My training History: I trained less than one year before competing in my first powerlifting meet as a teenager back in 1983. Before leaving the sport in 2005 I achieved my elitefts status in the 198,220,242,275 & 308 weight class. Throughout these years I did have a 3 year run in the bodybuilding world. Loved the training didn't like the competing aspect so I went back to my first love, powerlifting. Injuries have been a part of my life ever since I can remember and were the biggest reason for leaving the sport (I can no longer hold a squat bar on my back). I have degenerative joint disease, have had two shoulder surgeries (right shoulder now needs replaced), one full hip replacement, knee surgery, herniation's in all three regions of my spine, Bone spurs in places I didn't know you could get them, planter facetious, tendinitis and bursitis. I can't even begin to list the number of muscle tears I have had, surgical and non surgical. I am "The Mashed Up Meathead" and this is my story.
You can find my training log archives HERE and my most current training log posts HERE.
My best lifts are behind be but my best training is yet to come.
* Unless otherwise noted the tempo of the work sets is about 1/2 of what most would consider normal. In most cases, if I did the set with normal temp what I fail at with 8-10 reps in training I could do for 20 reps with a normal tempo. This is to keep the joint stress down while increase the stress on the muscle. I have found this to work best for me provided the conditions listed in my training history above.
October 18th, Sunday, back training.
First exercise: tsunami bar pull downs. I really like this bar to do pull downs with, because it's got a little flex into it. What I try to do is begin the exercise by bending the bar first, and then keeping the bar bent throughout the entire movement. It seems to help keep my lats contracted better, and it also puts my hands in a little better position and it takes some of the stress off of my shoulders. On this exercise, I did five or six warm up sets of five to six reps, and then used the same weight for four work sets of eight to twelve, with each set going to failure. Once again this exercise I used a very slow tempo with, and tried to keep that flex or that bend on the bar throughout the entire movement.
The second exercise was the four inch grenade ball, straight arm pull downs. For this I hooked the grenade ball on a cable pull down machine, at about just over head level. Then I cupped the grenade ball the same way I would a dumbbell for a dumbbell pull over. Stand about one pace back from the table unit, so at the top I get a stretch in my lats, not my shoulders, and at the bottom I feel the contraction in my lats and not my pecs. For this exercise I did two warm up sets to try to gauge and to find what weight I was going to use, and then six sets of ten to fifteen reps, to failure. Once again this is a slow tempo exercise with a big contraction.
Third exercise, mag grip pull downs with a close grip. This is using a close grip mag handle with a supinated position. Here I needed a couple of warm up sets to gauge what weight I wanted to use. The weight was still on the machine from the tsunami bar pull downs so I already knew from beginning that I would use less weight with this handle than I would with the tsunami bar. It didn't take as many sets as normal for pull down movement for me to get to my work sets. With this I did four work sets of six to eight reps, to failure. Actually failed on one of the sets I know for sure, in five reps. Slow tempo again, super tight contraction, and then a big stretch at the top.
After my last work set, I did a loaded stretch with the same exercise. I just put fifteen more pounds on and just let it pull and hang. Almost a full stretch. There's a position that I can find that isn't completely with a straight arm. It's slightly bent at the elbows, but has a really big stretch on the lats, so it's a loaded stretch for the lats, it's not really so much a stretch for my shoulders.
The forth exercise was hammer machine rows. On this I did one arm at a time, using double sets. To better explain, I grabbed the handle with each hand. There's two handles. I keep one arm in the stretched position, and did five repetitions with the right arm and then five repetitions with the left arm, and then left both handles back down. Now the double sets, that's how I did the warm up sets. The double sets, I'd just do two sets in a row without putting the handles back down. I did four double sets of four reps.
The fifth exercise was cable low rows, using a wide double D handle. I did not need any warm up sets for this. I already know exactly what weight I need to use. It's about mid-stack. Did three sets of six reps, once again the key on this one here is to keep the sternum up, the chest up in a tight contraction, and to initiate the pull with my elbows instead of my hands.
The last exercise was a hise shrug. This is using the standing path machine. I stand on the ground, put the pads on my shoulders, and set it into position to where when I stand up, the pad is pushing down on my shoulders, and then it's just basically doing shrugs against the pad. Four sets of fifteen repetitions, each set was very close to failure. After the four work sets, I did a loaded stretch on here, which was throwing a handful of more plates on there and just standing and letting the pads push the shoulders down or stretch the traps out in a standing position.