The Str8Flexed & Fletch Workout, Featuring Skip... "Bring it on, B_tch!"

[Abdominator]

This was one of the most enjoyable workouts I've had in a long time. Not only did I feel that I accomplished something, I got to train with guys who really know their stuff. Plus, getting to meet people whose posts you've read is really cool.

So, without further yammering from me, here are the pictures I took from our workout on July 6th at St. Pete South's Gold's Gym:

WARNING: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. WE ARE LICENSED PROFESSIONALS AND YOU COULD GET HURT.

1. Layne (Str8Flexed) spotting Ted (Fletch) as he performs 105+ lb. skull crushers.

[Abdominator]

2. Ted supersetting with 90+ lbs. standing bicep curl.

Notice, Str8 in the background looking for more weight to pile on the bar.

[Abdominator]

3. Ted spotting Layne as he does the 90+ lb. skull crushers. Layne's a strong <insert noun here>.

Notice the size and shape on Ted's biceps and he's not even touching the bar during the spot! The man is diesel!

[Abdominator]

4. Layne performing his superset of 105+ lbs. standing bicep curl (EZ Curl Bar).

I'd dare say Layne's arms are bigger than mine. What do you, the viewer at home think?

[Abdominator]

5. Same exercise as above, but from the back.

"It's got to be the bandana. Nobody's that intense all the time." - Skip

Notice the guy in the background feeling all pitiful and inadequate. Don't worry pal, you'll get big one day too.

[BicepsKidd]

90lbs skull crushers?!?!?! Whew! You guys ARE nuts!

[Abdominator]

6. Ted performing a standing cable double bicep curl.

Keep in mind that Ted & Layne don't normally do this exercise, however their form is perfect.

[Abdominator]

7. Layne supersetting with cable tricep pushdowns.

Notice the density in Layne's tricep. Unbe-weeve-ible!

[Abdominator]

8. Ted performing his 2nd set of standing cable double bicep curl.

Sadly this was in the early part of the set, so you don't get to see Ted's "War Face"; which I might add is quite intimidating.

"SHOW ME YOUR WAR FACE?!"
"ARRRRGGGHHH!"
"THAT'S YOUR WAR FACE?!"

[Abdominator]

9. Layne performing cable tricep kickbacks.

This is a good finishing move for tri's. Notice the great contraction Layne's getting at the end of the movement.

[Abdominator]

10. Layne performing a standing dumbbell preacher curl. And yes, those are 60 lb. dumbbells.

This picture shows how dense Layne's biceps are. Standing dumbbell preacher curl is my favorite exercise for getting my biceps pumped. You do 3 sets of dumbbell preacher curls to failure, each rep rotating the dumbbell 90 degrees during the movement, and you'll be screaming like Nancy Kerrigan by your 10th rep.

[Abdominator]

11. Layne performing a front double bicep. Shot taken from the side.

Notice the vacuum that Layne is able to produce with his abdomen.

[Abdominator]

12. Layne performing his signature side chest pose.

If you look closely, you can see striations in Layne's left pectoral during this pose. He's 4 weeks out from competition and his cutting is progressing well.

[Abdominator]

13. Layne performing an abdominal pose.

Unlike the other pics, I used the flash on this one. Nevertheless, Layne's abs are coming in nicely. He should have no problem when he competes.

[Abdominator]

14. Layne performing a variation of the side tricep pose.

Again, notice the density and definition in Layne's tricep. Triceps make up 2/3rds of your upper arm mass, so if you want big arms guys, work your triceps. Your bench will improve too.

[Abdominator]

Since there are no non-posedown pictures of Str8Flexed and Fletch together, I thought I'd post this one. The 3 of us had just come back from the beach and I was about to leave to see my grandparents, so I asked them to pose for one last picture.

15. Layne (left) and Ted (right).

The moisture on everyone's shirts is sea water, courtesy of the Gulf of Mexico TM.

Thanks guys, I had a lot of fun! See ya in August!

- Skippy T. Podar: "Your Chocolate Nightmare In 3D!"

[str8flexed]

great pics skip but i would like to alert everyone skip was a lil' off on the weights. Wherever he said 90 lbs, insert 105 lbs (mr. podar failed to count the bar weight), also I'm using 50's on preacher curl...not 60's but thank you skip...i'm quite flattered!

[el cabron]

i think i'm doin my skullcrushers wrong. i use 150lbs for 7 or 8 reps. and laynes tri's look bigger than mine. someone do me a favor and talk me thru the proper form?
thanks again guys, for these pics. after that session you must all feel recharged and badass!! truley inspiring. str8, one of these days you're gonna be a cut 225 lbder man!!

[Abdominator]

Originally posted by str8flexed
great pics skip but i would like to alert everyone skip was a lil' off on the weights. Wherever he said 90 lbs, insert 105 lbs (mr. podar failed to count the bar weight), also I'm using 50's on preacher curl...not 60's but thank you skip...i'm quite flattered!

Hehehe... whoops. Either way, you're a strong guy.

For those of you playing at home, I attempted the 105 lbs. skull crushers and could only get 4 reps (2 on my own, 2 with Ted's assistance). But hey, not bad for a skinny kid from Miami, eh?

I'm going to take my camera to the gym tomorrow and have my workout partner Eric snap some shots of our gym. We like to think of our gym as "Ghetto With An Attitude".

Our gym's website is: http://www.gainesvillegym.com/

- Skip

[Abdominator]

Originally posted by el cabron
i think i'm doin my skullcrushers wrong. i use 150lbs for 7 or 8 reps. and laynes tri's look bigger than mine. someone do me a favor and talk me thru the proper form?...

Hey El Cabron! I saw your pics in another thread and your triceps are dense. They're just not as cut as Str8's. Keep in mind, he's 4 weeks from competition, and probably down to 6% bodyfat. Once you get down to about 8%, your arm definition should show the way you want it.

150 lbs. now THAT's intense!

We were doing decline skull crushers, where we bring the bar down to just above the hairline. Since I have long monkey arms, the weight go to the top of my head at the bottom of the movement.

We had one guy in our gym break his nose when he failed on a rep and his spotter couldn't grab the weight in time. Blood everywhere. He's ok now, but it was kinda scary. I think it's important to note that the guy was doing 225 lbs. at the time. When a weight like that falls from even only a few inches, you're gonna break some bones if you get hit with it.

So El Cabron, don't worry. You've got some dense triceps under there. You just can't see the details yet. What's the circumference of your upper arm anyway? Probably 18"-19" right?

- Skip

[tall lanky]

Carbon you can work your way up, i couldn't do **** for weight on skull crushers when i started, now i do 115 for about 10 reps, and if you really want to blast your tri's as soon as your done pull the bar right over your chest and bust out 12 reps of close grip bench. works wonders.

[el cabron]

skip, my arm measurement using my tape at home says 17.5 cold. but the one they use at the gym says 18 cold, 18.5 pumped. so somewhere's in there anyways!

i'm really focused on getting cut, i've been fat for 10 years and i'm ready for a CHANGE! if i can make 8% bf, then i'll be one happy short ass muthafugga! the **** i've learned on this forum has been tremendously helpful in part cause of guys like you, str8, dante, erics, petefox, big H and whoever the hell else gave advice and encouragement. so thanks.
(that's the last nice thing i'm gonna say, back to bein nasty!)

[str8flexed]

the most important thing is to use a full range of motion and IMO go very slow on the negative portion of the rep...ask skip all my reps are methodical and very slow, in addition make sure you keep YOUR ELBOWS NARROW! DO NOT allow them to bow out as this will transfer the stress from the triceps to the shoulders.
Peace

[el cabron]

Originally posted by tall lanky
Carbon you can work your way up, i couldn't do **** for weight on skull crushers when i started, now i do 115 for about 10 reps, and if you really want to blast your tri's as soon as your done pull the bar right over your chest and bust out 12 reps of close grip bench. works wonders.

uh yeah, thanks!! lol. i do 150 for 8 reps. i'll try the close grip benches afterwards tho.

[el cabron]

Originally posted by str8flexed
the most important thing is to use a full range of motion and IMO go very slow on the negative portion of the rep...ask skip all my reps are methodical and very slow, in addition make sure you keep YOUR ELBOWS NARROW! DO NOT allow them to bow out as this will transfer the stress from the triceps to the shoulders.
Peace

i hear ya, bro, i think my elbows have been too bowed. i'll work on that.

[tall lanky]

next week we'll start on your bench press, we can you up to 120 lbs bench in no time bro.

[Buff_Daddy]

Originally posted by Abdominator


We were doing decline skull crushers, where we bring the bar down to just above the hairline. Since I have long monkey arms, the weight go to the top of my head at the bottom of the movement.

We had one guy in our gym break his nose when he failed on a rep and his spotter couldn't grab the weight in time. Blood everywhere. He's ok now, but it was kinda scary. I think it's important to note that the guy was doing 225 lbs. at the time. When a weight like that falls from even only a few inches, you're gonna break some bones if you get hit with it.


- Skip

damn, i only do about 72 lbs for 8 reps,
also youd have to be a fool to let the bar crash on your nose, firstly it should be above your forehead and when you fail simply, bring your elbows back and lower (or drop) the bar to the floor, simple

[Abdominator]

Originally posted by Buff_Daddy
damn, i only do about 72 lbs for 8 reps,
also youd have to be a fool to let the bar crash on your nose, firstly it should be above your forehead and when you fail simply, bring your elbows back and lower (or drop) the bar to the floor, simple

Hehehe... he knows that now. I'm just glad he didn't send bone fragments into his skull.

They say pride has no pain. Carelessness sure makes up for it though.

- Skip

[Ice Man]

Originally posted by el cabron
i think i'm doin my skullcrushers wrong. i use 150lbs for 7 or 8 reps. and laynes tri's look bigger than mine. someone do me a favor and talk me thru the proper form?
thanks again guys, for these pics. after that session you must all feel recharged and badass!! truley inspiring. str8, one of these days you're gonna be a cut 225 lbder man!!

Did you say you use 150 for skullcrushers? Wow, I can't even curl that much.....

[Fletch]

love the pics skip.....yours turned out awesome. I was hoping someone got a couple shots of me since I was taking alot pics. The comments and quotes are hilarious.....keep it up. Those tricep cable kickbacks are definitely gonna get mixed into the workout. You can't tell in the pic of layne doin em......but we were only using 30-40 lbs on the stack and gettin one helluva pump.

great pic of the WAR FACE when i was doin bicep curls in the mirror......those are the types of pics that let ya know how intense we really are.

Keep pumpin'.....and hope you got some ideas from layne's competition video for your next posing routine. There were some great ones done......as well as some not-so-great ones.

- Fletch