Michigan Muscle Boy

A Hiatus about to Be Broken

Since a week ago last Thursday, I've been taking a break from lifting (but not cardio).  My plan is to resume this coming Thursday.  The reasons are pretty simple.  The workouts leading up to Nancy's show were pretty intense, and I began to re-aggravate some tweaks.  As many readers will relate, once you get a tweak, it's there forever to be re-tweaked.  Specifically my elbow/forearm started acting up.

Now seemed like the perfect opportunity to nip things in the bud.

My plan this week is to start doing the rehab exercises I discovered back in December.  Nancy and I are going to start a heavy cycle on Friday, likely focusing on legs with squats and deads.  That's going to be a bit of an issue for her with her back.  Nonetheless, it's probably where she needs to go if she is going to improve in bodybuilding competitions.

Back and biceps to grow hair on your chest

I'm beginning to really come back in back and biceps after what seemed like a million years of tweaks, and the effect of the 60 second rest cycle is diminishing there, too.  I'm back up to almost the same weight I did with liberal rest.  Makes you want to say a hosanna.

Maybe, what I need is 60 second rest, a strict diet, and Diet Mountain Dew all the time.  I'll be the anti-Matt Furey or maybe more like Matt Furey + caffeine.  One look at the guy's web site and that last comment should make you run for the hills.

I'm going to run out and write a best selling fitness book on my new formula.  I'll write a slightly different one for bodybuilders.

But this post has more purpose than that.  Let me report the workout maxima in lbs.  I did four sets of everything except abs with 60 seconds rest.

Back

• Narrow grip cable row:  150 lbs.  160 is my max.  I did 150 with perfect form.  No cheats.
• Wide lat pulldown:  140.  I've done 150.
• Dumbbell row: 70 lbs.  The elbow has been very affected here.  Starting to come back well.
• Wide T-bar:  110 lbs.  Great range up through rep 5.  Acceptable up through 8.  I need Arnold driving me here.

Abs

• Leg raises over head, touching knees to alternate elbows: 20 reps for 3 sets.
• Cable lat rotations: 45 lbs. for 15 reps each side.  Three sets.
• Legs over BOSU upper ab crunches.  30 reps for 3 sets.

Biceps (WooHoo!)

• EZ Bar Cable: 100 lbs., and I could have gone higher.
• Incline dumbbell curl:  35 lbs.  At PR level.
• Prone incline EZ Bar curl:  65 lbs.  Adequate.

Chest, Bi, and Deep Tissue Massage

As Nancy mentions, we did chest and bi yesterday.  I was looking forward to the workout but also had some trepidation.  A few days before, I had thrown my (what I am coming to consider) trick shoulder, and it was stiff.  Was this the second coming of tweaks?  Well, it appears the answer is no, and in fact there are some very positive developments in that regard, but I get ahead of myself.

The workout was very satisfying if not a personal record extravaganza.  We pushed each other and did a new upper pec exercise which was fun. 

Here's the workout.  Everything is four sets of 10 except where noted, and all weights are in lbs.  We started a new set every two minutes and forty seconds.

• Pec
  • Cable flat flyes:  30, 35, 40, 45.  The stiff shoulder had no impact, but I started light to make sure.  I've made 50 here, but this was a good start.
  • Free motion reverse cable crossover:  25, 30, 30, 30.  This exercise starts with your hands down at your sides, and then you raise them palms up in a sort of reverse of the traditional cable cross.  It's fun but difficult to get right.  Nancy and I did a video analysis.
  • Dumbell flat press:  60, 65X9, 65X7, 65X5 55X5.  Again, the flat press is pre-fatigued.  I got more sets at 65 this time.  I get around 75 without the pre-fatiguing.
  • Push-ups with 10 lb. weight (reps): 15, 14, 12, 8.  The 10 lb. weight cuts your endurance on these.  The last set was a killer.
  • Decline dumbbell flyes: 30, 35, 35.  Arnold provided some much needed and very effective spotting here.
• Bicep
  • Free motion cable bicep curl:  50, 60, 65X7 55X3, 65X7 55X3.  Sixty-five is about my limit.
  • Free motion reverse bicep curl:  60, 70X7 60X3, 70X6 60X4, 70.  Seventy is my max.  I supsect I'll be able to exceed it soon enough.  Seventy is a tough weight to stabilize against.  At some stage, we'll do a video analysis of this.
  • Prone bicep curl: 25, 30 drop to 25, 30 drop to 25, 30 drop to 25.

The interesting thing I noticed is that my shoulder stiffness did not seem exercise related.  I was exercising fine.  As some readers may recall, Arnold has extolled the virtues of a deep tissue massage therapy center here in Ann Arbor.  Well, I decided why not give it a try.

I went to one of the therapists, Julie, today.  WOW.  She really re-articulated my shoulder and worked out a number of knots.  I'll have more to say on this.

The Valley

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

King David, The 23rd Psalm

Would that this were the case in the weight room.  The weight room is a place where you've got to use your brain.  God will let you hurt yourself if you're not smart. 

Today, I returned to Boston Sports Club, Waltham for the last time this trip.  I bought a T-shirt.  I wanted to carry the memory with me back to Ann Arbor.  A memento from the mountain where I saw many valleys.

I pushed it too hard at one point, but I think I was smart enough to stop in time.  It was shoulders/tri day.  My game plan was to fatigue the shoulder with various laterals before going into presses.  Lately, I have been favoring cable exercises because I find they force a smoother motion and provide more consistent load than dumbbells.  Those two things can help in areas that are prone to tweaking, the right shoulder and elbow in my case.

However, my game plan was foiled by other people inhabiting the cable machine I wanted to use.  So, silly me, I went to dumbbells, followed by a rear delt press.  Dumb. But, I get ahead of myself.  Let me give a blow-by-blow of the workout.  I'll use the picture method which Nancy Arnold seems to like so much:

	First I did four sets of 10 dumbbell lateral raises.  The dumbbell pictured is 22.5 lbs., but the one I started with was 20.  This is the exact brand and model I used (Ivanko), a good feel.  I did four sets of 10.  After the first set, I went to 25 lbs., even though I felt a slight something in my elbow.  Changing the grip can help this sort of thing, and it did.  After 25, I did two drop sets starting at 30, a personal record.  But, was I overstressing my joints?
	I Then moved to the Cybex Smith machine and did military presses behind the neck to stress the rear delt.  This time, I only did three sets of 10.  I started at 58 lbs.  That was EASY.  So, I jumped to my previous record, 78 lbs.  That was doable.  The blood rushed in my ears.  I was in "the valley", embracing evil, not fearing it (see quote above).  I jumped to 88.  Bad move  I got 8 reps, but something was twisting a little too hard in the right shoulder.  I felt a straining sensation, always a bad sign.  I considered going down in weight for a fourth set, but then I thought of what Mary or Arnold would say.  So, I simply stopped.
	I then got smart, kind of.  I moved to the Hammer Strength iso-lateral shoulder press.  What a machine!  It is a shoulder press with no stress on the rotator, almost pure delt and tri.  Again, the great advantage of the iso-lateral machine is that your dominant (in my case right) side will not over stress itself trying to compensate for the weak side when you are pushing heavy weight.  I started with 25 lbs. per shoulder and ended with 55.  I did four sets of 10.  It was hard, but the shoulder felt fine.  I must say though that I was in quaking fear for the rest of the workout.
	I then did 4 sets of 10 for two different rotator exercises using 8 to 12 lb. dumbbells.  I find that these exercises both stretch and strengthen the rotator.  Should I move them earlier?  I clearly need to exercise more care when pushing the limits.  I need to turn down the volume on this "valley" stuff.
	It was then back to the Smith machine for some close grip presses.  Again four sets of 10.  I had become sufficiently cautious at this juncture that I did a light 98 lbs. on the first set.  Like nothing (this was beyond my upper bound a year ago).  I jumped to 118.  Moderate.  I had no creaks, but I was feeling like the weight was heavy.  I set the Smith machine so that the weight could not crash down and completely crush my chest.  I bumped to 138, my current limit and did two sets, drop setting the last.  I was back hunting in the valley.  Lord keep me.
	I then jumped to the LifeFitness cable system and did overhead tri pushdowns with a triangle.  Another four sets of 10 experience.  I wanted to start at 130, my previous record.  But another guy was there, and I was afraid of crashing in to him.  So, I started at 110 to get calibrated.  Then 120, 130, and finally 140, a new record.  I felt like a god in the valley, deep in the valley, where it was muddy and hot and everything was a test of personal strength where I won.

So, the workout probably sounds great.  A big head rush at the end.  But, it's scary too.  My right shoulder feels slightly tweaked.  I pray for the health of my elbow.  I feel a bit like a fool who drove too hard.  Too much on the edge.

My New Year's resolution is control.  I'm going to get Arnold to help me even more with that than she has.

Lord, keep me from the valley of the shadow.  I tend to go to far in.

But maybe, just maybe, I can lean over the edge and take a peek.

I think I have Tennis Elbow

Well, after whining that Arnold was beating me to a pulp in my last post, that I could not keep up with the girl wonder, I decided to do a little research.  Basically, I have two issues, a little shoulder thing that comes and goes and an elbow thing that mainly comes.  I think the shoulder thing's rotator.  At least, if I am religious about my rotator exercises, I keep it under control.  Nancy and Mary, my personal trainer who got Nancy and me started as training partners, have helped with this.

The two women have been less quick to figure out a fix for the elbow, which is odd because Liberty Athletic Club where they have many clients was originally founded as a tennis club, and I've concluded I have tennis elbow (maybe this is a bad sign).  Another guy there who I very occasionally talk to just mentioned out of the blue that he was doing some exercises for a pain in his elbow that was in the exact same spot as mine.  He had tennis elbow.

Well, after reading this wikipedia article on tennis elbow, I'm convinced that that is what I have.  The pain is on the outside of the elbow and seems to occur when I really push it with pulling exercises.  Apparently, it is (thank god) just a nagging injury.  The best advice seems to be to remain active in ways that don't cause it to hurt.  Inactivity causes muscle atrophy (Noooooo!).  As with most of these injuries, part of the issue may be that some muscles are not toned up enough and getting hurt by ones that are disproportionately stronger (seems to be the case every time I get a rotator issue).  I'm going to try some of the stretching and strengthening exercises recommended here.  We'll see if it works.

I'm still taking my week off.  I think I need some rest and a chance to recharge.  This blog is part of that process.