I would appreciate of you guys could dial back the acronyms for us noobs. I did a little bit of crossfit 14.5? as a warmup today. Thrusters @95 lbs and burpies. Completely awful idea and maybe did 24 reps of each. I did manage to backsquat 125 kg (275) for a triple which is a PR for me and I snatched 70 kg (155) for a triple which is also a PR. It felt light but I couldn't hit 73 kg (greedy).
You're better off ignoring the drug info. I bought another bar today; the GP Industries IWF bar in stainless steel. I love my Ivanko bars as they are works of art, but the SS is 218Kpsi isn't very whippy, even for their 28mm oly bar (own both the bushing and needle). The GP is 180k so it's far whippier and the build quality is fantastic as well. It uses Delrin bushings which are very inelastic. I tried a buddy's bar and mine should be here in 10 days. The knurl is fcuking AMAZING. Also, again, the Cap Barbell OB-86 knurling on the zinc version is nearly as good as my SS bars. For $200-$225 it is a steal. 150K steel and steel bushings. You can't hurt the thing unless you were to drop it three feet on the rack-safeties.
DP, hope you don't mind me throwing in some posts on random topics occasionally. Do any of you all train with bands or chains on some of your lifts? I haven't in awhile, but I felt it was definitely beneficial when I was shooting more for strength gains than anything. One of my favorite methods was to run a band behind my back and put a loop in each hand, and do incline dumbbell bench. I would use the 70's plus about 80lbs or so of additional resistance from the band. Definitely made some solid progress using bands for that and regular bench. One thing to be noted, I felt the bands typically were a little harder on my joints than doing chains, but I noticed more of a benefit from the bands. I don't really care as much anymore about strength being the main focus, but when I was trying to get stronger I used a lot of different techniques that I felt could really keep your body making progress. For the purpose of this post I will stick to bench press strength. To break through plateaus or work on weak areas I would incorporate different exercises depending on where I was currently. -Bands/Chains - Worked great for overall strength gains. I wouldn't use them a ton but usually a few heavy sets to really kill it in the workout -Smith Machine Power Throws - Youtube it. This was a great addition to help my explosive strength. I went a long time without doing any type of explosive training and this helped me out quite a bit. I did these after doing my heavy bench usually...Please use safeties and lower weight if you do this. -Partial Reps - Use a squat rack and set the bar on the safeties high enough you can only move the bar 4 inches or so. Do a few sets of very heavy weight (usually your typical max or more). Slowly lower the safeties so you are moving the bar further and of course decrease weight as you go. Go until you are basically at your chest. I can't honestly recall what kind of impact this had on my gains, but just another technique to try. -Shoulder Press - One thing I noticed, the harder I worked my shoulders for strength the higher my bench went up. This obviously shows how much of a role your shoulders play in the movement. -Close Grip Bench - Nice Tricep builder and helped with lockout strength significantly. Gives that last boost to get the weight up -Stabilizer muscles - Don't forget these, train the whole shoulder capsule well to prevent injury That is all I can think of for right now. Curious to see if anybody else does the power throws or uses bands/chains.
We have some rogue bars for squatting, some pendlays which I use as my main bar and a couple Ivankos which I use only when trying to PR. With constant use the knurling just chews my hands up. How proficient are you with the oly stuff? We have an olympic hopeful at the club who snatches 140+ and C&Js 170+. Its pretty incredible to watch and when he drops weight the concrete shakes. Then you look at some of the best Chinese lifters who (at nearly 20 kg lighter) snatches what my boy can clean and jerk. Crazy.
I've looked at the Westside Barbell stuff and if I was purely interested in strength I would definitely be using bands. People that go to Westside make huge gains and it isn't just the gear. For core work we will unrack well over our max in a front squat position and just move 2-4 inches. It is effective. I haven't benched really at all ever. I occasionally will hop on a bench and do a few reps but I've never been serious about it. I do, however, do a lot of shoulder work. Presses, push presses and jerks. Every time I get back on the bench I can do more than the last time. I've recently started incorporating indian clubs into my warm ups which are great for building bullet proof shoulders or rehabbing them. Its amazing what a 2 lb club can do for you.
I do not do either for 1RM, but I do them all week and fairly heavy. 300lb snatch is pretty sick. I am nowhere near that, obviously. I do reps with 170lb. My C&J is proportionally much better. My bench is 305 for 8 reps inside the rack. I haven't done a 1RM on any lift in a long time.
I occasionally use chains, mostly when doing bench, close grip bench, and shoulder press on smith machine. I like the increased resistance at the upper end of the rep. I use partials at the beginning of sets each time I increase weight, increasing the range each rep for 2 or 3 reps to full range...if full range is possible at the weight I'm shooting for. I also think partials are a great way to squeeze a little extra out of the final reps where failure has already occurred with the full range. For me , partials are a great way to test how far I can push my joints (I often pyramid up to my max over 4 - 6 weight increases, unlike some who warm up then hit their highest weight out of the gate and pyramid or break down). Downside to that: I've already expended a lot of energy when I hit my heavier weights, but at my age, I have to protect my joints (actually, everyone should always protect their joints). I can't tell you how many times I see young kids come in and start "bouncing" tremendous weight off their chests, often without even a warm up. A partial gives me the opportunity to scale back for the deep rep at a weight if it doesn't feel right. Also keeps me in touch with my form. My ultimate goal is to keep pushing limits until mind over matter succumbs to matter over mind. I want to do so safely. I also will sometimes strip the rack after pyramiding up. I'm always changing how I workout. I'll give a muscle 8 - 16 workouts on a technique and then change to something else. Don't want to get used to one thing, but I suspect you know that well. Regardless, I always use partials as a test, and often as a technique. Sounds like you have a pretty good handle on strength training.
I do destroy the red meats myself. I found a place here that sells grass-fed, no dyes, beef that tastes better than I can describe. I'm getting hungry again now. Lol
I'm learning something new here. And yes, I do like gh year-round. The IGF I've been using during mass building cycles. And can't beat the Genotropin pens. The guys using the Chinese garbage are finally learning to spend a little more, and get the real deal. I'm reading about guys using Chinese "riptropin," and it's causing major league high bp, and tachycardia. Other Chinese gh is doing the same thing. Scary.
Yeah, I don't eat a lot of it and try to get grass fed. We have it here, but it's not the best tasting. The local Angus is incredible.