Had my first HT-I workout yesterday. Prior to this I have completed FL-I, II.
First of all, it is a completely different kind of workout. I have never worked out with low reps before, and I was shocked at how much higher you could go with the weight. It definitely is a non-linear phenomenon, and I under-estimated starting weight on virtually everything.
Dumbell Incline Bench: I forsee problems here. For me this excercise isn't so much about pressing the weights as it is getting the dumbells into position. With 55 lb. dumbells it is already very difficult to get into starting position. It is also clear to me that you can hurt yourself if you're not careful.
High Pul: So my impression is that this excercise is basically an explosive lifting phase followed by a controlled lowering phase. Is this correct? I felt like I was basically doing negatives with this excercise.
The 90 second rest seemed like FOREVER coming off of 30 seconds in HT-II. I felt like I could balance my checkbook in between sets. There was time to change plates, write in my log, take a drink, etc.
I knew I was in trouble when I was sore BEFORE I LEFT THE GYM. Today my shoulders and triceps are very sore, which is not surprising because they are used so much in this workout. Chest isn't so sore. I thought the high pull would hit my traps more than it did, but I felt in more in my deltoids.
I'm very excited for the B workout. Judging from how much weight I could add on upper body, I'm going to be aggressive with the weight on the squat. It will definitely be record territory for me as far as weight goes.
I also did my first HT I workout, on Monday. Gonna begin workout B tonight. I was kinda floundering with the high pull, don't know what I am supposed to be doing with it. Maybe just needed more weight.
I found the close grip bench press painful for my wrists and shoulders. I wonder if I should substitute dbs and hold them close together, or stick with the bb bar but hold my hands farther apart? I have no pain with a regular bb bench press, but either my form is way off on the close grip one or my body just does not like the exercise.
I would think with the CG Bench you would have less stress on the shoulders. Are you keeping your arms in close to your sides?
As for the 90 second rests you'll be thankful for those when you get to the 3x15 superset of BSS/Stepups with only 30 second rests Which is after the squats and deadlifts. Big fun.
__________________
"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."
Dumbell Incline Bench: I forsee problems here. For me this excercise isn't so much about pressing the weights as it is getting the dumbells into position. With 55 lb. dumbells it is already very difficult to get into starting position. It is also clear to me that you can hurt yourself if you're not careful.
Jack,
Good report on your first day with H1!
Here are some tips on getting the DBs into position for an incline (or flat) bench press.
Grab the DBs off the rack or floor being sure to use your legs when you are picking up the weight so you don't put any undue stress on your lower back. Stand up with the base of the DBs resting on your thighs. Make sure that the bench is directly behind you and sit down so the DBs are resting on your lower thighs just above your knees. This is important because it will help you get the movement started.
To get the weight into the correct starting position, rock back while using your knees to help move the DBs into position. Continue in one explosive motion to push the DBs toward the ceiling, keeping them in line with your chest. Take a moment with your arms fully extended to set your scapulae, take a deep breath and lock your spine into place before you begin your reps.
Some guys bring the DBs from their knees back into the bottom position of the press rather than the top. Do what feels most comfortable and secure to you.
Does that help?
It's true that you can hurt yourself taking the DBs back. For your heavy sets, ask a spotter to stand behind you and grab your forearms as the DBs come back and assist you in getting them in place. If you have a spotter you can throw the DBs back with confidence, which is actually much safer than a tentative effort that requires a large load to be placed on the shoulders.
High Pul: So my impression is that this excercise is basically an explosive lifting phase followed by a controlled lowering phase. Is this correct? I felt like I was basically doing negatives with this excercise.
Here's a more detailed description of a clean pull (a high pull with a clean grip, which is what you're doing) that includes a video of the movement.
Ball State Strength Lab OK. Seems I can't link you directly to the lift. This link takes you to the home page. Click on Exercises OK -> select the region upper leg/hip then click View Exercises -> Click on Clean Pull
The exercise description is on that page and there's a link to the video at the top.
I get the dbs in place just as Lisa describes and it works great (100dbs each arm). It may be hard at first but just as with any other movement you'll get used to it and after a few times it'll be a snap.
__________________
Working "hard," or the perception of working hard, doesn't really mean anything. Sweating, vomiting, and breathing hard could be a good workout or a tropical disease kicking in.-Dan John
Damn Kuri...100 lb DBs...hard to imagine at this point.
Lisa - great video of the clean pulls...thanks. I did H1 for the first time yesterday as well and, like Jack, was very controlled. That's not how it was shown in the video!
__________________ “I have always done my duty. I am ready to die. My only regret is for the friends I leave behind me.”
-- Zachary Taylor, 12th U.S. President, 1849-1850
I just finished HT1....you guys are in for a treat. Expect great gains in size AND strength. Just be sure to eat...you need a lot of calories on this due to the high volume and changing rep schemes.
__________________
Audentes Fortunas Juvat
"Focus on making the 5 lifts stronger and getting enough food. There will be plenty of time to worry about glycemic indexes, PERs, and Bulgarian Split squats later. Much later."-Mark Rippetoe
I did HT 1 on Monday morning and still a little sore today... This morning I talked Workout B...
I so love the 5x5 sets... haven't done those in awhile... Chest, tris, shoulders were sore within 10 minutes of ending the workout... DH even had to unhook my bra Monday night and last night as I couldn't get my arms to work right to reach it... (blushing)
The soreness from this morning is starting to kick in now... I can't wait until Monday when I get to do the 5x5 with legs...
Old guy, you mean power lifting style? I will try that.
Did the first lower body HyperI workout tonight. I have always done full body before, alternating sets of upper and lower body exercises. I thought I had backed off enough from my usual dead and squat poundage, but it looks like I was wrong. Had to do regular rather than bulgarian split squats, and had to borrow some "purty" dbs from my wife.
Also, I tried to go lower than usual on the squats and tweaked my hammie on my right leg just a little. We'll see how that goes, it will probably be four days before I repeat this, given rest days and the upper workout.
The ole legs are like rubber right now. I was only able to do about 20 min on the ski machine, and that was steady state, could not push out intervals. Hopefully, if I can keep the cardio up and eat a little over maintenance, I can build a little muscle and still get leaner.
I did my first b workout on Tuesday. I could hardly sit down yesterday. Today is better. Just in time to go back tomorrow and do it again. I enjoy the exercises and schemes in A. I am liking the routine.
__________________
Stats:
38 year old coach to my 8 year old son, 6 ft tall jungle gym to my 10 year old daughter, 184 lb husband to my wife of 15 years and a 11% BF fitness addict best friend to all 3 of them.
Ahem...Rookie...aren't you supposed to use foul language about Alwyn at this point?
__________________
Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable. -- Sidney J. Harris
I would but it might hurt...Everything else does...
__________________
Stats:
38 year old coach to my 8 year old son, 6 ft tall jungle gym to my 10 year old daughter, 184 lb husband to my wife of 15 years and a 11% BF fitness addict best friend to all 3 of them.
Lisa~, you are amazing. I had my first day of HT1 today as well. I read this thread first, and it helped a lot. Actually, I am regularly amazed at all of the great information you are able to provide here!
Lisa~, you are amazing. I had my first day of HT1 today as well. I read this thread first, and it helped a lot. Actually, I am regularly amazed at all of the great information you are able to provide here!
Thanks! I'm glad something I posted helped you out!
I found the close grip bench press painful for my wrists and shoulders. I wonder if I should substitute dbs and hold them close together, or stick with the bb bar but hold my hands farther apart? I have no pain with a regular bb bench press, but either my form is way off on the close grip one or my body just does not like the exercise.
If you go to the Ball State Strength Lab that I linked earlier in this thread and choose the frontal trunk region, you will find a video of a close-grip bench press. It might help to see someone perform the movement well.
I coach clients to grip the bar about shoulder width or slightly wider. A narrower grip is often tough on the wrists. Personallly, I've always needed to explode the weight off my chest in a close-grip bench to be able to focus the load in my triceps rather than in my anterior delts. Remember also that the bar will naturally come a bit lower on your body (probably close to the bottom of your sternum) than it does on your flat bench press.
Thanks, Lisa. I will check out that video. Also, I have moderately wide shoulders (44-46 jacket size) and when I hold my hands about 12" apart as in the instructions in the book, they are a lot closer than shoulder width apart. I will check out the video form and play around with the grip width. I may need to sub out the exercise, as I am already doing the incline db press in the routine, and if I widen up so much that I am not hitting the muscles differently, what is the point.
I read somewhere (maybe Home Workout Bible?) that using dbs but keeping them closer together is similar to the close grip bb press. Am I just misremembering this or does this make sense? For me, dbs always seem easier on my joints, so I like to use them where possible.
I read somewhere (maybe Home Workout Bible?) that using dbs but keeping them closer together is similar to the close grip bb press. Am I just misremembering this or does this make sense? For me, dbs always seem easier on my joints, so I like to use them where possible.
I'm just shrugging my shoulders. Same movement, different way to add the load, sure they're similar. Variety is good. If you think it matters, then ok.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rwmct
I am already doing the incline db press in the routine, and if I widen up so much that I am not hitting the muscles differently, what is the point.
Maybe we need to talk about your inclince bench press. :p
If you want to stick to this program, then the incline bench press should be felt primarily in your chest and the close-grip bench press primarily in your triceps. Both lifts use the same muscle actions, of course, but the focus is slightly different. You'll feel both in your shoulders, but the incline bench press shouldn't primarily be felt in your shoulders. If that's what you mean by the two lifts being similar, maybe looking at your inclince bench press would help too.
"Focus on making the 5 lifts stronger and getting enough food. There will be plenty of time to worry about glycemic indexes, PERs, and Bulgarian Split squats later. Much later."-Mark Rippetoe
I finished my first day of HT1 earlier this week and will be doing workout B for the first time tonight. After finishing FL2 with its 30 seconds of rest, 90 seconds seemed like forever between sets (although I'm sure that won't be the case on the workout B 3x15 days).
Ah, let me try again. What I meant is that if i widen the grip on the "short grip" bench press enough it will become very similar to the grip in the regular bench press (though admitttedly we are using dbs for that in this workout and it is inclined). So what I was trying to say is, if I have to widen the grip alot to get comfortable enough to perform the exercise, I will lose the benefit that it was put in the program to achieve, and therefore maybe I would be better doing some other exercise.
When I do the upper body workout tomorrow i will widen the grip a little, try to keep my elbows in more, and see how that goes.
Some of my shoulder ache may also be due to the wide grip lat pulls, which I was doing as pullups or chinups (get the names mixed up) on a bar in my squat rack, with a (very) little assist from my feet.
Oh please don't say that. I had some FL-II B workouts that nearly killed me.
I'm starting FL2 on sun, so I'll get to see for myself. It does look pretty damn hard....
__________________
Audentes Fortunas Juvat
"Focus on making the 5 lifts stronger and getting enough food. There will be plenty of time to worry about glycemic indexes, PERs, and Bulgarian Split squats later. Much later."-Mark Rippetoe
...take the feeling you have while looking at FL2 on paper and quadruple the pain. That should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect.
__________________ If you see a woman wearing a bikini made of sea shells and you pick her up and hold her to your ear . . . . . you can hear her scream. - Ron White
Well, I did upper body workout number 2 tonight. The good news is, following the advice received above, I kept my elbows in tighter and spread my grip another inch or two and was able to tolerate the close grip bench press. Only problem, I completely failed on the 10th rep of the last set. It was kinda weird, as I knew half way down that I was not gonna get it back up again, but I could not do anything about it! Fortunately, lol, by that point in the program, I am using such light weight that I had no trouble easing the bar off to the side and getting out from under it. It was a wake up call, though. I have never failed on a lift like that before.
Well, I did upper body workout number 2 tonight. The good news is, following the advice received above, I kept my elbows in tighter and spread my grip another inch or two and was able to tolerate the close grip bench press. Only problem, I completely failed on the 10th rep of the last set. It was kinda weird, as I knew half way down that I was not gonna get it back up again, but I could not do anything about it! Fortunately, lol, by that point in the program, I am using such light weight that I had no trouble easing the bar off to the side and getting out from under it. It was a wake up call, though. I have never failed on a lift like that before.
LOL (We can laugh because you didn't get hurt!)
I have no scientific explanation for it, but I've experienced it and seen it with clients too - when the triceps fail, they fail totally. With other exercises there seems to be a way to power through a rep you probably should have racked and not done, but with triceps if you keep trying, you just collapse. I don't even know if that's universal. Learn from the experience so you'll know when to stop next time!
First Day of HT-I
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