Well ... it's what keeps effing up my shoulder. You see, the rib out pulls everything a little ... including my clavicle, which then pulls on the muscle and connective tissue on the front of my shoulder. Basically, it's a chain reaction that effs everything up. :-) Need to go back in b/c it slipped out again. Not as bad as before; but being out for so long, it's goign to take a couple of visits before everything stay where it's supposed to. That said...

Had a good chest day today. Did 4 sets of 5 @ 135 and decided I've been doing that for too long; so I bumped it up.

3 x 145: no problem
3 x 155: did 2 sets. first one was wobbly. second one was good. if I had a spot, I would have gone for 3 x 165; but I figured (a) I didn't want 165lbs on my chest and (b) I did enough reps for the day.

Followed that up with close-grip presses @ 95 until failure for 2 sets with minimal rest. Then I supersetted overhead tricep rope extensions and straight-bar pressdowns to failure for 3 sets.

Followed that up with DIPS. That's right, Gerry ... I did dips. Discovered that we have a dip machine up with all the machines. Managed to crank out 3 sets of 5 @ 200lbs. I guess that means I can do real dips once I drop my body weight. :-)

Thinking about doubling up on things here soon -- meaning doing a full hour of lifting in the morning and then a full hour of cardio at night. Yeah ... I know it would make more sense to do it the other way around; but I can do the cardio by walking in the neighborhood or whatever and my gym pass is only good for the AM hours (don't ask).

What I wouldn't give for some cle.... Never mind. :-)

GOOD LIFTING TO ALL!!!! :-)

real dips? finally!
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Different grips will alter both the location of muscle stimulation in the chest, as well as stress on the delts and triceps, Dan. I used to bench with a very wide grip when I was younger, but found later that for muscle building a narrower grip worked better for me. Keep in mind that I am not benching for a "max" or powerlifting purposes anymore. A couple inches wider than shoulder width is my norm, but I will vary the width some days to hit my chest in a different way.

Anything that causes pain (other than muscle soreness) is not a good thing, no matter what your lifting partner tells you.

There are a couple of rings on the bar that are a little more than shoulder width apart -- some call those the "power rings" (don't know if that's the real name). Proper, competition bench dictates that your hands are inside those rings. So when I line up for a bench, I stick the outside edges of my pinkies on the inside of those rings. That said, I'll vary my grip width depending on what I'm wanting to accomplish (i.e., hit the shoulders, tris, or pecs more).

There are LOTS of vids and articles online about doing bench. I can't find the really good vid right now that Gerry showed me once. It's this eastern european guy (I think that's his accent -- maybe serbian) and he has some nice instructional videos.

Paging zemekone. :-) :-)

Congrats on "dippin'", Dokk! :-)
Why? I have lifted in the mornings and played hockey at night for years, and it works great. :-)

Thanks, Admiral. :-) It's the first time my shoulder has felt good enough for dips in a long time.

In terms of the cardio... I guess I was thinking (hypothetically) that cardio in the morning would jump start my metabolism throughout the day and lifting at night would allow for an immediate good resting/repair period (sleep). But if the reverse works well for you, then I say HUZZAH!!! :-)

HUZZAH, indeed! :-) :-)

So here's a question for y'all: how good do you think racquetball is as cardio? Like if I put in 45 minutes to an hour of r-ball, is that as good as 30 minutes of incline walking on the treadmill? Or recumbent bike? Or elliptical?

It is like hockey...intense periods of exertion with periods of "rest". Might not be the same as cardio on a treadmill, bike, etc., but if it is fun, I am more likely to do a lot more of it. :-)

I find racquetball to be an awesome workout, compared to the other options, if you have an equally skilled partner. My lifting partner and I play for 1.5 hours twice a week between lifting days. We started playing at the same time so the games are even and we both have to work just as hard. Its not as great of a workout if you are playing with someone much better then yourself... and they are trying to win games rather then play for the excersize.

Like Tom says, its is a whole lot more fun then running by yourself, so it is very easy to play for a lot longer then you expected

Hey, I like running by myself!!! sometimes


















:-)

You like doing a lot of things by yourself, don't you Bao. :-) :-)

So what's your point Dokk? :-)

Dunno about a site, but you should read the same book I am reading - Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore. Awesome book for technique in the five basic barbell exercises.

http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Stren...6701565&sr=8-1

Bench press site

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exer...on=&order=Name

Is an ok description, but I don't know that you will find a good one online, at least not in the depth you should be getting.

Pete, that site is a bit over the top... It is considered an isolation exercise. It works the pecs and a little of the triceps and shoulders. Give me a squat, deadlift or press (standing, overhead) any day as a measure of pure strength. Something that involves more than just a couple of muscles at least.

Shaerza, your hands should be just past shoulder width apart. Any wider than that might let you lift more weight, but it decreases the range of motion of the bar and can result in shoulder injuries/chronic pain. If it is hurting your thumbs, it's too wide. Your forearms should be perpendicular to both the ground and the bar at all times.

Agreed. Everything with a grain of salt. Apparently there is at least one person out there to whom the bench press is the shnitz. :-)

Tripped over the site some time ago while tryiong to decipher some shoulder pain. A few good pointers none the less.

I simply disagree with that :-)

Nice good to see that this thread was started over here :-)

Which, that the bench is an isolation? Or that it is or is not a good indicator of overall strength? Or that that site is OTT? Or that I am ugly? That Bao likes doing things by himself?

:-)