MR's 2 Hours of Power

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
21

You are right, I wouldn’t jump right back into the movements that caused you problems in the first place. As well, I wouldn’t jump in with the same loading either! Sounds like you have a good idea of how to get the problem cleaned up.

I know that EC outlined a great progression to get you back to benching, maybe he would be so generous as to post it here? (HINT HINT!) In the meantime, floor preses shorten the range of motion, and any pressing with a neutral grip will take stress of the shoulders as well.

Stay strong
MR

[quote]StrikeT wrote:
MR,

I have been suffering pain in both shoulders when I bench, so I have decided to stop benching (gasp!) and fix the damn problem. I will be doing a lot of external rotation exercises, scapula stability drills, and stretching the internal rotators.

Now to the question:

How do I gauge when I can load the joint again? When healthy, should I start incorporating certain exercises instead of others?
[/quote]

22

[quote]Mike Robertson wrote:
I know that EC outlined a great progression to get you back to benching, maybe he would be so generous as to post it here? (HINT HINT!) [/quote]

As requested (scroll down a bit):

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=638810

23

I didn’t think about doing any low intensity work because I’ve been desperately trying to get my strength back that I lost with all the recent things happening in my life. In January, I was strong, but when things started going bad in February, my strength and size went down. I was only training 1-2 times a week from Feb-late March. Then I started with the two-a-days, then the other workout (lower volume) and to where I’m at now.

I’m afraid to lower the intensity because I don’t want to lose the strength I’ve gained back (but still not as good as Jan.). Should I go ahead and do a couple weeks like that? Then get back to my 5x5?

Thanks again!

24

Mike,

What would you suggest for a female (my wife) who dislocated her right elbow as far as aggressive, but safe rehab? She’ll be seeing the therapist for 4 weeks at 3x per week, but she likes to train and is a bit discouraged that some athletes online have claimed that they never got full strength/mobility again.

thanks,
DH

25

To be honest, I have no idea. Maybe Dr. Ryan would be a better person to ask on this one!

Stay strong
MR

[quote]provy07 wrote:
Could it be possible that an ingrown toenail (even though it doesn’t hurt) could mess up the veins in your foot? When I’m doing heavier deadlifts I can feel the veins on the side of my ankle big time on the foot with the ingrown toenail.[/quote]

26

In my opinion, that’s rarely the case.

First off, are you benching raw or in a bench shirt?

The two main areas you see people miss are just off the chest, or at lockout. If you miss off the chest you might get a little bit out of direct shoulder work, but you’d get more out of heavy DB presses, declines, and speed work that focuses on reversal strength. Along with that, a strong upper back will help you off your chest as well.

Stay strong
MR

[quote]Original_Demon wrote:
MR,

I’ve been told to increase bench do more shoulder work… Your thoughts on this?

OD[/quote]

27

Again, how can you tell if a joint is ready to be loaded again? Is it when there is optimal length and tension around a joint?

How can I tell if my joint has reached this “optimal zone”?

28

I got your email on this, but you never included a reply address. Guess I’ll chime in here. My comments will primarily be focused on exercise selection simply because talking acute program variables would take all day.

[quote]cally wrote:
Hey Mike I was curious as to what your thoughts were regarding this program for a person on a bulk. Thanks bro.

Upper Body Workout One: (Monday)

  1. Barbell Bench Press (flat or incline, primarily wide grip, 4x10 with the same weight for each set)[/quote]

How wide a grip?

[quote]2. Dumbbell Press (flat, incline, or decline for 3x8-12 same weight)

  1. Horizontal Lat Work (heavy barbell rows, 5x5)[/quote]

Why not put your heavy stuff early in the program when you’re fresher?

There’s no such thing as a medial delt. Be careful grouping all these exercises together; they have markedly different roles. I think that face pulls would be your best choice.

[quote]5. Tricep Extension (skull crushers, French presses, JM Presses, rolling dumbbell extensions, Tate Presses, pushdowns - pick one exercise for 3x10-12)

  1. Biceps (1-2 exercises, 3-5 sets total)[/quote]

Fair enough; just don’t go overboard.

[quote]Lower Body Workout One: (Tuesday)

  1. Heavy Squats (butt to ankles, 5x5 working up each set to a 5rm, or try for a 3rm or even an occasional 1rm)

  2. Good mornings (3x5 same weight or work up to 5rm)

  3. Pull throughs (3-5 sets of 10-12, some arched back, some rounded back)

  4. Glute Ham Raises or Hamstring Curls followed by Leg Extensions (2 sets each)[/quote]

I liked it until you got to the leg extensions. Do your GHRs…period.

[quote]-or-

  1. Leg Presses (3-4 sets of 10-12) -or- Occasionally a Hack Squat (for 3-4x10-12)[/quote]

No leg presses or machine hack squats. Barbell hack squats are okay.

Watch yourself with the sit-ups. Also, you need to add some single-leg work to your programming.

[quote]Upper Body Workout Two: (Thursday)

  1. Flat Barbell Bench Press (close or regular grip - heavy work 1rm, 3rm, 5rm, or 5x5)

  2. Board Press/Floor Press (5rm usually start where you left off on bench press)

  3. Overhead Press (Standing military press, push press, dumbbell overhead press - various rep schemes - 5rm, 5x5, 4x10)

  4. Dips (2-3 sets)
    [/quote]

Do you have any idea how much pressing that is? My shoulders and elbows hurt from reading this.

[quote]5. Vertical Lat Work (lat pull-downs or pull-ups - 5+ sets - if on lat pull-down use different bars and work different planes)

  1. Triceps Extension (skull crushers, French presses, JM Presses, rolling dumbbell extensions, Tate Presses, pushdowns - pick one exercise for 3x10-12)

  2. Biceps (1-2 exercises, 3-5 sets total)[/quote]

Fine, but you need a ton more horizontal rowing and some prehab work for your rotator cuff/scapular stabilizers.

[quote]Lower Body Workout Two: (Friday)

  1. Lighter Squats (back squats or front squats for 5x5 or 4x10 with the same weight)

  2. Deadlifts (conventional deadlifts or deadlifts standing on 2-3" box, mat, or 100lb plate - 1rm, 3rm, 5rm, or 3x5 same weight, )[/quote]

If you can handle pulling after all those squats, be my guest.

Why not plug in a single-leg exercise here? You’ve already done pull-throughs earlier in the week.

GHRs!!!

I don’t think your lower back will need anymore work, but it’s your call. I think you’d be better devoting that attention to getting your glutes strong (which I can almost guarantee they aren’t).

[quote]6. Weighted Abs/ Obliques (5x10 total - weighted sit-ups, ab pull-downs on high cable or with bands, dumbbell side bends, etc.)

After three weeks an unloading phase is used whereby volume is decreased by picking only two of the lower body exercises and three of the upper body exercises for a week.[/quote]

Overall, I guess I’d say that it could use a lot of work.

29

(I originally posted this on your last article, so here goes again)

hey big man!

I read about stretching and simultaneously contracting the target muscles as intense as possible so that when they are no longer contracted, they have the ability to stretch a bit farther in order to increase progress. Example would be to stretch as far as possible, and then contract muscle for about 10-15 seconds during a stretch, and then relaxing, ideally the muscle should be able to stretch out a bit farther. DO you see any risks involved in doing this and do you think it would be beneficial.

(I first found this info in one of pavel’s books I read a while back)

30

I would think so; your body has been taking a beating with you trying to play catch up. It still needs periods of “down time” to realize its current fitness level. Take some down time now and I’m sure you’ll be stoked at how strong you are when you come back!

Stay strong
MR

[quote]Nate Dogg wrote:
I didn’t think about doing any low intensity work because I’ve been desperately trying to get my strength back that I lost with all the recent things happening in my life. In January, I was strong, but when things started going bad in February, my strength and size went down. I was only training 1-2 times a week from Feb-late March. Then I started with the two-a-days, then the other workout (lower volume) and to where I’m at now.

I’m afraid to lower the intensity because I don’t want to lose the strength I’ve gained back (but still not as good as Jan.). Should I go ahead and do a couple weeks like that? Then get back to my 5x5?

Thanks again!

[/quote]

31

Tough to say w/o seeing her in person. How long ago did this happen? What’s her current ROM like?

To start I would focus on getting ART to break up scar tissue, possible EMS to minimize strength loss, and perhaps some very light stretching if possible. Again, it’s tough to say without evaluating her, but I would err on the side of caution in most cases.

Stay strong
MR

[quote]Disc Hoss wrote:
Mike,

What would you suggest for a female (my wife) who dislocated her right elbow as far as aggressive, but safe rehab? She’ll be seeing the therapist for 4 weeks at 3x per week, but she likes to train and is a bit discouraged that some athletes online have claimed that they never got full strength/mobility again.

thanks,
DH [/quote]

32

When you can perform the movement pain-free with optimal muscle function. So yes, you should be striving to achieve optimal length and tension of the necessary muscles.

Now, with regards to “knowing” when you’ve reached that zone, that isn’t something I can teach you over the internet. It’s almost a “Zen” type feel; you know it, your body knows it, things just feel right. I know this is a little philosphical, but it’s the best answer I can give you. Trust me, when you get there, you’ll know. Good luck!

Stay strong
MR

[quote]StrikeT wrote:
Again, how can you tell if a joint is ready to be loaded again? Is it when there is optimal length and tension around a joint?

How can I tell if my joint has reached this “optimal zone”?[/quote]

33

Ok people, I’m signing off for tonight. If you’d like, feel free to drop questions in here and I’ll try to answer them throughout the week!

Stay strong
MR

34

Sorry I missed this bro; my bad! EC’s recommendations are spot-on, though, so I’d go with what he says!

Stay strong
MR

[quote]cally wrote:
Hey Mike I was curious as to what your thoughts were regarding this program for a person on a bulk. Thanks bro.

Upper Body Workout One: (Monday)

  1. Barbell Bench Press (flat or incline, primarily wide grip, 4x10 with the same weight for each set)

  2. Dumbbell Press (flat, incline, or decline for 3x8-12 same weight)

  3. Horizontal Lat Work (heavy barbell rows, 5x5)

  4. Shoulders/Traps (emphasis on medial delts - shrugs, high pulls, dumbbell cleans, lateral raise complex, face pulls - pick 1-2 exercises for 4-6 sets total)

  5. Tricep Extension (skull crushers, French presses, JM Presses, rolling dumbbell extensions, Tate Presses, pushdowns - pick one exercise for 3x10-12)

  6. Biceps (1-2 exercises, 3-5 sets total)

Lower Body Workout One: (Tuesday)

  1. Heavy Squats (butt to ankles, 5x5 working up each set to a 5rm, or try for a 3rm or even an occasional 1rm)

  2. Good mornings (3x5 same weight or work up to 5rm)

  3. Pull throughs (3-5 sets of 10-12, some arched back, some rounded back)

  4. Glute Ham Raises or Hamstring Curls followed by Leg Extensions (2 sets each)

-or-

  1. Leg Presses (3-4 sets of 10-12) -or- Occasionally a Hack Squat (for 3-4x10-12)

  2. Weighted Abs/ Obliques (5x10 total - weighted situps, ab pulldowns on high cable or with bands, dumbbell side bends, etc.)

Upper Body Workout Two: (Thursday)

  1. Flat Barbell Bench Press (close or regular grip - heavy work 1rm, 3rm, 5rm, or 5x5)

  2. Board Press/Floor Press (5rm usually start where you left off on bench press)

  3. Overhead Press (Standing military press, push press, dumbbell overhead press - various rep schemes - 5rm, 5x5, 4x10)

  4. Dips (2-3 sets)

  5. Vertical Lat Work (lat pull-downs or pull-ups - 5+ sets - if on lat pull-down use different bars and work different planes)

  6. Triceps Extension (skull crushers, French presses, JM Presses, rolling dumbbell extensions, Tate Presses, pushdowns - pick one exercise for 3x10-12)

  7. Biceps (1-2 exercises, 3-5 sets total)

Lower Body Workout Two: (Friday)

  1. Lighter Squats (back squats or front squats for 5x5 or 4x10 with the same weight)

  2. Deadlifts (conventional deadlifts or deadlifts standing on 2-3" box, mat, or 100lb plate - 1rm, 3rm, 5rm, or 3x5 same weight, )

  3. Pullthroughs (3-5 sets of 10-12, some arched back, some rounded back)

  4. Glute Ham Raises or Hamstring Curls followed by Leg Extensions (2 sets each)

  5. Weighted Hyperextensions (2-3x10-12)

  6. Weighted Abs/ Obliques (5x10 total - weighted sit-ups, ab pull-downs on high cable or with bands, dumbbell side bends, etc.)

After three weeks an unloading phase is used whereby volume is decreased by picking only two of the lower body exercises and three of the upper body exercises for a week.[/quote]

35

Thanks MR!

36

I answered you in the other thread; check it out!

Stay strong
MR

[quote]CU AeroStallion wrote:
(I originally posted this on your last article, so here goes again)

hey big man!

I read about stretching and simultaneously contracting the target muscles as intense as possible so that when they are no longer contracted, they have the ability to stretch a bit farther in order to increase progress. Example would be to stretch as far as possible, and then contract muscle for about 10-15 seconds during a stretch, and then relaxing, ideally the muscle should be able to stretch out a bit farther. DO you see any risks involved in doing this and do you think it would be beneficial.

(I first found this info in one of pavel’s books I read a while back)[/quote]

37

Happened on Mother’s Day. How nice. She just had the sling removed a few days ago and can allow it to “hang” at about 140-150 degrees. They warn against passive extension on the sheet she has. I’m a bit leary of therapists as I’ve known others who almost came out worse and others still who said it was a joke.

Figure I need to wait until the 4 therapy weeks are up?? Or does she? She trains and the thought of waiting months is maddening to her.

thanks,
DH

[quote]Mike Robertson wrote:
Tough to say w/o seeing her in person. How long ago did this happen? What’s her current ROM like?

To start I would focus on getting ART to break up scar tissue, possible EMS to minimize strength loss, and perhaps some very light stretching if possible. Again, it’s tough to say without evaluating her, but I would err on the side of caution in most cases.

Stay strong
MR

Disc Hoss wrote:
Mike,

What would you suggest for a female (my wife) who dislocated her right elbow as far as aggressive, but safe rehab? She’ll be seeing the therapist for 4 weeks at 3x per week, but she likes to train and is a bit discouraged that some athletes online have claimed that they never got full strength/mobility again.

thanks,
DH

[/quote]

38

Hi Mike,

Here?s a program I?m planning to start next week, I?d like any feedback you might have. This will be the ?high volume? block of a strength training program I am putting together. The next block will be lower volume and higher intensity but I?m still working on it. Basically I want the training blocks to act as a ?wave? where I can increase intensity over the course of the program and then back off again to this particular block and reduce the intensity a bit.

I?ve just completed a similar program that took 6 weeks and each ?step? in the wave took only two weeks. I liked the results but thought that it would be better to stay on each type of block for a little longer. After the three weeks of the program I will have a back off week, but haven?t worked out how many sets I will do. I would appreciate any advice for this week.

I?ve incorporated a fair bit of the Oly lifts as I like doing them and am trying to improve my technique, but as this is the ?bodybuilding? phase I haven?t gone overboard with them. They will become more prominent during the pure strength training blocks to follow.

WEEK 1

Workout 1:
A. Deadlift (10x3, 60s rest)
B. Push Jerks (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Dips (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Pull-ups (4x6, 60s rest)
D. Overhead Squats (3x15, 60s rest)
E. Kneeling Cable Crunches (3x15, 60s rest)

Workout 2:
A. Bench Press (10x3, 60s rest)
B. Power Snatch from hang (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Front Squat (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Romanian Deadlift (4x6, 60s rest)
D. Low Pulley External Rotations (3x15, 60s rest)
E. DB Side Bends (3x15, 60s rest)

Workout 3:
A. Chin Ups (10x3, 60s rest)
B. Clean & Press (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Back Squat (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Lunges (4x6, 60s rest)
D. Pull Throughs (3x15, 60s rest)
E. Decline Reverse Crunches (3x15, 60s rest)

WEEK 2

Workout 1:
A. Push Press(10x3, 60s rest)
B. Snatch High Pull (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Hack Squat (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Standing Calf Raises (4x6, 60s rest)
D. Rope Pulls to face (3x15, 60s rest)
E. Swissball Russian Twists (3x15, 60s rest)

Workout 2:
A. Back Squat (10x3, 60s rest)
B. Power Clean (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Close Grip Bench Press (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Bent Over DB Row (4x6, 60s rest)
D. Overhead Squats (3x15, 60s rest)
E. Serratus Crunches (3x15, 60s rest)

Workout 3:
A. Incline DB Bench Press (10x3, 60s rest)
B. Snatch (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Bulgarian Squat (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Glute-Ham Raises (4x6, 60s rest)
D. DB Cuban Press (3x15, 60s rest)
E. Side Extensions (3x15, 60s rest)

WEEK 3

Workout 1:
A. Deadlift (10x3, 60s rest)
B. Power Clean from hang (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Decline Bench Press (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Chin Ups (4x6, 60s rest)
D. Overhead Squats (3x15, 60s rest)
E. Low Swissball Cable Crunches (3x15, 60s rest)

Workout 2:
A. Bench Press (10x3, 60s rest)
B. Power Snatch (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Front Squat (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Good Mornings (4x6, 60s rest)
D. Poor Man?s Shoulder Horn (3x15, 60s rest)
E. Cable Woodchops (3x15, 60s rest)

Workout 3:
A. Bent Over BB Row (10x3, 60s rest)
B. Clean & Jerk (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Step Ups (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Back Extensions (4x6, 60s rest)
D. Overhead Squats (3x15, 60s rest)
E. Bar Rollouts (3x15, 60s rest)

Cheers,

Ben

39

Just some thoughts:

  • How heavy are you going on these lifts? You have a lot of big, compound lifts, and not a lot of rest.

  • Why are you doing sets of 15 on overhead squats? Is their purpose just for developing the O-lifts? If not, you could choose better exercises to develop size.

  • Dips and pull-ups superset will be tough. Good luck!

  • I wouldn’t go over 5 or 6 reps on the O-lifts

  • Front squats and RDL’s supersetted as well? You must be a glutton for punishment :wink:

  • I don’t see any heavy horizontal pulling in your program. If you value your shoulders, I would add some in.

  • Why don’t you use the same exercises for several weeks, and then switch? The way you have it outlined you don’t allow your body time to adapt to the program and get stronger from it; you just keep switching exercises in and out. I like the creativity, but stick with a set routine for a few weeks, then add something else in. It looks like you tried cram to everything into 3 weeks.

Hope I don’t sound too picky, just some food for thought. Let me know how/if you change it as well as how it works out!

Stay strong
MR

[quote]bg100 wrote:

WEEK 1

Workout 1:
A. Deadlift (10x3, 60s rest)
B. Push Jerks (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Dips (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Pull-ups (4x6, 60s rest)
D. Overhead Squats (3x15, 60s rest)
E. Kneeling Cable Crunches (3x15, 60s rest)

Workout 2:
A. Bench Press (10x3, 60s rest)
B. Power Snatch from hang (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Front Squat (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Romanian Deadlift (4x6, 60s rest)
D. Low Pulley External Rotations (3x15, 60s rest)
E. DB Side Bends (3x15, 60s rest)

Workout 3:
A. Chin Ups (10x3, 60s rest)
B. Clean & Press (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Back Squat (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Lunges (4x6, 60s rest)
D. Pull Throughs (3x15, 60s rest)
E. Decline Reverse Crunches (3x15, 60s rest)

WEEK 2

Workout 1:
A. Push Press(10x3, 60s rest)
B. Snatch High Pull (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Hack Squat (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Standing Calf Raises (4x6, 60s rest)
D. Rope Pulls to face (3x15, 60s rest)
E. Swissball Russian Twists (3x15, 60s rest)

Workout 2:
A. Back Squat (10x3, 60s rest)
B. Power Clean (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Close Grip Bench Press (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Bent Over DB Row (4x6, 60s rest)
D. Overhead Squats (3x15, 60s rest)
E. Serratus Crunches (3x15, 60s rest)

Workout 3:
A. Incline DB Bench Press (10x3, 60s rest)
B. Snatch (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Bulgarian Squat (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Glute-Ham Raises (4x6, 60s rest)
D. DB Cuban Press (3x15, 60s rest)
E. Side Extensions (3x15, 60s rest)

WEEK 3

Workout 1:
A. Deadlift (10x3, 60s rest)
B. Power Clean from hang (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Decline Bench Press (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Chin Ups (4x6, 60s rest)
D. Overhead Squats (3x15, 60s rest)
E. Low Swissball Cable Crunches (3x15, 60s rest)

Workout 2:
A. Bench Press (10x3, 60s rest)
B. Power Snatch (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Front Squat (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Good Mornings (4x6, 60s rest)
D. Poor Man?s Shoulder Horn (3x15, 60s rest)
E. Cable Woodchops (3x15, 60s rest)

Workout 3:
A. Bent Over BB Row (10x3, 60s rest)
B. Clean & Jerk (8/6/4, 60s rest)
C1. Step Ups (4x6, 60s rest)
C2. Back Extensions (4x6, 60s rest)
D. Overhead Squats (3x15, 60s rest)
E. Bar Rollouts (3x15, 60s rest)

Cheers,

Ben
[/quote]

40

Mike

Im the douche who whined a couple weeks back about having an injury that i just cant seem to heal from. I gave a crappy description of my situation, then a better one.

Essentially what happened was an acute injury from the past of the QL/upper glute region that I retourqued about a year ago and just couldnt seem to get better. I had symptoms that could suggest muscular or disc or nerve problems so an MRI was suggested.

You mentioned trigger points, so I grabbed a book and got to readin. I have been doing the treatment for about 3 days, and I feel sooooo much damn better it is amazing. I have about 50 trigger points, literally. I have been doing the major ones in the back and lower abs and I feel 1000 times better.

I just wanted to say thank you for your help and ask if there is anything you recommend to help the trigger point therapy. Would muscle relaxers or anti-inflammatories have any benefit?

I am going to get an MRI, as soon as I can get the dipshits to give me a price. Thanks again for everything.