- . Shortly after the second twang I went to the chiropractor again. Now
I needed an adjustment in the lower spine. I did not think the problem
was serious so I only took an extra few days off training before deadlifting
again—twelve days of rest instead of seven. I felt fine so off I went. On
June I made the pre-injury poundage plus an increment of . kilos. Now I
was up to . kilos (. pounds).. It was about at this time that I foolishly bench pressed without a spotter or
any safety device. I got stuck at the bottom. Alone I had to wrestle the bar
down to my midsection before being able to sit up. In the process I damaged
my right shoulder. With the use of ice, and tolerating the discomfort, I per-
sisted with bench pressing till the end of the deadlift cycle, but the damage
was done and would be with me for a long time.Nearing the peak
. I was now down to continuous reps and rest-pause reps, and the
strain was extreme—actually, it had been very severe for some time now. I
switched the workouts around so that the first exercise of the week was now
the deadlift. On June I did pounds ( kilos). e was a very big
moment because it meant that four -kilo plates could be put on each end
of the bar. Eight -kilo plates on a bar for rep work, for a hard gainer who
has really suffered over the years, was satisfying in the extreme.. People like me are the ones conventional bodybuilding throws on the trash
heap. After many years of following the popular advice I finally discovered
the information that can make even a hard gainer respectable. But the
“respectable” is not relative to what the top competitive bodybuilders can do.You may be wondering how I could have done some of the foolish
things I did. “Didn’t you know better?” you may ask. I did know
better. I knew I was taking form liberties. But I was caught up in
the emotion of a cycle that was going very well in some respects,
and reveling in handling large weights in the deadlift. I was appar-
ently getting away with the liberties I was taking, so I kept on at it.
My heart was ruling my brain. But eventually I came to grief, and
confirmed all that I teach in my writings—that taking liberties
with exercise technique is foolish.