Building Curves

[psychodiver9]

Glad you like the ab wheel. Nice pause squatting

[SophieM]

I keep toying with the idea of an ab wheel. I've yet to actually buy one though. What brand did you get?

[dtaps24]

You may have answered this already, but I'm not all that bright and kinda lazy, but how do you choose what squat/deadlift variant you are going to do on your lower body days? I want to try a more frequency/less (daily) volume approach for a couple months after my current training runs its course and I'm trying to put something together from those who pull it off pretty well.

[jpfaherty]

200 bench!!

You cray! Gonna be a HUGE total if you keep this up

[kaleida]

You may have answered this already, but I'm not all that bright and kinda lazy, but how do you choose what squat/deadlift variant you are going to do on your lower body days? I want to try a more frequency/less (daily) volume approach for a couple months after my current training runs its course and I'm trying to put something together from those who pull it off pretty well.

I am so curious to hear Laura's answer on this too

I have my own thought process for it...feels super weird to publicly admit to what I do because sometimes my stance is chosen to deliberately piss off muscles that have been having trouble, so I can smash them...lol...cringing as I write that but it has worked really well for me.


1. attempt one light squat - does any muscle feel "fried" today?
(quads, adductors, piriformis, gluteus medius)
- yes: choose a squat & deadlift stance that minimizes how much work that muscle needs to do, and keep it light and easy
- no: go to step 2

2. in the past few days, when I was doing self myofascial release at home, did I having trouble locating trigger points in a specific muscle that seems to feel "fried" often?
- yes: go to step 3
- no: go to step 4

3. do I have several hours to devote to trigger point release when I get home today?
- yes: do a very, very small amount of a stance that maximizes how much work the problem muscle needs to do, keep it light and easy - front squat for quads, wide squat for gluteus medius or piriformis, etc) - this makes my trigger points active so I can find them and get them with foam roller or beastie ball
- no: go to step 4

4. default: do a stance that's slightly wider than what I plan to compete with, because my narrow stances seem to go up if I train wide, but wide doesn't go up if I train narrow.

[ilovethe80s]

Yay for a good hip day, I'm sure there are many more to come

I sure hope so! I do love that I am finally gaining control over making them happen when they need to. Not every day can be a good day but I am starting to piece together the series of events that must take place to get a decent squat day.

Glad you like the ab wheel. Nice pause squatting

I love the ab wheel, best $10 I've spent in a while. & thanks!

I keep toying with the idea of an ab wheel. I've yet to actually buy one though. What brand did you get?

I just went to target and picked up the only one they had in stock, by Champion. I figured it didn't matter what kind it was or anything, since you just roll it back and forth. Maybe I could have saved some dough and used one of my sons tonka trucks haha

You may have answered this already, but I'm not all that bright and kinda lazy, but how do you choose what squat/deadlift variant you are going to do on your lower body days? I want to try a more frequency/less (daily) volume approach for a couple months after my current training runs its course and I'm trying to put something together from those who pull it off pretty well.

Well, sort of lucky for me, I am terrible with figuring out squats so I don't have too many options lol. I see Kaleida's squat options and I'm jealous, I have like 2 haha. Well 3 - high bar, semi high bar, and fall on butt Low bar is like, forget it. I'll do either a hybrid-y squat (that I am trying to polish up to compete with) or super high bar. The difference between my super high bar and comp squat is not very big.

My comp style squat works well for me when everything else is going well (anterior tilt managed) , but I notice if I train only that, bad things start creeping into my tech.

Right now I am pausing everything because anterior tilt was taking over and I need to get comfortable in the bottom position again. Working with the APT for so long dropped some bad patterns in my tech. I've been going with a super high bar position because the straight drop completely discourages anterior tilt.

I've also been doing 50% front squats. The front squats help both my squat style and deadlift. They are also useful (ESP for those of us who like to overdo it) because they help keep weekly tonnage in check.

As I get closer to the meet, I'll be using the squat style I use in competition, belt and wraps for the final month.

For the deadlifts, I always sumo in off seasons. My deadlift training is not frequent though (1/wk). I don't over-program my deads right now since the squats are taking up a good bulk of my energy. I work to a sumo single or triple @RPE8/9 and a little backoff work. Or if I am really tired, just pull some reps for speed.Getting closer to the meet I get back in my comp stance.

So in a nutshell, I pick the squat variation that addresses my problems at the time (there are always some), and front squat to keep the tonnage in check.

200 bench!!

You cray! Gonna be a HUGE total if you keep this up

200 pounds courtesy of Bounty! If I did it without the towel roll then I would be using Bounty to wipe myself off the floor haha. Someday, I hope

[ilovethe80s]

I have black bags under my eyes from staying up for 2 nights (and used up all my computer time which is why I haven't been on) making myself a present:



I wanted all hip and thigh trigger points on ONE image with the referred pain areas, and the trigger points in the correct locations (not all images on the web are accurate!). I could find nothing that had everything all together and was sitting with stacks of books and web pages open when working on my points.

I was looking at posters for massage schools and still nothing. This was a pain in the neck to make. First, I could not believe how many inconsistencies there were between credible sources about the locations of the points! And showing all the referred pain ended up being a little messier to do that anticipated. I originally planned on showing a tint over all pain areas and though it was pretty and colorful, it got really hard to read. I settled for just noting that pain is always present at the points and only tinting referred areas away from the points. Its just what I wanted, and I'm very happy. I bought the stock photos for the anatomy figures, did not draw that part, not quite that ambitious, Lol.

Put a post with it on my other blog, just some basic trigger point stuff so I have an excuse to house my picture there:

Trigger Point Therapy for Powerlifting: Hips & Thighs


Omg I have not slept, I have not trained. But I have my picture lol. Going to load up on coffee and see if the kids will let me take 30 minutes to squat

[kaleida]

What a cool picture! And hey, there's the vastus lateralis trigger point that I am about to smash later ...lol

I love it!

[ilovethe80s]

What a cool picture! And hey, there's the vastus lateralis trigger point that I am about to smash later ...lol

I love it!

Thanks! The sad thing is after working so hard on this and researching every trigger point to cross-compare among sources... Now I no longer need this image because it is all engraved in memory. Lol.

Have fun with the vastus lateralis, don't let it give you any crap

[kaleida]

Thanks! The sad thing is after working so hard on this and researching every trigger point to cross-compare among sources... Now I no longer need this image because it is all engraved in memory. Lol.

Have fun with the vastus lateralis, don't let it give you any crap

I was making ...umm....audible exclamations, last time I worked on it. lol.
there will probably be more of that.

I love your picture so much!

Could other external hip rotators obturator internus and quadratus femoris go in your picture too... oh pretty please? They are a little lower than the piriformis and they started giving me hell right after I fixed piriformis. Those are actually the ones that made me thankful I had a beastie ball because the lacrosse ball couldn't reach them at all... little pockets where only the beastie ball could reach.

Edit: ooh and another gluteus minimus trigger point too...on the side right between Iliac crest and greater trochanter of femur...that one was a huge mine field on me but releasing it fixed most of my IT band pain and my lateral pelvic tilt.

[kaleida]

I found my rectus femoris trigger point and came back in here to look at your picture! You got it in the right spot...spot #2 is going to get smashed

[geek23ka]

this ... wow. thank you so much for this work. i feel blind going into trying to foam roll, and this information helps. my knee thing doesn't seem to be going away, and it's somehow connected to me learning to squat correctly. i was tilted and using my right leg for stability during squats and then learned to squat evenly, and BOOM now a knee issue in my left leg. and i think it originates in my right hip somewhere. it's very confusing for me.

i am going to be studying your diary of a deadlifter entry for a while

[kaleida]

Laura, I had a dream that I looked at your journal and saw an amazingly detailed and beautiful bubble chart of squats The size of each bubble was the total squat volume for that day, the color of each bubble was the type of squats, and the location of the bubble was the date & top weight used ... they were all very very pretty shaded pastel colors and they were all transparent so the bubbles wouldn't hide other bubbles...when I saw it, I got so excited and wondered "WOW ...I love your charts!! bubble size for volume why didn't I think of that?!?!"

Lol. Dreams are weird.

Would be pretty but I don't think Google Docs will let me do something that fancy...


Edit: found a picture that looks similar so you know WTF I'm talking about... lol.

[ilovethe80s]

I was making ...umm....audible exclamations, last time I worked on it. lol.
there will probably be more of that.

I love your picture so much!

Could other external hip rotators obturator internus and quadratus femoris go in your picture too... oh pretty please? They are a little lower than the piriformis and they started giving me hell right after I fixed piriformis. Those are actually the ones that made me thankful I had a beastie ball because the lacrosse ball couldn't reach them at all... little pockets where only the beastie ball could reach.

Edit: ooh and another gluteus minimus trigger point too...on the side right between Iliac crest and greater trochanter of femur...that one was a huge mine field on me but releasing it fixed most of my IT band pain and my lateral pelvic tilt.

You know, I was looking at the other deep rotators and thinking maybe they should be included since hips are such a trouble zone, but most of the sources I was looking at did not even list them.

My sartorius is still digesting the fact that it is not my primary and sole hip external rotator while my medial glute is very shyly coming out of hiding and allowing my deep rotators and posterior muscles to work instead of the front, so I have personally not even met the obturator internus and quadratus Femoris yet to personally see how accessible those muscles are. But if you are getting result with releasing them, they must be . I will add those points this week.

I think my TFL trigger point is fully resolved! Pain has been dwindling after each smash, went at it yesterday and found no tender spots. I searched for it in a panic and stabbed it to death with the green beastie when I realized it wasn't screaming the way it used to. It is so weird to lunge and not feel like duct tape is ripping off there, or press it and not have pain - that pain has been going on for years. Now it is in my adductor and pectineus at about the same magnitude it was in the TFL. I know Rectus Femoris 1 and 2 both need a lot of work, too, and sartorius I think might also be pulling my pelvis down, but I never felt like I could give them much attention with the TFL needing so much work. Moving up in the world lol

I found my rectus femoris trigger point and came back in here to look at your picture! You got it in the right spot...spot #2 is going to get smashed

Awesome! I'm so glad it is useful. The Rectus Femoris trigger points seem to be so much more cooperative than hip/ groin work, don't they?

this ... wow. thank you so much for this work. i feel blind going into trying to foam roll, and this information helps. my knee thing doesn't seem to be going away, and it's somehow connected to me learning to squat correctly. i was tilted and using my right leg for stability during squats and then learned to squat evenly, and BOOM now a knee issue in my left leg. and i think it originates in my right hip somewhere. it's very confusing for me.

i am going to be studying your diary of a deadlifter entry for a while

Thanks Geek! I embarked on so many versions before this one and scrapped them because it got busy and complicated to show everything I wanted to show. Which is fine for trigger-point-happy people like me and Kaleida but I once I got really started and realized the time commitment, figured it would be a good use of time to try and make something that other people might find useful, too.

I always felt blind with the foam roller, too. I'd see people just rolling on top of it and maybe just touch on a sore spot, so that's what I did. There is a world of difference between using it to roll back and forth, and using it to release trigger points.

I'm excited for you to start trigger point hunting and seeing what you find! Things that have built up for literally years just dissolving... It is such an amazing thing. It also provides such great insight to your own movement patterns when you see where the points are. It is very addictive, like these little wars and battles you have with your own body. They don't always release immediately but they do eventually, and when it happens you feel on top of the world.

It's kind of good that the pain moved from one knee to the other - at least that way you know it is movement-related as opposed to structural damage to your knee?

Laura, I had a dream that I looked at your journal and saw an amazingly detailed and beautiful bubble chart of squats The size of each bubble was the total squat volume for that day, the color of each bubble was the type of squats, and the location of the bubble was the date & top weight used ... they were all very very pretty shaded pastel colors and they were all transparent so the bubbles wouldn't hide other bubbles...when I saw it, I got so excited and wondered "WOW ...I love your charts!! bubble size for volume why didn't I think of that?!?!"

Lol. Dreams are weird.

Would be pretty but I don't think Google Docs will let me do something that fancy...


Edit: found a picture that looks similar so you know WTF I'm talking about... lol.

I wish that dream was a reality, I really love that chart! Like, I LOVE it. And volume bubbles that you could look at at a glance would be extremely useful. it would save me from guiltily dragging out the calculator at the end of each week (since I often stray from my original plan) and banging my head against a desk because I overdid it AGAIN lol.

Edit: I'd also like a wii game where there is a sensor board under the squat rack that calculates all volume/ tonnage and produces charts based on that. The whole thing could work together. Can we quit our jobs and go create this stuff? Lol

[ilovethe80s]

Yesterday:
Squat
A. 3-count Pause Squat super-high bar no belt
45/20, 95/5, 135/5, 165/3, 185/3, 205/3, 215/1,
225/1(x2) one with belt one without, just because I haven't had one in a long time, wanted to see if it would throw me off at all. Once again, it didn't. And it felt a LOT easier with.
230/1 @7
235 @7.5

No pause, no belt
235/1 (2x)
225/1 (3x)
215/2

B. Bad girl w quadrupled skinny black band, Pilates circle held for posture and to check even-ness x100 (20 before right external rotators fully functional)
C. Ab roller
D. Calves

If I am off even a smidge in squat tech, I am breaking my work into speedy singles for now. I stand under the bar after a rep and ask myself if it was awesome and worthy of being repeated, and if not, I rack it, get myself in order for a second and go again. The tech consistency/improvements will take me farther than anything.

My external rotators had such a wake up call with the last band assault, I did it again today. Right side was lagging but I feel like I caught it in the act lol. My first bit of band work hurt terribly on the right front thigh, pulling and burning. Like last time, it took a little time before the right medial glute woke up and realized that this is HIS job, should not be all on the front. It didn't come to that realization till about 20 reps in, at which point the movement got much easier. I am doing a really small ROM with a lot of tension on the band work but I think it is what is needed.

I think I need to start doing the band work pre-squat. Whatever dysfunctional movement I am correcting with the band is running rampant during my actual squat so it makes sense to force my body on the right path beforehand. I'm tracking how many reps in it takes to get the right external rotators to wake up, I hope to see that number dwindling

[Woody-5]

Very nice squatting
Those long pauses are brutal

Love the Anatomy chart with all the trigger points

[ilovethe80s]

Thanks Woody! Almost everything is paused right now, it helps so much

Thanks on the trigger point image! I'm using it a lot so it was time well spent making it.

[ilovethe80s]

Last night:
Bench

A. Floor Press Paused
Triple-paused bench
45/8, 95/5, 115/5, 135/5

Floor press 3-count pause
135/3
145/1 @9 because I freaked during the pause
150/1 @6 because I jumped the gun
150/1 jumped the gun again
150/1 @8
155/fail. I paused well this time. Just didn't come back up
125/5 @6
130/5 @8

B. Explosive pull-ups
C. Band rear delts
D. Stomach vacuums

Apparently pausing knocks 15 pounds off my floor press. I'm still feeling good about the 200 towel press last week so I think I can stand to see some humbling numbers right now.

I was more focused on doing a proper pause than anything during the fail. I brought the bar down and did a nice slow 3-count out loud but had zero tension in bottom position. Like a pin press, but with no arch or drive so it didn't go anywhere. I think this will carry over to my bench really well. Well, failing it won't lol, but floor pressing in this way will.

[hardNheavy2011]

Last night:
Bench

A. Floor Press Paused
Triple-paused bench
45/8, 95/5, 115/5, 135/5

Floor press 3-count pause
135/3
145/1 @9 because I freaked during the pause
150/1 @6 because I jumped the gun
150/1 jumped the gun again
150/1 @8
155/fail. I paused well this time. Just didn't come back up
125/5 @6
130/5 @8

B. Explosive pull-ups
C. Band rear delts
D. Stomach vacuums

Apparently pausing knocks 15 pounds off my floor press. I'm still feeling good about the 200 towel press last week so I think I can stand to see some humbling numbers right now.

I was more focused on doing a proper pause than anything during the fail. I brought the bar down and did a nice slow 3-count out loud but had zero tension in bottom position. Like a pin press, but with no arch or drive so it didn't go anywhere. I think this will carry over to my bench really well. Well, failing it won't lol, but floor pressing in this way will.

I have a question. lol What does @8 or @6 mean? By the way, I've been reading through your Diary of a Deadlifter journal, and it's GOLD!! I've found so many useful tips in there that's it's blown my mind!! Also, I tried to look at the Chinese System of Powerlifting, but it's password protected. What are you hiding in there?

And as always, top notch lifting in here! Strength is ridiculous.

[Woody-5]

Very nice floor pressing! I've had good luck sneaking those into my training for a 3-4 week block. Definitely nice carry over to regular bench

[ilovethe80s]

I have a question. lol What does @8 or @6 mean? By the way, I've been reading through your Diary of a Deadlifter journal, and it's GOLD!! I've found so many useful tips in there that's it's blown my mind!! Also, I tried to look at the Chinese System of Powerlifting, but it's password protected. What are you hiding in there?

And as always, top notch lifting in here! Strength is ridiculous.

The @ number is the RPE for the day (rate of perceived exertion).

I'm glad you like the journal . I made it years ago after my first powerlifitng meet but kept the whole blog password protected. I didn't think it would interest anyone else, was also afraid of comments from strangers, lol.

But I really like reading about what other lifters were doing or trying. So many people telling you what you should do, I really appreciate reading about what people are actually doing and their thoughts on it. And Janie pointed out that I can turn comments off. So I made mine live. Figured if I like reading other people's notes so much, maybe someone out there might get some sort of entertainment out of mine, too. I have to go dig through it tonight to try and figure out how to squat because I think I forgot again haha.

The Chinese system is from Joel ( Norwichgrad). I trained in that style last year and loved it. At the time, I was having tech anxiety and malfunctions (story of my life!) and would usually choose my supplementary work on the fly, to directly address the weakness or malfunction in my main lift on that particular day.

Choosing supplemental lifts based on that day's weakness was one of the premises of the system, so that is what drew me to it initially. Even when I stopped following the system, many parts of it influenced my training, and still do. It also had you working to a top single before backing off, similar to what I am doing now.

I have Joel's writeup in there along with my own notes on the program. He did an excellent write up, with not only programming prescriptions but Chinese philosphies regarding training. I only read and followed, so I kept it a private page. I have a ton of hidden pages that contain text from books or whatnot that I wasn't sure I could publish on my own blog, so they don't show up in the menu. I keep that one there because it is a little easier for me to access it that way. I look at it often.

The info from that page can actually be found here:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...em+Norwichgrad

It is a great read

Very nice floor pressing! I've had good luck sneaking those into my training for a 3-4 week block. Definitely nice carry over to regular bench

Thanks! I need a lot more floor pressing in my life. I was getting cocky that it was catching up with my bench. I don't bounce it (ow, elbows) but just briefly touch down. Then was reading someone saying that you really should pause to get the most out of a floor press. So I do it and boom. 15 pounds gone just like that. Lol. I can definitely feel the weak area in the bench with it though.

[ilovethe80s]

I assaulted my hips too close to a session again, released my spinal erector trigger points (not impressed - won't be doing that again anytime soon) and I have been taking horrible care of myself this week. Going to bed at 1am, up at 4:30 and forgetting to eat and drink for most of the day. Husband is on a trip and apparently this is what happens to me when I do not have an adult around lol.

Pull
A. Squat (using term loosely) no belt
45/8, 95/3, 135/5, 185/3, 205/3, 215/1(2x)
225/1
230/1

B. Sumo block pull speedy (rounded back today, couldn't stay away)
135/5, 225/5, 275/3, 305/3, 325/3, 345/1

C. FS 135/5, 155/5, 175/5
D. Ab roller
E. Calves

Unintentional conjugate method today for squats. That was some sort of squat variation, not quite a squat. It was way off even with a broomstick but i was hoping it might come correct.

I worked a ton on my adductor, pectineus and illiopsoas trigger points last night because they were HOT. They are really irritated now and I have the whole bag of unpleasantries that come with that. It will go away soon enough,just like last time and the time before, so not concerned. My feet wanted to point straight out to the sides for squats (usually they are straight and I shoot knees forward to start the squat) and I couldn't get comfortable in the hole. I was shifting hard to one side while trying to squat. Oddly, my front squat (legs almost touching, knees forward) were fine.

I had been undecided on releasing my erectors. Some sources say to not release this area, and some sources say that for anterior tilt - yes, release it.

I decided to go ahead and release them a couple of hours before this session, which was beyond stupid for timing. I know the timing was really dumb, but I did not like the way anything felt today, nor did I like the sensations I had during and after release. Really not good. I will probably play it safe and leave them alone, I have plenty to do on my hips anyway. Who knows, maybe will wake up tomorrow with perfect neutral posture and my opinion will have changed

I think I've got it now - no violent assaults or releasing unfamiliar trigger points before important sessions or competitions. Noted.

[kaleida]

I think I've got it now - no violent assaults or releasing unfamiliar trigger points before important sessions or competitions. Noted.

I have the same rule for myself ... seems like every time I release an unfamiliar trigger point, there is a limp-noodle phase that lasts at least a few days while that muscle tries to figure out what to do with its new length. And then when it finally does realize what to do, I get stabbing pain in other parts of the same muscle that I didn't work on yet (maybe trigger points I missed on the first pass because I didn't know they were there). I went through the same exact same limp-noodle-then-pain-in-whatever-I-missed thing with my glutes and my quads. So definitely no unfamiliar trigger point release for me before a meet either!!

Nice pulls there, keep up the good work!

[ilovethe80s]

I have the same rule for myself ... seems like every time I release an unfamiliar trigger point, there is a limp-noodle phase that lasts at least a few days while that muscle tries to figure out what to do with its new length. And then when it finally does realize what to do, I get stabbing pain in other parts of the same muscle that I didn't work on yet (maybe trigger points I missed on the first pass because I didn't know they were there). I went through the same exact same limp-noodle-then-pain-in-whatever-I-missed thing with my glutes and my quads. So definitely no unfamiliar trigger point release for me before a meet either!!

Nice pulls there, keep up the good work!

I might stand corrected on the erector release. Driving the boys to swim practice this morning (at 7am, what was I thinking signing up for that lol) my lower back was actually touching the back of the seat. That never happens and when I force it, I feel like I am curved in a c-shape and the area feels unbearably tight. It was comfortably, and naturally touching the seat, so that's a big change.

Illiopsoas trigger point (the middle one) is extremely tender and kills to have pressure on it, but I have not actually felt it do a ton of real releasing. I feel like it has an army of superficial knots surrounding it. once I am in I just can't resist stabbing it to death for an extended time, I'm sure if I could just stick by the 5 minute rule I would be in a lot less pain right now lol

[kaleida]

I might stand corrected on the erector release. Driving the boys to swim practice this morning (at 7am, what was I thinking signing up for that lol) my lower back was actually touching the back of the seat. That never happens and when I force it, I feel like I am curved in a c-shape and the area feels unbearably tight. It was comfortably, and naturally touching the seat, so that's a big change.

Illiopsoas trigger point (the middle one) is extremely tender and kills to have pressure on it, but I have not actually felt it do a ton of real releasing. I feel like it has an army of superficial knots surrounding it. once I am in I just can't resist stabbing it to death for an extended time, I'm sure if I could just stick by the 5 minute rule I would be in a lot less pain right now lol

That's good news about the erectors!
Iliopsoas must be hard to release, right? That is pretty deep. I haven't run into pain in that muscle yet but I'm sure it's coming eventually. Right now working on more vastus lateralis trigger points that I missed...I had like one horizontal band of pain across the entire muscle and I got the front and side of it but not the back yet. It is easier working on quads because they're so close to the surface!

[LoveMyInk]

Are you two massage therapists?


if not where did you learn all this cool stuff?

[kaleida]

Are you two massage therapists?


if not where did you learn all this cool stuff?

Not a massage therapist but I am a professional googler and I think Laura is too daily deep tissue massage is really effective to keep my joints happy but daily is a lot more often than I can afford to pay for it, so I google the muscle names and locations and functions and do it myself.

[geek23ka]

yeah, i've been closely reading the trigger point therapy talk. i might pull the trigger and buy that book, too. i just feel useless when it comes to massaging myself. gotta get a hold of a lacrosse ball.

i'm having a hard time figuring out how to pause during a floor press.
i looked at this *****://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUZsP1HqL5c

but his chest is so big and arms so little, so he can pause without his elbows hitting the floor. is it the same for you? i think that sounds like an *excellent* idea for me. it's really going to force work with my upper body.

such great work in here. always. you are an amazing self trained lifter.

[ilovethe80s]

That's good news about the erectors!
Iliopsoas must be hard to release, right? That is pretty deep. I haven't run into pain in that muscle yet but I'm sure it's coming eventually. Right now working on more vastus lateralis trigger points that I missed...I had like one horizontal band of pain across the entire muscle and I got the front and side of it but not the back yet. It is easier working on quads because they're so close to the surface!

Iliopsoas is deep. but for me, the trigger point with the attitude is the middle one, and the referred pain area is actually only on the upper thigh. the pain is terrible though, pulling and burning and accompanied by weakness bordering on unusability. I don't get any sort of lower back pain like most psoas folks do.

I have never attempted to release the one up in the abdominals because I have a bunch of rogue surgical materials in there that twist and stab me through the skin. Pushing on them moves them around and I can't seem to manually fix when it happens, so I stay the hell away from there haha

Iliopsoas is a PITA, I hope you don't get that one. The quads are so easy and satisfying. I am addicted to that freshly released trigger point feeling

Are you two massage therapists?


if not where did you learn all this cool stuff?

I had to learn out of necessity for survival lol. I have a really amazing massage therapist who points me in the right direction for which areas to work on with which techniques. She is like forensics expert in figuring out the sequences of events causing my various explosions

yeah, i've been closely reading the trigger point therapy talk. i might pull the trigger and buy that book, too. i just feel useless when it comes to massaging myself. gotta get a hold of a lacrosse ball.

i'm having a hard time figuring out how to pause during a floor press.
i looked at this *****://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUZsP1HqL5c

but his chest is so big and arms so little, so he can pause without his elbows hitting the floor. is it the same for you? i think that sounds like an *excellent* idea for me. it's really going to force work with my upper body.

such great work in here. always. you are an amazing self trained lifter.

Thanks Geek! I used to feel useless with the self-care, too. But once you figure out some techniques that work for you, it is a great feeling to be in control over it.

I get a kick out of seeing other people's floor press. My ROM feels the same if not just slightly shorter than a bench, and i end up with elbows on the floor with the bar several inches off my chest. My bench leverages are a little unfortunate, it looks like the opposite of the above vid lol.

Supposedly pausing for a second or two with arms on the floor eliminates something like 90% of the stretch reflex. By the way 3 seconds felt, I'd say that eliminates 100% lol. It does not feel the same as a paused bench.. Your arms are resting on the floor, not really holding any tension at all. Which supposedly will produce a much stronger contraction, and I can totally see that happening

I didn't like floor pressing until I learned on one of Laura phelps ******** posts that you can do them with knees bent. I can't lie flat in the ground without having a huge gap under my lower back and was always afraid I was going to twist or pull something.

[kaleida]

Hey Laura I have a question... do you have any tips for setting up a big bench press arch on an unusally low bench? I tried it today but felt like my leg position was messing me up somehow ... hard to get my arch high if my knees can't point down at least a little bit. I tried googling this but all I see is the stupid "why you shouldn't arch" articles. Powerlifting section probably won't help much either because that's full of guys with about 2" of spine flexibility who probably don't even notice any difference on a low bench because their arch isn't that big to begin with.