Yeah, I think sometimes it is just that way.
Yeah with your shoulders being in rough shape DB's are pretty hard. You might try doing some rotator cuff work during your warm ups to help out with that.
Honestly I don't really have a set trade off. Once I lean up around where I want to be I will start looking at that continuum. I can have some abs showing around 15% and pretty pronounced by 12% so I won't really be too low in BF even with some abs. Also right now I have a lot of strength potential in reserve so I don't know that I will stop making gains by the time I get as lean as I want to. Unless of course I get lean and decide to push leaner for some reason. As much as I would like to beat my 606 pull in the 220 class, I am not opposed to pulling close to 600 in the 198 class, and then working up from there. I happen to be just as excited by having a nice physique as having nice numbers so I will try to create the balance that pleases me. When it comes to pushing for that over 606 though I will likely push up to 220 class weights, but if so I will have a leaner starting point and would still like to have my BF under or around 20% for that. Just not 100% sure if that will be this year or next.
I probably wouldn't call myself a preworkout junky. I often only take 1/2 of a stimulant pre, and sometimes another half scoop of a pump based product if I have one on hand. However as far as high stims in my pre's only when needed, or sometimes for big workouts I do a full scoop.
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I had a busy weekend with lots of work around the house I needed to get done so I did not get a lift in over the weekend.
Sunday night we had FUGGIN BLAST at the ROCKZILLA Tour, everyone kicked ass!!!! Escape the Fate was on point, Hollywood Undead killed it, Falling in Reverse and Papa Roach were both so much fire they could melt your face! It was my first time seeing Falling in Reverse and they were just bad ass, and Papa Roach I see almost every time they come because they fuggin rock live!!!!!
I took Monday off to recover from the concert and get a nice workout in but woke up feeling like major ass! Half hungover, and the other half apparently just sick. Instead of getting better as the day went on it just got worse. Stomach issues, fever chills, and general miserableness all day. I broke fever overnight, and went into work Tuesday but still felt like hell in a handbasket most of the day. Got home and was just wrecked from working all day and ended up going to bed early. So today will be my first session since last week. Looking forward to getting something in.
Also, just to share something cool, my son gave me one of his sets of rims for Flex, I already needed to replace my tires and he had been telling me if his wheels fit I could have them. They are only 19's instead of my 20's but far more aggressive looking and stylish, plus they are about 8lbs lighter per wheel on average so I should be able to accelerate more quickly as a result. Plus I got traction issues with the stock tires and wheels and with these I have a staggered set up with 265's on front and 295's on back coming from 255's all the way around so I have a lot more rubber on the road too. Slapping on some Michelin Pilot Sport SUV summer tires on there too so I should stick to the road like I am driving on fly paper. Once I get the new tires on there I will take a picture, right now the wheels look a little funny because they have lower profile tires that were on his car, I think their is almost 2 inches difference in diameter right now so the wheel gap is a bit out of control. I think the current ones are 255/40R19 and 295/30R19, and to get them to the right diameter for the Flex I have to go with odd sizes 265x50R19, and 295x45R19 on the back. They already look meaty from the back but with the correct size tire I think it is really going to change the way Flex looks for the better. Plus, who has ever seen a Ford Flex with an aggressive staggered wheel set up? Not many people I can tell you that.