bigger stronger faster with the help of 5/3/1

[herderdude]

Yup I'll search it now. Remember what section?

Ummm, thoracic??

 

[capo180]

Thanks guys.. Im counting on this to go away in a couple days. I feel in my back a lot. I'm guessing it's just a little strain. Don't know if I could bench with it though..

 

[Sean1332]

Ummm, thoracic??

Is it with a broomstick?

 

[rob112]

Is it the one with the double lacross and you basically glute bridge on it? Or the one with a single lacross and you internally rotate the arm under the back and roll towards it?

 

[Sean1332]

Good call, Rob.

This is for the stiff ribs:

 

[Sean1332]

lol disregard that first pic...I took a screenshot to show someone how stupid this place can be sometimes

 

[napalm]

nice work capo, seans right, sounds like it's an intercostal. careful w that, those things can last a long time if you rush it

Is it the one with the double lacross and you basically glute bridge on it? Or the one with a single lacross and you internally rotate the arm under the back and roll towards it?

my head just exploded...

 

[rob112]

nice work capo, seans right, sounds like it's an intercostal. careful w that, those things can last a long time if you rush it

my head just exploded...

But it was correct Napalm. When you get my age things just click ma man

 

[capo180]

Thanks guys, it feels a bit better this morning.. I was doing something much like what is posted above yesterday. I'll probably hit it some more today and do some shoulder mobility.. My joints are getting a bit cranky, probably from the ArA.

 

[rob112]

ARA can do that. You can still dose and joint support and/or fish oil 6-8 hours later to help.

 

[capo180]

Yeah i really need to get some joint supplements.

 

[capo180]

Yeah gonna start back on fish oil.. It's not something that I always take but gonna start doing 1g-2g a day.

Today just did shoulder mobility work. Did 15 min on the treadmill. Then stretched the legs and did some ankle work. I'm feeling pretty good now. See how I feel in the morning if I feel good ill be benching.

 

[CountryLiftin]

I needed some of that a few weeks ago before I had issues. Lol

 

[capo180]

Hah yeah I am just getting noise from the knees and shoulders so I figured I should start trying to help em out.

 

[capo180]

Cycle 7 Week 2 day B

warm-up
lax ball
foam roll
banded shoulder routine
setting the shoulder

bench press
warm-ups - barx10 95x8 135x5
work sets - 185x3 195x3 205x8
pause press - 205x3x3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUeXyeCex5c (1st pause set)

DB bench press
55x8,12,12 65x10,10
super set with
Pendlay rows
135x8,12,12 155x10,10

cable work super set
rope push down - 3x15
straight arm row - 3x15
face pull - 3x15

EZ bar curl - 50x3x12
super set with
L raise - 10x3x12

notes
Good workout today, 205 felt pretty darn light, probably had at least 2 more reps left in me. Previous rep pr was 8, didn't realize that till after the workout, so i just matched the rep pr today. I'm starting to get better leg drive, and really focusing on pulling the bar apart hard. The first pause set wasn't that great, tbh, didn't maintain great tightness there. Tightened up the last two though. super setted all my assistance work. fasted weight this morning was 197, probably backing off the cals a hair, to stay below 198 and just try and maintain weight.

 

[capo180]

I'm gonna order a lifting belt at the end of this month.. what are some good options?

 

[Duramaxhd]

Most are going to say inzer lever belt but I like my belt I got it from bobsbelts.Com its army green with black thread 140 I think

 

[Duramaxhd]

Rob likes his I cant remember where I got his thou

 

[herderdude]

Got mine from House of Pain (which makes it an Inzer). There's toro belts, and a host of others whose names escape me at the moment. A 10mm single prong or lever is the way to go. I love my lever though my constant fatness fluctuations make it kind of a pain to adjust.

 

[rob112]

Rob likes his I cant remember where I got his thou

I have a Texas Belt from APT that I ordered through liftinglarge.com

I'd say bob's, apt, or inzer. All get great reviews and high quality belts.

 

[capo180]

thanks guys! I'm thinking about the toro single prong 10 mm.. The price seems real low compared to some of the other belts though, but the reviews of em seem positive.

Cycle 7 week 2 day A

warm-ups
foam roll
lax ball
ankle work
stretching

squats
warm-ups - 135x8 185x5 225x5
work sets - 250x3 265x3 280x5
pause sets - 255x3,2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8bIGv81rpw (255x3)

RDLs
135x8,10 185x10,10 205x10

barbell lunges 65x3x8
super set with
band pull throughs - 3x10

notes
Pretty good workout today, made it a little shorter cause it took me a while to get through my squats.. My warm up sets were in this half rack that i had to take 4-5 steps back to walk out of, really kinda messed with me. Had to wait for the guy doing band bench with 155 lbs in the power rack to GTFO haha. squats felt good, the 280x5 is a calc 1rm pr!

 

[Duramaxhd]

I hate them kind of racks for me it seems the pins are either too high or too low to get the right setup + the walkout does suck

Good work too

 

[herderdude]

Looked strong, bubba!

Make sure you're not resting on your calves when you do your pause squats. Resting on your calves does make it more difficult than a regular squat, but a pause squat below parallel where you're not sitting on anything at the bottom is exponentially more difficult and has far better carryover.

 

[CountryLiftin]

very good work man, looks great. Still likin the shoes?

 

[capo180]

Thanks herder, just noticed that. I'll make sure that I'm not doing that next time.

Country the shoes are great. I love em for squating and deadlifting. Beats my barefoot approach for sure haha.

 

[CountryLiftin]

Glad to hear you still like them. I am enjoying mine as well, still getting used to them though.

 

[capo180]

Yeah it's takes some time.. Having a heeled shoe was just odd to walk in at first. Almost had to back off the weight in training but I got accustomed to training in em fast. Although I was at a real light training max.

 

[CountryLiftin]

I'm the same, get much more used to them now.

 

[capo180]

Another day on the treadmill, starting to feel better on it. After that did some ab work and stretched the legs real good.

I got a little kink in my shoulder from yesterday's workout. Felt horrible latter last night feels okay now, it's still there though. Tomorrow I'm gonna do some shoulder mobility and hit OH press Tuesday.

 

[capo180]

Cycle 7 week 2 day D

Warm-up
Foam roll
Lax ball
Shoulder mobility
Shoulder band work

OH press
Warm-ups - barx15 95x8 115x5
Work sets - 140x3 150x3 160x4 (PR) 135x3x3

Close grip bench press
135x8 165x8 175x8 185x8 165x8
Super set with
Pull ups (wide grip)
5x6

Laying DB extensions
30x8 25x2x8

DB curl
25x15,12,10
Super set with
Banded face pull
3x15

Notes
Over head work felt pretty easy today.. Did a little broom stick work yesterday. I think doing mobility work the day before helps me a lot, especially with squats and over head press. Rep PR on 160 from 3 to 4, probably still had 1-2 in the tank, don't really like grinding out over head work though..

 

[Est1969]

Great work on the OHP!

 

[capo180]

Thanks man! I'm happy with my progress on my press, I've only trained it since beginning 5/3/1.. It's came a long way. Looking forward to a body weight press at some point this year!

 

[Sean1332]

Strong work. Give rolling dumbell Tricep extensions a go sometime!

 

[Duramaxhd]

Strong work. Give rolling dumbell Tricep extensions a go sometime!

Great tricep exercise takes a sec to get the motion fluid I try to fit them in once a cycle

 

[capo180]

Good idea ill check em out guys, thanks!

 

[rob112]

You OHP is getting strong man!


I too like rolling triceps...I also like Tate press for another isolation variant exercise.

 

[Est1969]

You are closing in fast!

 

[capo180]

Thanks guys. I think I could do 180-185 now.. So probably 10-15 lbs away from my goal!

I've never heard of the Tate press, ill check em out though. Always good to have options lol.

 

[capo180]

Cycle 7 week 2 day C

Warm-up
Foam roll
Lax ball
Stretching
Banded ankle work
Hip mobility

Deads
Warm-ups - 135x8 185x5 225x3 275x3
Work sets - 305x3 325x3 345x3

Front squats
135x6 155x6 175x6 195x6 215x5
http://youtu.be/9TRdlzHMV1U (215x5)

Good mornings
135x3x8
Super set with
BW lunge
3x12-15

Notes
Decent day in the gym.. Deads felt pretty bad, everything else was great. I felt my hips shooting up on deads, I don't know what's going on, I'm guessing I'm fatiguing my self in my warm ups.. 345 should be a 6-7 rep weight for me at this point, 3 was a struggle. The bar just didn't want to break the floor. Pretty good fronts today though probably a 5 rep PR there, not sure. Good mornings felt great.

 

[capo180]

Here's my deads from today forgot to post em up.. As you can see hips rise early. I'm going back to deficit deads next week. And do em for the next 8 weeks or so, try to fix this.

http://youtu.be/VqIxIOkwinA 345x3

 

[bolt10]

Looks to me like you just need to work on tightening the upper back and pulling the slack out of the bar more. You are loose in the set up so the hips do pop up first. Once you get that down you'll probably shoot up in poundages because it doesn't really look too difficult. :thumbsup:

 

[capo180]

Thanks man, it's something that has been an issue at times.. I'm just not approaching my deads as seriously as I am everything else right now to be honest.. And that has to change. Next week will be better.

 

[rob112]

I think you should work on taking a huge breath at the top every time. It is hard to fill your gut with air curled up in a ball. Also at the top I like the que of squeezing oranges in my armpits to activate the upper back. As Bolt said, the slack and tightness. You kind of pull it out as your hips go down. You can activate the glutes more by spreading your heels hard and that may stop the shoot up since they will be more engaged.

Awesome front squating, man. I'm jelly

 

[CountryLiftin]

Reps 1 and 2 were okay. 3 was iffy. You need to strengthen your hams and sit back harder. Once you break the ground you should be pulling up and levering at the hips. Work on back strength, but I didn't really see an issue there. I have the same problem (weak hams) but obviously at a little heavier weight than you... Its something to address now for sure. I think maybe try to get some more lumbar arch going on before you pull the slack, that will leave you about flat with the weight in your hands. Your erector spinae muscles are postural meaning they basically hold you in place, not really designed to contract and move your back. They are like your abs for the back, so you want to be locked into position before hand. Try getting a big chest like you would want a big chest in the hole when squatting. Keep working at it bro and it will come.

 

[capo180]

Thanks guys. I know there are some issues that I have to work out.. I've always wanted to force my hips lower, I think I need to bump my feet out a bit, and try to sit and create tension on the hams. Today was all back. I don't think I'm always that bad but I'm always pretty high hipped. The problem is that I'm trying to rip the bar off the floor and not getting my hips into the movement. Which caused me to get in front of the bar and lift mess up the leverage.

 

[CountryLiftin]

Most big pullers are high hipped. That's the convo deadlift for you. It's a hip hinge not a squat. How is your stance now?

 

[herderdude]

Thanks guys. I know there are some issues that I have to work out.. I've always wanted to force my hips lower, I think I need to bump my feet out a bit, and try to sit and create tension on the hams. Today was all back. I don't think I'm always that bad but I'm always pretty high hipped. The problem is that I'm trying to rip the bar off the floor and not getting my hips into the movement. Which caused me to get in front of the bar and lift mess up the leverage.

Where are your feet now? That might not be something you need to change, but at the same time it might benefit you to change. You might even have to move them IN! Lots of people go wider than they should. The way I think about the conventional deadlift is to grab the bar, sit down to get the bar off of the floor, and then shove my hips in to keep it going and finish the lift. It sounds bass ackwards, but my hips don't ride up when I pull.

 

[capo180]

Heels are probably about 7-8 inches apart. Toes pointed out.. What herder said hits the nail on the head, I'm approaching it wrong.. I need to learn to sit the bar off the floor. The first part of the movement screws me, I gotta work on my position at and just leaving the floor. I don't want to make wholesale changes but I want to deadlift properly and get more weight off the floor.

 

[herderdude]

Heels are probably about 7-8 inches apart. Toes pointed out.. What herder said hits the nail on the head, I'm approaching it wrong.. I need to learn to sit the bar off the floor. The first part of the movement screws me, I gotta work on my position at and just leaving the floor. I don't want to make wholesale changes but I want to deadlift properly and get more weight off the floor.

My sitting the bar off of the floor is to get my hips down. I see a lot of guys start with low hips and pretty much every person that does that will see their hips ride up, unless they're tighter than fish püssy while they're down there. I start with mine high and drop my hips in position. Take out some of the slack with my arms when I first grab the bar, then take the rest of the slack out by loading my hips and hams.

You took the slack out of your first rep but didn't load the hips and hams. You didn't load your hips and hams OR take the slack out on rep two or three. I don't spend any time in my starting position, there's too much tightness for me to keep my air down there for very long. I roll into my starting position and go from there. Now, my deadlift isn't a technical masterpiece and they rarely if ever look pretty, but I found a way to load my lower body to get the weight off of the floor.

 

[CountryLiftin]

All your power is coming through your hips and hams. You could widen out some. I stand around 14" between, used to be a little closer. I move it around some. Herder gave you some good stuff to chew on.