KLEEN Cut's back on the supplements but not the progress!

Inarius said:
Pretty good man. 8 weeks out from a meet. Looking for 1500 raw. Going to start posting up more and doing some logs. Hope that you'll join in and follow along.
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Awesome!!!! Yeah man throw a link up in here when you get it started and I will be there.
DreamWeaver said:
Chris I would be in traction if I did that workout. Even if I used good form it would break my joints down completely but I'm an old fugger.
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You might, but I honestly think you would be surprised if you follow it to the T! Even on the overload it should be heavy but you should be able to move it without grinding. You also have to remember it is a circuit and you have to use a weight that you will be able to hit the reps on all 5 sets. So on a top end for squats in the overload I might hit 450-500 tops but it is only a very short range of motion. Keep in mind you are only going down to where the femur is about 45 degrees so at my height maybe 5-6 inches of movement. That isn't too bad at all. The full ROM movement will be rough but the weights will only get up around 250-275 to start. After that everything is speed based so the weights will not get crazy heavy because you have to keep acceleration pretty high throughout the movements.

There are no grinders and no attempts at PR's in those lower rep ranges, just hard work to start out the circuit. I am not going to do anything that makes me feel like I am about to injure myself. However with more reading I am finding that there is a decent chance my aversion to doing explosive movements for fear of injuring myself probably weakened my connective tissue. It is the explosive / strength movements that increase the strength of the connective tissue and tell it to increase collagen production. You just have to make sure you are not training with too high volume and intensity at the same time. That is a sure way to get injured. In this manner of training you are stopping before the muscles fatigue to the point you are taking a lot of abuse on the connective tissues instead.

On another note, I may very well scrap this workout and sign up for Zach Even-esh's new Online Coaching for $10 a month. You get 3 workouts a week planned for you, you can take them with you on your phone or whatever. You update them online and it tracks your progress and you can compare or compete with everyone else. If you are not familiar with him he is the owner of Underground Strength he specializes in performance based training for athletes. He is big on odd object lifts and is a huge proponent of the garage gym type training. He incorporates power lifting weight lifting, GPP, gymnastics stuff, all kinds of things. I might give this Superhero program a few days to see how it feels and give Zach's coaching a shot if I don't like it. However I know the $10 a month is an introductory offer for the rest of the month then it goes up a little and then again the month after that.

DreamWeaver said:
New log

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I am there!
Hyde said:
If it's only the top half of the movement you need weight on, bands are a budget option for now- the pic says top-half squats but if it's deads you can get the short bands and they're even cheaper. Like, I have a pair of average shorts and they're so powerful I can't use them. Monster minis are 80-90# at my *******. Just hit up elite's webpage selling them and there's a chart pic showing approximate tension at various heights of stretch.
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Great ideas, that was basically my thoughts on the squats, I have some shorter bands from my MD band kit for the deads but I don't know how much resistance they will add. Then again I have not been very good at rack deads yet either so we shall see how much I actually need with them.


Last night I got home and was going to do some cardio but my lawn REALLY needed mowed. An extremely busy schedule the last 2 weeks and a ton of rain my grass about about 9 inches high. So I put on some shorts and started mowing but did not use the self propelling option on the mower and pushed by my own power. It took about an hour and I was drenched and worn out when I got done.

Tuesdays workout was my pushing workout again. Same basic format as last week. I didn't get enough to eat before the workout and I think it kept me from going up in weight as I was feeling a bit weak in the beginning

The Ramp
Standing Military Press x 3 reps = 115, 125, 135, 145, 155, 165
Barbell Incline Press x 3 reps = 165, 175, 185, 195, 215, 225, 235
Flat Bench x 3 reps = 235, 245, 255, 265 I basically repeated the last weeks workout but went up by 10 lbs on the final bench set. However I was feeling weak already from not having eaten enough. So I feel I might have performed better if I had taken care of my nutrition. My 3rd rep on the 265 was slowing down pretty good so not sure if I will get any higher on my next workout.

SuperSet Side Raises
15 lbs Upper Half Partials to failure > Full ROM Side raise to failure > Bottom end partials to failure x 3 rotations. - Talk about some serious pumpage in the shoulders. So much blood in them they ached.

SuperSet Rear Delts
15 lbs Full ROM Rear Delt Flies to failure > Rear Delt DB Swings x 50 x 3 rotations - Oh the burn!!!!! The shelf sticking out of the back of my shoulder looked pretty cool too!

Hex Bar Farmers Carry - 95 lbs for a 2 minute carry - I know this probably doesn't sound like much since the weight is not insane, but after a minute my traps, delts and forearms were screaming. I intended to put the weight up over my head but once I started walking I felt like if I put it down for any reason I might not pick it back up. So instead of trying to put it over my head I decided to just keep walking until I hit 2 minutes and then put it down. Really let me know how much weaker my ring and pinkie fingers are than my index and middle finger too. I imagine that is the part of the grip that will strengthen the fastest doing weighted carries.
 
Hope everyone is having an awesome Friday morning! I am in a great mood today. Sky was beautiful the weather is just right. Hugs kisses and snuggles from the daughter and a yummy kiss from the wife. What a beautiful start to my day!

So last night was a squatting only night. I just felt like I wanted to practice the movement more and get a lot of excellent reps in. Again doing the Performance Mass style Ramp on legs using the explosive reps. I kept the rest down to a minute other than the final 3 sets which went into the 90-120 seconds rest. I was getting a little winded and covered with sweat from the pace and the explosive effort.

1 minute rest
Barbell Front Squat - 3 reps on all sets - 115, 125, 135, 145, 155, 165, 175, 185, 195, 205
Barbell Back Squat - 3 reps on all sets - 205, 215, 225, 235, 245, 265, 275, 295, 315, 325 - I rested a little longer between 295, 315, & 325 to make sure I moved them fast enough.

Reps were all below parallel but not ATG.

Here is a pic from after my workout, the shirt was light gray when I started. LOL

Invalid Link Removed
 
Nice work lately - like you said, getting underfed will most definitely affect performance. It is what it is. As for the squat-only workout, if you want to get better at squatting that's the most important thing to be doing so I'd say it was worth your time. And anyone who says cutting your grass under your own power isn't cardio hasn't done it! lol

Also on the banded block/rackpulls - remember you can stack multiple bands as long as you can get em all under your feet, and even 70lbs or so will make a huge difference (if you don't pull explosively the bands try to pull you back down worse than straight weight).
 
DreamWeaver said:
Squats only seems like enough lol
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Most definitely!
Hyde said:
Nice work lately - like you said, getting underfed will most definitely affect performance. It is what it is. As for the squat-only workout, if you want to get better at squatting that's the most important thing to be doing so I'd say it was worth your time. And anyone who says cutting your grass under your own power isn't cardio hasn't done it! lol

Also on the banded block/rackpulls - remember you can stack multiple bands as long as you can get em all under your feet, and even 70lbs or so will make a huge difference (if you don't pull explosively the bands try to pull you back down worse than straight weight).
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Thanks Hyde! Yeah you wanna get good at squatting then squat a lot. I think that will work great on them and I can probably even double over some of my longer ones too!
 
MrKleen73 said:
Most definitely!


Thanks Hyde! Yeah you wanna get good at squatting then squat a lot. I think that will work great on them and I can probably even double over some of my longer ones too!
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I love squatting against bands. I haven't done it this past training cycle any but it's fun, and different. You have to keep pushing harder when the lift normally gets easier as it goes on. And the traditional westside boxsquat speed day of 10 sets of 2 with 45-55% bar weight & 20-30% band tension w/ minute rests or so is very satisfying. You wave the weight or tension upwards in 3 week waves then drop back with more bar weight, or switch to chains, or just straight weight of 60-70% (barspeed being the determining factor). But that portion of training doesn't take too long and leaves me drenched, and the weight falls into Prillipen's table pretty well.
 
Killer front squats! How are you liking the IM DBs?
 
Hyde said:
I love squatting against bands. I haven't done it this past training cycle any but it's fun, and different. You have to keep pushing harder when the lift normally gets easier as it goes on. And the traditional westside boxsquat speed day of 10 sets of 2 with 45-55% bar weight & 20-30% band tension w/ minute rests or so is very satisfying. You wave the weight or tension upwards in 3 week waves then drop back with more bar weight, or switch to chains, or just straight weight of 60-70% (barspeed being the determining factor). But that portion of training doesn't take too long and leaves me drenched, and the weight falls into Prillipen's table pretty well.
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Nice, I may have to give that a shot some time. That Superhero workout looks so intimidating. I am going to have to try to get started on it next Monday.
kenpoengineer said:
Killer front squats! How are you liking the IM DBs?
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Thanks on the front Squats, and I am Loving the DB's!!!! DAMN that TRT is treating your right kenpoengineer you look like a different man in your avi now!
Onlychevy6 said:
Sup pimp daddy. Guess who is back
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WooHoo!

Had a nice back workout this weekend but don't have time to update it. Have a push workout planned for tonight, but might go with a cardio session, we shall see. I will update it tomorrow.
 
So the push workout was good but my elbow sleeve was digging into my biceps in a really weird way and causing some distress. So I took it off. Once I did that my elbow was just barely starting to let me know it didn't agree with the workout. So I changed things up a bit in the end. Made for a hell of a workout and a nasty pump!!!

Everything else during the initial ramp was the same, minute rest periods and explosive reps. The changes start where I would have normall moved to flat bench with the same weight I finished up on incline with.

Sets of 3 reps, 1 minute rest
Standing Overhead Press - 115, 125, 135, 145, 155, 165
Staggered sets of Barbell Push Shrug between 125, 135 and 145
Incline Bench - 165, 185, 205, 225, 235 - elbow had a tiny bit of pain during final set here, not bad but enough to know I needed to stop increasing the weight and maybe just get some blood into the muscles instead.

Switched things up for a circuit style finish x 4 rotations.

Flat Bench 135x25, 25, 22, 18 - these dropped off after a few sets because the added flies were crushing the pecs.
Flat Flies 30 x failure x 4 rotations - done very explosively, man it really made a difference in the contraction too!
Top End Partial Side Raises 30 x failure
Side Raise Full ROM 30 x failure
Bottom End Partials 30 x failure
Band Pull Aparts - small red band x failure

Rear Delt Reverse Band Flies - green band x failure, gren band x failure, green band x failure > drop to thin orange band x failure
Thick Orange Band Triceps Extensions 4 sets almost to failure
DB Overhead Triceps Ext - 30 x 30, just to get more blood into the triceps and elbow region.

Call it a day

I was looking huge and pumped after this one. The high reps at the end really brought the blood into play. Elbow does not feel any worse for the wear than it did after last weeks training session. So I think the modification was just what I needed to keep working without hurting myself.
 
Excellent workout! Flies pump my chest up better than any exercise I do, gotta love that feeling. That's great to hear on the elbow, hopefully you can keep modifying around it!
 
Thanks turff49 I feel like I might have to hold off on the Superhero workout for another little bit just to be safe with the elbow. My ego says screw it jump in and crush that $hit, but the part of me thinking of longevity is saying maybe another month of working up into that level of intensity regarding % of max lifted. I think I will continue on for a bit with what I am doing or maybe some mixed programming. I have several of the Underground Strength books and workouts now so I can pick and choose from that too. I have the One Man One Barbell workout by Jerred Moon too which is about strength and performance as well. Also about to start reading Jon Anderson's Deep Water to see what it is all about.

So many things to look at and either follow or incorporate different facets of training into what I am doing. I know that I do not want to stick myself into one type of lifting anymore. Strength, explosiveness, performance, longevity and aesthetics are all high on the priority list right now.
 
Jon Anderson is something else, man - probably the only guy I know of that size and strength that stays keto virtually year-round, unless he was in a multi-day strongman event. He said that after the first day the body simply can't reload fast enough for the next day on fats alone, no matter how efficient it's gotten as making fat the preferred fuel source, so he'd throw a few 80g carb shakes in. Guy crushed strongman and as soon as he came to bodybuilding he crushed that.

A local guy here actually competed against him at Nationals in Pittsburgh, and he's like 6'1" and came in at a too-soft 260 or so, with huge arms and everything else needing to come up evenly to match. He said when they called him out on stage and stuck him between Meadows and Anderson, he knew he was absolutely f*cked lol. Anderson beat Meadows out that show for his Pro Card in his very first big show, even with awful posing. This guy didn't even make top 10 I believe, and he's huge.

Anderson was saying in an interview I read in Power he normally does like 650g protein/day right now, but when he's pushed it as high as 1,000g/day he notices really advanced recovery. He bulks by pushing his protein to insane levels.
 
Hyde said:
650g protein/day right now, but when he's pushed it as high as 1,000g/day he notices really advanced recovery. He bulks by pushing his protein to insane levels.
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600-1000g of protein a day... I am probably wrong but wouldn't that be a lot for your kidneys?

- Great looking workout Chris..
 
Hyde said:
Jon Anderson is something else, man - probably the only guy I know of that size and strength that stays keto virtually year-round, unless he was in a multi-day strongman event. He said that after the first day the body simply can't reload fast enough for the next day on fats alone, no matter how efficient it's gotten as making fat the preferred fuel source, so he'd throw a few 80g carb shakes in. Guy crushed strongman and as soon as he came to bodybuilding he crushed that.

A local guy here actually competed against him at Nationals in Pittsburgh, and he's like 6'1" and came in at a too-soft 260 or so, with huge arms and everything else needing to come up evenly to match. He said when they called him out on stage and stuck him between Meadows and Anderson, he knew he was absolutely f*cked lol. Anderson beat Meadows out that show for his Pro Card in his very first big show, even with awful posing. This guy didn't even make top 10 I believe, and he's huge.

Anderson was saying in an interview I read in Power he normally does like 650g protein/day right now, but when he's pushed it as high as 1,000g/day he notices really advanced recovery. He bulks by pushing his protein to insane levels.
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Yeah he has a section on his dieting in the book. I haven't started it yet but was pretty excited to get it.
wasme said:
600-1000g of protein a day... I am probably wrong but wouldn't that be a lot for your kidneys?

- Great looking workout Chris..
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I think it really depends on how well hydrated you keep yourself.
 
And for how long you stress the kidneys. A few weeks shouldn't be a problem. Several months could create issues.
 
turff49 said:
And for how long you stress the kidneys. A few weeks shouldn't be a problem. Several months could create issues.
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Yeah makes you wonder what his bloodwork looks like. He runs the 600+ I believe year-round it sounded like. He's also a mountain of a man, but I always wonder what some of these pros look like on the inside...makes you wonder, when you see guys like Don Youngblood and such kicking off left and right....none of the really big, newer guys make it to 60 it seems like.
 
turff49 said:
And for how long you stress the kidneys. A few weeks shouldn't be a problem. Several months could create issues.
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Yeah I think his numbers are pretty high but has more to do with his weight. He recommends between 1-1.5 and up to a maximum of 2 grams protein per lb of body weight, and about .75-1g of fat per lb of bodyweight working up to a protein to fat ratio of 2:1. So that would put me at 220-440p, and 165-220g fats with no counting carbs but just avoiding them other than trace amounts in nuts, avocados and the like.

Hyde said:
Yeah makes you wonder what his bloodwork looks like. He runs the 600+ I believe year-round it sounded like. He's also a mountain of a man, but I always wonder what some of these pros look like on the inside...makes you wonder, when you see guys like Don Youngblood and such kicking off left and right....none of the really big, newer guys make it to 60 it seems like.
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Eh in all honesty probably not too bad, he eats with low inflammation markers and his conditioning is off the charts. Drinking 2 gallons a day and right at 2g protein per lb he is probably not in too much danger. The only problem the kidneys have with flushing the protein has to do with improper hydration compared to protein intake. The kidneys are made to process the stuff but when dehydrated or not adequately hydrated they swell and filtering during that time causes issues and gradually causes scarring and lack of blood flow decreasing the size of the kidney and its ability to filter even further. However when plenty fluids are available there typically is no problem for the kidneys to produce plenty of urea making everything flow through the filter more easily due to having a faster current so to speak.


Boy oh boy is my chest sore from the workout the other day. Finishing with the high reps and flies was just what the doctor ordered to shock my chest. Have a leg workout to do today and am pretty excited about that.

I am back and home now. Have Comcast here putting in the Xfinity 105mbps internet in since it was $20 less for 80mbps more speed.

Once that is done I will end up going to the garage for some squatting.
 
2gr per lb would be great if I could afford it...lol or I'd be doing a tremendous amount of shakes(not cheap either). I average between 1.1-1.25 per lb
 
turff49 said:
2gr per lb would be great if I could afford it...lol or I'd be doing a tremendous amount of shakes(not cheap either). I average between 1.1-1.25 per lb
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Yah that's more where I am at. Really don't feel the need for more but I eat some carbs too. Mostly from yams and some rice though.
 
turff49 said:
2gr per lb would be great if I could afford it...lol or I'd be doing a tremendous amount of shakes(not cheap either). I average between 1.1-1.25 per lb
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Yep that is pretty much perfect in my opinion. I think spiking protein directly after a shock workout that puts you through the ringer. You know when you really go for it and push to extreme intensity. I definitely think spiking above normal for that type of situation is great.
wasme said:
....jelly

Edit: Thanks for the protein/hydration explanation .. always learning from you Chris (as well as Hyde/Turff)
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Yeah it is pretty fast even over wireless I am pulling over 50mbps on speed tests and like 125 on wired speed tests. No problem on the info on the protein and kidneys. I had to do a lot of research on the subject when they were looking into my kidneys to make sure they are not getting any worse. So far everything looks pretty good. No worsening just the same elevated levels that they have been for 30 years since I got that kidney infection.
DreamWeaver said:
Yah that's more where I am at. Really don't feel the need for more but I eat some carbs too. Mostly from yams and some rice though.
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Carbs are definitely protein sparing in that they increase insulin and catabolism gets crushed by insulin. Alternatively hydrolized proteins or EEA's do a great job in doing the same thing due to the large insulin spikes created by them.
Hyde said:
Agreed; this was very useful info!!
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Thanks Hyde!

Okay so this weekend was a bit of a brutal one for me. I think I rolled my upper back forward a little bit on my front squats and pulled my lower trapezius pretty bad. Possibly sub-luxed my ribs from the spine AGAIN!!! I tore them all out of socket in an accident almost 20 years ago. Occasionally I will do something that pulls the slightly loose out of the socket and everything surrounding them hurts badly for a week or so. I used a foam roller Saturday and as I rolled over the spot I felt the ribs cracking and popping back into position. Now the muscle are recovering.

Now I will say I had a great second push day with my buddy on Friday. I woke up and my back was already aching a little bit but not too bad. My friend Bryan I always mention, the really big guy called and wanted to get in a lift. It was his Push Day and even though my chest was sore from the workout earlier in the week I was game. Keep in mind this guy is like retard strength type of strong. I basically spent most of the workout trying to match his intensity. Just for the heck of it I am going to post up some of his sets too. You will see why I love working out with him and why there really is no choice but to nut up and get it done when working with someone so much stronger than you.

Okay so we started with 30 minutes on the treadmill doing moderate intervals. He likes to hit his cardio first since growth is not a concern for either of us at this point. Keep in mind Bryan is 6'2 and 330+ at about 20-25% body fat. In other words he is close to my current condition but 330+ lbs at 6'2.

So he and I were going back and forth here, no long rests like you see with most power training. We were basically back and forth the entire time. I will make his lifts with a B.

B's Flat Bench - 135x 10-15, 225x8, 275x5, 315x3, 365x3, 405x3 - all of these were 2 second pause presses too- after 405 he dropped to 315 and repped out then 225 and repped out.

My Flat Bench not as impressive as the big mans numbers, but a good bit more than I have lifted recently.
135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x3, 295x3, 295x3 > 205x12, 135x not sure... I went until he took the bar from me. LOL Close to 15 reps I was extremely impressed at this point. So far 30lbs higher than my heaviest pressing as of late and I was still quite sore when I started. Bryan said I had at least 1 maybe 2 more reps at 295 on the final set. So I am happy with that performance.

B's DB Incline Power Flies 105x10, 110x10, 110x10, 110x10 - Beast! He does these power style IE... he keeps forearms vertical throughout the movement and just does the fly movement instead of pressing.

My DB Flies - 60x10. 65x8, 65x7, 65x5 - I still keep my elbows a bit straighter than he does at least on the first couple sets but by the end I had adopted the power fly movement. It is quite effective so long as you squeeze the pecs together to raise the weight instead of pressing it.

After this we did 4 sets of incline hammer strength to failure, then a group of exercises on the free motion cables doing cross overs and front raises from various angles. When done with that we did 3 sets of body weight dips to failure and then onto various angles of triceps extensions before calling it a day.

All in all it was a beast of a workout. I felt great and my elbow held up great. Only issue now is that my back is hurting, definitely an injured type of pain but not a major injury but something that needs a little recovery time. I should be doing some sort of lift today but not really sure what to do that will benefit me with my back right now. It seems okay to brace but if I let my back round out I am in pain. So I am not sure if i should do something for back, or do another pressing workout. I know legs is out of the question right now other than perhaps some dragging the tire or something I might be able to do. Either way I need to do something even if that is just go walk a couple miles tonight.
 
That was one heck of a pressing day especially as close as it was to the previous one!!! Love the intensity too!


Sure hope your back feels better!!!
 
wasme said:
405... helluva bench
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Yeah for paused reps, and no gear. On strong days he goes up to 435x3 for paused reps... he hadn't hit a push day in two weeks so he was "taking it easy."
 
I see you guys took it easy...lol
Glad I don't workout with either one of you, I'd be in a hospital!
 
turff49 said:
I see you guys took it easy...lol
Glad I don't workout with either one of you, I'd be in a hospital!
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Thanks turff49, however I have seen your workouts and numbers you put up. You and I would have gone Tit for Tat while chasing the beasts numbers.
 
Damn! These injuries! Heal up brother. Glad it's not stopping your lifts.
 
DreamWeaver said:
405 is crazy for bench. I have never done 400, was never much of a bencher.
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Got to remember that guy weighs 330lbs. So he really only benched 75lbs over his body weight. Impressive to say the least but so is a guy who weighs 200 and benches 300lbs.
 
turff49 said:
Got to remember that guy weighs 330lbs. So he really only benched 75lbs over his body weight. Impressive to say the least but so is a guy who weighs 200 and benches 300lbs.
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Yah so Chris was holding his own for sure. :)
 
Most definitely!!
 
In my mind if you can hit clean reps with 225 then that's respectable. If you can hit 300 for reps that's real strong. If you can get up to 400 then you are in the 1% of gym goers that will ever reach that which demands respect no matter what the weight of the person.

295 for triples isn't anything to take lightly! Often times our view of strength can be twisted by the freaks we see online or in the gym.
 
Inarius said:
In my mind if you can hit clean reps with 225 then that's respectable. If you can hit 300 for reps that's real strong. If you can get up to 400 then you are in the 1% of gym goers that will ever reach that which demands respect no matter what the weight of the person.

295 for triples isn't anything to take lightly! Often times our view of strength can be twisted by the freaks we see online or in the gym.
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Yes it's all relative, every time I do bench nowadays I am either using inner intention, very high reps or bands so how much weight I do doesn't really factor in that much. I have used these methods and put on way more size on my chest than I did in the previous 20 some odd years of lifting heavier. Nice to have that kind of strength don't get me wrong. It is what it is and I got gains to make.
 
DreamWeaver said:
Yes it's all relative, every time I do bench nowadays I am either using inner intention, very high reps or bands so how much weight I do doesn't really factor in that much. I have used these methods and put on way more size on my chest than I did in the previous 20 some odd years of lifting heavier. Nice to have that kind of strength don't get me wrong. It is what it is and I got gains to make.
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Exactly. I'm chasing a 405 bench so I'm focused on strength. Your chest might be bigger and better than mine but I might be able to out press you. In the end, all that matters is what's important to you. 99% of the world doesn't care what you lift unless it's time to help them move.
 
Inarius said:
Exactly. I'm chasing a 405 bench so I'm focused on strength. Your chest might be bigger and better than mine but I might be able to out press you. In the end, all that matters is what's important to you. 99% of the world doesn't care what you lift unless it's time to help them move.
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Ain't that the truth! And if you own a truck too then it really sucks...
 
Don't know if you have one, but I love the Battle Ropes to get the blood flowing in the upper body along with the tire drags for the lower.
You have been doing some serious pressing dude!
Hope the back feels better!
 
Inarius said:
Nice benching big man!
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Thanks Inarius, by the way if any of you do not know Inarius, he is an old school vet of the board and the real deal.
kenpoengineer said:
Damn! These injuries! Heal up brother. Glad it's not stopping your lifts.
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No doubt and i am feeling noticeably better today. So just a blip on the radar. Some good foam rolling and a lot of stretching it the last few days and I would say I am safe for a solid workout on legs either tonight or tomorrow.
DreamWeaver said:
405 is crazy for bench. I have never done 400, was never much of a bencher.
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Yeah it is, no matter who is moving it.
turff49 said:
Got to remember that guy weighs 330lbs. So he really only benched 75lbs over his body weight. Impressive to say the least but so is a guy who weighs 200 and benches 300lbs.
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No doubt pound for pound I was in there with him. The most I have seen him bench with no gear at all was 525, at 24Hr fitness and it broke the bar. They are not made for that kind of weight. He pops of the 405 of his chest from a pause pretty explosively. Especially considering we were probably getting in 60 and no more than 90 seconds rest. He wants me to train with him for a meet if my elbows get squared away. He has been doing the 10-12 reps stuff for a while so I can't imagine if he just focuses on strength work.
DreamWeaver said:
Yah so Chris was holding his own for sure. :)
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Thanks, I was doing my best!

DreamWeaver said:
Yes it's all relative, every time I do bench nowadays I am either using inner intention, very high reps or bands so how much weight I do doesn't really factor in that much. I have used these methods and put on way more size on my chest than I did in the previous 20 some odd years of lifting heavier. Nice to have that kind of strength don't get me wrong. It is what it is and I got gains to make.
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Yes the specialized and focused training you are doing now is far better than power pressing for activating the pecs. Unless you have great mind & muscle connection to your pecs AND the proper shoulder structure pressing doesn't always hit them. Instead some people get the big triceps and front delts and less developed pecs. Building the muscle requires things like you are doing to get the actual hypertrophy in. I think that is a big part of why your chest has come up so much.
Inarius said:
Exactly. I'm chasing a 405 bench so I'm focused on strength. Your chest might be bigger and better than mine but I might be able to out press you. In the end, all that matters is what's important to you. 99% of the world doesn't care what you lift unless it's time to help them move.
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I had a goal to hit 405 when I was younger and never did because I never trained for strength. Now that I am learning the proper methods for strength training I can see that it could even be a possibility for me still. My best ever bench was 365 I was about 234 fitting comfortably in 34 inch waist pants and looked like a walking meat factory. That was the one time my thighs got up to 28 inches!!! I was a big boy that was the big Testosterone cycle I ran when I was in my early 20s. Actually it was right before I got in the accident that dislocated all my ribs from the spine that I just tweaked again last week. I was actually still on cycle when that happened and that ended it abruptly. Unfortunately I did not know anything about PCT at all and just stopped. I went from 800mg of Test E a week to zero, all while being bed ridden for weeks and not able to work out for months and months. By the end of that period I ended up being a pretty darn fat 244 hanging over my 40 inch waist band.

turff49 said:
Ain't that the truth! And if you own a truck too then it really sucks...
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LMAO No doubt.
clown007 said:
Don't know if you have one, but I love the Battle Ropes to get the blood flowing in the upper body along with the tire drags for the lower.
You have been doing some serious pressing dude!
Hope the back feels better!
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I have some Slastix Battle Ropes, they are elastic and have 105lbs resistance each. So when I back away to do the battle rope exercises I have 200 lbs of resistance trying to pull me back in. Talk about an intense modification to already intense battle ropes. Of course if you don't walk out as fat there is less resistance. So many things you can do with them.

Thanks on the pressing, it feels good to be going up in weight and my elbow not getting thrashed.

Okay now on to last nights workout. I decided to do something a little different. Keep the weight down and be nice to my back. Also figured 4 weeks of steady weight increases it was time for some reps and pump type work. It was a short one but a good an intense one due to short rest periods.

Rest periods were simply as long as it took to change the weights with the quick lock DB's so between 30-60 seconds. I was rushing through the weight changes, and am learning a little better how to do it quickly which is good. I do have to say I really love these DB's they are so sturdy and the decently thick handle is the perfect grip size. I feel like I am using a new pair of solid DB's the way they feel in your hands!

DB Standing Borge/Scott Press/Arnold Press - 20x15, 30x15, 40x15, 50x12-15, 60x12, 70x10. 75x9 - The reason I listed out all of these types of presses is because my version is a mix of all 3. The movement of the Borge presses and Scott Press are designed to really incorporate the medial delts. However they do not really go up much further into the range so I continue on through a fuller range of motion by continuing to press up toward full extension while making sure I keep the DB's outside my shoulders so that gravity is still working heavily on them. PS these thrashed my shoulders. I MEAN THRASHED!!! Barely had anything in the tank after these they work the entire shoulder cap so thoroughly.

DB Incline Twist Press - 75x12, 75x12, 75x11, 75x9 - One or two reps each set when I would twist at the top I would press the 2 ends together on the inside and do a strong contraction for a count of 5. I was surprised how much these fatigued my chest, it has been a while since I did a twist press.

DB Incline Flies 30lb x failure including partials - went until could only move an inch or two.
DB Side Raises 30lb x failure including partials - went until could only move an inch or two.

I was soaked with sweat and could see drops of sweat on the floor everywhere I had been, was breathing heavy and looking like a monster! All in all it was a great lift. I am trying to figure out what I am going to do for legs. I think going in to the gym will be required this week since my back is not quite up to snuff. It would only take a little bit of a rolling of the back under a load to completely re-aggravate it. We shall see. I may choose to make tonight a GPP workout and go lift legs tomorrow. One more day to recover... We shall see.

I am dying to get back into some Deadlifting too. Maybe for legs I could do some Trap Deads, less likely to roll forward there and not pitched as forward as I would be with a conventional deadlift. I will figure something fun out.
 
Looks like an intense workout for sure. My shoulders get neglected right now. I think Im going to focus on them after this meet.
 
DreamWeaver said:
Yah Chris I got big front delts from it.
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Yeah I know several people like this. I have always been lucky my pecs fire very easily. I have no problem targeting them with simple pressing movements.
Inarius said:
Looks like an intense workout for sure. My shoulders get neglected right now. I think Im going to focus on them after this meet.
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No doubt, I think in a way my lack of attention to my shoulders for a while weakened me. When I started focusing a bit more on shoulders a year or two ago I feel I am getting noticeably stronger. Not too mention looking more well rounded. I fell into the all your compound movements are more than enough work to build strong shoulders. I went from having very impressive shoulders to having decent shoulders over a period of time without noticing they weren't continuing to grow like my the rest of my muscle groups.

wasme said:
Great workout Chris, those short rest periods really turn up the intensity
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No doubt, it lets you know you are putting in work.
 
Is it the lower back that is tweaked?
I've played with band single leg deadlifts. So the band is anchored low to a rack. Walk out so the band is slightly tightened when you are hinged forward at the hips, band in hand. Now with on one leg go from the hinged position to standing using the hamstring to pull yourself up.
I may be explaining something you already do (and maybe explaining it badly lol), but I find this really gets the hamstrings and lower back pumped. Sometimes I will hold a DB in my hand as well to add some weight to the movement.
Just a thought :)
 
No, not the lower back, more mid back. It is my lower trapezius, AKA the meat hanging over the lower back that forms the top of the "Christmas Tree". I could easily do Stiff leg or even moderate weight full ROM deads right now. Just pushing it with a weight that might make me fail is not going to be okay. The juice just isn't worth the squeeze. I do like the idea of using that as an accessory exercise. Takes a good bit of neural control to work against a band while using isolateral movements. Especially on legs where balance is heavily employed.
 
You talking about the Rhomboid area?
 
I could bench 300 10 times but it would probably take ten sets over five days
 
I just hit a 385 bench at 212lb a few weeks ago. I'm a little juiced right now though ;)
 
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