Substitute Vertical Pull Exercise
MegaMooseEsq
Posts: 3,118 Member
At the beginning of March I started A Workout Routine's beginner's workout at home using adjustable dumbbells. I'm really enjoying myself and am itching to move to the barbell when I have the funds in June, but in the meantime, I am running into one issue I could use some advice on. The B workout is deadlifts, pull-ups, and overhead shoulder press - my basement workout area just doesn't have the set-up for pull-up or downs right now, so I substituted pullovers.
I felt like I was doing okay until this last week, as I'm starting to hit actually heavy-for-me weights. First, I'm having a hard time gripping the adjustable weight with two hands (I'm using PowerBlocks). And second, and sorry for the lack of vocabulary here, the workout is starting to feel imbalanced. I couldn't complete either the pullovers or shoulder press this morning, and was having more trouble than usual maintaining form on the shoulder press (I only have a flat bench, so I understand this may be part of the problem).
I've done some more research and it looks like I might have been better off substituting some sort of row exercise for the pullover. I'm already doing bent over bilateral rows in Workout A, so I'm wondering if maybe I should switch to one-arm rows for workout B? My other thought is just to drop the pull exercise for now and sub in bicep curls, which AWR includes in the "version 2" version of the B workout.
Or maybe I should just leave things alone and this is just me learning what working with heavy weights feel like? Any advice is much welcome. As mentioned above, I plan to continue this workout for another couple of months (or until I max out my dumbbells), and am currently thinking to switch to a 5 x 5 program in June, when finances will let me get a few sessions with a personal trainer and a gym membership or home barbell setup. Thanks!
I felt like I was doing okay until this last week, as I'm starting to hit actually heavy-for-me weights. First, I'm having a hard time gripping the adjustable weight with two hands (I'm using PowerBlocks). And second, and sorry for the lack of vocabulary here, the workout is starting to feel imbalanced. I couldn't complete either the pullovers or shoulder press this morning, and was having more trouble than usual maintaining form on the shoulder press (I only have a flat bench, so I understand this may be part of the problem).
I've done some more research and it looks like I might have been better off substituting some sort of row exercise for the pullover. I'm already doing bent over bilateral rows in Workout A, so I'm wondering if maybe I should switch to one-arm rows for workout B? My other thought is just to drop the pull exercise for now and sub in bicep curls, which AWR includes in the "version 2" version of the B workout.
Or maybe I should just leave things alone and this is just me learning what working with heavy weights feel like? Any advice is much welcome. As mentioned above, I plan to continue this workout for another couple of months (or until I max out my dumbbells), and am currently thinking to switch to a 5 x 5 program in June, when finances will let me get a few sessions with a personal trainer and a gym membership or home barbell setup. Thanks!
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Replies
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any way you can copy and paste the workouts/set reps into here to have a look?
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tjhammer89 wrote: »any way you can copy and paste the workouts/set reps into here to have a look?
Totally!
Workout A
Squats
3 sets of 8-10 reps.
2 minutes rest between sets.
Bench Press
3 sets of 8-10 reps.
2 minutes rest between sets.
Rows
3 sets of 8-10 reps.
2 minutes rest between sets.
Workout B
Deadlifts
3 sets of 6-8 reps.
2 minutes rest between sets.
Pull-Ups (or Lat Pull-Downs)
3 sets of 8-10 reps.
2 minutes rest between sets.
Overhead Shoulder Press
3 sets of 8-10 reps.
2 minutes rest between sets.0 -
either way, i would def split them 4 up and build your workouts around them.1
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tjhammer89 wrote: »either way, i would def split them 4 up and build your workouts around them.
OP is doing an established program already, no need to split up.
OP: can you get a doorway pullup bar?0 -
Davidsdottir wrote: »tjhammer89 wrote: »either way, i would def split them 4 up and build your workouts around them.
OP is doing an established program already, no need to split up.
OP: can you get a doorway pullup bar?
Unfortunately not - I'm renting a really old house (so no drilling) and our doorways are either crumbling garbage or poorly situated. I do have an exposed beam in the basement that could certainly support weight if I could figure out how to get something around it without drilling, but I'm not sure I'm crafty enough to put something together myself.1 -
I doubt you are suffering from a muscle imbalance.
That would take a long time to develop.
Just train with lighter weights so you can maintain acceptable form.0 -
I doubt you are suffering from a muscle imbalance.
That would take a long time to develop.
Just train with lighter weights so you can maintain acceptable form.
Having googled muscle imbalance, I don't think that's what I meant - I'm still building up my lifting vocabulary, so sorry for being unclear. I meant more that workout A feels better than workout B (as modified with the pullover) - it feels like I'm working my whole body evenly and I don't feel like I've overworked any particular set of muscles. Workout B feels like I might be hitting the same muscle groups too hard and maybe hurting my progress. But you may be right - I started pretty light to give myself a couple of weeks to focus on form alone so maybe I'm just adjusting to an actual challenge. I've done five workouts so far at three sets of 8 x 10 lbs, 8 x 12, 8 x 15, 8 x 18, then today failed to complete three of 10 x 18, so maybe dialing back to 10 x 15 is the way to go.0 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-YULEwsoBo
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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MegaMooseEsq wrote: »I do have an exposed beam in the basement that could certainly support weight if I could figure out how to get something around it without drilling, but I'm not sure I'm crafty enough to put something together myself.
Webbing straps and a motorcycle handlebar spring to mind.
These were described as tie down securing loops.
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Thanks for the suggestions! I'll have to check out the videos when I get home - blocked while I'm at work.0
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-YULEwsoBo
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
This is what I do, kinda. I use my kids trampoline. Winter in my snowsuit or summer fighting mosquitos. Maybe time for a doorway setup for me. If you don’t have one could you ask your neighbors if you could use their trampoline if anyone has one? Maybe stop by a playground on the way home from work and use a bar on some of the play equipment??
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Have you considered using resistance bands for a lat pulldown (might not be enough if your goal is strength, more of a contraction/activation)? Might have to kneel to make this work. Table pullup (above vid) looks good (inverted row)
Lat pullover = underutilized fantastic exercise for lats, serratus, & chest (depending on execution of course). Possibly my favorite upper body exercise. Not sure how this would lead to imbalance. You might be getting at imbalance from having a horizontal but not vertical row (imbalances with back thickness/width)?
For grip on lat pullover - thumbs in, palms flat if you've got really bulky dumbbells form a "U", or you can form a triangle touching your index fingers together if the dumbbell is smaller. You might want to reposition your hands when you bring the weight up (you can secure the weight on your upper chest if needed - be very careful.)0 -
Keto_Vampire wrote: »Have you considered using resistance bands for a lat pulldown (might not be enough if your goal is strength, more of a contraction/activation)? Might have to kneel to make this work. Table pullup (above vid) looks good (inverted row)
Lat pullover = underutilized fantastic exercise for lats, serratus, & chest (depending on execution of course). Possibly my favorite upper body exercise. Not sure how this would lead to imbalance. You might be getting at imbalance from having a horizontal but not vertical row (imbalances with back thickness/width)?
For grip on lat pullover - thumbs in, palms flat if you've got really bulky dumbbells form a "U", or you can form a triangle touching your index fingers together if the dumbbell is smaller. You might want to reposition your hands when you bring the weight up (you can secure the weight on your upper chest if needed - be very careful.)
Thanks for the grip tips - that's handy. The resistance band hack might be a good one too - I'll have to think about my set up. It occurred to me over the weekend that the beam I've got available should be fine to rig up a suspension system, so I could do inverted body-weight rows. Once I free up $50 that seems like it might be my best option - I think I might break our crummy IKEA table if I tried pulling myself on that.
I think my use of the word "imbalance" was misleading here - I just wasn't sure how else to put it. I am certainly not building anything resembling visible muscle at this stage (female, eating at a deficit, over-fat). I'm just anxious about having fiddled with an established program and was worried that I wasn't getting a full-body workout as designed or was running the risk of hurting myself. I'm a worrier. I keep reminding myself that generations of teenage boys have (mostly) managed to lift weights without hurting themselves, and if they can do it, I can too.1 -
MegaMooseEsq wrote: »I do have an exposed beam in the basement that could certainly support weight if I could figure out how to get something around it without drilling, but I'm not sure I'm crafty enough to put something together myself.
Webbing straps and a motorcycle handlebar spring to mind.
These were described as tie down securing loops.
That's actually a great idea. You would have to fairly controlled on your motion to prevent excess sway - but that's a good thing. It would prevent the bug caught in a spiders web form so many have doing pull-ups.
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