Clockin' A Grip

1-16 Chest/Bicep

Shirley Row on Cable
4 x15
Paired with Pushups on Smith Machine Bar
5 x around 12-15

Plate Loaded Dip Machine
12, 12, 10, 10
Paired with Face Pulls / Y Raises / Rows on Blast Straps
4 x 12 or so

Hang on Blast Straps, Flair to Tuck Elbows x whatever
Dumbbell Squeeze Press x 12 (last 4 with slow lowering)
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press x around 12
3 loops

Barbell Curl x 8 + 4 cheat curls
Incline Dumbbell Curl x 10
Band Uppercut x20
3 loops

I did pushups holding onto the barbell of the smith machine, watching my shoulders in the mirror to make sure the were doing the same thing. I had to raise the bar up, halfway between knees/waist to make it easy enough to keep both sides even. Once I got it I could really work on Spreading the Bar Apart, getting tight and getting the pressure off the front of my shoulders. It was Hammering my serratus/sub scap meat. It felt bad, then great, like I’ve never done a pushup before.

On the blast straps, I held my elbows tucked to my sides, bent 90 degrees, “hammer grip.” Then I held that alignment and flared my elbows “up” till they were even with my shoulders, still bent 90 degrees with an overhand grip. The “exercise” was keeping my shoulders sucked back and tight while they internally/externally rotated.

Good workout. Gym was not super crowded, but the same 3 people seemed to Continuously be in my way.

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You triggered me.

Then I walked out into my garage and realized everything was going to be ok :slight_smile:

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…except for that car crowding your squats.

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Helps me with my bar path :joy:

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1-18 Rep Leg/Single Leg

A few stretches, hip rotations sitting on plyo box.

Single Leg Hip Thrust
8 reps x 5 sets. Up to 50 pound dumbbell. A master’s track & field dude told me he does 115 x10.

Pigeon stretch or Pails/Rails between sets.

Kneeling Single Leg Hamstring Curl
12 reps x 3 sets

Psoas eccentrics x6 between sets.

Right upper hamstring and crotch were all to hell after “squatting” last week. This workout revolved around not beating it up further. These went fine. Psoas eccentric move went well with this. Tight mid section, no humping to cheat.

Step Ups
12 reps x 3 sets

Side planks between sets.

Band Thru Belt Walk
Red Band x 50 steps x 3 sets

Seated Calf Raise x15 between sets. Middle toes and mid foot or right side were tight/sore all week. These felt nice.

Reverse Hypers
20 reps x 3 sets

Y Raise/Extenal Rotation against ripped band x12 with slow eccentric between sets.

Dumbbell Shrug
8 left/ 8 right/ 8 together x 4 sets

A few sets of 10 on the squat machine last week made me sore for days. More sore and tight on my right side. I was kinda half worried that I would twist up and turn crooked all week. But that never happened and this workout went smoothly. I did some hip thrusts and my penis didn’t fall off.

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Heavy weight on these doesn’t equal good performance. Lee Boyce has written about it several times. It’s easy to start using the wrong muscles with heavy loads.

If I were to do them then it would be a glute exercise. It’s easy to use the hamstrings or lower back if you’re focusing on the weight or overall movement of the bar from point A to B instead of focusing on the target muscle.

Edit: I’m not saying the Masters guy is doing it wrong; just sharing a friendly reminder to not worry about the weight used.

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Don’t worry man, that won’t be the One lift I pick to go heavy on!

Speaking of Boyce, did you see his Wheelchair to Wheels article last month? There was some great stuff in there.

No, I missed that one. I’ve been following his recovery though. I follow him on Facebook and he’ll actually interact with you in the comments section. It’s weird. In my mind, he’s a big time figure in the industry. I’m surprised he has so few comments that he has time to see mine and respond. Hopefully Canada appreciates him!

1-21 Shoulder

Some scarecrows over an incline bench, then some rear delt dumbbell extension and holds, then some lower trap raises.

Dumbbell Rear Delt “Row”
4 x15

Rear Delt Cable Drop Set
Pull across body x10 then face stack x until RPE 9 x 2 sets

Dumbbell Side Delt Raise
4 x12. Not traps, not front delts, all side delts. These felt great. Time on the cable side raise paid off.

Barbell Clean x3 then Clean and Press x4
A bunch of sets, slowly working up not very high

I tried some Donnie Thompson style internal/external shoulder rotations between sets. I’m still struggling especially with internal. I guess feeling what’s lacking improvement though.

1 Arm Tricep Push down on Cable, No Handle x20
Rolling DB Tricep Extension x15
Dumbbell PJR Pullover x 13ish, until RPE 9
4 rounds, but the first one was kinda puss.

Early in the year plus a holiday made for a pretty crowded gym. Soccer moms and battling ropes had me feeling testy like Mark.

Shoulders felt good. No pain on lateral raises and I could keep things level and feel my right side delt. Overhead presses felt better, but they’re still really light and squirrelly. While it’s useful to practice getting things overhead while standing, I’m not sure if barbell pressing is worth the effort.

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Monday I was pushing a wheel barrow loaded up with some sacks of feed up a small hill and just didn’t have the ass for the load I was trying to push. I ended up at zero speed, stuck up against a root. From there is guess I shrugged, over extended my back, pushed with too much quads and forgot to brace with my abs and obliques. Just like when I squat or deadlift too much.

Tuesday I woke up a little stiff. I went to the gym and tried to get loose. On my second set of Shirley Rows I got a hellacious cramp in my mid back. I was all bent over and I had to go home. It was pretty whack. Some ice and drugs got me feeling better. Today, Wednesday I feel mostly better but I get pretty stiff sitting around.

Lower back and hips are OK. I can cough and put on my socks without shooting leg pain and I’m not leaning to one side or twisting so I think I’m cool. Did I have a back spasm? What a dumb story. Being weak is dangerous.

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@Kamel
Hey man, in another thread you mentioned a problem with hip shift in your squat. You mentioned some mobility work, and some tempo squats then accessories. If you have some time I’d love to hear some details about how you beat the shift.

First I’d recommend finding a good physio in your area because he’ll be able to assess what your issues are exactly and how to fix them. It took me going to two different places until I found one that I clicked with and understood what I wanted.

With that being said we used most of the techniques in this video Fixing Hip Shift in the Squat-JTSstrength.com - YouTube and I warmed up like that every time I squatted. We didn’t use the last exercise with the pulling on the band because he didn’t think my hip shift was bad enough to warrant it. For the tempo squats, my physio would watch me on the eccentric (5 seconds) and verbally cue me if I started to deviate from center. I would pause in the bottom for a second and explode up and wait at the top for him to tell me if I came up straight or if I shifted and try to correct it the next rep if I did shift. The accessories were single leg stuff. Bulgarian split squats and single leg kettlebell RDLs with 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps.

I had other issues that we worked on that were specific to me but I think the stuff in the video and the tempo squats can help

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Thanks man! I tried laying on the floor, squeezing the roller and deep breathing last night (shown in video 3:00-7:00). At first I wasn’t feeling much, but after a few deep inhale/exhales I could feel the difference between my left /right hips. I’m going to do a lot more of that.

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Short one. 90/90 position, engaging hamstrings, not hip flexors.

Friday
Band Leg Curl x20 Band Leg Extension x35
3 times

Dog walk with ankle weights

Saturday
Roll out hips and lats/upper back. Band arm circles. Band upper cuts.

Regular dog walk.

I stayed out of the gym for 7 days. It was pretty cool. Every other I did a bunch of deep breaths in the 90/90position (feet against wall, not sitting on floor) with the roller between my legs. Then laying on each side. The first couple times that made me a little sore.

1-30 Back

Band upper body stretch, arm circles against wall, band serratus punches.

Blast Strap Upper Back Stuff then Pushups on Barbell x6, 9 paired sets

Rows with elbows out, internal/external rotations, Y-Raises, facepulls on Blast Straps. Worked different grip widths on Barbell pushups.

Seated, Chest Supported Rows (pails/rails for hips between sets)
2 sets of 8
2.5 plates x 8 ,5, 3 rest/pause

Barbell Shrug, 2 Count Hold at Top (Band Y raises with slow eccentric before sets)
2 x8
Drop set 185 x6, 165 x8, 145 x10

Narrow Grip Cable Pulldown, Semi Overhand MAG Grip ( Meadows Lat Activation before each set)
2 x8
x8, 5 count eccentric, 2 count pause “stretched” at top, then hold at end of set.

I tried out some Intensity Techniques from Thibadeau, rest pause on rows a drop set for shrugs and eccentric focus for pulldown. I’ve kinda messed with these things in the past, but never really planned or too well structured. They were new and fun.

During this workout I could really feel the front of my hip getting tight, and using my hip flexors instead of my glutes and abs. Like I could feel myself bracing wrong, with crooked hips, then straighten out and get right. By the time I got to pulldowns I was fatigued and had a lot of trouble getting my right side working correct. Probably should have gotten on the floor for psoas eccentrics or some McGill move to really get what I need when I need it, but damn, the floor is waaaay down there.

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I watched this video and tried rolling/releasing my right quad and mid back like they showed. That stuff was tight! I also tried to breathe into the tight spots yoga style and expand into my lower belly PL style.

Bishop Desmond 2-2, Legs

Stretch hamstring, quad, glute x2
Psoas Eccentric / clamshell
Seated Psoas Raise / birddogs
Standing Psoas Raise / side bridge

Inverse Leg Curl
135 x6
115 x6, 6

Power Squat Machine, 5 count eccentric, pause in hold, short mini band around knees
140 x5 x5

Standing Psoas March
55 dumbbells x 20 steps x 3 sets

Hip Thrustings
5 left, 5 right, 5 together x 3 sets

Paired with Dumbbell Shrugs
5 left, 5 right, 5 together x 3 sets

Good warm-up. Easy to less easy hip moves. I had good hip tilt for inverse leg curls. Short ROM was killing my hams. In the past my back must have been too arched with my butt sticking out. Way more tension today. Eccentric squats were from Juggernaut hip shift video. Marching in place with dumbbells was from a Chad Waterbury video. He said it was a way to regress single leg work and work hips. Like band thru belt walk with higher knees.

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Oh man, more stuff.

Josh Bryant interviews multi time world PL champ Larry Pacifico.

Brian Shaw press workout.

Westside Barbell Podcast, Episode 35 with rugby S&C coach and Eliftetfs columnist Ashley Jones.

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I’ve been going back through the Westside Barbell podcast. I’ve gleaned all I can for now.

I’ve got to find another good powerlifting pod cast. They are great on the drive to and from work…

Yeah, good for the commute or walking the dogs or yard work.

I tried a couple from Matt Wenning and they were kinda Blah. Hopefully he’ll get better at it. I’ve been meaning to look for one with Greg Panora because I think Mark’s training is so cool. Also Borge Fagerli to hear about using keeping volume low and intensity high.

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Thx I’ll check that out!

I’m at a weird place where I’m trying to figure out what works for my current training age/ experience/ lift quality/ . Not every thing that glitters is gold.