All Eyez On Me 2.0

[adamsz]

****in LOL at that sun burn.

shoulda just went shirtless brah damn! lmao

solid benching m8 I lol at illegal. what does that mean. I thought you could grip the bar anyway you wanted?

lmao yeah I was detailing my car for like 2 hours in a tanktop, but it was only like 60-70 degrees out so I didn't even think about getting a sunburn. I guess when you're full zombie white status that's all it takes...

In PL the max "legal" grip for competition is pointer fingers on the rings. "Illegal" wides are anything done outside of that.

[AirForceV]

lmao yeah I was detailing my car for like 2 hours in a tanktop, but it was only like 60-70 degrees out so I didn't even think about getting a sunburn. I guess when you're full zombie white status that's all it takes...

In PL the max "legal" grip for competition is pointer fingers on the rings. "Illegal" wides are anything done outside of that.

Weird.

when I bench I have my pinky on the ring. anything wider feels really bad on the shoulder.


hahaha heat has nothing to do with it, dat uv rays of peace will bust through clouds and burn you.

[fittofattofit]

5/20/13 Today's Macros: 93F / 400C / 208P : 3269 cals

15 minute dynamic warmup

4:45PM - 7:00PM: lifting

Illegal-Wide Grip Bench Press superset with Wide-grip Pullups all reps paused
95 x 10 - 5
125 x 5 - 5
135 x 5 - 5, 5
185 x 5 - 5
225 x 4 - 5, 5
275 x 3 - 5
315 x 3 - 5
315 x 3 - 5
315 x 3 - 5
315 x 3 - 5
315 x 3 - 5
all 315 sets are PRs

Catback Latpulls medium green band
15
12
15
15
15

Shoulder Horn
5's x 10
5'sx 20
5's x 15
2.5's x 35
2.5's x40

30 minutes lacross ball work / rumble rolling / band stretching after

Thoughts

First off, it's been damn near 2 months since I pulled my groin and it still hasn't recovered. I'm gonna go see the chiropractor, so until then I'm pretty much gonna put the lower body stuff on hold (at least the compound lifts). I need to get this chit straightened out.

I was out running errands all day, and by the time I was done with them and because it was rush hour I decided to just go straight to the gym without going home to get my gym chit. Just bought a rockstar low carb, went in, borrowed a pair of wrist wraps, and lifted. Was kinda nice to just go in and lift like that without all the ritualistic stuff like liniments, workout journal, my own gear, etc. Surprisingly, my left elbow felt fine the whole session without the liniments and just doing the pull up supersets.

Benching went great. There was like 10 people in the rotation tonight so there was a lot of time between sets so I decided to superset all the bench sets with wide grip pullups. I changed the numbers around a bit tonight though - instead of doing 2 sets of 260 for 3, I just did one set of 275 for 3, and instead of 300 x 3 x 5 sets I upped all those sets to 315. Since the beginning of this cycle I told myself I wanted to eventually bump up my heaviest triples to 315, and I finally did it. Only on the very last rep of the very last set did I get out of groove and really struggle with the weight, and since I hit the bar stand on the way up I got a tiny bit of help at the very top. Either way, I had never done 315 for more than a double before tonight so that's awesome.

Got hella sunburned working on my car outside before going to the gym:



lobster status: achieved.

^^^^^^^ LOL


Great job on the benching Zack ... despite the lobster status
5 PR sets and all going super wide = FTW. Awesome stuff!

[BabyOilBrah]

beastmode WG benching bro! I'm jelly of that strength. LOLing hard at the pic, saw it in the SCC and almost spit out my coffee.

[Mitch666]

I posted this in the fam thread but no one answered haha.
I'm planning on buying my first pair of wraps soon, I was thinking the EFS normal wraps, they're $26, I've never really looked at anywhere besides EFS so idk how that is price wise. Do you think those would be good? I squat medium/close stance.

Then I want to buy some bands too, for mobility stuff and to play around with speed pulls/bench at some point. I was thinking the long mini bands? In some of the mobilitywod and bryce lewis videos they use what looks like an average or strong band for some hip openers so idk. You do a ton of mobility so I figured you'd know. Thanks.

[nwskier]

beast benching! also jelly of dat strength

back is looking thick/wide bro. nh. you going to follow more 'powerbuilding' now? seems like good fit between the heavy PL work and some bb accessory stuff. Powerbuilding is full of awesome tho if you can balance the strength gains with the body fat reduction

[adamsz]

^^^^^^^ LOL

Great job on the benching Zack ... despite the lobster status
5 PR sets and all going super wide = FTW. Awesome stuff!

Thanks Andrew

beastmode WG benching bro! I'm jelly of that strength. LOLing hard at the pic, saw it in the SCC and almost spit out my coffee.

hehehe When White Boys Tan: Episode 1.

I posted this in the fam thread but no one answered haha.
I'm planning on buying my first pair of wraps soon, I was thinking the EFS normal wraps, they're $26, I've never really looked at anywhere besides EFS so idk how that is price wise. Do you think those would be good? I squat medium/close stance.

Then I want to buy some bands too, for mobility stuff and to play around with speed pulls/bench at some point. I was thinking the long mini bands? In some of the mobilitywod and bryce lewis videos they use what looks like an average or strong band for some hip openers so idk. You do a ton of mobility so I figured you'd know. Thanks.

As for knee wraps, I'm unfortunately the wrong guy to ask. I've only used knee wraps like twice before, and they weren't mine. For that, I'd probably just bump your question in the fam.

For mobility work, I bought the rogue fitness pullup package http://www.roguefitness.com/rogue-monster-bands.php (on the right side of the page for $67.60). It is enough for most of the mobility work you see like in Bryces videos. In terms of speed pulls/bench, the only time I've done those was at my gym which has a full set of bands so I used the bands there. I have no idea what one's they are though. I've seen people ask that question in the fam thread before, so I think if you searched around enough you could find a good answer, or you could again bump your question in the fam thread.

beast benching! also jelly of dat strength

back is looking thick/wide bro. nh. you going to follow more 'powerbuilding' now? seems like good fit between the heavy PL work and some bb accessory stuff. Powerbuilding is full of awesome tho if you can balance the strength gains with the body fat reduction

Thanks Terminator Timbo! Yeah for the last 2 months since injuring my groin I've been doing a decent amount of bodybuilding work because I can't dedicate a lot of energy to squats/DLs ATM. There's times where I'm like man maybe I should just keep cutting and get back on a hypertrophy routine and get juicy, but honestly I'm much more interested in powerlifting in the long term. As soon as I get rehabbed and back to 100% my focus will continue to be on PLing, but there will always be some element of higher-rep bodybuilding-style training incorporated into my programming.

[adamsz]

5/22/13 Today's Macros - 3377 calories: 419C / 89F / 225P

1 hour dynamic warmup / mobility work

4:45PM - 7:35PM: Lifting

Illegal Wide Grip Bench Press all reps paused
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 4
260 x 3
260 x 3
295 x 3
295 x 3
315 x 2
325 x 2 PR (was only supposed to be 315)
315 x 2

Sumo Deadlifts 3rd time ever pulling sumo
135 x 5 conventional
135 x 5
185 x 4 conventional
225 x 4
275 x 3
315 x 3
315 x 3
365 x 3
365 x 3
385 x 2 --> vid
405 x 2



Illegal Wide Grip Bench Press suicide grip, all reps paused
135 x 5
205 x 4
245 x 4
280 x 4
280 x 4
280 x 4
280 x 4

Cable Lat Pulldowns varying grips
5 sets

Seated BO DB Raises
15's x 12
15's x 12
15's x 12
15's x 12
15's x 12

50 minutes mobility / stretching / rolling after

Thoughts

Got to the gym extra early today to work on mobility work for my lower body, which I have been really slacking on lately. Because of my lower body injury I think I've just been depressed/demotivated to keep up with the lowerbody mobility work, which is an attitude I need to change.

Today's benching was quite possibly the most painful benching session I've ever had in my life. Because I am so sunburned on my traps/lats/delts now benching hurt like HELL every single rep, even with just the bar. Trying to get into position up on my traps hurt like a bish, not to mentioning loading your lats/traps with 300lbs+ for reps, chit was really intense. Since I got the sunburn on Monday it didn't really affect me that bench session because it hadn't really kicked in yet, but today was absolutely aweful. At least I still managed to hit a PR lol. I'm just praying by next wednesday I'll be back to normal in time for my max effort attempts.

Just for chits and giggles I tried pulling sumo today for I think the 3rd time ever IIRC. Everything actually went better than expected... Every other time I've attempted sumo I never had any real strength with it, but today the strength seemed to be there.

I was really surprised that it didn't seem to bother my groin, but it was still tweaking my right glute at lockout, but it didn't seem to be as bad as when pulling conventional. I made sure to roll the glute/hip on a baseball between sets to keep it feeling good. I think once I get the groin issue sorted out (I have an apt with the chiro next week finally) I'm gonna keep toying around with sumo and see how it goes. Duffin said the technique looked pretty good and that he'd be willing to help me out with it. I also noticed that it put next to no strain on my lower back, even without a belt the entire time, which is something that my regular DL (which always turns into a SLDL once it gets heavy) does. I'm pretty excited at the prospect of learning to pull sumo once I'm recovered.

[AirForceV]

nice Michael jackson moves when dropping bar.

that's what happens when you pull like a sissy.

[adamsz]

nice Michael jackson moves when dropping bar.

that's what happens when you pull like a sissy.

at least I can bench 315 for reps *******

[fittofattofit]

nice Michael jackson moves when dropping bar.

that's what happens when you pull like a sissy.

at least I can bench 315 for reps *******

LOL .... would be scared to call either of you guys *******s

Congrats on the benching PR Zack!
Why the suicide grip for the second round of benching?
It's good that you liked the sumo deads and that the groin was OK. You have long legs and can take a really wide stance ... so presumable that loads up the quads more than the glutes. My nads would be resting on the ground if I got my feet that far apart

[AirForceV]

at least I can bench 315 for reps *******

Is that a challenge or something brah.

I shouldn't flat bench but I will


Just for you.

[adamsz]

LOL .... would be scared to call either of you guys *******s

Congrats on the benching PR Zack!
Why the suicide grip for the second round of benching?
It's good that you liked the sumo deads and that the groin was OK. You have long legs and can take a really wide stance ... so presumable that loads up the quads more than the glutes. My nads would be resting on the ground if I got my feet that far apart

lol I'm not a violent or confrontational kind-a-guy, so no worries on my part at least. As for Cory on the other hand...

Dunno why I decided on the suicide grip... for some reason it just felt better that way, not sure if it's because of the sunburn and it somehow changed the dynamics, or if it felt better that way because my grip was so wide.

Is that a challenge or something brah.

I shouldn't flat bench but I will

Just for you.

The thing about doing challenges with you is I know you won't accept defeat. I bet if the difference between you winning or losing was blowing out your rotator cuff for that one extra rep, you would go for it anyways. Anyways, I seen your journal brah. I c u coming at me...

[adamsz]

5/24/13, about 1 hour session

Squats
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 4
nope, still not happening

Illegal-Wide Grip Bench Press suicide grip, all reps paused
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
265 x 5
265 x 5
265 x 5
265 x 5
265 x 5

Preacher Curl Machine
65 x 25
80 x 20
95 x 15
110 x 10

Banded Posture Correction Exercise
4 sets of 30:



30 minutes on the stationary bike after

Thoughts

last day of Sheiko 37 benching, short and sweet

[adamsz]

5/27/13

15 minute dynamic warmup

8:00PM - 10:00PM: Lifting

Sumo Deadlifts
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 1
275 x 1
was fuking with my right glute, had to shut it down

Illegal-Wide Grip Bench Press 3 second pauses on top sets
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 3
260 x 3
260 x 3
280 x 2
280 x 2
280 x 2

Pullups slightly wide grip
5
6
7
6

Hammer Strength Isolateral Row
90 x 20
180 x 10
180 x 10
180 x 12
180 x 10

Life Fitness Seated Rows underhand grip
115 x 15
130 x 15
145 x 12
160 x 10

Closegrip Pulldowns
135 x 12
135 x 10
120 x 10
120 x 10

Hammer Strength Isolateral High Row 1 arm at a time, weight is per arm
45 x 20 per arm
55 x 20 per arm
65 x 20 per arm
90 x 20 per arm

Straight Arm Pushdowns
50 x 20
60 x 16
60 x 12

Cable Rope Facepulls
50 x 25
50 x 20
50 x 20
40 x 30

Rackpulls from lowest pins, top of knee
135 x 20
185 x 20
225 x 20
225 x 20

30 minutes mobility followed by 30 minutes on the stationary bike after

Thoughts

First day of Sheiko 32 for bench, which is the peaking cycle. Really easy day today, and will be testing my max on Wednesday. Hoping to get a solid 355, and if I'm feeling really good 365. I think by the end of the cycle when I re-test my max I should be good for 365 for sure.

Wanted to give some sumo pulls a try today, which didn't go too well. Still having the same glute issue when locking out the weight. Looking back over the past 2 months it seems like the only pull days that have been sucessful is when I take 2 weeks off pulling beforehand. It's funny though the block pulls also bother my glute, but the rackpulls seem to be fine on it. I'm guessing the shorter ROM and the fact that my lowerback must be doing all the work is the reason why.

Got my chiropractor appointment on Wednesday also, so I'll hopefully have a better game plan of how to rehab this fuking injury properly.

[fittofattofit]

Good luck with the chiro ... I know it's frustrating carrying these injuries that just won't go away and in the end it fcuks up your mind, so I'm hoping he'll give you a path forward

You won't need good luck for the benching ... you've got an easy 355 max in you going by the way you've been lifting lately

[AirForceV]

The thing about doing challenges with you is I know you won't accept defeat. I bet if the difference between you winning or losing was blowing out your rotator cuff for that one extra rep, you would go for it anyways. Anyways, I seen your journal brah. I c u coming at me...

If I got a number to reach I'll do what it takes lmao.

Bummer about the squats n glute pain brah that **** sucks.



Have fun with the max effort bench brah. You got it no problem.

[BabyOilBrah]

nice work regardless bro. chiro should be able to work wonders with a good adjustment. Hopefully you can clear that glute issue up.

[adamsz]

Good luck with the chiro ... I know it's frustrating carrying these injuries that just won't go away and in the end it fcuks up your mind, so I'm hoping he'll give you a path forward

You won't need good luck for the benching ... you've got an easy 355 max in you going by the way you've been lifting lately

Yeah the last 2 months have been frustrating as hell, but we're all gonna make it bros

If I got a number to reach I'll do what it takes lmao.

Bummer about the squats n glute pain brah that **** sucks.

Have fun with the max effort bench brah. You got it no problem.

Would not challenge you/10. Honestly though from purely a BBer standpoint I think DB chest exercises make a lot more sense to do over barbell variations. Thanks brah.

nice work regardless bro. chiro should be able to work wonders with a good adjustment. Hopefully you can clear that glute issue up.

Thanks BoB. yeah this guy is a chiro but he works more like a physical therpist... does less adjusting and more let's figure out some exercises you can do on your own to fix the problem kinda guy. Gonna do a little write-up on it now.

[BabyOilBrah]

I like that ^

[adamsz]

Groin Rehab Plan

Just got back from the chiropractor. After talking about my situation and him doing some testing, it seems like my gracilis muscle is all messed up. It's weird though when I look at the anatomy chart online though it doesn't look like the muscle that he was messing with based on the picture. Anyways... He did some massage-type work on it which really helped. Then we came up with some exercises to do to help speed along the rehab process:

1) Advanced Deadbug Variation: Perform 1 set of 6 repetitions once per day
Lay with spine along foam roller, and hold 25lb KB overhead with arms extended up. Keeping the ribs tucked and lightly pushing through your heels into the floor to activate the glutes, move your arms back and forth keeping them straight.

2) Goblet Squat Flossing: Perform 1 set of 1 repetition once per day Spend about a minute "flossing" the bottom 8-10 in. using about 25# daily.
Basically get into a goblet squat position holding a KB and use your elbows to drive your knees out. Go up and down about 10 inches, forcing the knees out more and more to activate the glutes. Try and consciously drive your knees out even further without the help of your elbows as you get more comfortable in the position.

3) Crabwalk: Perform 1 set of 1 repetition once per day, do enough to feel a burn in the glutes each day.
Basically jumping side to side, trying to keep good spinal positioning as if you were going to squat.

4) Sideways Pulling BandSquats
Use a KB or barbell. Set up band on opposite side of injury so it slightly pulls to that side (either someone holding it or on a post in a power rack). Make conscious effort to correct the side being pulled on so you are activating the muscles on the injured side.

Wish I had some videos to demonstrate these, but the one's I got from him are adobe flash player so they can't be downloaded or linked.

Anyways... that's the plan. Just from working with him for a half hour I could tell a pretty significant improvement in the strain when doing the goblet squat flossing.

[fittofattofit]

Groin Rehab Plan

Just got back from the chiropractor. After talking about my situation and him doing some testing, it seems like my gracilis muscle is all messed up. It's weird though when I look at the anatomy chart online though it doesn't look like the muscle that he was messing with based on the picture. Anyways... He did some massage-type work on it which really helped. Then we came up with some exercises to do to help speed along the rehab process:

1) Advanced Deadbug Variation: Perform 1 set of 6 repetitions once per day
Lay with spine along foam roller, and hold 25lb KB overhead with arms extended up. Keeping the ribs tucked and lightly pushing through your heels into the floor to activate the glutes, move your arms back and forth keeping them straight.

2) Goblet Squat Flossing: Perform 1 set of 1 repetition once per day Spend about a minute "flossing" the bottom 8-10 in. using about 25# daily.
Basically get into a goblet squat position holding a KB and use your elbows to drive your knees out. Go up and down about 10 inches, forcing the knees out more and more to activate the glutes. Try and consciously drive your knees out even further without the help of your elbows as you get more comfortable in the position.

3) Crabwalk: Perform 1 set of 1 repetition once per day, do enough to feel a burn in the glutes each day.
Basically jumping side to side, trying to keep good spinal positioning as if you were going to squat.

4) Sideways Pulling BandSquats
Use a KB or barbell. Set up band on opposite side of injury so it slightly pulls to that side (either someone holding it or on a post in a power rack). Make conscious effort to correct the side being pulled on so you are activating the muscles on the injured side.

Wish I had some videos to demonstrate these, but the one's I got from him are adobe flash player so they can't be downloaded or linked.

Anyways... that's the plan. Just from working with him for a half hour I could tell a pretty significant improvement in the strain when doing the goblet squat flossing.

That's great Zack .... I'm always wary of chiros because of this 'every illness comes from the spine crap that a lot of them believe, and because of the spinal manipulation' but this sounds like a good guy who is really a manipulative therapist/physio/exercise physiology cross

I like the exercises he's suggested. A assume the goblet squat flossing is meant to be a movement as though you're 'flossing your butt' ... the visuals are gtting to me

With the sideways pulling bandstands, my PT got me doing a similar thing with BSSs to help me strengthen my VMO because I've been getting pain on the opposite side
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd76FCbn2kE

Good luck .. hopefully this groin rehab plan will start to show benefits quickly

[adamsz]

That's great Zack .... I'm always wary of chiros because of this 'every illness comes from the spine crap that a lot of them believe, and because of the spinal manipulation' but this sounds like a good guy who is really a manipulative therapist/physio/exercise physiology cross

I like the exercises he's suggested. A assume the goblet squat flossing is meant to be a movement as though you're 'flossing your butt' ... the visuals are gtting to me

With the sideways pulling bandstands, my PT got me doing a similar thing with BSSs to help me strengthen my VMO because I've been getting pain on the opposite side
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd76FCbn2kE

Good luck .. hopefully this groin rehab plan will start to show benefits quickly

Hahaha the flossing just refers to using that 10" or so ROM going up and down up and down like a floss in the teeth. You r 1 cheeky kunt m8 I swear...

But yeah I just gotta not be a retard and actually start doing the exercises every day if I'm gonna speed this process along now.

[adamsz]

5/29/13 Morning Weight: 207.8 lbs

Today's macros: 98f / 315c / 226p: 3046 cals

Skills Evaluation Day (Bench Press)

30 minute dynamic warmup

Wide Grip Bench Press index fingers on rings, all reps paused
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 3
260 x 2
260 x 2
295 x 2
335 x 1 --> vid
355 x 1 1lb PR hehe ty men
365 x fail --> vid





didn't get the 355 on video because my fuking phone ran out of memory while filming during the set up of the lift, so I had to go through and delete a bunch of old chit after.

afterwards fuked around with some light DLs and rehab stuff, and did some filming for Duffin - watched him pull 805 for close to a double with straps and I think 765 hook grip, that was ridiculous.

Did some more mobility work after...

Thoughts

Came in today knowing I would hit 355 at a minimum on bench, and 365 if everything felt great. I decided to go with the Sheiko rep scheme for ramping up which I think worked pretty well.

335 flew off my chest like it was nothing. 355 was pretty fast and not too hard, had a little butt lift but probably not enough to get red-lighted at a meet.

Decided to give 365 a shot, but got stuck about 5 inches off my chest, but was a pretty damn good attempt IMO. By the end of this cycle I know I will get 365 without a doubt.

All in all pretty content with the day considering I hit my original goal coming in. I hit 354 at the meet 2 months ago after peaking from Smolov Jr at 9lbs heavier body weight, so it's good to know that Sheiko has solidified those gains and even made me stronger while losing 1lb/week.

EDIT: also happy with the fact that I hit a PR considering during these last 2 months I had to learn an entirely new grip (wide) because of the elbow tendonitis that appeared. On that front, elbow has been feeling pretty good for the most cutting out the tricep assistance work, using the wider grip, and also rolling the insertion point of the bicep into the delts like the massage therapist recommended.

[AirForceV]

dat arch.

when's the last time you benched with out one?


lol'd at flossing. So glad I wasn't the one who posted about butt flossing first lmaoooo

[adamsz]

dat arch.

when's the last time you benched with out one?


lol'd at flossing. So glad I wasn't the one who posted about butt flossing first lmaoooo

I actually did a fair amount of feet up benching with no arch during these last two months

[fittofattofit]

Congrats on the PR Zack ... Going wide and overcoming the elbow issues makes that much better than a 1lb bump plus in a comp setting that would have to give you a 10lb boost going by your last comp results. I know you set up with an exaggerated arch but by the time you bench it's not that marked at all. 335 looked easy and you really only just failed on the 365
This Sheiko is going to be good to you!

[zmcdole]

your 365 bench looked very similar in my eyes to your 355 besides you failing and your right arm derping. You might have grinded it out had you not done 355 beforehand. 355 looked easy and it's surprising that you didn't get 365, but sometimes weights that seem easy can tax you a lot more than you think. I didn't see anything noticeable that needs fixing. You're very tight and controlled and have great pop off your chest.

[BabyOilBrah]

sick bench PR bro, mirin hard. Aren't you cutting too lol? I cannot dream of hitting any kind of pressing 1RM while on lower cals.

[adamsz]

Congrats on the PR Zack ... Going wide and overcoming the elbow issues makes that much better than a 1lb bump plus in a comp setting that would have to give you a 10lb boost going by your last comp results. I know you set up with an exaggerated arch but by the time you bench it's not that marked at all. 335 looked easy and you really only just failed on the 365
This Sheiko is going to be good to you!

Thanks Fit. 365 will fall soon enough. Just gotta be patient

your 365 bench looked very similar in my eyes to your 355 besides you failing and your right arm derping. You might have grinded it out had you not done 355 beforehand. 355 looked easy and it's surprising that you didn't get 365, but sometimes weights that seem easy can tax you a lot more than you think. I didn't see anything noticeable that needs fixing. You're very tight and controlled and have great pop off your chest.

Thanks for comin in and checkin it out Zack, I appreciate that. The first vid was actually of 335, not 355, which is why it looked so easy. Good to hear that there doesn't seem to be any big technical errors in the lift though, and I really trust your judgement. Thanks man.

sick bench PR bro, mirin hard. Aren't you cutting too lol? I cannot dream of hitting any kind of pressing 1RM while on lower cals.

Down 9lbs in 9 weeks brah. Just doin a real slow cut down to 200 by the end of July so I can compete in the 198s.