Sun 9 Aug 2009
W.O.W. 8/9/09
Posted by Doug McGuff under Uncategorized
Had a great Big 5 today. Improvement on all movements.
MedX Leg Press-up 2lbs, stable TUL
Pulldown-stable weight, up 4 seconds on TUL
Chest Press-up 2lbs, stable TUL
Pullover- up 2.5lbs, stable TUL
Overhead Press-up 4 lbs, stable TUL.
Being on vacation and sleeping on a stable schedule really enhanced my recovery. Thanks for all the great WOW’s and discussion last week.
Post your WOW’s.
Doug McGuff
8/8/09
All Nautilus Nitro equipment.
Chest Press 225lbs @60sec
Pulldown 240lbs @62sec
Overhead Press 173lbs @62sec
Seated Leg Curl 183lbs @63sec
Leg Press 495lbs @59sec
Total workout time: 10:29
Improvements:
Overhead Press up 2lb
Seated Leg Curl up 1lb
Workout viewable on Greyhound Fitness Youtube page (Click on my name and then youtube logo on website).
Thanks.
2 minutes:
-Leg Press: Up 5# AND 15 seconds
-Overhead Press: Up 5#(~8% more) and only lost 20 seconds.
-Pull Down: Up a half a plate to ‘11′ and only down 8 seconds
-Chest Press: Up 12 seconds
-Seated Row: Up 16 seconds
One of the best workouts yet. Up in weight or time or both on all. I couldn’t believe how light the leg press felt today. It was a breeze. I had to check to make sure I had the weight right!
Made a slight modification to only go to momentary failure. No struggling for a few seconds or other set extending. The increased time under load would have even been higher if I did, but I suspect I will be even more recovered come next week.
Left feeling fantastic! Also had an extra half day of recovery since we last lifted friday last week, which might have helped.
W.O.W. August 9, 2009
Nitro lower back–stable wt. up 12 sec.TUL
Nitro leg press–stable wt. up 2 sec. TUL
Nitro incline–stable wt. up 3 sec. TUL
Hammer lat pull-stable wt. up 2 sec. TUL
Nitro press–up 5lbs. stable TUL
Workout suffered as summer finally arrived in NW PA. Very hot and humid at the gym. In addition, I was hit by a Border Collie running at full speed in the lower left shin. I think the dog was attempting to test the effect BBS training had on my tibia bone density. It didn’t crack, although I had a lemon size swelling. I took it a little easy on the leg press.
Doug
Looks like you had a great Big 5. Your strict adherence to the Bill DeSimone “recovery routine” certainly paid off. Proper rest, relaxation and absence of the stress of the ER were definitely contributing factors.
Ed H
Dr. McGuff:
I posted this question on Dr. De Vany’s site ( I’ve been watching his DVD) and noticed you make comments there so I thought I’d pose this question to you: Dr. De Vany refers to the body as a decentralized open energy system. While I get this, I’m wondereing if there are any publication s that go into more depth on this, especially the decentralization aspect? Your perspective as a physician would be nice. Sorry this in not a workout related post.
My #9 WOW Aug 8,09
Trainer-Doug Holland
Nautilus Leverage Incline Press- 10/5
Nautilus Leverage Row- Static to N/O
Nautilus Pull Over- 10/5
Hammer Leg Press- 10/5
Med X Avenger Overhead Press- 10/5
60 sec rest
Nautilus Overhead Press top range partials
Great workout but I think my leg press suffered big time from spending too much time in the heat this past week and not hydrating properly.
This was #9 WOW for my wife Diana who has been working with Amy Love at Intelligent Exercise. This 8/8/09 workout was conducted by Doug Holland.
Static Hold Chin up with a slow negative
Nautilus Pull over (10/5)
Back to the Static Chin up with slow neg
Hammer H-Squat (10/5)
Nautilus Incline Press (N/O)
Nautilus Overhead Press (10/5)
She did great and is getting stronger every week.
Thanks Doug H.
WOW,
small improvements in every TUL.
Cybex hip add/abd ~65s.ea.
Chins 13 at bw ~3/3 cadence. No cheating this time, smooth turnarounds.
Dips bw 15 at 3/3.
calf press in LP machine about 55 s.
db curls 25# ~70 s.
~20 s. between sets
I’ve noticed even keeping my speed at strictly 3/3-3/4 is hard, especially being concious of smooth turnarounds. I’m also hands down the slowest guy in the gym doing reps, and the fastest guy to complete my workout.
Griff
Nine days since my last Big-5 workout with machines.
Seated Row: +5 lbs & matched my previous TUL!
Bench Press: same weight, TUL +13 secs
Underhand Lat Pulldown: same weight, TUL +2 secs only
Shoulder Press: +5lbs, TUL -15 secs
Leg Press: +10lbs, TUL -30 secs
not sure if I posted my last one 4 days ago…
leg press
delt press
torso arm…
good progress
176 this morning… weight coming down nicely…
Tue 11.08. BIG 3 - free weight
1. full squat 17 reps ntf
-target 20 reps
2. stiff-legged deadlift 15 reps (14+1 rest/pause)
-no lock-out on top
3. standing press 8 press ntf
-2/2 cadence
-rush factor not used (crowded gym)
Got in a quick one between appointments:
weighted chin up
MedX Avenger overhead press
Hammer H-Squat
Nautilus pullover
Nautilus series III bench press
@Doug Holland-Would love to see some more workout video. That first rep laugh on your first round of deadlifts was classic. Awesome!
Calf Raise on SS Leg Press: 550/1:28
SS Pulldown: 160/1:25
Leg Press SS Leg Press: 550/1:47
SS Chest Press: 160/1:18
550 is all I can currently to the SS Leg Press. I hang a 25 on the stack (using a second pin0 and use all my saddle weights. If anyone has an idea about how to add more, I would like to read it.
Next time I will join the youtube fun and record/post my session.
Hugh,weight horns are cheap amd easy to make.Just go to Lowe’s/Home Depot plumbing section and buy two pieces of threaded pipe 1 1/2 inch diameter by 6 inch length and two threaded flanges.Also get one long 1/4 inch bolt and a wing nut to go with it.The bolt goes through one flange,through the weight stack,into the other flange,and is secured with the wing nut.This way you have a weight horn on each side of the stack,so you can add additional 2″ olympic plates to each side of the stack(so the plates won’t tilt and drag).To get an idea,watch the beginning of my workout video,and you’ll see my weight horns(for plate storage) attached to my gym wall.
Doug H
to Doug H. I just watched that youtube deadlift video…. I am blown away… having just recently started to do trap bar deadlifts, I know how hard they can be… I’m trying for 257.5 tomorrow at height of 6′ (how tall are you?) I’m also 50, and weight is 176 this morning… I move slower 5-5 and barely touch, barely start at bottom, and avoid lockout, (MAE) then wait 30 seconds and do 2 more… but you just went on and on… I thought it was a single max attempt at first, so I was blown away with every extra rep… that is an amazing display of strength… congratulations!
Doug check out the cover of Time Magazine there is an article about how steady state excecise is useless, I sent the author some info on your book as it may be the answer he is looking for; 15 min workout a week, low carb, no cardio, slow lifts. I don’t feel hungry after I get my big five in!! keep up the great work
Is this the article you refer to, Rob?
time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857,00.html
(I left out the WWW at the beginning to avoid blocking of the post)
Franco
August 12, 2009
1. Leg Press: 360 lbs (each side) / 2:30
2. Abdominal (NAUT): 100 lbs / 1:30
3. Compound Row: 264 lbs / 1:35
4. Chest Press: 264 lbs / 1:40
5. Torso Arm: 220 lbs / 2:05
6. Overhead Press: 206 lbs / 1:45
Duration: about 17 minutes
All on MedX equipment except Abdominal (Nautilus). Cadence about 5/5 (pushing) or 4/2/4 (pulling). The Leg Press was very intense, another 20 lbs up and I even broke out of my usual TUL by 5 seconds.
As soon as my progress on the Leg Press slows down or when my workouts drain me too much psychologically, I will implement the advice I got here, reduce the volume and frequency of my workouts and do the Leg Press only every second week.
Thank you Doug for the tip. Hugh
Just finished the big 5 workout. This was my best workout to date. Up in weight and reps. A new personal best of dumbbell bench press with 85lb dumbbells for 10 slow reps. I still plan on doing my little 5 this saturday…if I have any energy left.
Franco, yes that is the article in Time “why exercise won’t make you thin”
Amy just finished a great workout:
Hammer H-squat
chin ups
Nautilus leverage close grip bench press
Nautilus pullover
Nautilus overhead press
deadlifts
Amy says,”Doing the deadlifts last in a workout that includes the Hammer squat feels like pulling through tar!”
Trap bar deadlists 257.5 * 5 then 30 seconds rest pause and 2 more… actually felt lighter than last time, but went for safety on lowback, (will add 10 lbs next time instead of 5) then dips with 47.5 for 5, then 30 seconds rest pause, then 1, then 1, 10 second negative… 170 lb Nautilus Pullover for 5 reps and …then 1 rest pause and calf raises jrep halves with 367.5
Tried to post video on youtube but 11 minutes so was rejected, but it is on my facebook, if someone wants to be my “friend”
Hi All,
This is my 4th BBS-style workout and I’d like to share my experience so far. But first a bit about me:
I am a 30 year old male, 173cm (about 5′8”), 73kg (approx 161lbs), 17.5% BF. Didn’t do regular strength training in the past two years (occasional bodyweight stuff and some sprints) but before that use to workout 3-4 times a week for about a year and a half (while finishing my PhD, took away the stress :)) ) Been eating paleo/primal style mostly in the past 2.5-3 years, and was down to 150lbs 2 years ago while working-out regularly from a pre-paleo weight of 187lbs. Despite the fact that I quit regular workout my body fat percentage did not change that much (was 17% and now 17.5). Anyway, did come across with BBS in Conditioning Research blog, bought the book, and immediately hooked up. The following is my stats from my first and last (4th) workout (all of the Big 5 done in machines made by Prowellness thou I have no idea to their quality but they seem to be standard machines, not MedX or Nats.), all weights are in kilograms and all times are in seconds.
Row: 59kg/90sec —> 73kg/80sec
Chest: 27kg/110sec —> 34.5kg/95sec
Pull: 39kg/124sec —> 52kg/70sec
Shoulder: 23/58sec —> 27kg/78sec
Leg: 59kg/100sec —> 66kg/140sec
In the last work-out ET is 12 minutes. I am doing this every 7 days as suggested in the book and my wife also started doing a Big 4 with altering weeks of 2 pulls and 2 push moves (so this week it was row, chest, pull-down, leg).
I’d like to thank to the Doug and John once again for a great book and the community here for inspiring comments.
here goes nothin’
youtube.com/watch?v=_YhxfrQ32XI
Not the most intense workout. I was distracted by the video camera, I just got back from vacation, I had a pebble in my eye, the sun in my shoe, wah wah.
Or, I’m just a wuss.
Anyway, chin, press, shrug, side raise, row, and some abs. No legs, because I’m in my annual “going to do a skate marathon” pretense.
Not the official “Moment Arm Exercise” series, just a workout.
sldl
nautilus pullover
db ohp
Bill,
Was that the “Pavel” sit up at the end? The towel is a great idea! Negatives
Al
Not consciously, I’ve stayed away from Pavel’s stuff.
The towel was originally to keep me from an ungraceful exit off the bench.
Sorry Bill,
What I meant with the comment was the “Janda Situp”. In other words, reciprocally inhibiting the psoas by way of contracting the knee flexors.
Al
Yes, which I took from an article by Joseph Horrigan in Iron Man many years ago. I was using the same technique for the first set of crunches also.
Hi Bill,
Thanks for posting your workout on youtube. Also, as someone who trains at home it is great to see a free weight based workout! It looked like you were doing deep inroads at the end of some of the exercises. Was this done mainly to hit the 30 sec mark of TUT if you hit failure prior to that point?
After performing both the HFL decline dumbbell rows and the one-armed dumbbell row do you see any advantage of one over another?
I am looking forward to you putting more videos up. I like the moment arm book and the video will help me understand the concepts.
Thanks,Marc. Interesting comment about the “deep inroad”. Yes, although that was more intuitive than a deliberate flow chart: “perform 30 seconds-yes/no-if yes add weight next time/if no deep inroad”
The HFL rows work the spinal erectors more, an area which is chronically “off” for me, so I don’t use them all the time.
I have one more workout video to post, then serious work on the Moment Arm Exercise series.
youtube.com/watch?v=uHPD4iGaY4A
Brief arm workout. Didn’t Dr. McGuff write about the “amnanestic”(?) workout a few years ago?
BTW, Flip video is amazingly convenient for youtube.
@newbbs,
Welcome aboard! Hope that BBS can help your transition. The signal of high intensity exercise should trigger a more optimal body composition. Keep us posted, and follow the other WOW posters, you will learn a lot.
Doug McGuff
Bill D.,
Good arms!
-Doug H
Thanks! Especially from a guy with your experience.
PS The right one has the ruptured biceps/triceps,notice how the triceps disappears in the pushups.
Did my little 5 workout today. Improved in ALL exercises by 1 rep. The entire session took me about 8 minutes to complete. Feeling great.
Just witnessed Doug Holland do a 2 minute PLUS pull up! Now the 1st minute 10 was on the pull only! Then he did a min negative then went back up again and held the top contraction to failure!oh, and he used perfect form and no hooks or wraps.
The clock was on the wall next to him so I could watch them both. It was incredible!
W.O.W 8/13/09
Machine Shoulder Press: 100×1:02 (increased weight)
Machine Seated Row: 150×1:05 (increased TUL 3sec)
Leg Press: 340×1:21 (increased weight)
Machine Chest Press: 140×54 (increased TUL 3sec)
Machine Pulldown: 190×1min (increased weight)
Squat: 225×10 reps (full-hard today!)
Calf Press: 295×1:12 (increased weight)
Seated Dumbell Press: 55×9 reps
Chin: Bodyx17 reps
Machine Dip: 12 pinsx1:15
Machine Seated Leg Curl: 12 pinsx20 reps
I started to feel some serious fatigue toward the middle to end of this workout. I felt like i was going to puke (haven’t felt that in a while!) Squats were done about 5 minutes after leg presses, and I did then full-butt to hamstring-so these were very hard. Overall, a decent workout-I increased weight or reps on most machine exercises. Leg presses are definitely the easiest exercise to make progress in for me, although my legs are the body part that, when I over do it, tend to “shut down” and hurt the most. My next workout will be on Tues. (5 days).
Damn you Doug Holland - just watched you deadlifting on Youtube - now I have to start deadlifting again. Thanks a lot!
I’ve been doing my usual super slow workout and feeling great. I’m off on holiday for two weeks and am concerned I’ll lose some strength while away but we’ll be doing tons of hill walking so I will be keeping fit.
Anne
Just wondering - what is the easiest way to measure TUL accurately ?
Anne
Anne,
Do not worry about decompensation with a 2 week vacation. You will probably actually be stronger upon your return.
TUL can be recorded with a cheap clock with a second hand that you can set down within your vision while doing a set. I pop the cover off and remove the hour and minute hands.
Doug McGuff
My version of the litte five. Today’s workout:
Nautilus low back
Nautilus pullover
MedX Avenger ten degree
Biceps curl
Nautilus leg curl