[quote]ItWasntMe wrote:
RB even with keeping my elbows as close as possible my arms are getting quite stimulated so doing seated rows and lat pulldowns (with pronated grip) work my arms a lot more than they should.[/quote]
No No…I meant FOCUS on the movement of the elbows from overhead to your lats, rather than on the motion of your hands. Visualize your elbows moving in an arc towards your lats, for eg. while doing the movement. YOu will be able to bring the bar down a lot more (or go higher on pullups).
FYI, a good rule of thumb for leg presses is that the true resistance is about 70% of the weight loaded on the machine. That assumes it’s a 45 degree leg press.
[quote]Phydeaux wrote:
FYI, a good rule of thumb for leg presses is that the true resistance is about 70% of the weight loaded on the machine. That assumes it’s a 45 degree leg press.[/quote]
Of course you also have to adjust for the difference between the weight of the sled and your bodyweight that you’re moving.
Pull downs → Before each rep focus on extending the lats at the top then squeezing your shoulder blades together, then begin pulling. Use a thumbless grip with just enough of a hook to hold the bar. Don’t do these extremely fast unless you have a ton of weight on there, the whole time just imagine your back doing the work. It will take time but eventually you’ll get a feel of getting your back to do the work.
You shouldn’t be doing curls before your pulldowns either. Maybe your doing this because you think if your arms are tired your back will do more work, but in this case the opposite is true. Your biceps get pumped during the curl now have to work harder during the pull down. This is like doing leg extensions before squatting.
However when you do a pull down with heavy weight and jerk move people hit their lats better. This is one of those no scientific proof but pretty much understood in hardcore gym circles.
I might be able to come up with a few theories.
1)The biceps can’t do that much by themselves so the lats are forced to help out, but if you do it slow you won’t be able to complete the exercise.
Maybe the controlled eccentric portion of the lift forces your lats to grow.
The fact that your doing heavy weight with a fast jerk recruits maximum fibers.
Heavy weight fast jerk might recruit fast twitch fibers that probably don’t get that much use day to day.
If you do it fast with light weight your biceps will take over.
At what point does it become heavy? Heavy to the person, less then 10 reps, 200+ lbs?
I’m not seeing where you are getting this. I agree with an explosive concentric and controlled eccentric for most movements as best for strength and hypertrophy, but that’s not what I’m picking up when you say the word “jerk”.
[quote]ItWasntMe wrote:
Man the base of my neck is killing me, I feel so pussy thinking about it but a bar pad would be great lmao.[/quote]
I used to use one of those wrap-around foam bar pads. Be sure to squeeze your back together–I like to pinch my shoulder blades when I bring my arms back to grab the bar–so that the bar will have a nice, big shelf to rest on.
You seem like a really nice guy, I hope things go well for you.
By heavy for that exercise I mean the point where you need to jerk the weight in order to complete your goal reps.
I specifically used jerk because I didn’t want it to be confused with a fast concentric which can be slightly different. I don’t know if you seen the video of kroc rows but when I look at it I see it as a jerk at the top to complete each rep.
Some people described it as added body english but whatever it is it’s not simply doing it faster theres a point where its like a jerk or sudden quick pull. With the Pull downs using a heavy weight you can jerk it down to start each rep. Of course the entire rep would not be a jerk at some point you would grab control of the weight throughout the rep.
The reason why I specified heavy weights is because most people use that slight jerk in rowing movements for weights that they don’t need. If you have a lighter weight that you can fully control you should take your time and feel the lat not jerk it then pull like you would do an extremely heavy weight.
I do agree that’s how a lot of the big pros train is with a little body english and I admit that for certain things I look to the pros for ideas and reassurance about training, but exercise form is not one of those things.
The problem I see with that advice on an internet forum is bodybuilder A) uses a little jerk to get some momentum to use 20 or so extra lbs, controls the eccentric and gets benefit as inteded. Bodybuilder B) turns that into a full body heave to get the weight going, it’s too heavy to control at any point and he either misses out on the benefit you could achieve or tears his lat getting into a dangerous stretch with 50+ lbs more than he can honestly handle. A lot more “B” lifters out there than “A” you know? haha
Judging from ur pic scott id say you’d know a lot of info on lat pulldowns lol.
So basically I should do lat pulldown before curling and I should use a slightly heavier weight and jerk the bar? Or should I go nice and slow and concentrate on the contraction of the lat?