Author Topic: chasing athleticism  (Read 930317 times)

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entropy

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Re: chasing athleticism
« Reply #540 on: December 14, 2012, 02:20:31 am »
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Yup... it's the glutes for the BSS.

Quite so. But I think in hindsight I was too forward from the bench, so I made it glute dominant? I'll experiment with positioning and try to nail down. I did find as the day went on there was some slight, very faint quad doms too. I never get quad fatigue from gym work - only from sprinting so that's still a good sign i'm on the right track.

Oh and the other thing I wanna make a note of. The left side of my abs are very sore. Like painfully, not doms maybe like a strain or something. I like this cause I always knew my left side of abs are very weak for some reason. So BSS might cure that imbalance too. Fucking A - that's not a bad thing at all if it fixes all these symmetry problems I have.

Quote
Listen, if I were you I'd do something like a 3x5 back squat (full) and then finish up with a 2x20 quarter squat for the quads. I'm actually doing that (+these in the video) in my volume day, but I'm using 8x5 + 2x20 partial leg presses for quad development.

I can't BS though otherwise i'd go for it. BS shows up a horrible bilateral imbalance. FS don't that's why I'm going to keep focusing on FS. Hopefully BSS will cure my (leg) imbalance so I can use BS later though? But supposing BSS makes my leg stronger then why the fuck would I even bother with BS then lol. And i'm not going to risk my knees by doing heavy partial squats right now while cutting because I already push them too much as it is with all the front squats and heavy partials will punish my knees even more than they already are.

Quote
If you have a slope (a hill or whatever) near you you could also do backward sprints uphill... or even pull your car going backwards (or a sled or something).

This I can try and I will give it a shot as a conditioning thing as well. Thanks for the ideas.

So today i'll try the TKEs (thanks lbss), closer hopefully quad dominant BSSs and some conditioning work incorporating some extra quad work. lets see how it goes.

i'm almost considering going full adarqui mode and embracing reverse hypertrophy ideals. I hate that bileteral exercises haven't done much for me at all and im close to doing walking lunges with 30lb weights while holding a knife btw my teeth.


Back Squat ×
Front Squat ✓
BSS ✓
Pendlay Rows ✓
Good mornings ✓

I shied away from rows because I was told they fatigue the lower back too much esp if you're backsquatting & deadlifting. And since i'm not backsquatting or deadlifting, rows are good because they will strengthen my back and make be a better bencher, chinuper etc. Ditto with good mornings - i was a hell of a good morning'er thanks to all the squat mornings ive done in the past. Time to get all that back strength back. I want a big solid lower back and GMs and PRs is the way i'll retrain and build back strength.

BSS for fixing my strength imbalance. This one is a no brainer. Legs are unilteral, why persist with the bilateral exercise which has clearly not done the job - out go backsquats into the bin.

Front squats i still like as a squat for aesthetic reasons but I dont know how useful this exercise is anymore. It has no doubt helped me to correct squatmorningness but since i'm not backsquatting that's not a huge plus. I wanted to use it to build big strong legs and i'm sure that front squats do that so long as you do them right. But mine aren't leg dominant and there isn't much more to say about it. If my legs are stronger I can front squat more. But the converse doesn't seem to have happened - being able to front squat more hasnt made my legs stronger. I might push my FS up to 120kg and then just go on maintenance mode while focusing on bss.

So going forward - more unilateral work for legs using bss. More back specific work using gms and pendlay rows. maintain fs and bs. Give it a few months, see what happens. Hopefully good things.
« Last Edit: December 14, 2012, 03:34:10 am by entropy »
Goals: Cutting to 6-8% bodyfat

entropy

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Re: chasing athleticism -- w3d5
« Reply #541 on: December 14, 2012, 02:52:54 am »
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Training
BP 1x80, 1x82.5, 1x85, 1x87.5, 0x90, 1x90
« Last Edit: December 14, 2012, 03:34:47 am by entropy »
Goals: Cutting to 6-8% bodyfat

Raptor

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Re: chasing athleticism
« Reply #542 on: December 14, 2012, 07:33:54 am »
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If you're using the BSS to fix imbalances, do your weak leg first and limit the volume of the strong leg to that of the weak one (if you do 4 reps with the weak leg, do 4 reps with the strong leg).

You could also do light weight, big volume partial squats. Think 20 rep sets 1/2-1/4 squats for VMO development. That's what I do (I use the leg press though) after your main (BSS in this case) exercise which is already pretty glute dominant the way you do it. If you use lightweight in the partial squat then your bilateral imbalance shouldn't be so obvious since you're not going extremely heavy where one part (one leg) will really push and the other will really slack.

entropy

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Re: chasing athleticism
« Reply #543 on: December 15, 2012, 01:01:58 am »
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Will do. Thank you.


My abs have started to feel better. Not sure whether I should take the weekend off training to allow it to fully heal up or just train and hope it's nothing.
Goals: Cutting to 6-8% bodyfat

entropy

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Re: chasing athleticism -- w2d6
« Reply #544 on: December 15, 2012, 09:07:57 am »
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Training
FS 1x90, 1x100, 1x105, 1x110, 1x112.5, 0x120
BS 3x90, 2x100, 2x110, 3x100, 5x90
BSS 3x30, 2x6x40, 6Rx40
WC 3xBW, 1x88.8, 1x93.8, 1x103.8, 0x108.8

BW: 77kg

FS notes:
On a better day I would have got that 120kg PR .. but today I couldn't lock it out. I put it down to residual quad fatigue from weds BSS.

BS notes:
Filmed some sets from the front showing the lack of symmetry which i'm hoping BSS will fix.

BSS notes:
Got 6 challenging reps with right leg and used that same weight for L leg which found it ezy in comparison. So the imbalance is clearly there. Lets see what the BSS can do for me in fixing this problem. Did an extra set with the R leg. Next time will do 2 more sets with the R leg.

WC notes:
Just can't lock out that +30kg PR damn... but I will one day. In the meantime I was messing around with 1arm chins using 2 fingers from the other hand for a slight amount of help and found I could pretty much do the chin. Maybe if I work hard on it, i could get that 1arm chin as well. Not worth much when you're approaching 165lb BW but still it's something. I haven't felt such a burn in my bicepts from any other exercise which is cool.

Warmed up with TKEs. I like these will keep doing them.
« Last Edit: December 15, 2012, 10:29:03 am by entropy »
Goals: Cutting to 6-8% bodyfat

entropy

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Re: chasing athleticism
« Reply #545 on: December 16, 2012, 12:08:24 am »
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Wicked doms in glutes again. Thinking of re-starting daily TM since weight loss has stalled for a few weeks.

update - I've got doms in my L leg. Doh. That's the wrong leg lol. I want doms in my weaker R leg :( I'm guessing the FS, BS are so L dominant that the additional BSS with the L leg led to DOMS. And yet R leg which is the weaker leg has no DOMS whatsover.

oh snap i think i know what's going on. I bet i'm managing to do the BSS with the weak leg with the strong leg. I need to consciously work on using only the weak leg out of the bottom. note to self.

Also doms in right calf.  Doms in lower back too.


I dont have dbs but I really wanna do more unilateral work with not just lower body but also upper body. i've known for a while that my bench is limited by my R side being weaker than my L for example. Really tempted to join a gym just for access to dbs. I remember trying using the bb with uneven loading, so if i'm focusing on R side, i'd load the L side lighter. Might try that again. I bet i can get my bench moving by bringing up my weak side. Hmmmmmm.


omgs damn this hunger. im finding it extremely hard to stay on the diet while im surrounded by temptations........ i thought getting abs would be hard work, but i didn't know i would have to be so hungry :(
« Last Edit: December 16, 2012, 08:27:02 am by entropy »
Goals: Cutting to 6-8% bodyfat

entropy

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Re: chasing athleticism
« Reply #546 on: December 17, 2012, 08:16:28 am »
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Came off the rails pretty bad. Think i might stop cutting now, i'm annoyed with myself for not taking ECA to deal with hunger which lead to bad binging. I held off using the stimulant stack cause I wanted to get down to 75kg first since i was "saving" them for when I "really need" them later on. Which in hindsight was now. It's my body it's had enough of dieting and just leads me down to insatiable binging.
Goals: Cutting to 6-8% bodyfat

Mikey

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Re: chasing athleticism
« Reply #547 on: December 17, 2012, 08:23:24 am »
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At least you can add some muscle now :strong:
I wouldn't worry too much about it bro. Just clean bulk for a few months up to low 80s or something and than try and cut down again. This time you'll have more strength and muscle anyway so when you cut down you'll look heaps better at 75kg.
"IMO, It didn't happen if it's not on vid/official"- adarqui

It's easier to keep up than it is to catch up...

Raptor

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Re: chasing athleticism
« Reply #548 on: December 17, 2012, 08:27:51 am »
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Any idea what's your bodyfat right now? I know I've asked in the past but are you still dropping down on the bodyfat %?

entropy

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Re: chasing athleticism
« Reply #549 on: December 17, 2012, 09:13:58 am »
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At least you can add some muscle now :strong:
I wouldn't worry too much about it bro. Just clean bulk for a few months up to low 80s or something and than try and cut down again. This time you'll have more strength and muscle anyway so when you cut down you'll look heaps better at 75kg.

I wish I was in a position to add mass now! But reality is I still have a fair bit of back bacon left to shed lol. If only I could slice that shit off with a knife. If I clean bulked now I would probably just get really fat again since it would just increase (even only slightly) my current bodyfat which is too high. it would make more sense to be stopping a bulk at my current bodyfat than it would to start one here.

raptor i'm probably around 15% give or take. Maybe as low as 13% and as high as 16%. I dunno exactly. I have a full flexed 4 pac. but still got a fair of fat around my gut and lower back to lose.

Should I just take the ECA now and see what happens? Or save it for later when getting from 75kg to a ripped 72kg?


Goals: Cutting to 6-8% bodyfat

entropy

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Re: chasing athleticism
« Reply #550 on: December 17, 2012, 10:47:33 am »
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Training
FS 1x90, 1x100, 1x107.5, 0x110, 3x100, 2x96, 2x90, 2x60

FS notes:
I'm at a loss at understanding this lack of symmetry -

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl_kVJUKlAE" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl_kVJUKlAE</a>

any ideas? What's going on here??


Ok i'm trying to get to the bottom of this so to speak. I filmed some sets with the empty bar. Perfectly symmetrical. Might have to do a few more of these experiments and see if I can narrow down what the problem is. If it's flexibility or whatever, wouldn't it show itself everytime regardless of clothing/weight?

so over the new few days im gonna work hard on figuring out what's this asymmetry. maybe its the bar. when ive got enough weight on there, it may be that because its bent or whatever, or the plates are uneven, that it forces me out of position.

possible hypotheses
  • its the bar
  • the floor
  • flexibility
  • strength/muscle imbalance
  • poor technique
  • shoes
  • a mix of the above

could be a combo of factors like 10% of the first, 20% of the 2nd etc. But i'll work at it like a scientist and go from the effects back to pinpointing the cause (s).

update: So my next workout will be at a gym. I know one which should have fairly new equipment so hopefully the bars are straight and the floor level etc. I'll train there and film some sets and see whether it's a equipment thing.

I'm also gonna take the time to get some unilateral upper body work in with dbs and see how that goes.

excited :)
« Last Edit: December 17, 2012, 03:04:33 pm by entropy »
Goals: Cutting to 6-8% bodyfat

Raptor

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Re: chasing athleticism
« Reply #551 on: December 17, 2012, 03:38:13 pm »
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To me it looks like some lack of flexibility that's pulling one of your legs out of alignment or something. It could be weakness too, but you should feel that yourself.

entropy

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Re: chasing athleticism
« Reply #552 on: December 17, 2012, 04:07:02 pm »
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suppose its flexibility.. what shud i do to fix it?
Goals: Cutting to 6-8% bodyfat

entropy

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Re: chasing athleticism -- day of PRs
« Reply #553 on: December 19, 2012, 08:02:00 am »
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Training
FS 5x100 (PR), 5x96
BS 6x100, 6x96
BSS 2x6x45 (PR), 2x6Rx45 (PR)
OHP 2x5x57, 8x50

BW: 77kg/170lb

FS notes:
I've made some changes and they've paid off nicely. I switched L-R orientation, focus on videos taken from behind, and use the reflection of the glass infront of me for feedback in maintaining symmetry. The PR was nice too, i didn't feel like it was a huge mental effort, just sort of came naturally, which was unusually odd but very cool. The only bad rep was the 5th which I had to muscle up uglyly.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI9nEsssNCA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI9nEsssNCA</a>

Plan is to get a nice clean 100x5 next week before trying to add any more weight on the top fiver. I think a pretty 100+ fiver pretty much converts to a 120kg single so that should cover my year end goal.

BS notes:
Work in progress. My right leg is weak so it shoots in out of the hole - that needs to be cleaned up.

BSS notes:
Bit wobbly with R leg. Did 2 extra sets with R - making it 2x the volume of the stronger L leg. It still may not be enough cos if my FS/BS are really L dominant then R might need even more sets? Well we'll see.
« Last Edit: December 19, 2012, 09:14:42 am by entropy »
Goals: Cutting to 6-8% bodyfat

entropy

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Re: chasing athleticism
« Reply #554 on: December 20, 2012, 12:17:29 am »
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Woke up looking a lot leaner but the scale doesn't show much change nor does waist circumference. Maybe water retention or something? not sure, until scale/waist changes i'm not taking much stock

R quad doms ✓
L quad doms ✘
Lower back doms ✓
Glutes doms ✓

I'm guessing lower back doms are to do with BS since it's been a while since i backsquatted.

R quad doms and no L quad doms is frustrating me. I guess i'll add a few more sets to the R leg BSS - but i'm already doing 2x the volume of L leg so wtf. maybe i just need to stop using the L leg completely while bringing the R leg up by stopping front and backsquatting for a while but I don't really wanna do that.



Goals: Cutting to 6-8% bodyfat