The Beast's Training Journal!

[WalkingBeast]

Attempted chest


Was planning to hit 60 with 225 today, but last week may have been a better time to do that. Today my chest popped a few reps in with 225. Could not get to the power rack, ended up getting a spotter to lift off. Possible the spotter lifted it off too far but I dont think that was the issue. It felt fine. Issue was that I popped my pec a few months ago with 560 on the incline hammer strength press. Since then Ive mostly been doing constant tension style. Not all the way down to chest. Flat bench is always the most risky along with smith machine inclines, especially with my wide grip.

I will likely not fuck with flat bench for a while again now, and will have to do injury rehab again on the chest. Basically just constant tension and gradually adding weight again. Need to avoid too many movements where my chest is in an overstretched position for now.

I will likely take this week off and maybe longer. Atleast this week I think. Last time this strain effected tricep work and rowing.


239 lbs after meal (estimate, scale usually has me 3 lbs lighter, based my estimate off digital home scale as well)


Flat Barbell Bench Press (Not locked out til end.)

Bar x several hundred with barbell stretches
135x30 warm
135x30 warm
225x5 (Right side of chest popped again. Was aiming for 60 reps. Session done)

Attempted some hammer strength shoulder presses but decided against it. Left pec strain was still present during those. No discoloration. More like a pulled muscle feeling with some tenderness. Same type of strain as a few months ago. Should be able to train around it but will likely take atleast a week off. Will feel shit out

KILL THAT SHIT

video below

 

[WalkingBeast]

 

[WalkingBeast]

Not performance related, but here are a few items that I always order in bulk:


Monster Rehab Energy Drink, Raspberry Tea, 15.5 Ounce (Pack of 24): Amazon.com: Grocery & Gourmet Food


Monster tea. Good shit. I like atleast a can a day to give me some extra energy. When Im exhausted no stimulant will work but when I feel decent its a good little spike in energy. I take 100 mg tramadol on most days so it counteracts the tranquilising effect somewhat. Almost no calories per can but they increase my appetite and allow me to eat alot more too. I order a crate of 25 from amazon monthly. Good thing about this shit is that it hardly has any sugar but yet is still sweet enough. I have an issue with artificial sweeteners. They give me weird side effects. None of that for me with this.

http://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Balm-Sp...TF8&qid=1448329091&sr=1-7&keywords=tiger+balm

Tiger Balm. Another great fucking product. I like the aroma and the burn when rubbed in. So I use this not just for pain, but because I like having it on. Helps with my relaxation (as relaxed as I can be). Its strong enough to mask dull aches and shit like that too. I buy these 4 at a time as well on amazon. The main benefit to tiger balm over all the similiar products Ive tried, (icey hot, ben gay, etc), is that it lasts very long. Since its an ointment the effects are very long lasting. Its also alot stronger than similiar products. I mix this with capsaicin. A heat cream. I use this for my wrists and hands since I have numb hands and it gives a nice warmth to that area.

Im still waiting on my Pro Bcaa intraworkout aminos, and MTS whey protein jug. Also have pre workout explosion, which is my favorite pre workout that ive tried currently. My favorite was anabolic super fuel, but it was never sold online or in stores and is now out of business. Still using up the rest of my Mr Hyde stims. 250-300 is the magic number for pre workout caffiene for me these days. Any more and I get dizzy.

KILLLLL THAT SHIT !!

 

[Saiyan7]

Re: Prisoner Of Mutilation - The Beast's Training Journal

Tiger balm is the shit. Haven't used any in a few years but definitely need to pick some up again

 

[WalkingBeast]

Re: Prisoner Of Mutilation - The Beast's Training Journal

Tiger balm is the shit. Haven't used any in a few years but definitely need to pick some up again

Agreed. Great shit. I use it frequently regardless if in pain or not. The others Ive used are usually creams, and dont last more than 15 minutes. Tiger Balm lasts a long time on each application. Much more potent. The strong aroma is a plus for me as well.

Shit like aspercreme and penetrex seem like bullshit to me. Went through entire containers and felt nothing. Since they dont even give you any burning feel or anything, they didnt do anything for me. No numbing of pain either. The ones that claim to deliver medicine through the skin, like those, seem to be complete bullshit.

Generic bengay or bengay is good but it lasts very short. I used that alot before discovering tiger balm. Ive tried alot of creams and also the icey hot spray and that didnt last long either.

KILL THAT SHIT

 

[WalkingBeast]

Right pec strain doesnt seem quite as bad as last time. It was only 225 this time, and last time 560 on the machine. That may be partly why. Im thinking of taking 3-4 weeks off of direct chest training and replacing my chest day with a shoulder day. Which would include machine presses, dumbbell laterals (mostly trap focused) and maybe some rear delt work (havent done that in a long time). Will feel shit out though. Havent done direct delt work in a while so I can probably add some size in the meantime.

Main tradeoff is that overhead presses tend to pull out my neck. The strains can last anywhere from 3 days to several weeks. It can be bad enough to have to stop all training until it heals. Though I was going up to 630 lbs on the overhead press nautilus machine. I will probably try sticking to dropsets and lighter shit overall.

Maybe by friday I will see about training arms, back and legs. Or take the week off. Will see.

KILL THAT SHIT

 

[WalkingBeast]

Right pec strain doesnt seem quite as bad as last time. It was only 225 this time, and last time 560 on the machine. That may be partly why. Im thinking of taking 3-4 weeks off of direct chest training and replacing my chest day with a shoulder day. Which would include machine presses, dumbbell laterals (mostly trap focused) and maybe some rear delt work (havent done that in a long time). Will feel shit out though. Havent done direct delt work in a while so I can probably add some size in the meantime.

Main tradeoff is that overhead presses tend to pull out my neck. The strains can last anywhere from 3 days to several weeks. It can be bad enough to have to stop all training until it heals. Though I was going up to 630 lbs on the overhead press nautilus machine. I will probably try sticking to dropsets and lighter shit overall.

Maybe by friday I will see about training arms, back and legs. Or take the week off. Will see.

KILL THAT SHIT

 

[WalkingBeast]

Its been about 2 weeks since the chest strain. Took a break. Today will be a test session to see how shit feels. I dont feel any chest pain now with a hard contraction (withouth weight, wont know until I train chest). Up until a day or two, I could feel a dull throbbing pain when I tried to contract chest hard through a pressing range of motion. Nothing major but it radiated into shoulders and felt it in my jaw. It was significantly weakened though. Ive been using my two fingers to dig into the muscle, at the tender parts and massage and stetch the area. After some days I was unable to find the tender spot anymore , so I could feel it improve that way as well. I likely wont do any direct chest work until its been about 4 weeks off of chest. Though 2 weeks in I dont think that training everything else will impact it too negatively. Initially it was tender to the point where anything would re aggravate it, even tricep pressdowns, as I found out last time I had the chest pull and trained anyway. This time I just backed off completely.

No real concrete plans right now. May train back or arms to start out with. Maybe back and shoulders. Im considering some shoulder press work to replace the missing pressing day (chest), for now, but overhead pressing is also high risk for my neck/trap strains. Will feel shit out. I have no problem taking long breaks these days, so Im not comitted to anything, but I will see what I feel like doing. My approach now is more balanced.

KILL THAT SHIT

 

[WalkingBeast]

Back and delts (trap focused laterals, overhead pressing)


First day back from 2 week break.

Right chest strain rehab. Light , low volume.

Just testing my chest today. No direct work for chest yet. Maybe in another 2 weeks. If the strain was still bad then it would be a problem with rowing and overhead pressing as well. Felt no tenderness during training. Another 2 weeks should be a decent recovery before I hit chest directly again.

Some tramadol pre workout but no anti inflammatories today. I didnt want to mask the pain, and wanted to feel where everything was at. Elbows, chest, etc. Will probably bring it back in the next sessions. Only on training days and not forever. PRO BCAAs came back in, and took 2 scoops today intra workout. Went back on the creatine HCL as well, though I cant say I noticed any changes on it.

I will try to keep some overhead pressing in the routine as a replacement for not pressing with chest. That way shoulders get some pressing work. I have to balance it because that shit fucks up my neck/trap strain. I hit 35 reps with 270 on the iso lateral hammer strength shoulder press, first week back. Maybe Ill go for 50 plus next week or within the next few weeks with that weight. It depends how it effects the neck. Dont know until afterwards.

I decided against going up to 360 ,400 + due to the risk with neck. Especially with the heavier weights. So I may keep those light and very high rep. Or drop them soon when I start chest again.

Elbows still have alot of tenderness, inner elbows. That takes alot longer than 2 weeks to heal. Its been a nuissance but not enough to interfere with my size gains and strength gains yet. The main reason I took the 2 weeks off was to avoid tearing my chest fully.

Weight is down about 10 lbs but I will fill back out quickly. Probably within a week or two. Some of that may be water retention from the creatine. I went off all supplements and ate very little. No point in over eating during breaks as I end up adding fat. So I ate when I felt like it. Which is very little. Sometimes one meal a day or less. Sometimes more. Varied.

Wont be busting my ass with eating but I will be eating enough again to grow. Aslong as the chest doesnt re-tear. Chest is down to 54 inches cold flexed and arms around 18 3/4, legs 27 1/2. The two inches lost on chest will come back very quick and everything else should fill back out in a week or two.

(230 lbs after meal)

Nothing to failure today.

Iso Low Row HammerStrength (plate loaded)

90x50
180x50
270x30
360x16
410x10

No rest til line

270x30
180x20
----------

Iso High Row Hammer Strength (plate loaded)

180x25
270x15

No rest til line

360x8
270x10
180x10
---------------

Iso Lateral Shoulder Press Hammer Strength (plate loaded) (Close to lockout or lockout on each rep, but seat set low to avoid overstretching joints)

90x30
180x40
270x20
270x35 (rest paused the last 3 reps or so. Not bad for first day back. Maybe 50 plus next time, but gotta watch neck strain with overheads)

Decided against anymore sets or going to 400 plus today. Thats usually where my neck pulls out. Ill try hitting high reps with the light shit first and see if my neck holds up.

Dumbbell Laterals (trap focused version)

45x30

No rest til line

50x20
45x10
-----------

no rest til line

50x20
45x5
----------------

50x30 (rest pauses)

Cybex Lat Pull

190x15 (Long holds)

Alot of elbow strain with these. This was the only set where I did holds today. All other rowing was faster with a deep contraction and some brief holds mixed in. Avoided lat pullovers since they involve alot of chest. Wont fuck with chest until maybe another 2 weeks.


Felt some pain in back of shoulder joints, tightness in neck and back, so didnt push anything hard today. The dumbbell laterals and overhead presses are high risk with my neck/trap strain. Ill hit it harder next week. Gradually.


KILL THAT SHIT

 

[WalkingBeast]

Thought that I would have alot of pain in chest after the shoulder pressing yesterday. Right now I cant feel any tenderness in chest. Even during training I did not feel it. So I think Ill attempt chest today. I was going to wait 4 weeks before hitting chest, but its been close to 3. Ill see how shit feels. If I do it will be mostly constant tension style. Deep reps are what was fucking me up and caused the pop a few weeks ago.

Possibly arms as well. Since I got in to the gym late this week and was not planning to train. Not sure yet but will see how shit feels.

KILL THAT SHIT