New Routine and New Site

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I made a new site on fitness here - http://goblin.neocities.org/ Take a look.

Lifting Analysis

I have read people saying that you can't critique someone's workout without knowing their goals. While this is true, I find that the groups of people who seek merely to be fit, strong, and aesthetic are still left with a myriad of options. Some muscles my be prioritized, or some movements for functional display. Through researching lifting, I have gravitated to Powerlifting as it focuses on Bench Press, Squats, and the Deadlift.

I remember when I first started training, I had the idea that opposed to Bench Pressing, I'd do Push-Ups, and opposed to Deadlifting, I'd do Pull-Ups, expecting to be able to achieve the same results. This didn't work though, because those body movements were too hard to weight unlike their Powerlifting counterparts, and they also used less muscles to complete. In the Powerlifting world, only those three lifts matter, and to raise your numbers in those lifts is the goal. I've chased this for a bit, but there is the realization that while lifting for fitness and aesthetics, the poundage doesn't matter. When we walk about the city, we don't have our 'big 3' numbers floating above our head. People who don't lift can't comprehend or appreciate the difference in poundage.

Unfortunately, there's gaps in every system. No matter the exercise, there's something being left out. This can also vary depending on the person's limb lengths and leverage. I'm going to plan out a new Bodybuilding routine.

Post WK1 Bodybuilding Split

After having spent 2 months strength training 2 times a week. I ended it with training 3 times the last week. The bodybuilding split has me doing 5 days a week. This method lets me cut bodyfat whilst not changing diet. I will overeat at times while bulking (necessary for fast metabolism), but not while cutting. Water intake has been higher with the additional workouts. There is no joint pain unlike strength training. My lower back is literally never sore. I don't do conventional deadlift, and stick with trap-bar deadlift for that very reason.

Just going through the first week, I've dropped 3 pounds bodyweight to 186lb at 5'11 at about 12% bodyfat.

New Bodybuilding Split

I've cycled a bastardized version of Arnold's Beginner Routine, which is 6 days a week, a few times now, and I've had good results, but I burn out after a month of it. The past two months I had switched to more of a powerlifter routine that consisted of 2 workout days a week. I've been making good strength gains, but my bodyfat has gone up a little. Instead of running a 6 day routine, I've devised a new routine  that I feel I'll be able to sustain longer than a month, will have me bodybuilding as a priority, and will have my bodyfat drop quickly.

I realized especially from the last two months, that you can do an exercise only once a week, and make gains. That said, performing an exercise three times a week is a waste of energy and there won't be progression, and if there is it will be short-lived. Two times a week is a fine number. I've also decided to progress the weight weekly opposed to by session. This is common in intermediate routines as progression slows down. It'll allow me to stay in the groove of my weight scheme longer.

I've replaced the traditional Deadlift with the trap-bar Deadlift. I've added back in Hack Squats. I added DB Curls and Cable Pushdowns.

My focus in workouts has largely been to progress in weight and have clean form. My new direction will be that of working the muscle. So every time I go to the gym, I get a pump in the planned exercises and leave afterwards. I'm not going to work past a fatigued muscle, I'm not going to have long workouts, and I won't need much rest.

Intensity Increase

For the past two months, I've been training 2x a week. One day was Bench Press, Military Press, shoulder work, Chin-Ups, and Dips. The other day was Squats, Deadlifts, and DB Bench Press. It was Tuesdays and Fridays, so I had 2 days of rest before the Deadlift day, then 3 days off until the next day. The extended recovery has helped my joints heal up from more vigorous training. I'm lifting the heaviest in Bench Press and Deadlifts.

What I found is that my Bench Press day had my muscles fatigued only half way through the workout, but I still finished the workout, and with heavy weight. I have very good endurance, but recently I've been getting nauseous at that halfway point too, but could still continue to lift impressively. I've been wanting more cardio in my routine. So I decided to cut that workout in half, and have 3 training days a week instead of 2.

I"ve heard that it's actually better to lift 2x a day because you have more intensity for the exercises. I found this hard to believe because I enjoy long workouts (3 hours). I figure that my endurance is good enough and I have enduring willpower to make it through these workouts, but what I've learned is that hard work is not necessarily the path to success. To work smart is more important than working hard - of course working smart and hard is ideal.

So am I now down to 6 exercises a workout, and 3 training days a week. That second half of my workout routine that had me exhausted to begin with now hit my muscles in ways they hadn't before. People love to say overtraining is a myth, but in my experience it's very easy to overtrain. The extra workout day also gave me the extra cardio I was looking for.

Bench Press Technique

The Bench Press is a deceiver. It's welcoming and easy looking. You lay on a bench unlike Squats of Deadlifts, and push weight from your chest to extension.  It's taken me some time to nail down myh Bench Press technique. There were a few things holding me back: grip on the bar, grip width on the bar, back arch, body placement on the bench, and lastly leg drive.

I'll start with the problems that I addressed chronologically. The grip width on the bar determines how much chest or arms you use in the movement. One would think it would be as easy as wide grip for chest and narrow grip for arms, but there can be other complications. For example, I used to take about an average width grip, and I was constantly in elbow pain. After doing research, I found elbow tendinitis very common with The Bench Press, Dips, Pull-Ups, and other Triceps movements. There are ways to treat the tendinitis temporarily to relieve pain, but to cure yourself of it, you must either adjust your technique, or drop the lift from your routine. The pain is excruciating. The best method of dealing with it is Voodoo Flossing or the equivalence. Biceps curls also alleviate pain.

So as to fix my technique to avoid tendinitis, I realized I needed to tuck my elbows more. At first I tried doing it with my normal grip width, but I found it took too much concentration, and that I wasn't very good at it, leading me to lift lighter weights. The fix was to narrow my grip width  I now grip just inside the rings. This is the grip associated with the Close-Grip Bench Press. One might think that if I'm targeting my chest, I shouldn't use the narrow grip, but regardless of it being narrow grip, it hits your chest. This method also protects your shoulders and elbows in the long run.

Body placement on the bench, back arch, and leg drive are all handled in one technique. I lifted this from the great powerlifter Dave Tate. Grab the very center of the bar with only your thumbs. Having them about an inch apart, pull your body up on the bench (towards head) so that your head is literally off the bench. Now raise your body into the bar and upon lowering yourself, arch the entirety of your lower back, or just one side like I like to do, and set that arched side, readjust your grip on the bar, and pin the other arched lower back side to the bench. You should feel uncomfortable. You are in essence, pushing yourself so hard into the bench that you can't even press the bar (45lb) correctly, because it's too light for you to maintain tightness and posture.

I find this position the most comfortable for unracking the weight and racking it once you finish the set.  Once you've repositioned on the bench, you are lower on the bench and so your head isn't hanging off any longer. I plant my toes and keep my glutes on the bench. The leg drive is from the toes, or you can plant your heels. I actually got sore calves from benching the other week. The arch in your lower back should be so severe as to minimize the distance horizontally from your upper back to your glutes. This provides better leverage.

The grip on the bar most importantly needs to rest in the palms of your hands.This place is halfway between your thumb and wrist. Your wrists should be straight as to transfer the load from your grip to your elbows, which will let you lift with your pecs, triceps, and lats. An important notion to think about is that you couldn't possibly bench 200lb+ with ease unless you're setup is positioned optimally enough for leverage. This leverage actually makes you use less muscle, but allows you to lift heavier weight, which induces muscle and strength growth.

An example of a beginner you may see would have them laying flat on their back with no arch, no leg drive, flared elbows, and poor ROM (range of motion). I benched the below this morning at 188lb bodyweight.

• 45 lb x 5 reps
• 240 lb x 3 reps
• 240 lb x 3 reps
• 220 lb x 5 reps
• 220 lb x 5 reps
• 220 lb x 5 reps
• 200 lb x 5 reps
• 200 lb x 5 reps

The Deadlift

The Deadlift is known to be the second king of all exercises besides the Squat. It utilizes many muscle groups and allows you to lift more weight than any other lift. The Spinal Erector muscles are hit hard, which includes the Lower Back. Recovery time can be 72 hours. Many programs avoid the Deadlift so that you can train more often. Another alternative would be to Deadlift at a lower weight for higher reps.

Just short of two years ago I started Deadlifting. I started by doing a set of 12 and got to 225lb. Then I switched to 8 reps, but my grip failed at around 245lb for higher reps, and so I started using straps. Without deloading, I got to 8 reps of 385lb, which granted took six months of adding 5lb each session. After that I deloaded to 8 reps of 200lb for 2 sets. So six months later, I pulled 8 reps of 375lb for 2 sets.

At that point, I pulled 405lb for a single, and about a week later 420lb, which injured the middle of my back to a minor degree. The lift was fine, but I held the weight too long. A couple weeks later, I pulled 425lb, then 435lb, and more recently 450lb, and will break that in 2 weeks time.

The Deadlift has corrected my posture to be more upright, made me stronger in all other exercises, developed my back muscles significantly, and have helped build my endurance. I have not yet used a weightbelt with them.

The technique I use is a very narrow stance with the heels touching each other. My grip is just between the rings. I start on the ground with the weight rolled forward, set my breathing, and roll the weight back into myself as I engage my Hamstrings and Traps and lift the bar until lockout, shoving my hips forward, and squeezing my Triceps, Biceps, Pecs, Quads, Glutes, and Abs.