Squats, pulls, and curls

Søndag 25.11.2007

Strenght day

A1| Sumo Deadlift
1x3 264
1x3 286 (wider stance)
1x3 286 (narrower stance, these felt more easy than the wider stance)
1x3 297
1x3 302.5
2x3 308
1x3 297

I loved Sumo deads! Friggin awsome exercise. I felt it a lot more in my legs and not just my back. I was happy with the tripples at 308, those were very heavy and I wouldn't have gotten more tripples at that weight.
After trying both the very wide stance and the narrower stance, I decided to go with the narrower stance, atleast for today becuase of my hip flexor still feeling a bit weird after the box squatting. Some other time I might try a very wide stance though and go really heavy with it to see what that's like too.

B1 Bench Press
1x3 198 (this was very heavy, probably my 3rm, or atleast VERY close)
3x3 181.5
3x3 187
1x3 181.5


C1 DB Turkish Get-ups
2x4 22
1x3 26.4

4 reps means 4 reps for each side.
These really hit shoulder stabilization for me more than anything else, but that's good, I need it. I notice my shoulders are unstable when doing DB presses, so I think some more exercises that involve having to stabilize a load with the shoulders is good.

D1 BB bent over row medium grip
1x9 132
3x7 137.5

D2 Reverse grip cable tri pressdown
1x10 16.5
1x9 22
1x8 22

E1 Single leg back ext
1x7 BW
1x10 BW
1x9 BW

I thought that using just one leg here would kick up the glute and hamstring involvement, but it didn't. For me, this was a very back dominant exercise, I could really feel the burn in my lower back.

E2 Cable side bends
3x12 53.9

Supersetting SL back ext with side bends was really taxing on the lower back. I don't know if I was doing the side bends wrong, but I kinda felt it more in the back than the "sides". Are you suppose to "curl" your upper body to the side and curl it back up, or are you suppose to keep the upper body straight and just lean to the side without actually bending it?

PWO: The usual

All in all this was a very good workout! I did think about trying some squatting, but my hip flexor still feels a bit fishy, so I decided to let it rest.
 
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i believe the EZ curl bar is 35 lbs, correct me if im wrong.
 
Karky said:
Søndag 25.11.2007


E1 Single leg back ext
1x7 BW
1x10 BW
1x9 BW

I thought that using just one leg here would kick up the glute and hamstring involvement, but it didn't. For me, this was a very back dominant exercise, I could really feel the burn in my lower back.
Click to expand...

Try going heavier. It wasn't until I really started using the heavier weight and putting the bar down past the pelvic area that I started really feeling my hamstrings, glutes, and lower back firing like crazy. I've actually gotten sore doing these.
 
Karky said:
you use a bar when loading for these? Do you keep it on your upper back as in a squat?
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Just so you know, the machine that I use looks like this

A bar would be cool, but I haven't figured out a way to use a bar yet. I suppose you could drag the back ext machine to hte power rack. I basically get a db, place it on the base of the machine, get my forearms under it, and lift it up to my chest. So I'm essentially cradling it or zercher carrying it while doing back extensions.

I paired those with serratus crunches for an awesome "I just want to lay here and sweat feeling".
 
Karky said:
I think also I was affected by the snatches first. They are kinda hard on my wrists (with supporting the weight overhead). I really think that overhead pressing and snatching in the same workout might "crash" a little.

I gotta find some hip dominant exercises to hit my glutes and hams more than my lower back.
Click to expand...

How do you position your arms for the snatch? Snatch grip or standard grip?

I gotta tell you one exercise that I feel destroys the glutes and hammies is anterior cable lunges. I took that one from JC Santana.
 
I use snatch grip. I've been thinking about putting regular grip snatches into the rotation, they are kinda cool, and you have to get the bar so much further than with a snatch grip.

anterior cable lunges...? Explain please
 
Tuesday 27.11.2007

Power day

A1 Hang power shrug
1x3 264
1x3 286
1x3 308
2x3 330
5x3 319

B1 Smith bench throws
1x3 55
2x3 66
5x3 77

I've heard you should shoot for about 50% of your bench 1rm here.. but no way. I tried 88 lbs for one set, it barely left my hands! Either there's something wrong with the smith machine, (there's quite some friction when the bar slides, which slows it down, is it suppose to be like that) or I'm just very slow. If the last, then that means I have to do a lot more explosive work for my benching.

For those of you who do/have done this exercise, how many % of your 1RM did you use?

C1 Pullups
2x6 BW
1x4 BW

C2 Cable tri pushdown
1x10 61.6
1x7 69.3

D1 Overhead Lunges
1x6 66
1x7 77
I had a really hard time stabilizing the load overhead here. That's why I had to stop when I did.

E1 DB swing
1x10 61.6
1x8 66
1x10 66
1x12 66

These were awsome, but kinda ackward to do with DBs. My thumbs god very sore and started bleeding a bit, which reduced the weight I could hold.
Question: What do you guys "use" DB swings for? As an assistance exercise to what exercises? I really felt them in my abs, hams and lower back

E2 Leg raises with eliminating lower back curve
1x8 BW
1x10 BW
1x8 BW

These are kinda cool. When you eliminate the curve in the lower back your abs really have to work overtime.
Was it a good idea to superset an ab exercise with the DB swings?

PWO: The usual

I'm already starting to use exercises I've never tried before with this new setup. Which I love. I really liked bench throws and DB swings today, and I have a feeling I'm gonna discover many more cool exercises :D
 
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Hey Karky

How long did it take you to get used to snatches? I want to give them a go at some point soon because they look pretty cool, do you have any tips to prevent me from looking like an ass and ending up on my backside the first time I try them?
 
CCR said:
Hey Karky

How long did it take you to get used to snatches? I want to give them a go at some point soon because they look pretty cool, do you have any tips to prevent me from looking like an ass and ending up on my backside the first time I try them?
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Start from the hang and work down to knee level, then shin level, and finally from the floor. Find out if you have the flexibility to do overhead squats. Practice some snatch drops.
 
Karky said:
B1 Smith bench throws
1x3 55
2x3 66
5x3 77

I've heard you should shoot for about 50% of your bench 1rm here.. but no way. I tried 88 lbs for one set, it barely left my hands! Either there's something wrong with the smith machine, (there's quite some friction when the bar slides, which slows it down, is it suppose to be like that) or I'm just very slow. If the last, then that means I have to do a lot more explosive work for my benching.

For those of you who do/have done this exercise, how many % of your 1RM did you use?
Click to expand...

When I've done them in the past, I took the percentages suggested by Thibaudeau in one of his books. I believe he suggests around 30ish%
 
Hey Karks...are you curling your wrists on your hang snatches and power snatches? Also are you getting your hand width far enough so that the bar is sitting around the pelvic area?

Last question-do you brush or hip pop?
 
I've read about the curling thing, but I haven't done it. I've been meaning to try it out, but I forget :p Thanks for reminding me!

should the hands be so wide that the bar is around the pelvic area when standing upright? I usually go as wide as the bar lets me, sometimes - an inch or two.

Brush or hip pop, I have no idea what that is..
 
Karky said:
I use snatch grip. I've been thinking about putting regular grip snatches into the rotation, they are kinda cool, and you have to get the bar so much further than with a snatch grip.

anterior cable lunges...? Explain please
Click to expand...

Ya Mike Boyle said he exclusively uses standard grip with his athletes because snatch grip is only good to lift more weight to a less height. They've found it puts less stress on the wrists.

ACL ~ Set 1 arm attachment to bottom of cable pulley. Grab with right hand and walk backward. Now lunge with your left leg. The movement focuses on controlling a weighted deceleration, and the glutes are the focus. You can also reach to the pulley when you go into the lunge. Switch hands and legs.
 
Karky said:
I've read about the curling thing, but I haven't done it. I've been meaning to try it out, but I forget :p Thanks for reminding me!

should the hands be so wide that the bar is around the pelvic area when standing upright? I usually go as wide as the bar lets me, sometimes - an inch or two.

Brush or hip pop, I have no idea what that is..
Click to expand...

Yes. The hands should be wide enough so that the bar sits in the area where the "crease happens" when you bend at the hips.

Brush or hip pop-when you're bringing the bar up during the 2nd phase of the pull, do you brush the bar against the body or do you have the bar hit you at the hips and shoot the hips forward to get the bar to pop up? This is the way I was retaught by the coach that coached Shane Hammon. It gives the bar some nice added acceleration. It takes a minute to get used to the mechanics.
 
so you bump the hip into the bar? sounds interresting.. gotta try that.
 
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