I don't know what I like most about that, the mismatched plates, the five fingers, or the fact that he is calling what is pretty close to bodyweight on the bar "heavy, heavy weights."
I don't know what I like most about that, the mismatched plates, the five fingers, or the fact that he is calling what is pretty close to bodyweight on the bar "heavy, heavy weights."
OR the not even quarter squat depth.
He got his cardio in I guess...
So here we have the man with the currently (subjectively decided) best physique in the entire world, and he doesn't understand the most basic ideas of physics/force production that if you can do a weight for 4 sets of 20, it, by definition, cannot be heavy. Much less "heavy heavy." I'm willing to bet at least 75%, and probably closer to 100%, of the people reading this understand why that is true. So you know more about training than Mr. Olympia. Not preparing for a bodybuilding show, of course, but how actual training works.A lot of people say, oh, you know, you're doing all this high rep training. A lot of people don't realize that as long as you're using heavy, heavy weight, I don't see it being a problem. But if you're using high reps as a way of lowering the weight and so-called "chasing the pump," you're gonna get small.
Let's think for a minute about what this might tell us about the old phenomenology vs analysis trope.
The real question is why does he have RED plates on one side and BLUE plates on the other side?
Basically, yes. See below in reply to Karl.
Right. And I'm far from an expert in developing world class bodybuilders, and I wouldn't even necessarily suggest that there's no place for 4x20 work in a bodybuilder's routine. I don't really know, but I'd guess there probably IS. It's the simple fact that 4x20, by definition, can't be heavy. And he just doesn't know that. One might suggest he's saying heavy for 4x20, or as we might use in language more familiar to strength training: 350x20x4 @ RPE 9.5. Or something like that. But in context, I think it's clear that's not what he means.
The top bodybuilders are all strong, and even with all the partials and stuff they do, it wouldn't surprise me to see them able to lift heavy weights through a full ROM, if they tried. Not world class PL heavy, but legit heavy. However - not that we didn't really already know this - but this is a good illustration of genetics + steroids being far more important a determinant in outcome than solid programming. Which is why phenomenology, while useful, can never yield a complete picture of what's going on, nor allow a derivation of optimal (or, at least, closer to optimal) protocols and techniques from first principles.
I assume they're the same weight (even though I know in serious plate colorage, blue is usually 20kg and red is 25kg), but admit I didn't look that closely. It would be funny if they were actually different weights and he didn't notice. Or even funnier if it was on purpose for some type of uneven load nonsense.
But really it's probably because of this. I heard that guy does whatever a spider can.
Ha! That made me laugh. According to dictionary.reference.com, phenomenon has several definitions. The first is:
The fourth is specifically a philosophical definition:a fact, occurrence, or circumstance observed or observable
I don't know as much about how it's popularly used, but I think its usage as simply "The study of phenomena," as defined in that first way, is not incorrect even if not the way it's normally used. Maybe I'm wrong. I'm certainly not a linguist or philologist (despite my love for Tolkien), nor a philosopher.An appearance or immediate object of awareness in experience.
In Kantianism: a thing as it appears to and is constructed by the mind, as distinguished from a noumenon, or thing-in-itself.
Last edited by Michael Wolf; 10-02-2014 at 02:59 PM. Reason: improper use of apostrophe
Bad news for the jews. Usually I am a very consistent lifter. Like everyone, I have better days and worse days, but I usually bring my A game, and if it's a bad day, I have my A- game. A good day will be my A+ game. While this means I don't really pull big PRs out of my arse, it also means I can predict pretty well how I'll do, and am a very steady and consistent performer.
But ever since I've returned to lifting following the cyst removal, I've felt like I can't get past my B+ game. Today, I had my C game.
This is the first time ever in all my training history that a re-ramp back up LP has faltered before getting me to where I have previously been (and recently, too). As recently as 8/28 and 9/1, I pressed more than I did today - not easily, but I did it. Going a bit further back, I did 210x5x5 on June 23rd. I probably could have done 215-218 for 3x5 at that point. I hit 210x5x3 for the first time 16 months ago. I should be well past that point now, so stalling here today was very frustrating. Bench felt like crap afterwards, too.
Might be I just had a bad day, but I've just not been "feeling it" at all since the cyst got taken out. Not happy.
Still, not all is lost. Two good takeaways today:
1. With some self-massage and ITB rolling and knee sleeves, my knees felt better enough today to squat light. Went up to about 165x5 and felt much better than Tuesday. Not 100%, but a whole lot better.
2. Took the same bench grip as Monday (about 1/2 a finger width narrower than my preferred grip, but basically right there) and shoulder feels ok afterwards.
Press
204x5,5,4 (failed 5th rep),3 @ 9.5, 10, 10, 9
166x8 @ 10
Notes: No Mojo.
Bench Press
316.5x5 @ 9.75, 294.5x5 @ 9
221x12 @ 9
Notes: Didn't have a hand-off, but even with that and after pressing, 316.5x5 should still be more like an 8.5 at worst. Between that and my 166x8 press, it at least makes me think it was just a bad day.
BW Chins
9 sets of 6
Notes: Knew I didn't have it in me to fight through sets of 12, so just accumulated some volume here with 6s. Rested 1-2 mins between sets.
DB Curlz
55x8, 45x12
Cable Ext Rot
7.5x15x2
Last edited by Michael Wolf; 10-02-2014 at 04:08 PM.