Developing The Crushing And Healing Hand

[DoctorOfCrush]

31 minutes ago, Blacksmith513 said:

Good job, nice pace for an early morning walk.  

Thanks. I have been starting these at around 2.8mph while I wake up a bit then bumping it up to 3.7mph. It's a nice little clip while I work, watch YT, or surf the GB. 

[DoctorOfCrush]

In the equipment subforum, there was a thread about the Wrist Formulator, which is no longer in production. With how many wrist curls and reverse wrist curls I have been doing, I REALLY something that would improve upon the dumbbell movements, especially the reverse wrist curls. So last night I finally broke down and built one myself. 

I can't weld, so I used some scrap wood I had, hardware I had laying around, foam from some piece together exercise mats, and one of the loading pins I had. Total cost was a whopping $0. I didn't want to relegate this loading pin to a single use, so I designed it to be stable but removable. 

 

(for some reason, I can't upload the rest of the progress pics right now, but I'll keep trying)

Edited January 20 by DoctorOfCrush

[DoctorOfCrush]

 

 

[steeve tremblay]

This recovery work device is really ingenious, even to balance the forces.

[DoctorOfCrush]

1 hour ago, steeve tremblay said:

This recovery work device is really ingenious, even to balance the forces.

Yeah, I look forward to ending my workout tomorrow with wrist curls and reverse wrist curls with this. 

[DoctorOfCrush]

Workout 1/20/24:
Squat: 102.5kg / 226lb x 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 10
SLDL: 100kg x 3 sets of 8

Squats felt pretty good today. Slow and steady progress. Looking back at my log, 87.5kg x6 was taxing in mid-November, so I'm glad to be getting back to previous levels. Next week will be the heaviest week in quite some time at 110kg.  It was back in July when I hit it for 10, so we'll see how close I can get to that. I'm really hoping for at least 8. 

Grippers tomorrow. 

[John Knowlton]

Supper cool . Nice work

[DoctorOfCrush]

Workout 1/21/24:
Calf raises: 15kg x 40, 25, 20, 18, 10 (10 sec b/n sets)
Anterior tibialis raises: 8.75kg x 35, 13, 10, 10 (30 sec b/n sets)
A. Grippers:
      Right, MMS: 135 x 5 singles, 1 miss (~1mm) | 115 x Silver Bullet x 35 sec | 117 x 3
      Left, MMS: 121 x 4 singles, 2 misses | ~110 x 3, 3, 2
B1. Janda situps: 5 sets of 5
B2. Decline situps: +15kg x 5 sets of 15
Reverse Formulator curls: 5kg x 15, 6; 2.5kg x 10, 10, 10 (30 sec b/n sets)
Formulator curls: 5kg x 25, 25, 25 (60 sec b/n sets) 
Thumb strap weighted pronation: 10kg x left - 30, 10, 10; 35 sec hold | right - 25, 9, 7; 34 sec hold (10 sec b/n sets) 

Not too bad on grippers. Increased from 3 singles to 5 on the right and 3 to 4 on the left. I knew when I went to set on my failed reps that they were not going to happen. There was just no power left to set let alone finish the crush. I was pretty zapped from that many singles, so I actually did worse on the SB  compared to last week (by 2 sec.). 

I loved the reverse Formulator curls, but man is it humbling. It allows me to maximize the range of motion, and that creates a massive burn.  I had to drop the weight to keep the reps where I wanted them. I did not care for the regular wrist curls with the Formulator. I think I'll just stick to the EZ bar curls for those in the future. They don't feel as unnatural with a barbell as the reverse curls do. 

[DoctorOfCrush]

1 hour walk: 3.72 miles

[John Knowlton]

Nice work

walking is very beneficial 

[DoctorOfCrush]

38 minutes ago, John Knowlton said:

Nice work

walking is very beneficial 

Yeah, it feels good after I sit at my desk or in traffic all day long. 

[DoctorOfCrush]

Workout 1/23/24:
Deadlift (double overhand w/ straps): 155kg / 342lb x 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 9
A. Belt squat: 45kg x 4 sets of 8
B. Flask, 2-hand: 30kg x5, 45x5, 50x5, 55x5, 60x5, 65x5 (actual weight 68.4kg)
Reverse Formulator: 2.5kg x 20, 10, 10, 8, 8 (30 sec b/n sets) 
stretching

This was definitely the most volume I've done with this much weight. I think I could've eked out 1 more grinder rep for 10. Next week should be interesting. . . Based on this top set, I'm supposed to use 165kg for my working sets. The first set of 4 at that weight next week will be a PR, then I'll need to do it 4 more times before attempting an AMRAP set. 

The last set of the Flask was a cluster set. Basically, I did 2 reps then singles all separated by 2-5 seconds pause. I felt that by just working slowly 5kg at a time I got enough work in, so I didn't add additional drop sets afterwards. 

 

[John Knowlton]

KELLER DEADLIFTS

[Blacksmith513]

3 hours ago, John Knowlton said:

KELLER DEADLIFTS

Great work today

 

Somewhere in there theres a Helen Keller joke

 

[DoctorOfCrush]

6 minutes ago, Blacksmith513 said:

Great work today

 

Somewhere in there theres a Helen Keller joke

 

Haha I thought the same exact thing but got too busy to sit down and think of one. 

[John Knowlton]

One day I will learn to proofread.  

[DoctorOfCrush]

Workouts 1/25/24:

AM: 1-hour walk: 3.65 miles

PM:
Overhead press: 57.5kg / 127lb x 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 8
Pause DB bench press: 60lb/side x 4 sets of 8
A. Triceps pushdown (cable-straight bar): 27.5kg / 61lb x 8, 8, 8, 8, 10
B. Standing alternating DB curls w/ Fat Gripz: 13.3kg / 29lb x 5 sets of 10 (/side)
C. Reverse DB fly: 25lb x 10, 10, 10, 10, 12

Kept the pace up on this and was in-and-out of the gym in 60 min flat. Got a nice sweat going and a nicer pump. 

[Douglas Carney]

6 minutes ago, DoctorOfCrush said:

...
Pause DB bench press: 60lb/side x 4 sets of 8
A. Triceps pushdown (cable-straight bar): 27.5kg / 61lb x 8, 8, 8, 8, 10
B. Standing alternating DB curls w/ Fat Gripz: 13.3kg / 29lb x 5 sets of 10 (/side)
C. Reverse DB fly: 25lb x 10, 10, 10, 10, 12

Kept the pace up on this and was in-and-out of the gym in 60 min flat. Got a nice sweat going and a nicer pump. 

Yeah...I can imagine those exercises with that volume would provide a good pump.

Some curiosity questions:

• Do you alternate the dumbbells on the bench press?  Or are you pressing both at the same time?
• And for the pushdowns, do you prefer a straight bar versus angled or curved? Ever mix it up between sets and switch to different bar or rope?
• Similar question for curls...do you ever mix in Hammer or Hoerbel Curls?
• Finally, are you super setting any or all of items A - C?  Is that why they're bulleted together?

[DoctorOfCrush]

4 minutes ago, Douglas Carney said:

Do you alternate the dumbbells on the bench press?  Or are you pressing both at the same time?

I do all of my overhead press sets (~2 min rest between unless I feel like I need more), then I do my dumbbell bench presses (~90 sec rest between unless I feel like I need more). I always start my workouts with strength-focused movements and rest as much as I need to. 

6 minutes ago, Douglas Carney said:

And for the pushdowns, do you prefer a straight bar versus angled or curved? Ever mix it up between sets and switch to different bar or rope?

I don't have an angled or curved bar. As for the rope, I was feeling like I couldn't contract as fully as the bottom/full extension without swinging and I found it harder to control the eccentric, so I switched to the straight bar. I get way more mind-muscle connection with it. 

8 minutes ago, Douglas Carney said:

Similar question for curls...do you ever mix in Hammer or Hoerbel Curls?

I haven't yet, but I plan to in the future when it's time in the program to switch to a new movement. I was previously doing hammer curls, but they were lighting up my right arm extensors back when I had a really bad flair, so I had to back off on those. 

9 minutes ago, Douglas Carney said:

Finally, are you super setting any or all of items A - C?  Is that why they're bulleted together?

Yes. I try to couple together movements that minimally affect one another as often as possible to save time. That way I can minimally rest just enough to let my heart rate drop down to a manageable level then hit the next exercise. The A-C portion of this workout was done with 30-60 sec rest between every set for 15 sets. 

[Douglas Carney]

2 minutes ago, DoctorOfCrush said:

I do all of my overhead press sets (~2 min rest between unless I feel like I need more), then I do my dumbbell bench presses (~90 sec rest between unless I feel like I need more). I always start my workouts with strength-focused movements and rest as much as I need to.

Makes sense.  These seemed like primary movements and A - C more accessory exercises.  Appreciate you elaborating.

4 minutes ago, DoctorOfCrush said:

I don't have an angled or curved bar. As for the rope, I was feeling like I couldn't contract as fully as the bottom/full extension without swinging and I found it harder to control the eccentric, so I switched to the straight bar. I get way more mind-muscle connection with it.

Now that you mention it, I think I do better with the bar than the rope (for mind-muscle connection).  My current fave bar though is a 45 degree thick bar, so that's why I asked about the straight bar...to see if it was a preference or specific thing you're targeting.

8 minutes ago, DoctorOfCrush said:

Yes. I try to couple together movements that minimally affect one another as often as possible to save time. That way I can minimally rest just enough to let my heart rate drop down to a manageable level then hit the next exercise. The A-C portion of this workout was done with 30-60 sec rest between every set for 15 sets. 

That's cool that you can keep it to an hour.  Time never seems to be on my side.

[DoctorOfCrush]

3 hours ago, Douglas Carney said:

Makes sense.  These seemed like primary movements and A - C more accessory exercises.  Appreciate you elaborating.

That's correct. My general strength days are

1) primary movement (deadlift, squat, OHP)
2) development movement for different main lift (e.g. on squat days I follow with SLDL and on DL days I follow with belt squats)
3) accessories

3 hours ago, Douglas Carney said:

Now that you mention it, I think I do better with the bar than the rope (for mind-muscle connection).  My current fave bar though is a 45 degree thick bar, so that's why I asked about the straight bar...to see if it was a preference or specific thing you're targeting.

I plan on getting one of the bent dog bones at some point. I'm trying to limit additional accessory purchases at the moment because I want to wait until we're in the new house. 

3 hours ago, Douglas Carney said:

That's cool that you can keep it to an hour.  Time never seems to be on my side.

It's always tough. I try to keep everything around 60-80 minutes. It's tough during the week because I typically don't get home until after 6:30 then it's dinner / playing with the girls / bedtime routines. This workout was from 8:45-9:45 PM. 

If I'm lucky I can arrange my schedule for an early where I get up at 5 to get some food in me before starting a workout around 6. 

[DoctorOfCrush]

Workout 1/27/24:
Squat: 110kg / 243lb x 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 9
SLDL: 100kg x 8, 8 | 105kg x 8 | 110kg x 8

I was slightly nervous coming into this workout.  I haven't had this much weight on my back in months, but it went really well. 9 reps is only one off of my PR with this weight. I probably could've hit 10 with a real grinder of a rep, but I have to go up in weight one more week, so I figured it would be better not to push that hard for just one more rep. With that top set next week's weight is now set to 117.5kg for the same workout. Yikes. . . 

I was feeling really strong on the SLDLs today. I wish I had bumped weight a bit sooner. I probably wouldn't been comfortable with 115 or 120 in my top set. We'll see how it goes next week. 

Now I'm doing a cool down walk as I type this, and I'll probably do some stretching before we head to the zoo with the girls tonight for "Zoolumination." 

 

[John Knowlton]

Squats Deadlifts same workout, impressive 

[DoctorOfCrush]

6 minutes ago, John Knowlton said:

Squats Deadlifts same workout, impressive 

I started doing that during back when I did the Candito 6 week program, and I found that I really like it. Squats are a great warmup for deadlifts and don't seem to drastically affect my performance as far as I can tell. Then again it might have more of an effect for people moving legit weight 

[DoctorOfCrush]

Workout 1/28/24:
A. Grippers:
     Right: 135 x 6 singles, 2 misses |  Choked GM 150 x 15mm x 1, 19mm x 3 singles
     Left: 121 x 10 singles, no misses |  ~110 x 4, 3, 11 clicks to OC
B1. Janda Situps: 5 sets of 8
B2. Decline situps: +15kg x 5 sets of 15
Reverse Formulator: 2.5kg x 33, 13, 8, 6   (30 sec rest between sets)
EZ bar wrist curls: 60lb x 18, 12, 7   (60 sec rest between sets)
Thumb strap weighted pronation: 10kg x left - 30, 10, 8; 34 sec hold | right - 25, 10, 6; 33 sec hold (10 sec b/n sets)
stretching

I think it's time to attempt a heavier gripper on the left next week. I cut myself off at 10 singles. On the right, I felt like I was just fatiguing in my setting hand, so I tested that by moving on to do some choked reps with RGC 150 Grand Master. These felt great and actually really strong. If I find this makes a difference, I may keep those up.