workout 2013-11-19
Nov. 19th, 2013 18:46![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
piranhasquat
5x5 BW
bench
5x5 @ 45lb
pendlay rows
5x5 @ 70lb
single-arm dumbbell rows
5x10 @ 33.5lb
warmed up by doing yard work.
did some extra mobility work for the shoulders.
first time bench press on the actual bench with the oly bar. i had a bit of trouble figuring out exactly where to position the bench so i'd end up with the bar going straight up and down above my chest. i think the pins that came with this rack are too long; it never felt entirely comfortable no matter where i put the bench. need to look at more videos and this time concentrate on placement rather than movement. i am coming to the conclusion that i should build my own equipment. it's harder to maintain good form on the bench than on the floor because the bench does not support as much of my body. which means this is better for my stabilizing muscles. the empty bar is a bit squirrely, but i had no trouble with its weight.
rows went well, despite... ok, so i looked at mehdi's rows instruction from chicago, and it confused me. i thought i had figured out the pendlay row from watching glenn pendlay instruct max aita, and i thought SL5x5 did pendlay rows. but the demonstrations didn't look quite like pendlay. mehdi had people more more forward under the bar into deadlift position, and told them to pull the bar up towards the bottom of the rib cage rather than the lower chest. (this seemed near-impossible for guys with long legs). there was one guy there who did it pendlay style, but mehdi "corrected" him. he did not explain why doing it his way was better, what advantages it had. i rather watch rippetoe, who is a good teacher and explains the whys along with the hows.
mehdi's way doesn't work for me because i have a big belly, which restricts my range of motion when i pull towards the bottom of the rib cage. so i think i will just continue as before, because i feel those rows in the right places, even though that probably means form checks here will not be as useful. well, i am not getting those anyway, because there is some weird thing about not posting them while we're not lifting very heavy because that will change our form and it won't do much good to correct our form now (which is BS in my view; it always matters, and if anything, it matters most at the beginning when you start building new habits).
watched very carefully to curb my impulse to curl my wrists at the top of the movement, which seems kind of an intuitive error to get more RoM.
went back to the broomstick only for squats, to learn better high-bar squat form. and that's just not happening. very depressing, but i can't come up out of the hole without breaking form. i always thought i had decent lower body strength, but in fact... not so much. so i think my next best bet is a hybrid squat, and i need to investigate what else i can do to improve my posterior chain (other than more squatting and more squatting and more squatting -- maybe i should do actual box squats?). the shoulders hurting like they want to rip out of my body does not help with concentrating on form.
i'll try to console myself with thinking my bench and row and deadlift don't suck and are progressing well without anything hurting. did 50 extra dumbbell rows to cheer me up, which they did.
5x5 BW
bench
5x5 @ 45lb
pendlay rows
5x5 @ 70lb
single-arm dumbbell rows
5x10 @ 33.5lb
warmed up by doing yard work.
did some extra mobility work for the shoulders.
first time bench press on the actual bench with the oly bar. i had a bit of trouble figuring out exactly where to position the bench so i'd end up with the bar going straight up and down above my chest. i think the pins that came with this rack are too long; it never felt entirely comfortable no matter where i put the bench. need to look at more videos and this time concentrate on placement rather than movement. i am coming to the conclusion that i should build my own equipment. it's harder to maintain good form on the bench than on the floor because the bench does not support as much of my body. which means this is better for my stabilizing muscles. the empty bar is a bit squirrely, but i had no trouble with its weight.
rows went well, despite... ok, so i looked at mehdi's rows instruction from chicago, and it confused me. i thought i had figured out the pendlay row from watching glenn pendlay instruct max aita, and i thought SL5x5 did pendlay rows. but the demonstrations didn't look quite like pendlay. mehdi had people more more forward under the bar into deadlift position, and told them to pull the bar up towards the bottom of the rib cage rather than the lower chest. (this seemed near-impossible for guys with long legs). there was one guy there who did it pendlay style, but mehdi "corrected" him. he did not explain why doing it his way was better, what advantages it had. i rather watch rippetoe, who is a good teacher and explains the whys along with the hows.
mehdi's way doesn't work for me because i have a big belly, which restricts my range of motion when i pull towards the bottom of the rib cage. so i think i will just continue as before, because i feel those rows in the right places, even though that probably means form checks here will not be as useful. well, i am not getting those anyway, because there is some weird thing about not posting them while we're not lifting very heavy because that will change our form and it won't do much good to correct our form now (which is BS in my view; it always matters, and if anything, it matters most at the beginning when you start building new habits).
watched very carefully to curb my impulse to curl my wrists at the top of the movement, which seems kind of an intuitive error to get more RoM.
went back to the broomstick only for squats, to learn better high-bar squat form. and that's just not happening. very depressing, but i can't come up out of the hole without breaking form. i always thought i had decent lower body strength, but in fact... not so much. so i think my next best bet is a hybrid squat, and i need to investigate what else i can do to improve my posterior chain (other than more squatting and more squatting and more squatting -- maybe i should do actual box squats?). the shoulders hurting like they want to rip out of my body does not help with concentrating on form.
i'll try to console myself with thinking my bench and row and deadlift don't suck and are progressing well without anything hurting. did 50 extra dumbbell rows to cheer me up, which they did.
no subject
on 2013-11-20 06:40 (UTC)i know i write my own stuff talking about this kinda stuff for my own reference, but i do always wonder if throwing it into the ether goes anywhere and i love it when i get a comment here or there that tells me it does, so i figured i should say something here. :)
Very impressive
on 2013-11-20 22:22 (UTC)Re: Very impressive
on 2013-11-20 22:24 (UTC)Anyway...this is brad/dorsai. heh
Re: Very impressive
on 2013-11-21 02:48 (UTC)just be nice to yourself. seriously. i used to criticize myself harshly, and that just never helped; if anything, it hindered me. small steps count. i am no longer allowed to call them "pathetic". ;)
how're you ramping up? are you doing martial arts again?
no subject
on 2013-11-21 02:43 (UTC)and it's great to hear that that is inspiring. yeah, i feel the same way -- when i do have the spoons to follow my reading list for a bit, it inspires me when people find something that makes their lives better, even if it's something completely different.
thanks for letting me know!