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[JohnRobHolmes]

The last few weeks I have been doing 3x10 burnout w/ 65lb on CG bench and then incline bench after my flat bench sets. Then I go to the stack and do 3x12 cable pushdowns. Seems to get the job done, but I bet a higher volume would help even more. I tend to float the bar lower after a while though, it really takes effort to keep the bar above my chest and force the tri's to push instead of letting the bi's and shoulders do the work. All boils down to form I reckon.


I have a hard time with dips, as it hits my lats hard and screws up the pulling/ pushing split that I tend to keep. I want to use the tri's and chest but the lats always get a hella pump.


Does this count as derailing your log?

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

Can't derail what's already been derailed.

Seriously, if you want to get more size, keep eating more, but eat more than you are eating right now and quit that pilates shit and lift hard and heavy and make your back strong and tell it it's going to fucking be strong and that you won't tolerate a bitch weak back.

Start pumping yourself up. Tell yourself you are superman 100 times a day. After awhile you'll notice the positive effect it has on you.

I have nothing against Pilates, but some basic stretches, ab and oblique work and chiropratic will do more for you. Keep lifting amigo and fell free to drop a line in my thread whenever you feel like.

I don't think I've mentioned this to anyone before, but this is exactly what I say to myself as I hold the bar in the squat rack just before I duck under the bar to setup:

I love squats. They are the master exercise and I am a master of them. I am a natural born powerhouse of muscle and might, strength and health, power and vitality, BOOYAH.

Stupid huh? It works.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

I take it you have never had a session of pilates? It is like 45 minutes of core boot camp, with stretching. I know the name alone makes it sound foo foo, but I wouldnt go if it were a waste of my time. Its all hot chicks in there too

But I am superman, didnt you know that?

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

Lol, amigo, I've been tortured practically in boot camp for pissing off my chief petty officer. I've gone an hour non-stop grappling in brazilian jiu-jitsu with a guy that had 20lbs on me.

I've bouldered some v4 climbs at +200lbs bodyweight.

Today I packed 100lbs planks that required me stepping up on to multiple stacks of form boards 2 feet high and then onto a tiered and landscaped angled bed of soft dirt where I carried the board another 20 feet. I did this all day besides swinging a sledge to knock the planks between soldier piles and I am going to the gym after I post this.

There are ALOT better things you could be doing with your time than pilates for strengthening your abs and body.

Stretching? You can search online and do all the stretching you want at home. Core strength? Um, hard squats make your abs way stronger real world wise than any pilates will. If that's not enough hanging leg raises until your toes touch the bar to failure is gonna blow any ab work away they can put at you and I'd bet money on it. If that's not hard enough, put on ankle weights. how about inclien situps with weight behind your head.

I know I'm getting on your case abit, but if you ever want to bench 225lbs you need to get realistic about it and pilates, bike riding and not eating enough are not gonna help you get that goal. Some people can do a lot of impressive things at once with seemingly no effort. Others can work hard and accomplish the same thing. Some have to single out a specific goal to achieve excellence. I beleive you are that kind of person and i say that because that's how I am too. I can do alot of things really well, but to really hit a solid level of accomplishment in a given task I really have to devote my time and focus into that specific thing rather than spreading myself too thin. At your size and body weight I know you can bench 225lbs. But all the stuff I have mentioned won't help you get there and you are gonna have to get bigger and stronger overall to do it. You are gonna have to decide what is more important to you? All-around ability? If so that is awesome, but don;t expect to throw up a 225 bench at your bodyweight with all the activities you do and without getting a lot stronger over your whole body

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

3-23-07

barbell Full Squat 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 190x5, 215x4 all good sets, weight felt pretty good. reps on squats really point out my fast twitch nature on them. The first 2 reps of 215 feel like a joke. rep 3 I can feel it and rep 4 took moderate effort.

Dumbell Bench 30's x5, 40's x5. 50's x5, 60's x5, 70's x7 all good sets, felt strong

dumbell flyes 25'sx1x8

Cable row 135x5, 150x5, 165x5,8

One-arm DB row 70x1x10

Zottman curls 22.5'sx1x12-15, lost track

One arm cable pressdown 60x14

Barbell curl 60x8-10 lost track

Cable bar pressdown 60x10-12

hammer curls 25's x10-12

Was a good workout. The volume on the arms just kinda came outta nowhere. Arms got a good pump. Shit, what am I saying, since when is 3 sets of bicep and 2 tricep volume lol...

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

3-26-07

Barbell Full Squat 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 190x5, 210x5 weights felt light, form felt pretty good, did a single with 235 after. Keep telling myself not to worry so much about rushing shit, just let it happen. Once I hit 225x5 I add 2.5lbs a week instead of 5 and see just how long I can milk it before needing a break/deloading week.

Parallel Dips BWX5, BW+10x5, BW+15x4, dips were tough.

One-arm DB row 40x5, 50x5, 60x5, 70x5, 80x5 Weight felt decent, still prefer cable row.

Seated Alt. incline DB curl 30's X9
Short barbell Overhead french press 60x12+
Standing Alt. DB curl 30'sx8+
Lying elbows out DB extensions 30's x6-7

Incline situp, 25lbs 3 reps with 5 second hold.

Good workout. After the squats I picked the pace up abit. Got a good sweat going and my heart rate was pretty solid throughout the rest of the workout.

The second set on biceps isn't necessary and the second on triceps is debatable for now. Gonna stick with 1 strict set each.

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

3-28-07

Barbell Full Squat 135x5, 155x5, 165x5, 175x5, 185x5

Barbell Press 65x5, 95x5, 105x5, 115x5, 125x5

Barbell deadlift 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 255x5, 285x6

3 parallel grip chins

couple crap ass form power snatches with 135

It was a good workout. I've noticed with my ear phones in I kick up the pace of the workout quite abit and end up having to reign myself in on the last warmup set and extend my rest time abit so I'm totally ready for my top set.

Walked out of the gym feeling good.

I'm gonna alternate a top set of 5 barbell deads with a set of 15 SLDL's each week.

Unfortunately my gym has hexagon plates which I absolutely HATE so I pretty
much touch and go my reps as setting each rep down and deloading can cause issues if you came down slightly off or the hex plate rotated. Why the fuck gyms use those crap ass plates is beyond me. I do deload my SLDL though.

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

3-30-07

got pissed at work today. Channeled it into a kickass workout at the gym.

Barbell Full Squat 135x5, 155x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x4 All good sets

Dumbell Bench 40's x5, 50's x5, 60's x5, 70's x5, 75's x4

Pendlay Row 60x6, 80x5, 100x5, 120x5, 150x5 Good sets. I used a cambered bar on these. Still don't seem to get the stimulatio nto the back that a cable row gives me, but I did feel some interesting contraction in the lats that I don't normally feel.

chinups bwx5

incline DB curl 35's x6
lying french press 70x8-10? lost track
standing alt. hammer curl 30's x11-12
"That weird tricep extension exercise I do." Would take too long to describe it, but it's pretty fucking cool imho.

Hanging leg raises. Almost toes to bar 1x5

That's it. God I love working out.

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

4-2-07

Barbell Full Squat 135x5, 155x5, 185x5, 200x5, 215x5 ok sets, weight felt moderate

Barbel incline bench 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 155x5, 165x5

dumbell flye 30's x7-8

close grip bench 135x14, pinkies touching inner rings

power shrugs 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 255x3x5 weren't feelign them for shit in the gym, fuckin feelin them now though. I forgot these don't really pump my traps in the gym, but they blow them up fast and cause major soreness the days following.

barbell hang clean 135x15

alternate DB curl 35's x9-10

barbell curl 60x7-8

it was a good workout. My focus was a little less than it could have been, but not every workout is a gem.

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

4-4-07

God I felt like dog shit today at work.

Woke up this morning feeling ok. Got my usual venti mocha from Starbucks(I know what good coffee is, but I like the bucks mocha best). Got to work and had to shovel full and then carry 2-full 5 gallon buckets of drain rock over crap terrain for 50 feet and then climb up a ladder with one at a time. Repeat about 15x. While being fairly strenuous work, it's nothing that wouldn't usually bother me. But, I felt fucked up. Had hurt, heart was beating too fast. Was fatigued. I get the feeling that the new girl this morning accidentally gave me an extra shot or something because the symptoms along with the work felt like too much caffeine.

Then I dropped and until lunch time was not worth a damn. Then had a great lunch courtesy of the boss and then all was right as rain. Killed it pretty good in the gym.

Switched it up abit today and got some stares. Fuckin Gold's Gym lol.

seated DB press 35'sx5, 45'sx5, 50'sx5, 55'sx5, 60'sx9-10
stading DB press 65'sx1, 70'sx1, tried to C+J the 75's. Could not balance them properly. Outta practice. Weight felt np, but I kept losin control of them on the jerk. The force was not with me on these so I moved on.

one arm lateral 22.5x9 each arm, front lateral same for 9

One arm DB snatch(these got some stares) 60x1, 65x1, 70x1, 75x1, 80x1, 85x1, 90x1, 95x1, 100x1, 105x1 actually got both sides up on this last set although the left arm was ugly

Dumbell stiff-legged deadlift 125's x6, godamn grip is always the limiter on these so I got pissed and went to the car to get some straps. 125's x11

cable row 120x5, 135x5, 150x5, 165x5, 180x5

Calf raise machine. Don't know what the weight was as I was working in with 2 guys and the markings were barely visible. Just used what they used. It was fairly heavy so I did some stretch holds, contracted holds and lil partials to up the intensity. 2 sets got them good. Prolly gonna feel this tomorrow though my whole back is gonna feel it.

Basically I trashed my back in the gym and had a good time doing it.