Bloodlusting

Yo, i dunno why everyone hatin on sgt.sixpack lol. seriously he was only making the point about the traps being used during the shoulder excercise.
Other than that i agree that compound excercises are better for MMA, it doesnt make the muscles themselves stronger though, as it appears wukka is trying to state. It does, however produce a stronger athlete, simply because the muscles are used to working together, they work together effectively with no weak links. Even the shaolin knew this hundreds of years ago, notice all their training is compound excercises.

ps.love that avatar u got wukka , BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!

recon6991

This seemed like the place to ask so- I was just wondering what are good compliments to doing pull ups that improve those muscles? I struggle greatly with them and I can do maybe 5 and I do them every other I aim for 3 sets of 5 and I dont think Ive ever gotten there. I appreciate any advice I can get.

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I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically.

wukkadb

Bent over rows, deadlifts, chin ups. 3 sets of 5 is not that bad though, so just keep doing pull ups and they will definitely come. Also try doing something like 8 sets of 2 reps but doing the 2 reps completely without any cheating and from a dead hang

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Bloodlusting

Hey im just readin some stuff that jsut looks f*kin crazy... i went to that bill starr's 5x5 routine that wukka linked. it looks good im gonna start.
but i was readin http://www.eclipsegym.com/articles/men.html and he says NOT to stretch before you do weights because it causes the muscles to weaken slightly and make them prone to injury. i mean, this guy sounds like he really knows what he's doing but this is the opposite of what i've been told since i can remember.. any thoughts?

OH ya! and another thing, he says to hold your breath during the rep, and then take a breath when u stop for the next rep... comming from a martial arts background, we were taught to exhale with the force. his explanation is that the internal pressure supports your structure, especially the spine.... again, anybody care to comment on this stuff

Pepe

hey i was just wondering if this workout is ok? i just made it and have been mixing it up but this is what i'm doing tonight, some insight would be nice
3 sets of widegrip pullups
3 sets of dips
3 sets of deadliftsx10
bentover one armed row each hand 3sets x10
3 sets of bicepcurls with a barbell, 3sets 5x
skullcrushers 3sets x5
shoulderpress 3sets x8
and i end it with some dumbell bicep curls and skullcrushers with dumbbells or alternate wtih chinups or pushups
and at the end i just do a plank for a bit.

i get this all done between an hour or so

edit:
i also switch up the shoulderpress wtiht hat excercise where your standingup with the barbell and you pull it up i can't remember the name but yeah :

GMW

Do you want to apply sets to everything you do? When I do push ups for example, I just usually just get down and do a ton at once, rather than separate it over sets. Would it be best to divide even those types of exercises?

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Credit to ThaMuffinMan

SurfNinja

I don't have a barbell, but I do own an EZ curl bar, can I use that to do deadlifts? And I use dumbbells to bench press, can I also do squats with them? I know it probably isn't optimal but I'm not training for anything serious, just a little pick-me-up for a surf vacation in January. I keep reading wukka say how squats and deadlifts are the most important exercises, so I was thinking even doing lame ones is better than nothing at all.

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Shogun_Is_Champ

I don't think an Ez curl bar would be able to hold enough weight. And yes you can squat while using dumbells.

Pepe

no you can actually, you might need to buy some extra 25lb weight discs.

Swole

If you can put enough weight on your EZ curl bar that it's hard to pick up off the floor you might as well go ahead and kill yourself.

Get a real bar.