CHAT TRANSCRIPT 09.20.2005
Il Consigliere
I've been doing some pulldowns with straps as hand insurance. They feel o.k. on the hand--and they're satisfying to do on a contraption that's almost as old as I am! Also some push-ups as Greg the therapist suggested. I tried a triceps machine and got some d.o.m.s. for my trouble. Oh well, lockout has rarely been the problem.
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 13:00:34:
sounds like time for a lat specialization program!
fireman1
Marty:
I'm two weeks into a twelve week intensity plan and I need to make a change in game plan.
I've recently recovered from a knee problem and doing squats with intensity is not working (knee can't take it yet), but volume works for the knee. What's your feeling on changing my squat routine to a volume program and the rest of the body remain on the intensity program?
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 12:57:32:
Hey - any port in a storm - I'd be happy as hell that you can squat at all - so if volume (lighter poundage?) doesn't hurt and big weights and low reps hurt - go with volume - besides, if you're not a competitive lifter its not a super critical problem....
fireman1
Marty:
you still there?
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 12:54:43:
yep
Il Consigliere
I am lifting in Richmond: push-pull with token bench. I'll see you there. I'm also squatting the week before in Ohio.
I'm looking so far out before actually trying a max bench in competition because my hand therapist said take it very,very slowly. (Also because of what's available nearby and when I have a couple of big cases set for trial.) I'm thinking more than one cycle--say 1 or 2 remedial and then 1 plain power cycle--before maxing. Stepping back 12 wks. for the regular power cycle should help me organize my benching. That gives me a time frame to use to figure out the remedial part.
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 12:50:23:
how does pulling downward affect the hand? there is a lot of empirical data that suggests really building the lats improves the bench press - great benchers will flex the lats as the weight is being lowered and the flexed lats act as a launch pad for pushing upward...I would think taking the time that the hand is 'down' to work on lats might be a real smart move - what day's are you folks lifting on?
ms_irreverent
Oh, lord, no Stacy in Richmond? We're in for it now.
Good thing Chuck passed that bar. ;-)
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 12:41:41:
No worry - I'm so boring these days that I would make the late Mr Rogers look like Keith Richards circa 1975
Il Consigliere
Hello, Marty. Bob here. I've decided I need to plan a competition to organize my hand recovery and bench comeback. March 25, Paintsville, Kentucky. 6 months to get it together. 145 x 5 wasn't good. (Started at 135 per hand therapist, went up 5 per week. 135 & 140 were o.k.) I'm thinking I'll drop back to 115 and progress from there. Hand therapist said go to dips for a while when I approach 180. Then back to benches and back toward normal. Any thoughts on some reverse engineering for the near term?
By the way, I sent you an update on Vondah's deadlifts.
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 12:34:29:
Bobcat - six months is actually too far out to start a powercycle - 12-weeks is ideal - are you going to richmond? I thought you were lifting there....write back please
Il Consigliere
Hello, Marty. Bob here. I've decided I need to plan a competition to organize my hand recovery and bench comeback. March 25, Paintsville, Kentucky. 6 months to get it together. 145 x 5 wasn't good. (Started at 135 per hand therapist, went up 5 per week. 135 & 140 were o.k.) I'm thinking I'll drop back to 115 and progress from there. Hand therapist said go to dips for a while when I approach 180. Then back to benches and back toward normal. Any thoughts on some reverse engineering for the near term?
By the way, I sent you an update on Vondah's deadlifts.
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 12:34:29:
Bobcat - six months is actually too far out to start a powercycle - 12-weeks is ideal - are you going to richmond? I thought you were lifting there....write back please
zebulondragonslayer
Actually it was saturday I did that and still no soreness. I feel like I could go on to more deads today (4x435) but I will wait out of cautiousness....
Sure thing about the room ! I already have it booked. Glad Chuck is coming !!!
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 12:30:24:
this is good - we want to feel this way - that you could have done more each successive week - how's your bodyweight? resist the temptation to do more - once we get to october start paring back the O-lift stuff - what's the bench game plan?
No Name
Gotcha. Assuming I use the cable pulley, do you have a thought on singles with a handle versus both arms at the same time with the short straight bar?
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 12:32:44:
actually they are physiologically identical so it really comes down to what you prefer...I would slow the rep speed down - after the set you should feel a bicep pump...
zebulondragonslayer
Hey Marty,
Funny thing. I did my deadlift workout the other day working up to 5 singles with 425. Normally the lower back gets sore some the next day. However, later that day I spent swinging a pick axe busting up hard clay and rocks while digging 3 deep holes. I thought I'd be even sorer the next day having coupled that with deadlifts. However, I was not sore at all. Wonder if the increased blood flow to the lower back from the pick swinging did that ? -- allowed quicker healing or something ? any ideas ?
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 12:23:10:
Yeah - you got off lucky! be cool you big oaf! Was this yesterday? No delayed onset soreness at all?
Hey - can I stay split a room with you in richmond? I think stace is going to stay here so I'll be solo - I got chuck talked into lifting (he passed the west virginia bar - no not the 'dew drop inn' the legal bar) so if we get into trouble we've got legal counsul...
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 12:26:42:
How the cycle working out?
El Dangeroso
I just got confirmation that your other son Mike will be coming for a two week visit at Thanksgiving. I feel for Our poor livers after his visit.(Glug, Glug) The San Gennaro feast was way too expensive for it's own good. $6 sausages and $12 plates of pasta aren't as good when you have to walk around with them. I'll take the storefront Baptist BBQ over that anyday.
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 12:08:22:
But now you know - you'd have been kicking yourself had you not tried it - Mike is coming for 14-days? better keep his plane tickets locked away and enough money to get his car out of hock at the airport on the way home - sounds like he's coming to break the back of the sports book - I hear bobby flay's got a new joint right next to the sport's book in MGM I believe...look for books and DVD's later this week...
Bendyironbug
Marty-
I've started the 6 week microcycle of 12s. It's a quick routine, so I am able to do a few more lifts, and may be able to hit each body part more than once a week.
Couple of questions. If I haven't given myself enough "room to grow" when choosing my weight and am struggling by the 12th rep, do I stick with the same weight the next week? Or increase the weight and do as many reps as I can on the higher weight, even if I can't complete 12 reps? If I can't hit 12 with the weight in one set, do I take a short rest and then complete the remaining reps?
Can't wait to have you down for some epicurean delights!
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Marty
Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 11:57:36:
Hey there - I assume you've just started or are barely into this and are unable to complete the requisite reps (12) with the target poundage?
You have to 'recast the cycle' - i.e., start anew as if this never happened -
you have two choices - significantly drop the poundage or go to a new rep range - if you were close to the end of the cycle and were missing the 12th rep and occasionally a 10th rep, you would just hang in a tackle the target poundage and get what you get - but that's if you're within a couple weeks of completion - if this is happening in like week three than you started way high and need to recast - if my best 12-rep set in a given exercise was say 100x12 I would set up a 5-week cycle thus....
1 70x12 two sets
2 85x12 two sets
3 90x12 two sets
4 95x12 two sets
5 100x12 two sets
5 105x12 one set
6 110x12 one set
that's a 10% increase in 6-weeks - 6 weeks is awfully short....
Keith
Coach,
I want to begin doing some kettlebell training-aimed more at conditioning than strength-(ie, high rep swings and snatches with minimal rest between sets) I have PT's kettlebell book but I am wondering if you have any suggestions on the what size/weight/pood I should start with.
Thanks in advance
Keith
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 12:12:18:
strictly cardio? I would go with something light that I could keep in more or less continual motion for 30-40 minutes...I worry when I see the guys hoisting the monster K-bells; the way they have to handle them makes them nearly identical to a dumbbell - the light K-bells allow you to really swing them and use ballistic motions whereas the heavy mothers limit you to power stuff and frankly the barbells and dumbbells are where the real power is developed...I have some tiny K-bells and can do all kinds of laterals, presses, curls, snatches, squats, windmills and tricep movements non-stop for 30-minutes - this gets the HR way up there and that's the goal of cardio - the big K-bells elevate the heart but you can't rep 70-pounds for 30-minutes straight
ms_irreverent
Muse here (submitting early; probably will be away at noon). Elbow report: Got through all the presses yesterday, 11 reps for each! However, No. 11 was a little shaky on the bench and incline, but I figure next week they should be steady enough to move to 12. We'll see. Meanwhile, if the elbow holds up after today's back/lat work as well, I'm thinking next week I may try some biceps to see if I can handle it now, probably also using the floor-level cable to complement the triceps. Does that make sense?
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 12:18:43:
just go slow and make sure to 'feel' the curled weight as opposed to tossing or throwing the weight to completion - too many folks actually do front raises when they curl. Start the curl with the arm straight on every rep and close the gap totally at the top - too often trainees heave the weight at the start and lean into the poundage as momentum carries the curl to completion...feel and contraction on every curl rep -
Joel
Marty, I'm stuck on my bench press. Following your advice, I switched to five sets of 5 then 6 then 7 then 8 before moving up the weight. I started with 60 lb dumbbells and made great progress through 60, 65 and up to 70. But I haven't been able to complete five sets of sixes for the past three weeks (for example, I'll hit 6,6,6,5,3 or 4) and now I feel stuck. What do I do now?
Thanks for your help.
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 12:27:11:
recast the cycle - this experiment has run it's course and you've done really well - how about keeping the ball rolling by working up to a single set of 5-reps and seeing how far you can go...after that - I'd think about 12-rep sets or something totally different - maybe try incline DB presses exclusively...
Damascus
A continuation of my Pilates update -- I am not just doing pilates, it is in addition to weights and cardio. And my instructor does not claim that pilates is the end-all-be-all exercise. When someone asked if Pilates will help you lose inches, he said you only lose inches when you eat less than you burn, plain and simple. And the only claim he makes is pilates helps build a stronger "powerhouse" - abs and back.
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 12:37:00:
Hey - this is a guy I can relate too - I really appreciate when. as the great six-gun philosopher once quipped, "A man's got to know his limitations" and I sure as hell know and admit mine but it burns my buns when someone pontificates that their system is an end-all, be-all with no flaws and that it trumps all others...ever hear sting or maddona talk about yoga? you'd think their brand could provide everything short of flight and all other fitness systems are 'ridiculous.'
Marty Gallagher
Hello, and welcome to this week's chat! you may submit questions ahead of time, and I'll answer them when the chat starts at noon.
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 11:53:41:
hello - I'm here so let's crank it up...
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 12:43:52:
no questions so I'll give it a few minutes then get on with other things....
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Marty Gallagher replies on 09-20-2005 at 13:01:17:
OKAY - I'M OUT OF HERE!
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