Adarq.org

Devil's advocate: http://www.rdlfitness.com/avoid-face-pulls/

I also prefer heavy seated rows tbh.

This article seems like bunkum to me, to be honest.

"A standard cue for the face pull is to keep the elbows higher than the wrists" -- I have literally never heard this cue for a facepull, that seems to be literally the opposite idea? Also the premiss that all overhead movement is dangerous seems kinda whacko.

The nonsense claims about avoiding the movement since it doesn't use your lats is also way out there? What are they even trying to say? "Imagine that you had to pull something as hard as possible to save the life of a loved one. You would not perform a face pull." This logic rules out like 95% of what people do [safely...] in the gym (and, contrary to their earlier logic, probably brings back in the overhead press..).

There is perhaps more legitimacy to the claim about avoiding loading a muscle near it's end range, but I think in general PTs only are concerned about this when the load only begins when you're in the end rage, rather than moving through a full movement and ending there.

12-07-17

Chins
BW x 5, 5

OHP
Bar x 6
35 x 3
45 x 5
50 x 3
57.5 x 3 [+2.5kg, -1 rep...FUCK YES!]
55 x 3
50 x 3
47.5 x 5
45 x 5
42.5 x 5
40 x 8

Incline Bench
40 x 6
50 x 5
57.5 x 3, 5, 7, 4, 6, 8

Dips
BW x 13, 11, 10, 9

Cable Lateral Raise
5.7 x 11
3.4 x 18, 15, 12

Facepulls
12.5 x 17, 16, 16, 16, 15

Hammer Curls
14 x 11, 10, 8

Machine Preacher Curls
27 x 10, 10
23 x 12

Notes

Fucking thrilled with OHP. Brought dips back since elbow has felt ace, and they're fun.

10-07-17

Bench
Bar x 10
40 x 6
60 x 8
70 x 6
77.5 x 4, 4, 4
75 x 5
70x 5
65 x 6
60 x 12

SS1A Chins
BW x 5
+15 x 4, 4, 4
+10 x 5, 4, 4
BW x 8, 6

SS1B OHP
30 x 6
40 x 3
45 x 3, 5, 7, 4, 6
40 x 6

DB Row
30 x 10, 10, 10
22 x 14

DB Incline Bench
22 x 16, 13, 10

SS2A Hammer Curls
14 x 13, 11, 10

SS2B PJR Pullover
22 x 15, 15, 15

DB Lateral Raise
9 x 14, 12, 12, 11

Pallof Press
12.5 x 10, 10, 10, 10

Notes

Solid workout. All the bench stuff was fairly easy, unsurprisingly. Had a heavy drinking night on Saturday, but otherwise ate well and plenty on the weekend, which isn't always the case.

Felt very, very breathless during this workout for some reason. Needed longer than usual to catch my breath between sets. Usually I'm ready to go on accessory stuff after like 45 seconds, but just not the case today. Probably just random off day in that regard rather than something to be concerned about.

06-07-17

Deadlift
60 x 8
80 x 6
100 x 6
110 x 6
120 x 5
130 x 4, 3
110 x 7

Front Squat
60 x 3
70 x 3, 5, 7, 4, 6, 8 [quads just dead, still]

Chins
BW x 10, 8, 7, 6

Narrow+Neutral Grip Lat Pulldowns
59 x 9, 8
45 x 14, 13

Wide Grip Lat Pulldown
39 x 15, 15, 15

Neutral Grip Cable Row
52 x 8
45 x 10, 10

DB Seal Row
16 x 10, 10, 10

Back Extensions
BW x some, some, some

Notes

Went into this workout still sore everywhere, upper and lower. Back fine except on the set of 3 at 130 on deadlifts, so shall just stick to higher reps + being very careful about form. Otherwise a decent if kinda low energy/weak workout.

Edit: didn't realise at the time how close 130 was to the heaviest weights I had previously attempted on deadlift, lol. It felt rather light. I guess it's good I got stronger generally even without practicing the movement, but also shows that I should have been more cognizant about what I was doing strength-back safety-wise with today's workout.

04-07-17

Front Squat
Bar x 10, 10
40 x 5
60 x 4
75 x 5
85 x 3
95 x 3 [+5kg, -1 rep]
85 x 3
80 x 3
75 x 5
80 x 5
65 x 8

Sumo Deadlift
60 x 5
80 x 3
90 x 6, 6, 6
These are just really not clicking, so may just try out conventional deads again and see how much back deals with it. Frustrating

Bulgarian Split Squat
BW x 8
12 x 10, 10, 10

Leg Press
150 x 18, 18, 18

Leg Curl
45 x 13, 12
41 x 14

SS1A Smith Machine Calf Raise
60 x 14
90 x 10
100 x 9
110 x 7
130 x 5
90 x 13

SS1B EZ Bar Curl
35 x 7, 7, 7, 6 [will stick to this weight next time, got a bit cheaty at points, though eccentric was always slow and controlled]

Then random hanging leg raises, cable crunches and hollow body holds.

Notes

Woke up strangely early but feel well rested. Quads dead from this, oof.

30-06-17

Bench
Bar x 10
40 x 7
55 x 4
67.5 x 5
77.5 x 3
85 x 3 [+2.5kg, = reps, spotter may have touched, they claim not but I'm unsure, though I think i'd've got it anyway]
80 x 3
77.5 x 4
72.5 x 3
67.5 x 5
62.5 x 5
57.5 x 10

CGBP
55 x 3, 5, 7, 4, 6, 8

Lo->Hi Cable Flye
14 x 13, 13, 13, 11 [mmc on point here, and the peak contraction was so good]

Seated DB OHP
18 x 12, 11, 10

1.5 Style Lateral Raise
7 x 7, 7, 7, 7 [a bit too much trap involvement, may go back to 6s next week]

Lateral Raise
5 x 16, 15, 14 [this, however, destroyed my side delts]

Machine Rear Delt Flye
73 x 10
66 x 13, 12
59 x 10 [lol, big drop off here. rear delts crushed from yesterday + probably acutely from the lat raises since they're involved there]

EZ Bar Curl
32.5 x 8, 8, 8 [slow eccentric, i love this movement, best bicep feeling of anything i do]

Vic Costa V-Bar Pushdown [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtjmvc2N33A]
14 x 18, 18, 18 [absolutely loved this movement]

Incline Bench Spider Curl
6 x 14, 14, 14 [great feeling at the peak contraction here]

Incline DB Flye->Press->Hold
14 x 8, 8, 8 [no 12s available, so opted to go for 14s rather than 10s]

Hanging Leg Raises
BW x 8, 7, 7 [hard when quads are dead]

Pallof Press
7.9 x 15, 15, 15, 15 [I think this is probably better done in this sort of rep range]

Notes

Brilliant workout. Felt strong, had fun, and the mind-muscle connection was on point for basically every accessory movement. Getting 9 hours of sleep is handy. Looking forward to two days of rest, now, though.

Getting pretty close to the coveted 100kg bench, I think.

29-06-17

Sumo Deadlift
60 x 5, 5
80 x 3
90 x 3
110 x 3, 3, 3, 3

Front Squat
60 x 3
70 x 3, 5, 7, 4, 6, 8

Chins
BW x 11, 9, 8

Cable Row
61 x 9, 8 [someone left a 2kg attachment on the plates that I didn't notice]
59 x 9
45 x 14

Wide Grip Lat Pulldown
52 x 10, 9, 9
45 x 10

One arm lat pulldown
18 x 8
Actually quite liked this, really good stretch, not sure I'll actually do it that often, but still

DB Seal Row
16 x 9, 9, 9

SS1A Back Extension
BW x 16, 16, 16

SS1B Cable Crunch
39.7 x 11, 10, 10

Notes

Not much of interest here. Chins and front squats feeling strong. Sumo deadlifts are fine, not bothering my back, so will continue to up the weight there slowly.

28-06-17

Chins
BW x 6, 6

OHP
Bar x 8
30 x 5
42.5 x 5
47.5 x 3
52.5 x 5 [blargh, same as when I did this a few weeks ago]
50 x 3
47.5 x 3
45 x 5
42.5 x 5
37.5 x 5
35 x 12

Incline Bench
35 x 6
45 x 5
55 x 3, 5, 7, 4, 6, 8 [not so difficult]

SS1A Chest Supported Row
45 x 10, 10, 10, 9 [grip was giving out a bit]

SS1B Machine Dips
82 x 9, 9, 9, 9

Cable Lateral Raises
5.7 x 8
3.4 x 14, 14, 14, 12

SS2A Facepulls
19.3 x 14, 13, 13, 13, 12

SS2B Pallof Press
10.2 x 12, 12, 12, 12

Cable Pushdowns
3.4 x 40, 40, 30

Hammer Curls
12 x 16, 13, 12 [one more session at 12 then I'll move up to the 14s]

Notes

Just felt quite weak today. Grip being shitty fits with it just being a down day. Nice, then, to match a previous weight hit on a good day on the OHP. I'll move up to 55 for the top set next week and see what's what. My baseline strength is definitely going up (hitting 42.5x3,5,7,4,6,8, back off sets easier, hitting 35x12, etc), so it's just a matter of time and a good day until some nice PRs come.

The nice thing about this programme is that the accessory work is fun even after shitty main movements.