rev210

See the guys at Muscle Pit , it's a fair bit closer to Leesh (south of the river). Henry Day is a top bloke.

You need some help. The form is not good. * You aren't smooth you are lifting with your arms. Get this right on the setup. You should have them in stretched position as you launch so there is no slack. That doesn't mean the upper arm muscles are tense. The grip however should be, like crushing the bar in your hands. * Your hips are much too far back. This makes the posterior chain work much harder (your sore back) * Is there something you like looking at to the left on every rep? Stop doing that. And so on...... Go with the plan to get someone to show you.

As mentioned plyometrics for deads? I wouldn't think that would do much. I did this years ago for running, like Markos said you don't spend much time on them. You also need some good recovery time between sessions in a week/month to help prevent hurting tendons and joints. CNS for deads I imagine, would include targeting different phases, probably look at the part of the movement you are weakest at. I only have limited knowledge but, I would think there are plenty of variations like heavier block/rack lifts and using bands. Maybe there is some sort of dead lift drill where you lift out of a rack at close to lock out height and then lower and lift to allow an explosive stretch/ contraction? Lots of people seem to have issues getting out of the starting blocks which I think has as much to do with technique for the setup.

Dan, Can't see any vids of your form (they seem to be removed?). Like anything Form is critical, someone who knows what they are looking at is helpful. Lacking flexibillity in the hips will cause issues. Not being able to feel and setup your back so it's in good postion will lead to rounding and hurt. There is alot to work out for form.Setup with the knees 'under' the chest etc.. lock the arms and make sure you aren't lfiting with balance emphasis on the ball of the foot or toes. Rocking back on the heels to get the tension out of the arms, the list goes on.

This statement highlights a thought process that needs to be discarded dude. It's responsible for the pudding you are trying to lose and it's just hanging back waiting for you to stop the 'strict' part. Being 'strict' on yourself ? You need to find a way to change that thinking so you are 'rewarding' yourself. To a new enjoyable way of looking, eating and living. It's not about kidding yourself , the hardest part of diet/lifestyle isn't the calculations , it's getting a structure that you like and could live off for the rest of your life. As an example , I enjoyed 3 dundee IPA's and a pasta meal last night. It's what I do and it's part of my lifestyle and although it may seem not efficient to help the fat loss part in achievement of my goals for physique, it's got another role to play my goal, reward. You could ask the question ' do I want to keep this up the rest of my life ? ' . If the answer is no, then perhaps your physique and lifestyle journey will have an end? Then return slowly to where you were before you started? This happens everyday to people with the 'being strict' thinking. It can be like torture and eventually ,given long enough time, everyone under those conditions cracks. Then again , you could just want to do this like climbing everest. No one wants to live up there but, you can at least tick it off the bucket list. I appreciate the challenge is there ,so if you can look for ways where you are 'more' rewarded or satisfied with what you are eating and doing. That will still give results you will be proud of but, it might just be a longer term transofrmation. You will have changed yourself (mind/thinking) not your diet.

This diet thing people are on the rage about.... From what I can read into this Birds is attempting to make an argument (aggressively, even poorly perhaps) for a 'lifestyle' approach for appearence focused training/eating. I agree with this. Adopt a lifestyle change of training and eating that matches your goals. The body basically will end up looking like you live, long term. On the other hand however, quantification of macros can help people understand how much and how many when it comes to rough serving sizes and nutrition. It helps for some people to understand why and what's going on to build the trust in what can be a rather radical change. There is often alot of fairly normal fear around going backwards , getting sick or doing things wrong. Learning about food is a good thing. Macro obsession, unless you are in a race to achieve a body fat reduction or entering competitions, then the super micro management of the daily food intake is actually overkill. Long term it's really 'dieting' , you can expect to lose gains the moment the eye is off the ball and you start eating what you denied yourself. To settle differences over this perhaps there is an idea for a body transform challenge thread? As it's asthetics a poll would determine the ultimate winners.

Nitrous is a way of boosting horsepower and torque. No inherant 'risk' that is different to other forms of tuning . The fnf franchise is not an education on this topic. Things to consider; The horsepower and Torque limits of the engine and drivetrain. A simplistic way to understand this. If you have 200kw and the internals limit somwhere is 300kw thenyou have 100kw to play with. Nitrous and or turbo bolt ons etc. leave you 100kw to play with. The fuel system needs to be able to deliver the fuel. The engine timing needs to be adjusted / mapped with a reduction in advance. Copper plugs with appropriate gaps and heat range. It's the cheapest way to add significant horsepower to a stocker for 1/4mile use. I would suggest that 10 seconds isn't out of the question with the car setup and motor and turbo stock. The risk is the same for breakage for a similar powered turbo upgrade, however in a basic control (no two stage) big shot there is going to be bulk torque over a turbo size for the same power and that torque will put more hurt on the drive train and the rods in the motor. It's cheap to do and you get good value for events like that. I'd reccomend it for sure. Appart from using some bigger single kits on V8's. I have experience putting a kit on a standard turbo and motor R33 gtst. 2rismo bought the bits off me then upgraded it further (he ran 11's on a stock turbo'd motor with a small shot). My view is that you could setup a bigger hit and get a stock motor & turbo gtst into 10's with the right strategy. No special fuel. It's pretty easy and you won't regret it. Just ensure you do it in a way that is legal (have the kit easy to remove and install) and do it properly with a plan in mind , considering the limits and supporting modifications you would do for any power upgrade.

ac will foul when you have rotator damage due to inflamation. It can take upto 6 months to set right (the muscles don't really get rest as they are used all the time). Don't be tempted back to the bench until you have ROM + equal strength. Keep up the rehab suff going plus some pro-prioception excersises, these will help get rid of clicking.

They are keen . Their mum is far more commited to training than I am, so these girls have a good role model.

double post...

Thanks Leesh. It was a great day Spent the birthday at Waterbom (bali) with the kids. Progress (lack of) pic below ha ha... I have some work to do as mentioned. The trip to Bali with the cheap food and bintangs didn't help too much ha ha....

The consideration of how far to go is really good. Building a solid plan for that limit is the next step. This includes how strong supporting muscles should be and the priority of training them. You can exceed that limit easy enough. The injury was at a weak link so it's less about bench pressing causing it and more about the underdevelopment or readiness of the rotator. I think you will find learning and adapting to that understanding will see incidental gains. The 115kg could be a warm up in time to come. Then again maybe you don't need to lift heavy if you just like the asthetics of chest development. Then you can dispense of the risk and stick to an efficient level of weight or skip bench altogether. You have the opportunity to recover and be more than you were or at least stronger where it counts , in knowledge. I'm going ok at 40, so I reckon you will be right once you get there mate ha ha..

Either way (including calcium cassinate), easiest way to mix is with a stick blender in a tall cup , I do oats plus frozen blue berries as my breakfast with some non flavoured pure protien. Simple clean up and ready in seconds. Concentrate is slightly slower to digest vs isolate (both are rapidly absorbed however , so work as post workout pretty well). If you don't care about taste ,Concentrate is the way to go.

Aproaching D-day for the 40 goal but, it's turning into a longer term thing (fit in the 40th year?). I had some big set backs since I last posted started getting in the way. It's a learning thing as you try to get stronger mentally against the 'excuses'. My job pressure took all my momentum out till the other day I handed my notice in. It's still just an excuse that I need to learn to remove from looking after my fitness goals. I am slowly getting back on track but, the lack of eating (skipping meals to get work done) has taken a toll. I don't think I have gone too far backwards in physique but, strength is down and so is flexibillity. I tested my self yesterday with some push ups. A few sets with about 45-60 sec rests and then an all out (managed 70 pushups in a row). The baseline of 70 seems ok. I do these strict. I should try to get 100 out in a row. * 26 reps * 26 reps * 33 reps * Scapular pushups 20 reps * 70 reps

birds. The issue with your shoulder is long standing. It will mean that connecting muscles need active release. This includes the pecs and bicep insetions. A good physio will do ART (active release therapy) , you will have a nice bruise on the chest and biceps afterwards. It's pretty easy to test for muscle knots. Lay down on your back on the floor. One arm straight out to the side. Keep the arm straight and bring the hand up so it's pointing to the ceiling. As you do this movement jam you thumb in around where the pec connects to the shoulder. You will notice tight muscles as you try different spots. You can use the same technique to un-knot just use more force on the knotted muscle. How do you go for the broomstick shoulder dislocation stretch?(example vid below, although do it slower than shown) You can do this with bands to strengthen also but, the broomstick is better to start.This will also sometimes help if you have a clicky shoulder by working the scapular and supporting muscles in controlled motion.

If you can't get into the right position to stabilise muscles then it makes sense it might give some grief. That in turn tightens the ROM and so on. These ROM tests aren't gymnastic levels just regular ,what should be a pretty natural position.

Two areas that are most common and also connected. Shoulders & Thorasic ROM and strength. I am doing work on some pretty awefull thorasic ROM I have (people who do office work syndrome). My shoulder ROM is getting better but, I haven't been putting in the time I should. I know what it's like to have it right on both fronts so trust me it's worth it getting back there. Tests are on the web to look at. Here's a basic one for thorasic. Lie down on the floor, back flat against it. Your knees should be up with your feet and glutes flat on the floor. Lock your elbows and bring your arms directly overhead, attempting to touch your wrists to the ground above your head. Make sure to maintain contact between your lower back and the floor; don’t arch your back to get your hands in place. If you can’t touch your wrists to the ground, you have poor thoracic mobility. To put a scapular variation on this , point the thumbs up and try and touch them on the ground. This should be completed with no strain. If you have any pain or discomfort don't push through it, just work out where you end up, that is your baseline. For shoulders two basic tests ; Test A -- position 1) grab a couple of pencils or sticks in each of your fists. 2) raise the arms straight ahead of you so that the sticks point upwards 3) now let the arms just drop totally relaxed, don't control the decent at all. 4) note the angles of the pencils/sticks. 5) If they are both pointing straight ahead and parrallel to the floor then it's good. You might find them pointing slightly downward and inwards. If so shoulder work probably needed. One may be on more of an angle , that shoulder is worse. 6) Notice the difference if you concentrate on good posture shoulders back etc. Rather than work into this position you need to relax into it. Test B -- ROM 1) Reach behind the head with one arm (palm facing the back and touching in between shoulder blades. 2) with the other arm reach up from underneath palm outwards and try to link up the fingers. * Fingers touching or being able to monkey grip = good * Fingers just touching = ok * 2 inches away = need work * More than two inches = bad If you fail at the above then bench press will simply bitch slap your issues into progressively worse condition. Bench press is something people should consider alternatives for unless they are biomechanically designed for it or need to do it for competitions. You can build pecs without it but, if you are going to do it, then consider being fit for it in the first place.

fixed

Feeling pain or not, isn't a good indicator with the rotator for recovery. The pain is there when the swelling goes up and that can take a few minutes to an hour before you start hurting. Hence your bench blew it out but, you didn't feel it till later on a relatively light excersise. You can have deterioration in the muscle without feeling it as pain, so be carefull. testing very carefully the 'weakness' is the way to go. You want the strength to be at least that of the unijured side. Bench press isn't a rehab movement for this injury. Don't bother with it. Even the empty bar bench doesn't address anything related and you just look like a feeb doing it.

Pfft...shoulder care. Rev stuff is shoulder strength. You will press your body weight above your head for reps sucka

The damage occured on that first bench press. It takes some time for the inflamation to build on rotator injuries. Don't worry you will recover. Ice the rotator area regularly and anti-inflamitory pills and arnica cream. When you are fixed up , get the shoulders tough and you won't look back. At least you can do bro-press with less risk.

Do you have degeneration of some kind in the spine? If not then corrective strength training along with healing is all you need. I have had a full on accident that injured my spine years ago and hurt my back a few times in the past. I would consider it a non -issue for me now my back is very strong. Not had any issues since. By all means do deadlifts , do them at a higher rep level / lighter weight. Along with back extensions and movements to increase hip ROM and things will look better in your future for sure.

8-8-6 is what you did. Is it enough to stimulate muscle growth is the only question to ask yourself. Do you need to work more? That's really upto testing the results , by seeing if you gain between the workouts. Bad form is never a good plan (even partial/cheat curls have a correct form).You want 2 more reps? If you think you need more work then alter the other variables but, also consider avoiding overtraining.

Remember you aren't doing movements to make a number, it's to stimulate muscle growth only.. Cheating is asking for injury. Increase the weight when the load is too easy and drop it when it's too hard. Keep the form.

Boys need to work on the lifts so we can keep up with the girls ha ha... Aneta at 75kg 31yrs old . Her best results ; 270kg deadlift . 245kg squat . 135kg bench. ouch!