The Official Gym & Fitness Thread

Hurt my shoulder by minorly dislocating it or some shit, i don't even know...no gym this week...and I was just getting to 225 bench..

 

Its good to listen to the body. I herniated a disk in my back and would always try to push through it when I felt the pain creeping back. It never worked and would end up taking several steps backwards trying to rehab it over the course of several weeks/months. But these days I have learned to lay off of it completely (about a week) and then I can usually hit it hard again.

 

Did chest and tri's tonight while battling a case of the shits.

all 4 sets of 10-15:
flat bench
incline bench
decline dumbbell flys

superset 4 sets of 10:
svend press
pushups with hands as far apart as possible without breaking good form (about 10-12" outside the shoulders)

all 3 sets of 10-20:
v-bar cable pushdowns
v-bar bent over cable overhead triceps extension
(some dude was using the rope for ab stuff, so I had to improvise with the v-bar...worked pretty well)
close grip bench press

seated machine triceps extension: drops sets to failure

 

Oh, and I lost a pound. I kept my shirt on, but I basically have a six pack now. I'd say with that pound gone, I'm probably at like 3% body fat now........maybe 4%

God bless the laundry room lighting...adds 10 lbs

 

I really recommend trying to tuck your elbows to your side best you can when benching. It reduces strain on the rotator cuff by about 40%
Feels weird at first. You get use to it through. You won't see anyone lifting heavy weight on the bench press with the elbows out.

 

Are you talking about holding them at like a 45 degree angle to your body? Or even closer?

 

I try my best to do this, but what about with flys? Whenever I do flat, incline, or decline flys, I can feel the strain on my shoulders. I try different positions, but none have really taken the strain away. Fortunately, my shoulders are good, so it doesn't hurt, but I want to keep it that way!

 

I try and get them as close as possible. I learned to activate my lats when benching and it's easier to do so with your elbows in. Really helps on the heavy weight

 

Gonna have to try that. I stay away from barbell bench for the most part and do Dumbbells with my elbows like 45 degrees from my side.

 

honestly i dont like dumbell fly's, hurts my shoulders too much. I only do them on the cables.

Only thing i would add is trying to "break the bar in half" if you're trying to twist the bar, it helps keep your elbows as tucked as possible. the closer your grip is, the closer they can get to your sides. "optimum grip distance is usually considered double the distance of the outside measurment of your collar bones.

the 45 degee angle is gonna vary with grip width. wider usually makes them flare out more.

 

Glad I'm not the only one. I like the pec dec flys, too b/c they take away from the shoulder strain. Dumbbell flys are great and all, but I definitely sense future shoulder pains each time I do them.

 

not natty

 

Closer is better. No defined angle I'd say. Bear in mind, you still want your forearm under the bar, therefore you'll be touching the bar lower on your chest. Some power lifters will even touch the bar to the upper belly

 

I try to touch somewhere between the upper belly and my nipple line. Not bounce, lightly graze. Unless I'm pause pressing, then it sits for a second or two before I go back up.

 

Old video of me getting 420#s.. Angle isn't great to show what I'm trying to say about tucking elbows or low touching the chest, but hopefully you get the idea.

 

Was that a full rep?

 

Nice light touch to the chest to full extension yes? It'd count in competition

 

definitely snythol based

 

Guess which 255 hunk of awesomeness did his first un assisted pull up EVER and 55 body weight dips tonight..