Gym And Supplement Discussion

[Birds]

:S

[bozodos]

specifically that I've plateaued out for a month on my OHP and I'm not sure if I should deload or do it with a dumbbell etc.

[Birds]

What do your weights, sets and reps look like for it? You know the rule...increase one of them!

[Kenna802]

Yeah, the glances your mum must throw at you when you come home with one, I can only imagine.

Probs get hi5's from Dad though?

.

A mate brought a stripper home to his family once. His dad did hi five him lol. Silly prick fell in love and was devastated when she rooted around on him later on in the piece. In all honesty what did he expect?

[Dani Boi]

I would have at least expected herpes

[Kenna802]

I would have at least expected herpes

Well played good Sir

[bozodos]

What do your weights, sets and reps look like for it? You know the rule...increase one of them!

47.5, was 3x10 now 3x8. Having trouble on the last set getting all of the reps out, but I have also changed from a fixed to an olympic barbell.

[Birds]

That change from fixed to Olympic is a strange one...but moreso the other way around when you are used to bearings spinning the weight around for you.

If I can recommend, maybe try a warm up of 30kg x 10, 47.5 x 10 and then 50 of however many reps you can muster? Or add another set of 47.5 into your existing sets.

[rev210]

opinions on how to improve overhead press and other pushing movements?

do external rotation movements, like cuban press. There are a few ways to approach it. Rows help. If you have a good muscle strength balance then the shoulder is more powerfull by virtue of stabillity.

[rev210]

47.5, was 3x10 now 3x8. Having trouble on the last set getting all of the reps out, but I have also changed from a fixed to an olympic barbell.

From experience Not good. Could be an injury , unless the rest of the workout looks like it's doing the same thing. Strain will be to the rotator cuff. The lack of stabillity loses muscle power in the lift and causes early fatigue . Get someone to press a thumb on the muscles in the area firmly . If you can find a few knots then give pressing a break and do some external rotation work for a week or two. You don't 'feel' the rotator cuff till it's inflamed to the point of causing the tendon in the shoulder socket to get impinged.

[Kenna802]

Quick question. What do dips work? I know if I lean forward it works the chest but if I stay straight does it work the back ?

[The Bogan]

Quick question. What do dips work? I know if I lean forward it works the chest but if I stay straight does it work the back ?

Tri's, of at least that is what I use for my tri exercise.

4 x 10 of weighted dips seem to work well for me after bench and inc DB presses.

[bozodos]

From experience Not good. Could be an injury , unless the rest of the workout looks like it's doing the same thing. Strain will be to the rotator cuff. The lack of stabillity loses muscle power in the lift and causes early fatigue . Get someone to press a thumb on the muscles in the area firmly . If you can find a few knots then give pressing a break and do some external rotation work for a week or two. You don't 'feel' the rotator cuff till it's inflamed to the point of causing the tendon in the shoulder socket to get impinged.

Well I notice that bench is a struggle as well, I had someone suggest that I use the barbell from a rack rather than cleaning it from the floor for OHP, but I thought that was the 'correct' way to do the movement. I think you may be onto something there Rev - I've noticed it's always my shoulders that feel sorest immediately following training.

I do 3x8 bent over rows in my routine already, or are you talking about upright rows?

Birds: fixed BB don't allow for the incremental progression that using 1.25 plates on the barbell does.

I'll do the external rotation movements for a week like suggested then try the Birds approach and post up how I go.

Edited November 19, 2013 by bozodos

[rev210]

Bent rows are good . Upright are bad for the shoulders and you don't need them.

Cuban press and a few other external rotation movements are what will be usefull.

Also work on mobility of the shoulders and thorasic spine. There are some tests you can do to determine what your starting point is like.

[Trozzle]

Bent rows are good . Upright are bad for the shoulders and you don't need them.

Cuban press and a few other external rotation movements are what will be usefull.

Also work on mobility of the shoulders and thorasic spine. There are some tests you can do to determine what your starting point is like.

I like this, lol

[bozodos]

I knew that doing upright past the nipples was bad, but not in general.

So just a week of doing these assistance movements in place of bench and OHP then try again Rev? I think that I have fairly good mobility of the thoracic spine - I just did this test

and could extend both arms all the way back easily.

I did this movement to test shoulder mobility with sliding one hand up from the bottom of the back and the other from the top - my hands were ~7.5cm and 10cm apart which suggest poor mobility in the shoulders.

[Birds]

Birds: fixed BB don't allow for the incremental progression that using 1.25 plates on the barbell does.

I'll do the external rotation movements for a week like suggested then try the Birds approach and post up how I go.

Wasn't really saying which one is better, just making a side note about how weird it is, as I have switched back and forth myself between types of bars. The fixed bars at my gym actually have a bit of length past the plates so you can actually slide some of the older (small holed) plates onto the end to increase their weight incrementally. This was useful when doing 60kg x 10, as the fixed bars only went to 50kg and I personally liked the non-movement of the plates/bearings when performing this exercise.

[bozodos]

that's pretty handy - I found olympic BB easier to get off the floor, but feel it more in my shoulders. I've looked at some external rotation movements to give a go (as much as I hate the thought of using cables lol), and an interesting one using a racked barbell on the trap then raising the arm on MobilityWOD. I've had tight traps lately too, so I'm hoping its just a case of needing more mobility work in that area.

[Birds]

At a guess I would say that the Olympic bar, whilst easier to clean from the floor in the first place (both due to height and being able to pivot/rotate the bar during the clean), is less stable once overhead and therefore requires a bit more controlled stability from the shoulders than a fixed bar due to the movement of the bearings.

A mate experienced the same issue when we got in new Ironedge bars for our benches...he really didn't like using these new bars because the bearings were so fresh that it made he bar feel less stable, requiring him to use stabilizing muscles he doesn't normally use during the bench press movement.

If your shoulders are markedly sore and you are concerned, I would give them rest until they aren't. Then look at either returning to the overheads or building up stability as per what rev said. You won't lose much strength in rest time, shoulders retain their strength very well and are very quick to build it all back up again after long periods of rest. It's the hardest thing to do psychologically but you really have to focus on the long term here. Take it from anyone who has chronic shoulder injuries, they really inhibit your ability to do much else in the gym besides legs.

[bozodos]

I'm not having pain or anything like that, I can just feel it more in the shoulders. I'll try some assisted pullups, stretching etc then go back to my bench pressing and OHP and see if there's any difference after a week.

I'm probably just being overly paranoid, but it has been bugging me that my pressing movements are really lagging behind the rows, squats, deadlift.