Jeffrw

a1: weighted dips, +35 3x5

a2: pullups, 3x5

b1: Trap bar deadlifts, 205x5, 255x5, 275x3, 295x3, 295x3

c1: Hanging leg raises, 2x5

I'm gonna try doing "exercise breaks", which I got from Mike Mahler. It's basically GTG. I'll do double KB Presses, on the hour throughout the day, probably only 4 reps. So I'll wind up doing something like 8-10 sets of 4.

I'm also gonna try running later.

Post-Workout:

Raisins and dates

shake:

filtered water

hemp protein

blueberries

banana

strawberries

stevia

spirulina

cinnamon

glutamine

As far as that letter goes: "Get over it".

Why do people have to take everything so personally? I don't care if liberals or conservatives...both sides have serious sticks up their asses.

As for the book: I thought it recommended processed and packaged foods too much.

It also made Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder go vegetarian. True Story.

a1: Double Kettlebell Military Press, 55lb, 2x7,1x6

a2: Kettlbell Renegade Rows, 55lb, 3x7

b1: Pistols, 3x3

b2: Kettlebell Single Leg Deadlift, 55lb, 3x5

c: Double Kettlebell Jump Shrugs, 3x10

d: hanging leg raises, 2x5

pwo:

6 dates

hemp protein powder and stevia in filtered water.

You can certainly do anything as a vegetarian or vegan that you could do as a meater...BUT it is defintely harder.

Where to start?

Look up Bill Pearl.

How about checking out www.mikemahler.com

He's a vegan, not a bodybuilder, but he is extremely strong and has a build most dudes would want. He trained and helped Mac Danzig (UFC) become a vegan.

His website is LOADED with tons of training information and there is some nutrition stuff there as well.

Check out the books "The Thrive Diet", "The Warrior Diet" and "The Anti-Estrogenic Diet".

You are more likely to adpat to REP RANGES than to exercises.

So what you can do is alternate 4-6 weeks of:

5x5

and

5x10

April 09 2009

a1: 70lb KB C+P, 2x5

a2: 225lb Snatch Grip DL, 2x3

a3: 75lb Barbell Curl, 2x8

a4: Hanging Leg Raise, 2x4

b1:70lb KB Military Press, 2x5

b2: 185lb SGDL, 2x10

April 07 2009

@home this morning with a pair Kb's.

a1: Double 55lb KB Clean and Military Press, 3x7

a2: 55lb KB Snatch 3x10 L/R

b1: 55lb KB SIngle Leg Deadlift, 3x5

b2: Double 55lb Kb Swings (outside the legs), 3x10

a1: Single arm KB military Press, 70lb, 3x6

a2: Snatch grip Deadlifts, 225, 3x4

b1: pistols, 3x3

b2: barbell curls, 95lbs, 3x5

b3: ring dips, 3x3

how so?

it is the opposite of anything that you would find in a weider mag or in any newstand magazine.

a simple Wave-loading and periodization program with Barbell Deadlifts and Side Press.

A big pull and big push. when has there ever been a program that simple in weider?

emaphasizing strength, not vanity muscles? don't see that weider much.

Anything that is associated with the eastern block or russian military will always get my attention.

You fan of Brooks kubick?

While there may be some "rules" for deadlifting, the most important key to avoiding injury is not change form during the lift.

 

For example: a slight arch in your back...if you began with the arch and maintain it, you will probably not do any damage. However if you start with a straight back and then round halfway through...that's where the trouble begins!

Yeah, but I think if you start with a rounded back and keep it rounded through the lift there is a strongly increased risk for injury compared to a neutral back.

 

It seems to me though that most people with bad form start the lift with somewhat decent setup, but then as they are unable to get the bar off the ground with leg power round their backs. So for most people keeping the form from the setup would mean maintaining good form, just like you said.

Yeah as long as you don't change what you started with, you'll be fine more than likely

Most injuries to the deadlift are actually to the SPINE, not that actual back muscle...so as long as you keep your spine "stiff" or unmoved.

The other way people get injured is flexing their biceps...the try to curl and heave the weight up. Gotta keep that elbow straight. but it's another example of an unjury caused by moving or changing from your set up.

Toby above mentioned Starting Strength which is a great book. But for deadlifts, imo, the best book is "Pwer to the People" by Pavel.

a1: Double KB Military Press, 55lb, 3x8

a2: Double KB Bent Over Row, 55lb, 3x8

b1: Weighted Dips, +25, 3x6

b2: Trap Bar Deadlifts, 205x5, 255x5, 275x5

c: ab wheel rollouts

it's been forever since doing deadlifts, let alone trap bar deads. On saturday, I'll up the poundage on them and probably go to a heavier 3x3 once I regain my comfort level with them.

I went down on weighted dips, I felt like I was getting sloppy on the +35 when I got further along in the workout. So I am going to concentrate on +25 and work up to a nice solid "easy" 8-10 reps before starting over at +35.

This is a great workout and I felt like a million bucks afterwards.

Post-workout shake:

1c Yogurt

2 scoop Soy Protein Isolate (20g protein)

3 tbsp Hemp Protein Powder (10g protein)

1tsp cinnamon

sugar

banana, strawberries and blueberries.

While there may be some "rules" for deadlifting, the most important key to avoiding injury is not change form during the lift.

For example: a slight arch in your back...if you began with the arch and maintain it, you will probably not do any damage. However if you start with a straight back and then round halfway through...that's where the trouble begins!

Search on YouTube for videos of Brad Gillingham...I think he has the most perfect natural deadlifting form out there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jhsr6hImWnA

a1: double KB Military Press, 55lb, 1x6, 2x7, 2x7

a2: bent over alternating KB rows, 62lb, 3x6

one set of A1, rest one minute, one set of A2, rest one minute, repeat.

b1: weighted dips, +35, 3x5

b2: barbell curls, 75lb, 3x5

one set of b1, rest one minute, one set of b2, rest one minute, repeat.

800mx4 @ 7:00min/mi pace.

^^agree 100%.

Our bodies are biomenchanically designed to perform physical tasks a certain way; it's nonsense to suggest that you can circumvent mother nature.

In fact, by preexhausting you can be setting yourself up for injuries. Did you know that most injuries associated with the bench press are from hurting the SHOULDER, not the chest? So tiring out your shoulder before hand is only going to set yourself up for the possibility of an injury. (I know this first hand too; I tore my rotator cuff benching). You can never take your shoulder out of benching. So by wearing it down you are "over-exhausting" your shoulder more than it needs too; same with triceps if you did those before benching.

The whole irony I suppose is that it is usually weak supporting muscles that limit how much you can deadlift, bench, row, etc...so by exhausting those muscles, you make it even worse...so your chest/back/etc...will never get the right amount of work it needs.

Effect of pre-exhaustion exercise on lower-extremity muscle activation during a leg press exercise.

 

Augustsson J, Thomeé R, Hörnstedt P, Lindblom J, Karlsson J, Grimby G.

 

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden 41345. [email protected]

 

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of pre-exhaustion exercise on lower-extremity muscle activation during a leg press exercise. Pre-exhaustion exercise, a technique frequently used by weight trainers, involves combining a single-joint exercise immediately followed by a related multijoint exercise (e.g., a knee extension exercise followed by a leg press exercise). Seventeen healthy male subjects performed 1 set of a leg press exercise with and without pre-exhaustion exercise, which consisted of 1 set of a knee extension exercise. Both exercises were performed at a load of 10 repetitions maximum (10 RM). Electromyography (EMG) was recorded from the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, and gluteus maximus muscles simultaneously during the leg press exercise. The number of repetitions of the leg press exercise performed by subjects with and without pre-exhaustion exercise was also documented. The activation of the rectus femoris and the vastus lateralis muscles during the leg press exercise was significantly less when subjects were pre-exhausted (p < 0.05). No significant EMG change was observed for the gluteus maximus muscle. When in a pre-exhausted state, subjects performed significantly (p < 0.001) less repetitions of the leg press exercise. Our findings do not support the popular belief of weight trainers that performing pre-exhaustion exercise is more effective in order to enhance muscle activity compared with regular weight training. Conversely, pre-exhaustion exercise may have disadvantageous effects on performance, such as decreased muscle activity and reduction in strength, during multijoint exercise.

So, no more muscle is activated than normal, but because it takes the supporting muscles out, you do less reps or weight.

Never said it was.

But look, just for sake of mentioing names...Bill Pearl and Arnold spent years doing gymnastics, powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting and strongman comps along with bodybuilding...Ronnie Coleman too.

You'll find when you dig deep into pro bodybuilders, you'll see the majority cut their teeth on strength programs.

Wow, I have to totally disagree with you guys. The primary muscles can't work harder that way...iit's myth and one of the oldest ones out there. You actually have to use less weight and you won't get the same hormonal response. That's bad news if you want to build muscles.

Muscles like biceps and triceps are very small muscles when compared to other muscles like back, chest, shoulders, etc.

The idea that you would do as many exercises/sets to work a small body part as you would a large one is illogical.

Besides, the isolation moves you do for triceps won't allow you to go heavy enough to "activate" the other two heads of the triceps, so you'll just keep frying the medial head.

Unless you are in the final 12 weeks of contest prep for a BB show or you are doing juice, there just are not enough GOOD reason to do iso work for arms. Rookies and newbies need to build a foundation first. And you do that heavy compound moves.

As for fatiguing out bi's and tri's before back and chest respectively....another HUGE mistake.

They are supporting muscles for a reason....by taking tri's or shoulders out of the bench you WILL NOT be able to lift as heavy. Building muscle requires as heavy weight as possible.

Exercises like curls and triceps pressdowns, etc...do not even come close to causing your body to produce GH and test like heavy compound barbell-type moves do.

So to release more GH and test, you need to lift heavy and do full body moves.

Now I am new on here and you can be skeptical, but I'll pose this to you:

Look at your gym. Notice the guys who do WEIGHTED dips and chinups, do heavy bent-over rows and deadlifts...I've never seen a guy who does that stuff and have small arms...you'll also notice when it comes to arm work, they will hardly do any....how can you deadlift 2-3x your bodyweight and have small arms? You can't!

I see lots and lots of guys doing curls until they practically drop the bar and never grow bigger arms. I've never known anyone to build a great physique by doing these types of programs. Imean a truly impressive physique!

I've been lifting for over 16 years and the guys I've seen over that time with the best muscular development built their programs around the squat, deadlift, power cleans, rows, dips, chins, shoulder and bench presses. Maybe end the day with a couple curls or situps or pressdowns, but you clearly see where the priority is.

Here's a video of me pulling 405 for the deadlift.

http://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n288/leftjeff/?action=view&current=405dead.flv

5:30 a.m.

joint mobility drills warmup

A1: 70lb kettlebell Military Press 3x5 L/R

A2: 55lb kettlebell stand on one leg one arm row 3x6 L/R

one set of A1, rest one minute, one set of A2, rest one minute, repeat.

B: 70lb kettlebell swings, tabata (8x20:10 work to rest)

pwo shake:

soy protein isolate

hemp protein powder

strawberries, blueberries, banana

1 tsp cinnamon

3 tbsp sugar

The only reason you could ever have for doing steady-state or "slow" cardio is if you are an endurance athlete.

It's a waste of time. You only burn calories while doing it, and not that many.

Interval training on the other hand triggers a HORMONAL response. You can raise you GH and test with it, it buids a healthier heart and a better VO2max.

As far as recovery goes or interfering with weightlifting, that's just going to depend on you. You'll have to experiment. Maybe you don't do 20 minutes, maybe you just do tabata drills or go for 10 minutes.

Joint mobility drills are the best before a workout.

Dynamic and fascia stretches right afterward.

For "static" stretches", forget what you know and go by the book "Relax into stretch" (or look for it free on the internet) and learn how to stretch the proper way.

For joint mobility drillls, there is a great Steve Maxwell article here: http://www.mikemahler.com/articles/jointmobility.html

and why it's important:

Mobility Training May Be the Most Important Factor in Musculoskeletal Health

By Steve Maxwell

Mobility, or joint mobility, is the ability to move a limb through the full range of motion--with control. Mobility is based on voluntary movement while flexibility involves static holds and is often dependent upon gravity or passive forces. Mobility demands strength to produce full-range movement, whereas flexibility is passive, thus not strength-dependent. Some authorities refer to mobility as 'active flexibility'. It is possible to have good mobility without being especially flexible, just as one can be flexible with poor mobility, i.e., control. Of the two, mobility is more important. It is better to be inflexible with good mobility than flexible with poor mobility. The percent difference between your mobility and flexibility is the same percent chance of creating a musculo-skeletal injury during physical activities.

Sports, recreational activities and other daily physical practices can result in reduced range of movement in any participating joint. When the joint is unable to move through its full range, we call it compromised. When compromised movement is present in a joint, surrounding joints take up the slack, creating extra stress all around. A typical example are immobile ankles and feet underlying stress and injury to the knees, hips, and lumbar spine. It's a cascade effect, albeit in reverse: the body tissues are held together with sheets of connective tissue called fascia, so stress extends upwards from the feet. Poor mobility in one area can cause pain and stress in seemingly unrelated areas, but once fascial anatomy is understood, the idea that immobile feet could cause neck or shoulder stiffness is no longer a conundrum.

Mobility work reduces the potential body imbalances inherent in our athletic and recreational pursuits. For example, it's widely accepted that running for distance shortens the hamstrings, calf muscles and hip flexors, resulting in decreased free movement in simple full-range exercises, such as bodyweight squats. Well-documented is the compromised range produced by heavy weight-lifting and body building strength sports--yet, properly conducted, weight training can improve range of motion! All too often, in practice, weight lifters endow themselves with tight, restrictive movement by over emphasizing short-range movements and excessive hypertrophy. Worse, especially in the U.S., is that ubiquitous non-activity: sitting. Sitting in a chair, at a desk, while hunching over a computer is a recipe for a compromised structure full of imbalance and continual pain.

The solution? A joint mobility program. Joint mobility exercise stimulates and circulates the synovial fluid in the bursa, which 'washes' the joint. The joints have no direct blood supply and are nourished by this synovial fluid, which simultaneously removes waste products. Joint salts, or calcium deposits, are dissolved and dispersed with the same gentle, high-repetition movement patterns. Properly learned, joint mobility can restore complete freedom of motion to the ankles, knees, hips, spine, shoulders, neck, elbows, wrists and fingers. It's especially important to keep the spine supple and free and if there were such a thing as a fountain of youth, joint mobility exercises come very close.

Use mobility exercises as a warm up, an active recovery during other activities, or as a stand-alone workout. You can rejuvenate yourself and reclaim the movement of a child with a good joint mobility program. Joint mobility makes a wonderful, energizing morning recharge and sets the day up on the right foot.

Welcome Jeff. I, too, recently joined the VBBF--a couple days ago--and I've already found so many helpful tips and inspirational stories. I'm positive that with a little encouragement and a lot of time speaking to all the great people on this forum your "diet" will become a lifestyle.

 

Best of luck!

well of course it's a lifestyle. I meant "diet" in the general term of food selection in my life, not with a goal like losing weight or whatever!

I think he was actually doing split squats.

Pistol has the free leg extended out and you squat down on the other. bodyweight only, unless you are holding a weight. No bars or equipment.

The book "The Naked Warrior" by Pavel Tsatsaouline is the best place to learn it from.

It took me almost three months to do a real one.

kettlebell swings and snatches.

Not only will they provide cardio, but swings will help you learn to use your hips and posterior chain more when deadlifting and squatting and snatches will build strong shoulders for your bench.

And it's wrong too...Bill Pearl won Mr. Universe in 1971 at the age of 41 as a vegetarian. He had been one for two years at that point.