without getting dizzy.

That works.

[lifesnotfair]

05.12.2006

Yes, definitely, grip training affects my deadlifts, and viceversa.

12 min eliptical machine @ levels 16 and 17 (switching every 2 mins). Hella hard.

Barbell Bench Press

1x10 @ 45lbs

5x5 @ 95, 125, 155, 155, 155lbs. This poundage still feels too hard and don't have the guts to increase. I thought about trying to get 6 reps on the sets, but even the 5th rep seemed very hard.

Chin-ups, underhand grip with hands about 16" appart

4x6 @ BW !! PR! I had never done 6, and got them in four straight sets!

1x5 @ BW - couldn't get the sixth!! ARGH! Even the 5th might have been a bit cheated (swinging legs). I really battled that last attempt for the 6th, got about 60% up, stayed there fighting for about 3 secs, couldn't do it.

Deadlifts

4x5 @ 115, 165, 215, 215lbs.

1x4 @ 215lbs - My GRIP GAVE!! Only left hand though. I couldn't believe it, and hated myself for this. Never happened before, but then again, never did deadlifts after gripping. However, I had previous experiences with dumbell rows also being difficult with my left hand when I gripped the day before.

Pendlay Rows, back parallel to the floor

5x5 @ 65, 95, 125, 125, 125lbs. In the last 1-2 reps I can't touch my body with the barbell (not without a bit of cheating), so I should continue with this weight for 1-2 more sessions.

I was mad at the deadlift thing, so since I was using the barbell still, I loaded up 215 again and:

1x3 @ 215lbs... was going up on the 4th rep, but left hand grip gave in again! No, I didn't drop the weight, neither did I before, but as soon as I noticed it was rolling out of my fingers I placed the weight down. DAMN!

Also, not content about not getting those 6 chin-ups on the 5th set, I tried an additional set here:

1x6 @ BW, really struggled, but got them!

[lifesnotfair]

Yesterday was cardio day, I ran at 6.3mph for 2 sets of 15 mins with a 4 min walk in between. I was gonna go for a third set, but I had made plans to play tennis after work, so I left it at that, 30 mins of actual cardio (I never count the walking minutes). I played 3 sets of tennis and won the first and last, against my pain-in-the-arse friend, which was a great feeling. I imagine it didn't mess my grip very much for today, as I plan to do gripperz!

This week I have been introducing new foods to my eating habits, as I'm reaching my goal, I wanna see if I can slowly eat at least a bit of sugar, some more carbs (say, 100grams a day, a rough estimate?), and see how my body reacts. Can't wait to see what my BW is on saturday, I'm hoping for a 1lb loss compared to last saturday.

But lately it's been difficult to control myself, it seems I'm always hungry, even after a big meal. Man, I wanna EAT. Is this caused by the weight lifting? Darn, it's a crappy feeling!!! Today I had a huge breakfast, even ate peanut butter and jelly, very unusual :P

07.12.2006

20 min eliptical machine @ levels 16 and 17 (I did 20 mins coz I felt bad for the breakfast!!).

Standing Military Press: - I decided to man up and use the darned Oly bar.

5x5 @ 45, 65, 95, 95, 95 - PR! With the 3-foot long barbells I had used the 90lb one, so this is an improvement. It was VERY hard, specially the last set and last reps, but I think I got them in good form overall!

Dips:

1x6 @ -50lb + BW.

2x10 @ BW

1x7 @ BW

1x?? @ BW

Comment (and question!): I have the ability to sortof move my left shoulder a bit out of place. Not dislocate it or anything, but move it a bit. This doesn't bother me much in most excercises, but in the dips is where I feel it the most, so I think I'm gonna quit on these before it injures me or something. I can't help it during dips, I feel it... when I'm getting up, my right shoulder always "streightens" before the left one, like I really have to push up to feel the left one totally locked up on top.

However, I like the idea of doing at least 1 mainly-tricep excercise per week. During my three workouts, I do bench press on day 1, military press on day 2, and incline bench on day 3. I know these all work the triceps, but it's not the main target on any of these. So on this day (day two), I'd like to do something else. Teemu once told me that a "hardcore alternative" (his words) was Close Grip Bench Press. Keep reading and you'll see more on this subject below.

Squats:

2x5 @ 95, 125 lbs.

3x6 @ 165lbs - horrible form on first set, dunno why, noticeable better in the latter two sets, I'm considering upping to 175 on next session, which is in 5 days.

Question on Squats: After my shower today, which was after lunch, which was after the workout... I noticed two red spots in my shoulders, and the bones in there hurt just a little bit. I've been trying to man up and have used no padding (Teemu advised that), but I'm afraid it will hurt worse if I ever increase the weight.. am I placing the bar incorrectly over me? I don't have big traps so maybe this is why. Any advise? Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

Preacher curls: (the pumpin' n fluffin' one)

1x10 @ 50lbs

1x10 @ 70lbs - this never felt so hard before, rested 3 mins instead of usual 2.5 after this.

1x9 @ 70lbs - surprised I got 9, that last rep felt so hard I didn't even attempt for the 10th.

1x7 @ 70lbs - pretty hard! Damn!

So, as I was saying, I wasn't happy with my dips, and wanted to try the CG Bench Press. About two months ago I decided to see how it felt, and with the oly bar itself, I found it very uncomfortable for my wrists. I immediately knew it would be hard for me to perform this excercise, if it hurted my wrists with just the bar! .. so, I thought about using the EZ-curl bar, so my wrists can be more inline with my forearms.

Close Grip EZ-bar Bench Press:

1x5 @ 40lbs

1x5 @ 60lbs

1x5 @ 80lbs

1x5 @ 100lbs

1x4 @ 110lbs - I was using the EZ-bars that are already assembled. I imagine if I'm going to do this, I'll have to use the regular EZ-bar in which you load the plates, to add more weight. Not that I'd use much more, I couldn't get a 5th rep with 110lbs, but I rested very little (as this was experimenting) and was pretty tired at this point. My questions are three:

1) Is this a better choice than the other tricep-isolation excercises, with dumbells or cable, that most people do in gyms?

2) Is it still as effective using the straight bar (with the EZ one?)? How close should the grip be actually? I was leaving about 6 inches between my hands.

3) I noticed I could lower the bar with my elbows pointing down to the floor (upper arms close to my body), or I could do it with the elbows pointing to the sides, away from my body... is there a difference? What's more convinient?

Sorry for typing a book, as always. And I might do some gripping after work today, so there's more to come... Hah!

[Teemu I]

Yesterday was cardio day, I ran at 6.3mph for 2 sets of 15 mins with a 4 min walk in between. I was gonna go for a third set, but I had made plans to play tennis after work, so I left it at that, 30 mins of actual cardio (I never count the walking minutes). I played 3 sets of tennis and won the first and last, against my pain-in-the-arse friend, which was a great feeling. I imagine it didn't mess my grip very much for today, as I plan to do gripperz!

This week I have been introducing new foods to my eating habits, as I'm reaching my goal, I wanna see if I can slowly eat at least a bit of sugar, some more carbs (say, 100grams a day, a rough estimate?), and see how my body reacts. Can't wait to see what my BW is on saturday, I'm hoping for a 1lb loss compared to last saturday.

But lately it's been difficult to control myself, it seems I'm always hungry, even after a big meal. Man, I wanna EAT. Is this caused by the weight lifting? Yes, it is.

Darn, it's a crappy feeling!!! Today I had a huge breakfast, even ate peanut butter and jelly, very unusual :P

07.12.2006

20 min eliptical machine @ levels 16 and 17 (I did 20 mins coz I felt bad for the breakfast!!).

Standing Military Press: - I decided to man up and use the darned Oly bar.

5x5 @ 45, 65, 95, 95, 95 - PR! With the 3-foot long barbells I had used the 90lb one, so this is an improvement. It was VERY hard, specially the last set and last reps, but I think I got them in good form overall!

Dips:

1x6 @ -50lb + BW.

2x10 @ BW

1x7 @ BW

1x?? @ BW

Comment (and question!): I have the ability to sortof move my left shoulder a bit out of place. Not dislocate it or anything, but move it a bit. This doesn't bother me much in most excercises, but in the dips is where I feel it the most, so I think I'm gonna quit on these before it injures me or something. I can't help it during dips, I feel it... when I'm getting up, my right shoulder always "streightens" before the left one, like I really have to push up to feel the left one totally locked up on top.

OK, quit doing dips for now.

However, I like the idea of doing at least 1 mainly-tricep excercise per week. During my three workouts, I do bench press on day 1, military press on day 2, and incline bench on day 3. I know these all work the triceps, but it's not the main target on any of these. So on this day (day two), I'd like to do something else. Teemu once told me that a "hardcore alternative" (his words) was Close Grip Bench Press. Keep reading and you'll see more on this subject below.

Squats:

2x5 @ 95, 125 lbs.

3x6 @ 165lbs - horrible form on first set, dunno why, noticeable better in the latter two sets, I'm considering upping to 175 on next session, which is in 5 days.

Question on Squats: After my shower today, which was after lunch, which was after the workout... I noticed two red spots in my shoulders, and the bones in there hurt just a little bit. I've been trying to man up and have used no padding (Teemu advised that), but I'm afraid it will hurt worse if I ever increase the weight.. am I placing the bar incorrectly over me? I don't have big traps so maybe this is why. Any advise? Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

You should pull your shoulder blades tightly together and place the bar on "the shelf" above them, if you know what I mean.

Preacher curls: (the pumpin' n fluffin' one)

1x10 @ 50lbs

1x10 @ 70lbs - this never felt so hard before, rested 3 mins instead of usual 2.5 after this.

1x9 @ 70lbs - surprised I got 9, that last rep felt so hard I didn't even attempt for the 10th.

1x7 @ 70lbs - pretty hard! Damn!

So, as I was saying, I wasn't happy with my dips, and wanted to try the CG Bench Press. About two months ago I decided to see how it felt, and with the oly bar itself, I found it very uncomfortable for my wrists. I immediately knew it would be hard for me to perform this excercise, if it hurted my wrists with just the bar! .. so, I thought about using the EZ-curl bar, so my wrists can be more inline with my forearms.

Close Grip EZ-bar Bench Press:

1x5 @ 40lbs

1x5 @ 60lbs

1x5 @ 80lbs

1x5 @ 100lbs

1x4 @ 110lbs - I was using the EZ-bars that are already assembled. I imagine if I'm going to do this, I'll have to use the regular EZ-bar in which you load the plates, to add more weight. Not that I'd use much more, I couldn't get a 5th rep with 110lbs, but I rested very little (as this was experimenting) and was pretty tired at this point. My questions are three:

1) Is this a better choice than the other tricep-isolation excercises, with dumbells or cable, that most people do in gyms? Yes.

2) Is it still as effective using the straight bar (with the EZ one?)? Yes. How close should the grip be actually? Shoulder width would be good. I was leaving about 6 inches between my hands.

3) I noticed I could lower the bar with my elbows pointing down to the floor (upper arms close to my body), Do it that way. or I could do it with the elbows pointing to the sides, away from my body... is there a difference? What's more convinient?

Sorry for typing a book, as always. And I might do some gripping after work today, so there's more to come... Hah!

[StalwartSentinel]

If dips are bothering you, you could always switch to close grip bench or skull-crushers. Maybe only do dips as deep as is comfortable for your shoulder. Eventually go deeper, as you get stronger and develop more muscle.

[lifesnotfair]

Thank you fellas.

On Friday, December 08th, 2006, my son Alejandro was born. I will post a pic in the gallery soon. (Posted 2 right now).

Just so you know how seriously I take my gripping, that night I came home quickly for dinner (the clinic is 5 minutes away), and I bagged my BBA, BBSA and BBSM and the IM Bands and took them with me! So I trained at night in there, while my wife and baby slept. :-)

I then read my "Be Prepared" book, which I was planning on reading this week (baby was born about a month earlier than expected!!!).

So I skipped the cardio on friday.

But saturday, I went to the gym while other members of my family (and my wife's) went to the hospital and stayed with her, I kinda needed a bit of time off and what a better way than excercising. (too much stuff going on in my mind at the moment).

I did:

15 mins @ 6.3mph treadmill.

Incline bench press, working sets with 135lbs, I'm gonna up it a bit next session for sure as I got 7 reps in the third working set.

EZ-bar Bicep curls, working sets were 3x6 @ 80lbs I think, felt pretty hard.

Deadlifts, I did 2x5 @ 215, and 1x5 @ 225 - PR!!... but my left hand's grip was giving in, because I had trained grippers the night before, that always happens on my left hand, it's not only my weak hand, but it recovers very slowly.

Hammer curls, the 40lb dumbells felt harder than ever.

Calves, on the Donkey Calves machine, several sets.

Pendlay-rows, yeah, a lot of stuff for one day, but I was anxious. Worked up to 125 or 135 but form with that much weight might have been bad. I'm having a hard time keeping my back straight AND parallel to the floor. I might start doing them with my back straight, but not parallel to the floor, with my upper back a bit higher.. I'll see how I fix this up.

I also did 5 chins after all of this.. dunno why, felt very hard.

Today, sunday, everything was good, her doc said "you can go home", the baby's doc said "he can go home", and we went home. My wife did not have medical inssurance (she does now!!! ARGH!), so my bank account took quite a hit this weekend. Only bad thing about all this. But no, not even that is bad, I'm all about happyness right now.

HOWEVER... from thursday to today, sunday, I've eaten I N S A N E L Y !!!!! WOW! It's like I'm doing it on purpose, chocolates, cakes, carbs, fats, I've gone nuts. Of course, tomorrow it's a new week, monday again, now @ home and all better, so I'm gonna start again, but I wouldn't be surprised if I put up some good 4 pounds or something, who knows. I was @ 174 last saturday (Dec 2nd), and I'll try to eat very good this entire next week to see if I can reach that again by next saturday, the 16th, coz I'm definitely higher right now, I know it. Us FBB's gain weight very rapidly when eating like animals.

Ok, time to check on my boy again.... I need one of those mini-grip machines climber511 makes This kid's gonna close the #4 before puberty! :P

[Scott Styles]

Congratulations!!!

[lifesnotfair]

Thanks Scott!

11.12.2006

Felt very weak today, I shouldn't have trained, but went ahead with it. Bad idea. Yesterday while putting together my baby's crib, I felt the need to try and cut a steel nail with a plier, and maxed out with both hands; I maxed out so hard that I even saw "starts" after one of the attempts. LOL.

Today I was very weak, nothing worth mentioning. I did lift 15lbs strapholds, using BBSA RH and BBA LH. But nothing even remotely good.

Plate curls, 5x5 @ 6kg, 20lbs, and the 3 other sets were the 20lb with the dumbell pin and the nut screwed to the very end of the dumbell pin.

Pegasus extension - sucked.

IM Yellow bands.

I'm gonna try and get back on track with my weight loss, I wanna reach 165 at least, that must be like 12lbs away or so right now, after these days of massive eating. I did 50 mins of cardio today in the morning, took the morning off work.... I'm glad I can do whatever I want @ work, since it's my father's company. I hope I feel stronger tomorrow.

[Teemu I]

Congratulations!

[tja]

Congratulations for the newborn baby! Just found your log here, nice one.

[StalwartSentinel]

Thank you fellas.

On Friday, December 08th, 2006, my son Alejandro was born. I will post a pic in the gallery soon. (Posted 2 right now).

Just so you know how seriously I take my gripping, that night I came home quickly for dinner (the clinic is 5 minutes away), and I bagged my BBA, BBSA and BBSM and the IM Bands and took them with me! So I trained at night in there, while my wife and baby slept. :-)

I then read my "Be Prepared" book, which I was planning on reading this week (baby was born about a month earlier than expected!!!).

So I skipped the cardio on friday.

But saturday, I went to the gym while other members of my family (and my wife's) went to the hospital and stayed with her, I kinda needed a bit of time off and what a better way than excercising. (too much stuff going on in my mind at the moment).

I did:

15 mins @ 6.3mph treadmill.

Incline bench press, working sets with 135lbs, I'm gonna up it a bit next session for sure as I got 7 reps in the third working set.

EZ-bar Bicep curls, working sets were 3x6 @ 80lbs I think, felt pretty hard.

Deadlifts, I did 2x5 @ 215, and 1x5 @ 225 - PR!!... but my left hand's grip was giving in, because I had trained grippers the night before, that always happens on my left hand, it's not only my weak hand, but it recovers very slowly.

Hammer curls, the 40lb dumbells felt harder than ever.

Calves, on the Donkey Calves machine, several sets.

Pendlay-rows, yeah, a lot of stuff for one day, but I was anxious. Worked up to 125 or 135 but form with that much weight might have been bad. I'm having a hard time keeping my back straight AND parallel to the floor. I might start doing them with my back straight, but not parallel to the floor, with my upper back a bit higher.. I'll see how I fix this up.

I also did 5 chins after all of this.. dunno why, felt very hard.

Today, sunday, everything was good, her doc said "you can go home", the baby's doc said "he can go home", and we went home. My wife did not have medical inssurance (she does now!!! ARGH!), so my bank account took quite a hit this weekend. Only bad thing about all this. But no, not even that is bad, I'm all about happyness right now.

HOWEVER... from thursday to today, sunday, I've eaten I N S A N E L Y !!!!! WOW! It's like I'm doing it on purpose, chocolates, cakes, carbs, fats, I've gone nuts. Of course, tomorrow it's a new week, monday again, now @ home and all better, so I'm gonna start again, but I wouldn't be surprised if I put up some good 4 pounds or something, who knows. I was @ 174 last saturday (Dec 2nd), and I'll try to eat very good this entire next week to see if I can reach that again by next saturday, the 16th, coz I'm definitely higher right now, I know it. Us FBB's gain weight very rapidly when eating like animals.

Ok, time to check on my boy again.... I need one of those mini-grip machines climber511 makes This kid's gonna close the #4 before puberty! :P

Congratulations, Dad!

[lifesnotfair]

12.12.2006

15 mins stairmaster level 9/20.

Barbell Bench Press:

5x5 @ 45, 95, 115, 155, 155

1x6 @ 155 lbs - this weight still feels pretty hard, but I went for a 6th rep on that third working set, so maybe next week I will try 165 on the first working set. Or maybe I ought to try this same weight for more reps.

Chun-ups: (underhand grip, about 16" between hands)

3x6 @ BW

1x4 @ BW - tried a 5th, got about 75% up, tried a 6th, got maybe halfway up only.

1x5 @ BW - don't remember, maybe 5 yeah.

Squats:

5x5 @ 95, 135, 165, 165, 165lbs. I actually got 6 reps on the last set. Still feels pretty hard, but knees didn't go inwards almost nothing, and upper body wasn't leaning forward when trying to go up, at least not much.

For some reason, in here I went and did 5 more chin-ups.

Pendlay Rows:

5x5 @ 95, 115, 125, 125, 125. - these are hard to do while maintaining a straight back AND parallel to the floor, but I think I've got it figured out, I gotta keep my knees bent all the time, if I streighten them a bit, then the back will round some, I think.

For some reason, I decided to go and make 4 chin-ups but in the parallel handles (which are also a bit wider than the grip I use for the rest of the chin-ups).

My bodyweight was 180lbs today, which is truly depressing. I was 174lbs 10 days ago for crying out loud!!! But after 4 days of MASSIVE eating, which included a crapload of sugar and stuff, this is no surprise, I was eating like if I was being paid to gain weight quickly. Oh well, I have a good excuse... a not-easy but not-very-hard goal would be to finish this year at LEAST at the lowest weight I have reached, which was a couple of weeks ago at 174lbs I think. I'm gonna try to control myself and get there again.

[lifesnotfair]

13.12.2006

Cardio day.

But after work:

First, I decided to do something to my grippers... I footstomped them 500 times, then heated the spring just 5 degrees below it's melting point, then I placed a pipe through the spring and jumped from 3 meters high and landed on it, making the handles go past one another. Oh, don't worry, they're still as hard as ever!!!

No, kidding aside, I decided to oil my grippers for the first time ever!

Man, it made such a huge difference it almost felt like cheating!!!

LH:

BBSA x1 x 3-4 attempts.

Filed #1 x1 - struggled, but got it, first time ever!!

BBSA x3 - wtf? 3 reps? after all this? unbelievable.

Filed #1 x0 - missed.

BBSA x0 - gased out.

The biggest difference out of this bunch was the Filed #1, since I've been using it since June and never oiled it. The BBSA I've been using for 2 months, but still got a bit easier I'm sure.

RH:

#2 x0 x3 attempts - got closer than ever, 1/8" probably. This would be a PR, but I'm kidding myself, the gripper just got easier.

BBSM x0 x3 attempts - all opened up to at least 1/4" ... don't know how much I had left since I tried the #2 3 times before this.

The #2 also saw a HUGE change after oiling, as I've had it for long. The BBSM I've been using for about 2 weeks I think, so oiling that one made no difference, and it showed I didn't really get any stronger, it seems.

My next gripper session will be on saturday, and I'm hoping I set some PR's. I also hope I have my new IM grippers by then (1.5, 2.5 and #3, the latter one wont leave it's package for a long while though). I'm hoping the 2.5 is easier than my BBSM so I can do better negatives on it, without it opening up so much. My BBSM has a 2.5" spread, I hope that doesn't make it easier on the close.

Pinching plates:

25lbs, 35lbs, 40lbs, 45lbs, 45lbs - Got them up with RH for at least 5 secs each. I got air with my LH with the 45lbs but not for long, maybe 1-2 seconds. This setup is almost 4 inches wide, I believe.

IM Yellow bands and some Blue ones.

[lifesnotfair]

14.12.2006

15 mins stair master level 9 (a few mins level 10).

Standing military press:

1x5 @ 55lbs

1x5 @ 75lbs

3x5 @ 95lbs - pretty hard!

Close grip bench press: (shoulder width, using the oly bar! It didn't hurt my wrists)

1x5 @ 65lbs - some guy came over and asked if he could work out with me, he was doing incline, I told him I was gonna do it for triceps... he bothered me much more! Keep reading!

1x5 @ 85lbs - the guy still bugging.

1x5 @ 115lbs - the guy asks me what I work out, how, etc.

1x8 @ 135lbs - the guy decides to spot me, and helps so much that I end up doing 8 reps! I hated this.

1x8 @ 135lbs - same as above! Can't people understand "let me try and do it on my own!"

1x8 @ 135lbs - same as above AGAIN! Unbelievable. I think I'm good for all 15 workout-reps with 135 and might attempt 145 next time.

I liked this. I wanted to see if I could do it without pain, as there is no rack for the EZ bar and it would've been uncomfortable to do it using it. I guess the time I tried it, I gripped it too close, hence my wrists hurted. They didn't hurt today. I think I like this much more than dips, which bothered my left shoulder a lot. BTW, is there a specific point where I should lower the weight? Upper/lower chest... or what?

Deadlifts:

1x5 @ 115lbs

1x5 @ 165lbs

3x5 @ 225lbs - yay! Grip was not giving in, and I did grippers last night, that's pretty cool! I don't know about the form, maybe not that good, so I'll continue with this weight.

Preacher curls:

1x10 @ 50lbs

1x10 @ 70lbs

1x8+2 @ 70lbs - the guy came again! And decided to help me in the last two reps (after I had done 8), ARGH! I don't know if I could've gotten them or not, it was feeling pretty heavy at that point.

1xWTF? @ 70lbs - on this third and last set, this bugger comes to me and, first, tells me not to lower the weight so much, and is putting his hands almost making me do partials, and he helps me since the first rep... this was a BLAH set.

Jeez, I went to the gym after work, which I never do, it's usually at noon, with almost noone there. This dude also asked me to spot him in some benches and some skullcrushers, and man, I almost hurt my back spotting this dumb guy from the FIRST rep. I just don't see the point of using a weight in which you need assistance in the FIRST rep! Dude, use less weight, jeez.... and stop messing with my way of doing the excercises. Ironically enough, last week I was doing the preacher curls, and some dude came and told me to lower the weight SUPER low, and even bend the wrists kinda backwards when the weight is down there.. I was like "wtf?"... people need to mind their own business. I like MY way of doing these curls, jeez....

Anyways, I'm now wondering: if I'm using 155 for the bench press, and I could've used 135 today (and have my doubts about 145 even! But lets say 135 to play it safe), what does this mean: do I have pathetically weak triceps, or pecs? (I know both, but which ones seem like they could use more work?).

BTW, another question! I used "shoulder width" in the CGBP, but that means that the outside of my hands were about my shoulders width. When people use the term shoulder width, do they mean that the shoulder width should FIT between the hands? Or the distance between the hands PLUS the hands themselves, should all equal shoulder width?

[Scott Styles]

That guy sounds like he lacks some basic social skills. Hopefully he won't be there next time.

Benches on a flat bench should not be lowered to your upper chest. It's bad for the shoulders. Your forearms should stay perpendicular to the floor.

Sounds like you might want to keep the same weight on the benches for the next workout. Don't let that guy screw up your progression by making you jump the weight too soon. Better to take an extra workout to get there than to stall out from rushing.

[lifesnotfair]

Forearms perpendicular to the floor... how on earth could they NOT be perpendicular to the floor!?

[Scott Styles]

I don't think it's possible to do shoulder width close grip bench press to your upper chest while keeping them perpendicular to the floor. Pretty sure the bar ends up at your lower chest, a little below the nipple line. So indirectly, that answers your question.

[lifesnotfair]

It does answer me! Doh!!

My bad...

Thanks a bunch!

[lifesnotfair]

16.12.2006

Sad day, today, the first interested person in my twin turbo MK3 Supra came to see it. Sucks to get rid of a car in which I've spent so much time, money and effort... but a man's got to have his priorities straight, and now with my son.. I need a car my wife can drive too, and 4 doors.

15 min stair master @ level 9.

Incline Bench Press:

1x5 @ 85lbs

1x5 @ 115lbs

1x3 @ 145lbs - blah!

3x5 @ 135lbs

Chin-ups, underhand grip, about 16" between hands:

4x6 @ BW - Was feeling good with this today!

1x7 @ BW - PR! YAY! Never done 7 before!!

BW was 176lbs today, which is good, I'm back on track, and I've been eating fairly well, even including some more carbs in the breakfast, some peanuts even at night... I was shocked to be at this weight, made me happy! New goal: end the year at 172.

Squats:

1x5 @ 95lbs

1x5 @ 135lbs

3x6 @ 165lbs - still not the best form.

Then I super-setted Hammer Curls with the Donkey Calves machine.

HC's:

1x5 @ 25lbs

1x5 @ 30lbs

3x5 @ 40lbs - first two sets felt hard! Last set felt easier, unbelievable, so I wanted to try something....

1x3 @ 45lbs - 3 semi-strict reps, + 1 cheated to try and lower it slowly! I see some progress!

Comments: I made a HUGE change today, and I'm gonna keep it this way!! I dumped the Bicep Curls I was doing on this third day of the week, and just like in the first day, I'm doing chin-ups. I figure these are better for overall strength, working out more muscles (biceps included!)... so for now, no more curling.

This is what my routine is looking like:

Tuesday (day 1): Bench press, chin-ups, pendlay-rows, squats OR deadlifts.

1 day rest.

Thursday (day 2): Standing military press, close-grip bench press, preacher EZ-curls, squats OR deadlifts.

1 day rest.

Saturday (day 3): Incline bench press, chin-ups, squats OR deadlifts, hammer curls, calves.

2 days rest.

The "squats or deadlifts" issue is because I'm alternating, one week is s/d/s, the next is d/s/d, and so on. I do preacher curls for esthetics, I know they're not known to be a strength-excercise, so sue me

After that, I decided to work my grip, my new grippers arrvied! 1.5, 2.5 and 3, but I only opened my 1.5...

Grippers - RH / LH:

BBA - 5/5

#1.5 - 8/1 - good reps, paused, a bit wider than parallel.

#2 x0 (1/8") / #1.5 x0 (less than 1/8", but maybe not 1/16")

#2 x0 (1/8") / #1.5 x0 (1/16")

BBSM neg., opened to 1/4" or a hair less / BBSA x3 - this confirms my #1.5 is harder than my BBSA.

BBSM neg., opened to a bit less than 1/4" / #1.5 x0 - 1/16".

BBSA x5 / BBA x5

So I conclude: My #1.5 has a bigger spread than my BBSA, about 3/16" wider, and it's a bit harder, it seems. Dunno if it was any useful to buy this, as my BBSA is almost as hard, maybe with a bit of filing it would've been even harder, but I don't like filing, and I like to have a big collection, so... :P

I didn't wanna extend this session as I plan to hit the grippers again on monday, and set some PR's hopefully!

TTK:

6x5 @ 15, 20, 22.5, 23, 23, 23 lbs. - I had to re-grip in those last sets, in between some reps.

Wrist Curls:

5x5 @ 31, 41, 46, 46, 46lbs - left hand needed help in the very last 2 reps of the last set.

IM Yellow bands, a few attempts with the blue, but still can barely move it.

I think next time I will try negatives with the 2.5 gripper, for two reasons: 1. I'm sure it's gonna be easier than my BBSM, and 2. the spread is probably normal, as my BBSM has a 2.5" spread and I don't wanna get used to this almost-narrow gripper, I need to stay familiar with wider spreads, even if I'm using parallel sets for everything. #2 is feeling easier and easier, thanks to the WD40 I sprayed over that spring a few days ago.

I think I've written too much today.

[lifesnotfair]

18.12.2006

Today sucked, after work tried some stuff, but I wasn't at my best. Not all of it sucked though.

Grippers:

LH:

BBA x5

BBSA x3 (and hold for a few secs), 4 (PR!), 3 (not sure about the third!), 1, 1 (not sure about this one!).

My left hand gets tired sooo quickly. It's not just tired, too... something starts hurting everytime I train, after a few closes. It's weird, because it doesn't hurt when I squeeze the gripper, it hurts when I let go off it! WTF? ... it hurts more if I open it up quickly, so I kinda open it up slowly, but still hurts, something in my upper wrist, at lease I feel it there. =( This is why I'm only good in the first 2 or so sets/attempts after warmup, then it's total crap with this hand. Anyways, the plan is to train for reps with the SA for a few weeks... when it feels easy, then reps with the #1.5 which is a bit harder. Then, possibly negatives on the #2, we'll see.

RH:

BBA x5

BBSA x5 - felt hard! This is how I knew today would suck. Still, I opened my 2.5...

#2.5 neg, opened up to 1/4".

#2.5 attempt, got it to 3/8" it seems, then neg, 1/4.

#2.5 neg, opened to 1/4".

BBSM neg, opened up to 1/4" or a hair less.

Same as above.

Same as above.

I did not try my #2 today. Both my #2.5 and BBSM seem pretty equal on the close, heck, maybe the 2.5 is even harder! ... I've been reading lately how gripper spreads DO mean a lot, even slight changes... so I wont do negatives with my BBSM anymore, but use the #2.5 instead, as the SM has a 2.5" spread. The COC's all have at least 2.75" I believe. Next session I'm gonna use the #2.5 only. This is gonna be thursday, and then no grippers till monday, and that day I will close the #2.

Plate curls:

2x5 @ 20lb Bollinger

1x5 @ above with the dumbell pin + screwable nut.

3x5 @ 20lb+2.5lb together on the dumbell pin + screwable nut to hold them. Total weight must be 25lbs maybe. Sure feels hard! I'm trying to find ways to microload here. Next step is to use this same setup, with the other nut screwed at the other end of the pin. Then, I shall move the 2.5lb plate to the other side of the pin, it makes a huge difference I think.

6lb sledge - tried some front raises... I absolutely SUCK at this, even from half the handle I can't do it. Tried just holding it parallel to the ground for 5 secs. It's HARD!! I thought of doing these because Mat Helmer said it has helped his hammer curls, and I wanna hammer curl a lot :P ... but I like HC's much more than these, honestly. Damn sledges!!

IM Yellow bands, and some blue bands.

[lifesnotfair]

19.12.2006

One of the worst days of recent times!

15 mins stairmaster level 9.

Barbell bench press:

5x5 @ 95, 125, 155, 155, 155 - felt very hard. When is this gonna feel easier?? =(

Chin-ups, underhand grip with abouyt 16" between hands:

5x6 @ BW - although the last set was more like 5 reps, I attempted the 6th but it was too hard.

Pendlay rows:

5x5 @ 75, 95, 125, 125, 125.

Deadlifts:

I felt very tired at this point, and sucked beyond belief.

1x5 @ 115lbs

1x5 @ 165lbs

1x4 @ 215lbs - left hand's grip was weak, and I felt very tired overall.

1x5 @ 215lbs - again, left hand was not feeling good, it seemed like a huge effort too, but the very tired hand was not helping. I called it quits at this point, believe it or not.

Damn, I hate leaving a workout incomplete like that. I felt weak overall today.

Man, I'm eating a LOT. Saturday and sunday I ate a lot of crap (chocolate, sugar, etc), but yesterday I got back on track... but even when back on track, I eat a LOT of what I "can" eat (meat and veggies mostly). Funny, I think now under 180lbs I eat more than I used to at 240+lbs of fat. Heh. Bless the iron and the cardio I guess, at least I can eat till my stomach feels full although I can't eat certain things or I quickly regain weight again.

I don't know what to do regarding my left wrist/hands, it hurts if I grip something too tight, I think I will give it a couple of weeks off from grippers (just grippers) and see how it responds to all other excercises. I've been thinking of finger rolls instead of grippers for a couple of weeks, to "rest" from grippers a bit. Someone suggested this over PM, but I have never done a finger roll, don't know what it's like... could be good, who knows.

[Florian Kellersmann]

Nice log!