Building Curves

[ilovethe80s]

That pigtail hairstyle is pretty! It does look more sophisticated than just regular pigtails

I wonder why high bar is easier to recover from for so many of us. I think I have femur/hip socket alignment issues with regular low bar squatting the more I read about that femoral acetabular impinging stuff the more it sounds like me. I had to stretch my hips back into place this morning. I cringe thinking about squatting with my femur not properly seated in the socket, 3x/week.... but I think that's basically what I was doing and why I had to sleep with a heating pad on my hips every night!

I think it has a lot to do with being mostly legs as opposed to back. After a high bar day I feel great. Maybe a bit of muscle tightness but my body feels so aligned, I feel generally healthy and lots of energy. after a low bar day with the same weight, I want to eat everything in sight, am tired, sore and not in a good way...

I forgot all about heating pad, will try it tonight

god damn you worked hard on those squats. high reps are killer. good job, ms 80's. basically every single note you have, right now, i am trying to do the opposite. knees out, wall squats from front, sit back. but then when you describe what is in your head when you squat, "I get the sensation that I am sitting down in front of the weight and then throwing it off my back behind me," makes total sense. whoda thunk.

i hope you have a great massage tomorrow!

Thanks! Yeah my cues are the complete opposite of most people's right now.

I couldn't get my usual massage lady but I did book a visit with her a week after my meet. The girl I had yesterday was ok but I missed my girl a lot. She asks questions and knows everything about you - what side you carry your kids on, what parts of your body are affected by what sport you are involved in, and if she isn't familiar with something she looks it up. Every session, she has at least one new method to try and recommends specific stretches or contrast therapy methods. At the end of the session yesterday, the girl was like 'your muscles are probably tight because you work out. You work out, right? So you should probably stretch'. The end. Lol.

sorry to hear the hip is causing troubles again

awesome!! now I can wear pigtails! you weren't the only one, lol

The hip has been a little better during the day, it is just at night now, I can't lay on my side. I am not planning on lying down at the meet so hopefully it won't interfere too much!

Those squats are really impressive. I know how hard high rep (especially at that weight!) is, but your bar speed hardly changed at all throughout the reps/sets. Each one just popped up.

I hope these squat changes will make the session easy for you to recover from.

Thanks! Yeah, the form i am using right now does not bother the hip at all and is a world of difference for recovery. Can't say it did the same cardio-wise though, I was dying haha.

I liked this one: http://lifthard.com/the-day-you-thin...than-everyone/

especially the second youtube video in it.

Can you believe how fast he got up those stairs!!!

[ilovethe80s]

RSA 10
10 minute walk, agile 11, pistol stretches for ankles (note to self- do not skip these. They are imperative with the amount of knee travel I need)
A. Squat 5 x 7 (205)
Wrap practice 245/1
B. 3" deficit speed pull 1@280, dropped to 265 6x1, a few from floor

Absolute worst day of the month but I am very glad it is happening now and not in 2 weeks. Had a migraine, feeling docile, zero aggression, sloooow, groggy, clumsy, couldn't remember how to even balance the barbell till I was almost halfway through. It is just one day per month that is this bad so usually I don't train that day, but I am very close to meet time and need to stay on schedule.

A couple of sets I split into 5+2. RSA allows that as long as you get the reps in, but this was my first time taking advantage of it. My bar was all over the place. I'd really love to not drill in any more crap patterns but I couldn't get my act together at the time. Like 'oh, well, I guess the bar is wavy today'. Like it is the weather or something and has nothing to do with me lol. About halfway through I slammed into the safeties so hard it shook me to the bone. I dumped the weight and sat there for a few minutes in shock. After that, my squats miraculously fixed themselves.

On the note of balancing the bar, I guess after all of this I got my hybrid after all. It isn't even like a hybrid, it is like a centaur or hippogriff or something. Upper half looks like low bar in a way I guess, I carry the bar waaaay far back. I guess in that, shoulders actually are squeezed (ugh that cueing word always makes me cringe lol) but the position feels strong and relaxed, like I could stand there all day. Not tensed or nervous. My elbow hurts like it would low bar, but other than that I am pretty comfortable. I take a big breath in shove everything into a line, (slamming head back with the breath gets my chest up without me doing any 'squeeze'/ back archy stuff), break at the knee and then it is high bar mechanics from there. I don't know why those aspects are working so well together, but they are.

My speed work just wasn't moving fast enough this day so I dropped a few pounds off. They looked much faster than they were when I watched the vids. I'm a little concerned about this hip dip pattern that seems to have stuck from the few times I did reverse band work with versa grips and couldn't do my usual dive bomb. I'll be adding in a couple of extra very light speed days to get that right before the meet.

[kaleida]

I know exactly what you mean with the centaur squat I'm glad the groggy day got itself out of the way soon!

I'm excited about your meet! a little less than 2 weeks, right?

[ilovethe80s]

I know exactly what you mean with the centaur squat I'm glad the groggy day got itself out of the way soon!

I'm excited about your meet! a little less than 2 weeks, right?

It is next Saturday and I am nervous as usual. I did this same meet last year and was disappointed in my performance (40 pounds less than the week before and everything felt terrible). Doing a meet 2 weeks in a row might have a been the dumbest pl'ing-related decision I have ever made. I showed up to the meet so tired and drained, didn't want to be there, went like 5/9. So in the back of my head I keep thinking that I just suck at that particular meet location, like it is cursed or something rather than the fact that I did 2 back to back meets. Totally logical, lol.

[ilovethe80s]

A promising 'pop' last night!
Brad Gillingham Bench Week 11
Agile 11, empty bar squats, band rc work
A. Bench paused 160 (was supposed to be 162)
5 x 3 (142) paused
B. McGill pull ups
C. Inverted Row
D. Ohp 3 x 6

Not taking my eyes off that squat, been doing a few reps with an empty bar every day as well as hip mobility.

Bench single was supposed to be 162 but I can only make 163 our 160, chickened out and went lighter. I lifted both feet up off the ground about halfway up because my hip was burning so badly.. A little late for any changes now, but I really should have a backup bench form for when my hip is on vaca, at least find someplace comfortable to put my feet where I won't be tempted to move them. But if I got it ok with my feet up, it looks like 160 is my new 'no drive' max. So that is progress I guess lol.

Just before my last set of triples, I was crouched in front of my ipad, started to stand up and there was a very loud, jolting pop followed by a warm spasm. It startled me and I was afraid to move for a bit - didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. But I got back on the bench, tentatively tested drive and wound up going nice and wide with excellent leg drive and minimal pain for the easiest triple ever. Then I had a loose, cooling sensation in there for the rest of the session.

Kaleida - do you think that was a result of the heating pad? I slept with it the night before. Then I slept well for the first time in weeks because usually my hip is in pain every time I turn on my side. Oh please, please, please let the hip stay like this till the meet lol.

Cues of the day:
To set up a few inches ahead of the bar and push myself into position
Hyperextend elbows (covers twisting the bar, pulling out to unrack and packing the shoulders)
Get shoulder blades way behind me the same way I do in a squat

Also note to self, I need to take a more thorough bench warmup at the meet. I don't tire easily on bench, I notice that my sets get stronger as they go on. I need a lot of work to get everything fully firing, minimal doesn't work for me here yet.

[kaleida]

oh yeah one of the effects of the heating pad is that my hip pops ... followed by relief and a bigger pain-free range of motion I wonder if your hip did the same thing! it sounds like it. If you ever hear me writing in my journal that my hip feels "warm and gummy" I bet that's the same as your "warm spasm" feeling lol I couldn't think of how to describe it but it kinda feels like my hip is as flexible as a gummy worm with no resistance anywhere and no pinching in any direction. I am always in search of stretches that will make that feeling permanent for me

Mine gets stuck and then pops to get un-stuck pretty often - for me the pop happens during flexion plus external rotation (like a standing hip adductor stretch, or sitting and then pushing my knee out to the side) and I need the pop to make my hip feel normal ... but if it feels off and it isn't popping then cooking it with the heating pad for a few hours gets my hip willing to pop again

[jpfaherty]

Pops are usually bad! Glad yours seems to be a good thing! What do we have now? 10 days?!

[kaleida]

Pops are usually bad! Glad yours seems to be a good thing! What do we have now? 10 days?!

I think this is the good kind of pop! the kind of pop where something was out of alignment, and then suddenly it pops back into the place where it should be

Laura all this hip stuff has made me pay more attention to my hips lately ... this morning noticed that my left femur looked about an inch "longer" than the right one ... just sitting on the edge of the bed and one knee was in front of the other even though my hips were perfectly even. When I saw it I thought about you because you said sometimes your femurs feel weirdly longer than usual during squats ... and when I read that I thought "I know that feeling!!!" but never actually saw it until now. I think usually both of my hips are weird together ... but my right hip responded to all this stretching stuff faster than the left so lately I usually have one good hip and one weird one and it's easier to see the difference.

The hip that felt off was the "longer" one. Then after my stretching routine I had a pop and the femurs looked the same length! I thought that was cool It makes me feel pretty sure that my femur head is changing position in the hip socket during the pop, maybe going farther back into the socket or something like that.

[ilovethe80s]

Pops are usually bad! Glad yours seems to be a good thing! What do we have now? 10 days?!

I know, just one more weekend! Do you feel ready?

I think this is the good kind of pop! the kind of pop where something was out of alignment, and then suddenly it pops back into the place where it should be
.

I think the alignment was only temporary. I felt good through the next day but last night my hip felt like crap when I was walking on the treadmill, and last night it was back to the pain all the way down the shin trying to sleep. But at least I know now that it CAN be normal, at least temporarily. I should have a look to see if one looks longer than the other, too. This hip business is high maintenance haha.

[izzygrant]

160 driveless bench is super strong. fingers crossed that your hip feels good on meet day and you can hit a massive bench meet PR.

meet day is so close! I'm excited for you!

[jpfaherty]

I know, just one more weekend! Do you feel ready?

I know I'll hit meet PR's but I don't feel ready. C/P effed me up!! Really screwed up the rest of my training lol. Hindsight = awful idea

[kaleida]

I know, just one more weekend! Do you feel ready?


I think the alignment was only temporary. I felt good through the next day but last night my hip felt like crap when I was walking on the treadmill, and last night it was back to the pain all the way down the shin trying to sleep. But at least I know now that it CAN be normal, at least temporarily. I should have a look to see if one looks longer than the other, too. This hip business is high maintenance haha.

Darnit My "good hip" state is only temporary too ... I am so hard trying to find the stretches and exercises that will make it permanent ... it is high maintenance for sure I actually googled to get a list of ALL muscles that attach to the femur, and started stretching them one by one with a heating pad, redoing my hip tests after each stretch, and if it made any difference write it down. Plus glute strengthening because that seems to be the only common thread when I google my hip issue ... stretching recommendations are all over the place and contradictory. It'll probably take many hours over many weeks to figure it out but I think I'll get there ... if not maybe I can get an MRI for ideas.

Weirdly, the stretches that seem to help my stubborn hip the most are the stretches that hurt the most so my new strategy there is to look for more stretches that hurt, and do them. that's how I found the internal rotation stretch. I have no idea why that one helps because my hip never, ever, ever needs to be in that position for anything I ever do. But weirdly that's the stretch that's helping me the most so far.

[ilovethe80s]

160 driveless bench is super strong. fingers crossed that your hip feels good on meet day and you can hit a massive bench meet PR.

meet day is so close! I'm excited for you!

Thanks izzy! I'm sooo nervous already lol. Compulsive list-making has begun

I know I'll hit meet PR's but I don't feel ready. C/P effed me up!! Really screwed up the rest of my training lol. Hindsight = awful idea

Just watched your video and loved it. Not the fact that you feel like crap of course, but the honest account
of how it all went and where you think your other lifts are. Coming over to your journal now

Darnit My "good hip" state is only temporary too ... I am so hard trying to find the stretches and exercises that will make it permanent ... it is high maintenance for sure I actually googled to get a list of ALL muscles that attach to the femur, and started stretching them one by one with a heating pad, redoing my hip tests after each stretch, and if it made any difference write it down. Plus glute strengthening because that seems to be the only common thread when I google my hip issue ... stretching recommendations are all over the place and contradictory. It'll probably take many hours over many weeks to figure it out but I think I'll get there ... if not maybe I can get an MRI for ideas.

Weirdly, the stretches that seem to help my stubborn hip the most are the stretches that hurt the most so my new strategy there is to look for more stretches that hurt, and do them. that's how I found the internal rotation stretch. I have no idea why that one helps because my hip never, ever, ever needs to be in that position for anything I ever do. But weirdly that's the stretch that's helping me the most so far.

The fact that some of these stretches with the heat can help gives me a lot of hope. Like today, my hips are terrible and I have to squat tonight... But it is good to know that there is at least a chance that something might get them functioning so it isn't just a lost cause.

I really need to fix my hip issues, it is getting to the point where my performance comes down to if I am having a good hip day or a bad hip day. I never really rehabbed my knee after surgery and my hip issues started getting unmanageable after that. I keep saying I am going to work on it but every cycle get distracted by the more 'fun' stuff.

[kaleida]

I need to fix mine too, I can feel the performance difference too. That test where we step up on a coffee table ... seems so similar to what needs to be done in a squat and it's nearly impossible for me to do that with my left leg when my left hip is wonky. Sometimes when I'm squatting it feels disproportionately hard and I feel like my right leg is doing all the work, I bet I would fail the step-up test and the femur length comparison test in that state, I need to remember to try it next time I'm having a bad squat day!

My goal always used to be to keep my hip "poppable" (since popping is a temporary fix)... but now my goal is to find sort of routine that will make my hip stay in that "popped" position for longer, days or weeks or maybe even permanently. Heat definitely helps me...some of these muscles just freeze up at the thought of being stretched but heat seems to help them calm down.

[kaleida]

PS. Why has someone not invented stretchy heated boxer shorts yet!? I would totally buy that and sleep in it every night if it existed...maybe even do my squat warmup in it

[ilovethe80s]

I need to fix mine too, I can feel the performance difference too. That test where we step up on a coffee table ... seems so similar to what needs to be done in a squat and it's nearly impossible for me to do that with my left leg when my left hip is wonky. Sometimes when I'm squatting it feels disproportionately hard and I feel like my right leg is doing all the work, I bet I would fail the step-up test and the femur length comparison test in that state, I need to remember to try it next time I'm having a bad squat day!

My goal always used to be to keep my hip "poppable" (since popping is a temporary fix)... but now my goal is to find sort of routine that will make my hip stay in that "popped" position for longer, days or weeks or maybe even permanently. Heat definitely helps me...some of these muscles just freeze up at the thought of being stretched but heat seems to help them calm down.

Beatha sets up for her squat by looking straight ahead the whole time and feeling where her stance should be. As I have been trying to do that, I realize exactly how bad of a mess my hips are in. Nearing the end of my sets, i will have one foot a full 10-12 inches ahead of the other, and it feels to me like they are perfectly even. Then I try to line them up properly but it's too tight, and end up doing like a side lunge stretch, with the barbell on my back, before getting into a squat. Then I feel like hips are way crooked, but they are straight. I really think my next squat PR will come from getting the hips squared away. They suck! Lol.

PS. Why has someone not invented stretchy heated boxer shorts yet!? I would totally buy that and sleep in it every night if it existed...maybe even do my squat warmup in it

This is brilliant. And you could wear them to meets, be nice and warmed up by the time you get there

[ilovethe80s]

On coffee ban till the meet. What a poor idea that was lol.

Russian Squat Assault 11
Prewo: hip thrust, limber 11, pistol ankle stretch
A. Squat 7 x 5 (215), sets 4-7 in light wraps
235/1, 250/1 (opener?) in competition wraps
No accessories tonight, I took forever with all the wrapping and unwrapping.

Right hip feels pretty unstable, ankle wanted to roll over with it in the hole of each rep. I think a good week of rest will have everything in working order, just need a bit of recovery time. I did get to train earlier than normal though and that makes such a difference in how my sets go.

I did half my session in light wraps today and will do half of my final session like that a well. I noticed that in my wrapped singles of previous sessions, I was fighting the wraps. They offer me a shorter stopping point to bounce off of. But I am dropping into the squat, pulling myself down deeper to the ground, pausing, and then coming up. And I am only doing this with wraps on, not with my regular reps. I need a little more practice with them I guess, I don't sense depth in them very well.

The first rep of every wrapped set was still very cautious and did the pause thing, but on subsequent reps I bounced right out. Competition wrapped singles I tried to trust depth a little more, and here is where it ended up:


Go a little deeper? I was thinking this for the opener (250). I love taking my opener after 7x5 days because if I get it then I can be damn sure I will get it on meet day! This felt super-easy, and I'm very excited because as usual I thought I was going to fail lol. Really excited to see what it feels like to hit my opener fresh. Love RSA, I am sure I would have failed 250 a couple of months ago when I forgot how to squat

[kaleida]

Your squats are awesome, I wish I could do 250!!
Maybe someday.

My feet also end up totally asymmetrical if I place them without looking...one forward and one pointed out but they feel like they're both pointed out...strange I think it's so cool beatha can set up her squat without looking!

[izzygrant]

do NOT go deeper lol. that's perfect. it looked so smooth, no sticking point at all! your squat has come together just in time

[wakechica]

Brief skim read to catch up... So stoked you're doing 250!!

[jpfaherty]

Plenty of depth there!! Perfect.

Whats your meet PR for squat?

[doughnutgut]

Seen your lift in the o35 this week thread. Came in to say GJDM.

Beurifull lift.

[ilovethe80s]

Your squats are awesome, I wish I could do 250!!
Maybe someday.

My feet also end up totally asymmetrical if I place them without looking...one forward and one pointed out but they feel like they're both pointed out...strange I think it's so cool beatha can set up her squat without looking!

You will have 250 in no time, your squats are on the up

Setting up without looking is the goal for next meet. It is so good in theory, it really does spare energy and keep the upper back set up. You feel ready to squat, have a feeling it it going to be good, glance down just to check the feet and it's like 'dammit!' Lol.

do NOT go deeper lol. that's perfect. it looked so smooth, no sticking point at all! your squat has come together just in time

Means a lot coming from a judge! My final squat is usually the easiest for me at meets because I tend to bury my first attempt, then pay attention to what others are doing, am shocked that there aren't red lights left and right, assess my own depth and skim it just a bit going forward. And that extra inch or two really makes all the difference.

It really is just in time, can you believe it took over 400 squats to do it? Lol. I'm going to try my darnedest to maintain it now. They really started solidifying a couple of sessions ago and now the aggression is coming in so yes, perfect timing indeed

Brief skim read to catch up... So stoked you're doing 250!!

Thanks wakechica!! How is your training going?

Plenty of depth there!! Perfect.

Whats your meet PR for squat?

Thanks! I had 270 at the last meet. But then I decided I needed a 'building phase' where I didn't lift very heavy and then forgot how to squat and was failing 200 and stuff. I seriously thought I was going to be back at like 225. RSA saves the day again

Seen your lift in the o35 this week thread. Came in to say GJDM.

Beurifull lift.

Thank you!

[ilovethe80s]

Brad Gillingham Light bench week 11
Prewo: limber 11, hip thrust, empty barbell squats, shoulder prehab circuit
A. Light bench 2x8 (128)
B. Light bench with triple pause 3 x 5 (115)
C. Cable row to shoulder 4x10
D. Reverse grip lat pulldown 4 x 8
E. Skipped tri again, sparing elbows

This felt awesome, I wished it were heavy day. In the last few weeks before a meet, I practice isometrically contracting everything in my body at random times throughout the day while picturing each lift in my head. It helps me hold tightness throughout the lifts on meet day. It also seems to translate to my every day life and makes me a little high strung and knotted up lol, so I reserve it for the weeks before meet time. But it helps a lot, over this last week I have been getting pretty aggressive toward the weight.

My hip was pretty good today which allows me to set up a little longer and wider on the bench. When hip is bad, I tend to try and scrunch my feet farther under me since I can't go wide. That position shortens my ROM but leg drive for that position is excruciating and that is where I end up lifting my leg and twisting my back. I like the longer and wider position a lot better, much better drive that way.

Woke up from squats feeling super great and excited. My body loves everything I did last night, core felt great, thighs pumped but feeling good, no real pain anywhere. My only tech notes last night were that I liked 'lengthen the adductors' starting the descent, it kept me tighter through the hams in the top few inches and just sounds a little more elegant than my usual 'shoot my knees out'.

Derby tonight (cub scouts), so excited!! I was under some pretty demanding creative direction for this and they were happy with the final products.

[NorwichGrad]

I agree with Izzy, Laura. No need to go deeper. That lift meets PL standard. Good luck at your meet!!

[ilovethe80s]

I agree with Izzy, Laura. No need to go deeper. That lift meets PL standard. Good luck at your meet!!

Thanks Joel!

[ilovethe80s]

Stomach bug ripping through our town. We had a school fundraiser last night and half the volunteers called in sick. Oldest son got hit Friday night around 2am. I booked it into the basement and got all my training done right away Saturday morning before it hits me, if it is going to. Usually I am immune to this stuff by now lol.

RSA 12 and speed pulls
Limber 11
A. Squat 10 x 3 (230) light wraps -inzer reds, loose
Walkout 300
B. Speed Pulls
3" deficit with adipowers bc I forgot to change my shoes - 1@300
2"deficit speed pull, realized I had the wrong shoes before my last one 3x1@300
1" Deficit speed pull 1@300

Squats were actually pretty draining today and I was so tired when I got started with pulls that I forgot to take off the adipowers. I should have known something was off when my fingertips were up in the rafters before I started each lift.

300 off a 3" deficit in the adis felt so unwelcome that I swapped for 2 inches. That is a big difference, and I felt a lot more enthusiastic approaching the bar. I felt pretty aggressive which was surprising given the workload today.

Pulling in adis was interesting, I think I am actually going to plan to do it again. It tipped me forward more but I enjoyed fighting that, I think it will translate well to my floor pull. (Final pull in this set is off just 1" and I see a huge improvement in technique in comparison to the previous lifts on a deficit. Second to last pull might have been after I changed my shoes because I see an improvement there, too). I thought it was interesting the differences with the different heights. These are up near 75% now so slower than my normal speed pull but still happy with the bar speed.



My upper thighs were not recovered from last session and it messed up my squat rhythm. All paused squats, very slow and careful descent, no tempo. It's all good, I know the bounce was there in spirit, just can't do it when the muscles aren't recovered yet. Still glad to get this over with now though, more time to recover till the meet.

Couldn't catch my breath for some reason and got really fatigued by the end. Didn't think I would have anything in my left for the speed pulls. Was lightheaded and tired and still on coffee ban, so I had a bunch of mystery flavor air heads (LOVE those things). I was so tired that I was trying to pick up the wrapper off the table but was just swiping at random spots on the table and missing lol. Then made lunch for the kiddos, tended to the sick one and headed back into the gym for the pulls.

RSA is done! Openers/2nd attempts on Tuesday (for squat/ bench only, deads will be a cool 135 from the floor )

[kaleida]

Deadlifts look easy and fast in spite of the extra heel height!
Good luck next weekend I'm so excited for you!

[tina722]

wow. Congrats on getting through everything.

The meet should be really good!

[izzygrant]

looking awesome. this is going to be a great meet!