War Among Worlds

[DOMSPOWER]

Yesterday I trained a bit more and today I pulled heavy.

Yesterday:

Crosstrainer 10min before and after.

Deadhangs 3-4x5-10count
Just checking mobility progress and helping it a bit more. It's looking better and better.

Plate loaded Preacher Curl Machine with an insane angle where I ended up staying at what's usually a way too easy warm up weight
5-6x10x10kg

It seems with released serratus muscles, I am now able to target my bicep better and start hardening a weak spot up high in my right arm.

Seated Skull Crusher machine with elbows fixated on a pad
2x8x20
15x20
2x10x25
10x30
Flip the handles to make it lockout reps because the elbows took a while to get in the game and they can use some more conditioning
40kg for a 10 count hold and 10 reps
50kg for a 10 count hold and 5 reps

I find a better feel in my lats, upper back and overall tricep muscles from pushing the elbows, so that's definitely a focus point from now on.

Side Raise Machine (holding the handles with my hands, rare machine) 3x10x15kg going slow and just enjoying some healthy blood flow while feeling my rotator cuff getting hit and not pushing my limits at all.

Today:

Crosstrainer 10min and afterwards 1L chocolate milk, two bananas and a high protein Eminem bar.

Some hip flexor stretching but nope the bad side is pretty loose and tightens because the hamstring is ****, as I already confirmed on my last lower workout.

Deadlift
3x5x50
3x100
2x130
1x
160
180

Not so strong today. Kinda slow so stopped. But injury wise I'm good for 200+kg now.

Sled Pulls 15 meter over and back, more of a walking pace
25kg
5x1x50kg

Unilateral Lying Leg Curls 3x8x15
Makes my spine crack.

[DOMSPOWER]

I'm feeling good.

Crosstrainer 20min

Straight bar pushdowns controlled and light for the elbows
10x?
8x10x4 plates only

I felt the muscles tighten and mess with my nerves a little bit again despite such easy training, so I followed a hunch and used the floor rotator cuff exercise to help my internal rotators stretch back out and it made me feel much better.

The Higher Message in the back of my Mind spoke and I listened.

[DOMSPOWER]

Yesterday I cleaned my apartment for two hours followed by a very strange date and today I'm feeling **** after a way too hot nights sleep.

Crosstrainer 10min

Reverse pec deck 6x10x14lbs and was actually gonna go home but nope

Deadhangs 3x5-10count

Incline
3x10xwomens bar
3x5x35

Very nice motion and intuitive tucking in the correct manner. Definitely gonna do this exercise more. Only issue was my bicep isn't ready to do hard, but that's just because I've come so far with my ribs that now the top bicep isn't as protected.

[DOMSPOWER]

Followed my last workout up a couple hours later at home with two sets hand stand against the wall no push up just yet and 3 sets of holding a band in the low part of a side raise.

Yesterday I told a girl in psychology class it's not true she couldn't hear me cos I talked over people because everyone talked over everyone even when I said nothing and that gave her an anxiety attack. She even said I didn't do anything wrong but now I'm banned from going to class until I've had a meeting with the leader in a couple hours from now...............

At the park this morning I did:

Inverted rows 8x5 with short holds here and there

Bodyweight bicep curls 3x8

At home with band same as I did with side raises but bent over for 3-4 sets.

[DOMSPOWER]

My new upper back setup is so intense I can't even add weight to the bar yet.

Squat practice with the bar, 1-3 reps and pauses as long as I felt like, but hardly even 10 seconds on any of the reps but maybe one single.

KB Farmers Walk slowly over and back
5x1x20kg

This was so intense on my ribs that it might actually have been too heavy.

Unilateral Lying Leg Curls 3x10x10

I'm sitting here all dizzy now from hitting the weakest links so much more directly.

[DOMSPOWER]

I'm back in the gym and man did I need it.

AM
Deadhang not too good

Rotation floor exercise up and down each rep 4 sets or so

Another set of deadhanfs much better.

Crosstrainer 10min.

Leg Curls 4x20x10kg
Yes, that's how messed up that little attachment weak spot is.

Slow Sled Pulls 30m 4x1x25kg

Then I found that the middle quad targeted through halfway down close stance squat hold makes everything a lot better at the bottom quads and hip flexor.

SSB mid part Squats
3x10xbar
Then I tried pausing halfway down with wide stance bodyweight and that got to the middle quad a lot as well so did that for a 20 count with the empty SSB

Late PM

Crosstrainer 10min.

Bench which was left with 40kg
3x5 feeling great after the forced bedrest and light movement earlier.

Each set followed by a 60 second overhead lockout hold with the empty bar. Pretty hard.

Man that combination helps my shoulders a ton.

Kettlebell Carry with a unilateral RDL each step
12kg each hand
15m not so long but also not brief pause
15m back again. Harder on my serratus than anticipated but got better at the end of second set.

4kg KB held at shoulder height one arm and 1kg DB held at top side raise with the other arm.
Walk 15m, change arms and then walk 15m back as 1 set.
5 sets

Felt the weak serratus tighten up more than wanted again but then it got super loose and only tightened in the perfect way and not I'm feeling great lying in bed not worrying about my sleeping shoulder positions.

Tomorrow is kickboxing for the first time.
In the gym with a pro as a coach.
I'm gonna fight for money.

[DOMSPOWER]

Last night I tried conditioning kickboxing in the gym. 20 minutes into it my ribs couldn't handle the hard kicks through the pad and I felt sick again, I was told my face whitened. But I stayed in, slowed a bit down and my ribs warmed up when we moved onto punches. Today they came out in the way they're supposed to and my shoulder is a lot better!

8:30am

Crosstrainer 15min

Romanian Deadlift
2x10x30kg that someone left there
10x60
3x10x80

Going down and up is easy, but getting that weak part of my hamstring to play along is tricky. This exercise is MUCH better for me than regular deads cos it brings up the weakness faster!!

3 trisets:
25kg Zercher Walk 30m
10 count Deadhangs
10 Russian Twists with 10kg

The hangs made this the hardest for my ribs so I stopped a bit early. It was all really healthy though!

EZ Curl's
10xbar
3x10x20kg going a bit slow or else the plate on the right side glides out, but it seems more like a lateral move than the right arm coming up slower than my left. Perhaps the ribs cause this.

I'm walking my White Path, and nothing will stop me now.

[DOMSPOWER]

Since last logged session I've done an ab workout Sunday with maybe 30-40 push ups and some bodyweight squats as well. Monday, yesterday, kickboxing went a LOT better and I'm starting to really be able to take the blows in my ribs like old times.

Today:

Crosstrainer 10min

SSB Squat medium stance proper pause 5x5xbar really getting tight in the right places

Unilateral Lying Leg Curls 2x12x10

Pulldowns since it's been a while without lat work as that was necessary to improve my ribs and shoulders
15x30lbs
3x10x50lbs

Today reminds me of back when I couldn't train my torso and went all in on arms. I began using the lowest weights on cables and before you knew it I was doing 80-120 sets to near or all the way to failure on almost all of them per week.

[DOMSPOWER]

Today was a reintroduction to proper lat training with low enough weights and great technique, sense of activation and pump for a change.

Crosstrainer 10min

Row Machine 4x10x20kg

Pulldown holds at the top 30seconds
70lbs got a burn instead of just a pump
2 sets with 50lbs
60sec with 30lbs

Overhead walk 15m one arm 15m the other arm
7 sets with 3kg

Felt great and the lats really came up but it makes my legs feel weird as they walk in a new and better way. So I decided to change to just an upper body exercise for the rest of the workout.

Incline dumbbell bench 3x15x3kg

I think I'm gonna replace flat bench with incline as the incline angle really gets me in my lats the right way, then do flat again once the push ups on kickboxing conditioning classes really pump my lats up all the way through the many sets of 10 reps and 15 second blasts.

[DOMSPOWER]

Yesterday I bumped a car and didn't wanna do my extra workout, then I knew that's exactly why I need to do it.

Crosstrainer 10min

Straight arm ab situp machine
5x15x30lbs
2x20 just serratus push up style with the handles

Hitting the bag and some kicks here and there 15min

Russian Twist 2x25x5

Right now before returning the car:

Lazy bike 10min

Pulldowns to engage and loosen
10x10lbs
3x10x30

Much better

Medium gripCable Pushdowns with slight supination
15x30, 40, 50, 65, 80lbs
12x95
10x110
3x8x125
5-6x15x80

Close grip Cable Curls with slight pronation
15x40lbs
3x15x65

Reverse grup Cable Curls with slight supination
2x25x30lbs

The last exercise changed my serratus and lats so much, I don't wanna do any more to risk reversing the progress.

May do some more cardio before I leave.

[DOMSPOWER]

Began the day with a nice 25 minute walk, confirmed a hip flexor coordination issue with the right being fine but inflexible and the other being tight but flexible. Meaning the other is weak. Couple hours later walked to the bus and forgot it's Saturday so only goes once an hour.... So I walked 20 more minutes, it was nice. Have been walking plenty lately and it's helping me a ton. Walked from the bus to the gym, again 20-25minutes. Decided to sit for 5-10 minutes to recharge the weak muscles but turned into half an hour.. goes to show the severity of the issue. Today's workout was FANTASTIC.

Romanian Deadlift
3x10x40 to warm the hip flexor up after it got so tired.
8x60
3x8x85

Much better even though all the walking lately made the exercise a bit less energetic.

GHD Situps after I saw Liver King do 150-200 of them then train again later in the day and then do the Barbarian the following morning, which is INSANE, a walk of 1 mile (but I think that day he did 1,6 miles) of 370lbs total added weight from vest, backpack, ankle weights and the 120lbs on the sled behind him.

So on this situp variation i did only 6x6....

And I know in two days at kickboxing we will do MANY on the floor... Of course with legs straight and out so that it can be done with a straight lower back.. that goes a long way to make me greater.

Zercher Walk with moving the weight slightly to the side I take a step with on every single step 15 meters over and 15 meters back
3 sets with 25kg

It was hard as hell, helped a ton with my rib cage stability and tying it together with the hip flexors!! I LOVE IT!!

Finished with just 3x10 bodyweight back raises to compliment the hip flexor work and I gotta tell you, I've never felt my glutes so engaged in my life and these sets were actually HARD!!!!

[DOMSPOWER]

Yesterday I skipped kickboxing cos my toe is killing me. Ingrown nail I think, and from hitting the toe on some wood of all things....

Instead I did conditioning at home.

Band Rows 10x20 and these ****ed me up good without even realizing it until right after and specially the next day

Kneeling push ups 5x10 felt hard

Lying Leg Raises 3x15

Isometric side raises with band less than half way up 3 sets not counting seconds

Today I was mentally fatigued and my lats were killing me:

Band good mornings 5x10 just keeping my upper back from tightening too much in the left side and feeling good in my legs

Situps on the floor with straight back of course
11 or 12 sets of 10 reps

Apparently situps help my left shoulder relax. Blood flows into my serratus, I push out my chest more and more during each rep..... Good stuff.

[DOMSPOWER]

3 days of no training and more eating has done a ton for my tightness, focus and bowel movements.

Began the day with calf rotation in the knee joint (don't know the real name but it helps a lot with muscle attachments and "unloading" the knee joint, makes my legs crack a bunch and ribs relax), 3x10, overhead band pull aparts and band presses with a old man's wellness type of band 3x15. Great new morning routine to relax open up before a morning walk.

Romanian Deadlift
3x10x40
8x60
3x8x80
8x90

My lats felt much better at the end, so I will have to do more warmup sets next time and hopefully my morning routine will over time remove that need.

GHD Situps with my head coming lower than my ass this time and feeling the world spinning around my head
8x5

Great hip flexor stretch and integration.

Unilateral Lying Leg Curls 3x10x10

Hams, glutes, quads, lats are doing better and better. Am gonna nurture them with fewer workouts instead of push them with more volume.

[DOMSPOWER]

This morning I did a small workout to prep for kickboxing later.

Band pull aparts 4x8
Really got my shoulder back after a very lazy sunday.

Band Rows 3x15
Not all the way, not forcing into the struggle part... Got my shoulder more back also. No wonder the 10x20 bout wrecked me!

Then walked to my parents and grabbed a bag full of my old stuff and walked it to my house. Solid suitcase carry. Left side is stiff and weak but holding it in my right arm was hardest because my left glute m is VERY weak.

Found my old knee wraps in that bag, put it lightly on my left knee and even just standing wide felt much better.

Tonight the kickboxing was cancelled so I did a controlled workout in that style. But without squats as I wanna try with a barbell and wrap tomorrow.

5x10 supersets:
Wall push ups
Situps
Just going back and forth no real rest but also not rush.

Then four rounds of these:
Band face pull lockout 10reps
Band pull apart lockout 10reps
Band m pull apart lockout 10 reps all these exercises with the band I used for rows
5 shoulder presses 2-3 seconds hold at the top with the lighter (lightest) band 5 reps

My stiff upper serratus was getting beat in both sides at this point.

Lying kinda on my side leg lifts 10 right and 10 left no rest no legs on the floor.
I managed 4 sets where my legs hit the floor after the 37th rep on my right side.

But it was getting close whereas last week my left side was very far ahead. So I'm happy.

Static side raise with the lightest band
1 set felt long winded and easy so stopped and got the timer
25 seconds a muscle got hit hard now all of a sudden (but it usually is hit hard from the get go)
40 seconds it wasn't really hit so much on this set

Now I'm gonna go for a decent night walk and get some food in me.

Mad progress.

[DOMSPOWER]

Wraps went VERY well!!!

They support my knees and make room for other thigh muscles to engage, so that now they can better protect the knee.

Full circle.

I wrapped it a bit tight for a light wrap and decided that since tighter is better, I might as well wrap up both knees for the 60kg set. From there I wrapped them even tighter and it went even better.

Did my.morning routine in the gym.... One set of presses and nope. They hit the area but doesn't get my shoulder back.... Did a bunch of pull aparts lower and lower in front of the chest. Bunch of reps to flush out soreness. Works like a charm so no more daily pressing.

Farmers walk 30meters
6 sets with 12kg KBs

I found that I didn't breath deep enough and doing so actually made my abs a bit tired.

Squats
10xbar
8x40
5x60
3x80
2x100
1x120

Slight knee cave at the top set and slight feeling of lat stiffness on the two last sets. Nothing to worry about, I did very well.

Pulldowns 3x10x50lbs

Machine Rows 3x10x30kg

Very easy to train lats properly now. When the last bit of soreness is gone, I can really haul ass here.

Very light band M pullapart 3x10
This got me good.

Reverse grip Cable Curls
15x2 plates
15x4
15x5
12x5

Having sore muscles and tendons here, I know this exercise will help me loads and likely help fix my shoulders.

Then I walked 5,5km home and I feel great!
Had I used knee wraps years ago, the issue would have been long gone!!

[DOMSPOWER]

To finish up yesterday's workout and since my elbow tendons in both triceps and biceps are apparently weak (sore when training them), this is what I did at 8am in the park.

Half rep Incline bodyweight tricep extensions 5x20

Half rep bodyweight bicep curls 5x20

Alternating exercises each set, no rush but still short rest.

The soreness went away in my left arm and came double in my right arm. Goes to show issues are more places than just where you're feeling them, and solving one spot opens up the feel for the next.

[DOMSPOWER]

I was doing a morning workout and something happened again from training my biceps. My ribs cracked and shoulders came in better place. Then I chilled for a moment and bent and straighted my arms and flexed my biceps, and what I now know is that they're the weak point. When they engage the proper way, my shoulders are a lot better and all the weak and sore spots in my lats and upper back becomes engaged the right way.

Band rows 4x20

Then my lat connected decreased and I was already done with lat work.

Band triceps 2x100reps

Band curls 1x100reps

But I'm sure the tricep tendon conditioning helps as well and magnifies the bicep conditioning effect.

[DOMSPOWER]

Tonight we went extra hard at kickboxing with tons of kicks and knees to a pad against the torso. Hurt like hell. Buckled several times and got right back up in a split second. We didn't do push ups today because of extra punch work, but it didn't tire out my muscles the way I need to so I did some weight work afterwards.

And now I'm ****ing ready to bench again!!!!!

Bench Press
10xbar
3x5x40 just to take the time for my bicep to tense properly against weight
3x3x60

Holding the last rep for a bit because the bicep tense up just right at the top. That's probably what killed me before when I was adding weight every time, the holds at the bottom where more strain was put on the muscle without necessarily engaging correctly.

Incline DB Press
30x3kg which was a hard weight before LOOOL
15x10
3x10x16

Felt good but got harder quick so I need time to rebuild.

Wide grip Pulldowns 3x10x50lbs
Stronger but again iffy connection in my right side. Funny how that happens on weight work but not at all at kickboxing.

I will now do squat, bench and Romanian deadlift on Saturdays and some tightness work during the week.

In the coming month, Mondays kickboxing will be moved to Tuesday, so I will have to do tension work with weights around the kickboxing sessions Tuesday and Thursday in order to stay fresh for Saturday.

[DOMSPOWER]

This morning I stretched my biceps a bunch and it really opened up my chest and got my upper back tight the right way for squats. Had to do just the bar because it put me in a new path that is hard to maintain even close to parallel.

So squats bunch of positioning work/long pauses with just the bar no need for wraps.

Bench focused more on holding at the top between reps and before racking the bar
3x10xbar best it's ever felt
2x5x40
1x60 with a 10 count hold after

Romanian Deadlift
10x60
8x80
2x8x100 had me walking funny, ha

GHD Situps
3reps
10x5 reps

Unilateral Lying Leg Curls 2x10x10

This is the perfect Saturday workout for my needs!

[CharlesSwann]

You're doing an awesome job working through it actively. Good luck on full recovery and some good lifting.

[DOMSPOWER]

You're doing an awesome job working through it actively. Good luck on full recovery and some good lifting.

Thanks man! Appreciate it.

[DOMSPOWER]

Stretching my biceps really helps, earlier today I did 3 sets of deadhangs that felt a lot better and later I did two hours of a lot of exercises that really helped me a ton.

Crosstrainer 15min faster than ever (still not impressive)

Russian Twist 4x25 per side x5kg

Farmers Walk 30meters
8 sets with 20kg kettlebells

Bad girl machine 3x15x70lbs
I used to do the whole stack on a different machine for 50reps, so no wonder I'm feeling better than ever but my legs are a lot weaker

Machine Rows
15x30kg
15x50
3x10x60

Overhead Press holding at lockout for 60 seconds
2 sets index on the rings
1 set pinky grip, got my lats a lot better

Pulldowns 3x15x70lbs

See how much better my lats are when biceps are more relaxed.

Reverse pec deck 3x10x45lbs

GHD Situps 8 sets of 6reps

[DOMSPOWER]

Earlier today I carried a box home from my parents and although it really made my biceps sore it also made them feel better cos I put the items in a bag and held it in straight arm and changed arms here and there, so the biceps took turns getting pulled.

Then I went and did Deadhangs where I found that.letting the shoulders shrug up stretches biceps more and that putting hands inside shoulder width stretches biceps and rib muscles more, so I ended up doing 6 sets.

Then half past 9pm i did this:

Rotators on my back on the floor 5 sets to warm up.

Incline dumbbell bench
6x15x7kg
4x8x14

Biceps really need to adapt before I can push proper. So I did arms for blood flow wellness.

Incline hammer curls 8x20x3

Top part JM press with empty bar
30
40
40reps

Haney Shrugs with women's bar
15xbar
6x15x35

This was all really good for me, and I'm very happy to be back to doing shrugs for both wellness, mass and strength potential.

[DOMSPOWER]

I see now that spine stiffness is my root issue, because I did two new ab exercises that really dialed all the weak points in, and then afterwards I saw the effect decrease a bit as it was hard to maintain the stiffness while moving my arms and legs.

Deadhang and 3-6 scapula pulldowns 5 sets

Dip machine 3x15x50lbs
Using less range of motion gave me all the good with none of the bad that I'm working on for pressing.

Like Terminal Press but a crunch instead... Terminal Crunched?
8x10xbar

Super hard, really got my below my pec and my ribs dialed in the way I've struggled to do consistently.

Saw a guy do 20+ reps with 2 plates, it's insane how I missed that this must be part of why some people skyrocket in size and strength.

Pressing my abs against a weight and breathing and flexing down "into my legs"
10x5kg
3x20x10kg ****ing ay got lightheaded

Really got my hips more even like I've tried to do by training my hip flexors but without tearing them apart. And while getting that last bit, that hip flexor tension via situps didn't quite get me.

Then the diagonal leg raises 3x10 non stop each side baaaah

Pulldowns barely wider than shoulders and a bit of a row angle
10x70lbs all of a sudden too easy with the new brace
3x10x110

Bad girl machine 2x20x40lbs

Walk to the bus 20 minutes and yeah I should have pushed less after I did abs.

The young pretty girl in the reception keep smiling at me, told me out of nowhere I'm allowed to open one of the doors if I'm feeling hot, and when I picked up my bag to leave she immediately interrupted a chatty guy and said bye to me with a big smile. I don't know if she's old enough, as she's kinda short and slim, but if she is I'm hitting that.

[DOMSPOWER]

Today I had a full work day of putting corn flour in slim cases and stacking 45 of those cases on top of each other repeatedly. The ab work yesterday helped me through it feeling better than the other guys!

Crosstrainer 10 minutes.
Good speed but hard to keep it up even though I can handle it. Maybe that is what keeps me from being wealthy- the need for many slows and stops.

McGills big 3 just to try it, a single of 10 seconds and 20 seconds rest. Pretty comfortable whereas earlier phases of it were rough.

Haney Shrugs
15xbar
3x15x40kg PR since I don't think I ever did this variation other than try it and not wanna do it.

Reverse pec deck 3x10x30lbs

EZ bar Cuban Press with loose technique 3x15xbar

Then as I walked from there my legs got super heavy and I missed the bus.

[DOMSPOWER]

Not so energetic today and the workout took 2,5 hours but still might do some more light training or cardio before I leave, as it takes a while for the bus to come.

Leg rotation and Deadhangs were done in the gym instead of early morning... 6 sets of hangs as something under my upper pec/ACJ was stiff.

Squat starting without wraps and gradually wrapping up
4x5xbar much better this time
5x40
3x60
2x80
1x90
1x105 much better
1x110 nearly perfect, tired abs so I need to work them harder

Break.

Bench Press
3x5xbar
3x5x40 still stiff
3x10x30 helped a lot

Romanian Deadlift
10x50
3x8x90

GHD Situps 3x6
Hip flexor is shot.

Lying Leg Curls 2x10x10
Much better now that I'm not extending too much. Messed up my non problematic lower hamstring good. Funny how that is.

**** it, gonna do some abs and maybe lats now.

[DOMSPOWER]

Work has become easier on my arm and shoulders now, but my left glute m sure got ****ed up. Last workout I ended with GHD back raises 2x8 which got my glutes good. After two exercises today, the high underpec area got beat up nicely so I decided to finish it with some incline.

Dip machine
20x50lbs
4x10x90
20x70

Haney Shrugs
15xbar
15x40
2x15x45

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 3x25x7kg maybe a PR for never doing more than 15reps

Row Machine
15x30
3x10x60

Pushing abs against a dumbbell 4x20x10kg

GHD Back Raises
5reps and blood gushed out of my nose
4x10

Now my ass is torn to pieces and I'm gonna walk 20 minutes to the bus.

[DOMSPOWER]

Another work day, my body is keeping up but muscles around the knee are tiring, so I decided to skip kickboxing knowing I'd have too hard a time to hold back as my leg needs.

At home I did abs right before dinner and it really helps.

Situps 4x20

Terminal Crunch on the floor with 10kg bag 3x20

Every set was followed by 10 band pullaparts.

[DOMSPOWER]

The lower leg rotation exercise has shown me that my calves are weak and thus the quad and hamstring is overloaded. My good hamstring is weaker, it can just tolerate more work as it's not overworked. Shrugs ****ed my neck and collar bone up, but the collar bone cracked and my shoulder is now much better positioned. Pulldowns was nice, as they are the antithesis to the many overhead lifts I do at work.

Pulldowns
3x15x50lbs
3x10x90

Deadhangs 3x1x15count

Haney Shrugs
15xbar feels like work has really mobilised my shoulders and taken shrugs to the next level
2x12x60
20x60
10x100
7x100 oops

Dip machine to help the healing process with light weights but I was dumb
50x30lbs
30x50
20x70
100x30

Seated calf raise machine 6x20xno weight and I was sore all the way through it.

My alarm rings at 4:30am for the new job, and tonight I might go to bed at midnight and then start the day with two monsters.

[DOMSPOWER]

My work helps a lot with my rehab, as it is constant practice on doing the right things and exhausting yet not too heavy. Im really working on "tucking my ribs into my abs front and side" now as that enhances the engagement on the weak parts of my lats. But I'm very tired now after a week of it.

Deadhangs focus on brace not stretch 3x10 count.

Pull ups with short rest 5 singles.

Funny enough these are the same weak lat fibers that the dip machine is helping me engage better. I'm breathing heavy right now from being taxed so much after a week of work and training.