Just a minor quip here but there’s nothing wrong with a wide grip pullfown for trying to increase your pull up strength and in fact doing solely pull downs to try and build pull up strength is not the full equation. Doing assisted pull ups with longer eccentrics, ~4 seconds, 1&1/4 pull-ups, and adding in pull downs can all be beneficial to building the requisite strength and skill. Secondly, anotomically speaking the lats don’t have leverage with the shoulders in full flexion (arms overhead) the chest does and it will do the majority of the work in a pull down when you’re “full stretched.” Also working on your elbow extensor strength helps building pull up strength so doing reverse grip ez bar cable curls (palms facing down) and supinated curls also can aid in pull ups.
Any suggestions for an optimal, weighted ab workout? I currently do cable crunches, ab wheel and I feel like kickboxing covers the obliques.
the abs can be trained just like any other muscle so 2-4 sets twice a week is plenty. Ab training can be boring but cable crunches, incline crunches, reverse crunches, hanging leg raises, Roman chair leg raises, Ab mat crunches, Russian twists, dead bugs are all great options. Although the “abs” act as one unit generally I pick a lower and upper exercise so let’s say a hanging leg raise and ab mat crunch, keep those for 4-8 weeks. And then cycle other things.
My ab muscles are pretty good right now. There's a rock hard mound there. You can see the outline. But, the BF% isn't low enough to see the six-pack definition. I don't really want those muscles getting much bigger, though. They're good! That's 15 months of consistent abs work there. Just need to keep them working. I opt for hanging leg raises, hanging knee crunches, and occasionally just sit-ups. I add some moves within those exercises to target sides and upper/lower. Abs don't take much imo to grow based on my personal results. Or, maybe they do...like consistency over time.
I'm pissed. Was out for a couple of weeks dealing with tennis elbow. Got that taken care of and back in the gym for a week...only to tear ligaments in my thumb. Now in a splint and looking at probably 12 weeks before I can grip fully again. Going to have to figure out some things to do so I can maintain arm strength but not have to grip doing it. If anyone has any ideas, let me know
Buddy of mine damaged his forearm nerves playing college football and his grip is shot. He manages in the gym. I’ve never asked him what he does but it’s probably a lot of cable weights. (I’ll ask)
I literally wont have the use of my thumb for probably 3 months. On my right hand, too. Makes life a little more difficult in so many ways.
Sorry to hear about the injury. As long as you can train still and it’s not causing you any further pain or damage, invest in some padded cuffs (wrist/ankle) and you can pretty much adjust any cable exercise, some exercises will feel a lot different and you won’t be able use as much weight but it works. I’m dealing with golfers elbow now and I’m still able to hit everything with the cuffs.
Actually during a soccer game on Sunday night. Was going to ground and put my hand down...then my thumb made a nice popping sound. Thought I jammed it but turned out I as wrong. I've been able to hold smaller dumbells and do some cable flies, rows and some other things as long as the grip isn't too wide. Filling in with more leg work and core work just to get something done.
Got my push-up max up to 27 reps at ~ 200 pounds. Then, I do another two sets of 20 reps fairly easily. That's post-chest workout where I finish with push-ups after all the heavy fly curl and bench press lifting and other chest exercises like lying cable pulldowns. According to the push-up calculator I was using, that's "good" but not "excellent". I need to hit 31 reps at my age to be "excellent" apparently. Maybe if I had a drill sergeant screaming at me, I could have eked out another 4 reps? The calculator doesn't accept bodyweight...just age and reps. lol. I think I need a new calculator.
I’ll try it but I don’t think it will make much difference. I bust out random push-ups and change exercise orders all the time. I do a lot of my best work after getting my muscles worked and toward the end. It seems counterintuitive but I just take it to mean there is still power left in the tank and the adrenaline is in full at that point.. I don’t feel exhausted at that point. I feel loose. Must be the creatine!
Game changer tip here. Do jumping jacks in between sets like 20 reps. It generates your energy back faster.
I 100% guarantee that if you warm up properly prior to doing the pushups, you would beat 31. All this before other chest exercises.
Okay...I made the 32 push-ups goal! Mission accomplished! My push-up calculator now says "Excellent!". Good, proper form push-ups only (done the Athlean-X way). I took my current weight @ 207 pounds prior. I couldn't get past the 32 reps, though. Good pain was felt in last 7 reps or so. I followed that up a few minutes later with a second set of 32 push-ups so that was cool albeit it hurt more on the second set toward the end. On the 33rd rep attempt on the second set, I made it halfway up and then crumpled to the floor. lol. Then, I did 25 reps on the 3rd set. For warm-ups, I did some light weight (100 pounds BowFlex weight) lifts...20 reps of bench press, 20 reps of triceps press, and 20 reps of bicep curls. I also did a few neutral grip pull-ups and minor arm stretches. Oh...I also did 5 miles of cardio walking at 7 incline setting in the early morning as well. So, not sure how that played into it versus trying with no early cardio work? I'll have to try without morning cardio...later. Next up...rock throwing.
