Burly Decides to Bench Again...

[JM1000]

Has work cleared up a bit for you? seems like you're getting in some pretty good sessions man!

[JM1000]

I really wish I had access to chains.

Same here, wish I could train with badass chains, bands are ok too but chains look brutal hehe, they cost a fortune too

[O_RYAN_007]

I could buy them, and I've thought about it... But I'd be carrying 120#s of chains with me into the gym! I'd def look like a MAJOR BAdass doing that ! LOL

[burlyman30]

Has work cleared up a bit for you? seems like you're getting in some pretty good sessions man!

Workload is back down to the usual hectic schedule. Only 50-70 hrs a week now. I was only getting to the gym about 2x/wk but I've been in 3x this week so far. Might squeeze in another workout this week , even.

[VayneZ]

Dips might be ok, but go wider grip (if your gym has angled or adjustable bars) to focus the stretch on the chest. You can also focus on the lower half of the exercise, which keeps the tris out of the movement. I would not focus on adding weight to the exercise though. Just light and high reps. Throwing a little blood in your tris wont hurt you unless you are tearing down the muscle again.

Good tip bro, I'll keep these in mind for next week! Thanks!

[burlyman30]

This was supposed to be a deadlift day, but I'm giving my lower back a bit more recovery time from last week. I tweaked it a bit, for those of you not following that thread, and hope to hit it this week still. We will see.

Instead, I opted for chest/arm night, AKA National Beach Muscle Workout Day, being a Monday and all.

Things went well...

Bar x 20
95 x 12
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 2
245 x 1
265 x 3 could have done another, but stayed with my plan
265 x 3 shoulder seemed a bit sore after this set and I contemplated ending here, but with a bit of time (several minutes) it felt better.
265 x 3 The third one was pretty tough, but it never stopped moving upward.

Everything went very well. My plan is to attempt the same weight for sets of 5 next week. That may be asking a lot, but it's a goal, so I will just see how it goes. If I can hit 3 sets of 5 next week (or the following week), then I will move to 280 the following workout for sets of 3, which would be 95% of my last 1RM.

[burlyman30]

24 hours later, I'm not too terribly sore. I bit, sure, but could be worse. However, my shoulder joints and surrounding tissues seem a bit inflamed/irritated and while the joint feels a little loose/unstable, I notice some of the delt muscles are tight. I'm taking the night off from the gym just to give the shoulder/rotator cuff a rest. I'm logging this to have a record I can look back on later to see if there is progression or regression of this issue.

[O_RYAN_007]

24 hours later, I'm not too terribly sore. I bit, sure, but could be worse. However, my shoulder joints and surrounding tissues seem a bit inflamed/irritated and while the joint feels a little loose/unstable, I notice some of the delt muscles are tight. I'm taking the night off from the gym just to give the shoulder/rotator cuff a rest. I'm logging this to have a record I can look back on later to see if there is progression or regression of this issue.

Good feedback, and thanks for the updates.

[burlyman30]

I think this is a great vid!

Myofascial release and Biomechanics for the forearm, tricep and shoulder - YouTube

I finally reviewed this and a couple others from the same PTs. I knew my shoulder mobility was reduced, but until I actually tried to lift my arm overhead as in the video, I had no idea how much. I cannot get my arms straight up. At all. They veer forward at probably a 20-25 degree angle. Where the guy in the video could get his arm past his ear... mine is about where my nose is.

I think this is beyond my skills, as I don't think the stuff in the video is applicable in my situation. When I lift my arms up, it's not my tricep that's too tight. My pec major/minor isn't really keeping the arm from rising, either. It feels like the actual joint has a stopping point built inside it. There's no pain when I do that. It just stops. Both arms are about the same.

[Sperwer]

I finally reviewed this and a couple others from the same PTs. I knew my shoulder mobility was reduced, but until I actually tried to lift my arm overhead as in the video, I had no idea how much. I cannot get my arms straight up. At all. They veer forward at probably a 20-25 degree angle. Where the guy in the video could get his arm past his ear... mine is about where my nose is.

I think this is beyond my skills, as I don't think the stuff in the video is applicable in my situation. When I lift my arms up, it's not my tricep that's too tight. My pec major/minor isn't really keeping the arm from rising, either. It feels like the actual joint has a stopping point built inside it. There's no pain when I do that. It just stops. Both arms are about the same.

Interesting. Although mine is clearly the result of two injuries - one in a helicopter crash and the other in an motorcycle accident, 20 years apart - I have a similar problem with my left shoulder. I can get it back a little farther than you, but it hurts like hell if I push it, and it makes it almost impossible to do DB Presses (unless the left is way forward). I was aware of all this because of the increasing stiffness and regular pain, but I really didn't appreciate its full extent until I saw my double biceps pose, where the right forearm is perpendicular to the floor and parallel to my body or even a bit to the rear, but my left arm is cocked forward about 15 degrees. Some of the informal pics also revealed just how round and stoop-shouldered I was/am if I'm not thinking about it. As I later learned. My head also was/is thrust forward about 17% from vertical.

This all led me to check out the office of a local chiropractor trained in NY, who also has some massage therapists and yoga and Pilates experts (who specialize in customized therapeutic/rehabilitative techniques in addition to the regular routines). He did a full body scan and exam, which was very revealing regarding the degree of shoulder, general thoracic and especially scapular immobilization I had/have - the result of the damage resulting from the previously untreated injuries, 20-40 years of unconscious compensatory adjustments and age-related calcification of the resulting bone structures and movement patterns.

Since I had a good feeling about the ability of this fellow and his crew to improve things, and I had some extra cash on hand, I signed on for 2 months of Pilates/Myofascial release massage/ chiro 3 times a week - basically to see what could be accomplished before the contest at the end of this month. The usual routine is an hour of very intense Pilates "stretching" followed by a 30 minute massage that targets the areas just worked along with any other obvious problem areas, then 20-30 minutes of (sometimes excruciating) chiro. The chiro is totally hands on - no machines - knows what I need and want and basically works on pulling apart all the muscle, connective tissue and bone adhesions at the very limit of what I can tolerate; I usually go in early in the morning before any other clients, because I invariably end up grunting and yelling in a way that probably would scare off the other clientele. The chiro says I have a very high pain threshold, and we now have a bet about whether he can actually make me cry - I say he can. LOL.

I'm now a month into it, and I am very happy with the results. My left shoulder mobility still is significantly limited, but improved. My posture is now naturally more upright, and after a little loosening up I can put the back of my head comfortably on the ground when I'm lying down on a hard surface (instead of using 2 Pilates blocks to hold it up). Scapular mobility is tremendously improved and is immediately apparent in the scope of the lat spread I can now produce w/out rounding my shoulders forward. General thoracic mobility also is dramatically improved, although there is still room for more work because of the locked down character of my mid-thoracic vertebrae. This morning we worked on my hips - basically a move that is almost a hip dislocation.

This also all is a great workout. I'm usually sweating bullets by the time it's over, and the energy expenditure is so high that I go into fat-burning mode. In order to test that last notion, the past couple of sessions,I've applied Dermatherm before going in. My experience with DT is that I feel nothing when I apply it, but later, when I've been working out or doing cardio intensely enough, it starts burning like all get out. It usually takes about 20-30 minutes of cardio to get the effect. I was there after 15 minutes of the Pilates stuff.

I encourage anyone with any hint of mobility problems to take a close look at these sorts of therapy, especially of you are holder or have had injuries. I wish I had done so at least 20 years ago, if not earlier.