Tossing Weight With Torobestia: Powerlifting Log

jinxie said:
Nice work on the dips. Usually tough for really big guys like you, even without shoulder issues. Do you have access to wide bars, ideally the ones that angle outward at one end. I find if I use that side, and face outward, it's easier for me to keep the scap retracted, and elbows inward. Big fan of dips. Welcome! :) Another thing I've been meaning to mention to you, as well as Sean and GP, is that I find that if I work biceps before bench, OHPs, etc., it helps protect my shoulders because of reduced range of motion from the biceps pump. May be worth experimenting. At the very least, it has my biceps as strong as ever despite my elbow issues.
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No, I don't have access to that. Our dip station is actually really trash. Hopefully as our gym continues to expand we'll get one of the nice dip stations that are also a decent pullup station - and I'll be able to do pullups with proper form, then, too, lol. Anyways, I make do. I can't say I ever liked doing dips the way you described, at least in the past. But if I get a chance to I'll try it out and see how they feel.

I'll try to remember the tip about the biceps. Maybe it'll be an opportunity for me to actually get some bicep work in, lol
 
14/03/19

UPPER

Simple 6, extra t-spine rolls, neck and trap stretches

INCLINE BENCH
95-5,5
135-5
170-6x5 <-- 60 seconds between sets

PEC MINOR DIPS
BW-10,10,10 <-- may try this with weight next time

WG LAT PULLDOWNS superset ROPE TRICEP PUSHDOWNS (+2/3rds chain, ~16lbs)
160-15,15,15
75-12,12,12

FACEPULLS (2-3 second negatives)
70-15,15,15

Workout went fairly well. I had some issues with my shoulder, no pain, but there was discomfort particularly near lockout for some reason. It made it extremely difficult to explode through to lockout each set, so I didn't, and I kept a fairly even tempo on the concentrics each rep. I suspect, and I do feel it as well, like I have this tricep-lat tightness so I'll just have to do the proper mobility work next time for it. I might do it in place of my chest stretch or after my lat stretch considering I dont seem to feel tightness at all in my chest any more (though there is something still wonky with my pec minor). But anyways, overall happy.
 
Good workout, Toro. Way to stick with the dips. Are you doing 6 sets of 5 on bench? That's serious.

What do you mean by "tricep-lat tightness"?
 
jinxie said:
Good workout, Toro. Way to stick with the dips. Are you doing 6 sets of 5 on bench? That's serious.

What do you mean by "tricep-lat tightness"?
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Well, these dips are just basically using my scapula to move myself. It's more of a rehab thing.

Yeah, 6x5. Hey, it's almost like DE work, if only it were a bit more brisk than it was.

Well, by tri-lat I mean I feel tightness in the area where the tricep and the lat meet.
 
Nice work man, movin on up. I'll be glad to see you pushing big ass weight again.
 
Torobestia said:
Well, these dips are just basically using my scapula to move myself. It's more of a rehab thing.

Yeah, 6x5. Hey, it's almost like DE work, if only it were a bit more brisk than it was.

Well, by tri-lat I mean I feel tightness in the area where the tricep and the lat meet.
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I believe that's the teres minor, that you are referring to. :) I get pain there too. Trigger point injections are great for that, btw. Much of the time, it's referred pain causing spasming. Hated.

Anyhow, keep up the good work, big guy. Miss your videos. ;)
 
Could be quite a few things back there. Which motions are tight?
 
i'm w jinxie on this one, teres minor

golf ball might be the answer for such a small area

or an elbow...
 
You should be able to hit the sore spot with a lax ball and get a feeling over to your arm where it attaches. One side is greater tubercle which is your minor and one side is lesser which is major. My minor is very tight and is either contributing to or resulting from my shoulder issue. Mashing and ice will help.
 
jinxie said:
I believe that's the teres minor, that you are referring to. :) I get pain there too. Trigger point injections are great for that, btw. Much of the time, it's referred pain causing spasming. Hated.

Anyhow, keep up the good work, big guy. Miss your videos. ;)
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Referred as in that isn't the source of the pain? Interesting stuff Jinx

Edit: is there a common source? I get all tight and sore in that area from time to time myself.
 
Hey, guys. Sorry for lack of updates. I intended to lift on Friday, but as I was at the gym warming up my shoulder felt pretty bad doing flat benching, so I decided to put the gym off. Worth noting, I tried to do some stuff for the teres and I think that caused me to hurt myself. Thus I won't do those things again in the near future.The gf came down to visit the next day for the weekend, and we had a very full agenda so I didn't get a chance to drop in the gym Sat or Sunday. Today went well.

14/03/24

UPPER

Simple 6, extra t-spine rolls, trap and neck stretches

BENCH
95-5
135-5
165-5
185-5
205-8x5 <-- 60 seconds rest between sets, last 2 sets I paused all reps

BAMBOO BAR BENCH
110-20
130-20,25 <-- today I officially re-learned how to break the bar. More progress.

FOOTBALL SKULLCRUSHERS
105-12,12,11

SEATED CABLE ROW (using 2 D-handles)
200-14,14,14

SEATED DB CLEANS
20-15,15 <-- traps and shoulder felt nice after this

Wow, tris are pumped very hard as were my lats even from just benching alone. I felt the bamboo in my lats more than RC or anything else, although tris were a close second. That's about all there is to say atm.
 
Gotta love that bamboo bar, man. Good session, learning is gud, I hear.
 
Few days off to spend time with people you care about, get rest, then come back and have a good session. Pretty solid my friend. Nice work.
 
herderdude said:
Gotta love that bamboo bar, man. Good session, learning is gud, I hear.
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Thanks.

Yeah, in that time off from benching, when I got back I didn't realize this but I was trying too hard to break the bar by torquing at the elbows. It works so much better to focus on the hands/wrists and let the rest fall into place.
 
aceroni said:
Way late to the party but I finally made it. Subbed to learn.
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Welcome, friend. Sadly, the last few pages of this log have been rather tragic, but I hope my wheels catch some traction and things take off soon enough.
 
Trying to send some mental positive energy your way...maybe that will help. ;)
 
Nice session. Good punching and pulling.

Try giving those biceps a little pump next time you're feeling apprehensive about the shoulders. I am telling you, provides a nice girdle without seriously impairing range of motion. Some close-gripped, underhanded lat pulls, possibly with Double D handle, would do the trick.

And no shame for taking some time off, no matter the reason. But fwiw, your reasons seem compelling to me, particularly that fine GF of yours. :) what did you mean by busy agenda? ;)
 
Nice session. Good benching and pulling.

Try giving those biceps a little pump next time you're feeling apprehensive about the shoulders. I am telling you, provides a nice girdle without seriously impairing range of motion. Some close-gripped, underhanded lat pulls, possibly with Double D handle, would do the trick.

And no shame for taking some time off, no matter the reason. But fwiw, your reasons seem compelling to me, particularly that fine GF of yours. :) what did you mean by busy agenda? ;)
 
Ah damn, I forgot about the bicep thing, man. I did it today, even though honestly swiss bar OHP hasn't bothered me at all in a while. I'll try to remember it next bench day and see how it affects things.

Busy agenda = :) :) :). Nah, well, there was a lot of the usual, but it also happened to be a birthday of a friend, and we also ate lunch and spent some time with my mom and otherwise did something Sunday. I sort of dont remember what happened Sunday; we can be a slow-to-start couple, despite each of us being early risers and getting things done fast when we're apart.
 
14/03/26

UPPER

Simple 6, extra t-spine rolls, neck and trap stretches. I figured out that when I do the posterior capsule stretch on the Simple 6, it's important to keep my opposite leg straight as it really makes the stretch challenging (in a good way)

SWISS sOHP
45-10,8
95-5
115-4x3 <-- 60 seconds rest between sets

CHINUP
BW (268lb)-7

DIPS superset CHINUPS
BW-10,10,15
+35-3,3,2

SHRUGS (because a friend was doing them)
225-10 <-- 3 second hold at top/rep
275-10 <-- ""
325-6, 19 <-- "", last set was done with wrist wraps

SINGLE ARM REAR DELT FLY
95-3x12

Good session, not too painful. I took vid of the dips, and I'm not too impressed. On the one hand form is better than I expected wrt flaring, but on the other my whole body is completely angled and not straight. I'll post it and open it up to critique to see what you guys can find. And fwiw it'll look like my range of motion is pretty bad but I swear that's almost all because of the angle of the vid (I don't break parallel but I'm only 1/2" above parallel at most.)

The shrugs were actually really, really good. My shoulders felt revitalized after doing them. I guess as long as I'm not doing heavy deadlifts I should throw these in as they do require me to move the scapula in an unusual direction. The uni rear delt flys made my shoulder and teres area pop and crackle the whole time. Must have been hitting a nice spot and either releasing fascia or causing a lot of breakup of scar tissue.
 
Hmm, I guess when I look at it on my computer it doesn't seem that terrible. Still think there's something going on there besides my shoulder, though maybe it's all related back to the shoulder

[video=youtube;apc1p9mSgSc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apc1p9mSgSc[/video]

These didn't feel that bad all said and done, though. I actually stopped because my pecs were getting tired.
 
Those are some healthy ****ing pull ups, dude. Dang. Every day is an improvement in here, that's all you can ask for.
 
I'm don't know a whole lot about dips but it just looks like you are favoring a side. Maybe Jinx or someone who does them regular can actually help and not just observe.
 
14/03/28

UPPER

Simple 6, extra t-spine rolls, neck and trap stretches, bicep curls

INCLINE BENCH
95-8
135-5
165-3
190-6x3 <-- ~60 seconds rest between sets

PEC MINOR DIPS
BW-10,10,10 <-- forgot I intended to add weight for this...

ROPE TRI PUSHDOWNS superset WG LAT PULLDOWNS
80+20lbs chain-12,11,11
180-10,10,9

FACEPULLS (2 second eccentric)
75-12,12,12

Shoulder bothered me again today, but it was not enough to actually interfere with my bar speed IMO. Bicep curls did not feel like they helped or hurt. I just have these nasty knots developing in my neck that I think are causing issues. I think a simple massage will help this. I felt pretty fast on 4 or 5 of those 6 sets. 190lbs is starting to be in the realm of real weight for me on this movement. As a heads up, next week I'll be shooting for 8 reps with 210 on incline. Should be a challenge (esp since I'm doing a rep test with the OHP 2 days earlier, too).
 
So, I actually went to the gym and did some lower body stuff. I deleted most of my videos by mistake (don't ask how, I just know they were on my tablet at one point and the next they're gone). I basically did some goblet squats, barbell squats (with an actual straight bar to boot, though I didn't go heavy), single leg db deadlifts, and split squats. Oh, and I did some GHR. I felt my quad strength was still there, but I had lost a lot of my hamstring strength. I'll revisit the issue again soon. I had serious trouble hitting depth on my squats despite lots of mobility work. Nothing necessarily felt tight, but with the new form I was using plus a semi wide stance, I got to a point that felt like I was sitting on a chair, and I just couldn't descend anymore. That's about all for now.
 
14/03/31

UPPER

Simple 6, extra t-spine rolls, neck and trap stretches. Some leaning pec minor mashing in the middle of benching that resembles first rib mob, too.

BENCH
95-5
135-5,5 <-- pain
185-3 <-- little pain, able to be very explosive
225-8**x3 <-- 60-90 seconds rest between sets

BAMBOO BAR BENCH
130-24,20 <-- RC and triceps were exhausted by this

FOOTBALL SKULLCRUSHERS superset SEATED CABLE ROWS
115-9+1,9,9
220-12,12,12 <-- 1 second pause at contraction each rep

SEATED DB CLEANS
25-15,15 <-- by the end of this my palms were facing in front of me. Must be a crazy exercise to work external rotation

**I did 9 sets on the bench, but set #5 I only did 1 rep and had to stop due to pain. On my last set, first rep had one pause 3-4" above chest and a pause at chest, second was a pause 1" from chest and at chest, third was pause at chest only.

Really happy over today's training, and I learned/remembered several things. I actually almost quit my workout three times today due to shoulder pain. It got really bad at around set #5. After that pec minor mashing, though, with a loaded barbell (the load just kept the barbell in place - I more stabbed myself with the barbell rather than weigh the barbell down on anything), my pain was improved and my shoulder actually felt nice and tucked. My last 2 sets had pauses, the 7th actual set containing pauses at chest and my last set containing 2 double-paused reps and one paused rep. All my last sets were really explosive, and I had zero pain last 2 sets. I need to do my benching with a pause from now on out because this improves the pain dramatically.

I think that's all there is to say about my workout.
 
I did hill sprints yesterday. 8 up the hill at ~92-95% effort, hard to apply more due to not being able to grip the first half of the hill well with my shoes. You get this preexhaustion effect going up the first like 20' of the hill, then during the less inclined portion of the hill you sprint. I'll try to increase it to 10 soon enough. But I'm happy with this effort, because when I tried doing hill sprints back in Sept. I couldn't get past 5-6 without feeling like death.
 
Fuuuck. Good work, but fuuuuck.
 
Swanson52 said:
Invalid Link Removed
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That looks pretty sweet. Definitely going in my bookmarks. The plan seems very reasonable. I don't have anywhere flat easily accessible to me before work, though. I'll have to look for an area so I can give this a shot.
 
14/04/02

UPPER

Simple 6, extra t-spine rolls, infraspinatus mashing on left side, neck and trap stretches

SWISS sOHP
45-8
95-5,5
115-3
130-10 <-- PR

CHINUPS
BW-7

DIPS superset CHINUPS
+26-5,8,6 <-- first 1 or 2 reps really hard due to pain, the rest get much easier. Also, I look less crooked now
+45-2,2,2

SINGLE ARM REAR DELT FLY
110-3x10 <-- 5 second negatives each rep

Damn, been a long time since I've recorded a PR. Good workout. No pain whatsoever on OHP
 
Damn, that's a couple reps on the ol' OHP. Nice work Toro.
 
Thanks, herder. My OHP has always been pretty garbage, even before my injuries/hiatus from lifting, so this is part is encouraging. I don't know what I'm going to do exactly about my flat bench yet, though, but I hope I figure something out or things fall into place themselves. I'm hoping the paused work and the pauses above the chest will help me groove the bar better since that seems to be a problem, too.
 
14/04/04

UPPER

Simple 6, neck and trap stretches (actually forgot these until the end), infraspinatus mash

INCLINE BENCH
95-5,5
135-5
165-3
195-1
215-5,6 <-- lost groove on first set when shoulder slipped out of position. Also forgot to mash pec minor so did between the 2 sets

PEC MINOR DIPS
3 sets, forgot what weight (recalling all this from memory)

WG LAT PULLDOWNS superset ROPE TRI PULLDOWNS
200-8,8,8
90+26lb chain-8,6,5(?)

FACEPULLS (2-3 second negative)
80-3x10

Dang, wanted more out of the incline. Definitely suffering from a tricep weakness, which makes sense since sometimes I use CAT in my bench to help that translate to stronger triceps, but since coming back I haven't been able to apply that kind of force to the bar due to shoulder pain. Also, I haven't been able to use pressing variations to bring up my triceps either, and I normally rely on those for tricep strength development. I honestly do not want to play with the slingshot yet, nor barbell floor presses, since this injury occurred from floor pressing with the slingshot, but I might think about rack bench or 3-board benching. That was the killer part of my incline today. On to deadlifts Sunday, and flat bench test Monday. Fairly sure that flat bench will be fine compared to today's incline.
 
What injury did you have toro? Don't feel like scrolling back /haven't had a chance to catch up since I hit vacation.
 
I bet even some extension-type stuff could bring up your tris while you wait on your shoulder to cooperate.
 
herderdude said:
I bet even some extension-type stuff could bring up your tris while you wait on your shoulder to cooperate.
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Yeah. I've been doing some, but I ought to be doing even more, especially now that my body adapted to this type of work again.
 
Ya it took a toll on mine too brother. Explosive DB skull crushers for me and some extensions.
 
aceroni said:
What injury did you have toro? Don't feel like scrolling back /haven't had a chance to catch up since I hit vacation.
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I don't know, honestly. It began with a case of bursitis but then something else clearly lingered around. Lots of issues I need to address at some point, but I literally can't afford to go to any of these last-straw type folks atm (e.g. Graston practitioners).
 
14/04/06

LOWER

Super squat hip mobility pre, KB swings 35x20x2, 55x20

DEADLIFT
135-5
225-5
315-5,5,5
405-1 <-- felt fine, no hip or low back problems. Also double overhand, so grip isn't too terrible so far

GHR
BW-10,10,10,10

So, that was that. I just finished this workout and will do some planks or something at home. Man, I'm not going to lie. It was pretty awesome to deadlift. That said, my upper back strength is lacking and so is my core (read: abdominal) strength. Going to need to really hit the core stuff religiously now as it's no joke and I need it to squat and deadlift properly. I was ridiculously explosive (granted, this is light for me). I did a few reps with 315 that went a few inches above my hips, lol. I feel really tired now, though, and my hip flexors and glutes feel a bit beat up. Happy.
 
PaulBlack said:
Good to hear big guy...!
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Thanks, Paul. Bad news is my left hip flexor is very sore today. The pain is reminiscent of how my lower back stuff all began. At least I see my chiro today.
 
Sean1332 said:
It's nice to see pulling in here again, despite the hip flexor issue.
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Thanks. I did some research, and there is no sense that this is related to my low back but is related to glutes not firing either from a lack of activation or because of a muscle imbalance between hamstrings and glutes. I can buy it. Makes me feel slightly better about this.
 
Ugh, I think I just experienced a SLAP tear in real time while benching today. Was doing a weight for 8 reps, first 4 reps were really explosive, 5th rep my shoulder just rolled forward while my scapula was still nice and tucked. Too soon to say as I did fail the false positive tests (the tests that see whether changing your grip makes the pain go away - it didn't, so it means the pain could be from somewhere else).
 
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