Cable rows....'mind/muscle' epiphany.

[Wayne Evans]

Good day all....

Well, in doing cable rows I'd worked my way up to 160# 10/10/15 just prior to last week.

But, I never felt quite right about what I was doing because I never felt any DOMS or that I was hitting the proper area and quite honestly like I was able to add weight more quickly than I'd figured.

Last week, my week off, I perused my old thread on 'back routine' and some other threads and discovered the err of my ways.

It was my form and I was pissed about this oversight.
I wasn't pulling to my stomach and was pulling to my chest.

So, yesterday I did the back routine, reduced it by 20# to 140# and hit it hard and cranked out 10/10/13 and guess what?

For the first time my lats are sore as hell on both sides so maybe I did it right this time.
I concentrated heavily on the 'fingers as hooks' and only pulling with the CORRECT muscle group.
It does make me wonder what the hell muscle group I WAS doing if I wan't hitting the back properly.

This cult can scold me now for not paying close enough attention to detail on this one.

Have a good weekend all....

[phikappa]

Try pausing for 1-2 seconds in the fully contracted position. You'll feel that the next day.

[Wayne Evans]

Try pausing for 1-2 seconds in the fully contracted position. You'll feel that the next day.

Cool....will do phikappa.

Thank you.

[Husky Bob]

on the negative, I try to feel like I'm doing a lat spread...

[Wayne Evans]

on the negative, I try to feel like I'm doing a lat spread...

OK....I'll give that a shot too.

I'll bet I won't be getting 3x10 as I incorporate these new techniques.

Learneth....learneth.

Thank you.

[Chipman]

There are a million little mental gremlins that make us loose the mind muscle connection when working out. Some of their names are Ego, Narcissism, Hubris, Excitement, etc.

The trick is to spend a few moments before the workout putting them all back into Pandora's box and then becoming one with the weights.

[John Prophet]

I think there can and should be a blend of "feel" on the one hand, and progression of weight on the other hand. Who knows, I may be totally wrong, lol. but I think u can "trick yourself" either way. U can go TOO heavy and start heaving and cheating etc and u end up 'stronger' than an IFBB pro but u dont have near their muscle.....or you can trick yourself and go too light and go for TOO MUCH "feel" and just end up using baby weights.

So I try to blend those two. It gets to be like a steering wheel on a car..u have to make many small adjustments to keep going straight.

When I first started, probably the first magazine I ever read must have had a quote like "too many people are using too heavy of a weight and they are cheating by using loose form". So BOOM I took that as Gospel and that was all I had at that time. So I started off using VERY strict form. Obviously I was in stark contract to most gym newbs who throw weights around. Problem being, I couldnt use any heavy weight because I was SO strict.

Well then fast forward a few years and I notice that athletes dont work out like that at all. They are using momentum and explosion etc. I saw a female IFBB pro squatting on a video and I saw how u needed at least SOME "athleticism" in your movements.

So now I try to use both methods or blend them. And youll find that some moves are simply "power" moves that u just cant worry so much about strictness, like squats where u need some explosion etc...while some moves are not power moves (dbell side laterals) and u need to go strict and smooth with them.

seated cable rows are sort of a mixture move....u can go heavy or u can go strict. one of my favorite moves ever since day 1.

[Wayne Evans]

There are a million little mental gremlins that make us loose the mind muscle connection when working out. Some of their names are Ego, Narcissism, Hubris, Excitement, etc.

The trick is to spend a few moments before the workout putting them all back into Pandora's box and then becoming one with the weights.

Isn't that the truth...I think you hit them all.
In my case, I just 'didn't pay attention to details' which is precisely why I will annoy everyone here to keep me on the BB path of rightousnes.

I wanted to get this ass-kickin' done before the weekend so I can enjoy a beer or two.

Thanks amigo....

[Wayne Evans]

I think there can and should be a blend of "feel" on the one hand, and progression of weight on the other hand. Who knows, I may be totally wrong, lol. but I think u can "trick yourself" either way. U can go TOO heavy and start heaving and cheating etc and u end up 'stronger' than an IFBB pro but u dont have near their muscle.....or you can trick yourself and go too light and go for TOO MUCH "feel" and just end up using baby weights.

So I try to blend those two. It gets to be like a steering wheel on a car..u have to make many small adjustments to keep going straight.

When I first started, probably the first magazine I ever read must have had a quote like "too many people are using too heavy of a weight and they are cheating by using loose form". So BOOM I took that as Gospel and that was all I had at that time. So I started off using VERY strict form. Obviously I was in stark contract to most gym newbs who throw weights around. Problem being, I couldnt use any heavy weight because I was SO strict.

Well then fast forward a few years and I notice that athletes dont work out like that at all. They are using momentum and explosion etc. I saw a female IFBB pro squatting on a video and I saw how u needed at least SOME "athleticism" in your movements.

So now I try to use both methods or blend them. And youll find that some moves are simply "power" moves that u just cant worry so much about strictness, like squats where u need some explosion etc...while some moves are not power moves (dbell side laterals) and u need to go strict and smooth with them.

seated cable rows are sort of a mixture move....u can go heavy or u can go strict. one of my favorite moves ever since day 1.

Some intereting points there.

I started out alone and continue on the same so I did make many errors in technique until I started coming here.
I didn't have the lat/row machine until a year ago March.
I never had the ego of using too much weight but I sure started wrong on this movement.

I think I've got some good ammo now to continue feeling it where I should.

Thanks...

[FitIron]

Good day all....

Well, in doing cable rows I'd worked my way up to 160# 10/10/15 just prior to last week.

But, I never felt quite right about what I was doing because I never felt any DOMS or that I was hitting the proper area and quite honestly like I was able to add weight more quickly than I'd figured.

Last week, my week off, I perused my old thread on 'back routine' and some other threads and discovered the err of my ways.

It was my form and I was pissed about this oversight.
I wasn't pulling to my stomach and was pulling to my chest.

So, yesterday I did the back routine, reduced it by 20# to 140# and hit it hard and cranked out 10/10/13 and guess what?

For the first time my lats are sore as hell on both sides so maybe I did it right this time.
I concentrated heavily on the 'fingers as hooks' and only pulling with the CORRECT muscle group.
It does make me wonder what the hell muscle group I WAS doing if I wan't hitting the back properly.

This cult can scold me now for not paying close enough attention to detail on this one.

Have a good weekend all....

If you ever have a question about proper training technique...here is where to get it...

This is an excellent routine for back and rear delts. It also gives you a little secret about performing seated rows. Ever since I've been doing them this way, my middle back has gotten thicker and stronger...

take a look........

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/glasscut4.htm

[oldsuperman]

Try pausing for 1-2 seconds in the fully contracted position. You'll feel that the next day.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Good idea above. When you pull to your chest, you work you rear delts mostly, and by pulling to your belly button and flexing your lats before you pull will fire them up.

[Wayne Evans]

FitIron....

Cool....thanks for the link and I'll head there after I respond here.
I need all the 'form' ass-kicking I can handle after this learning experience.

Oldsuperman....
Aha...so, I was working my rear delts. I was curious about that.
I wonder if that's the reason I can do much more wt. with bend-over raises (45#) than I can with standing side lateral raises (25#) by inadvertanting working my rear delts more?

Thanks again gents for the education.

Asta later.