It was a tough week. There was rain, low temperatures, and it was the week before Christmas. I finished the week out strong on Friday. As I posed in the men's locker room in the mirror, someone exclaimed, "Perfect shape." This really said it all, and sealed the deal for a great finish to a hard week. The past two days I've been recovering, and I see a swole rising within myself. Arm thickness and chest mass have increased. I am also getting some definition in my legs. The Adductor muscles are beginning to show muscle isolation, and seem to correspond with how I contract my Quads and where I point my knees.
Injury-wise, my left elbow is feeling some tendinitis close to the elbow itself. I'm not too worried. My right hand has nerve pain on the bottom of it, which is irritating, yet doesn't prevent me from any exercises. My knees feel a little questionable, and deterred me from running this weekend. In the mail, I have coming Voodoo Flossing, which is rubber like that of a bicycle tire, and when you wound it near a joint such as the elbow, the compression causes the inflammation to disperse. It's hard to apply a similar compression. Many materials may not be comfortable to wrap around a joint, and simply using weight on that area may not be enough. Some places are hard to apply weight such as the Hamstrings.
I plan to use the compression wrapping on both sides of my elbows and knees, my ankles, and my wrists. I know it'll work, and that I'll have mobility immediately. I'll report back. I have also have some gymnastics rings (EFX) coming. I plan to use it for Dips, Push-Ups, Push-Up Flys, Pull-Ups, Muscle-Ups, Levers, L-Sits, and the Iron Cross. I'm a bit worried about how to set it up, and if I'll even have enough room. I don't believe I will for Pull-Ups or Muscle-Ups. These are rather expensive, so I want to get proper use. I may schedule a certain time to use it on a public park for more freedom.
The fitness/muscle-building/strength-building news outlets are desolate during these holiday times. I have my next week of workouts planned, and Wk4D1 starts tomorrow. I'll be working out a different gym, and hopefully it'll be accessible. I've very happy with the exercises in my routine. I'm thinking of adding Romanian Deadlifts, and dropping Good Mornings. I've been favoring Sumo Deadlifts in my head, and I'll be dropping Trap-Bar Deadlifts in exchange for having them every leg day.
I was quite sold on the Trap-Bar Deadlift at first, but it's shortcomings stared me in the eyes enough times. First is the awkwardness of loading the plates versus a standard barbell. Second, is that there's not enough room for weight on the Trap-Bar, making it ineffective past 405lb+, and even putting that fourth plate on is not easy. Third, there are both high and low handles, but only the high handles seem viable, and it forces you into a shorter range of motion before the pull is initiated. I disliked this, and attempted to remedy it by performing Deficit Trap-Bar Deadlifts, and I stood on a 45lb plate, which narrowed my stance more than I wanted. I tried standing atop two of those plates, and hit all my lifts, but decided it wasn't very practical or comfortable. Lastly, my last jab at the Trap-Bar, is that when you Deadlift, and stand up for hip extension, the bar isn't there to stop your back from hyper-extending, and it's an eerie feeling, which I overcame, and it was never really a problem, but I like the more secure feeling of having the bar there, and that's either in front or behind you like a Hack Squat.
I may still do low weight with the Trap-Bar, but one things I keep in my whilst choosing my exercises is that I want them to be replaceable. For example, if I get good with the Hammer Strength machine for Bench Press, and ignore the Barbell version, I may switch to a gym without that machine, and will have to start from scratch with Barbell technique. This is also why I enjoy bodyweight exercises, and why I took the time to learn the Muscle-Up, so that I could take it with me anywhere I go. I also think the Trap-Bar is a valuable tool as you can use it to Deadlift meanwhile taking your lower back out of the equation more so than a conventional Deadlift.
No comments:
Post a Comment