**Marcus's HIT Dungeon**

[Java Man]

Just wanted to say I had given myself another rest day(kinda had no option) migraine creeped up on me and started vomiting today - was real nauseous but been eating on some soup now - added chicken and rice to it...

AG good to see you heading to the shop! I sensed some gittiness on the way

Get better dude. 3 or 4 days off is sometimes a good anabolic boost. Gotta eat though. Try to keep it down.

[Java Man]

Mr and Mrs Marcus Kettlebell workout

15mins total time -

1st 5 mins - kettlebell swings
2nd 5 mins - wide stance goblin squats
3rd 5 mins - kettlebell swings

fuked, I'm out of shape, no cardio stamina at all but trying to increase further. Pace was fast but slowed down towards the end, form good but had to correct a couple of times due to exhaustion or me being a fat cvnt, not sure which one

Naw. You're just old.

[Java Man]

I guess the latex suit didn't help me one bit

I hear you. Maybe I need to get my wife to fasten a gagball in so I can't eat as often?

[novastepp]

Saturday I tried to get a leg workout in but it got interrupted and that was that.

Yesterday I did get calves in and did the routine...more on that in a bit.

Last, ate pretty well all weekend, but my right knee now feels a little weird. Maybe tweaked it a bit? I didn't do anything hjeavy for legs...it was similar to Marcus's last post, high rep, all a giant superset. But that was Saturday and this started last night. Either way, I'm going to ice it and I've got a week until legs so hopefully its all good by then.

[novastepp]

About the calf routine: I started thinking about it and it seems that calves (again the routine of failure ~10 heavy reps, drop with body weight on plate, drop with body weight on floor) are an exception to the HIT rep range rule.

It works, don't get me wrong. I have had more calf development and progress in teh last 3 months than I did in the previous 3 years.

But the reps are way beyond what is usually prescribed for HIT.

That being said: Marcus, or others, do you have any other workouts for body parts that are also exceptions to the rule?

I only ask out of curiosity and I know you guys have some brutal workouts to share, so again I'm curious about your thoughts regarding exceptions to the rep range.

Thanks guys. And have an explosive day

[marcus300]

About the calf routine: I started thinking about it and it seems that calves (again the routine of failure ~10 heavy reps, drop with body weight on plate, drop with body weight on floor) are an exception to the HIT rep range rule.

It works, don't get me wrong. I have had more calf development and progress in teh last 3 months than I did in the previous 3 years.

But the reps are way beyond what is usually prescribed for HIT.

That being said: Marcus, or others, do you have any other workouts for body parts that are also exceptions to the rule?

I only ask out of curiosity and I know you guys have some brutal workouts to share, so again I'm curious about your thoughts regarding exceptions to the rep range.

Thanks guys. And have an explosive day

Its a routine what Paul and Ian gave me (Haz know who these are) to shock my calves into growth due to the tough fibers and the slow growth I had in them. I kept the first set really heavy which kept with HIT and I mean doing them in good form instead of bouncing is really hard and then the drops and finally the bounce off the floor with bodyweight was just to shock the muscle into growth and dig deeper into those tough fibers because the muscle responds better in many people with the higher rep range, the core of the lift is the HIT part then its just burn out. I would swap and change them around to suit because this how my calves responded best to.

Ive tried many different styles and always mixed things up but the one and only things what put and maintained thick dense muscle was HIT training. The higher volume training was ok for the pump and if I was on a pullback but it didn't produce gains for me, or I should say the gains what I wanted so I developed a HIT style what suited me best that's why you can mix things around with HIT, it isn't ridged set in stone .

If you feel your bored, your not growing then try something else to shock the body, do it backwards, pre exhaust, do all negs, do some volume do what ever it takes for your body to respond but I have great faith in HIT because every time I drop HIT to do a pullback or training different due to injury ( injury my own fault for not listening to my body for a pullback or stupid arse BB bench) I would stop maintaining or gaining.

I have many other sessions what I haven't posted like TUT shoulder training what is pure hell and DOMS on the outside lateral head like ive been hit with a hammer, its stuff what I do in pullback weeks. You may well gain doing HIT and volume 6 weeks on 4 weeks Vol or you may gain if you destroyed a body part like we do with that calve routine were you totally kill it but with the intensity needed you would be wiped out within a week.

When you mention the words brutal workouts ONLY one thing comes to mind and that's HIT, that's what built me and that's what builds monsters and I really believe this is why change something what works? just develop it more with your own little twists and turns on it.

[NACH3]

Glad that migraine has disappeared... Im eating big it's staying down - and it looks like I only lost about 2lbs... I'll make that up in a meal or two...

Got arms on the menu... Shoulder is tight... Rolling with a ball now in the rears/& scap... Watching DY vids - gettin' pumped!

[kelkel]

a guy i used to play with. That was a great feeling.

Not sure, but is that a closet door I hear creaking open.....?

[almostgone]

Its a routine what Paul and Ian gave me (Haz know who these are) to shock my calves into growth due to the tough fibers and the slow growth I had in them. I kept the first set really heavy which kept with HIT and I mean doing them in good form instead of bouncing is really hard and then the drops and finally the bounce off the floor with bodyweight was just to shock the muscle into growth and dig deeper into those tough fibers because the muscle responds better in many people with the higher rep range, the core of the lift is the HIT part then its just burn out. I would swap and change them around to suit because this how my calves responded best to.

Ive tried many different styles and always mixed things up but the one and only things what put and maintained thick dense muscle was HIT training. The higher volume training was ok for the pump and if I was on a pullback but it didn't produce gains for me, or I should say the gains what I wanted so I developed a HIT style what suited me best that's why you can mix things around with HIT, it isn't ridged set in stone .

If you feel your bored, your not growing then try something else to shock the body, do it backwards, pre exhaust, do all negs, do some volume do what ever it takes for your body to respond but I have great faith in HIT because every time I drop HIT to do a pullback or training different due to injury ( injury my own fault for not listening to my body for a pullback or stupid arse BB bench) I would stop maintaining or gaining.
I have many other sessions what I haven't posted like TUT shoulder training what is pure hell and DOMS on the outside lateral head like ive been hit with a hammer, its stuff what I do in pullback weeks. You may well gain doing HIT and volume 6 weeks on 4 weeks Vol or you may gain if you destroyed a body part like we do with that calve routine were you totally kill it but with the intensity needed you would be wiped out within a week.
When you mention the words brutal workouts ONLY one thing comes to mind and that's HIT, that's what built me and that's what builds monsters and I really believe this is why change something what works? just develop it more with your own little twists and turns on it.

Some day, if you get time, would.you post up the TUT shoulder routine? I just added long count negative only reps, hold @ contraction into a slow negative rep, and longer negatives to all of my biceps/triceps exercises. It's a decent increase in negative work, although I wasn't really neglecting negatives before.
Would like to see how you attack your shoulders in this routine. I might not be able to add it in right now, because I am really feeling all the negative reps from yesterdays arm session (my arms are still a tad swollen, and I don't want go overwork things too much and shortchange myself out of a response/growth). However, I would defo like to give it a go at some point.

[novastepp]

Its a routine what Paul and Ian gave me (Haz know who these are) to shock my calves into growth due to the tough fibers and the slow growth I had in them. I kept the first set really heavy which kept with HIT and I mean doing them in good form instead of bouncing is really hard and then the drops and finally the bounce off the floor with bodyweight was just to shock the muscle into growth and dig deeper into those tough fibers because the muscle responds better in many people with the higher rep range, the core of the lift is the HIT part then its just burn out. I would swap and change them around to suit because this how my calves responded best to.

Ive tried many different styles and always mixed things up but the one and only things what put and maintained thick dense muscle was HIT training. The higher volume training was ok for the pump and if I was on a pullback but it didn't produce gains for me, or I should say the gains what I wanted so I developed a HIT style what suited me best that's why you can mix things around with HIT, it isn't ridged set in stone .

If you feel your bored, your not growing then try something else to shock the body, do it backwards, pre exhaust, do all negs, do some volume do what ever it takes for your body to respond but I have great faith in HIT because every time I drop HIT to do a pullback or training different due to injury ( injury my own fault for not listening to my body for a pullback or stupid arse BB bench) I would stop maintaining or gaining.

I have many other sessions what I haven't posted like TUT shoulder training what is pure hell and DOMS on the outside lateral head like ive been hit with a hammer, its stuff what I do in pullback weeks. You may well gain doing HIT and volume 6 weeks on 4 weeks Vol or you may gain if you destroyed a body part like we do with that calve routine were you totally kill it but with the intensity needed you would be wiped out within a week.

When you mention the words brutal workouts ONLY one thing comes to mind and that's HIT, that's what built me and that's what builds monsters and I really believe this is why change something what works? just develop it more with your own little twists and turns on it.

Thanks for the detailed response, Marcus.

I am so glad I found this type of training and I'm still learning and adapting to it for sure. I have tweaked a few things to best suit my strengths and weaknesses too.

I only asked because I wouldn't have thought about the burnouts and I am so glad you explained it to me/us. I was only asking if there were other times when burnouts, or something similar, worked for you guys. I love the HIT aspect of training, but its the beyond failure techniques (negatives, RPs, forced, forced negatives, drops, and the times for burnouts) where I am learning the most.

[novastepp]

Oh, and in regard to "good" reps on the calf routine; I can tell its working because when I am approaching failure, it seems my positive reps occur in 3 phases: heels half way up (pause) mental and physical will to force the peak contraction (pause) slow negative. I can't just force the contraction in one movement. I stall and then have to grunt it up to force the flex. Very impressive workout!!

[Baxter35]

I followed some advice Marcus posted somewhere back and did a negative chest routine yesterday by moving the spotting pins up a few inches and doing heavy negatives. Just focused on fighting the weight with all I had to let it drop as slow as possible, then rest pause just long enough to get the weight back off the pins and then fight it down again. That's the first time I've ever done a full session of only negatives and it HURT which was GREAT! I'm gonna start working that in every few weeks to break things up.

[marcus300]

Yes of course mate I will write my next one up, because of my RC I am attacking shoulders different but its only because of my RC if I wasn't having problems it would be pure HIT all the way.

The negs are a stunning way to produce some serious gains, there's even studies done on them what document some serious gains in muscle and doing them on any muscle group is excellent. That's why I love working with a partner who knows me and knows what I want because couple them with forced and negs and its a war zone.

I will do a shoulder workout soon and write it up for you

Some day, if you get time, would.you post up the TUT shoulder routine? I just added long count negative only reps, hold @ contraction into a slow negative rep, and longer negatives to all of my biceps/triceps exercises. It's a decent increase in negative work, although I wasn't really neglecting negatives before.
Would like to see how you attack your shoulders in this routine. I might not be able to add it in right now, because I am really feeling all the negative reps from yesterdays arm session (my arms are still a tad swollen, and I don't want go overwork things too much and shortchange myself out of a response/growth). However, I would defo like to give it a go at some point.

[marcus300]

Calves and forearms have a really dense thick muscle fiber because they do thousands of reps each day and doing these types of workouts coupled with HIT really hit home for an extreme workout.

What many often over look with HIT is its fuking all out, ive ranted that much in this thread about what failure is and real positive muscular failure I think most have disregarded another aspect of HIT and that's the pullback. Once you master failure which is a constant pressure for anyone to maintain you have to stop and take the foot off the peddle at some stage otherwise you end up going backwards and even injury because this is extreme heavy duty intense training and you can only do it for a short period of time then your body needs to recover and heal and grow.

Like ive mentioned I have built the more muscle with HIT using all the beyond failure methods, the body just has to grow thicker and more dense because of the overload and constant attack. Ive tried loads of training styles but HIT is for me but I am adapting it more and more but in my youth when I wanted to turn heads it would be prime, pullback, heavy short burst cycling along side full HIT training for 6 weeks - rinse and repeat -bigger-stronger and nothing would stop me but every lb you earn more cals needed and this is really hard to do. I wasn't hungry for the first 20 yrs of training because I was force feeding all the time to feed what I put myself through. Every 7 to 10 day I would adjust cals and away I go again.

I never forgot what built and maintained the size, I was in the size game and I wanted more of it and I would do anything I needed to get. Yes I did some daft and stupid things what were insane but I experimented on myself and it was only what the pro's were doing at the time.

That's my problem now, I am getting close to 50 now and I still want to train like I was 30 and its not happening, very frustrating indeed.

Thanks for the detailed response, Marcus.

I am so glad I found this type of training and I'm still learning and adapting to it for sure. I have tweaked a few things to best suit my strengths and weaknesses too.

I only asked because I wouldn't have thought about the burnouts and I am so glad you explained it to me/us. I was only asking if there were other times when burnouts, or something similar, worked for you guys. I love the HIT aspect of training, but its the beyond failure techniques (negatives, RPs, forced, forced negatives, drops, and the times for burnouts) where I am learning the most.

[marcus300]

Oh, and in regard to "good" reps on the calf routine; I can tell its working because when I am approaching failure, it seems my positive reps occur in 3 phases: heels half way up (pause) mental and physical will to force the peak contraction (pause) slow negative. I can't just force the contraction in one movement. I stall and then have to grunt it up to force the flex. Very impressive workout!!

Yes you got it

[marcus300]

I followed some advice Marcus posted somewhere back and did a negative chest routine yesterday by moving the spotting pins up a few inches and doing heavy negatives. Just focused on fighting the weight with all I had to let it drop as slow as possible, then rest pause just long enough to get the weight back off the pins and then fight it down again. That's the first time I've ever done a full session of only negatives and it HURT which was GREAT! I'm gonna start working that in every few weeks to break things up.

Oh boy negative training is fun but not for the faint hearted, even at the end of failure throwing negs in is another level of pain. The power just goes and the feeling inside the muscle feels like its on fire. The DOMS is serious aswell and I know its not a direct indication of growth but I am telling you this it sure is connected Fuk me there is nothing like DOMS.

Let me know how you go on and try it on other movements,

[marcus300]

I'm losing size on my shoulders, the thick dense look they use to have is slowly going and I know why. My body responds to HIT like nothing else. I don't just write about a tough workout I live and breath them and ive done that for years not weeks or months, my whole life as been training very intense. This is why I am doing other things on my shoulders to see if I can get any growth going.

[kelkel]

I followed some advice Marcus posted somewhere back and did a negative chest routine yesterday by moving the spotting pins up a few inches and doing heavy negatives. Just focused on fighting the weight with all I had to let it drop as slow as possible, then rest pause just long enough to get the weight back off the pins and then fight it down again. That's the first time I've ever done a full session of only negatives and it HURT which was GREAT! I'm gonna start working that in every few weeks to break things up.

Let us know how you feel (soreness, etc) the next couple days please.

[GirlyGymRat]

Mr and Mrs Marcus Kettlebell workout 15mins total time - 1st 5 mins - kettlebell swings 2nd 5 mins - wide stance goblin squats 3rd 5 mins - kettlebell swings fuked, I'm out of shape, no cardio stamina at all but trying to increase further. Pace was fast but slowed down towards the end, form good but had to correct a couple of times due to exhaustion or me being a fat cvnt, not sure which one

15 min. Wow. That's a quick and effective workout. Nice. I need to get me a pair of kettle balls. What weight does Mrs Marcus use?

[NACH3]

I'm losing size on my shoulders, the thick dense look they use to have is slowly going and I know why. My body responds to HIT like nothing else. I don't just write about a tough workout I live and breath them and ive done that for years not weeks or months, my whole life as been training very intense. This is why I am doing other things on my shoulders to see if I can get any growth going.

I'd like to hear about any type of training protocols for delts, too... I've been pre-exhausting them due to the injury I have but I've also noticed that something else needs to be done(go back to pressing, that just hurts and like you've mentioned w/the smith I may not even be using my R arm nearly ass much) b/c I know I should have bigger delts/rounder delts ATM.... And without them it just doesn't look right

Just curious to see if anything stimulates any growth or even maintains your type of musculature... I'm in!

[marcus300]

15 min. Wow. That's a quick and effective workout. Nice. I need to get me a pair of kettle balls. What weight does Mrs Marcus use?

I wasn't quick I was gasping for air within the first 5 mins but tried to pace myself, the kettlebell is 10kg.

[marcus300]

Its mainly the pressing because for side and rear heads you don't have to use heavy weight and I can easily isolate those sections its the overall mass from my pressing whats causing it. I'm a huge presser you know the eye ball shake sets with shoulders with bells or plates. I made it my mission to be a strong and it showed in my shoulders from every angle but they are getting smaller.

I'd like to hear about any type of training protocols for delts, too... I've been pre-exhausting them due to the injury I have but I've also noticed that something else needs to be done(go back to pressing, that just hurts and like you've mentioned w/the smith I may not even be using my R arm nearly ass much) b/c I know I should have bigger delts/rounder delts ATM.... And without them it just doesn't look right

Just curious to see if anything stimulates any growth or even maintains your type of musculature... I'm in!

[almostgone]

Well, there's no straightening my arms today without assistance.

[almostgone]

Yes of course mate I will write my next one up, because of my RC I am attacking shoulders different but its only because of my RC if I wasn't having problems it would be pure HIT all the way.

The negs are a stunning way to produce some serious gains, there's even studies done on them what document some serious gains in muscle and doing them on any muscle group is excellent. That's why I love working with a partner who knows me and knows what I want because couple them with forced and negs and its a war zone.

I will do a shoulder workout soon and write it up for you

Thanks, boss! The shoulder that had the ruptured bursa sometimes will act up for a few weeks and that would give me a work around for shoulders when I need it vs. full bore HIT.

The negative only reps and the hold @ contraction into a really slow negative did some major stimulation to my arms. I have a feeling I will use them for only a couple of arms sessions and then the next couple will be the slightly higher volume that I was doing before. Maybe rotate them for a while to make sure I don't overuse the technique.

[marcus300]

Thanks, boss! The shoulder that had the ruptured bursa sometimes will act up for a few weeks and that would give me a work around for shoulders when I need it vs. full bore HIT.

The negative only reps and the hold @ contraction into a really slow negative did some major stimulation to my arms. I have a feeling I will use them for only a couple of arms sessions and then the next couple will be the slightly higher volume that I was doing before. Maybe rotate them for a while to make sure I don't overuse the technique.

When I do DB preacher on the preacher bench in full blown HIT mode doing forced and negs is amazing, just the right amount of help to get 2 forced out at slow pace then the negative at super slow for 2 more digs so deep inside my bicep I cant take my eyes off my arm when doing it and I know that the most damaged occurred in that set was the 2 forced 2 negs. Lovely

Yeh will post it soon will probably do one tomorrow so will post what I do on my shoulders

[novastepp]

When I do DB preacher on the preacher bench in full blown HIT mode doing forced and negs is amazing, just the right amount of help to get 2 forced out at slow pace then the negative at super slow for 2 more digs so deep inside my bicep I cant take my eyes off my arm when doing it and I know that the most damaged occurred in that set was the 2 forced 2 negs. Lovely

Yeh will post it soon will probably do one tomorrow so will post what I do on my shoulders

Amazing timing with this post, Marcus...I did this just last night.

Serious bicep work. I can sum it up with my DB on the preacher, set.

Did an amazing job of warming up the elbows and hitting the feeler set.

For work: I hit 3 unassisted reps with the 4th being a slaughter and I suppose I did need a very little bit of help getting past that 90 degree sticking point. Then I performed 3 grueling assisted reps. Then my new favorite move: the resisted negative. My wife pushed down on the dumbbell and I tried my best to stop the decent. I just kept thinking, "give it to me, give it to me" and I tried my best not to let her take it from me. After about 5-6 seconds of fighting the negative, I had her do it again and this time was about 4 seconds. then I just did a normal negative which was about nothing at all....Then I dropped. I got 2 unassisted reps then she helped me with 3 again, to the point where she lifted almost the entire DB the entire range on the 3rd, then a resisted negative again followed by a negative and those were about flops.

Same for the left arm, give or take a rep I'm not sure where. I couldn't write properly at that point.

I finished up with some severely weakened DB hammer curls + BB wrist curls for the forearms.

Like you said, Marcus. This is the best set up for biceps, and it was the best bicep workout I ever experienced. I couldn't stop staring at my bicep. I also have never seen my peak and my bicep swell like it did during those negatives. Truly wrecked.

[novastepp]

This also solidifies a thought I've had for a long time, and others have said this before, but a spotter is the absolute most important piece of equipment you could have to do full blown HIT.

The forced reps into resisted negatives and regular negatives are the best and they truly deliver.

[Bodacious]

Morning guys/gals!!

Have legs on the menu today. Hopefully it will be a good one. Will try and post the workout out later...

Hope everyone has a good HUMP DAY!!

[Bodacious]

This also solidifies a thought I've had for a long time, and others have said this before, but a spotter is the absolute most important piece of equipment you could have to do full blown HIT.

The forced reps into resisted negatives and regular negatives are the best and they truly deliver.

I agree.... Make sure they know what they are doing also. Plus if you can't get one DS and half reps...

[Bodacious]

LETS F*CKING GET IT TODAY GUYS!!!!





Shit I got to go... feeling good this morning...

[novastepp]

I agree.... Make sure they know what they are doing also. Plus if you can't get one DS and half reps...

I have learned and I appreciate the value of drops when working out alone, which I do most of the time. I don't want my wife to try to help me with 300+ bench presses or the 85lb DBs, so I have to use drops.

But those just do not create the same amount of fatigue and damage like forced reps into serious negatives.

I do agree with what you said, that drops and RP are needed in many cases...but we're still talking about ONLY positive failure. To me, full blown HIT exhausts both positive and negative failure.

[novastepp]

So maybe try your best to find someone to help with forced reps and negatives on the ancillary/non pressing movements when their experience isn't as necessary or important.

Tricep pushdowns/skulls, DB or BB curls, lat raises, leg extensions, hammy curls, etc.

[almostgone]

This also solidifies a thought I've had for a long time, and others have said this before, but a spotter is the absolute most important piece of equipment you could have to do full blown HIT.

The forced reps into resisted negatives and regular negatives are the best and they truly deliver.

Congrats on your wife picking up on the amount of resistance you need without going overboard. My wife has offered to spot for me but I'm a tad hesitant. Sometimes she tries too hard to help me with projects and causes mayhem (although I never tell her that).
I can generally handle the forced reps for preacher curls since I do them unilaterally w/ d'bells. Perhaps I'll get her to spot on a chest session first.
If you haven't tried the negative only reps yet for arms, throw in a set next time in place of something else. I just finished driving the wife to her Dr. appointment and my arms are toast from Monday nights lift.
Debating on whether to get out and walk the beast around for a bit. He has fairly decent manners, but he and I weigh almost the same. Don't really feel like battling him if he gets uppity.

[almostgone]

I have learned and I appreciate the value of drops when working out alone, which I do most of the time. I don't want my wife to try to help me with 300+ bench presses or the 85lb DBs, so I have to use drops.

But those just do not create the same amount of fatigue and damage like forced reps into serious negatives.

I do agree with what you said, that drops and RP are needed in many cases...but we're still talking about ONLY positive failure. To me, full blown HIT exhausts both positive and negative failure.

Also, the static portion @ full contraction if things are going really well. I managed to hit all 3 strengths on arms and am really appreciating power steering.

[novastepp]

Congrats on your wife picking up on the amount of resistance you need without going overboard. My wife has offered to spot for me but I'm a tad hesitant. Sometimes she tries too hard to help me with projects and causes mayhem (although I never tell her that).
I can generally handle the forced reps for preacher curls since I do them unilaterally w/ d'bells. Perhaps I'll get her to spot on a chest session first.
If you haven't tried the negative only reps yet for arms, throw in a set next time in place of something else. I just finished driving the wife to her Dr. appointment and my arms are toast from Monday nights lift.
Debating on whether to get out and walk the beast around for a bit. He has fairly decent manners, but he and I weigh almost the same. Don't really feel like battling him if he gets uppity.

I coach her a bit before we start and try to be honest and direct. The one thing I tell her, especially now that its full HIT, is not to help me until i start to fail...so she lets me suffer, which is aggravating...but ignites the savage fire!

Its even more helpful for her to be timid on the resisted negatives, because she realized she could pull harder (hahaha) until the negative truly began. So its great on those.

This is why I said the experience of the spotter isn't as important on resisted negatives because if they start off too weak, its actually better because then they add resistance until the appropriate level is reached. Its more about consistency than experience with help on negatives.

Edit: Your point is exactly why I do not ask her to help me on heavy movements: there is no telling how much help I will need on any given lift on any given day, so that is where experience steps in. Again, I only ask for help with iso movements.

[novastepp]

Also, the static portion @ full contraction if things are going really well. I managed to hit all 3 strengths on arms and am really appreciating power steering.

I need to work harder on the static contraction part of my lifts...I always find myself locking out (using BB decline for example). I know that is the peak contraction part of the move, but its hard on my elbows if my arms are straight too long...maybe on DBs then? You got me thinking!!!

[almostgone]

I need to work harder on the static contraction part of my lifts...I always find myself locking out (using BB decline for example). I know that is the peak contraction part of the move, but its hard on my elbows if my arms are straight too long...maybe on DBs then? You got me thinking!!!

My b'bell benching is horrid and hell on my shoulders, so I generally stick with d'bells since
I've accumulated a decent set over the years.
On the other hand, with a new spotter, I think b'bell would much easier and safer for them to apply resistance or help bail you out if needed?
On the static holds, I hold as long as I can w/o causing joint issues and go into the slow negatives.
That's kind of the neat thing about the beyond failure protocols. You can mix and match them to suit your needs but really crank up the intensity.
I'm constantly tinkering around with the different protocols dependent on how my recovery is going at the time. The last thing I want to do is inflict more damage than I can recover from before my next lift. It seems.to be a very fine line at times.

[novastepp]

My b'bell benching is horrid and hell on my shoulders, so I generally stick with d'bells since
I've accumulated a decent set over the years.
On the other hand, with a new spotter, I think b'bell would much easier and safer for them to apply resistance or help bail you out if needed?

That makes sense, but I think it was Haz when training with Ian, who said that they gave him resistance on DBs and he never felt anything like it.

Really though, we're still talking about a very experienced spotter.

[marcus300]

When you doing unilateral movements you can help yourself with getting the weight up for the 2nd neg and also some body swing helps depends on the body part your using but I can say my best advanced method is forced and negs but its the least I do now due to partners, but you tap into rest pause, drop sets, pre exhaust and pushes off a rack and your still digging deep into those tough fibers. But I do love a negative even though I try to be a positive guy lol

Amazing timing with this post, Marcus...I did this just last night.

Serious bicep work. I can sum it up with my DB on the preacher, set.

Did an amazing job of warming up the elbows and hitting the feeler set.

For work: I hit 3 unassisted reps with the 4th being a slaughter and I suppose I did need a very little bit of help getting past that 90 degree sticking point. Then I performed 3 grueling assisted reps. Then my new favorite move: the resisted negative. My wife pushed down on the dumbbell and I tried my best to stop the decent. I just kept thinking, "give it to me, give it to me" and I tried my best not to let her take it from me. After about 5-6 seconds of fighting the negative, I had her do it again and this time was about 4 seconds. then I just did a normal negative which was about nothing at all....Then I dropped. I got 2 unassisted reps then she helped me with 3 again, to the point where she lifted almost the entire DB the entire range on the 3rd, then a resisted negative again followed by a negative and those were about flops.

Same for the left arm, give or take a rep I'm not sure where. I couldn't write properly at that point.

I finished up with some severely weakened DB hammer curls + BB wrist curls for the forearms.

Like you said, Marcus. This is the best set up for biceps, and it was the best bicep workout I ever experienced. I couldn't stop staring at my bicep. I also have never seen my peak and my bicep swell like it did during those negatives. Truly wrecked.

[NACH3]

Its mainly the pressing because for side and rear heads you don't have to use heavy weight and I can easily isolate those sections its the overall mass from my pressing whats causing it. I'm a huge presser you know the eye ball shake sets with shoulders with bells or plates. I made it my mission to be a strong and it showed in my shoulders from every angle but they are getting smaller.

Grsat to pop on here and see these posts... I'm going to really try and loosen up my delts to press(probably in a day or two) - I really appreciate your response(though it's gotten harder to press I'm surely going to try ) I knew that's what was missing but it just makes me want to dig deeper and figure this out -

Now, when doing arms - I love to use unilateral ex's to help give me forced reps into negs(it really does dig deeper than any other beyond failure protocol)... I've got arms finally today - I'm well fed - and rearing to go!

Have a great day all!

Edit* I was writing this while Marcus was responding lol