Clockin' A Grip

[FlatsFarmer]

11-30 Legs

McGill Curl Up
Clam Shell
Stay in clamshell position but adduct bottom leg
Hip Hike
Seated Psoas Raise

Finger tips on iliums and top-back of pelvis to ensure correct pelvic tilt. Front to back and side to side.

Iso Metric Deadlift in power rack.
Pins and position 4. 3 sets of 3 exertions high. Then I stood on 1 block to lower the bar position, 3 x3. Then one more block to lower the bar further, 3x3.

The deadlift Iso is pretty much like setting up for a deadlift, getting really tight, but the bar doesn’t move. My right(bad) hip always wants to “slump.” Its hard to describe, but if the top of a hip hike is “good” I feel like I’m in the loose “bottom” position. So I’m actively trying to use little hip/Glute muscles to keep my hip tight and right, or hiked. Then really fighting to keep a good brace, good hip tilt and neutral spine. If I do a seated Psoas raise and cheat my lower back arches excessively, my butt kinda sticks out the back and I end up in anterior pelvic tilt. I I focus and do it right I stay square on my ass with proper hip tilt and a neutral spine. (almost like The top position of a seated Goodmorning). The goal of the exercise( the psoas raise) is to lift your leg with this perfect alignment. I really try to maintain this same alignment during the deadlift Iso. If I loose concentration I kinda slump at the hip and end up over arched and apt’ed. This of course is a squat, but the hip situation is the same.

If you have 1 bad hip this happens to one side while the other side stays square and correct. This causes the trunk twist. I believe that’s why everyone is always busting up their SI and getting pain on 1 side.

The clam shells and adductions feel like twisting the feet into the floor and pushing the floor apart to use glutes in the deadlift. And to keep the hips/pelvis neutral and under me so I can get closer to the bar instead of leaned over and far away.

Anyway, I did that fruity warm up. Then 3 x3 isos in 3 positions. Between some sets I did 1 or 2 or 3 of those little warm up exercises to really ingrain the Glute activation and hip tilt.

After that

Squat Machine x10
Standing Leg Curl x8
Reverse Hypers x20
4 loops

Next week to progress the ROM on the deadlift Iso I can lower the pins from 4 to 3, or adjust from conventional stance to squat or sumo stance.

[mortdk]

Hey Flats been away from your log a while gonna catch up later. But all that rehab stuff and corrective things you’ve thrown around lately are gold.
Just wanted to say thanks man

[FlatsFarmer]

Thank you for saying so Mort. Looking around it seems like there are a few issues that just about everyone deals with at some point. Especially tight hip or hips leading to a stiff back, right before an injured back. Or a crunchy, grindy shoulder becomes an injured shoulder. If we put our heads together, I think we can figure this stuff out and get on top of these minor issues before they turn into injuries.

[FlatsFarmer]

12-3 Chest Biceps

Warm Up
Arm circles against wall. A few scarecrows laying face down on inclined bench. Standing Pallof press on cable.

Workings

Incline Bench Machine
4 x15 working up
2 x12 for serious
-some scarecrows or pallofs between sets

Dip Machine
4 x12
-some scarecrow/sidebend stuff between sets

Cable Pallof x6
Pec Deck x12
right into Incline Dumbbell Bench x12
3 loops.

Barbell Spider Curl x12ish
Dumbbell Incline Curl x12ish
Standing Cable Curls x12ish
4 loops

Incline Bench Machine “warms up” chest. Dips, Pec Deck, dumbbell inclines put pecs into a weighted stretch at the “bottom.” Doing 2 exercises right together, focusing on good contraction and tension (pump) keeps the blood flow to the muscles restricted for as long as I could handle.

Curl 3 way is similar. Warm up the bicep with spider curls, weighted stretch bicep with incline curls, get hellacious pump, keeping blood flow restricted with constant tension cable curls.

I missed bench pressing 0% last night during this workout.

[Frank_C]

The only time I miss bench press is when I think about the fact that I’ve never hit 3 plates.

[FlatsFarmer]

When I was benching 315+ consistently, my shoulders were healthy enough to military press correctly. No bounce, smooth press, even, symetrical lockout above my ears.

Ever since one shoulder or the other has been too shifty to press correctly my bench has sucked. When that shit was worst I got pinned under 135.

If the shoulder is un-stable you just can’t lock out the bench press. It dies 2/3 of the way up. Even if you have strong, strong chest or triceps. The whack shoulder holds you back.

I’m finally learning that stable shoulders are all about serratus activation for proper scap tilt. Once the scaps are right, everything else does what’s it’s supposed to do.

One of the pieces of the Tricep attaches to the scapula. If that scap isn’t tilted properly, it’s hard to use the long head of the Tricep. If you press stuff without the long head of your triceps, the other 2 have to take over. This is why all my bros with a sore shoulder get sore elbows. Or, often the elbow takes the most abuse and hurts so much dudes don’t notice how pissed off their shoulder is.

There needs to be some external rotation of the upper arm to properly extended your arm. If things are “off” the bench press will stall.

Little sleeper felt his shoulder instability as a little flutter in his elbow at the bottom of a bench press.

chris _ottawa has hellacious triceps, but stalls near the top of his bench. He’s also mentioned not being able to straighten his arm and his sore elbow.

lost hog felt the instability during the floor press. I think maybe one shoulder got over extended or lifted off the floor or something? I believe Mark also mentioned one shoulder kinda rolling up off the bench during a bench press too.

I’ve been trying to do scarecrows for serratus/scap tilt. And Pallof presses to try to bring that serratus/scap tilt into anti rotation so I can stay square on the bench.

Here’s somebody with poor scap motion excessively arching to cheat and get lined up.

If one shoulder were better and one were worse, the cheating wouldn’t be even.

From the back it could look like

If you kept lifting crooked like that for awhile your body could develop a twist.

Benching like that could grind your shoulder away until you needed a replacement.

I’m using the scarecrows to get my scaps/shoulders/back like this

And the Pallof press to untwist.

Ideally, I’ll stop benching like this

Since I’m already hugely muscular and strong I’m expecting to automatically bench 315 almost effortlessly once my shit is sorted out.

[losthog]

I don’t really know what my minds eye of you is/was it it certainly was t a big bulging man who could throw 315 around like a match stick.

[FlatsFarmer]

I hate to talk about it because it was so long ago, but I used to be pretty strong and awesome.

It took a lot of heavy, dumb shit back then to get to my current state.

[FlatsFarmer]

Jack Pot!

Disregard doctors!

Don't get surgery for femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) until you see this!

Retrain Lower Abs.

How to activate the glutes - the most overlooked thing you MUST do

If your tight psoas restricts your pelvic tilt, smash that shit!

Psoas flossing and biker hips | Feat. Kelly Starrett | Ep. 301 | MobilityWOD

Get all the tight tissue around your hip.

FAI Or 'Hip Impingement' and the Ultimate Fix | Trevor Bachmeyer | SmashweRx

Use your new lower ab control to keep a neutral pelvis in 3 dimensions.

Strengthen Your CORE - The McGill Big 3 (Tutorial)

[Frank_C]

I didn’t have surgery for FAI! I had a torn labrum and learned that it was caused by FAI.

[FlatsFarmer]

After talking to g.pig I had to get right to the gym.

Warm Up

Arm in Band upper body stretch
Arm Cirlce Against Wall
Scarecrow, face down on inclined bench

Pelvic Tilt/Breathing
Dead Bugs into Dead Bug Leg Drops
Clamshell
Twice

Workings

Pin 3 Isometric Deadlift, Sumo Stance x 3 pulls
Face Down Scarecrow x4
Neutral Grip Pulldowns x12
4 series. Focused on serratus then lat activation, long arms, high chest

Pin 3 Isometric Sumo Pull x3
Dead Bug Leg Drops x4
Single Leg 45 Degree Back Raises x4
4 series. Focus on lower abs, proper non-apt pelvic tilt, neutral spine and driving glutes

Iso Sumo x3
Band Pallof Press x6
Seated Chest Supported Row Machine x12
4 series. Scap tilt and pelvic tilt are now ingrained. Neutral back, good brace and glute activation are ingrained. Focus on symmetrical movements and level hips and shoulders.

Holy shit, this was awesome. At first my knees were way in front, my hips were high, I was leaned over with a round upper back and butt stuck out the back. By the end I had to add weight to keep the bar on the pins, and was falling back into pertect upright pulling position. Rows were perfect, I could feel my ass working its way under me instead of sticking out the back. I could feel my right side trying to squirm out worse, and how that would twist my upper body. I could feel how to use hip tilt and serratus to stay square. Rows just happened automatically. Single 45 Degree Back raises felt similar, but not as great as rows. Pulldowns were OK.

Yoke Time

Chest Supported Incline Dumbbell Shrugs,(regular execution)
3 x15

Standing Dumbbell Shrugs (pump style for metabolic stressings.)
8 right, 8 left, 8 together with hold at Top x3 sets

Dumbbell Farmers Walk with Straps ( weighted stretch)
Down and Back x3

I went heavy on metabolic stress and weighted stretching. I’m a special snow flake with puss-Tendons so I decided to take it easy on muscle damage.

Unbelievable Gym Session! Days like this keep me motivated.

Yoke Song

Naughty By Nature - Yoke the Joker

Science Song

Sounds of Science-Beastie Boys

[FlatsFarmer]

Therapeutic Weight Lifting

Tip: Get the Hips Through!

Tip: Fix Your Form, Build Bigger Triceps

[FlatsFarmer]

12-6 Shoulders/Tricep

Warm Up
Band Arm Stretch
Arm circles against wall
New band serratus move

Rear Delt Destroyers
15/25/35/40 x25 reps

Band serratus move between sets. Great rear Delt connection.

Long Rope Tricep Extensions
4 x20

Band serratus move between sets. Shoulders stayed depressed.

Side Delt Dumbbell Raise
5 x12

Band serratus move between sets. Mostly pain free.

PJR Pullovers
40/55/70 x15
80 x12. First time with the 80 dumbbell.

Band serratus move between sets. Both elbows in the same place during tricep lifting.

Seated Press Machine
5 x13

Band serratus move between sets. Pressing was just about painless and my whole back stayed even and driven into the back rest.

Great workout. This new band serratus move is the shit. I slung a band, horizontal, between the arms of the monolift. Then I put my Fat Gripz handle on the band, so I had a “floating handle” right at shoulder width. From there I would stand far enough away to have a straight arm, grab the handle knuckles up, and twist my thumb “up.” This lit up my serratus, rear delt, tricep and all the muscles involved in good shoulder position.

By raising and lowering the band, and changing my stance I was able to “practice” this stability and good position before every movement. I stood with the handle in front and above me before PJR Pullovers. Or down and to the side before side Delt raises. Or above my head as I sat on a bench before overhead presses.

This move is great. I’m going to set it up and lay on a bench underneath the handle before benching. And at hip height, right in front of me before shrugs and deadlifts. And right beside my hip before rows. This little move is awesome.

[duketheslaya]

@FlatsFarmer out of curiosity, what weights were you moving at your peak? Dead/Squat/Bench/Overhead etc.

[FlatsFarmer]

Oh man. Low 500s in the squat and deadlift. 330ish front squat. Low 300s in the bench. But benches were in the gym, so maybe not legal. 525 Deadlift was in a strongman contest, but with a barbell. Maybe it was OK, maybe I hitched a little. 225 strict press, 275+ power clean and push press.

My best lift ever was 280 on the axle overhead, which broke the record in my weight class/ organisation. (NAS/231 open class). But it was only good for 2nd place because some Canadian dude came out right behind me and hit 300.

I didn’t really have all these lifts at the same time. These were the biggest numbers, spread out from like 6 or 7 years my 20s.

[duketheslaya]

@FlatsFarmer

Maybe it was OK, maybe I hitched a little.

Haha nothing wrong with a good hitch!

@FlatsFarmer

My best lift ever was 280 on the axle overhead, which broke the record in my weight class/ organisation. (NAS/231 open class). But it was only good for 2nd place because some Canadian dude came out right behind me and hit 300.

Nice

@FlatsFarmer

didn’t really have all these lifts at the same time. These were the biggest numbers, spread out from like 6 or 7 years my 20s.

Did you stop due to injury?

[FlatsFarmer]

Not one specific injury, just a pattern of having the same issues and problems pop up and stall, then slowly kill my lifts. Small injuries here and there, seemingly unconnected, but in reality all caused by the same issues.

Bad hip tilt and spine position made my deadlift and squat stall. Then caused all my hip impingment problems. Which lead to my adductor tear, years of SI problems, disk bulges, twisted trunk, uneven hipsetc, etc. Eventually all these problems (which were all based on bad pelvic tilt) made my squat and deadlift 0.0 pounds. Its taken me Forever to finally understand that.

Poor scap tilt and lack of external rotation caused all my shoulder problems. All the elbow, rotator cuff, upper back and neck issues, un-even shoulders, and uneven extension in presses came as a result of poor posture/scap position. Eventually, all this shit added up until I couldn’t do any pressing or even lift my arms over my head. It took me years and years to add that shit all up and understand the cause.

That’s why I am trying to Pound This Stuff into everyones’ heads. Pelvic Tilt and Scapular Tilt are the 2 most important things. Lack of awareness of these 2 crucial things will stall your lifts and cause all the injuries and problems.

The issues I had forever are the same that everyone is developing right now.

Duke, I know about your shoulder problems. My shoulder was just like that! Bro, you are headed down the same path as me. Please pay attention! Get after that serratus and scap tilt and you can even out your shoulders and get better lifts. And head off tons of problems.

[FlatsFarmer]

Dr Janda talked about Tonic and Phasic Pairs. Muscles that “corresponded” to eachother. As one muscle got short and tight and “locked” the other muscle got pulled long, weakened and inhibited.

How in the world can an injury or pain move from the back of your body to the front of your body? Because if one muscle is injured and messed up, this impaired function messes up the position and stability of the muscle it “corresponds” to. Like if you pull your rhomboid or rear delt it hurts. Then later your front delt or upper pec hurt. The stuff in the back isn’t supporting the stuff in the front.

Why does squatting hurt my knees and my hamstrings? Because the hip flexors and quads are so tight it pulls the hips into anterior tilt and the hamstrings are lengthened. They have to stretch extra long to get to depth. They’re weak in this position so my knees drift way forward over my toes.

Why can’t I straighten my arm or lockout my bench? Short tight biceps and lats stop my triceps brachii and external shoulder rotators from moving my arm into position to straighten.

[duketheslaya]

@FlatsFarmer

Not one specific injury, just a pattern of having the same issues and problems pop up and stall, then slowly kill my lifts. Small injuries here and there, seemingly unconnected, but in reality all caused by the same issues.

Bad hip tilt and spine position made my deadlift and squat stall. Then caused all my hip impingment problems. Which lead to my adductor tear, years of SI problems, disk bulges, twisted trunk, uneven hipsetc, etc. Eventually all these problems (which were all based on bad pelvic tilt) made my squat and deadlift 0.0 pounds. Its taken me Forever to finally understand that.

Poor scap tilt and lack of external rotation caused all my shoulder problems. All the elbow, rotator cuff, upper back and neck issues, un-even shoulders, and uneven extension in presses came as a result of poor posture/scap position. Eventually, all this shit added up until I couldn’t do any pressing or even lift my arms over my head. It took me years and years to add that shit all up and understand the cause.

That’s why I am trying to Pound This Stuff into everyones’ heads. Pelvic Tilt and Scapular Tilt are the 2 most important things. Lack of awareness of these 2 crucial things will stall your lifts and cause all the injuries and problems.

Damn dude

@FlatsFarmer

Duke, I know about your shoulder problems.

80% of it is structural (Broken collarbone when i was younger so one collarbone grew alot longer and shit) but its definitely not right

@FlatsFarmer

Get after that serratus and scap tilt and you can even out your shoulders and get better lifts. And head off tons of problems.

What can i do for the serratus and scap tilt? To even out the shoulders

[IronOne]

Good stuff.

Got a pic/vid/link to that money serratus move? I’m having a hard time visualizing. I think I got it, but want to make sure. First move of this vid? I do this complex before pressing and it really primes well.

Y of YTWL?

@ 10:05

BENCH STRONGER: Fix Your Wonky Shoulders (Ft. Alan Thrall)