not feeling the burn during compound exercises.

K

Karky

2
When i do compund exercises, i dont really feel the burn in the muscle being worked. Its always worried me a bit, spechally on upper back exersices, i dont really feel it in my traps or anything.. but then again, i dont really feel it when i do bench or most other compound movements either.
When im isolating i feel the burn, like biceps curls and stuff like that.
you know, if i do biceps curls to failure, it really hurts and burns.
If i do bench or rows to faliure, i just cant lift it anymore.. i dont really feel any burn :S
Is this completley normal and im just worrying too much?
 
the muscles you use for compounds cover a bigger area not like bis which will fill with blood easily.
the pump is not an indicator of a good workout anyway so dont fret yourself:cool: :D
 
Want a burn? Increase your rep range to 8-12 and try compound agonist pairings. Meaning supersetting bent-over rows with pull-ups, bench press with shoulder press. Keep the rest period low, maybe sixty seconds.

I don't recall ever getting a "burn" in my chest or my back. I do get it in my traps when I do DB squats then immediately DB bent-over rows.
 
Karky said:
you know, if i do biceps curls to failure, it really hurts and burns.
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why do you think 'hurting' is a good thing? are you still buying into the misconception that 'no pain = no gain'?

just because you don't feel hurt the next day, doesn't mean you didn't get a good workout.
in fact, extremely sore muscles, painfully sore...means you did too goddamn much. overtraining...it gets you no where, fast.
 
Hey Karky, dont worry. What you are probably looking for is not a pump, but a lactic acid build up. While this can be caused by working out effectively, it does not necessarily dictate that you are working out ineffectively if you dont feel it. Ya feel me? :)

I would recommend trying out a harder tempo. 3/0/1.
So for example on bench:
3 WHOLE seconds lowering to your chest, 1 second firing the the weight up and 0 rest at the top. You will very likely need to lower your weight a bit, but TRUST me. That will get things burning for you :D
 
malkore said:
why do you think 'hurting' is a good thing? are you still buying into the misconception that 'no pain = no gain'?

just because you don't feel hurt the next day, doesn't mean you didn't get a good workout.
in fact, extremely sore muscles, painfully sore...means you did too goddamn much. overtraining...it gets you no where, fast.
Click to expand...

absolutley not, im not a bodybuilder, i do oly lifts for christ sake!:p
and im not really talking about after working out, i mean like, during the lift.
Im just saying i dont feel the muscle working, you know. im not trying to get a burn, im trying to get strenght.

Is that tempo for the bench good for strenght? if i lower my weight now it will go below the 80% mark and i like to keep it above 80% of 1rm because ive heard to gain str, you should work out above 80%.
 
right, but slowing the eccentric movement really recruits those muscle fibers. I wouldnt recommend always dong it, but I have been doing it off and on for a year with great strength improvement. Its much harder to control the eccentric motion. Many people almost 'drop' the bar then press it up.
 
yeah, true. aslong as you dont go slow up, up should always be explosive, atleast so ive read. and with squats, dont go slow down, go fast, so you can explode up. i read that in a squatting article at T-nation.com
 
T-nation.. while occasionaly hitting some great points is often filled with crap. Lots of crap. Why is it bad to go down slowly? I know guys who squat with 5/0/2 tempo LOL and they have amazing control, size and strength.
 
I dident say it was bad to go down slowly, just that going down fast can be better.

T-nation is full of crap? i doubt that.. the forums might be, i dunno. im talking about the articles, they have lots of qualified personell there.
"10) Speed!

When trying to move serious weight, speed is essential. Louie Simmons, Dave Tate and the guys at Westside Barbell know that to move maximal weights they have to be strong and fast. It’s such an important part of their training concept that they devote two of their four days in the gym to improving speed and acceleration.

I think almost everyone could really benefit from not only working to improve their concentric speed (e.g. coming up), but their eccentric speed as well (e.g. going down). When squatting, you need to think about hitting the hole with controlled speed. I’m not talking about being all loose and sloppy just to get down fast—you still have to be tight and in control. When you hit the hole with speed, you increase the potentiation of the stretch reflex and therefore come out of the hole with more speed!

If you still don’t get this concept, think about a vertical jump. You wouldn’t lower yourself very slowly and expect to jump very high, so why do it when you squat?"
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459389

All ive read on that site has been good. That article was recommended to me by people who know their ****, not just your average gym goer or PT.
 
Unfortunately a lot of what they have is written by very large guys who use lots of stimulants and are 'experts' because they can bench a lot. A lot of them don't actually know what they are talking about. Im not saying EVERYTHING there is sh*t.. Just much of it doesn't pertain to the average joe.
 
weird.. ive often been reffered to read different articles at T nation when i ask questiones at different forums around the web.
 
Karky said:
weird.. ive often been reffered to read different articles at T nation when i ask questiones at different forums around the web.
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Well.. T-Nation is a huge source of information. When you google something, often times you will hit an article on T-Nation. Unfortunately, its not always that easy to discover viable information. You have to be ultra careful with the things you read on the internet. Mine especially :) Ever Check out bb.com?
T-Nation has so many articles that conflict with eachother, which ones do you believe? Here's my good pal Malek breaking down an article on T-nation. ...
And again, like i said.. Not ALL T-Nation articles are bad, but a lot of them are written by sensationalizing bodybuilders who, because it worked for them, push nonsense with fire in their belly.. Some articles are well done and actually have some good info.
 
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well, yeah. just like any other huge site, there will be some ****. though all the articles ive read there has been made by people who are specialized in some kind of stuff, not just random bodybuilders. and BB.com, i dident get it to work.. but it sounded like a bodybuilder site.. and the first thing ive learned was "dont listen to bodybuilders" im not saying all bodybuilders are stupid or anything, but many of them have the "no pain no gain" stuff.. do lots of sets to faliure and do tons of isolation.
 
Karky said:
I dident say it was bad to go down slowly, just that going down fast can be better.

T-nation is full of crap? i doubt that.. the forums might be, i dunno. im talking about the articles, they have lots of qualified personell there.
"10) Speed!

When trying to move serious weight, speed is essential. Louie Simmons, Dave Tate and the guys at Westside Barbell know that to move maximal weights they have to be strong and fast. It’s such an important part of their training concept that they devote two of their four days in the gym to improving speed and acceleration.

I think almost everyone could really benefit from not only working to improve their concentric speed (e.g. coming up), but their eccentric speed as well (e.g. going down). When squatting, you need to think about hitting the hole with controlled speed. I’m not talking about being all loose and sloppy just to get down fast—you still have to be tight and in control. When you hit the hole with speed, you increase the potentiation of the stretch reflex and therefore come out of the hole with more speed!

If you still don’t get this concept, think about a vertical jump. You wouldn’t lower yourself very slowly and expect to jump very high, so why do it when you squat?"
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459389

All ive read on that site has been good. That article was recommended to me by people who know their ****, not just your average gym goer or PT.
Click to expand...
if its strength you want and to move some serious weight then that is good advice,
 
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