Wrist Wraps - How To Up Your Bench Press

I don't think the 'tools' of weight lifting are that well known. It seems very little information is directed their way. From what I've read on wrist wraps, they're good for injuries of the wrist, and shouldn't be used as a crutch. A similar thing is said with wearing a belt - that you should only do it on your heaviest sets. The same can be said for wrist straps, but these rules can be broken obviously, and should be. Why not explore, and see why things are done the way they are, and also see if perhaps the popular opinion is incorrect, which is common.

So far I've used the wrist wraps on Barbell Bench Press, Barbell Military Press, Standing One-Arm Dumbbell Overhead Press, Barbell Incline Bench Press, and Dumbbell Rows. I found them to create a stability that you do not ordinarily have, which is similar to a belt. I found an easier route to muscle contraction while wearing them. I've felt this way in the past while using wrist straps, but ultimately used wrist straps in a way that delayed my grip strength and technique. That said, there are still situations where the wrist straps are 100% necessary, like a Rack Deadlift with 100lb over your Deadlift PR, and you're going for sets and reps.

On Bench Press, I lifted 10lb over my PR using the wrist wraps for the first time. I think they're for real, and can even be useful for push-ups, especially if you have a weak wrist or two. I recommend the Shiek extra long wraps. They go on pretty quickly. They'll cut off blood circulation if you either wrap them too tight or have them on too long. It's easy to keep them loose between sets though. I found my Military Press especially a much tighter technique.

It doesn't matter what lifting tools you use within the gym - a belt, chalk, straps, or wraps. Outside of the gym no one knows it, and if you can increase your safety, stability, strength, and muscle mass then it's worth it at some point.

How To Deadlift 495lb - 5 Plates

This year I raised my Deadlift PR by 55lb, pulling 495lb yesterday morning. I posted earlier in the year about my Deadlift history. The middle of last year was my first time pulling 405lb. The year before that I was pulling 315lb (for 8 reps). To think I could be pulling 585lb at the end of next year sounds insane, but it's possible.

For at least the first half of the year, I was plateaued around 450-465, and my lift wasn't that clean looking, and my technique began to dissolve a bit. I solved the problem first switching to a mixed grip, which I find sets my back and locks it into place much more than double overhand with straps. I tried pulling with a mixed grip and straps, but it feels a little awkward, and makes the bar unnecessarily larger in circumference.

So after adapting a mixed grip, I found my hands were falling apart as they were destroyed after every lifting day, and was preventing progress. I didn't understand why my hands were getting so beat up as I had good hand care, but the answer was ultimately chalk. I do a lot of research, and it's easy to bypass little tips and heeded warnings. I assumed chalk would be too messy and would get me kicked immediately from my gym. But it turns out, it's pretty easy to not spill much chalk and benefit greatly.

Chalk is a drying agent. Our bodies are 50-65% water, and when your hands dry up, they become hard like armor, and prevent things from hurting you because you don't have soft fleshy bits exposed. The chalk also enhances your grip. You have so much friction from the chalk and the bar that nothing can budge your grip. It's truly a safety tool in the respect that you'll be less likely to drop the bar (in bench press for example). Pull-Ups require less effort as your grip is more cemented to the bar. Hanging straight leg raises are easier to perform. All lifts are enhanced including squats to prevent the bar from moving.

The inclusion of a belt is also an essential tool. The first time I pulled 420lb my spine was hurt in a minor fashion that affected me for a few months. I pulled 420lb for a dozen singles without using a belt, but since having the belt, I use it for practically every rep. It protects your spine and gives you the confidence to pull, knowing you'll be safe. You'll still need good technique, but there's less chance of injury. My other favorite aspect of wearing a belt is that your recovery time improves because the lower back doesn't get as taxed and thus doesn't need to recover as hard.

You might think that wearing a belt too often may not develop the lower back, but the muscle still gets worked - just in a shorter ROM (range of motion) because of the belt, and in a safer ROM.

Goblin Goo - New Beginner Routine

A very good friend came to me seeking the most efficient path to strength and general fitness. I poured over the most recommended and respected beginner routines, and I determined which two I liked the most, but decided my true preference would be of one that is not written, and thus I've made my own as I'm apt to do. First, I would like to point out this great picture which goes a handful of good beginner routine:

The two I liked most are Greyskull (Phrakture's variant):

And the other being Strong Lifts (which is similar to SS - Starting Strength):

So I like the frequency of squatting in starting strength. Squats are knee-dominant, but largely a hip exercise, and the hips are the most powerful part of a human. Deadlifting is great, but it takes longer to recover from Deadlifting than Squats, and Squats are known to carry over to Deadlifts more so than vice versa.

The difference between SL (Strong Lifts) and SS is 3 sets versus 5 and the swap of barbell rows for power cleans. I don't like power cleans for beginners as I find the form complicated, and I know barbell rows to be hard on the lower back. The reason I like 5 sets of 5 for beginners over 3 sets of 5 is that technique takes a long time to learn, and the more reps you perform, the practice you have in that technique. If you're squatting 25 reps instead of 15 reps in a workout, you'll have more information from the 25 reps that you can both mentally and physically reap. And if that's 30 reps versus 60 reps a week, you may progress twice as fast in technique. 5x5 eventually turns into 3x5. There's no reason to jump to the max as a beginner. Enjoy the grind.

I like the dips and pull-ups as exercises that force body control, I like the frequent Squats, I feel the dumbbell rows will aid in faster recovery. There's more Deadlift work than usual, but I think it's for the best as a single set is not enough reps to practice nor to really get in the groove of the exercise. Multiple sets are in most cases superior to single sets. I like the calf work to fill out the legs. I did not include curls, but they can be done as well as triceps work. Good Mornings are a godlike exercise that aren't ever done in casual gyms, but should be. They work the erector spinae, hamstrings to a great extent, abs, flexibility, and mobility.

I would do this routine for 3-6 months, or however long you're reaping gains and not plateauing. The way beginner programs change when transitioning to intermediate programs is less frequency/volume because as you go up in weights, you need more recovery, and your nervous system pool is drained more quickly as a result. The bit of squat work on workout C helps practice form and is a good warm-up before Deadlifts.

I don't believe in resting for a long duration between sets. The quicker it can be done, the stronger, more powerful you are and the more endurance you have. Attack the weight, execute reps, leave it all out there, and recover for next time.

Lifting with Technique by Using and Utilizing Variables

Depending on your goal in lifting, you may lift in a slow tempo for muscle tension, igniting muscle growth, an explosive rep to push the heaviest weight possible, or a steady controlled fast pace for endurance.

If you lay down for a bench press for example, grab the bar and press it until lock out, and then rack the bar, you may have transitioned from one location in space to another, but how many variables did you take into account? There is to take in mind the following: hand grip width, bar placement in hand, position of feet, toes or heels touching the ground, the amount of lower back curvature via arch, how close the shoulders are pinned, whether the lats are contracting to aid, the twist of the arm, the vertical movement whether a j hook is used, whether you're using chalk or wrist wraps, the desired range of motion, or how much the shoulder, chest, and triceps are emphasized and used in the movement. It's the difference between a controller with two buttons or a keyboard with a hundred buttons.

The willingness to attack the bar on every rep and set is significant in progressing, avoiding injury, and ensuring mental confidence that prevails until the end of the session. A note on individuals who claim health to be their only goal, I find this admittance to be a deception with the reality being with the correct knowledge you can weight train at any age and with even very serious injuries. It's healthier to have bones with more density. I wouldn't go to the gym if I were to just do the same weight day in and day out. I don't want to be the man I was yesterday, I want to advance to the next platform that goes along with its own valued attributes. Do not settle for meagerness. We live and we die, and that life can be lived in a host which is lacking mobility, posture, movement, addicted to doctors and prescription medication, or you can live with the dignity your genes deserve.

The Bodybuilding Version of The Strength Training Routine 5/3/1 - Presenting 8/6/3

Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 strength training routine is a great tool for progression. He has a few books on the program and offers dozens of variations. One that is a true diamond in the rough is 8/6/3. After spending about 5 five months on 5/3/1, and seeing good gains in strength, I could see myself spending several more months on 5/3/1. I departed though from that route because I wanted more size. I'm sure I read somewhere in the 5/3/1 book about a variation that changed the rep scheme, because I changed it to 8/6/3, and adjusted the percentages for the different rep scheme, and then searched 8/6/3 online, and stumbled upon a T-Nation article about 8/6/3 with is own prescribed percentages (not by Jim Wendler).

I had done this right before I had started the program, and compared the percentages that I came up with and the author of this article did, and some of our numbers were the same, but his were most definitely higher. The way I started 5/3/1 was with a fair amount of breathing room from my real 1 rep max on percentages, and I think that helped welcome me to the program before getting challenged too hard, which could lead to injuries and a lack of easy progression to follow.

So having calculated the routine for myself, I realized the first month would be harder than what was my 5th cycle of 5/3/1. I may have started with too low of percentages on 5/3/1 when I started it, but I think I was trying to avoid injuries, and was doing many 1 rep maxes in the form of joker sets. I got much better at both Front Squats and High Bar Back Squats. My Bench Press has also become more of a staple, and has no longer cause any pain. So I think I was able to concentrate on technique while following progression albeit not the most I could lift, but in ramping up with my heaviest singles, I was using my intensity for the singles, which aren't going to cause much muscle growth, but strength. Now I'm redirecting that intensity toward building mass.

I finished the second week of my first cycle, and have really seen the glory of the program. I think it's working perfectly. I'm getting a little beat up, but I've decided that I'll take the deload weeks 100% seriously. When I first began 5/3/1, I did the first cycle's deload week, but I believe I skipped the rest after finding my bodyfat percentage rising too much, and boredom setting in, and having read that it's common to skip deloads, and I believe Jim even prescribes it as a variation.

The first week is 3 sets of 8, the second week is 3 sets of 6, the third week is a set of 8, 6, 3, and the fourth and last week is a deload with 3 sets of 8-10. To find the percentage for yourself, open Calculator on your computer, and take your 1 rep max, for instance, 200lb, and multiply it by the percentage given .7 (70%). Round the given answer up or down to the nearest 5lb. Every month you add 5lb to each set, or you could add 10lb on deadlifts and squats.

Depending on the amount of days you can or wish to go to the gym, you can run this on a multitude of lifts including: squats, front squats, bench press, incline bench press, deadlift, and military press (overhead pres). I'm going 5 days a week, and combining squats and incline bench press on one day. I have pull-ups and push-ups programmed 3x a week, and dips programmed 2x a week. I throw in Face Pulls for shoulder health, lateral raises, and dumbbell overhead presses. Add 5lb per cycle to the base number used to calculate the lifts (1 rep training max - 90% of 1rm).

Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
70% x 6	65% x 8	75% x 8	40% x 8-10
80% x 6	75% x 8	85% x 6	50% x 8-10
85% x 6+	80% x 8+	90% x 3+	60% x 8-10

Lifting for Women

Exercises themselves are not exclusive to sex, but the goals of a person (woman) can define the program, depending on the body part you would like to develop, or if it's lower body development only, or if strength is a goal.

Here is a list of good lower body exercises:

Main Compound:
Barbell Squats
Barbell Deadlifts
Barbell Front Squats

Auxiliary:
Barbell Lunges
Barbell Standing Calf Raises
Barbell Romanian Deadlifts
Barbell Hack Squats
Barbell Bulgarian Split Squats
Barbell Good Mornings
Barbell Side Lunge

Decide how many days you're willing to go to the gym (2-5). Plan a routine with built-in progression. The first week you lift X amount of reps for 3 to 5 sets on any given main compound exercise. Afterwards, you do 2 to 3 sets on auxiliary exercises.

If you're a beginner, increase the weight by 5-10lb every week on the main compound exercises. You may raise the weight on the auxiliary exercises, but it shouldn't be the focus, and shouldn't hurt your recovery, or even be done if time is not available.

Additional mobility and balance can be attained through yoga, which can be done anywhere. An extra lower body body weight routine that can be done is as follows:

Body Weight Squats - Wide Stance (18)
Body Weight Alternating Lunges (31)
Body Weight Bulgarian Split Squat w/ No Chair (12 per leg)
Body Weight Bulgarian Split Squat w/ Chair (21 per leg)
Laying Face Up Straight-Leg Leg Raises Alternating (18)
Standing Leg Curl - Learn Forward on a Counter (20 per leg)
Kneeling Straight-Leg Donkey Kick (20 per leg)

Here is a list of good upper body exercises:

Main Compound:
Barbell Bench Press
Barbell Incline Bench Press
Barbell Military Press

Auxiliary:
Pull-Ups
Push-Ups
Dips
Crunches
Dumbbell Bench Press
Dumbbell One-Arm Rows
Dumbbell Curls
Dumbbell Lateral Raises
Dumbbell Standing One-Arm Shoulder Press

Muffin Recipe with High Protein and High Fiber

Here is a classic recipe I've designed and refined over the years. It makes 11 muffins.

2.5 tbsp of cinnamon

.75 tsp of salt

.5 tbsp cocoa powder

4 eggs (not large)

1 to the brim cup of milk

1 to the brim cup of oats

3 cups of flour (white whole wheat)

.38 cups of sugar

.5 tsp of baking soda

2 tbsp of baking powder

1 cup of frozen mixed berries (torn up strawberries), blueberries, blackberries - defrost 3 minutes

1 stick of butter (power 8 20 seconds)

.4 cups of chocolate chips

Coat muffin pan very thick with coconut oil.

Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients.

Mix ingredients by hand, place them into muffin pan so that they're just at the brim and just barely over. this makes 11 muffins.

Bake at 375 F (make sure it's all the way to the right if knob is loose).

Bake for 18:35 min, pull out of oven, let cool for 10 minutes, pop out muffins with a knife by digging into the side and crowbarring them out.

Eat with coffee or beer or water.

201.7g calories

8g protein

6g fiber

37.9g carbs

1.3g fat

7g sugar

They taste absolutely delicious, reminding me of Drake's Coffee Cakes. You can lower the amount of Oats for less fiber, or lour the Flour for less carbs..