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Alright well I will just have to set some time aside and read through that stretching and flexability thread. Thanks for the info Eric.

Here are the basic lower body ones I posted before. They're from all over the place...

CAT STRETCH: Start out on your hands and knees with a flat back. Your hands should be directly under your shoulders with fingers spread. Knees should be directly under the hips. Head is held loosely so that you are looking at the floor between your hands. Inhale, and as you exhale, arch your back toward the ceiling, tuck your chin in to your chest so that you are looking at your navel, and tuck your tailbone underneath. Hold, then release back into your original position.

SAGE TWIST: Warning for this pose—it involves twisting your back, so you should take particular care not to twist too far or you risk aggravating any existing back pain. This should be a gentle stretch; twist just as far as is comfortable. Sit on the floor with both legs out in front of you. Bend your right knee, lift your right leg over your left, and place your right foot on the floor next to your left knee. Sitting with spine straight, place your left elbow on the right side of your right knee. Bend your left arm so that your left fingertips are touching your right hip, while at the same time, twisting to look over your right shoulder. This is where you need to be careful not to twist too far. Hold for a few seconds, release, and repeat on the opposite side.

This stretch here is the best way I’ve found to actually get a good stretch in the spinal erectors. If you play with it you can modify the pressure on you knee and the postion of the shoulder to get a good stretch of the erectors and not so much just a twist of the back. You can also get a good stretch of the lumbar region and the middle back, lats etc by allowing the shoulders to relax and the shouler blades to protract. This is much more effective and safer for you shoulders than the dead hang stretch which is downright stupid since in order to get a stretch that way you have to put you shoulder joints in severe jeapordy.

Lying Buttock Stretch

This mainly stretches your buttocks (gluteal muscles) but also makes some demands on your groin and upper inner-thigh area. You must be very careful not to apply any stress to the knee joint when performing this stretch. Otherwise, serious injury (such as the tearing of cartilage) may occur.

Lie on your back again with both knees bent and in the air and with your feet on the floor. Take your right foot in your left hand (with your hand wrapping under your foot so that the fingertips are on its outside edge) and hold your leg (with your knee bent) in the air about 1-3 feet above your left breast (relax, we haven’t started to stretch the buttocks just yet). The leg you are holding should be in much the same position as it is when you start your groin stretch in the next exercise, only now it is in the air because you are on your back (see Section B.3 [groin and inner-thigh stretch]). Exhale and slowly pull your foot over to the side and up (toward your head) as if you were trying to touch your outstretched leg about 12 inches to the outside of your left shoulder. You should feel a good stretch in your buttocks about now. If you feel any stress at all on your knee then stop at once. You are probably pulling “up” too much and not enough to the side. You may wish to use your free hand to support your knee in some way. Hold this stretch for about 20 seconds (and stop if you feel any stress in the knee joint). Now repeat this same stretch with the other leg (using the other hand). Remember that the leg you are not holding should have the sole of its foot on the floor with the knee bent and in the air.

To make an isometric stretch out of this, when you are performing the passive stretch (above) and feel the stretch in your buttocks, continue trying to pull your foot to the outside of your shoulder while at the same time resisting with your leg so that it pushes agains your hand. No actual leg motion should take place, just the resistance. Stop immediately if you feel any undue stress to your knee.

Hamstring Stretch…whatever you would normally do for hamstrings.

Psoas Stretch

This stretch is sometimes called the “runner’s start” because the position you are in resembles that of a sprinter at the starting block. It mainly stretches the psoas muscle located just above the top of the thigh.
Crouch down on the floor with both hands and knees on the ground. Put one leg forward with your foot on the floor so that your front leg is bent at the knee at about a 90 degree angle. Now extend your rear leg in back of you so that it is almost completely straight (with just an ever so slight bend) and so that the weight of your rear leg is on the ball of your rear foot with the foot in a forced arch position. Now we are in the position to stretch (notice that your rear leg should be in pretty much the same position that it would assume if you were performing a front split).

Keeping your back straight and in line with your rear thigh, exhale and slowly try to bring your chest down to the floor (you shouldn’t need to bend much further than the line your front knee is on). You should feel the stretch primarily in the upper thigh of your rear leg but you should also feel some stretch in your front hamstring as well. Hold this position for at least 15 seconds. If you wish to also stretch your rear quadricep from this position, you can shift your weight back so that your rear leg makes a right angle with your knee pointing toward the floor (but don’t let it touch the floor). Now, without bending your rear leg any further, try to force your rear knee straight down to the floor.

Now repeat the same stretch(es) with your other leg in front.
For an isometric stretch, you can do this same stretch in front of a wall and instead of putting your hands on the floor, put them in front of you against the wall and then push against the wall with the ball of your foot (without decreasing the “stretch” in your psoas).

For HAMSTRINGS I will usually do the stretch which you could call a standing hurtler's strecth I guess where you put your leg up on something at around waist level or lower depending on you flexibility. Then you bend over it to stretch the hams. Grab you toes and pull them back and it gets the calves too. This is an ok stretch.

I also find that the most useful one for really getting the belly of the hamstrings is a "goodmorning stretch"

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If you act sanctimonious I will just list out your logical fallacies until you get pissed off and spew blasphemous remarks.

Just got through checking the journal.. You're making some solid gains man. Sorry to hear about the back problems. Hope it eases up for ya soon! I'm going to start a similar workout before long as well.

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Hey thanks man. Yeah the back is feeling better each day, it was just a small step back. I am really motivated to keep this routine going as long as possible while im still making great gains. Goodluck with your workout.

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22 yrs old
6'3 220lbs
Goals: Add lean mass and cut body fat.

Friday 27 June

Squat, Bench Press, Dips

Squats:
Warmup- 155x5, 190x3, 225x1
3x5 at 220lbs

Bench Press:
Warmup- 185x 5, 220x3, 255x1
3x5 at 250lbs

Dips
3x10 - bodyweight

Ab work: Weighted Decline sit-ups (1x50), Weighted Leg Raises (1x20)

My back held up just fine for todays workout. I was getting frusterated cause I was waiting around to do my weighted dips, but some guy had the chain belt and was taking his sweet time...so I just did my sets at bodyweight. The Bench Press was really tough at 250lbs, but I feel like im getting stronger there. Squats were pretty tough at 220lbs, but my back feels at about 85% so im sure my squats will feel stronger on Monday. Just want to send a thank you to Eric and IK for help with both stretching and warming up properly.

Those warmup sequences felt all right to you?

Speaking of warmups, bro, those weight warmups need a little work. Also, when your having problems with back I would shy away from going for a warm up load higher than target. No use of increasing the load on the back unnecessarily. Althougt the technique does have benefits for some. Your warmups look more like ramp-ups. You may as well be doing a ramped sets of 5 or something.

(IK was posting at the same time.)

Yeah they felt great. Really felt like I got my muscles warmed up properly and pumped to hit my three sets. It was more adjusting weight then im use to, but it gave me something to do while im trying to get enough rest between sets. I have a hard time doing that sometimes...like after each set I try to shoot for two minutes or so of rest to let me recharge before the next set. I think I read somewhere that you are supposed to rest about three minutes between sets...but I get too anxious!

My back is almost 100% so I wasnt too overly concerned. Also I used a weightbelt on my heavier sets and that really works well for me. Helps me keep perfect form and so I dont risk hurting the back.

Personally, I've found using a single rep at higher than working weight to be more beneficial. But that's *my* experience. The 5,3,1 sequencing is the best I've used, sometimes my single rep will be below working weight, sometimes higher, depending on how I feel that day.

I was PM'ing with him last night and threw out that kind of warmup as something for him to try and see what he liked as opposed to the minimal warmups he said he's been doing.

Good ol' trial and error ;)