Never tried arching my back while Benching.


Trying various positions while doing back rows. Trying to find that sweet spot for the lower muscle inbetween my shoulder blades

Quote: (04-21-2018 12:42 PM)Horus Wrote:  

I'm recovering from a shoulder injury and I've decided that I've officially retired from bench pressing for the rest of my life. In fact I don't think it's a good idea for me to do any pressing movements for a very long time - I can barely do 2 pushups without pain. At the moment the only chest exercises I can comfortably do are machine flies and cable flies. I'm happy to just keep doing that for a the time being, even though it's boring as fuck for me, but does any one have any recommendations for other chest exercises I can do to keep me interested?

How recent was the injury?

I messed up my shoulder bad last summer and I could not do pressing without pain for about 7 months. It got to the point I gave up and just let the thing heal because anytime it would feel okay I would try to a press/push movement and then the shooting pain would return. I stopped doing the press movements and just did like stretching every time to my shoulders doing more and more progressively with time.

I'm not a big fan of the classic bent-over row. I feel like slamming the weight back down takes stimulus away. I find that when I keep my body at a 45 degree angle and pull up, I activate more of my back.

I know SS-adherents swear by the pendlay (90 degree bentover row) but I always felt like you waste so much energy staying bent over at 90 degrees that you could conserve if you stayed around 45 degrees and let the weight hang and then explode back up.

I'm sure guys see me doing my way in the gym and go "bad form!1!1!111" but it's the only way I find that I'm able to get my lats contracting and full of blood.

What about having a slight angle of back (not parallel like in Pendlay) and getting barbell to just couple of inches from the ground? Alan Thrall has a good video about different kinds of barbell rows, just watched it yesterday.

Sure, I"ll check it out. I feel like the back is such a complex muscle group that it pays to know multiple ways to achieve growth.

Generally I try to find the way that works best for me. or the longest time I was just following cookiecutter advice and I was wasting time. That said, I'm just one man and I'm sure other men have had success using more traditional methods.

At your other question: retracting your scapula is pulling your shoulder blades back like you're trying to squeeze a ball. Like you said.

I do both and I think they offer different but beneficial stimulus. I do the 45° bent over row more often then the pendlay row, but I actually think I get a little more lat activation with the pendlay row. I do a 45° bend more often because it's easier to over load and I think it has a little better carry over to deadlift.

I will do barbell row instead of power clean even though I am aware Rippetoe said it is not a substitute. I am not sure though what version to do. Athlean X talks about what each kind of bb row is suitable for. Supposedly, that 45° angled one is better for hypertrophy and is less explosive than pendlay.

^ that's been my impression as well. I'm always paying attention to how much of a squeeze I can get on an exercise. If I don't feel like I can much of a contraction I try to troubleshoot my technique. If I'm still unhappy then I find someone to teach me the proper form or I find substitutes. I was never particularly happy with Pendlay rows so I let them go in exchange for Kroc rows and that 45 degree row. I'm also a fan of cable for high volume back work. Pull ups and Chin ups are also vital.

I'm of the opinion that you really have to hammer your back for growth. I almost feel like it's impossible to overtrain on back considering how extensive it really is.

Quote: (04-26-2018 12:44 AM)Fortis Wrote:  

Sure, I"ll check it out. I feel like the back is such a complex muscle group that it pays to know multiple ways to achieve growth.

Generally I try to find the way that works best for me. or the longest time I was just following cookiecutter advice and I was wasting time. That said, I'm just one man and I'm sure other men have had success using more traditional methods.

At your other question: retracting your scapula is pulling your shoulder blades back like you're trying to squeeze a ball. Like you said.

Fortis, have you tried the 1 and 1 third method on bent over rows? I've always had great results with that. You complete one rep, and then lower the weight one third of the way down before lifting it back up (a rep within a very restricted range of motion). So you do a normal rep, a small rep, a normal rep and so on.
Give this a try, it works really well and helps you maintain tension in your upper back, rather than having to tighten again every time you start a new rep!

Over the last three months, I have been following Dante's Cycling for Pennies workout (Steelex posted about it on here: https://www.tmuscle.co.uk/threads/cyclin...ing.18923/) pretty much to a t, doing yoga on the days I'm not lifting. After a long time (18 or so months) out of the gym due to various injuries, and then a long time half-assing it and trying to get back into it properly, I'm finally back killing it in the gym. I have made the best gains of my life in the last three months, and I would highly recommend anyone who's an intermediate lifter to give this program a try - assuming you feel as though you've plateaued; if whatever you're doing is working well for you, stick at it!

EDIT: Spelling.

Quote: (04-25-2018 10:19 PM)Fortis Wrote:  

I'm not a big fan of the classic bent-over row. I feel like slamming the weight back down takes stimulus away. I find that when I keep my body at a 45 degree angle and pull up, I activate more of my back.

I know SS-adherents swear by the pendlay (90 degree bentover row) but I always felt like you waste so much energy staying bent over at 90 degrees that you could conserve if you stayed around 45 degrees and let the weight hang and then explode back up.

I'm sure guys see me doing my way in the gym and go "bad form!1!1!111" but it's the only way I find that I'm able to get my lats contracting and full of blood.

I stopped doing barbell rows (mostly due to knee issues) I actually do dumbell rows that target the back, and they were just fine for me

No matter how you slice it rows are fucking awesome. I do DB rows as well, and T-bar rows here and there. Seated cable rows are also in the mix.

I still like 45 degree barbell rows the best though because you can really cheat rep them and put on some good weight.

In my opinion, you should cycle through all different types of rows. In my programming I usually reserve one exercise slot one day for "row variation" and I pick a variation the day-of. The reasoning is basically just, why not? They all work in slightly different ways and I don't consider the row to be a staple exercise (like squat).

The same is true with some other exercises, like pullups and grip type.

Just tried 45 degree rows

Im gonna fuck with this heavy. Thanks guys.

Poliquin says that the amount of muscular effort required to hold the position for bent over rows limits the ability of the upper back muscles to fire fully. I tend to agree and find movements such as the T-bar row, one arm dumbbell row, and seated cable row to be much more effective.

Quote: (04-03-2018 12:42 AM)General Stalin Wrote:  

Trusty old chocolate and vanilla

Related (sort of)


Are any of you guys lactose intolerant? If so which protein powder (if any) do you consume?

A buddy gave me some organic hemp unflavored shit and it's tough to choke down, especially since I can't mix it with milk or anything given the lactose intolerance. What I usually do is drink it with unsweetened coconut milk.

I've done a bit of research and the whey isolate (as opposed to concentrate) seems to be more digestible but it depends on your 'degree' of lactose intolerance which doesn't really give me much info. Basically I still don't know if consuming whey isolate will fuck me up.

Quote: (04-30-2018 05:44 PM)Rhyme or Reason Wrote:  

Related (sort of)


Are any of you guys lactose intolerant? If so which protein powder (if any) do you consume?

A buddy gave me some organic hemp unflavored shit and it's tough to choke down, especially since I can't mix it with milk or anything given the lactose intolerance. What I usually do is drink it with unsweetened coconut milk.

I've done a bit of research and the whey isolate (as opposed to concentrate) seems to be more digestible but it depends on your 'degree' of lactose intolerance which doesn't really give me much info. Basically I still don't know if consuming whey isolate will fuck me up.

Brown rice protein and pea protein mixed together. Tastes like absolute garbage (at least unflavored) but has all the essential amino acids. If you throw in a few tbsp of dextrose or blend with sweetened almond milk it's much more palatable.

I'm lactose intolerant. I use whey isolate and it works like a charm. I only use it pre and post workout and I only use 2 scoops or so.

I also avoid dairy in my daily life. I drink keffir instead of milk.

If you're lactose intolerant use egg white protein powder, or just liquid egg whites.

Liquid egg whites are one of the best tasting protein sources there is. You can literally mix it with OJ and ice and have a nice little slurpy that tastes nothing like regular shit ass protein powder.

And fuck pea protein btw that shit tastes like old baby food.

I've tried Liquid egg whites. I hated it. It tastes slightly oily and it thickens whatever you add it to. I do think it's mega healthy, but I don't agree that it tastes good at all. Unless you like strange, thick, slightly oily fluids.

I pour that shit on my wheaties lol.

If you don't like/can't use protein powder you can basically mix egg whites with anything in the blender and it will taste good.

Edit: I strained some egg whites and put them into my post-workout shake and couldn't taste them. I'll take back what I said. haha

We don't have liquid egg whites here and honestly, I would never consume it even if it was available. I have a bit of a uneasy stomach reaction to egg whites. For example if I eat an fried egg, that taste of whites makes me feel somewhat like I was a lactose intolerant, don't know if that makes sense. Because of that I only eat scrambled eggs.

Btw, tried yesterday dumbbell fly, so I have that with dips as an chest exercises. Just two dumbbells of 9 kg destroyed me. Amazing how undeveloped chest I have that such puny weight kicks my ass.

For the people in North America egg whites are cheap if you buy the Kirkland brand at costco.