Today was bench day and it feels good to be back in normal training. Despite my leg injury I still deadlifted this week though the squat is still no go I will be doing plenty of RDL and glute ham raises to work the posterior chain. Hopefully by the time I am back to squatting I will have a much stronger squat base.
Dan was in today, shirt off channeling Ricky! The big guy had some bad news so thoughts are with him.
Following bench I set up for some 'Boring but big' inverted rows. On this cycle I am making an even more concerted effort to work the mid and upper back and ensure the antagonist muscles to the bench are worked hard to maintain balance.
The more I read and experiment the more I believe the bent over row is useless as fuck for all but the most balanced trainers. I have been making a point of watching and filming about 30 examples of rows over the last 3 months and it is interesting how upright guys are compared to how they perceive their form. Its a tough move as the more you fatigue the more you tend to stand up and exaggerate the curve in your back. My for the average guy like me with poor upper back musculature the invertered row is a perfect move to innervate upper and mid back muscles that are not well worked. Check out DeFranco's text book form...
Following this the Pendlay performed well is a perfect way to add beef. The deload between reps allows the trainer to reset, remember the cues and get a strong powerful stimulation of the upper and mid back. Much more useful than the bent row where form breaks down after 5-6 reps with a decent weight. Interestingly it appears more lat dominate too and while great lats are good for the deadlift most average guys can do with way more beef in the upper back to help with squat stability and bench pressing.
1 more week until 2 weeks xmas leave can't wait!
Stay Strong
Thomo
No comments:
Post a Comment