Have you tried lunges in a different direction; or with different load position? That might help.
6-13
Cable Pulldowns with narrow, 45 Degree underhand MAG Handle
Paired with Single Arm Tricep Pushdowns
3 x15 each
Cable “Face Pull” with Rope Handle, only at Sternum Level
Paired with Dumbbell Bech (light weight, wrists over elbows, chest high)
3 x15 each
Rack Z Press From Nose
Work up
110 x1
120 x1
130 xNo. Position better, but no where near locking this out
Reverse Pec Dec
3 x15
Some garbage rows with Bamboo Bar
Wrist Roller 90 x3. Toss 55 plate hand to hand x10 “reps” x 3 “sets”
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I think my “Dynamic Effort” or EMOM days have become too heavy. The weights the formulas say I’m supposed to lift are too much. Stuff like lunges or taking the dogs for a walk is too much for me. I think I’m “over training.”
If you believe in equations; The bar is slowing down and I’m producing less Force. Rest periods are longer, so Power is down. Less force over the same distance equals less Work being done. Assistance work dropping off means less volume.
In a nutshell, lifting heavier is making my training less effective!
To lift the weights I need to lift, I need to get Faster, develop more absolute strength and increase my conditioning to get less worked and recover faster after workouts.
The only way to do this is lower the weights. This will let me go faster on DE stuff, be fresher for ME day and do more assistance on both days.
Instead of 75%-80%-85%, then repeat, I think I’m going to use 65%-70%-75% then 70%-75%-80%. 6 “Bonus” weeks to smash the weights, do more work, and cut rest time down. Lower the intensity(bar weight) and raise the intensity(perception of hardcoreness).
Theoretically, this will be easier than what I’m doing, so ME stuff should roll along no problem. I’m probably not going to squat or deadlift tomorrow. The idea of ten doubles in the front squat seems like facing execution!
Also, lunges with a different load or direction are a good idea. Maybe I’ll bust out the sled before it gets too hot out.
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6-15
A couple easy stretches
Hanging Leg Raises
4 sets of 5 reps
Cable Pull Thrus
50 x 4 sets x 8 reps
Sled Drag
2 plates x 3 trips forward/3 trips backwards
Real easy, but hips felt banged up dragging the sled.
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6-16
Some close grip Pulldowns. Sternum Up! Elbows down!
Some Rope Cable Tricep Pushdowns. Face right up to cable, Elbows in line with wrists, cable straight up and down.
Seated Cable Rows. Chest high, some holds at the belly.
Some light dumbbell benches. Dumbbells over elbows, forearms vertical, chest high!
Really trying to get “maximum tension” on this junk. Tight everywhere like a squat, but only moving at the elbows.
Bamboo Bar Bench Press
3 x10
Bamboo Bar Chinese Row
3 x10
Cable Curls
3 x12
Another half weight, half rep workout. Sending the message to my body that training is easy, and things can calm down (I hope?).
My girl benched 140 for 5 singles.
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6-19
Back Raises
Rows
Standing Hamstring Curls
Sit ups with medicine ball under back
Sled Drag
No lower M.E. move, about 70% effort on assistance stuff.
6-20
Pushdowns
Single Arm Cable Tricep
Rows
Dumbbell Bench Press, only with Kettlebells hanging from mini-bands
Chest Supported Row
Hammer Strength Bench Machine (maybe it’s decline press)
More Pulldowns
More Tricep Extensions.
Doing stuff with band hanging Kettlebells is kinda silly. But when my left shoulder gets “loose” that side’s 'bell gets all over the place, and I can lock it back in. Sometimes what feels “right” is revealed by the dancing kettlebell to be wrong. So it’s cool.
I used a handle like this for cable-tri-Pushdowns. Keeping my hands above the little swivel gave me great Tricep tension. Wrist/elbow position and muscle tension felt like barbell extensions, with no pain.
Again, no barbell M.E. and like 70% effort on assistance.
Back to real training Thursday/Friday.
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6-20
My girl has a conference out of town tomorrow, so we hit the gym a day early. Monday was easy, we were both eager to get in there.
Laying Leg Curls/Paired with Stir the Pot
4 times
Band Thru Belt Walk, with suitcase style Kettlebell/Paired with Iso-Hold on Back Raise (gluuuuuuutes!)
Twice was enough! Will do this again!
Add Inzer Power Pants(poly briefs)
Pin 2 Sumo Rack Deadlift
275 x2, 14 “sets”
SSB Squat, High Box
205 x2, 14 “sets”
Holy shit, immedietly remove power pants!
Hanging Leg Raise (bw) x10
Cable Pull Thru (60) x20
Reverse Hypers (110) x20
Rhomboids on Reverse Pec Dec (60) x20
3 trips through circuit
Great workout. Pre Deadlift activation stuff was great. Kettlebell suitcase walk in Place with band through belt is a keeper! Locking the obliques in made so much difference. D.E. work was light and fast, so I could focus on the little things. My squat has probably been a little crooked lately. Assistance circuit was cool. If the moves aren’t intense, at least the pace can be. I was really getting pulled through on the bottom of the pull thrus. Hopefully this means my hips were hinging more than my spine was flexing.
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I don’t recall seeing the power pants mentioned before, how do you find them?
I found them tight!
I got them years ago, to help after an adductor tear. At the time, I thought of them as a crutch. But I hit my lifetime biggest squats (briefs and no briefs)after training in them. I haven’t used them much in 10 years or so. My squat has really deteriorated over that period. I thought for years that they threw my technique off, and wearing them caused my problems.
Now I’m thinking they were never a crutch, they just supported me enough to train really effectively. And the problem was taking them off.
I wore them today hoping hip support would let me squat and dead “better.” Lifting today felt great, but the weights were light. In a few weeks, I’ll know a little better.
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6-22
Stretch pec/lats/traps then do this back move, sorta slumped over stability ball. It worked, I could get cramps on every rep.
Kneel down, lean on forearms on stability ball, row arms back and forth, push sternum up. This ends up being like the easiest row motion possible. I could feeeel all the mid-back/serratus shoulder supporting muscles working. Then all of the sudden my chest would fall, and my shoulders would roll, and other muscles (traps/lats/pecs) would take over. From there, I would isometrically hold and try to pull myself back into better alignment.
Scrape the Rack Press. First, I was going too low. Then, an empty barbell was too heavy. Next, everything was set up right, but when I started to push into the Rack and up, my lower back kinked up. Like instead of getting tight in the mid/upper back to keep chest up and shoulders back, my lower back excessively arched, to lay me back into a Fake tight position. Finally, I sat on a bench with a 25 pound curl bar and got the action I was looking for! It felt similar to a doorway pec stretch, but muscles around shoulder blades were screaming!
45 Degree Cable Pull down/Row. Adjustable cable(like for Tricep Pushdown) overhead, with a neutral close grip handle. Lean forward at 45 degrees, and pull/row cable to chest at 45 Degree angle. Big stretch at Top, nice chest up squeeze at the bottom. I had to look at myself in the mirror, and fidget around to get my lower back straight and really get the tension where I wanted it.
Bamboo Bar Bench Press
4 x12
Close/Underhand Grip Pulldowns (140) x20
Cable Tricep Pushdowns (60?) x20
Chinese Row (95) x15
Bamboo Bar Tricep Extensions (hanging 10’s) x15
3 times through the loop
Bamboo Bar curls x20
Rhomboids on Reverse Pec Dec x0 - back was killed!
I got a bunch of stuff from this article. I’ve seen these moves/concepts before, but I’ve never seen them put together in a progression like this. It gave me some good stuff to think about.
I was really able to target the weak area in the middle of my back. Today felt like the first time I ever really did a Chinese Row properly. I also felt how fast other stuff wanted to take over for those weak muscles! My shoulders would roll foward to try to shift work to traps. My lower back would over-arch to bring in more errectors. My wrists wanted to bend or “break” so I could like roll over the top and hump the bar up.
Floor Press Tuesday! Lowering the bar and keeping my chest up and shoulders tight was the major issue last month. This could be a good indicator.
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Chinese Rows!
Here is a terrible video. This girl does the lower back and trap garbage I do. I don’t think it’s in slo-mo specifically to examine technique, but you can see the problems.
https://youtu.be/MXjZOKl_i1s
Here the forearms don’t stay verticle. This takes stress off mid-back I’ve found myself doing this on Chest Supported rows. I don’t think I’d want to lower a bench press like this.
https://youtu.be/02vfvOSssJw
This woman does a good job.
https://youtu.be/pBYYSmY5u_w
Here are some Chinese Olympic dudes. You can see sloppy ones and good ones.
https://youtu.be/JL7eEe02b88
Finally, here is the bench at my gym. Its all padded, with a little hole for your face. You could get a massage on this thing. Go USA!
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Dave Tate cheating on some chest supported rows.
Another great example of Bad Rows
Fruity wrist action
Stricter, Memphis Style
Ben Bruno keeping it tight.
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Saturday
Face down band leg curls.
“Sled” Drag in backyard. Step out with heel, pull (like leg curl) hips forward.
Sunday
Knees on Floor, forearms on stability ball mid- back exercise.
Band Tricep Pushdowns.
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If the lift is big and fast, use pauses to improve positioning in the crucial areas of the lift.
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5-26
Stretch hip flexors, activate hamstrings/glutes
Briefs on
SSB High Box Squat
Work up
300 x1
315 x1
330 x1
Briefs off
Standing Hamstring Curl x15
Hanging Leg Raise (till parallel to ground) x13
45 Back Raise (20kb behind head) x15
Reverse Hypers (180) x25
4 times through circuit. Used a couple rest/pauses in there
Good workout. Back raises with kettlebell behind the head made my back stay real straight, which kept pressure on hamstrings. This carried over to reverse Hypers, which were really “tight.” Briefs didn’t add to much poundage to the SSB box squat, but they made it feel less bad.
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Aren’t they seal rows?
I would never exploit poor little seals like that. I love animals.
6-27
Stretch pec/bicep/traps paired with ball slump back drill
Stability ball kneeling back garbage/Tricep Pushdowns
Seated scrape the Rack Press with tiny barbell/dumbbell bench press
Floor Press
Work up
215 x1
225 x1
235 x1 (+5 pounds more than last time)
These were better than last time. I could “bottom out” without binding up my shoulder. Lots of triceps and no front delts on the way up.
45 Degree Cable Row/Pull down x15
Hammer Strength Bench Press Machine(maybe seated decline?) x15
Chest Supported Row x15
Dumbbell Tricep Extension x20
4 times around the loop(weights low, but back was burning!)
Wrist Roller: 100 x2 “rolls” plus 1almost roll. Shit was hard!
Bumper Plate Hand to Hand Toss: 45 x20, 55x20
Worked a few cable curls in there.
Today’s Revelation: The heavy rows I did years ago don’t prevent my lats from being weak in the present day.
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I’m sceptical about how strong any rows make the lats, at least in my case. Middle and upper back, absolutely. Lats, not so much compared to vertical pulling.
6-29
Stretch hip flexors/pecs. Fire up glutes.
Band thru belt walk, hugging 40 pound medicine ball.
Put on Power Pants
Pin 2 Sumo Rack Deadlift
300 x2, 14 sets
SSB High Box Squat
225 x2, 14 sets
I wasn’t paying attention, and racked the SSB upside down to start. I forgot how tough that was. 11 minutes for squats.
Laying Leg Curl (60)x15
Stir the Pot x"15"
Cable Pull Thru (80)x20
Reverse Hyper (200) x15
4 times around
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6-30
Pec/bicep/trap stretch. Stability ball hug-row drill. Kneeling stability ball back move. Seated scrape the Rack presses. So fun bros!
Bamboo Bar Bench Press
25kb + 30kb each side x3, 9 sets with 3 grips
Close Grip Pull down(160) x20
Cable Tricep Pushdown (100)x20
Chinese Rows (95)x20
Tricep Extension with Bamboo Bar (50)x15
4 circuits of the circuit
I ordered some more short mini bands to hang more stuff off the bamboo bar. This was my first time hanging 2 Kettlebells per side, it was pretty cool. The first set with each grip was all over the place, especially the widest grip. By the end I was sorta locked in.
Maybe some of this stupid rehab style junk is working. Scrape the Rack pressing showed me how much I was over-arching my lower back for stability, instead of locking in my abs and squeezing upper back for tightness, in the overhead. Better position carries over to pull-downs, and I feel more upright with chest up and better Squeeze.
Same with kneeling ball elbow serratus rolls or whatever they should be called. Chest up, back locked like a row. Then pull the elbows back, like a row with no hands. Good position here made the Chinese Rows feel tight and straight.
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