mountain dog philosophy, bis/chest

[myosaurus]

his theory of doing hams before squats worked wonders for my squats and knee health. just wondering if same philosophy will work for doing bicep before bench press? I've read lee Haney did this years ago. theoretically I can see it easing shoulder or elbow pain on bench press doing this way. anyone tried it before?
for example:
1. standing BB curl 4 x 8-10
2. machine preacher curl 4 x 15(with 20 partial reps on last set)
3. bench press
and so on...

 

[Tom]

I used to do 3 sets of 15 pull ups before chest. I don't know why I got away from doing this but it's something I'm going back to. Feels so much better hitting chest with a bit of a back/lat pump.

 

[mountaindog1]

Give it a try!!! Hell I might try it myself!

JM

 

[sazo75]

Why do biceps before chest though ? Why not triceps or even back ?

 

[cashrolling]

Sometimes i rotate and do biceps b4 back and triceps b4 chest. Doing the smaller muscle first takes it out of the equation when doing the larger ones, this way i can stress chest and back way harder using less weight and being able to actually feel and squeeze the bigger muscles better.

 

[Dens228]

I do chest and back in the same workout. When I warm up I switch back and forth between my chest and back exercises until I get to my working weight.
Then I finish chest, and continue on with back.

I find it works great, warming up the entire shoulder girdle.

I also do the same for legs, alternating between hams and quads until work sets.

 

[graybass]

I like it but if you do Tris before Chest your heavy presses will suffer. I understand taking tris out of the chest equation. I guess it's just my oldtime powerlifters brain lol

 

[myosaurus]

I used to do 3 sets of 15 pull ups before chest. I don't know why I got away from doing this but it's something I'm going back to. Feels so much better hitting chest with a bit of a back/lat pump.

that's another option... I know that definitely worked.

Give it a try!!! Hell I might try it myself!

JM

man if you think it's good then definitely good enough for me!

Why do biceps before chest though ? Why not triceps or even back ?

my shoulder is bad and my pressing already sucks. I'm looking for a way to enhance my pressing poundage without compromising shoulder health. doing tris first and I'll be benching 135lbs lol..

Sometimes i rotate and do biceps b4 back and triceps b4 chest. Doing the smaller muscle first takes it out of the equation when doing the larger ones, this way i can stress chest and back way harder using less weight and being able to actually feel and squeeze the bigger muscles better.

that i know works too. when going from isolation exercises for tris then doing close grip press, I feel real good contraction on my chest.

I do chest and back in the same workout. When I warm up I switch back and forth between my chest and back exercises until I get to my working weight.
Then I finish chest, and continue on with back.

I find it works great, warming up the entire shoulder girdle.

I also do the same for legs, alternating between hams and quads until work sets.

I've done chest/back supersets and i definitely feel stronger on pressing. the problem is my later exercises for back tend to suffer due to fatigue. I'd like to keep back by itself next training cycle.

I like it but if you do Tris before Chest your heavy presses will suffer. I understand taking tris out of the chest equation. I guess it's just my oldtime powerlifters brain lol

agreed graybass.

 

[trainlikeaboss]

IF I bench, I like to hit it first for an arm day using a more narrow grip. I don't usually have elbow pain but I always start light. If it's a chest day, I might throw flat bench in as an afterthought when I'm plenty warmed up from other exercises. I do enjoy hitting a decline bench first though.

 

[Dens228]

that's another option... I know that definitely worked.



man if you think it's good then definitely good enough for me!



my shoulder is bad and my pressing already sucks. I'm looking for a way to enhance my pressing poundage without compromising shoulder health. doing tris first and I'll be benching 135lbs lol..



that i know works too. when going from isolation exercises for tris then doing close grip press, I feel real good contraction on my chest.



I've done chest/back supersets and i definitely feel stronger on pressing. the problem is my later exercises for back tend to suffer due to fatigue. I'd like to keep back by itself next training cycle.



agreed graybass.

I don't do supersets, I just alternate with normal rest periods for the warmups. Then I do ALL my chest work sets before doing ALL my back sets.

 

[Lene28]

I like to do 4 or so sets of lat pulldowns. This really warms up the lats, upper back, and biceps. I always bench better when I do this!

I do this for a powerlifting routine with Moutain Dog Principles mixed in for mass.

 

[Marky Boy]

I don't do supersets, I just alternate with normal rest periods for the warmups. Then I do ALL my chest work sets before doing ALL my back sets.

Can you give an example of a typical chest and back workout on same day?

I tried it the other week mixing it up, took me over 2 hours lol

 

[Dens228]

Can you give an example of a typical chest and back workout on same day?

I tried it the other week mixing it up, took me over 2 hours lol

Sure........

Warm ups consist of alternating sets, not super sets, of decline bench and medium grip pulldowns. I probably do 3-4 warm up sets depending on how I feel.

Then
3 sets of decline bench, failure on each set, shooting for 10-12 reps on the first set, lower the weight 10% between sets. I don't count reps on sets 2 and 3.
I rest about 60-90 seconds between sets.

Medium grip pulldowns, same method as decline. No need to warm up as I already did it.

T-bar rows, same method. No need to warm up as I'm as warm as I'm going to get.

Seated calves, same method, one warm up set. My reps on these are higher also, shoot for 20-25 reps on the first set.

It takes me about 40-45 minutes start to finish.

One thing I'm starting to mess with is picking one exercise per workout and doing a DC style rest pause for that exercise. I alternate which bodypart gets that each workout.

 

[Pericles]

Doing biceps before chest is a bad idea.
https://www.t-nation.com/training/discover-hidden-shoulder-killers

 

[Equalizer]

Sure........

Warm ups consist of alternating sets, not super sets, of decline bench and medium grip pulldowns. I probably do 3-4 warm up sets depending on how I feel.

Then
3 sets of decline bench, failure on each set, shooting for 10-12 reps on the first set, lower the weight 10% between sets. I don't count reps on sets 2 and 3.
I rest about 60-90 seconds between sets.

Medium grip pulldowns, same method as decline. No need to warm up as I already did it.

T-bar rows, same method. No need to warm up as I'm as warm as I'm going to get.

Seated calves, same method, one warm up set. My reps on these are higher also, shoot for 20-25 reps on the first set.

It takes me about 40-45 minutes start to finish.

One thing I'm starting to mess with is picking one exercise per workout and doing a DC style rest pause for that exercise. I alternate which bodypart gets that each workout.

Den228, When u can get 12 reps on that first work set, do you then add weight to all 3 sets?

 

[trainlikeaboss]

.......shooting for 10-12 reps on the first set, lower the weight 10% between sets.

No he said he reduces the weight.

 

[Dens228]

Den228, When u can get 12 reps on that first work set, do you then add weight to all 3 sets?

When I get to 12 reps I add weight next workout. Then do the 10% drop from that new weight.
There are times when I am not happy with the 12 reps though, felt sloppy, etc. If that's the case I use the same weight next workout.

Another thing I notice with this type of workout is that each bodypart responds differently to the weight reduction. Even though I don't log the reps for the 2nd and 3rd set it's human nature to count so I have a good idea where the reps end up.

For back and biceps the reps are usually around the same range through all three sets. For chest the reps usually climb a bit through each set. For legs they tend to go up quite a bit.