Studhorse
Legend
Dam that is SUperman stuff! dam toe nail is going to f with you bro.
Its nice to know we have men like you taking charge and doing what most wont or cant!!!!!!
Burnin' Down a Titan...the next 6 weeks
- Thread starter FireTitan
- Start date
Dam that is SUperman stuff! dam toe nail is going to f with you bro.
Its nice to know we have men like you taking charge and doing what most wont or cant!!!!!!
angcd3
Well-known member
Thank you for doing what you do brother!! and we all need sleep and sometimes it just catches up to you..get some rest and hammer it tomorrow!
Oh and videos dont load through the app for me anymore either directly from my phone.. I had to upload it first to vimeo or soemthing then just copy the link here
FireTitan
Legend
Not Superman, but thanks. I havent slept yet. Been just laying here. I did get a call from the college, and starting next month Ill be in a class, then July I start Paramedic school. Then off to Tactical Medic school and will be joining the County SWAT team as a TacMedic. Long 20+ months ahead of me guys
Studhorse
Legend
Second, you gotta get some sleep friend. Take care of that toe! I hate toe stuff so badly. Looking good friend, even with all the stress and shyt you deal with. Sounds like you are going to be very busy soon! Good luck...
BEAST73
Well-known member
IKR..
FireTitan
Legend
Thanks guys. I was knocked out last night. I think my wife took advantage of me and I don't remember it, just that my morning pee went in 5 directions! Lol. No gym today as I am back at work and have been busy with piddly crap all day. The campus has been full of peeps all day so Ill be up running all night and work another 24 hour shift tomorrow at my other fire department....but there SHALL be some lifting done tomorrow!! Got a little cardio done today but not much. I did share a scoop of Radiate today with a couple co workers...it was pretty d@mn funny. Sweating for no reason. Diet has been fairly good lately. But decided to get off of the IF protocol for a while. I think with my lack of sleep and busy schedule, topped off with the way Ive been working out...food is more of a necessity right now. So breakfast was 5 eggs scrambled in coconut oil and a scoop of PB, a shake a few hours later. Lunch was 3 grilled chicken strips and 3 cups of broccoli and supper is an authentic Gyro and a giant Greek salad. Love you guys for your support so keep kicking me in the arse. Ill try to add a nood later. If I approve of the picture. Lol
MonteRXS
Well-known member
HA! I know the feeling. My staff know when I am Radiating... the ladies are complaining that room is 68° and I'm over here sweating through my shirt.
Studhorse
Legend
Lol pissing in 5 different ways! Lmao....
Was it in the movie Superbad were the radio guy had a tat of a character pissing in 2 different directions? Someone on here knows what the f I'm talking about.
Studhorse
Legend
HA! I know the feeling. My staff know when I am Radiating... the ladies are complaining that room is 68° and I'm over here sweating through my shirt.
Good to hear. I thought it was just me. They thought I was menapazing.
MonteRXS
Well-known member
Lol nah you can thank all the Alpha Y and paradoxine in Radiate for that. Love that combo!
FireTitan
Legend
Love it.
UnicornDrpns
Member
you still look like a boss. if we were on track every week, all of our diets would have been done weeks, months years ago 
FireTitan
Legend
you still look like a boss. if we were on track every week, all of our diets would have been done weeks, months years ago
Thank you!! Ill get through this slump, just need about 3 nights worth of sleep in 1! Lol
MonteRXS
Well-known member
Get some rest and keep grinding bro!
Studhorse
Legend
Brother. You don't have anything to worry about. You look great considering your lack of sleep. You should see me, I'm on my 7th day of decon.
You have the base! Just need to do what you can and don't beat yourself up. You got a lot on your plate and more coming! You definitely have the right mind set my brother!
FireTitan
Legend
Thanks my man!! Just need to make some tweaks and Ill get back in the groove.
FireTitan
Legend
Had a rocking @ss structure fore today and worked it for about 3.5 hours with cleanup. Still managed to get a little bit of lifting in though. Had a couple police officers at the HQ station lifting with another firefighter and I joined in. Had to play a little catch-up...but I dont think theyll be wanting anymore of me. Lol. This is what I got done and then we got paged for the fire so now Im spent. Wasn't expecting to workout when I did so I was still in uniform and had no PWO....luckily. Dont know if I would have made it through that fire with Radiate running in my veins.
FLAT BB Bench
135x30
225x15
275x8
315x4
4 SETS OF ROPE PUSHDOWNS
120x15
150x10
180x10
200x10
4 SETS 1 HANDED PUSH/PULL DOWNS
10 push, flip hand 10 pull no pause
40lbs
50lbs
60lbsx2
CLOSE GRIP FLAT BENCH
135x10-8-6-4 and 2
STANDARD GRIP BENCH
135x30
FLAT BB Bench
135x30
225x15
275x8
315x4
4 SETS OF ROPE PUSHDOWNS
120x15
150x10
180x10
200x10
4 SETS 1 HANDED PUSH/PULL DOWNS
10 push, flip hand 10 pull no pause
40lbs
50lbs
60lbsx2
CLOSE GRIP FLAT BENCH
135x10-8-6-4 and 2
STANDARD GRIP BENCH
135x30
Studhorse
Legend
Lol, they would be trying to put you out!
FireTitan
Legend
Exactly!!! Ended up drinking a 1/2 scoop a couple hours ago. Still zingin
HIT4ME
Well-known member
FireTitan
Legend
I think adrenaline was kicking in due to the fact that I was killing what the Cops were lifting. Lol. And youre NOT weak. Not even close
SFreed
Board Supporter
As I've followed your progress over the last year, the thing I've noticed (besides your incredible strength) is the increase of what seems to be minor joint issues. Personally, I think lower weight and higher reps is the way to go. Not saying that you can't max out every once in a while, but I think age-wise you're beating yourself up too much. The super heavy weights, the crazy work schedule and the lack of sleep are beginning to take a toll on your body. But, that's just the opinion of a guy who knows less about this stuff than anybody.
HIT4ME
Well-known member
Lol...All relative. Next to you, weak. Next to my gf? Strong like bull.
I think this is a classic mistake. "My joints hurt, I need to lighten the weight and do higher reps"
Which if course creates more repetitive injuries, burns more calories, and makes recovery/repair harder on your body.
What is your lifting cadence?
If this were me, I would be backing off on volume and finding ways to make lighter weights do more. Slow cadence, pre exhaustion, etc. You can get more done with less volume. Think intensity, not weight.
Also, I believe slower cadence is the MAIN reason I don't have a lot of joint issues.
FireTitan
Legend
Thank you for the strength comment. Not sure what Im going to do just yet. I NEED to lay off a bit but Im just fricken addicted to seeing what I can do and how far I can go. I really want to hit 350 on bench by summer, but not sure if my shoulders will take it. Ill figure it out. Thanks brother
FireTitan
Legend
Again..not sure what I am going to do, other than up my cardio to burn more fat. I am starting A chicken, eggs and whey diet, drinking only black coffee and around 2 gallons of water a day. We'll see where Im at in a month or so. Cadence wise, I could stand to slow down, but typically Im fast paced due to time limitations and not knowing when the pager will go off. Lol.
ryane87
Well-known member
This. I have noticed some good changes all over my body by mixing in straight reps and lowering the weight and doing sets with 3 or 4 second negatives and incorporating pauses as well. Very helpful. For me, anyway.
ryane87
Well-known member
This. I have noticed some good changes all over my body by mixing in straight reps and lowering the weight and doing sets with 3 or 4 second negatives and incorporating pauses as well. Very helpful. For me, anyway.
Tank999
Well-known member
Lower weights doesn't have to mean higher reps - instead you can do slower reps. There's a bunch of people here of all ages making fantastic gainz with lighter weights fir moderate and slower reps. Just saying.
HIT4ME
Well-known member
This is a great observation - and I will say that if you are doing 1 set to 15 reps vs. 1 set to 10 reps, that's fine. But if you're doing 5 sets to 15, that's like adding 2 extra sets of stress, and not necessarily getting any more muscle growth from it, and also making recovery more difficult. In combination with tank999 below, I think lighter weights and and higher reps have a place, but they can go too far also. It depends on the entire strategy, not simply just how many reps.
SFreed is right though 100% - this all comes down to a recovery thing. You are NOT indestructible and it isn't JUST about how many reps you are doing in the gym. Lack of sleep, physical job, stressful job, life stress, diet, etc. - it all adds up. And SFreed is an old (jab) guy who I KNOW has been injured, but he is also one of the guys on here who complains the least about joint problems at his age, from what I see.
There is also Beast73 who trains very differently than most - and from what I can tell he doesn't seem to have major issues. His advice would probably go against my advice above 100%.
Yeah, in an extreme deficit this becomes especially important - less work, more stimulus.
THIS is the cadence I would say. You can argue the contraction, but unless you are training for powerlifting or an explosive sport, I don't buy it that a rapid contraction is necessary. The way Mentzer explained it in his book that opened my eyes was that, you have 3 levels of strength - concentric, static, and eccentric. Concentric is the weakest, static is the next weakest, eccentric is the strongest. That being said, if you are doing any concentric work at all, you should be able to stop and hold the weight at ANY point in that motion - if you can't, then you HAVE to be using momentum.
And the bad thing about momentum that we all overlook is something this guy Newton showed us - what goes up, must come down. So, we don't always conciously notice this, but if we force a weight up with even a tiny bit of momentum, it has inertia at that point. And if it has inertia going up, it is going to reach the peak, stop, and then have inertia coming down - which basically means the weight is crashing down on us and we don't realize it - but our muscles and our joints are absorbing that shock. Again, we may not notice, but repeatedly doing this is going to be bad.
I always think of something I read about running - that when we run we can come down with 3,000 pounds of force on a knee. This puts in perspective how phenomenal our body can be to withstand this - but once you realize that force, think about what happens if you throw up 300 pounds and then it comes crashing down on your shoulders/elbows. No way that won't create issues over time.
Personally, when I'm being "good" I shoot for a 4/2/4 cadence. If I was training for football, this would be bad - as I wouldn't be training for explosive power. But I will never play for the Patriots no matter how much weight I throw around. So I don't need to be explosive. I need to be able to move sh1t.
And THIS is exactly what I was getting at - heavy weight isn't EVERYTHING. Think intensity, not weight.
Slower reps, shorter rests between sets, PRE-EXHAUSTION are all techniques that can be applied. We also tend to think of exercises from a single muscle group perspective, but that isn't always the best way to see all possibilities. For instance, dips are great for chest AND tri's, under handed pull ups or pull downs hit the lats and the bi's, etc.
So, for instance, my current leg/chest/tri's day is:
Leg Extensions supersetted with squats - I do a drop set with a slow cadence to failure 3X on the leg extensions and then without a break get under a squat bar and go to failure. 1 set.
Then I do Leg Presses. 1 set.
Then I do flat dumbbell flyes supersetted with incline barbell bench presses. I go to failure on both. 1 set.
Then I do Rope Press downs. 1 set.
Then I do dips. 1 set. This hits both tri's and chest and is a great finisher.
That's just 5 sets for 3 bodyparts - 7 if you break out the two supersets. I am not making the progress you've made, and there are always tweaks to be made (for instance, my tri's especially suck I may need to do more) - but even with a slow cadence I can do all that in around 4 minutes with LONG breaks and setup time (home gym, I have to set up for every exercise).
Also, your not wrong about the heavy weights being the problem to some degree. We all want to push more and will start to sacrifice cadence, form, etc. for this. Sometimes it slowly erodes as we add weight over months, and then suddenly we realize we've really let our form go or we aren't really lifting the weight anymore. But as Lee Haney said, "Stimulate, don't annihilate".
I did a 5 X 5 and that's when I REALLY figured out what Haney meant. You can start off with a 5 X 5 and work with a weight for 5 sets of 5 and NEVER hit failure. The next week, you can add 5 pounds and NEVER hit failure. And you can repeat this process for a while, even though you are using weights that are heavier than you thought you could lift. The reason is that you are stimulating growth without placing a huge tax on your system. You just go through the movements and your body responds and then you do more. I think this (what I call the idea of training, not destroying) and basic progression are the two ideas that everyone thinks they get, but they often don't.
HIT4ME
Well-known member
Lol, sorry ....Brevity isn't always my strong suit.
Just to be clear...It isn't JUST about weight. Going lighter and finding ways to make it harder on the muscle is the key.
FireTitan
Legend
On a separate note..got my new protein in yesterday. Pretty impressed so far. I ordered vicious vanilla simply because I prefer Vanilla. But it tastes amazing in Almond milk as well as Fairlife. Will be making some things with it as I go along. But its consistency is nice, mixes nice and easy and doesnt leave a nasty after taste. Im attaching pics if the 5lb tub I ordered, with its profile as well as link to their page. And no, Im not being paid, and I paid for my tub. But when I try something I like I want to share with my boys!!
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FireTitan
Legend
No, I understood exactly what you were saying. No worries. Just got home from my kids basketball game and Im finally going to get some sleep!! Im going to toy around with some stuff, and some newish methods and see what I can come up with. I have this goal that Im gonna drop 15lbs in 2 months...or less!!! Crazy!!
Studhorse
Legend
How many days a week you working out?
FireTitan
Legend
Still varies according to my schedule, but typically 3-5 days
Sparkss
Well-known member
I am way behind and catching up, but for me fasted cardio really kick starts my morning (and fat loss), when I can get it in!
Sparkss
Well-known member
you still look like a boss. if we were on track every week, all of our diets would have been done weeks, months years ago
Spot on assessment and feedback here. ^^^^^^
The body reacts to different stress, like cutting, in different ways. I still think you are looking fit FireTitan and don't worry about a little roller coaster action with the weight.
Studhorse
Legend
There is an old retired body builder program I do in the winter when I have time for 4 days a week.
it's a A/B split.
Comprises of 2 different workouts. each one has a heavy day 5-7 reps and a light day. 15 reps. It is designed for old worn out joints.
If you think you are interested shoot me your email in a PM and I will send the excel Template to you brother.
FireTitan
Legend
Thank you my friend! Means a lot to me.
FireTitan
Legend
Sounds like a plan..PM coming your way bro!
FireTitan
Legend
Didnt get much done in the gym today guys, everyone on campus was working out when we went.
30 minutes of cardio and several sets of squats...low rep range and using a trap bar. Heaviest I went was 315. Also just completed the Controlled Labs protein promo and consumed 6.5 scoops of protein with Almond milk in under 2:00. Im going to curl up in the fetal position now
30 minutes of cardio and several sets of squats...low rep range and using a trap bar. Heaviest I went was 315. Also just completed the Controlled Labs protein promo and consumed 6.5 scoops of protein with Almond milk in under 2:00. Im going to curl up in the fetal position now
Studhorse
Legend
Lmao!
Studhorse
Legend
Glad I missed that challenge. That is something I would try! And then be like you! lol