davo26 - kelei workout

[Kelei]

as far as rdl goes, im not totally sure what i should be aiming for. ive always thought legs should stay stiff, but with a small bend in the knee. ADs rdl looked great, and you said they were perfect, but her lower legs stayed still, and upper legs bent right back as she lowered and stuck her arse out... i tried again, and yes, i know i need more flexibility, but when i felt my hams tighten, i could go only go lower by bending my knees more (sort of like squatting), but my shins lean forward as my legs bend, ADs didnt. are there any set rules i should be aiming for?

Only go as low as your flexibility allows, don't manipulate your form in order to go lower. All the stretches you're performing will increase your flexibility and allow you to gradually lower the bar closer to the ground. Did you fix your stance?

[davo26]

Only go as low as your flexibility allows, don't manipulate your form in order to go lower. All the stretches you're performing will increase your flexibility and allow you to gradually lower the bar closer to the ground. Did you fix your stance?

bad timing, i just edited my post while you were answering :-) ive put another video on last post to show what i mean. is that stance any better? must admit i forgot to check width of feet, i was concentrating on lowering, but it doesnt seem as bad in this vid.

[Kelei]

bad timing, i just edited my post while you were answering :-) ive put another video on last post to show what i mean. is that stance any better? must admit i forgot to check width of feet, i was concentrating on lowering, but it doesnt seem as bad in this vid.

Reps 1-2 look great (because you don't try to go too low), rep 3 is bad form. If you keep working on your flexibility you'll be able to go lower while maintaining proper form. Your feet need to be directly under your knees and hip joint, straight up and down basically. Your toes need to point straight ahead. Most of your weight should be on your heels.

RDL should almost feel like you're about to fall backwards, although not quite lol.

[davo26]

D2 - 40 reps, fasted

pull-ups - 8 b/w - same, altho nearly squeezed a ninth.

chins - 11 b/w - up 1 rep :-) felt really good doing these pull-ups and chins, really felt them.

rear delt fly flat bench - 3.5kg X 12 - same. didnt up the weight as i want to concentrate on form. see below.

supported row - 23kg X 10 - up 1kg. see form below.

incline curl - 16kg X 10 - same. interested to hear you do em hammer on the way up, normal on way down, so tried it. thought i preferred it, then changed my mind, and kept swapping alternate sets. jurys still out on which i prefer. any reason you like em like that? any difference in the way it works the muscle? i got the feeling the hammer part was slightly easier, but not sure.

upright row - 33kg X 10 - up 2kg.

pleased with the workout, got some form for you to check tho. first is rear delt flys. i did a few with no weight so you can see my natural ROM, then lifted light d/bs. i cant get a squeeze at top, but they jut feel too light for the rest of the reps, and i was getting 6 or 7 in with minimal pause, which suggests they probably are too light. dont want to go heavier tho without you checking form.
dont feel like i can rotate my arm enough either, but thats the same with or without weight. (youll also see little colin chucking his tennis ball under the bench waiting for me to chuck it :-)



supported rows next. i dont see how i can improve the logistics of them. bench is lifted with a block of wood and im pretty tied to how low i can go. still be interested to hear your views on ROM and form.



i also did a vid of the bent over bench 'one arm delt flys' you suggested as an alternative, but it cut off the top so im gonna try doing another for you to compoare against my flat bench flys. i felt like i move my body too much, but i can lift heavier. ill try again.

[Kelei]

There's nothing wrong with your flye and row form, keep doing them like that. Colin will be famous soon. I can tell you've got a good physique underneath all that fat, you should look great once your cut is finished.

[davo26]

There's nothing wrong with your flye and row form, keep doing them like that. Colin will be famous soon. I can tell you've got a good physique underneath all that fat, you should look great once your cut is finished.

thats reassuring kelei, thanks. they say the camera doesnt lie, but i can assure you those vids make me look bigger than i am! im pretty pleased with tricep progress when i flex them, but at a normal stance, my arms are waaay too skinny, and my elbow bone sticks out too, making em look even worse! thats why i want to put some meat on!! :-D

ive just nipped out to the garage to video a few of the other flys you suggested. id be interested to hear your thoughts on them. i think i twist my body too much. i know you said the flat bench ones are fine, but when you take into account theyre at 3.5kg, and these bent over flys are 6kg, which will give me best results?



this is great feedback kelei, its excellent, and fast too. really appreciate all the help youre giving us :-)

[Kelei]

Stick with the double arm flyes. Single arm flyes allow you to lift more weight but that doesn't necessarily mean your target muscles are working harder, it simply means that other muscles are helping more than usual. Strict form with lighter weight is always best.

You're not as skinny as you seem to think you are.

[davo26]

Stick with the double arm flyes. Single arm flyes allow you to lift more weight but that doesn't necessarily mean your target muscles are working harder, it simply means that other muscles are helping more than usual. Strict form with lighter weight is always best.

You're not as skinny as you seem to think you are.

great stuff thanks.

quick question about stretching if you dont mind. i cant get near my toes when i try to touch them before stretching. after stretching i can get my fingers underneath my feet!! shows the stretches work :-) i just wondered tho, is that a good test of when my flexibity has improved? when i can touch my toes beforehand?

are good mornings exactly the same as trying to touch your toes? they feel like it.

(btw, i remember you said you lived in oz. dont spose youre anywhere near the gold coast are you? ive got mates there, and ones a big bodybuilder. just thought stranger things have happened, can be a small world sometimes :-)

[Kelei]

great stuff thanks.

quick question about stretching if you dont mind. i cant get near my toes when i try to touch them before stretching. after stretching i can get my fingers underneath my feet!! shows the stretches work :-) i just wondered tho, is that a good test of when my flexibity has improved? when i can touch my toes beforehand?

are good mornings exactly the same as trying to touch your toes? they feel like it.

(btw, i remember you said you lived in oz. dont spose youre anywhere near the gold coast are you? ive got mates there, and ones a big bodybuilder. just thought stranger things have happened, can be a small world sometimes :-)

The good morning stretches are basically the same stretch as trying to touch your toes, I prefer to do them with a bar behind my back because it helps you learn to keep your shoulders back. I'm around 2 hours from the gold coast, the gold coast is south of Brisbane, I live north of Brisbane.

[davo26]

D3 - 40/60/80 reps - fasted.

GRRRRRRR.......... i messed up my rdl form!! cant believe it after all your advice kelei.

front squat - went from 70 deep to 74kg as an experiment. havent compared vids with the one above ^^^^, but it felt i was deep enough. vid below.



RDL - 100kg but legs felt a bit shaky, wasnt particularly feeling it in my hams, so had the feeling i was messing up. videoed all my reps, and cherry picked a couple. firstly my first set at 100kg. i think the first 5 went ok, but after that they were sh*t. too low again, no wonder i couldnt feel them properly >-(



dropped to 90, but all the rest of my reps were sh*t too. waaay too low. for some reason i just didnt feel that 'bite point' where my hams tightened and i knew when to stop.



went up to 100 again for final set to try, but even worse!! (sorry for so many videos, therell prob be a few more til i get it dialled :-)



bloody awful. cant really explain it. dunno if its too heavy, and as my legs are shaking a bit i miss the return point. ill experiment over the next few days again, but im p*ssed off i wasted that workout.


leg curl - 66kg X 10 - up 1 rep

ham curl - 29kg X 10 - up 1kg

standing calf raise - 90kg X 16 - same

seated calf - 114kg X 22 - same, will raise next time.

colin the wonder dog also missed this session as he was having his conkers off :'-(

[lajoo]

Your knees move as you go down,you need to think about moving your butt,don't think about going down,just push your butt back.I'd say you need to lock out a bit more too.

[davo26]

Your knees move as you go down,you need to think about moving your butt,don't think about going down,just push your butt back.I'd say you need to lock out a bit more too.

yes but look at ADs rdl. knees bend loads, shins stay still, and its perfect form.



im all confused again, i thought id cracked it :-/ i WILL crack it!!

[lajoo]

yes but look at ADs rdl. knees bend loads, shins stay still, and its perfect form.

im all confused again, i thought id cracked it :-/ i WILL crack it!!

Her knees bend,but they don't move.If you look at her form,the only thing you see moving is her hips,it goes back and forth. your knees are moving backwards with your hips.

you can check my form too,its not as good as AD's but Kelei said it looks fine.I'm working on my flexibility too.

[davo26]

Her knees bend,but they don't move.If you look at her form,the only thing you see moving is her hips,it goes back and forth. your knees are moving backwards with your hips.

you can check my form too,its not as good as AD's but Kelei said it looks fine.I'm working on my flexibility too.

thanks. wheres yer vid mate? couldnt see it in your bodyspace :-)

[lajoo]

in my log bro:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...6781443&page=4
look at post 180

[davo26]

in my log bro:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...6781443&page=4
look at post 180

subbed, thanks. im pretty sure i know the form, i just got to DO it now :-D practice practice practice. will try some light weight sets after a D1 tomorrow i think.

cheers

[Kelei]

Front squats looking much better. You're not bending your knees enough during RDL, you need more bend in your knees and you really need to focus on pushing your ass backwards. You'll probably have to reduce your ROM until your flexibility increases. Keep working at it.

[davo26]

D1 - fasted, 40 reps

flat bench - 76 X 10 - down 1 rep :-/ - only just gone up one, so i spose it just confirms im about the same still.

incline bench - 62 X 8 - same. i nearly took the 2kg off and went 60 as ive been stuck on 8 reps for ages. then decided if i did that and still only got 8 reps id be pissed off, so left it :-D

weighted dips - b/w + 24kg X 11 - same

skullcrushers, 60 degree bench, tricep bar, hammer grip - 30 X 11 - up 1 rep. top of outer elbows always get sore after these, but havent the equipment to do alternatives.

lat raise - 7kg X 11 - same

barbell shrugs - 70kg X 12 - same, working on form before going up.


had a practice with RDL as promised, and thought yep, thats it. really just concentrated on sticking my butt out then back. then looked at the video id taken and my lower legs are still moving backwards with not enough bend in my knee. am i right? (did a few light ones, then upped it a bit, but still lighter than usual)



as you can see, colins back larger than life with his tennis ball after losing his conkers yesterday :-D

[Kelei]

Not enough knee bend, you're probably finding it difficult because of your poor flexibility.

[davo26]

Not enough knee bend, you're probably finding it difficult because of your poor flexibility.

sorry for the bombardment of vids, but is this better? just been out practising again :-/

youre right about the flexibilty, my ROMs sh*t, but i feel like i bend it more in this vid. legs still lean back too much for my liking but if i consciously try to put a bend in the knee then i find it hard to not break into a 'squat type' bend where the knee leans forward too.

[Kelei]

Much better, that form actually looks pretty good. As your flexibility improves you'll be able to lower the weight deeper. You should practise than form until it becomes habit, perhaps it's a good idea to keep filming yourself for a while so that you can keep an eye on your form, you don't want to return to bad habits.

[davo26]

Much better, that form actually looks pretty good. As your flexibility improves you'll be able to lower the weight deeper. You should practise than form until it becomes habit, perhaps it's a good idea to keep filming yourself for a while so that you can keep an eye on your form, you don't want to return to bad habits.

excellent, it gives me some heart that at least im capable of it :-) yeah, ill keep on filming, but wont stick em all on here, i promise! :-D im sure ill have the odd session where it all goes tits up, but ive got something to work with now.

thanks a lot

[AD1984]

This is looking really good! Sorry I haven't been around these days...you've been making good progress. You're putting a lot of work into this and it's showing. Once you learn something, you'll know it for life!

I had a hard time with RDLs when I first learned them, mainly because I wasn't sure at the difference between them and SLDLs. What helped was focusing on the fact that the butt moves and the rest follows. I like to think of it as humping the bar lol...ass goes back, ass pushes in. With that image in mind, I got it down. That's what I think of when I do them, I kid you not..just me and the bar getting to know each other

That's a damn cute dog you have

[davo26]

thanks for your opinion, much appreciated. how does it feel to be my RDL role model? :-D
and yep, colins a great gym partner, doesnt hog the equipment and only needs a ball throwing for him every minute or so :-)

D2 - 40 reps, fasted.

pull-ups - 8 b/w - same

chins - 11 b/w - same - pull-ups and chins felt great today, did them slowly and really felt them. its real progress for me with the pull-ups, cos a few months ago i couldnt do any (thats why i do them first), and strained my elbow trying

rear delt fly - 5kg X 12 - up 1.5kg, only cos id been going low for form check tho. will try 6kg next.

supported row - 23kg X 10 - same

incline curl - 16kg X 10 - same

upright row - 33kg X 10 - same

seemed to be just consolidating today, which i dont mind at all on a calorie reduction. just trying not to have to drop weight on my lifts, and its all feeling good so far. if i get time for a workout, its RDLs again tomorrow :-D
ive been doing squats first, but might reverse that so im going into them fresh.

ooh, nearly forgot. supported row. i started wrapping my legs under the bench to enable me to stay tense while i lifted the dumbells. is this bad? i see it as sort of the same as hooking legs under a bed or something for situps rather than just doing crunches. thats frowned on, but i felt as tho i could keep form better with my legs hooked under the bench. id appreciate advice on that please.

ta

[Kelei]

ooh, nearly forgot. supported row. i started wrapping my legs under the bench to enable me to stay tense while i lifted the dumbells. is this bad?

It's fine.

[davo26]

D3 - fasted, 40/60/80 reps

RDL - 90kg X 11 - dropped from 100 to perfect form. didnt quite go to plan. videoed each set, just looked at them and not happy with them. im fine with light weight so think im gonna have to take the hit and go lower until i get used to the form.

front squat - 54kg X 11 - same as last time, im going deep all the time now, no worries about form. it does still worry me that im only lifting half the weight of the back squats i used to do. just out of interest kelei, do you advocate deep form on those too? what extra muscles does going deep bring into it? and is it always better to go deep with lighter weight than 90 degrees higher weight?

ham curl - 29 X 10 - same

leg curl - 66 X 10 - same

standing calf - 90 X 18 - up 2 reps

seated calf - 114kg X 22 - how many reps on standing and seated before we up the weight? was it 15/20? if so im ready to go up. also find i need hardly any rest between sets. just let that initial burn go, then into them again and still get more than 3 reps.

arse cheeks are killing now :-) im assuming its RDL. i was going to ask if thats a good sign or bad, as forms better now, but after watching my vids, i need to do better still.

[Kelei]

D3 - fasted, 40/60/80 reps

RDL - 90kg X 11 - dropped from 100 to perfect form. didnt quite go to plan. videoed each set, just looked at them and not happy with them. im fine with light weight so think im gonna have to take the hit and go lower until i get used to the form.

front squat - 54kg X 11 - same as last time, im going deep all the time now, no worries about form. it does still worry me that im only lifting half the weight of the back squats i used to do. just out of interest kelei, do you advocate deep form on those too? what extra muscles does going deep bring into it? and is it always better to go deep with lighter weight than 90 degrees higher weight?

ham curl - 29 X 10 - same

leg curl - 66 X 10 - same

standing calf - 90 X 18 - up 2 reps

seated calf - 114kg X 22 - how many reps on standing and seated before we up the weight? was it 15/20? if so im ready to go up. also find i need hardly any rest between sets. just let that initial burn go, then into them again and still get more than 3 reps.

arse cheeks are killing now :-) im assuming its RDL. i was going to ask if thats a good sign or bad, as forms better now, but after watching my vids, i need to do better still.

Always squat as deep as you can. I increase my standing/seated calf raise weights once I can complete 18/24 reps, this way the ratios remain the same (10/12, 15/18, 20/24, as you can see I'm adding weight whenever I can perform 20% more reps than standard).

[davo26]

missed a couple of days. was doing river rescue training yesterday and took a mouthful of dirty river water :-/ been feeling a bit sh*tty, so left it for now til i feel like i can do it justice. going abroad for hols in a couple of days for a week too, so hope i havent messed that up :-D

ive taken it easy today, hope thatll sort me for tomorrow.

[davo26]

D1 - fasted, 40 reps

flat bench - 76kg X 10 - same

incline bench - 62 X 9 - up 1 rep, last rep was a right squeeze and body shake tho :-)

weighted dips - b/w+ 24kg X 10 - down 1 rep

skullcrushers - 30kg x 10 - down 1 rep

lat raise - 7kg X 11 - same

barbell shrugs - 70kg X 12 - same

didnt feel up for it today, wasnt in the zone and felt weak. also pushed for time, so just seemed to go through the motions. needed another workout tho cos only 1 more til a week off on holiday.

weight loss seems to have stalled which p*sses me off as ive been regularly hitting just 2000 cals, just a bit more sat night. seem to be stuck around 12st 3lb at the mo, but im still relatively pleased with that as i pushed 14st a while ago. a week on holiday will probably mean ill yoyo back up a bit, but you got to enjoy your holiday havent you :-D

[davo26]

added 2 pics from today so i can see where i am before my holiday. theyre in 'my bodyspace'. might be my untrained eye but i dont look much different from october :-/

at least i weigh myself, so i know ive lost about three quarters of a stone since. just cant really tell from the pics. got some way to go before those abs appear tho :-)