kaotic's gym self assesment and progress thread

[Steelex]

If you're spending 6+ hours a day seated, you likely have anterior pelvic tilt caused by tight hip flexors. Check out the YouTube Link I posted earlier it has helped me a lot.

If you have access to a massage table and a partner, the Thompson stretch can bring you some almost instantaneous relief. Do a YouTube search for it.

 

[Steelex]

You're working out again today? How long since your first workout?

 

[redbeard]

@Steelix - why rack pulls on leg day? Why not stiff legs if the target is hams/glutes?

 

[Steelex]

I put the rack pulls on leg day (if you wanna call it that... It's just 3 sets of squats), to hit the forearms, traps, rhomboids, spinal erectors, and to a lesser extent glutes and hams. Since there is no trapezius or grip/forearm work on the first day, the rack pulls hit those muscles and fill in the gaps, so to speak. There is a fair amount of work on the upper body day already, and I feel like adding another exercise would be counter productive.

I want to narrow in on Kaotics back pain issue and get it resolved. If he's always in pain, he will always be forced to compromise in his routine.

 

[Steelex]

Kaotic,

Try this stretch too. The Thomas stretch.

6mjBaLVlQWw

 

[kavi]

Not to be all "I told you so" but just want to-iterate a few points I made earlier in light of the above

Also, you need strong spinal erector muscles for good squats. I am not sure it makes sense to have isolated spinal erectors with rack pulls and then go into squats. Those could be some uncomfortable squats.

You are doing heavy rack-pulls as your rep range is quit low. I would not advise this level of intensity for anyone with back issues. This will cause a lot of tightness in the back.

Now you have a tight back and you are going into heavy squats. Squats utilize the back muscles throughout the exercise and if you had a tight back going into the exercise I am sure you would have felt it tighten up more during the exercise. I would say this is a good way to get injured and will not make you stronger. Trying to push through this pain is not advised.

My personal experience is that is very hard to do squats after working the lower back. My squats would be quite awkward the day after a good deadlift workout hence I normally do deads the day after squatting, which doesn't have the same problems.

In addition to the above, to a beginner (with back issues) I would advise to do a lighter weight with higher reps on lower back exercises with a good rest period before putting pressure on the lower back with squats etc. The back can be strengthened with deadlifst/rack pulls but you should go for a higher rep range and lighter workouts, and you should wait until any existing pain is gone.

Yeah thats cool. Personally I would focus on less intense deadlifting ( more reps less weight) but I that is just a personal preferance.

 

[redbeard]

What do y'all do for low back? It doesn't hurt but I need to strengthen mine too. I've added a few sets of hyperextensions.

 

[kavi]

Deadlifts for Spinal Erectors. Nothing better for good posture and a strong back.

 

[kaotic]

Thanks guys I'll take that all into consideration.

@steelex I did day A Monday, Day B Tuesday, I was going to Day A today. So it would 3 days today.

I'll try those stretches out, need to invest in a yoga matt for stretching at work.

I'm buying wrist wraps and leg bands today as well.

 

[Steelex]

Kaotic,

If you think you can improve since the last A day, then proceed.

But you've only had 48 hours since the last A-day workout... That's two days in my book. Meaning probably about 16 hours of sleep.

If you can swing it, swing it. But I would wait till Thursday. Your call.

 

[kaotic]

I just did this stretch via my chair https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6D483GYqAk

Released tension instantly and my back feels alot more relaxed, I usually go solo to the gym so The Thomas stretch will be tough unless I can find a buddy.

Kaotic,

If you think you can improve since the last A day, then proceed.

But you've only had 48 hours since the last A-day workout... That's two days in my book. Meaning probably about 16 hours of sleep.

If you can swing it, swing it. But I would wait till Thursday. Your call.

I feel rested enough that I can swing Day A today and up the weight.

I'm curious to what you think a schedule with recovery should look like ?

2 Days on 1 day rest ? or 3 days on 2 days rest ? What would be ideal for a beginner on the plan?

 

[SegaSaturn1994]

Upping the weight after each set is not the best way to go. If you were able to increase the weight each set, it means you didn't get very close to failure on that set, and therefore didn't achieve as much damage in that set as possible.

You want to up the weight when all your sets are in the high end of the rep range. So let's say the rep range was 3 sets of 11-15, and you got 15-12-8. You don't move up. But let's say you got 15-15-14, you move up weight the next workout because obviously the first two sets you aced and you can stand to add some more weight on the bar.

You gotta use a little common sense here, but the question in your mind should be "Will it benefit me more to master the weight I'm at, or go up in weight so I can get one step closer to my ultimate goal (being a goddamn human fork lift)".

Yeah makes sense, I reset the weights I'd probably hit on my log, I'll just start somewhere comfortable and see how far my reps go. I'll follow that system if I ace the first 2 sets and up it.

I recommend doing the rack chins with grip straps. I know everyone says "well then you're not building your grip". They have a point. However, the point of the rack chin is to mentally focus on the contraction of the lats, and not be thinking about your grip at all.

The rack chins with the Kroc rows do a lot to put width and thickness on the lats. I didn't have thick lats till I was getting 30+ reps with a 120lb DB. Now I use big zip ties to attach another dumbell to the 120 since that's as high as my gym has them

I forgot to grab wrist wraps, I'll have to get those.

Jesus 120 + ? That's YUGE !

:mindblown3:

Kaotic - are you open to drugs at all? Or trying to stay 100% natty? I noticed you were having sleep issues, ipamorelin + mod grf-1 would most def. help with any sleep issues. I don't think your no where near ready for gear but some peptides (the ones I mentioned) will def. help you reach your goals in the long term. Both sleep and physique. I've been taking peps for 2 years now, so speaking from experience.

I'm staying natty for now.

It's not that I have issues sleeping, it's that I just dick around at home after the gym OR I'm on a date, with a plate, or with my main girl.

Basically I need to have more me time to take a break and sleep.

120 is huge but for the vast majority of people it requires tons of body english. That Kroc guy himself threw weights around in a sloppy manner if I remember correctly. This approach is not inherently wrong; it's just that you could get away with far less weight using strict form and would be putting less pressure on the intervertebral discs using lighter weights.

 

[Steelex]

Kaotic,

It's totally dependant on your recovery ability and ability to keep crushing the log book. Highly personal and up to you. Be cognizant of it and adjust it based on feel.

Here is how my shit would typically look...

Day 1. A day
Day 2. Nap instead of lift
Day 3. B day
Day 4. Go see chiropractor or do some active recovery shit. Maybe a 3 mile walk with my kid.
Day 5. A day
Day 6. Nap
Day 7. B day.
Day 8. Nap
Repeat

This isn't set in stone my friend. If I feel like going to the gym and taking satan on tren for a walk, I will. But that's generally how my training goes.

 

[Steelex]

Sega Saturn,

Most people would need to use a shit ton of body English to move 120, that's correct. That's the weight I personally use, but once upon a time it was just a 40lb dumbell. You build up.

The body english is OK in moderate amounts, it's up to the user to decide how much is too fucking much.

But you ain't rowing the 120s without your back going Cobra style. Not gd happening.

PS. Kroc may have put some extra mojo into his DB rows, but he was also a world record holding powerlifter, and had a stupidly well developed back.

 

[Hootie]

This is a great thread.

Looks like some knowledgable guys really dialed in the lifting routine so I'll leave that alone.

If you want to regulate sleep, I've found 50 MG of Magnesium Citrate knocks me out about 60-90 minutes afterwards and provides a great sleep.

For burning belly fat, the two things I've found to be the best over the years are 1. the Urge. Do 500 M sprints with 1 minute rests. That shit will get your ab's strong and firing. 2. Yoga for weight loss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Wt9CFb-4s

Honorary mention: Sean Vigue Fitness has good pilates for dudes (5-10 minutes) that have always kicked my ass.

Diet: nobody seemed to have touched upon that. Are you looking to make any changes?

 

[tapthatass]

@kaotic

It's perfect. I don't see any flaws in your workout and nutrition. Read the responses on the first page and I would like to add that can avoid overtraining if you do it right. It's slightly complicated though.

You mentioned that your fitness goals is to get jacked and that you're a hard gainer.

->I think you can focus on 1:2-> strength :hypertrophy workout weeks. Start with strength to get the energy flowing in your muscles and then two weeks of hypertrophy to maximize your potential.

->There are three parts in a workout 1) Intensity 2) frequency and 3) volume. You have to choose two of them and downplay the third. Since you're working out almost everyday (high freq) so you should either lower your intensity or volume.

My proposal:
I would be happy if you lower your intensity because i) your goal is to get jacked (not ripped or shredded.) ii) you mentioned that you have belly fat (so high volume always helps). On the other hand, you always get your intensity during the strength week.

If you wanna get ripped or shredded then reverse the ratio (ie., 2:1= strength :hypertrophy.)

A final point: Get your test levels checked..just in case.

 

[SegaSaturn1994]

Sega Saturn,

Most people would need to use a shit ton of body English to move 120, that's correct. That's the weight I personally use, but once upon a time it was just a 40lb dumbell. You build up.

The body english is OK in moderate amounts, it's up to the user to decide how much is too fucking much.

But you ain't rowing the 120s without your back going Cobra style. Not gd happening.

PS. Kroc may have put some extra mojo into his DB rows, but he was also a world record holding powerlifter, and had a stupidly well developed back.

I suppose there are always exceptions. The average strong guy could "curl" 200 pounds by turning it into a clean. Then again there's a video of Magnus Samuelsson doing casual curls with 300 pounds or so. He does use some back so it would not fly in a competition (some PL feds have curl competitions) but even being able to curl 200 pounds with perfect form is very rare and impressive and does happen. So I would not rule out the existence of people who can row 120 pounds with good form but it's not a popular competition lift and there's no specific right angle or range of motion to do it in so there's as many row variations as there are people.

I think dudes get carried away and start using a restricted ROM and more body english as their progress becomes less linear. That way they can stick to the illusion of constant improvement instead of accepting some stagnation or switching their program.

Explosive body english in itself is not bad for building muscle but, having done it for too long, I'm going to stay away from it for the rest of my life because I cannot grow a new spine and do already have injuries from overt loading. From a bodybuilding perspective body english lifting does also have the added detrimental effect of possibly shifting the emphasis on the wrong muscles; when you should be training rear delts you might go full ego and end up working your traps instead. As said before you do build a lot of muscle this way but the balanced aesthetic look is best ensured by more careful sculpting. I know no one is going to ever compliment me for doing sloppy lifts in my home but when I go out, I might receive compliments for having nice three dimensional shoulders or really detailed forearms.

 

[heavy]

Don't get me wrong I love deads. They are great for building muscle and strength. But here is a detailed explanation of why I find them to be detrimental for some people.

1. Deads throw a wrench into your other programming. A heavy deadlift workout can really cut into your recovery for everything else, especially your legs and back.

2. As you get up there in weight with deadlifts (400+) your form has to be on point. Sloppy form will get you injured, and then the rest of your training is going to be messed up for a few weeks as you recover from this.

3. You really need to go into a deadlift workout in optimal conditions. That means well rested, fed, hydrated, NOT HYPED UP ON STIMS. Anything that could cause an error in your muscle contraction can potentially get you hurt. I tend to work out in the evening after working a 10-12 hour day, and I know that being somewhat fatigued can cause your body to have issues with stabilizing the spine. I don't even recommend doing deads in a prolonged caloric deficit, because the CNS will operate just a little harder than the weakened muscles can handle. I think this problem is exacerbated by strong stimulants.

4. You can get 80% of the benefits of deads with heavy rack pulls, while keeping the risk factor much lower. I guarantee you that if you get your rack pull into the 6's, you'll be able to deadlift in the 5's with just a few weeks of practice. This is assuming you're also squatting.

5. It all comes down to the risk to benefit ratio. I've just seen too many lifters (even good, knowledgeable ones with good form), make a simple mistake like foot placement, not bracing against the belt, ect... And then tweak their lower back and end up on permanent arm day for 3 weeks. The idea behind my training is to streamline your gains and bypass the speed bumps.

Oh wow I've never heard of heavy rack pulls, but it's effectively what I do in the end result (at least for traps, don't care about the legs as much).

I hurt my back doing deads last year, so I just started picking up two 130 pound dumbbells, straightening up and holding them, doing some shrugs, going up and down a few times...3 sets.

It gets the job done for my shoulders and traps.

Maybe I'll try those.

 

[MVPnis]

I lIke doing breakdown sets,especially if I'm platueing On your last set of 8 reps, immediately drop weight 50% to failure, then immediately drop weight 50% again to failure, then again.

 

[Steelex]

They call that a drop set my friend.