DomS workout journal

[DomS]

October 06, 2008 Chest/Triceps/Shoulders
BB Flat: 225*7 235*3 200*6
DB Flat: 90*6 100*3 105*3 NEW PR! 80*8
DB Incline: 80*5
BB Decline: 135*18
Cable Crosses: 45*8
DB Elbows Out Extensions: 45*11 50*8
DB Seated Military Presses: 50*6

Notes: YESSSSS!! I've never had a gym that had 105 lbs. dbs before! I always tried to jump from the 100s to the 110s and it never worked. After inclining the 100s last week I figured I should at least be able to do the 105s flat, I may go for the 110s next week. Kept this workout low on set volume. I was actually feeling pretty flat to be honest, so I'm happy with the new PR.

 

[DomS]

October 07, 2008 Quads & Calves
BB Front Squats: 135*5 185*2 I hate these fucking things 155*5 165*5
Unilateral Leg Extensions: 45*10 55*10 75*10
Seated Calves: 90*15
Standing Calves: 160*15 200*10
Running: 5 minutes /.5 miles
Sauna: 15 minutes

Notes: Decent session. I hate front squats..I always end up with bruises across my throat and shoulders and it pisses me off. Rest of session was good. Took a brief run, calves are still toasty from my Friday 3 mile run.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: DomS
October 07, 2008 Quads & Calves
BB Front Squats: 135*5 185*2 I hate these fucking things 155*5 165*5

...

I hate front squats..I always end up with bruises across my throat and shoulders and it pisses me off.

I don't know if you're new to front squats or not, but it sounds like you may be doing something wrong. The first time or two you do them, you might get some very mild bruises on your shoulders, but you should never have anything on your throat, and it should definitely not be a consistent thing. In fact, you have a pretty big disparity between your front and back squat numbers (further up in the journal I see a back squat of 275x2), which may be a further indicator of bad form.

Are you using the clean grip or the cross armed grip? If you're using the cross armed grip, I'd highly recommend switching to the clean grip. If you're already using it, you might not be getting enough of the weight on your shoulders or not getting your elbows up enough. Stronglifts has a good article on proper front squat technique.

Also, out of curiosity, why do you run on the balls of your feet? Is this an attempt at POSE running or something similar?

 

[DomS]

Originally posted by: brikis98

Originally posted by: DomS
October 07, 2008 Quads & Calves
BB Front Squats: 135*5 185*2 I hate these fucking things 155*5 165*5

...

I hate front squats..I always end up with bruises across my throat and shoulders and it pisses me off.

I don't know if you're new to front squats or not, but it sounds like you may be doing something wrong. The first time or two you do them, you might get some very mild bruises on your shoulders, but you should never have anything on your throat, and it should definitely not be a consistent thing. In fact, you have a pretty big disparity between your front and back squat numbers (further up in the journal I see a back squat of 275x2), which may be a further indicator of bad form.

Are you using the clean grip or the cross armed grip? If you're using the cross armed grip, I'd highly recommend switching to the clean grip. If you're already using it, you might not be getting enough of the weight on your shoulders or not getting your elbows up enough. Stronglifts has a good article on proper front squat technique.

Also, out of curiosity, why do you run on the balls of your feet? Is this an attempt at POSE running or something similar?

Hey!

Thanks for the tips, yeah I was using cross armed...I'm going to switch to a snatch grip from now on. I watched a video here and it seemed to address the problems. Also I'm not looking up enough during the reps, I'm looking straight forward.


Running on the balls of my feet is an attempt at Pose running...I"m sure there's more to it, but I don't want to pay for the videos or website or whatever. I actually kind of like it, my foot strike is much lighter, quicker, and it's a great calf workout!

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: DomS
Hey!

Thanks for the tips, yeah I was using cross armed...I'm going to switch to a snatch grip from now on. I watched a video here and it seemed to address the problems. Also I'm not looking up enough during the reps, I'm looking straight forward.

Technically, it's called a "clean" grip. A snatch grip is extremely wide and would be totally unusable for front squatting. But yea, you should definitely use it. It'll take 2-3 workouts to get used to it, especially if you lack wrist or tricep flexibility, but is undoubtedly worth it.

Originally posted by: DomS
Running on the balls of my feet is an attempt at Pose running...I"m sure there's more to it, but I don't want to pay for the videos or website or whatever. I actually kind of like it, my foot strike is much lighter, quicker, and it's a great calf workout!

Gotcha. There are plenty of free guides to pose running, such as this one and it's probably safer to follow one than to randomly just start running on the balls of your feet...

 

[DomS]

thank you so much for that link!

 

[DomS]

October 9, 2008 Thursday Back & Hamstrings & Biceps

BB DL: 315: 5x5
BB Good Mornings: 135*6 135*7
DB Rows: 125*3 130*2
Pullups: BW*9
Standing DB Curls: 40*10

notes: The 315 5x5 absolutely wrecked me!!! It was great. I rarely do more than a triple on DLs and this is the 2nd 5x5 I've done in a row. I was gassed after that. Did some hamstring stuff (Good mornings after) and then some low rep heavy rows. After that I was pretty much toast!

 

[DomS]

October 11, 2008 Saturday Running

Pose Running: 30 minutes / 3 miles.

notes: Good stuff....still waiting for my calves to adapt

 

[DomS]

October 13, 2008 Chest / Triceps
BB Flat; 225*2 250*1 265*X...whoops bad form 225*6
DB Flat: 90*5 110*2 NEW PR!! 85*7
DB Incline: 85*4 80*6 75*7
DB Squeeze Pres: 50*11 60*8 65*6
DB 1 Arm Flat: 40*10 50*10 Oh Em Geeeee
Weighted Dips: 45*4 Toasted from 1 arms.

notes: wow...I'm just ripping off new dumbbell records lately. Third straight week with one. Added squeeze presses back in, not sure why I got away from them. Then I tried 1 arm db pressing...fucking shit man...wow. These are NOT alternating DB presses. I only had one dumbbell and was pressing it for however many reps straight. Just balancing was causing my abs to almost lock up as well as my lower back. My pecs were on FIRE after those 2 sets. I couldn't have done a single other rep after. I tried weighted dips and I only banged out 4 and realized I was done. GREAT session

 

[DomS]

October 14, 2008 Legs
BB Squats: 225* 3 255*3 275*3 305*1
BB Front Squats: 135*6 155*4 I fucking hate these things. Fucking bullshit exercise.
Seated Calves: 45*X can't even unrack the thing. My calves are still too torn up from the prose running.
Seated Leg Extensions: 150*10 120*10

notes: Good squatting session, I'm focusing more on going into my heels, and the weight feels much lighter. I still hate front squats. I tried snatch grip, or whatever you call non-cross-armed. Fucking awful. I'm EXTREMELY flexible, and it DESTROYED my wrists. I'm probably going to need aspirin for a few days. You can't hold your elbows up as high as they say you're supposed to, so I don't understand how ANYONE does these things. I"m 90% certain no one is actually capable of using good form, but just pretend they use it. It's physically impossible. Also this prose running is some horse shit. It just hurts your calves to the point you can't run more than once a week...so how are you supposed to get used to it???

 

[gramboh]

Re: clean grip on front squats. Yeah it is really hard the first few times, but it gets easier. You aren't trying to fully grip the barbell are you? Just use your middle 3 fingers/fingertips on each hand to hold the BB in place on your front delts. The bb should be resting across a "platform" you make by kind of shrugging your shoulders up/forward. Stand tall with a big chest it will make it easier. I'm not very flexible and I get zero wrist pain from front squats. What limits me is forcing my elbows high enough at the bottom. I'm still working on getting a full ROM with front squats by going slowly, 5lbs more a week, focusing on technique. (I'm at about 160 5x5 versus my best back squat 315x5 low bar).

 

[conorvansmack]

I'm in the same boat with you on Front Squats. I'm slowly adjusting to the clean grip. I find that stretching my wrists out before I start and as I'm warming up helps. Stronglifts.com has a post here about it.

 

[DomS]

Originally posted by: gramboh
Re: clean grip on front squats. Yeah it is really hard the first few times, but it gets easier. You aren't trying to fully grip the barbell are you? Just use your middle 3 fingers/fingertips on each hand to hold the BB in place on your front delts. The bb should be resting across a "platform" you make by kind of shrugging your shoulders up/forward. Stand tall with a big chest it will make it easier. I'm not very flexible and I get zero wrist pain from front squats. What limits me is forcing my elbows high enough at the bottom. I'm still working on getting a full ROM with front squats by going slowly, 5lbs more a week, focusing on technique. (I'm at about 160 5x5 versus my best back squat 315x5 low bar).

oh...so you're not supposed to grip it? whoops

 

[DomS]

October 16, 2008 Back & Biceps
DB Rows: 127.5*5 120*5 115*5
Pullups: 70*X 70*1 45*2 35*3 25*4
Hypers: 25*10
Cable Rows: 100*13 120*9
DB Shrugs: 70*14
Zottamn's: 25*10 40*5
Running: 15 minutes / 1.5 miles

notes: Felt like going heavy on the rows and pullups. I'm going to keep increasing weights on pullups. I've been doing the 50 pullups thing for a while now, time to switch it up and pack some weight on.

 

[DomS]

October 18, 2008 Running
Running: 30 minutes / 3.0 miles

notes: Mixed in the pose & regular running, in intervals of a few minutes each. This seemed to work much better

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: DomS

Originally posted by: gramboh
Re: clean grip on front squats. Yeah it is really hard the first few times, but it gets easier. You aren't trying to fully grip the barbell are you? Just use your middle 3 fingers/fingertips on each hand to hold the BB in place on your front delts. The bb should be resting across a "platform" you make by kind of shrugging your shoulders up/forward. Stand tall with a big chest it will make it easier. I'm not very flexible and I get zero wrist pain from front squats. What limits me is forcing my elbows high enough at the bottom. I'm still working on getting a full ROM with front squats by going slowly, 5lbs more a week, focusing on technique. (I'm at about 160 5x5 versus my best back squat 315x5 low bar).

oh...so you're not supposed to grip it? whoops

No, you're not. In fact, you should be able to hold the bar on your shoulders without your hands touching the bar at all. Check out the pictures here: see how in the bottom two pictures, the girl has her hands straight out in front, not touching the bar at all? That's what you should be able to do. The only reason you actually do bend at the elbow and place your fingers on the bar is to make it easier to hold the weight (especially when doing something at high speed, such as a clean) but it's not at all necessary. For example, check out the video of "the handless clean".

Seriously, (re) read this entire article carefully. Keep your fingers on the bar just for support but make sure all the weight is actually on your shoulders.

 

[gramboh]

Greg Everett is a badass.

DomS: How many dead-hang pull-ups can you do without added weight? Just curious. I want to get a dip belt and start doing weighted dips/pull-ups but I still suck at dead-hangs (can barely get 8 first set). I need to work more on that and start doing pull-ups on non-lifting days or doing them before I lift since I always do them at the end of the workout when I am gassed.

 

[DomS]

Originally posted by: brikis98

Originally posted by: DomS

Originally posted by: gramboh
Re: clean grip on front squats. Yeah it is really hard the first few times, but it gets easier. You aren't trying to fully grip the barbell are you? Just use your middle 3 fingers/fingertips on each hand to hold the BB in place on your front delts. The bb should be resting across a "platform" you make by kind of shrugging your shoulders up/forward. Stand tall with a big chest it will make it easier. I'm not very flexible and I get zero wrist pain from front squats. What limits me is forcing my elbows high enough at the bottom. I'm still working on getting a full ROM with front squats by going slowly, 5lbs more a week, focusing on technique. (I'm at about 160 5x5 versus my best back squat 315x5 low bar).

oh...so you're not supposed to grip it? whoops

No, you're not. In fact, you should be able to hold the bar on your shoulders without your hands touching the bar at all. Check out the pictures here: see how in the bottom two pictures, the girl has her hands straight out in front, not touching the bar at all? That's what you should be able to do. The only reason you actually do bend at the elbow and place your fingers on the bar is to make it easier to hold the weight (especially when doing something at high speed, such as a clean) but it's not at all necessary. For example, check out the video of "the handless clean".

Seriously, (re) read this entire article carefully. Keep your fingers on the bar just for support but make sure all the weight is actually on your shoulders.

GREAT video and links for positioning and everything, thank you so much! I'm about to post my results from my workout yesterday. It went very well

 

[DomS]

Originally posted by: gramboh
Greg Everett is a badass.

DomS: How many dead-hang pull-ups can you do without added weight? Just curious. I want to get a dip belt and start doing weighted dips/pull-ups but I still suck at dead-hangs (can barely get 8 first set). I need to work more on that and start doing pull-ups on non-lifting days or doing them before I lift since I always do them at the end of the workout when I am gassed.

Unweighted and fresh I can bang out in the neighborhood of 20. (between 18 and 22). I started doing the 50 pullups thing back in February I think. Arnold used to do them apparently. I started doing it as a change of pace...but I stuck with it because I wanted to get it down to 4 sets unweighted. My lats absolutely blew up from doing them. I actually didn't change anything else in my routine around the time I added them, so I'm 99% confident that this was what caused them to start expanding (along with a more disciplined diet)

The first time, doing them unweighted it took me 12 sets to rip off 50 of them. This was doing them first on a non deadlifting day. It took me like 17 sets to get to it after dl'ing and good mornings. Look at the progression though, I'll post a sample.

2/16/2008
Pullups (50): 11,8,5,3,4,4,2,3,2,3,2,3

2/23/2008 Back, Hams, Biceps
(after dl's & good mornings)
50 Pullups: 7,5,5,3,4,3,3,3,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2 (51)

3/15/2008 Ides of March Back Workout
51 Pullups: 11, 7,6,4,3,4,4,4,4,4

3/22/2008 Back, Hams, Biceps
(after dl's & good mornings)
50 Pullups: 9,7,5,4,4,4,4,4,4,5

4/12/2008 Back & Biceps
50 Pullups: 14, 11, 10, 9, 6

4/19/2008 Back, Hmas
(after DL's)
50 Pullups: 12, 10, 8, 8, 7, 6

4/26/2008 Saturday
50 Pullups: 16, 12, 12, 10


So in about 2 months (roughly 9 back sessions) I went from needing 12 sets to needing 4 to get the 50 pullups in, unweighted. I really pay attention especially to the first 3 sets and how many I can get in on those. After I could rip em off in 4 sets unweighted as the first exercise, I started adding weight. Hope this helps. I highly recommend them for adding width to your lats, and also just as a great exercise.

 

[DomS]

October 20, 2008
BB Flat; 225*6 235*3 200*7
BB Decline: 185*10 205*8 225*6 245*2 NEW PR!
BB Incline: 135*13 155*6 (too narrow on grip) 175*3
DB 1 Arm Flat: 35*10 40*10 50*8 yup...these are just as brutal as I thought. I LOVE IT.
Cambered Cable Pushdowns: 150*10 170*5 160*5
Dips: 45*5 45*2 25*5
sauna: 20 minutes

notes: Not sure what my goals with my chest/tris/shoulders are right now. BB Flat benching is stalling a bit...yet oddly I've been putting up new personal records for DB work. This was a good session though. I set a new record on BB Decline (I've never really tried to do more than 225 on it before, so it's not saying much) which is good. I love the DB one arm flat benching. Again, I don't have a DB in the other hand, the arm I'm not using is resting on my chest/stomach, and I'm pressing with the other arm. It's amazing. I didn't feel like running afterward.

 

[DomS]

October 21, 2008 Quads & Calves
BB Front Squats: 135*8 155*8 175*4 135*8
Seated Calves: 90*17 115*12 135*11 160*7
Leg Extensions: 150*10
Standing Calves: 140*17 180*13

notes: FINALLY!!!! I got the front squats down thanks to a lot of the help I got here. Wow....I didn't really do anything else for my quads because I want to see how wrecked my quads are tomorrow. (note: They're destroyed today! My hips too!). Actually I don't really have anything else I can think of for quads besides these and leg extensions. There's no hack squat machine in my gym, and I can't do them with a BB because my ass is too big and I catch it with the bar when I try to do them that way. Didn't want to attempt running after this. The calf presses felt good too. Good times

 

[DomS]

October 23 2008 Back, Hamstrings, Biceps
BB DL: 405*1 435*1 NEW PR! 405*1 315*3
BB Good Mornings: 135*8 135*6
Pullups: 45*3 45*2
DB Rows: 120*4
DB Curls: 50*6
DB Shrugs: 75*17

notes: WHOOOOO new DL record! I was listening to Tractor from Monster magnet after the 405 attempt and totally got pumped up. I dunno why, I usually don't get THAT into the music I'm listening to but I felt like ripping something's head off today while I was listening to it. I kept the rest of the workout heavy and low rep. I'm exhausted!

 

[polarmystery]

Keep it up DomS!

I haven't been to the gym in almost a month. I ripped a tendon in my shoulder and I can't do any big presses anymore. I am going to start back again next week, but it will be light and just conditioning... I'm really sad I can't lift big with my shoulder anymore


(for a while anyway)

 

[gramboh]

Nice pull, congrats on the PR. I hear you on the front squats hammering the quads/hips. I love them for that. Check out this video, helped me with a few FS issues (no longer feel like I'm choking myself): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NRmdtSvmQQ I hope to be at a BW front squat for reps before Christmas, just taking it slowly, FS is just barely at 50% of my BS haha.

 

[polarmystery]

From your progress DomS, I still don't understand how your legs are so strong but your upper body is not. My upper body I think is stronger than yours (well not now since my injury a month ago) but your lower body is mountains better. Does that seem weird? I think you are I are pretty much on the same level with you being stronger almost in all areas but a few. Anyway, keep up the good work.