Jswain's training log for powerlifting

You guys ever order a McGangbang? It's a real thing that started a decade ago when they introduced the McDouble. Where you stick a McChicken between the two patties. Some of the STL area restaurants will make them for you if you order it, but you can always do it yourself if you get a new kid
 
Hyde said:
You guys ever order a McGangbang? It's a real thing that started a decade ago when they introduced the McDouble. Where you stick a McChicken between the two patties. Some of the STL area restaurants will make them for you if you order it, but you can always do it yourself if you get a new kid
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I have always just made them myself lol. One time i used that Buffalo McChicken they had a while back and it was bombbbbbb. Disclaimer: I was pretty damn drunk.
 
Hyde said:
Nothing like a sub-$3 800 calorie grease bomb
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Amen. Especially when drunk.

I might make a run to mcd's now bc of this convo today. Turns out im about 800cals short of my goal. Was gonna smash whatever random carbs i had around the house. But, a "burger" sounds pretty good.
 
liftandswim said:
Huh?
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Lol. Yah. Its the truth. The last time i had it was early spring 2014. I have had Wendy's a few times. And Arbys multiple times. Just not much of a mcds guy.
 
Burger king all day

Bonus points: o rings with zesty sauce produce the most heinous flatulence. I usually sit halfway between pride and sympathy for my victims.
 
herderdude said:
Burger king all day

Bonus points: o rings with zesty sauce produce the most heinous flatulence. I usually sit halfway between pride and sympathy for my victims.
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I'm a man that's easily satisfied, and a McGangbang is a $3 meal. If we're dropping $10 on a combo meal I have to say Hardee's/Carl's Jr. That density, son
 
Mmm, McGangbang.

Pretty much every other grease shop is > McD's.

Taste wise, anyway.
 
Today's workout is in the books. Have some vids of my bench and i did one set of spotos after to work on tightness. Some bench reps were good in terms of engaging my lats. Others weren't. Spotos were good. I actually got my right lat to cramp on rep 7 or 8/12. Haven't cramped a lat up in forever during bench.
 
Quick update before work:

12/9 hyper block 2 w1d2

Tried duffin bench warmup video. Unsure if it made a difference. Felt like i was still forming my arch from my lumbar...maybe lower thoracic..but definitely not upper thoracic.

-cube rep bp:
Workup
185x5 (vid)
215x5 (vid)
230x11 (vid)
230x2x10 (vids of both)

Drop down to 185:
Spoto: 185x12 to work on lat tightness (vid)

-DB BSS:
60 per hand x3x8

-neutral grip lat pulldown ss/ GHR:
130x12 / 2 monster minis x10
130x12 / " "
Medial elbow started getting screwy on my midway through that second set.
- Switch to neutral grip chins
1x8...still was hurting / " "

-rear delt fly machine ss/ rope tricep extension:
75x3x12 / 110x4x13

First 2 half kneeling second 2 standing bentover and doing them overhead pushing away from the station. Got a nice stretch in the long head doing it the latter way and felt like i was working them better through a larger ROM. That = more gainz...so I'll continue to do them like that.

Vids will be up later tonight or tomorrow. I did them on my ipad and dont have time to upload them right now.

Thats it thanks for any comments/critiques in advance. Stay on me about getting those vids up.
 
Btw. I think the elbow hurts just doing vertical pulling movements after bench in general. Plan is to switch the lat pulldowns to after deads and bring the unilateral lat row to today. Should help get in that volume without pain, i think.
 
I also form my arch from lumbar and lower t spine. It lead to my spine injury. Now I just try to arch from my upper back and leave it at that. I don't cram my lower back at all now
 
I am so glad I live in Texas. Those places blow in comparison to Whataburger. 24 hours a day of wonderful deliciousness.
 
SweetLou321 said:
I also form my arch from lumbar and lower t spine. It lead to my spine injury. Now I just try to arch from my upper back and leave it at that. I don't cram my lower back at all now
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I was really just trying to focus on my arch today. And honestly i think i might be better off without it. We'll see what you guys have to say when i put the vids up. Based on the videos i watched of duffin talking about bench setup & arch, he would agree with you that it increases likelihood of lumbar injury.
 
Rodja said:
I am so glad I live in Texas. Those places blow in comparison to Whataburger. 24 hours a day of wonderful deliciousness.
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I've always heard good things but never had the chance to try it. Last time i was in TX was something like 10 years ago and didn't even know about it.
 
jswain34 said:
I was really just trying to focus on my arch today. And honestly i think i might be better off without it. We'll see what you guys have to say when i put the vids up. Based on the videos i watched of duffin talking about bench setup & arch, he would agree with you that it increases likelihood of lumbar injury.
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Well you are missinf a key point. We are not touching at the lumbar/lower tspine when we bench. So to have a big arch there is pointless. The onky place that matters is the upper back. So I would deff work on an upper back arch. Without a doubt. Every good bencher archs there at least. Kirill and spoto come to mind here.
 
SweetLou321 said:
Well you are missinf a key point. We are not touching at the lumbar/lower tspine when we bench. So to have a big arch there is pointless. The onky place that matters is the upper back. So I would deff work on an upper back arch. Without a doubt. Every good bencher archs there at least. Kirill and spoto come to mind here.
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Oh yeah, i agree 100%. I was just talking about the arch that i had today.
 
So i woke up at 3am last night cold and shivering. Then woke up again at 5am and was sweating and had some (flu like) body aches. Dunno if I'm coming down with something or not....kinda looks like it. But, hopefully it is gone by tomorrows session. I just hope i dont get that 24hr big and start puking and ****ting.

Im just sitting here at work sweating and everyone is cold lol. I already took ibuprofen so hopefully if i have a fever it'll be under control soon.
 
jswain34 said:
So i woke up at 3am last night cold and shivering. Then woke up again at 5am and was sweating and had some (flu like) body aches. Dunno if I'm coming down with something or not....kinda looks like it. But, hopefully it is gone by tomorrows session. I just hope i dont get that 24hr big and start puking and ****ting.

Im just sitting here at work sweating and everyone is cold lol. I already took ibuprofen so hopefully if i have a fever it'll be under control soon.
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Fever means your body is trying to kill something that shouldn't be there.
 
SweetLou321 said:
Fever means your body is trying to kill something that shouldn't be there.
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I understand that. But its tough to be at work feeling like ass so ibuprofen was my only option.
 
If I could've just laid at home all day and slept I wouldn't of taken anything. But i need money to pay my bills brotha.
 
SweetLou321 said:
Oh I hear you. I like that one med combo, the tabs that fizz in water. I forget the name. Always perks me up when sick.
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Airborne? I like them too. Might stop and grab some at Walgreens on my lunch break. Thanks for the reminder.
 
Ah, gotcha. Hmm.. ll see what i find at the pharm.
 
Video from yesterday. You'll see what I mean how I engage my lats some reps and don't on some others. Work in progress.

Spotos 185x12
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230x10 final set - The last rep was a little more of a grinder than I would've liked.
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230x 10 second set
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230x11 first set
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jswain34 said:
Video from yesterday. You'll see what I mean how I engage my lats some reps and don't on some others. Work in progress.

Spotos 185x12
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230x10 final set - The last rep was a little more of a grinder than I would've liked.
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230x 10 second set
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230x11 first set
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Both set ups look different. You can tell you are not loading your lats like you stated before. You have a very bodybuilder style bench. Your meet the bar then collapse. Try to stay high the whole time. I think if you learned to drive your self away from the bar and time that would proper leg drive your bench would take off. (Little leg drive visible in the vids).
 
I don't know how you can tell by video if the last are involved.

Hope you recover quick Jared. Something going around here, foo.
 
SweetLou321 said:
Both set ups look different. You can tell you are not loading your lats like you stated before. You have a very bodybuilder style bench. Your meet the bar then collapse. Try to stay high the whole time. I think if you learned to drive your self away from the bar and time that would proper leg drive your bench would take off. (Little leg drive visible in the vids).
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Even in the spotos you think I'm not? Id have to disagree. I think i am in some of the reps when my elbows stay a bit tighter, then there are other reps where i flair more.

And the set ups look different because set 2 (i think it was) i went feet first vs the other two sets where i set my back first.

Also, in regard to leg drive..i pretty much am doing (or at least attempting to do) a static leg extension during the entire rep. Is that incorrect? I guess i dont know how to stay tight in the legs but then still have more slack to be able to explode with leg drive.
 
RegisterJr said:
I don't know how you can tell by video if the last are involved.

Hope you recover quick Jared. Something going around here, foo.
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I mainly kind of judge this by how much my elbows are flaring. Since i keep the same grip width between sets the thing that controls my elbow tuck is lat engagement. And just because i actively engage them and therefore tuck a bit more doesn't necessarily mean that im "loading" them. For right now at least im just trying to consistently get them firing.

And i'm honestly feeling a little better already vs how i felt this morning. Weirdest damn thing. Hopefully back to 100% by tomorrow.
 
Take your time working your shoulder blades toward each other and toward your ass before you complete your setup. Then, let your shoulders relax down into the pad when you take it out.

That will cut about two inches off of your range of motion and you'll feel your back engage as the weight settles in. That's what I see, it looks like your shoulders are not driven down into the pad well enough, which is the main way I ensure my upper back gets involved.

I also like to make the distinction between lats and upper back on benching. The lats are a bit of a miss on most people's bench press. You'd have to arch huge and sweep the bar low to get those lats going. Upper back is more correct.

And you can engage the upper back even with pretty good flare. Just remember, bend the bar and spread the bar, simultaneously. We do not want to over tuck or flare too much. 45 degree angle between midline of the body and the upper arm, give or take a few degrees, with some external rotation torque and elbows directly under the bar is best.
 
^thanks for that Herder. What exactly do you mean by "let your shoulders relax down into the pad" on the unrack??

And thank you for making that distinction...as that makes much more sense to me.

I did forget to cue myself by pulling the bar apart yesterday now that you mention that. Which sucks because 1 or 2 weeks ago, probably 2, i remember talking about how that was clicking for me well and i needed to continue with that.
 
jswain34 said:
Even in the spotos you think I'm not? Id have to disagree. I think i am in some of the reps when my elbows stay a bit tighter, then there are other reps where i flair more.

And the set ups look different because set 2 (i think it was) i went feet first vs the other two sets where i set my back first.

Also, in regard to leg drive..i pretty much am doing (or at least attempting to do) a static leg extension during the entire rep. Is that incorrect? I guess i dont know how to stay tight in the legs but then still have more slack to be able to explode with leg drive.
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Spotos were much cleaner.

Herder has you covered on the upper back honestly. I was on lunch and not sure of what I was saying lol.

You constant leg drive yes. But I should be vary during the lift itself. I like to imagine its like a power up meter or a percent.

Unrack-40-50%
As you go down the percent raises to around 80%
Touch/pause-80% from above
Press-100%

These are purely examples but I hope you get the idea.

Its not just a leg ext as I'm sure you know but I'll explain more just incase. Make sure to be "squatting the weight" heels down and all of your lower body should be flexed and tight. The drive should push your traps harder into the bench and raise your sternum up to the bar.
 
jswain34 said:
^thanks for that Herder. What exactly do you mean by "let your shoulders relax down into the pad" on the unrack??

And thank you for making that distinction...as that makes much more sense to me.

I did forget to cue myself by pulling the bar apart yesterday now that you mention that. Which sucks because 1 or 2 weeks ago, probably 2, i remember talking about how that was clicking for me well and i needed to continue with that.
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Okay so before you unrack it make sure your scaps are together and down. Lock your arms out as you unrack and use your lats to pull it out to where it goes. When it gets there, let gravity push your shoulders into the pad harder. Don't actively pinch, let the weight do it, more effective that way. You'll be amazed by the difference it makes.
 
SweetLou321 said:
Spotos were much cleaner.

Herder has you covered on the upper back honestly. I was on lunch and not sure of what I was saying lol.

You constant leg drive yes. But I should be vary during the lift itself. I like to imagine its like a power up meter or a percent.

Unrack-40-50%
As you go down the percent raises to around 80%
Touch/pause-80% from above
Press-100%

These are purely examples but I hope you get the idea.

Its not just a leg ext as I'm sure you know but I'll explain more just incase. Make sure to be "squatting the weight" heels down and all of your lower body should be flexed and tight. The drive should push your traps harder into the bench and raise your sternum up to the bar.
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Okay i remember you saying that before (power meter example). Yeah that all makes sense to me. Ill keep working on it. Thanks Lou

Edit: spelling. Power "meeter"...
 
herderdude said:
Okay so before you unrack it make sure your scaps are together and down. Lock your arms out as you unrack and use your lats to pull it out to where it goes. When it gets there, let gravity push your shoulders into the pad harder. Don't actively pinch, let the weight do it, more effective that way. You'll be amazed by the difference it makes.
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Gotcha. That makes more sense to me. Thanks
 
herderdude said:
Okay so before you unrack it make sure your scaps are together and down. Lock your arms out as you unrack and use your lats to pull it out to where it goes. When it gets there, let gravity push your shoulders into the pad harder. Don't actively pinch, let the weight do it, more effective that way. You'll be amazed by the difference it makes.
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I love this. Good reminder. Gotta make sure I'm still doing it honestly lol
 
SweetLou321 said:
You're gonna out bench me with these cues soon enough bud
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We'll see man. Im just worried about myself. Not necessarily out benching anyone. Once you get recovered im sure you'll start throwing lbs on the bar.
 
jswain34 said:
We'll see man. Im just worried about myself. Not necessarily out benching anyone. Once you get recovered im sure you'll start throwing lbs on the bar.
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If I push all of you to beat all my numbers I just have to come back and beat your numbers back. Competition adds fuel to the fire.
 
Gonna take a 40 minute nap and head in for some squats. I need to get my glutes activated really well beforehand. Theyre about as turned off as they have been in as long as i can remember. Too much damn sitting at my jobs. Gonna drag a 45lb plate around on the sled for 5 minutes or so to start. Then get some monster walks, clams, and bw bss. Anything else you guys can think of that you like to get them firing?
 
Put the band around your knees while you drag the sled
 
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