Liftandswim's Log

I really need to do more FS. Nice on 350...
 
liftandswim said:
Greg knuckols. Why you should not tuck your elbows. Interesting. Invalid Link Removed
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Part of the purpose of tucking is to engage lats more and get that "bounce" off, correct?

I believe my elbows naturally tuck while breaking the bar.
 
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Greg was talking on reddit that his article hits the points better than the short video. Worth a read. It's more about being able to load the pecs as a primary mover than to worry about lats as a secondary/stabilizer muscle
 
Makes a lot of sense as I was always a hard tuck guy with a lot of elbow pain. Like it says in the video, I've gotten around my relatively weak pecs by tucking and touching on the upper abs. And when I over stretched my pecs and got to move more weight in a raw bench, my weak pecs caught up with me.

Here's one I saw the other day that made me think "He flares a lot." but lines up with Nuckols:

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Agreed with all of the above. That vid above looks like he's got a real wide grip there. So he couldn't tuck if he wanted too. Tucking/using a narrower grip never did anything good for me.
 
I had always read you didnt want to use your pecs to bench as they are more likely to tear. So i bench with almost all lat and tricep, even when flared. Should i use them more? They are very weak also, cant db press 100s but bench mid 3s.
 
SweetLou321 said:
I had always read you didnt want to use your pecs to bench as they are more likely to tear. So i bench with almost all lat and tricep, even when flared. Should i use them more? They are very weak also, cant db press 100s but bench mid 3s.
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I'd imagine you don't want to bench exclusively with your pecs (not really possible, but you know what I mean...i.e. elbows straight out). I'm not very strong and have read a lot of mixed information so honestly idk.
 
liftandswim said:
I'd imagine you don't want to bench exclusively with your pecs (not really possible, but you know what I mean...i.e. elbows straight out). I'm not very strong and have read a lot of mixed information so honestly idk.
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Same here. The strongest raw benchers i know are pec benchers. 475 at 220 and 500+ at 200-210. They dont kill there tris at all nor do they kill ohp or shoulder work.
 
SweetLou321 said:
Same here. The strongest raw benchers i know are pec benchers. 475 at 220 and 500+ at 200-210. They dont kill there tris at all nor do they kill ohp or shoulder work.
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So, less arch or less flare?
 
Lou, I think pecs tear when you're benching wrong, too tight in the pecs, or on a ton of drugs or a combination therein. Another thing would be if they can't handle the load. You won't see a giant raw bencher with small pecs, so I think it's up to us to get our pecs stronger to handle the load and prevent them from injury, but not try to bench in a way that will isolate the pecs.
 
capo180 said:
Agreed with all of the above. That vid above looks like he's got a real wide grip there. So he couldn't tuck if he wanted too. Tucking/using a narrower grip never did anything good for me.
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Yeah, he's a multi-ply bencher (870 @ 220) and the multi ply guys I know grip wide even raw. He's not long-armed either. Basically in a shirt you tuck to get the touch and throw your elbows back into where he has them there to keep the weight riding on the shirt.
 
herderdude said:
Lou, I think pecs tear when you're benching wrong, too tight in the pecs, or on a ton of drugs or a combination therein. Another thing would be if they can't handle the load. You won't see a giant raw bencher with small pecs, so I think it's up to us to get our pecs stronger to handle the load and prevent them from injury, but not try to bench in a way that will isolate the pecs.
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Im making this a priority now. I had a feeling it was somewhere in the middle. My big issue is my pecs dont fire when i bench at all atm. So i have to use special exercises to build them up like db presses, dips, ect.
 
RegisterJr said:
To engage more chest.
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Do what looks right and feels right and lets you move the most weight on bench press. Movements are movements, there's correct principles to it and then there's wrong ways to do it. I for one say never do less arch, it puts your shoulders in a safe spot and decreases ROM, which also saves shoulders.

If you want to blow up your pecs, do some hammer strength or dumbbell presses for high reps without a full *******.
 
SweetLou321 said:
Im making this a priority now. I had a feeling it was somewhere in the middle. My big issue is my pecs dont fire when i bench at all atm. So i have to use special exercises to build them up like db presses, dips, ect.
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Yeah, I figure the best way to move the most weight is to get the most muscle mass involved in a correctly leveraged position. There can absolutely be too much pec, but zero pec is probably very much suboptimal.
 
herderdude said:
Yeah, I figure the best way to move the most weight is to get the most muscle mass involved in a correctly leveraged position. There can absolutely be too much pec, but zero pec is probably very much suboptimal.
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Using a thumbless grip gets them firing more but usually no pump, no soreness, and no strain. Odd i know.
 
3/17

Week 13, Day 2, Part A***

Squat
(belt-less)
335x4
335x4
335x4
335x4
335x4

High Bar Pause Squat
(belt-less, anywhere from 3 to 5 count...it varied from rep to rep honestly)
280x3
280x3
280x3

Calf Raises
3x15

LISS
(recumbent bike)
15 minutes

And done.

Thoughts:

Wacky schedule again. Hitting bench and upper accessories tonight.

High bar pauses are so comfy.

Adding in short bouts of LISS when I have time. Either walking around campus or riding the bike after a workout. I want to continue leaning out, but I don't want to eat any less. Simple as that. HIIT would impede my recovery (especially where I'm at right now...), LISS will not.

Stay strong AM.
 
Note:

1. I'm a stim baby. 250mg caffeine makes me nauseous.

2. Assault pre-workout (got a bunch free at the Arnold) looks and tastes like baby vomit.
 
liftandswim said:
Note: 1. I'm a stim baby. 250mg caffeine makes me nauseous. 2. Assault pre-workout (got a bunch free at the Arnold) looks and tastes like baby vomit.
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The old Assault was good though. It also contained a "amphetamine like substance not on the label" like Craze did.
 
Yeah, I'm partial to caffeine tabs, because they're cheap and convenient. I don't really need anything else. I've used different pres in the past simply because they taste good.
 
3/17

Week 13, Day 2, Part B

So I had to work with no lift-off / spot tonight. As a result I hit the bare minimum on bench and played around to get a little more pressing volume in. I was at my university's gym.

Bench
205x5
240x5
270x5...2-3 in the tank, possibly 3-4 with a proper lift-off

Swiss Bar Bench
(paused)
3x5
...no clue how much the bar weighed.

Hammer Strength Incline
12-10-8 + drop-set

Pull-Ups
(BW)
3x10 strict, dead hang

Lat Pulldown
(supinated grip)
3x12

Barbell Curl
3x12

Overhead Extensions
2x15
superset
Concentration Curl
2x15

Tricep Pushdown
100 total

Stay strong AM.
 
liftandswim said:
Yeah, I'm partial to caffeine tabs, because they're cheap and convenient. I don't really need anything else. I've used different pres in the past simply because they taste good.
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Caffeine (+ ephedrine) are a pretty cheap and clean pre.

Strong bare-minimum bench man.

Duramaxhd said:
Strong proformance swim Isn't it crazy how a proper lift off makes in amount of reps
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Indeed.
 
Duramaxhd said:
Strong proformance swim
Isn't it crazy how a proper lift off makes in amount of reps
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Wish I could work with one of those some times lol..

But nice work swim. CSU has a Swiss bar now? Making a come up. I wish I lived downtown just to work out there, I liked that gym a lot.
 
capo180 said:
Wish I could work with one of those some times lol.. But nice work swim. CSU has a Swiss bar now? Making a come up. I wish I lived downtown just to work out there, I liked that gym a lot.
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Yeah, they have like 5 of varying sizes. A couple trap bars too. Fun to play with.

I like the gym, but the bars are terrible for deadlifting. A bit thicker than I'm used to and stiff as can be. Good for squatting, but of course one rack setting is just a bit too high and the other is way too low.
 
liftandswim said:
Yeah, they have like 5 of varying sizes. A couple trap bars too. Fun to play with.

I like the gym, but the bars are terrible for deadlifting. A bit thicker than I'm used to and stiff as can be. Good for squatting, but of course one rack setting is just a bit too high and the other is way too low.
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Trap bars now too, nice. But agreed on the bars, no give on em. I used heavy amounts of chalk while deadlifting there. I've never lifted in an optimal environment to be honest. Always either in a school gym or commercial type gym. I just like that I never had to wait on a rack or bench there, my past two gyms have both had 1 squat rack each which sucks.
 
capo180 said:
Trap bars now too, nice. But agreed on the bars, no give on em. I used heavy amounts of chalk while deadlifting there. I've never lifted in an optimal environment to be honest. Always either in a school gym or commercial type gym. I just like that I never had to wait on a rack or bench there, my past two gyms have both had 1 squat rack each which sucks.
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You'll have to come up and get a session in with me some time! I'll split the cost of the stupid guest pass
 
3/19

Week 13, Day 4

Deadlift
(+ unknown band tension)
305x2
305x2
305x2
305x2
305x2
305x2
305x2
...used ~60% and attached a random gray band to the bar...goal was speed...I'm guessing anywhere from 350-385 at the top but idk...first time using bands for anything, it was fun.

Press
130x5
150x5
170x5+ (4...will be resetting TM next micro-cycle)
135x5 paused
135x5 paused

Seated Dumbbell Press
80x12
80x12

Dumbbell Row
110x15
...smashed hand dropping the weight, pretty gnarly blood blister...so switched to cable row

Cable Row
(varying grips)
3x15

Face Pulls
3x20
superset
Lateral Raises
3x20

Barbell Walking Lunges
100x20 total steps
100x20 total steps

Leg Curl
2x15 + drop-set

Thoughts:

All things considered this was a decent workout. I'll save you the TMI, but I'm extremely dehydrated right now.

Stay strong AM.
 
Awesome workout. I love banded stuff too. Do y'all have a band platform?
 
liftandswim said:
Nope. I don't even know what that is. I just looped it around the bar and stood on it.
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That and double looping around feet and hands is how I do it too. I wish we had a nifty platform like Sean has.
 
The short mini bands are real nice for deads. You can either double em over or just put the bar though the band then stand on the opposite end.
 
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