Physique Update

It can be hard to monitor muscle growth. One has to study their muscles to see change and to see what needs work more so than others. I've had some noticeable pec growth this week. Today I benched 8*190lb Incline and 8*195lb Flat. My triceps are noticeably growing due to incorporating Standing Barbell Tricep Extentions. I've also been lifting heavy on Standing DB Tricep Extentions, having used a 115lb db today.

Surprisingly, my lats are also growing and evolving. Pull-ups are my best exercise, and I've been doing them longer than any other exercise. So my lats are accustomed to pull-ups. However, I've just began doing pillar pull-ups which involve hyperextending your body so that your lower limbs are vertical with no bend. This activates your lower abs supposedly. Them along with weighted pull-ups and chin-ups. Today was 5*75 with both grips.

I remember the first time I had felt my lats with my hand, and knew it to be my lats. I would open and close my elbow laterally, which does move your lats a bit, but now I understand how to contract them more powerfully. I wasn't able to do a double biceps pose with flexed lats as I didn't have the mass or control. The mind-muscle connection started in just a small spot on my lats, and even last year, my lats were sort of limited in their range of contraction. I was afraid of doing a full lat contraction, because I had gotten muscle spasms from contraction muscles too hard, and I had interpreted that as a thing to avoid. After a few months of weighted pull-ups and diligent muscle control, I began feeling my lats much lower towards my waist. One muscle control in particular contracts the full lats. It is to stand and with the right hand grab the left lower thigh, resting your right elbow on your right knee, and digging it downward for leverage as you contract your right lat. It's a bit scary feeling as it's half the length of your torso, and the tension feels like it could rip your body in half. And now my double biceps pose is comfortable with my lats flexing with my whole upper body seemingly sitting on top of my lats.

I've had steady progress with calves. I'm up to 24*235lb Standing Barbell Calf Raises. I sort of feel like my legs would be better trained if I trained them three days a week like I train upper body. I think a six day routine would be too much. I've having the thought of scaling back on upper body exercises for lower body exercises. I'm interested in incorporating more leg exercises. I'm looking into Barbell Split Squats.