Gym Routine

[Stevo985]

How highly do people rate dumbell rows?

Because I hate them. So much so that I've completely stopped doing them.

[BOF]

Never liked them. Never do them.

[sexbelowsound]

How highly do people rate dumbell rows?

Because I hate them. So much so that I've completely stopped doing them.

I used to like do them a lot but haven't done them in ages. I find the seated row is much better.

What are you doing instead?

[JB]

Done properly, I think they're awesome and one of my favourite back exercises. Can lift heavy and with high volume. A lot of people do them with shocking form, though. Need a straight upper back, then nice stretch at the bottom of the movement and scapular retraction and a squeeze at the top. Do you do them on a bench? I much prefer them with my non-working hand resting on a stable object. Helps you go a bit deeper at the bottom.

Personally, I hate barbell rows. Can't get anywhere as much of a stretch or lift as heavy. 

[Stevo985]

How highly do people rate dumbell rows?

Because I hate them. So much so that I've completely stopped doing them.

I used to like do them a lot but haven't done them in ages. I find the seated row is much better.

What are you doing instead?

I do barbell rows and seated rows.

 

I can just never seem to do DB rows properly. Even with light weight I can't seem to hit the right muscles. Or at least it doesn't feel like I'm hitting them. It's probably a form issue but I@ve tried again and again to do it properly.

Anyway, I feel much more comfortable doing BB rows and seated rows.

[JB]

I've been incorporating a lot of "dead stops" and holds into my back training for the last few months and seeing really good results. 

Try this superset and see how you get on:

Set a bench to a low incline and lie face down.

A. Dead-stop DB or EZ bar low-incline rows x 12-15 (if you have short arms use some weight plates on the floor to help you set the weights down) Slow the tempo down to make it even better.

B. Plate hold x 20-30 seconds (pull a weight plate against the bottom of the bench as hard as you can while squeezing the shoulder blades together) 

3-4 sets

Dead-stops involve setting the weight back and  lifting it from the floor on each rep (with a slight pause inbetween). This takes the stretch reflex out of the movement and increases the challenge/increases muscle fibre recruitment. Isometric holds are a great way of increasing time under tension and getting some more volume in. As ever with back training, focus on retracting the shoulder blades and leading with the elbow. 

Edited September 25, 2015 by JB

[Stevo985]

Bulk is going steady at 1 pound per week. Funny thing is I actually feel like I'm still losing fat, which is a good sign!

Much better than last time when i think I put on 5lbs in the first week

Edited September 28, 2015 by Stevo985

[Stevo985]

The strawberry cream that I usually get is lovely. I use it on porridge to sweeten it up instead of he much less healthy alternative of sugar. It's lovely stuff.

But this peanut butter is rank. No chance will that be going on my porridge.

This peanut butter shake (it's actually peanut butter cookie I discovered) is still rank to drink.

But as it turns out, in porridge it's delicious! So a happy ending after all.

I'm sure you can all rest easy now

[BOF]

The strawberry cream that I usually get is lovely. I use it on porridge to sweeten it up instead of he much less healthy alternative of sugar. It's lovely stuff.

But this peanut butter is rank. No chance will that be going on my porridge.

This peanut butter shake (it's actually peanut butter cookie I discovered) is still rank to drink.

But as it turns out, in porridge it's delicious! So a happy ending after all.

I'm sure you can all rest easy now

Thank God I have proper closure on this   Don't leave it so long next time.

[villaglint]

Calling Dr JB !! Calling Dr JB !!

I have been playing football all my life and these days I play 6 a side on a Tuesday evening. Its a pretty good standard and I am waaay too competitive so I tend to leave everything on the pitch every week. No matter how hard I try I can't take it easy and coast through a game.

However these days I am genuinely fxxxkd the next day and sometimes several days after. I am only 32 so not that old. I have been managing it for the last 6-9 months but its starting to piss me off because sometimes the general aches and tightness I'm left with (usually hamstrings, glutes lower back) is creeping into Friday and leg day which is causing me to miss the odd one through fear of making things worse. I always do a full warm up before the game and stretch down afterwards.

My current thinking is that the aches brought on by the twisting and turning are exposing a general tightness in those areas so I am trying to work on that through the week with foam roller, massage ball and stretching routine.

I am wondering whether I need to find another game at the weekend to build up the base layer of fitness. The Tuesday game is the only cardio I am doing at the minute and I'm wondering whether that shock to the system each week is what is causing the aches to last so long.

Also pondering an ice bath after the game but it seems a bit extreme as I'm no professional athlete and it is just a friendly game of football at the end of the day.

Any thoughts (not just from JB) would be very much appreciated.

 

 

[Stevo985]

My suggestion was going to be a foam roller for the legs, but you've already got that covered.

 

If it's just muscle pain and not an injury then maybe a jog or something in the week might help. Might loosen up the muscles before leg day.

[villaglint]

I often wondered myself whether its muscle pain or an injury. Honest answer is I dont know.

I am always fine by the time next Tuesday comes round which makes me think its just muscle aches. But it always comes back on Wed morning which makes me think perhaps it is some really light strain (possibly on my hamstring) which is causing the muscles around it to overcompensate.

 

[PongRiddims]

I often wondered myself whether its muscle pain or an injury. Honest answer is I dont know.

I am always fine by the time next Tuesday comes round which makes me think its just muscle aches. But it always comes back on Wed morning which makes me think perhaps it is some really light strain (possibly on my hamstring) which is causing the muscles around it to overcompensate.

 

Maybe your hammys have shortened? Happened to my right one about 30, and that was after years of football and in later days some serious running. Caused me no end of problems, started with hip and move into back, ended up off work for six weeks with sciatica, and never got back to 100% since.

[JB]

Calling Dr JB !! Calling Dr JB !!

I have been playing football all my life and these days I play 6 a side on a Tuesday evening. Its a pretty good standard and I am waaay too competitive so I tend to leave everything on the pitch every week. No matter how hard I try I can't take it easy and coast through a game.

However these days I am genuinely fxxxkd the next day and sometimes several days after. I am only 32 so not that old. I have been managing it for the last 6-9 months but its starting to piss me off because sometimes the general aches and tightness I'm left with (usually hamstrings, glutes lower back) is creeping into Friday and leg day which is causing me to miss the odd one through fear of making things worse. I always do a full warm up before the game and stretch down afterwards.

My current thinking is that the aches brought on by the twisting and turning are exposing a general tightness in those areas so I am trying to work on that through the week with foam roller, massage ball and stretching routine.

I am wondering whether I need to find another game at the weekend to build up the base layer of fitness. The Tuesday game is the only cardio I am doing at the minute and I'm wondering whether that shock to the system each week is what is causing the aches to last so long.

Also pondering an ice bath after the game but it seems a bit extreme as I'm no professional athlete and it is just a friendly game of football at the end of the day.

Any thoughts (not just from JB) would be very much appreciated.

 

 

Well I'm not a doctor or physio so don't put too much stall in what I'm saying but I've seen and experienced stuff similar to your symptoms a fair bit. The reasons COULD be one or more of the following:

1. Lack of conditioning. As you suggest, you might not be physically "fit" enough to cope/recover. Solution: do more conditioning work (steady-state low intensity, intervals, sprints etc).

2. Tightness: judging by the areas where you've described your tightness, this sounds more likely and you could probably benefit from daily stretching of commonly tight areas like hips flexors, hamstrings and glutes/piriformis. Tightness in these areas (as well as lats) can cause lower back pain/tightness, which is often just "referred" pain. Dynamic stretching is generally better before exercise with static after. I've started doing 30-60 second stretches for these body parts every (most) morning and feel a lot better and suffer from a lot less tightness. Foam rolling before stretching really helps. Focus on IT band, hamstrings, quads and maybe lats. I use a lacrosse ball on the glutes. Bear in mind that long periods of sitting contribute to tightness as hip flexors (and sometimes hamstrings) are shortened in a typical sitting position. I try and stay on my feet for as much of the day as possible. Admittedly, that's a bit easier with my job.

3. Locking knees too early on deadlift: if you deadlift, then this is really common. If I **** up and do this myself, particularly when going heavy, I really feel it for the next few days. Simply put, locking out the knees too early in the deadlift takes tension off the hamstrings and puts it onto the lower back, which never leads to good things. At the top of the lift, knees and hips should lock out at roughly the same time. Try and keep tension on the hamstrings for as long as possible during the eccentric part of the lift.

[JB]

**** didn't follow my own advice from number 3 yesterday... Aiming for three sets of 5 on 190kg deadlift. All was going well until the last set where I felt things starting to go wrong form-wise... Wasn't in any pain, though, so was determined (stupidly) to finish the set. Knees were locking way too early meaning that my lower back bore the brunt of the load. Didn't start hurting until late last night but it's absolutely **** today. Goddamn it.

I have a real love/hate relationship with the deadlift! Do it right and my back feels amazing - push it too hard, which inevitably leads to a balls-up, and it messes me up for days.

[Stevo985]

**** didn't follow my own advice from number 3 yesterday... Aiming for three sets of 5 on 190kg deadlift. All was going well until the last set where I felt things starting to go wrong form-wise... Wasn't in any pain, though, so was determined (stupidly) to finish the set. Knees were locking way too early meaning that my lower back bore the brunt of the load. Didn't start hurting until late last night but it's absolutely **** today. Goddamn it.

I have a real love/hate relationship with the deadlift! Do it right and my back feels amazing - push it too hard, which inevitably leads to a balls-up, and it messes me up for days.

Exactly the same. I've got a bit of a dodgy lower back anyway so it's quite easy for me to tweak it.

I find it really hard to realllly push myself with deadlifts not. I can still lift heavy, but I struggle to progress because I'm afraid of pushing myself too far.

[JB]

Not sure what it is about deadlifts that makes me so impatient but I just can't help pushing it with them... I'm far happier taking the slow and steady approach with everyting else. Since starting them again earlier this year, I haven't noticed any improvements in terms of muscle or carry-over strength. All they've done for me is get me stronger doing deadlifts (and maybe made my back feel better when I've done them properly). There's nothing more satisfying in the gym than a good deadlift but sometimes I wonder if they're worth it on the risk/reward scale, particularly given my lack of discipline when it comes to weight selection...

[Stevo985]

That's why i gave them up for a few months after my holiday.

The reward wasn't enough for the risk imo. I was regularly tweaking my back. nothing severe, just pushing that bit too hard on the last rep or two and being a bit immobile the next day.

The few month break from deadlifts has made my back feel much better. but I've lost loads of strength.

[JB]

Doing deadlifts didn't make me stronger at anything other than deadlifts. My other lifts increased at the same rate they were before. I didn't deadlift for two years and then when I came back to them earlier this year I was still relatively strong on them. In fact I haven't got much stronger on them since. My head is saying ditch them but as I say, it's a pretty satisfying lift...

[YGabbana]

This is why i prefer rack pulls over deadlifts, takes out the first part of the movement.

Back in the gym after a month yesterday and suprisingly havnt lost any strength. Im on a bulk now until january