Tried Something New at the Gym Today..

[pebblesus]

I have been working out at home for two yesrs. I love it. I have a full dumbell rack and a Troy BB (goes up to like 100 yes?).. flat bench, bands, stability ball..
Anyway, I decided that there are two areas I want to focus on, but are by far the hardest and most underdeveloped for ME.

LATS - Im very shoulder dominant and can't seem to isolate the area enough to have found any gains in the past few months (I want some width and thickness, right now I can't do a pullup lol)

LEGS - just started getting hardcore with these actually.. I decided this weekend that the weight I can safely lift over my head on the BB and back down over and over (around 50 lbs), isn't enough for the size and strength gains I want. So today I got a day pass at the local gym and did legs and lats

The lats I did three sets of
*overhand pulldowns
*close grip underhand pulldowns
*cable rows (with triangle attachment)
*cable pulldowns (with same attachment)

I felt that my forearms tightened and burned out before I left tired in the back, I stretched them in between and everything.

Could I have done them wrong?
I was surprised at how hard they all were and my weights seemed light, yet my rep range was 6-10 (struggling the whole time and changing the weight up or down one notch).
All this at-home training.. but I never felt much isolation in the bb rows and pullovers either (that's why I tried the most isolating exercises I could come up with at the gym)... I guess I won't really know for sure until tomorrow hehe.

The LEGS I typically do higher reps or do some warmup sets so that I can feel Im getting somehting out of squatting 50lbs. I found a site where girls are squatting and pressing in the hundreds.. slapped me with the reality that I have a long way to go for the strength Im aiming for, but we all have to start somewhere's
So I got on the squat rack and put a 25lb plate on each end of the 45lb Olympic BB (I miscalculated the weight of both of them so no wonder I struggled).
Three sets-
*Squats 6-8 reps
*hack squat machine 6-7 reps
*static lunges 6 reps
*Wide stance squats 8 reps
..threw in some ebarassingly light hamstring curls and that was about it. I feel next time I will definitly lighten the weight one notch, but do you think that this will be enough for size and strength gains? if done maybe every 9-10 days, with another routine (maybe moderate, at-home 10-12 rep range OR a glute and hamstring routine) in between??

 

[sewgirl]

I'm definitely not Cathe, but I have had some success in this area using slow cadence lifting. At the gym, I lift using a speed of 10 seconds up and 10 seconds down. If you are using the proper weight, you will be able to lift about 3 to 4 repetitions before total muscle failure. After complete failure, try to lift the weight again (but you will not be able to move the weight at all) for a count of 10 seconds or more. This is where you will feel a deep burn in your muscles. After lifting this way, you will need 5 to 7 days rest before lifting for this body part again. Once you can complete 5 to 6 repetitions with your current weight, it is time to increase it. I usually increase by 1 to 2 pounds only. Though this lifting style takes much focus and attention to form, it is one that lets you see steady gains. If you would like to give this a try at home, Cathe did an excellent series of 3 workouts called "Slow and Heavy". She uses 6 seconds in the lifting and it is tough! More information about slow cadence lifting can be found in the books "The Slow Burn" by Fredrick Hahn and Drs. Michael and Mary Eades, and "The Power of 10" by Adam Zickerman. Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[Gibbee]

I find I fall behind on my back and legs as well (although my upper body strength isn't necessarily shoulder-dominant - I take it all in the traps). I have tried supplementing with extra weight work at the gym for back and legs but I am too inconsistent with it to see results. I'll be curious to see what comments you receive.

Gibbee