congrats on gettign back to it!!!

Thanks man. I've been following your new journal. Keep doin' those pushups. :D

Wednesday 12/12/07
LOWER 1
Squat -------------------- 3x5x165
Deadlift ------------------ 8x195
GHR ---------------------- 5 Negatives
Cable Pull Through -------- 2x12x100
Hanging Knee Raise ------- 2x12

Thursday 12/13/07
UPPER 1
Dumbbell Bench Press ------ 2x7x75
Pull-ups ------------------- 8 5 5
Dumbbell Overhead Press --- 2x12x40
Facepulls ------------------ 2x8x70

Saturday 12/15/07
LOWER 2
Squat --------------------- 6x5x5 @ 165
Romanian Deadlift ----------- 3x8x185
GHR ------------------------ 5 negatives
Russian Twist --------------- 2x8
Hanging Knee Raise ---------- 2x12

Sunday 12/16/07
UPPER 2
Dumbbell Overhead Press ----- 3x10x45
Pull-ups ---------------------- 3x6
Dumbbell Bench Press --------- 3x12x60
Facepulls --------------------- 3x8x70
Dumbbell Curl/ Tricep Cable Pull down (Superset) -- 2x8x35/2x10x150


Eric gave me some advice so I changed a few things.

I tried Squatting real weight (real weight for me anyway) for the first time in a while. My hip felt good during the Squats and still feels OK. I'm able to go past parallel with no problems so far. I plan to Squat again 3 or 4 more times and decide if I'll keep them in there.

Lower 2 is basically accessory work, so I took out Cable Pull Through since I'm also doing Romanian Deadlift and GHR.

I also changed the order of Dumbbell Bench Press and Dumbbell Overhead Press on the Upper days. On Upper 1 I'll concentrate on DB BP by doing them first and going heavier, and I'll go lighter, more reps, and faster on DB OH. And the opposite on Upper 2, DB OH first and heavier, DB BP lighter more reps second. I'm still figuring it out and it'll take a few more workouts to settle into the right weights, reps and sets.

I'm experimenting with Facepulls instead of rows for a while. These are tricky to get used to. I have to lean back at almost a 45 degree angle for balance because the weight pulls me forward otherwise. Suggestions are welcome for Facepull ideas. I couldn't find too much searching the internet.

What do you need to know about face pulls specifically? The leaning back is a normal part of it.

BTW, I don't recommend replacing rows with face pulls entirely. One session a week should be good for facepulls but you should still have at least one more neutral row type exercise in there. Looks like you are trying to prioritize pullups so that is probably a good thing but put a row instead of face pulls on one of the days.

I was thinking that the leaning back is extreme enough that the angle of the pull is shallower than it should be. When I started with lighter weight the angle was different than with the heavier weight because of the lean.

What plane am I looking for? Does the pull start from the same level as my face (arms perpendicular to my body) or should the pull start from above my head?

I was using a station with a stationary pulley at the top. I'll use an adjustable pulley next time and try different adjustments.

Gotcha, I thought your were asking something like that.

No exact answers here and you don't need any.

Yes, the pull should start more or less at the level of your face and you pull more or less to your face :). So in other words your HANDS are more or less at face level when you start the pull. but if it's a bit higher than that don't worry about it. It is not going to matter a lot if they end up being a bit higher or lower and you are not looking for some perfectly level plane. Just allow a natural line of pull toward you face. It is perfectly ok to vary it and pull more toward the neck or chin or forehead, etc. So look at mid-face like "neutral" and then you can play around with it and vary it between different sets or even in the same set.

Here's a pic of a good one. Looks like Mike Robertson doing one.

http://www.t-nation.com/img/photos/290rope-pull-mid.jpg

There's a beginning pic of that somewhere I've seen but I forget where. If I see it I'll tell you. But in that pic the hands start out at around face level as discussed and end up as shown in the pic link I posted. But you can tell that the actual pulley is well above his head and it's going to need to be, I would think in order to offset the weight.

You'll see people with their elbows a bit lower and that's not too bad. Make sure the elbows stay out as well and you don't want to make it into an external rotation with really heavy weights unless you know you are good and ready for that.

It's best to use a rope attachment. I'd say for most people if the handles when they are hanging are somewhere (more or less) at shoulder height that will work best. Then you just lean back enouth and adjust you feet closer or further until the angle is doable and gets your hands around face level as described. Everything else will even out in the wash.

Comes a point where the weight becomes very difficult to counterbalance, especially for light weights like me. Best to stick with high reps. But another option when it gets too heavy is to put a bench, if you can, perpendicularly between yourself and the pulley machine. Then, provided the bench is stable enought, you can put one foot up on the closest edge of the bench while also leaning back. That way you can apply a little offsetting force to the bench to supplement your bodyweight leaning against the weight. I hope I described that in a way that makes sense.

I think that about covers it. If you are or get to the point where you think the external rotators can handle it you can also do a face pull with an external rotation. Otherwise try to keep your elbows and hands level with each other througout. So it's much different than regular rows where the elbows are at the sides. In this case you want the elbows up in the air.The elbows following the hands, I think, is actually more important than where exactly you pull to.

I was leaning back more than that, probably twice as far. I'll have to experiment a bit. Thanks so much for the writeup and suggestions.

I got the Facepull going OK now. I tried a different station with an adjustable pulley set at head height. It made all the difference. I knew something wasn't right before.

How did you get back up without falling?! lol

LOL That was the easy part, just let the weight pull me back up. Seriously, I was leaning waaay back. It must have looked pretty silly.