I always note my workouts for future use & referral but I thought I'd create one here on ESN too.

Last week I decided to go for a heavier strength-like program for the next few weeks. I have to say I've really enjoyed it so far. I think my body responds well to lower reps & higher weight; maybe due to a lengthy training life (15yrs at the mo).

Age: 30
Height: 5' 6"
Weight: 70kg
Body Fat %: ~3%

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Fri 29-02-08
LEGS
A1 :: Front Squats* :: 40X0 tempo :: 120secs rest :: 50x6 : 70x3 : 80x3 : 85x3 : 85x3 : 85x3 : 85x3 : 85x3 : 80x3 : 80x3 : 80x3
B1 :: Romanian Deadlifts :: 40X0 tempo :: 120secs rest :: 60x3 : 100x3 : 120x3 : 130x3 : 130x3 : 135x3 : 135x3 : 130x3 : 130x3 : 130x3 : 130x3

* ass to the grass squats without heel raises.

Felt really good in this session. And 135kg for 3 reps is a PB. I've lifted 140kg before but the form was not good.

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Sat 29-02-08
SHOULDERS
A1 :: Standing Behind Neck BB Press :: 40X0 tempo :: 120secs rest :: 40x6 : 50x4 : 60x3 : 60x3 : 60x3 : 55x3 : 55x3 : 55x3 : 55x3
B1 :: Standing Lean Away Lat Raises :: 30X0 tempo :: 90secs rest :: 12x10 : 12x10 : 12x10
C1 :: Standing Calf Raise Machine :: 42X1 tempo :: 90secs rest :: 52x10 : 61x8 : 70x8

Another great session.

Standing Behind Neck BB Press was also a PB. I've had issues with BB shoulder presses over the past few years, but I've managed to get my shoulders into a much more healthy state again and now performing these is painless; and post-workout pain is also gone (just DOMs). These were done still; not push press.

This is only the second time I've done Calf Raises in a long while so I'm still getting the load sorted. I did them last week and with the tempo and only 52kg I destroyed my calfs! I couldn't walk the next day. So this session was more precautionary if you like, but I didn't feel any soreness. So I'll up the weight a wee bit. But with this tempo the weight can't go too high. Plus the range of movement is the important thing for Calf raises; get a real good stretch at the bottom and hold it.

Both sessions I took some Beta Alanine & Creatine caps; these seem to be doing a great job in keeping me going with more energy in my sessions.

nice one....surprised you do behind the neck?..i assume you bring it down half way as opposed to all the way?

Good fronts & very good RDLs for your weight mate

Subscribed - it'll be interesting to see how you maintain that sort of conditioning! Surprised how long your rest periods are for a start?

Totally agree about being careful with behind the neck BB pressing. Indeed as I said above I haven't done these in a long while as they used to hurt my shoulders. My shoulder health has vastly improved and now performing them is pain free. I wouldn't say I have 100% shoulder health (not many do right), but I'd say they are in good shape to perform this exercise.

I do it standing with dominant leg about 1 foot in front of other; reduces pressure on the lower back compared to the standard feet side-by-side technique.
Or I do it seated.

I do lower the bar to the Traps. It's a sign of good shoulder health.

Here's a great article Poliquin wrote on T-nation about overhead pressing a while back: The Lost Art Of Overhead Pressing

I also do the 'Standing One-Arm Braced Overhead Dumbbell Presses' with my clients and myself; a great shoulder pressing exercise. Highly recommended this one

Isn't seated the worst for spinal compression? That's why I try to avoid seated pressing.

Standing Lean Away Lat Raises - I've just introduced these into my new routine, I like the fact they seem to put a lot more stress on the muscle

Bison wrote:Isn't seated the worst for spinal compression? That's why I try to avoid seated pressing.

Unsure. Depends how you do them I guess. I see worse spinal compression when guys do Front BB Presses, as they tend to lean back more to use their chest muscles cos they've picked a weight that's too heavy for the press.

Mon 03-03-08
CHEST & BACK

A1 :: 30º Incline DB Press* :: 40X0 :: 120secs rest :: 20x6 : 30x4 : 35x4 : 35x3 : 32.5x5 : 32.5x5
A2 :: Mixed grip pull-ups** :: 4010 :: 120secs rest :: BW+20x3*** : BW+22.5x2 : BW+22.5x2 : BW+22.5x2 : BW+22.5x2

B1 :: Flat DB Press* :: 40X0 :: 120secs :: 35x5 : 37.5x5 : 37.5x5 : 37.5x5
B2 :: 1-Arm DB Row (Larry Scott style) :: 20X0 :: 120secs :: 35x5 : 37.5x5 : 37.5x5 : 37.5x5

Ran out of time due to a client session coming up so did the following in a kind of 4 set superset thingy:
C1 :: Unrolling DB Flyes : 4010 :: 10secs rest :: 14x10 : 14x8
C2 :: Palms Facing Lean Away Chins :: 40X0 :: 10secs rest :: BWx8 : BWx8

* DB Presses lowered all the way down (no half reps) and with palms facing each other.
** one hand is pronated whilst other is supinated
*** X reps with hands in both positions. So 3 reps would mean I did 6 reps overall due to swapping the grip on each hand

Felt strong again today. Especially considering I only had one solid feeding before this (breakfast). Had some BCAAs before, and the usual Beta Alanine and Creatine caps throughout.

Subscribed. I think your journal will be an interesting one to follow.

All the best

Rab

health4ni wrote:

Bison wrote:Isn't seated the worst for spinal compression? That's why I try to avoid seated pressing.

Unsure. Depends how you do them I guess. I see worse spinal compression when guys do Front BB Presses, as they tend to lean back more to use their chest muscles cos they've picked a weight that's too heavy for the press.

The thinking is when seated the only thing absorbing the pressure between the weight and seat is your spine. Where as when standing your legs will absorb most of it instead.

Bison wrote:

health4ni wrote:

Bison wrote:Isn't seated the worst for spinal compression? That's why I try to avoid seated pressing.

Unsure. Depends how you do them I guess. I see worse spinal compression when guys do Front BB Presses, as they tend to lean back more to use their chest muscles cos they've picked a weight that's too heavy for the press.

The thinking is when seated the only thing absorbing the pressure between the weight and seat is your spine. Where as when standing your legs will absorb most of it instead.

Two ways to reduce the seated pressure:

Using DB's as generally the vertical weight will go down through the body rather than slightly in front. This is more applicable for heavy pressing.

Don't use a 90 Degree Upright angle on the bench. Sweeping back and using 75-80 Degree's (similar to Smith Press) offers far more back support.

Both of these should help to keep a straighter (less arching) back and reduce the effects of compression.

@Alex & Bison: cool cheers makes sense. Although I do keep very good form when doing any exercise and so I've not found any issues with my back when doing seated pressing. Also, I don't use a bench support at an angle; I sit of a flat bench. tbh I've found worse effects from in front shoulder bb presses as you have to move your head out of the way and thus lean back and that has put more pressure on my spine (knowingly anyway).

As I say, the vast majority of my shoulder pressing in the past 2yrs has been with DBs. Almost exclusively one arm movements too.

Following up on the prevention of injuries thread, I would have to agree>...

With the barbell shoulder press exercise, never lower the bar behind your neck this will aggravate your shoulder problem. Instead, lower the bar in front of your face to approximately your nose and press to the starting position.


With lat or cable pulldowns similar rules apply. Never pull the bar behind your head as this places considerable stress on vulnerable shoulder joints. Instead, pull the bar to just below your nose. This movement pattern simply eliminates the “high risk” portion of the movement for your shoulders. Follow these simple guidelines and you will increase your chance of remaining injury free.

As always I back up what I say with ref when possible:
SHOULDER IMPINGEMENT.

Orthopedic Clinics of North America, Volume 31, Issue 2, Pages 285-293

D. Morrison, B. Greenbaum, A. Einhorn

The main cause of shoulder impingement is poor BB bench form... esp on the smith machine.

Funny how me doing this exercise, an exercise that I haven't done in a while (well, not consistently), has caused such a furore. But I do accept people's advice and understand peeps are helping; so thanks for that *group-hug*

Ok, so why does for example, Mr P think such pressing to a low level (traps), front & behind, is ok?

And I agree about the Lat Pulldown behind head; but that is a different movement; people dip their head way forward and really cause bad posture to occur.

Tues 04-03-08
Full Body

A1 :: Power Cleans off a 1 foot platform :: 11X1 tempo :: 120secs rest : 30x5 : 40x5 : 50x5 : 60x5 : 70x5 : 70x5 : 70x5 : 70x5 : 70x5 : 70x5 : 70x5 : 70x5 : 70x5 : 70x5
B1 :: Swiss Ball JackKnife (abs) :: 3111 tempo :: 60secs rest : 12reps : 10 reps : 10reps

Haven't done Power Cleans in about a year, so eased my way back in. Great session. Really enjoyed it.

Thurs 06-03-08
Upper Body

Today I used the Rings (that is, all exercises below were done using the rings).

A1 :: Dips :: 30x0 :: 90secs rest :: 10, 10, 6 <-- BW, cos it's feckin hard

B1 :: False Grip Chins that turn into normal chins as the grip goes! :: 30X0 :: 90s :: 10, 11, 9, 7

C1 :: Ice Cream Maker :: 1010 :: 90s :: 6, 8, 8 <-- new to me today. Man they are hard. Make you puff!

D1 :: Feet elevated Press-Ups :: 30X0 :: 90s :: 12, 9, 9
D2 :: Archer Press-Ups :: 30X0 :: 90s :: 4x2, 4x2, 4x2 <-- 4x2 = 4 reps on each side/arm

E1 :: attempted a muscle-up... failed! lol I can do about 3 in a row, but not after all the above, so my bad for trying

F1 :: Feet Up / Body Horizontal Rows/Pulls :: 30X0 :: 90s :: 9, 9, 9

G1 :: Skinning the cat :: 2111 :: 90s :: 4, 4, 3

My upper body was so pumped! I haven't felt like that in a long time. Rings are tough.

Ice cream Maker is much harder than I thought and is a great HIIT activity.

Dips & chins will be staples of my training. Other exercises will be used as and when. Press-ups would be great after heavy DB pressing for example.

EDIT: also just started on an 8 day cycle of Jiaogulan & Suma

very interesting workout there!!

Nice work! Dips and chins are possibly the two best upper body movements imo.

Fri 07-03-08
LEGS

A1 :: Back Squats* :: 40X0 :: 120secs :: 20x6 : 60x5 : 90x5 : 90x6 : 90x6 : 90x6 : 90x5 : 90x5

B1 :: Rom Deadlifts :: 40X0 :: 120secs :: 60x4 : 100x6 : 110x6 : 110x6 : 110x6 : 110x6 : 110x6

C1 :: BB Split Squats :: 40X0 :: 90secs :: 40x8 : 40x8 : 40x8
C2 :: Leg Curls :: 40X0 :: 90secs :: 70x8 : 70x8 : 70x8

*ass to the grass baby

Holy leg blast Batman! That was a killer session. I'm fucked! Feel real good for it though. I'd not done back squats for about 6 weeks, instead doing Front Squats. Back to them today and it was good. Form was good on all apart from about 2 reps where I leant a little to far forward.

Split Squats tho... shit man, they were hard today. I do them with a very wide stance (wide as in distance from rear to front foot) and go in a long diagonal movement, driving the knee as far forward as possible whilst keeping the heel down and upper body upright. Hard hard hard

Interesting work on the rings there mate.

simon m wrote:Great work.

Do you think legs need more volume?

what do you mean exactly Simon?
Do you think my workout above need more? or leg workouts in general?

6 working sets of squats & RDLs is enough for me

health4ni wrote:

simon m wrote:Great work.

Do you think legs need more volume?

what do you mean exactly Simon?
Do you think my workout above need more? or leg workouts in general?

I think he meant leg workouts in general as your volume looks pretty high in terms of working sets - nice workout