i overheard a trainer showing a client how to strengthen their joints....

he said... set up the machine (whichever one you are on) with WAY too much weight for you to move, and then just press against it for 10 seconds x 3 sets. he was demonstrating on a leg extender machine and talking about the knee joint....

made sense.... it tightens your ligaments up, and reduces the chance of injury.

then again...... the next guy i overhear will be saying the exact opposite.

If you train really heavy for at least one movement on each body part, going down to the 2 rep range, wouldn't you get basically the same benefit? For that matter, every time you go to failure on a set and really try to make that last rep, even going to partial reps and rest/pause reps, you should be getting that same benefit, i.e. pushing really hard against a weight that you can't move.

Everybody except first-day beginners should be training to failure. At least on the last set of every exercise.

Although I'll admit that I don't know the difference between training ligaments and training muscles/tendons.

no

There is this thing called capital letters.

SUCK IT

Diet alone will not likely lead to significant weight loss


In monkeys.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: Hamstrings are sore.
4 x 50-rep supersets: Leg Press 25 reps + Calf Raises (on Leg Press) 25 reps.
Then, 3 sets, 10 reps of heavy squats (on the power rack I just got for free).
Throughout all of this I am doing deep hamstring stretches between each set.
Finally, to target the hamstrings: Stiff-legged Deadlifts, 4 sets, 10 reps.

chest, shoulders, triceps
 

Machine press, flat dumbell press, flat bench press, seated military press, machine fly, lateral raises, pressdowns w/ rope.

Gauging my shoulder's reaction, I think I will put dumbell chest presses back on an incline, resume doing dumbell presses instead of barbell for shoulders (lighter weight, more reps), cease any heavy fly movements, cease any lateral movements and instead do upright rows on back day (more traps involved).

Yes, this is my personal workout log.

back, biceps ... cardio
 

Pulldowns aggravate my wrist AND my shoulder, so they're out.

Low-pulley rows (with an angled grip to avoid wrist pain) supersetted with machine rows (hammer grip) to warm up and pump lats.

Next, the good stuff: Deadlifts supersetted with Bent-Over Barbell Rows (same weight, no rest, 10 reps each). Up until the heavy sets where I took good long rests.

Really cool biceps movement (super biceps stretch at the bottom): Incline bench curls from reverse-curl position to standard grip at the top (the biceps also ROTATES the arm).

Then some shrugs. Then I went jogging.

Thanks, jimbo. I hardly ever check my gmail, but I logged in today specifically to look at this material. Some of these are things I actually do every morning, but many of them gave me new ideas of what I could add to my regimen. I've always been big on stretching. Thanks again.

Oh, did chest/etc. today. Machine presses, incline dumbell presses and flat bench presses. Very light weights for shoulder isolation: 5 front raises/5 side raises/5 rear laterals, repeat without resting (30 reps). I did that superset three times (90 reps total). Then rope pressdowns to finish triceps.

pics or none of this training happened.......

that was weeks ago

I'm offended that you gave me a tertiary email address. in retaliation for this offense, I will bomb that address with all manner of porn.

I've been busy. I'm not a big email guy if it isn't work-related.

I need an olympic bar...

I don't see evidence of equipment use.....

cardio?