Archives for workouts (page 25)

My lower back was feeling better today, but still somewhat sore deep down. With wisdom hardened by limited experience and a master plan in my brain pocket, I was not one to fall for the lure of the “easy ME exercise that will not tax my back to the max”. Hence I pulled out my belt again and did reverse hypers in place of my ME exercise. Followed up with some ball crunches (this is no time to prove the “no back pain following sit-ups” theory correct) to stretch the spine and finished with some direct hamstring work to avoid strain on the lower back while giving the hams something to think about. After the reverse hypers my lower back was pretty fried. In a couple of days I will know if it this is to be regarded as a positive statement or as a plunge into darker pains.

Speaking of rehab: my shoulder is still not a 100%, but massage and the avoidance of harmful movements have led it to become a non-issue. I still take it somewhat careful though until I stop feeling it altogether.

Now for my healing sleep.

Followed through on last week’s thought and bumped the weight up 5 kg/11 lbs on the speed bench. Will not be going any higher before I get a 100 kg/221 lbs bench. Basta.

Watched the Westside Bench Workout tapes with a liberal amount of fast forwarding to get to dumbell triceps extensions and dumbell power cleans. In fact, these exercises occur in several of the workouts presented on the tapes so finding them is not very hard. Unless drunk. Which I wasn’t.

I’m going to break with personal tradition and stop calling triceps extensions for french presses. The latter name is not precisely descriptive… Furthermore, the Westside style of doing dumbell triceps extensions differs somewhat from standard bodybuilding fashion where the elbow is supposed to be kept static (preferably with the upper arm slightly towards the head to keep the tension on the muscle throughout the movement). The Westside school of extensions dictates that the upper arm be pretty much vertical at the beginning of the movement until the dumbell is lowered so it hits the shoulder. At this point the elbows are moved back so the weight dips further and the tension is increased on the triceps. Then the dumbell is powerfully pressed up to lockout ending up with the upper arm vertical again. It is not surprising that people accustomed to bodybuilding style isolation-rules type extensions wonder about the amount of elbow movement Louie sports on the tape. Here’s how Louie has described the movement in one of this articles for Powerlifting USA:

Hold the dumbbells with the palms facing each other. With the arms straight over the chest, lower the bells by bending at the elbows. Lower one end of the bells until they touch the delts. Then rotate the elbows upward and back over the head. This will place tremendous tension on the part of the triceps that connects on the inside of the elbows. Without dropping the elbows too much, extend the bells. The rep range is 6 to 12. About 60 total reps seem to work well. It’s up to you whether you do multiple sets with the same weight or work up on each set. You can do these lying flat, on a decline or incline, or even standing up.

As a tricep extension newbie I was content with a total of 24 reps before moving on to four sets of pulldowns before doing another first-timer: Seated dumbell power cleans. The cleans are basically about sitting down on a suitable object (I like my box) with a dumbell in each hand, then shrugging the weight up and back, and lifting the bells up to a ninety degree bend in the elbows with the upper arms parallel with the floor, rather like upright L-flyes. Like L-flyes, these too are heavy: 8 kg/18 lbs was ample weight for two sets of 10.

After rembering to train biceps I headed home, where I got a nice shoulder and lower back massage by my honey Sanna. Life is good.

My back soreness refuses to leave me alone. It was probably a mistake to do seated good mornings last Friday with a stiff back adding fuel to the fire and preventing it from recovering. I’m pretty sure I don’t have a back injury, unless it has disguised itself as a persistent slight training ache. I have no problems bending over and no problems standing straight in the morning, but enough of a sore back not to do balls-to-the-walls deadlifting.

The standard thing to do with a sore or injured back is, of course, reverse hypers. With no hyper machine at the gym, I was lucky to find Kevin Veit’s description of a home made setup, which involves running a belt around each leg and through the holes in the plates to secure the weights between the legs. Having dragged enough custom equipment into the gym of late, I don’t think I will start building my own reverse hyper machine just yet…

After doing my standard speed box squats concentrating on arching the weight up, I ignored Veit’s warning about not taking “my only dress belt” and headed upstairs for the hyperextension machine. Had to put 20 kg/44 lbs plates under the thing to get enough space off the ground for my legs. Then tied a 10 kg/22 lbs plate sandwiched between two 5 kg/11 lbs plates to my ankles with the belt and mounted the bench holding on to the feet rests. Worked great, although I discovered that you indeed need to strap the weights tightly unless you like them jumping up at the top when doing explosive reps (trying to hold on to them by pressing your legs together is not very enjoyable). Did 5 sets of 12 and then ditched the plates for a burning 50 reps. If my lower back is still sore on Monday, I will ditch the ME exercise in favor of several sets of reverse hypers and ab work. Repeat until ready for a new max deadlift.

Briefly rewinding back to the speed box squats: forgot to mention last week that I have now started to periodize my box squats according to a sheet taken from Sakari Selkäinaho’s Westside manual in Finnish.

Week 1: 8x2 @ 65% of box max
Week 2: 7x2 @ 70% of box max
Week 3: 6x2 @ 75% of box max
Week 4: 5x2 @ 80% of box max
Week 5: 3x2 @ 80-90% of box max

This workout was week 2. Hopefully I will have gotten rid of all my lower back problems after week 5 so I can go for a new max.

After six sets of board presses, I must say that I like them. Felt different than I had expected though. Although superficially similar to pin benching in the rack, board presses actually have a completely different feel. Even though the boards are fairly hard you are still benching on top of your normal arch, which gets to support the whole load. Furthermore, the boards are not rigidly welded to the chest, but actually tend to dip forward towards the head a little as the whole weight of the barbell transfers to the board. This makes it feel like the bar is actually sinking into the boards despite their inherent hardness. And of course, you have a spotter breathing down on you (thanks!).

Did not quite know what to expect weightwise, but had a feeling I might end up at about the same weights as my current max bench. Indeed, 95 kg/210 lbs didn’t go although it wasn’t that far off (went up halfway and got stuck). Currently I have the same flat max as two-board max, 90 kg/199 lbs. Next week I plan to go for a three-board max, which I expect to push a little heavier weights on (hoping for at least 100 kg/221 lbs) if I can get someone to hold the boards for me. I’m not quite ready for this setup yet.

Like on Sunday, I went for stability ball dumbell benches and the lying Tate press. I don’t know how smart it was to do the same movements just a few days apart, but I just felt like this was what I wanted to do. Added some reps and weight on both.

Unlike last workout my bench felt strong and on track. Inspired by Westside training videos, I was now taking a little shorter rests between sets and it felt like I could even use a little heavier weight (we’ll see). Got the inspiration to try stability ball dumbell bench presses. The gym was pretty empty, so this seemed like the ideal moment to make a fool out of oneself. Turned out they were more stable than I thought, so no emergence exit with dumbells through the mirror. I could definitively feel the difference both in stability and chest pump compared to a flat bench (the chest is really arched up on this one). This exercise rocks!

After the usual, I tried doing Tate presses lying down flat on the bench. Many moons ago, I did them on a slight incline. Doing them flat made it a lot easier to maintain proper form (dumbells touching throughout the movement) and felt better. Whatta lower tricep burn! Need to get back to doing these. Would be nice to get back to JM Presses as well, but I want to see this done on a video before I take out this lower tricep torturer.

Ooops! Forgot to train my biceps. Bet they will shrink like crazy… not.

Tried seated good mornings for the first time today after the normal speed boxes. Despite the rest week my lower back has been slightly stiff, so I did not feel the urge to see how much iron I can move in this compromising position. Sets of 15 at 40 kg/88 lbs were a suitably light introduction to the movement. I did mine sitting on a bench as shown in the Westside Deadlift video, although they can also be done sitting on the floor. In the Louie Simmons FAQ, it is noted that this exercise should be treated with some caution as it puts a lot of strain on the disks. Don’t think I will ever max out on this one, but it is nice as a lighter variation of the standing good morning.

Not much else to report. Read the source.

First workout after my rest week. Felt it was time to improve my bench PR, with my eyes set on 90 kg/199 lbs, i.e. a 5 kg/11 lbs improvement over my pre-China max and 10 kg/22 lbs more than last time I went for a max in mid-August.

When push came to shove, I did indeed get a new record despite having built up a fairly sizable sleep deficit during the last few days (which won’t be helped by the fact that I’m about to watch 5 hours of Westside videos tonight). I totally lost the arch and it felt like I had zero leg drive, but up it went (92.5 kg/204 lbs didn’t). My immediate bench goal now is to break the 100 kg/221 lbs barrier, which is likely to happen fairly soon as I expect the Westside bench workout video to teach me a thing or two about proper bench form.

Incline benching after the bench max didn’t feel very good, with my elbows flaring out sideways like sails trying to catch a maximum amount of wind. Unfortunately, the wind factor was negligible on this particular occasion (this is no Cape Horn). Left them to one set.

Now an announcement in the novelty department: did some shrugs. I am seriously thinking about incorporating a few sets once a week as grip work (as usual no straps) to further overload my grip. Today, 90 kg/199 lbs was already taking its toll on my grip after having done seated rows for four sets of 15 reps. Will probably quite progressively keep piling on the weight on the shrugs as I get used to the movement (it’s been many years since I shrugged, then I worked up to sets of about 180 kg/398 lbs with straps).

Before I press play, I would like to take this rare opportunity to announce that I have new training pants. So what? Who cares? Well, the only reason I’m mentioning this is that I have been using the same Platinum Everywhere pants for at least the last seven years. After having gone through countless sweat-wash cycles the logo is still pretty sharp and non-faded, while the fabric has retained its feel and the waist band is still very responsive. If it wouldn’t be for the fact that the Platinum pants are now pretty tight at the waist, I would have very little reason beyond the call for some variety to buy new ones. I guess I only wanted to say that these pants have gone beyond expectations as far as quality goes. I have no experience with the newer line of Mike Christian’s clothes, but if they are still as good as back in the early 1990s they are definitively worth every cent. Let’s see if my new Better Bodies pants last as long. Now, play.

Had a pretty sore and tired lower back today. After doing a lot of squat and pull movements lately, I had planned on hitting the good morning this workout as well, but thought the better of it. Figured high box squats would give me some needed mercy. Took my 13″ box and placed the low pulling box I usually use for stiff-legged deadlifts underneath. Including a mat put lowermost to prevent gliding, the whole thing measured 43 cm, or roughly 17″. According to my friend this is about parallel for me (probably slightly above, I’m 184 cm/6 feet tall; see this link for some comparisons for shorter lifters).

From the beginning I could tell that this wasn’t going to go very well. The reps were slow and my back took every opportunity to remind me of its sore presence. What the heck. Being some 4 inches higher above sea level than when I recently did 105 kg/232 lbs I did off the 13″ (33 cm) box I though I would quite easily move some heavier iron my soreness notwithstanding. Wrong. What should have been an easy rep with 110 kg/243 lbs left me nailed to the box. Good thing I was doing my sitting in the rack. I think I was probably protecting my back and not allowing myself to lean forward sufficiently to get good drive off the box. Can’t wait to put things right next time.

Saw no need to punish the punished further. Cut the lower back out of the equation and did some rare sets of leg curls plus the normal ab stuff.

Unfortunately, the not to be mentioned shoulder was not to be forgotten that easily. Although the Sunday workout felt good, it had by Monday morning regressed considerably. Although nowhere as sore as it was a couple of weeks ago, this was nevertheless a big step in the wrong direction. I suspect I should not have done the Kraftwerk rear delt machine yesterday. The time had come to consult my girlfriend on the matter.

My girlfriend is, among so many other things, a licensed massage therapist. After doing a lot of test pressing (palpation) all over the place she pinpointed the problem to the front delt region. The place was jumpy as a frog on springs. Ouch!

This was a diagnosis I was only too happy to hear. Rotator cuff injuries have a tendency to make a comeback when you least expect it, and can be a pain to heal. Seems like I was wrong about this being a case of bursitis. According to Basic Clinical Massage Therapy (by James H. Clay and David M. Pounds) this is a common misdiagnosis:

Deltoid trigger points are often interpreted as bursitis (an inflammation of the bursa, the fluid filled sac that serves as a cushion underneath the muscles).

Indeed, the fact that it doesn’t hurt to move my arm up sideways or do L-flyes indicates that this is no rotator cuff problem. On the contrary, it hurts when I extend my arm straight backwards behind me or lift it straight up besides my head (i.e. when the front delt origo and insertio are the farthest from each other).

I got a light front delt massage, did some light stretching and applied ice directly on the spot (frozen in a styrofoam cup). If it feels worse tomorrow it is probably, or so am I told, an inflammation. Otherwise it is probably just a trigger point caused by a defensive contraction or a sudden excessive stretch. If the latter it should respond favorably to continued massage and ice. Before going to bed in anticipation of tomorrow morning, I will pop a gram of vitamin C and apply a generous amount of IcePower on the shoulder. Good night, heal tight!

First DE Bench day in three weeks! The speed bench continued feeling light, so I put 5 kg/11 lbs more on the bar. My friend, who is on a 10 seconds per rep bodybuilding routine and thus equipped with a stopwatch, timed my third set; at roughly 3.13 seconds, it is just about the recommended speed of three seconds per set of three reps. If I had lost anything by not speed benching for a few weeks it was definitively my groove. Although things were a little less haywire towards the last sets, I had a definitive feeling that the bar was playing a very subtle game of hide and seek with me. Stupid bar!

The close-grip benches went well. After three sets of eight, I put 80 kg/177 lbs on the bar for a triple. With the first rep going up very easily I believe I could close bench 90 kg/199 lbs right now, which confirms my hunch that I can handle about the same weight as off the fourth pin in the rack. Things are looking bright indeed. Hopefully my regular bench will follow suit.

I was somewhat disappointed with my performance on the close-grip pulldown, until I noticed that the weight stack had jumped out of its sockets in the base causing it to be leaning slightly forward. Don’t how much, if any, heavier the reps got due to this, but one thing is certain: the machines are clearly affected by the Terminator 3 movie banner hanging above.

Did the usual rear delt, cuff and biceps work and then went home to put some ice on the thing that will not be mentioned anymore. Just in case, nothing really bad transpired on that front.

Really tired today before the workout, but luckily Rammstein was playing in the gym. Went a little bit heavier on the box, probably a little bit too heavy in terms of speed. My grip didn’t complain although I continued to raise the weight on the one-handed deadlift, this time laying my chalky paws on the 52 kg/115 lbs dumbell. Working the numero uno Captains of Crush gripper felt decisively good. Nice workout.