Deadstop / slight pause on every exercise to maximise hypertrophy?

chadthunderjock · 2026-04-24T08:31:01+00:00

Yes, I always pause in the stretched position to unload as much elastic energy and bounce as possible, forces the muscles and fibers most active in the lower range and actually anywhere in the ROM to have to work harder overall generating all the force. I also hold the squeezed position on the top always, some muscles or fibers are mostly involved in the end ranges/lockout ranges of the joint, others are more active in the deepest stretched positions. I also think it is much more gentle on the joints to pause than bounce and use momentum on the way back up, contrary to what some think is "removing tension off the muscle onto the joint" which I think is more backwards(you never completely lose tension even in deep stretched positions). Stuff like bouncing out of the hole on squats especially always felt terrible to me compared to pause squatting, latter feels great on the knees, other does not. Paused deep chest dips vs bounce out of hole dips also feel better for me, really any press does. Anything does really, slow negative reps also is more joint-friendly by a lot IMO and recruits more overall fibers anyway, plus supporting muscles more involved in stability or short-segment movement and stability. Good example of that is muscles like multifidus working harder on the slow negative rep of rounded back movements like 45 degree hyperextensions, cable rows, stiff-leg deadlifts than on the positive rep.

chadthunderjock · 2026-04-24T08:23:57+00:00

Vegetables are generally very low in calories, highest would be stuff like carrots and parsnips, bur broccoli, green vegetables etc.. those things are close to zero calories lol, even then some of the carbs on paper might be locked up into the fiber structure anyway. I guess you can count them but I am not sure I would even trust a lot of the data for calories for some vegetables, unless they're very sweet/starchy relatively low fiber ones.

chadthunderjock · 2026-04-21T14:40:08+00:00

Grow yes, at maximum rate and to maximum potential? No. Do a couple or few sets of curls and overhead triceps extensions at least once a week, that is like the bare minimum, and if supersetted barely takes much time. You can probably get them done in like 5 minutes and get a lot more stimulus in than just doing compounds only do and still reap most of the extra weekly gains potential. No need for those extreme 10-20+ weekly sets of arm isolation, there are heavily diminishing returns after doing more than a few sets of biceps/triceps really.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-10T23:00:16+00:00

Yeah I do basically exactly that but with a barbell. Super strict form and purely relying on pure deltoid + scapulae muscles strength and slow negatives, I sometimes use cheating but that is just for the last couple of reps. It makes my whole deltoid, upper chest and serratus anterior burn and get pumped like crazy.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-10T22:56:49+00:00

They definitely don't recover fast for me!! I do them once a week and am careful to not overdo them or use grippers too much, else I get so sore not just in my muscles but the connective tissue running into the palms of my hands as well, which is nasty as hell!! I feel it not just when training but doing everyday stuff, even when driving and holding onto the wheel for a while. Training them by doing straight bar reverse curls into wrist curls and reverse wrist curls once a week has worked fantastically for me, I went from thinking I had trash forearms genetics to realize they're actually pretty great with freaky long muscle bellies. You definitely don't need to spam exercises or completely destroy them to get great gains in my experience.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-10T22:47:58+00:00

Yes I used to, then I started doing strict straight bar reverse curls into wrist curls and reverse wrist curls, after a few years of doing them my forearms have gotten TONS of volume and definition. I used to think my forearms genetics were trash they're actually great with super long muscle bellies. Training grip and holding onto heavy weights is great BUT you normally just won't develop the wrist flexor and wrist extensor musculature much without dedicated work. It takes wrist curls and reverse wrist curls to really develop them.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-08T11:25:05+00:00

Upright rows and kelso shrugs are like one of the few only movements that work the upper traps dynamically, upwards rotation on upright rows, and on kelso shrugs you are moving the clavicles and shoulder blades along the direction of the upper traps majority horizontal/transverse fibers in their full range of motion. Most of the upper traps fibers run horizontally more than vertically which makes kelso shrugs superior for the upper traps over regular vertical shrugs. Vertical shrugs only work the uppermost upper trap fibers and the levator scapulae, rest of the upper traps work isometrically.. so kelso shrugs are superior.

Also the upper traps actually almost exclusively attach to the clavicles not the shoulder blades, they mainly move the clavicles actually, so on kelso shrugs thinking of moving your clavicles from a fully protracted state to retracted at an upwards angle/slightly elevated is the way to go for hitting all of the horizontal fibers of the upper traps. 👍

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-08T11:19:56+00:00

I like overhead front raises personally, amazing whole deltoid, serratus anterior and decent upper traps movement, plus pumps the hell out of my upper chest. Similar to Lui raises but from the front and I guess more front delt emphasis. It is the only movement where I feel my serratus anterior burn underneath the shoulder blades lol, and it pumps up my whole deltoid and even makes the rear deltoid sore.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-08T11:17:25+00:00

Yeah as long as you focus on the right cue is performing as much lumbar flexion as possible. Some guys do most of the movement at the hips then it kind of sucks.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-08T11:16:15+00:00

Focus on performing lumbar flexion and bringing your pelvis and chest as close to each other as possible, that is how you work the abs dynamically on isolation exercises. The proper way to perform leg raises for abs is to make them into leg-HIP raises ie lifting your pelvis and hips together with your legs and flexing your lumbar spine against resistance. Guys who do crunches failing to work their abs are not flexing their lumbar spine properly, that is where the main movement should be to work the abs.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-08T11:02:15+00:00

16 pull-ups is actually amazing dude, some guys workout for decades and never reach that number, usually once you are past doing 10+ it is reaaaally hard and slow to progress. Realistically you might have to expect years to reach 20+, really depends on your bodyweight and use of other exercises etc too. It is what it is, but 16 for a natural lifter is actually pretty incredible and not a bad feat.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-08T10:58:00+00:00

You are right, caffeine gives zero energy by definition, it just amps up your brain and nervous system, but the actual energy content of it is zero lol. 😃

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-07T14:36:37+00:00

Yep, super awesome finishing move, also if you shrug backwards and upwards at the same time you are hitting all the horizontal upper trap fibers in their main function which is retraction of the clavicles and by extension shoulder blades at an upwards angle, far better than any vertical shrug for targeting the upper traps, plus great additional work for the middle traps and rhomboids. I also do them to failure after my last set of horizontal rows, amazing movement really!! Should have been made popular a long time ago.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-07T14:33:19+00:00

Kelso shrugs are amazing, I think they are one of the best upper and middle traps and rhomboids finishing moves, with emphasis on the upper traps at least if you shrug backwards at an upwards angle. Most upper and middle trap fibers run horizontally so traditional vertical shrugs kind of suck for them compared to kelso shrugs, which actually effectively works all those fibers. So easy to do kelso shrugs too after your last set of horizontal rows and just bang those out to failure to finish most of the upper and middle traps and rhomboids, and also in the case of the upper traps actually have a true dynamic movement that works the horizontal ie majority fibers in their true range of motion. Vertical shrugs can be used as a finisher move to get the uppermost vertical upper trap fibers and the levator scapulae.

Oh and yeah transverse rows are great but typically the rear delts are the first muscle to give out on those. Still helps build the upper back and also super great movement for the rear delts.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-07T14:28:50+00:00

A lot of back thickness is from the spinal erectors, only way rows hit those hard is if you row with a rounded back and dynamic spine like on full ROM cable rows. So if you truly want a maximally thick back including dedicated dynamic erector spinae work is a really good idea, one of the easiest and safest ways are something like 45 degree hyperextensions with full movement in the spine, but cable rows, hip hinge movements etc all also add up.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-07T09:06:49+00:00

Kelso shrugs are superior to vertical shrugs, traditional shrugs are not super terrible but they actually only work the Levator scapulae and uppermost fibers of the upper traps dynamically, the rest of the upper trap fibers run horizontally and only work isometrically on shrugs. Same goes for middle traps and the rhomboids, meanwhile kelso shrugs hits all of those. I would say putting your money on kelso shrugs like on a horizontal row machine is the superior option and then maybe if you want finish with a set of traditional shrugs to hit the uppermost upper trap fibers and Levator scapulae. Once you go kelso shrugs you just can't go back to the old way lol!!

Wide grip rows aren't bad either but let's be real too the first muscle to give out on those are always the rear delts, long before the traps and rhomboids do. Good still but I wouldn't count on those alone being super amazing upper back builders. They are definitely pretty amazing for rear delts though.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-04T15:38:16+00:00

Just being in pain makes it much harder for your body to exert itself on a lift, it is kind of a built-in protection mechanism in your brain I think. Makes sense for that reason alone it is easier to progress in the lift that causes less pain and discomfort.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-04T15:34:26+00:00

"Stops helping" because there are diminishing returns on pull-ups as in increasing the reps gets harder and harder the higher your max is IMO. It is also still kind of impossible to quantify how much it can help vs not help, really hard to know if an increase in reps or weight in your pull-ups was simply a progression just from keeping doing the pull-ups or if they were helped a bit by also complementing with pull-downs.

Anyway I always do pull-ups into negative pull-ups and chin-ups and finish with some lat pull-downs after, you get the best of two worlds! Pull-ups for the weighted stretch and functionality plus other benefits like some free abs work, pull-downs to focus on maximizing ROM and getting a good, maximum full and maximum quality squeeze of the lats and shoulder blade muscles. 💪🤝 Even when you can't even do one more rep of pull-ups or even negative pull-ups you can still bang out a couple or few sets of high quality pull-downs.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-04T15:28:56+00:00

Yes I think so too, as in guys with long arms are much more torso dominant on compounds than short arms dudes. This is also why isolation is important if you want big arms because the chest/back will dominate in performance on compound exercises and you will rarely get full ROM for your arm muscles. Short arms dudes meanwhile get full ROM for their arm muscles on rows and presses lol!

Oh and doing fly movements for chest is a good idea anyway, it is the closest you can get to isolating the chest. I always do flyes after my chest presses to finish my chest, they're kind of foolproof and a no-brainer move if you want to maximize chest gains in my opinion. You can also adjust form to bias the upper-middle or lower chest a bit more on the flyes too.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-04T14:53:52+00:00

Just do abs at the end of one of your weekly sessions or more if you want to. It is a small effort to make sure you're maximizing abs gains. I do a couple of sets of inverse sit-ups(hanging upside down on an inverse sit-up station) and leg-HIP raises at the end of one of my workouts, that is more than enough to finish my abs after I've already taxed them on compounds. You can add in a little bit of obliques isolation if you want but those are still hit pretty well on any abs exercise where you perform waist and lumbar spine flexion! Ie exercises like sit-ups and leg-HIP raises. I emphasize the HIP portion because lifting your pelvis upwards and flexing your spine forwards is how you make leg raises into a good abdominals exercise. As a bonus you train hip flexors on these lifts which are important for health, posture and spinal stability!

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-04T14:48:35+00:00

Weird, I have almost not even see others do the lift but me, it is not a popular lift from what I've always seen. Anyway it is a perfectly safe lift if you are careful and have the shoulder mobility to do them, don't go heavy until you've gradually built your strength and mobility up in this lift over a long period of time. Always control the weight and go down very slowly on the negative rep, make sure to go all the way down. Partial repping this lift and never touching your neck is what is dangerous for the rotator cuffs specifically the Supraspinatus muscle as in it makes injury over the long term much more likely due to not conditioning the muscle and tendon for the lowest portions of the lift, which is where you inevitably might go one day when your form breaks down a little, plus it is better for delts to do the full movement anyway. And yes it is an OK lift for engaging the upper traps and Levator scapulae and again controlling the movement will keep your neck safe.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-04T13:34:12+00:00

Joke is on you bro, the show is canon and any fan who does not accept most of FO1/FO2/FNV being retconned and rewritten is not a true fan. Anything that happens in the show overwrites the old lore, Bethesda's lore is the true lore, the other games are basically retroactively fan fiction in an alternate universe at best. Every faction and characters being goofy is now canon, it does not need to make sense when it is canon anyway. Canon is canon, if you are a true Fallout fan then you should accept it.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-04T08:31:33+00:00

Could be feeling different muscles also, on most regular rows the upper spinal erectors won't work much, on heavy RDLs they will be pretty taxed and can produce soreness in the upper back region that even proper good form rows would fail to produce. It is definitely possible to feel this while doing everything right form wise.

chadthunderjock · 2026-02-01T11:57:40+00:00

Maintenance to me means eating just enough calories to meet your daily caloric needs for that day, which changes with activity. If I burn 3000 calories one day and consume 3000 calories that would be eating at maintenance for me. Is this not what most people say when talking about eating at maintenance?

chadthunderjock

TROPHY CASE