Deficit Paused DL( 1 plate deficit, pause at mid-shin for 2-count, dbl overhand)
135x5
185x5
225x3
280 3x3 SupersSet With Hanging Leg raises
8x5 sets
SSB Seated GM
205 8x2 sets
Chest-Supported DB Row
80’s 6x6 sets superset with 1 Arm DB Press
55x3
60x3
65x3
75x3,3,2
DB Hammer Curls
50’s 5x3 sets
Adductor Machine
a few sets by 15 reps at various weights
Downward Dog to Cobra (Prescribed for re-seating the right shoulder blade.)
3x30 sec
Trying to unkink my adductors. Both sides have pulled muscles and twang if I put my knees out too far on a squat. Tried out the addy machine, but didn’t feel any stretch and was able to do ridiculous weight (the stack) on it. I think it’s the sartorius muscle, the one that lets you sit cross-legged with no hands, which is weird.
Pulled a muscle in my back lower left on the seated GMs. Back is still spasming. Left leg pulled muscle still twitchy, right leg pulled muscle seems to have mostly recovered. Fun times.
I’ll take a stab at squats, but it’s likely to be leg extensions, leg curls and whatever else I can do tonight.
Belt one notch tighter, kept the knees closer together and took them down slow. Everything held together so I kept going. 1st rep of each set was shaky, but the weight settled in for the 2nd and 3rd reps.
Aaaaand the lower back has been painfully spasming since the last session. Makes putting on my socks on an event of pure hilarity.
I ignored the signs that this would happen. Invariably, the muscle tissue in my legs, arms and upper back become hypertonic and my grip strength goes down. If I keep pushing, my lower back will spasm for 3 days to a week. I kept pushing. Shoulda scaled things way back after the sartorial muscles in my legs locked up.
It’s clearing up, but I’ll have to start back lighter and stop boosting the weight additions as fast as I have been.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. My workouts will be boring from now on.
First two sets were a little slow off the floor. Paid attention, took up the slack on the the third and those went up good and fast. Was a little afraid that the adductors would seize up again, but no problem at all.
Leg curls
80 3x8
Something in the lower back went clunk in a good way on the first set. May do these just for the traction.
Used to do pullups holding a 50 lb dumbbell with my feet, the get the chin over the bar kind. Decided to try one of 'dem “genuine” try to touch the sternum to the bar pullups (I think it was a Poliquin video); was absolutely shocked at how poorly my pullup strength transferred.
Haven’t done a weighted pullup since. Mind muscle is king for this exercise imo. For normal humans of course.
Tangentially, noticed a guy at my gym (doctor dude, keeps track of everything in a little book, does all the “right” exercises) watch me doing pullups, drop the dumbbell between the feet pullups he’d been doing, and go to bodyweight only pullups. I’m soooo tempted to tell him to vary the angles of pull, use the mmc etc. but I just can’t bring myself to be “that guy” lol.
I have never been able to touch my sternum to the bar on a pullup unless I was doing a muscle up. My arms and forearms are long, my shoulders are narrow, my torso is flat and, what is more probable, I don’t really want to badly enough.
But if you can do it, I certainly can and do admire that.
Hah. Sorry to misspeak. No way I can actually touch my sternum yet (long arms also); but I’m getting closer…theoretically it’s possible, as long as you can touch the bar to your chest when benching?
I was only speaking of “intent”, sorta like trying to lift a heavy weight “fast”. Trying to pull towards different parts of the chest area (helps the brain) work the back muscles a lot better than just trying to get the chin over the bar is my main point I guess.
Wrt engaging the lat, have you tried (in your head) supinating your hand (especially squeezing the pinky)? I know I can’t seem to engage my left lat doing dumbbell rows unless I use a supinated grip plus a different angle of pull. (yes, I do right rows mostly pronated and left rows mostly supinated lol)
Or, if you can deadlift with a mixed grip, why can’t you do it with a “pullup”?
Thanks. I’m just going to keep titrating up the poundage by 2.5 on upper body and 5 lbs on lower body on the main movements each 4-session cycle. That way total volume doesn’t go up too fast and crush me. If I go stale on a movement I’ll switch it out, but given the episodic distance, I shouldn’t need to do that for quite a while.