Yes, do this please and tell me how it goes 
I’ve got enough bodyweight stuff to do lately! Haha
1 Like
I’ve got to figure out how to do it. Best I can come up with right now is 100 single leg raises per leg every day I’m not in the gym.
Then I need to figure out how to get my shoulders to grow. Arms are going OK, especially triceps, with a couple of days a week with some targeted work on top of stiff like CGBP and dips. Calves it’ll be frequency alone I’m almost positive, especially if I really squeeze them at the top. Shoulders though I’m not sure. Hopefully I can get away with raises twice a week and rely on the other pressing to push the growth on top. Then I need to figure out where to stick lat pulls.
2 Likes
You uncover some abs and suddenly your chasing the next bodybuilding split 
Your shoulders are pretty decent I thought…
3 Likes
Back can take literally as much volume as your elbows can take, and time you are willing to train. You can do 5 sets of back at the end of every training session, you train 4 times a week, that is 10 sets of vertical and 10 sets of horizontal, throw in some rear delt raises/face pulls to hit your rear delts occasionally, and your traps and erectors should be taken care by powerlifting/powerlifting assistance work.
1 Like
Thanks, but they could be rounder and broader.
@Destrength you’re right, it’s a time issue more than anything now.
I’m experimenting a bit as well with different approaches to upping my calf growth.
I am not religious, but my girlfriend is Catholic, so I go with her to mass. Catholics stand and sit down multiple times throughout the service. So what I do is anytime we stand up I alternate 10 reps on each leg until I’m supposed to sit down again. I’m sure the people behind me think I have ADHD or must really have to take a piss. Also, I’m probably going to hell if there is such a place.
Aside from that, I try to squeeze in isometric calf raises randomly throughout my day if I find myself with the opportunity.
Won’t be able to tell for a while if any of this will pay off or if I’m just making a fool out of myself. Oh well
6 Likes
probally a bit of both haha
1 Like
That’s awesome. Sunday morning = Calves
@MarkKO - I’m not saying my calves are great, but they definitely improved (and the mass has remained) after consistently following this article for awhile:
https://www.t-nation.com/training/no-weights-calf-training
I would stand in my cubicle doing BW calf raises a couple times a day at work. Seemed to make them much less stick-like.
4 Likes
I start every back workout with pull-ups (overhand grip just like Lat pull-downs) . 2-3x10 and the last set is double rest/pause. That’s been my only vertical pulling for awhile now. I have thrown in a few sets of Lat pull-downs lately but it’s not really programmed.
I always heard that wide grip stuff (including cable rows) made you wide and the close grip stuff made you thick. It’s bro-science at its finest. But I’ve also read a couple articles stating that good rowing movements hit the lats, which are what we want to build for width.
Much like bench isn’t the best for chest development OHP isn’t the best for delts. DBs and isolation movements are a better use of your time. I know this contradicts 5/3/1 training but you’re better off doing DB shoulder press with a full ROM and adding lateral raises.
A couple of my shoulder finishers:
Upright row/Lat DB raise/bent-over reverse DB fly
(I don’t always do the reverse fly)
I also replace upright row with front DB raise.
Lately I’ve been doing Lateral raises with a 3 second eccentric. It hurts.
2 Likes
2 posts below the link Rob outlines his approach for back width and thickness. This is what I have started incorporating into my split as well. You can see in his pictures the massive short term progress he made with this method.
As for shoulders I think I’m a bit of an oddball. Raises don’t do a ton for me. I mix them in here and there because I keep thinking they are the missing piece, but pressing is the only thing that really smashed my delts. Steep incline pressing, arnold presses and BB OHP (BBB style) are my shoulder builders. I do a boatload of facepulls, and mix in some rear delt flyes as well. Again, my shoulders might not be a strength of mine, but lat or front raises don’t seem to be the answer for me.
1 Like
Just do pull ups between every set (when the pull ups don’t interfere with your performance on the exercise you are performing/are going to perform later on)
1 Like
@lil.greggy @littlesleeper I’ll give that a shot, and definitely go through the article later today. Thanks. Also for the link to @robstein
Once this meet is done I’m going to have a think about how I do all my assistance. With the Training Maximally approach I have absolute freedom to do whatever I like, so I’m leaning towards doing the main lift and then a bunch of BB type work. I’m starting to lean towards that at is is.
@Frank_C @danteism the pull-ups option has crossed my mind, except that they are the one lift for which my elbows have very little tolerance. I can do them once a week if I’m very, very careful but anything more and things get quite unpleasant. Although, I suppose there’s no reason not to do lat pull-downs instead in the same way…
One option I’m also leaning towards across the board is to add a day to my week as a weak point day. At this stage it’d be something like lat pull-downs, shoulder work and calves. I’d aim to be in and out quickly, and it’d be a pure bodybuilding day. That way I’d have two days of horizontal pulls, two days of vertical pulls, three days where I hit shoulders and three where I hit calves. It’d take care of the time issue too, because I have time to train an extra day. I just don’t want to add time to my current training days.
5 Likes
Woke at 185.5 lbs, maybe looking a teeny bit softer than yesterday but nothing of note. Extra weight courtesy of a buttload of vegetables I think. That’s all I can come up with, anyway.
I actually think pulldowns are a far superior exercise for lat development compared to chins anyway
1 Like
If you are doing pull ups with high frequency you should do them with a neutral grip to avoid elbow pain
If that doesn’t help, you could try doing more work that drives blood to the elbow area without irritating it, or you could lower the frequency/volume of the work
1 Like
I’m fortunate and don’t have any elbow issues. I’ve never felt any irritation from pull-ups and I’ve always done them with a wider, overhand grip. I think they are better than lat pull-downs for me. I can do 8-10 reps for multiple sets which hits the bodybuilding range. I can activate my lats in a good way so I get what I need out of the movement. I occasionally switch to neutral grip but not close grip. I make sure the grip is about as wide as my shoulders so my arms can move in straight line without any internal shoulder rotation.
I find it enjoyable to see you being pulled into the world in which I’ve spent most of my training career—aesthetics. It’s funny how our individual methods have yielded such different results. And here I am chasing strength while you talk about your physique goals. I guess it’s only natural. Once you achieve one goal, you find a new one.
4 Likes
I figured that out the hard way. Now, even neutral grip over once a week is playing with fire. I’ll figure something out.
2 Likes
It’s more of an extra goal for me. Now I’ve found out I can actually look halfway decent, I can’t help but want to look better. Extra size won’t hurt my strength, so I figure I may as well pursue both. I’ll probably end up focusing on getting bigger and looking better for the majority of my training, and then focus on strength when I have a meet close. I’m thinking along the lines of a 3:1 ratio, which is close to how my training sessions run. I spend a lot more time on my main movements, but I do more actual reps of assistance.
1 Like
Squatting today because I have more time today. Not ideal, because I do NOT like squatting early in the morning, but there was a better chance of getting everything done today than tomorrow, so early morning squats it was.
Today’s training
Lazy lifter plus shoulders
Wrapped squat
Focusing on not staying too upright and not overextending my thoracic vertebra
Work up from bar in 44 lbsx3-5 to 60% wrapless, 10 facepulls between sets
Wraps go on
3x319 lbs, 6 rev (5, /), under 6 RPE
2x363 lbs, 7 rev (5, X), 6 RPE
1x407 lbs, 7 rev (5, X), 7 RPE - felt like shit but bar speed was fine
1x451 lbs, 8 rev (5, X, /), 8-9 RPE - not anywhere close to how I’d want this to feel. Shitty wrap job
1x451 lbs, 8 rev (5, X, /), 8 RPE - better wrap job, made a difference
2x451 lbs, 8 rev (5, X, /), 8-9 RPE - getting the wraps right makes a difference. Best set of the day and decided to call it
I think I made some improvements. Probably could have pushed it to around 475 lbs without any issues but I didn’t see the point.
SSB good mornings
Worked up in fives adding 44 lbs each jump to 242 lbs with open belt, then went to 286 lbs with closed belt for a double and called it. I’ll do these again next week, then can them in favour of paused squats when I up my TM
SSB front lunges because hey, the SSB was there
5x5x154 lbs - short breaks, really hit my quads but very differently to walking lunges
DB RDLs in Oly shoes with 80 lbs/hand
25, 15, 10
First set felt my hamstrings, second and third not so much. Played with not locking out to increase TUT.
Abs/shoulders
25 side bends/side with doubled medium band either side of DB shoulder raise giant set:
Side raise 25x15 lbs
Front raise 25x20 lbs
RDFs 25x25 lbs
Good shoulder pump/burn
3 Likes