Time and Patience

[mirroroferised]

Versa Gripps are awesome!!! I used them tonight for the first time on DB SLDL's and then just for the hell of it I decided to see what I could do with the heaviest db's in the gym (100 lbs) and knocked out 3 reps with one arm rows. To test it further I tried another rep without and I failed miserably. I can not wait for deadlift day now. It can't get here fast enough.

Heavy Legs

Squats

135x6
155x6
185x6
205x4

225x2 no belt not to depth



225x2 belt not to depth



I've been trying not to use the belt at all since I still haven't gotten myself a proper belt yet but I wanted to see if it would make a difference in my confidence. It didn't really seem to do anything.

225x1 no belt not to depth



135x12

Well I went after them at least and I'm happy I did. Form was not great and depth was not there yet. But it's coming I can feel it, I'm close. I'm not going to make excuses but I was really tired tonight after work and I do think I could have gotten one of those sets to proper depth if I had worked out at a normal time instead of at the very end of my day. But that's life and I need to be able to adjust, so I'm still not counting it as a proper set yet. I did the 135x12 at the end to get out some frustration It felt like absolutely nothing on my back after the 225.

Funny in those vids you can tell I live in Canada. Those 2 Tim Horton's coffee cups were there yesterday too. It's what we do here for our preworkout supp lol

Leg Press

5 PPSx6
6 PPSx6 PR
6 PPSx6

I mentioned after last leg day that I thought I could get 7 plates today. Not a chance that was happening. On that last set I had to cheat a little to start by giving my knees a little push even. I grabbed the handles after that and still went full depth on each rep but it was a killer set.

DB SLDL

3 sets of 6 w/80lbs

superset with

Seated Calves

45lbsx20
3 sets of 15 w/70lbs

Leg Extension
2 sets of 6 w/150
1 set of 6 w/160

superset with

Standing Calves

3 sets of 15 w/175lbs

This workout had some definite high points. I wish I had those squat reps lower but I'm right there so I'm not stressing about it yet.

Rest day tomorrow

[Plateauplower]

Nice work with the 2pps squats. I can't see the vid from the iPad but from my experience even if you don't get to depth or have a form wobbles etc it makes it a whole lot easier next time. I would just keep after it for a set or two until you are pounding them out for reps. Each time I have increased my squat the first set with the new weight is brutal, but the following session you have the confidence and everything goes more smoothly, although for me it doesn't feel any lighter just able to get the reps...if that makes sense.

I'm glad you got to try out your versa grips. I absolutely love mine. A good description that I saw about them is that the bar is just part of your hand and it really does seem that way. There is no slippage at all and makes DOH feel so good, it seriously added weight to my deads because I just focused on hips legs and back instead of not slipping and dropping the bar. Have a good weekend.

[doughnutgut]

IMO the belt will allow you to feel your stomach filled with air and pushing against the belt will help you get locked in tight.

May be a good idea to do 225 singles if you must and focus on dropping into the hole to depth. Then seeing if you can get out of it. You were pretty close to getting depth. No doubt about that.

I noticed you swinging around in one of the vids. Think it was vid 1 IIRC before the second rep. Keep tight. Focus on that core tightness as it is a main priority of keeping injury free.

Props for the squatting though. I anticipate you repping them out in no time. They did not look heavy on your shoulder from here.


Edit: Also rewatched

When your unracking the bar it seems like you have your right leg further forward than your left. Unrack the bar by squatting it off the rack. I may be being anal now. But as the weight progresses, you are going to maybe want to use your whole body together to assist in the unrack.

Not trying to be a dick. Just throwing this in here for you.

[fittofattofit]

^This. Basically the thing is about deads is that they are the instrument of the devil. So whenever you deadlift, there are a whole bunch of fat little demons sitting there cackling to themselves as you line it up. Sometimes the little feckers get under the bar and shove it upwards to mess with your mind. And other times they just sit on the ends, the fat warty little feckers. Of course there is usually one of them that just sits there in the middle so he can back your fingers off the bar one at a time. That's why chalk helps. Demons don't like chalk. Makes them sneeze.

^^^^^^ had to laugh
Didn't know lawyers had a sense of humour

I don't use a belt and I don't necessarily think that it's a good idea to do all of your squatting with a belt either ... I don't think that there was any difference in your form or depth with or without a belt: your first rep on each set was just an inch or two above parallel and your form looked good to me. I'd suggest working without a belt for now and just stay with your current form and try to get a little deeper. Box squats to a 12" box will train you to get to depth pretty quickly

Nice work with the DB rows as well .. cool to pull the hundos Dave

[mirroroferised]

Nice work with the 2pps squats. I can't see the vid from the iPad but from my experience even if you don't get to depth or have a form wobbles etc it makes it a whole lot easier next time. I would just keep after it for a set or two until you are pounding them out for reps. Each time I have increased my squat the first set with the new weight is brutal, but the following session you have the confidence and everything goes more smoothly, although for me it doesn't feel any lighter just able to get the reps...if that makes sense.

I'm glad you got to try out your versa grips. I absolutely love mine. A good description that I saw about them is that the bar is just part of your hand and it really does seem that way. There is no slippage at all and makes DOH feel so good, it seriously added weight to my deads because I just focused on hips legs and back instead of not slipping and dropping the bar. Have a good weekend.

Thanks man. I'm not too worried yet about the depth, I know it'll come. I won't be moving from this weight for at least a few workouts now I'm sure until I get the depth consistently.

Those versa gripps are fantastic Big fan!!!

IMO the belt will allow you to feel your stomach filled with air and pushing against the belt will help you get locked in tight.

Yeah it's a crappy velcro belt and I was trying to push out as much as I could but I get worried about the velcro opening. I haven't been using it at all lately but it hasn't left my gym bag either. I should have skipped it really but wanted to see if there was a difference...and there wasn't. In a weird way that helped me move on from it I think.

May be a good idea to do 225 singles if you must and focus on dropping into the hole to depth. Then seeing if you can get out of it. You were pretty close to getting depth. No doubt about that.

That is a great idea and I probably will for the next couple of sessions.

I noticed you swinging around in one of the vids. Think it was vid 1 IIRC before the second rep. Keep tight. Focus on that core tightness as it is a main priority of keeping injury free.

You're right I was. Bad habit. I'll try and remember that cue.

Props for the squatting though. I anticipate you repping them out in no time. They did not look heavy on your shoulder from here.

Edit: Also rewatched

When your unracking the bar it seems like you have your right leg further forward than your left. Unrack the bar by squatting it off the rack. I may be being anal now. But as the weight progresses, you are going to maybe want to use your whole body together to assist in the unrack.

Not trying to be a dick. Just throwing this in here for you.

Good catch. Another bad habit I picked up that I need to unlearn.

I didn't post the vids for props, I posted them for support and ideas on form The way this weight room is designed unfortunately it's not very big so in the summer it's pretty much always got a ton of people in in,. Last night even I was there at midnight and there were 2 other guys in the gym. Makes it tough though during normal hours to get video since I'd be getting in the way of other people doing there thing. Otherwise I'd be posting vids more often. I appreciate all the comments and need the criticisms.

Not being a dick at all.

^^^^^^ had to laugh
Didn't know lawyers had a sense of humour

I don't use a belt and I don't necessarily think that it's a good idea to do all of your squatting with a belt either ... I don't think that there was any difference in your form or depth with or without a belt: your first rep on each set was just an inch or two above parallel and your form looked good to me. I'd suggest working without a belt for now and just stay with your current form and try to get a little deeper. Box squats to a 12" box will train you to get to depth pretty quickly

Nice work with the DB rows as well .. cool to pull the hundos Dave

I used to use it for every single set, no matter empty bar or what. I've worked pretty hard lately in getting out of that mindset but it's a struggle. That was the first time in a few weeks I had used it. Problem is I see a heavier weight than I'm used to and my mind immediately goes to it. I know I need to move passed that, especially since it's really not a proper belt. I've taken it out of my gym bag and I'm leaving it behind. I'm moving on

I'll check out the measurements of some of the benchs in the room and see if they'll work. I'll give it a go for sure.

Pulling that 100 for 3 reps absolutely made my night. Took a lot of willpower to walk away and not keep doing them lol I have rows again in a couple days anyway

Thanks for the tips

[doughnutgut]

I know you have had injuries in the past. So if a belt keeps you dialed in as a comfort blanket then why not just use it. As long as you are not using it to cheat the weight up.

Ok. Maybe it is an obvious choice to strengthen your core without it.

But in all honesty. There are plenty of exercises that can assist with that without needing to use a belt.

I may get flamed for this post. But the ball is in,your court.

As for a velcro belt. Although it is a few thousand fibre hooks. It will still do the trick up to an easy 3+ pps.

[Flounderbout]

Well I went after them at least and I'm happy I did. Form was not great and depth was not there yet. But it's coming I can feel it, I'm close. I'm not going to make excuses but I was really tired tonight after work and I do think I could have gotten one of those sets to proper depth if I had worked out at a normal time instead of at the very end of my day. But that's life and I need to be able to adjust, so I'm still not counting it as a proper set yet. I did the 135x12 at the end to get out some frustration It felt like absolutely nothing on my back after the 225.

Great work Dave. The depth may not have been there, but it was not far off at all, and I thought the form looked pretty good. It will only get easier, and feel lighter on your back...

[mirroroferised]

I know you have had injuries in the past. So if a belt keeps you dialed in as a comfort blanket then why not just use it. As long as you are not using it to cheat the weight up.

Forgive what might be a completely naive question but I wouldn't even know how to cheat the weight up by using a belt? Like for instance on my last set of leg press yesterday I know I cheated to get that last set started by giving a bit of a push to my knees for the first rep but how does one cheat with a belt on squats? Truly not trying to be funny, I'm curious in case I have been doing it and not realizing.

Ok. Maybe it is an obvious choice to strengthen your core without it.

But in all honesty. There are plenty of exercises that can assist with that without needing to use a belt.

I may get flamed for this post. But the ball is in,your court.

As for a velcro belt. Although it is a few thousand fibre hooks. It will still do the trick up to an easy 3+ pps.

that's the thing though, I haven't used it in about 3 weeks and was pretty happy and comfortable with moving on without it. I bring it along out of habit and brought it out of the bag knowing I was going to be trying a couple sets at least with the 2 plates. I do get what people are saying about the velcro ones though cuz I've had it come undone before trying to push out against it. Talk about wobbling for a second lol

Fair enough point on the bolded.


Not sure either why you'd get flamed for the post. I really appreciate the comments. It's all just discussion and sharing tips and ideas.

[mirroroferised]

Great work Dave. The depth may not have been there, but it was not far off at all, and I thought the form looked pretty good. It will only get easier, and feel lighter on your back...

Thanks man. That was the second week in a row now with that weight on my back and going down past walkout stage so I was happy about that much. I figure by the time a couple more heavy sessions come along I'll be doing pretty well with it. I am honestly going to give it a more honest assessment next time if I can go to the gym at a normal time too.

[lunchbreak]

Yeah it's a crappy velcro belt and I was trying to push out as much as I could but I get worried about the velcro opening.

Hmm, must be bad velcro then, you can tow a car with velcro straps. Matt, one of the big natty lads at my gym, uses a velcro belt on his squats and he's pushing out triples at 160Kg, likewise there are others who squat even more and never use one at all! I only use my belt on the top set and even that is probably more placebo, the effect of which you don't seem to be feeling anyway, its up to you either way.

Those squats weren't far off. You've got plenty of strength but not confidence I think. Getting deep in the hole just requires belief that you'll get out of it. It took me a while to learn but allowing myself to stretch my glutes and use the rebound to get me back up stopped me hesitating and gave me way more confidence at higher weights. If I were to slow all the way down and stop short I suspect I'd struggle at weights I find easy at full depth with speed.

[ironwill2008]

Yeah it's a crappy velcro belt and I was trying to push out as much as I could but I get worried about the velcro opening. I haven't been using it at all lately but it hasn't left my gym bag either. I should have skipped it really but wanted to see if there was a difference...and there wasn't. In a weird way that helped me move on from it I think.

IMO, it's a good idea to use a belt for your heaviest couple of sets, but anything with Velcro on it just won't cut it; not nearly rigid enough. A good belt is one that can be tightened to the maximum, and then won't budge until you take it off.

[mirroroferised]

Hmm, must be bad velcro then, you can tow a car with velcro straps. Matt, one of the big natty lads at my gym, uses a velcro belt on his squats and he's pushing out triples at 160Kg, likewise there are others who squat even more and never use one at all! I only use my belt on the top set and even that is probably more placebo, the effect of which you don't seem to be feeling anyway, its up to you either way.

Those squats weren't far off. You've got plenty of strength but not confidence I think. Getting deep in the hole just requires belief that you'll get out of it. It took me a while to learn but allowing myself to stretch my glutes and use the rebound to get me back up stopped me hesitating and gave me way more confidence at higher weights. If I were to slow all the way down and stop short I suspect I'd struggle at weights I find easy at full depth with speed.

Could very well be a crappy one. I've had it for years and although I don't remember what I paid for it, I'm quite sure it wasn't much. It came undone on me only the once but that was enough to freak me out a bit since the weight is starting to climb into heavy territory for me. Could be I didn't have it properly hooked up that time too.


Thanks on the squats comments, I appreciate it. You're right about the confidence issues. 10 months ago I got a bulging disc in my lower back working on my house which led to 3 months of therapy and recovery and it's still always playing in the back of my mind. What I had planned to do that last session was just drop down faster and then start but as soon as the weights there I slow down. I'll get over it I'm sure. I hate mental barriers lol

[mirroroferised]

IMO, it's a good idea to use a belt for your heaviest couple of sets, but anything with Velcro on it just won't cut it; not nearly rigid enough. A good belt is one that can be tightened to the maximum, and then won't budge until you take it off.

Hey Bill, good to see you back online Jtnby had me talked into an inzer belt awhile back just I kept holding off because of the price which I know is a pretty lame reason. I just bought the versa gripps and it got me to thinking about the belt again and how I really shouldn't be waiting on getting a decent one.

[ironwill2008]

Hey Bill, good to see you back online Jtnby had me talked into an inzer belt awhile back just I kept holding off because of the price which I know is a pretty lame reason. I just bought the versa gripps and it got me to thinking about the belt again and how I really shouldn't be waiting on getting a decent one.

Inzer makes good stuff; you can't go wrong with their belts.




I have a 4", double-prong Cardillo belt, bought after my first year of training, so that makes it 20 years old. Other than some cosmetic scratches, it's as good as new; even the prong holes show zero wear. If it were a car, it would have 500,000 miles on it.

[mirroroferised]

High Rep Pull

BW Chinups

7 HG
3 WG
4 HG
2 HG

superset with

DB Rows

4 sets of 12 w/70 lbs

I really suck at BW wide grip pullups so I'll be continuiing to add them in and making them a priority.
Rows as always continue to be my favourite exercise at the moment.

Assisted WG Pullups

+70x10
+60x6
+50x6

Got the wide grip assisted pullups down to 50 assistance for a good 6 full reps from a dead hang

Hi Iso Hammer Strength Row (Plate loaded)

4 sets of 12 w/140 lbs

Damn heavy by the end

superset with

BB Drag Curls

35x12
45x12
40x12
35x12

Wanted to try the drag curls Andrew does. Not sure about my form on them. Could definitely feel them in the bicep but also a bit in my traps for some reason. Not sure if I was doing them wrong or what. Will have to watch some more videos for form. I think 40 with the straight bar might be about the right weight for them for now.

BB Shrugs

135x12
185x12
185x12
135x12

superset with

Poundstone Curls

35 lbsx30
35 lbsx25
35 lbsx20
35 lbsx25

I did a little reading up last night on the Poundstone Curls from Loch's journal but not much. Pretty much wanted to give the 100 reps a try and figured the preset 35 lb bar would be a good place to start. If the idea is to get all the reps in one set (will keep reading up on it) I see that taking a looooooonnnnnnnnnnngg time lol. Arms are fried right now anyway. Shrugs went well. By the end of that 185 lbs was too much but 135 was too light.

I was happy with this workout. Made some progress on the pullups and bumped the weight up on the db rows as well for 12 reps. Biceps were hit hard today.

[EjnarKolinkar]

*****://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04x3G_Vyh0I

^ipods




IDK if this will help Dave, but I had the link handy.

Nice work in here


Hmm and this

http://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Biceps/BBDragCurl.html

[mirroroferised]

Ahh, yes it did. I need an 80's look now. Gotcha

Actually it did help though. I wasn't carrying the curl right up. I was stopping at the halfway point. Now that might make more sense lol I'll retry that next time.

[RT1957]

Thought I swing by your journal and see what you're up to. Are you on a push/pull/leg split???

in

[pastorgbc]

Good work, buddy. I never really get drag curls, but I know some people love them. Kudo for sticking with them and the pull ups. Too many guys only work at what they are good at or what is easy. Training to get better is the essence of progress.

Ray

[mirroroferised]

Thought I swing by your journal and see what you're up to. Are you on a push/pull/leg split???

in

Welcome It's a push pull legs split with a heavy day lower reps and lighter day higher reps.

Good work, buddy. I never really get drag curls, but I know some people love them. Kudo for sticking with them and the pull ups. Too many guys only work at what they are good at or what is easy. Training to get better is the essence of progress.

Ray

You know me I like trying new things too I'll definitely give the drag curls another couple of go's. Those pullups have been on my bucket list for I don't know how freaking long. A year ago i couldn't do any so I am making some progress.

[Jtbny]

I haven't gotten a chance to watch the squat vids yet (on iPad) bit sounds like the advice you are getting above will help any issues.

The Velcro belt isn't doing much for you so no worries there Any quality leather belt will work it doesn't need to be from Inzer. Best belts makes a quality belt too and there are a few others. Maybe look through craiglist. I found one there recently and sent the link to Bando as he a about 30 min from me. He was able to get the belt for basically nothing (an inzer) so you never know.

It's good to try new accessories to see how you like them. You will stay in the game much longer if you enjoy what you are doing. Finding ones you like and sticking with them for a bit to see how your body responds is equally important.

[mirroroferised]

I haven't gotten a chance to watch the squat vids yet (on iPad) bit sounds like the advice you are getting above will help any issues.

The Velcro belt isn't doing much for you so no worries there Any quality leather belt will work it doesn't need to be from Inzer. Best belts makes a quality belt too and there are a few others. Maybe look through craiglist. I found one there recently and sent the link to Bando as he a about 30 min from me. He was able to get the belt for basically nothing (an inzer) so you never know.

It's good to try new accessories to see how you like them. You will stay in the game much longer if you enjoy what you are doing. Finding ones you like and sticking with them for a bit to see how your body responds is equally important.

Of course if you get a chance you know I'd love your opinion and ideas. I've gotten great advice as well for sure but there's always room in here for more. I've reserved a lot of pages

[fittofattofit]

One of the things about drag curls is that because the elbows are kept back it puts more focus on the long head (outer head) of the biceps .. when the elbows come forwards like during regular BB curls you get more medial head involvement as well as anterior delts and pecs. It's good to see you using them and also good that you're slowly reducing the assistance on the pull-ups

[Scrabbz]

Great session, sir. I commend you on working on the pull-ups from a deadhang as well. Too many people try and cheat numbers out by doing them halfway or not going full range.

[securekey]

Hey Bill, good to see you back online Jtnby had me talked into an inzer belt awhile back just I kept holding off because of the price which I know is a pretty lame reason. I just bought the versa gripps and it got me to thinking about the belt again and how I really shouldn't be waiting on getting a decent one.

I bought my inzer at 'House of Pain' .. they delivered to Canada fairly cheap and it was at my door in a couple days. There is a guy in Quebec that brings them in but he only deals with cheques or money orders which is strange. I picked up the 10mm 1 prong which is plenty imo

[RT1957]

I sort of do drag curls. I try to keep my elbows back & even with my back as I curl up...and I use my straight bar in my SQUAT RACK.........something I would never do in a gym

Gives a great pump and really isolates the biceps...gotta try the little extra wide grip and see if I see any difference

I also need to look into a belt....

[mirroroferised]

One of the things about drag curls is that because the elbows are kept back it puts more focus on the long head (outer head) of the biceps .. when the elbows come forwards like during regular BB curls you get more medial head involvement as well as anterior delts and pecs. It's good to see you using them and also good that you're slowly reducing the assistance on the pull-ups

I'll keep them going for awhile for sure. The exrs link above really helped as I figured out what I did wrong. These pullups will not defeat me lol I'll keep going with as many body weight as possible and then keep taking off that resistance.

Great session, sir. I commend you on working on the pull-ups from a deadhang as well. Too many people try and cheat numbers out by doing them halfway or not going full range.

Thanks Gary. Not all of my bodyweight ones are from a deadhang but some are and I'm working on upping that number too. All ones with added assistance are from a dead hang.

I bought my inzer at 'House of Pain' .. they delivered to Canada fairly cheap and it was at my door in a couple days. There is a guy in Quebec that brings them in but he only deals with cheques or money orders which is strange. I picked up the 10mm 1 prong which is plenty imo

Looked up that site and they 1 in stock and it's 10 percent off. Score I'll have to measure when I get home tonight and hopefully it's still there. Thanks man.

You don't find much of a difference between the 1 prong and lever?

I sort of do drag curls. I try to keep my elbows back & even with my back as I curl up...and I use my straight bar in my SQUAT RACK.........something I would never do in a gym

Gives a great pump and really isolates the biceps...gotta try the little extra wide grip and see if I see any difference

I also need to look into a belt....

I honestly think if I curled in the squat rack at my gym on almost any given day or night nobody would even blink lol

[Plateauplower]

Nice session Saturday, getting the work in on those pull ups. You might want to try hitting a single set at body weight without assistance. When I first started the unassisted a few months ago it seemed impossible to get a triple but by just adding a single set in with the assisted sets it got me moving in the right direction. Now I'm stuck at 5-6 reps but it's a work in progress. Also for wide grip I have used the versa grips a few times and they help alleviate elbow issues. Chins or neutral grip don't seem to bother my elbows but wides will occasionally. After the unassisted set the rest of sets will feel awesome.

[mirroroferised]

Nice session Saturday, getting the work in on those pull ups. You might want to try hitting a single set at body weight without assistance. When I first started the unassisted a few months ago it seemed impossible to get a triple but by just adding a single set in with the assisted sets it got me moving in the right direction. Now I'm stuck at 5-6 reps but it's a work in progress. Also for wide grip I have used the versa grips a few times and they help alleviate elbow issues. Chins or neutral grip don't seem to bother my elbows but wides will occasionally. After the unassisted set the rest of sets will feel awesome.

Not a bad idea with the grips I wonder how that'll go. I'll try. I've gotten a few good unassisted reps in and have definitely made some progress unassisted but this is another area in desperate need of improvement.

[mirroroferised]

I just finished my fourth long afternoon shift and I was tired by the end. I skipped doing my workout early in the day to spend time with my kids on Sunday morning before work since I hadn't seen them at all the day before since they were away. This meant getting in my workout very late again. I really don't like late workouts very much. Started off slow and picked up a bit of momentum by the end though. In my work gym tonight.

High Rep Push Day

Flat BB Bench

135x12
135x8 115x4
115x12

Heavy on that second set by the end. Pretty much nearly got myself stuck on rep 8 so dropped down to 115 to finish off.

OHP

75x12
75x12
65x12

No smith at work and I didn't like the bench for db shoulder press so decided to go for standing ohp again and my neck seemed to hold out fine. No issues at all and got all my reps in.

BB Incline Bench

4 sets of 12 w/95 lbs

superset with

BH's Shoulder Routine

3 sets of 12 w/15's
1 set of 12 w/10's

I'm still trying to figure out Incline bench in a way that doesn't kill my shoulder. This went pretty well tonight and by the end was pretty hard. For shoulder and delts accessories I went for bodyhard's shoulder routine that he posted on the main board. I love side laterals and front raises but I've never done all 3 movements in one set before. I liked it a lot and will definitely be leaving it in. I can't often say I feel my delts after a workout but I did today and still do 2 hours later.

Straight Bar Tricep Pushdowns

3 sets of 12 w/105 lbs

That was it and more than enough for today. I have a couple of days off so tomorrow I can hit legs at a normal hour and should have a great workout.