Let's chase new totals for the end of 2020!

[EliKoehn]

Deads are weird always, never consistent for , but today hit a small rep PR.
It's possible deads would do better if I dropped one Squat slot for a dead slot, but I'm not sacrificing squats for them right now.

Ever tried doing them on the same day, with one light and the other heavy? I like to do it that way, since there's a lot of overlap anyway, but then you can still tell which one I prefer...

[WolfRose7]

Ever tried doing them on the same day, with one light and the other heavy? I like to do it that way, since there's a lot of overlap anyway, but then you can still tell which one I prefer...

yeah I've ran pretty much every configuration at some point, But I've never just purely focused deads for a block.
Might do in future, will see how the rest of the year goes

[ECGordyn]

Interesting. Not that DOMS is perfectly correlated to recovery, but there have been times where I've taken an entire week off and can still feel the previous workout once I get going. And, adding to EC's argument below, I guess maintaining your strength in good trim requires you to circumvent full recovery, necessarily. Otherwise your strength would atrophy from lack of stimulus. Still though, optimal stimulus and recovery frequencies would have to overlap at some point, but how do you determine that from individual to individual?

Also, I have a worry about losing muscle by not allowing it to recover adequately. As long as you're not doing insane marathon sessions back to back, is this worry realistic?

Trial and error. Experimentation. Record everything you do. To find the perfect balance between stimulus and recovery would involve a lot of tracking of a lot of data: training, nutrition, sleep, stress, mood, other stimuli in life (a nice vacation, excitement in the family or among friends), stimuli during training sessions (was your best friend at the gym with you on a certain day, was there a new girl walking around the gym or was your phone ringing a lot during that session) etc. For most of us who do this as a hobby, all that tracking isn't really worth the time and effort. We follow conventional wisdom that's been proven many times without really thinking outside the box, and it either works or it doesn't in our particular case.

For example, not very long ago on these forums there was a lot of insistence on a 2:1 pull : push ratio if you didn't want your shoulders to dissolve and fall apart. I followed it as good advice, which it is generally, and my DB bench slowly increased.
More recently (more than 6 months of this year) I've done far less than that ratio and have had almost no shoulder issues and much more progress in BB bench. Point being, trying something different is the only way to see if it works for you at a particular time. When it stops working then try something else.

And Eli you're right about frequent stimulus maintaining a trained state. I detrain quickly if I have too many days off or too many light days, so for me frequency is important.

[Camarija]

Does anyone here pull conventional? It feels like my deadlift is far too lumbar dominant for me to feel comfortable pulling with intensity. If anyone has a link for conventional form, or an argument for why pulling conventional is advantageous in certain circumstances, that'd be very helpful for me right now. I'm going to attach my latest deadlifts from leg session today, pulling 315 for 5 reps at around 6 RPE.

[Olympic Bar + 6x45 lbs = 315 lbs] (RPE 6)
5 Reps - had to reset weights in-between the set
**EDIT**
it took me until now to realize the background in the video


5 Reps - i need to buy barbell collars tomorrow


5 Reps - i have no idea what I'm doing


As for squats, I started with 3 sets of 5 reps at 275 lbs today and finished with a set of 275 lbs for 6 reps. I didn't push it past 8 RPE because I'm trying out coming out of the hole slower to avoid squat morning. Maybe this sounds dumb, "when it feels hard, go slower", but it seems to work I guess. I may switch to low bar squat for a couple sets next leg session to try it out.



Cheers dudes!

(Probably well overdue to give sumo deadlift a chance.)

[ECGordyn]

Those look like stiff leg DLs. Get your hips lower, pull your lats tighter.

I've heard the argument that conv. is superior to sumo because sumo is mostly leverage whereas conv. depends on your real strength. Never gave sumo a real chance and don't plan to, but I'd also conjecture that conv. is the more natural position for picking up anything off the floor. If strongman is any kind of barometer for the most all-around functional strength, then it's conv. all the way.

[WolfRose7]

Those look like stiff leg DLs. Get your hips lower, pull your lats tighter.

I've heard the argument that conv. is superior to sumo because sumo is mostly leverage whereas conv. depends on your real strength. Never gave sumo a real chance and don't plan to, but I'd also conjecture that conv. is the more natural position for picking up anything off the floor. If strongman is any kind of barometer for the most all-around functional strength, then it's conv. all the way.

Interesting, since most strongman pick stuff up semi sumo

I pull both, slightly stronger sumo but that might because I give sumo more time, sumo is technically far more challenging and that makes it more interesting to me, Conv is more raw strength fun.

[ECGordyn]

Interesting, since most strongman pick stuff up semi sumo

I pull both, slightly stronger sumo but that might because I give sumo more time, sumo is technically far more challenging and that makes it more interesting to me, Conv is more raw strength fun.

Many of the guys have a wide stance for sure, but their arms are usually outside their knees for deadlift, as in conv. Atlas stone is an exception, keg carry sometimes an exception.

[WolfRose7]

Many of the guys have a wide stance for sure, but their arms are usually outside their knees for deadlift, as in conv. Atlas stone is an exception, keg carry sometimes an exception.

Everything they are allowed to lift sumo is done so basically, Tyres, kegs, stones, husafelt, etc.

The rules dictate barbell is conventional, though the fact that strongman self selects for very tall large individuals also lends to that style of lift.

[Camarija]

Those look like stiff leg DLs. Get your hips lower, pull your lats tighter.

I've heard the argument that conv. is superior to sumo because sumo is mostly leverage whereas conv. depends on your real strength. Never gave sumo a real chance and don't plan to, but I'd also conjecture that conv. is the more natural position for picking up anything off the floor. If strongman is any kind of barometer for the most all-around functional strength, then it's conv. all the way.

I'm reworking my form right now and I realized you are 100% correct. I've been so accustomed to roman8an deadlifts with my hips set up high that I forgot that I need my hips a bit lower in conventional. I pulled out my old starting strength book to look at the leverage designs and I think it helped me out a lot. Im pulling with my legs now, not my lumbar. Trying out a bunch of 3's at *335 to really drill the correct form now.

Thanks again! I'll be going conventional all the way!

Conv is more raw strength fun.

That's me. In video games I put all my points in strength, zero in intelligence lol

[WolfRose7]

I'm reworking my form right now and I realized you are 100% correct. I've been so accustomed to roman8an deadlifts with my hips set up high that I forgot that I need my hips a bit lower in conventional. I pulled out my old starting strength book to look at the leverage designs and I think it helped me out a lot. Im pulling with my legs now, not my lumbar. Trying out a bunch of 3's at *335 to really drill the correct form now.

Thanks again! I'll be going conventional all the way!





That's me. In video games I put all my points in strength, zero in intelligence lol

Not to ruin it, but hips are a bit low, you can see them shoot up from set up position before the bar leaves the floor.
You want them where they are when the bar leaves the floor

[Camarija]

Not to ruin it, but hips are a bit low, you can see them shoot up from set up position before the bar leaves the floor.
You want them where they are when the bar leaves the floor

You're not ruining anything, thank you! Last thing I want is to start lifting heavy with poor form. I'll keep working at it with light 3's until it's 80% there.

I think I probably need to suck it up and hire a trainer for a session or two to figure out how the heck this lifting bar off the ground works. Feedback in real time probably goes a long way.

Meanwhile me analyzing form videos:



**EDIT**

This is what it looks like when I start pulling and the weight moves off the ground a bit. Is that vector okay?



**EDIT 2**

I just realized it doesn't matter because each person has unique leverages. Oof, oh well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYREQkVtvEc

Thanks Sr. Thrall

also this one seems to have answered all my questions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYN3UGCYisk

[ECGordyn]

Meanwhile me analyzing form videos:

Have you ever seen this site? You might like it as long as you're analyzing mechanics. Seems to me a little gimmicky but maybe I just don't know how to measure my bones exactly enough. Could be useful for some.

http://www.mysquatmechanics.com/deadlift/

[Camarija]

Have you ever seen this site? You might like it as long as you're analyzing mechanics. Seems to me a little gimmicky but maybe I just don't know how to measure my bones exactly enough. Could be useful for some.

http://www.mysquatmechanics.com/deadlift/

That's actually pretty awesome even though it's probably unnecessary. I'll give it a go to check out my leverages and see how I stack up against the program for fun. But yeah, just setting up for the deadlift was something I completely forgot and was why I was so inconsistent. That Alan Thrall video was a perfect refresher. If I set up correctly, the pull should always be fine unless I'm lacking specific strength.

In other news, I figured out how to bench today. Hit 205 lbs for 8 reps with a couple left in the tank, but I'm still figuring out this foot drive. I'm not really sure when to use foot drive because it kind of feels like cheating, so I save it for my last rep or two. Also, belted bench, is this even a thing?

[CW47]

Progress... Hit a 5 pound PR on bench today. Previous best was 160 pounds, which I hit 6 weeks ago. Made 165 today. Gave 170 a decent run too.

Had our baby shower today, and it was a long and tiring day. Honestly was not feeling comfortable under the bar at all, so I'm really happy to have hit a PR. No problems unracking. I widened my grip to a more typical width (first barbell ring between my pinky and ring finger). Then I lowered the hooks to the holes 4 inches lower than what I was using previously. It went pretty smoothly. I did notice on the rep at 165 that I was still further away than I needed to be on the unrack. Got closer on the 170 attempt and that felt better. I'll probably test my max again in another 6 weeks.

Here's video of the 2 bench sets, along with a set of kneeling OHP I did (can't do a standard OHP because of the ceiling height, but the kneeling variant feels surprisingly similar to the standing version):

[WolfRose7]

Progress... Hit a 5 pound PR on bench today. Previous best was 160 pounds, which I hit 6 weeks ago. Made 165 today. Gave 170 a decent run too.

Had our baby shower today, and it was a long and tiring day. Honestly was not feeling comfortable under the bar at all, so I'm really happy to have hit a PR. No problems unracking. I widened my grip to a more typical width (first barbell ring between my pinky and ring finger). Then I lowered the hooks to the holes 4 inches lower than what I was using previously. It went pretty smoothly. I did notice on the rep at 165 that I was still further away than I needed to be on the unrack. Got closer on the 170 attempt and that felt better. I'll probably test my max again in another 6 weeks.

Great stuff man, positioning and leg drive looks loads better. Only thing I see on the 165 is you dump the last couple of inches slightly, so just a bit more back tightness and keeping chest up as you touch and I think these will be spot on.

[CW47]

Great stuff man, positioning and leg drive looks loads better. Only thing I see on the 165 is you dump the last couple of inches slightly, so just a bit more back tightness and keeping chest up as you touch and I think these will be spot on.

Yeah, for sure. I have lapses where I lose tightness in my back or my legs. It's just an awareness and consistency thing at this point, I think. I've been playing around with a lot of different factors as I try to dial things in. Now I just need to stick to a setup and movement that works, and do it consistently. I think it's to a point now where I can do that.

[CW47]

Today was squat test day. I improved on my 205 pound max from 6 weeks ago, hitting 215 today.

It was a bit of an adventure to get there though... I started out a little bit tight, so I did a crap load of warmup reps. The weight was flying up as I got to 185 and 205. Was feeling really confident so I jumped right to 215. I didn't get any momentum at the bottom, and wasn't able to get the bar moving up fast enough - failed rep. Didn't want to settle for tying my last max, so I took a short rest, reset to 135 pounds and worked my way back up. Hit the 205 again relatively easily. Hit 210, bar still moving quickly. Then made 215. As I watched the video though, I realized I was an inch or two short of my usual depth. Can't accept that as a PR, so I got back under the bar and did it again, this time with acceptable depth. I may have been able to do even more, but I was pretty fatigued so I settled for the 10 pound improvement.

Best part of the day for me was that my form mostly held up, even at top weight. My knees never caved at all, which is something I've always struggled with. The reps at 210 and 215 can be seen in the video below. The 215 rep did get away from me a little bit. You can see that the bar drifts forward and I have to correct it. If I can eliminate the errors like that, I'm sure I can instantly add another 10 pounds. I'm feeling pretty confident I'll finally hit 225 in my next cycle. It's been a long time coming...

Video shows the reps at 205 & 215:

[WolfRose7]

Today was decent, still just matching ERMs for these blocks but solid singles.

[Camarija]

H Y P E - U P D A T E

Today was supposed to be a relatively light leg day using some higher intensity weight but with some reps left in the tank. The intention was to prepare myself for high intensity heavy leg day on Thursday. I'm planning on using Thursday's numbers for the Calgary Barbell 8 week program.

[Olympic Bar + Spring Collars + 6x45 lbs = 315 lbs]
1 Reps - I think I bent forward at the bottom and messed up my form. Intensity felt pretty high and yeah, I wasn't in the mood to push through a high intensity squat with bad form, so I just dumped it after 1 rep.


3 Reps - This was the first high intensity set of Squats I've done in years. I forgot that I needed to push with everything in my body instead of taking it slow and easy. I'm a little shaky figuring out this high intensity squatting.


3 Reps - intense for sure, and I noticed my adductors (around the groin) connecting to my pelvis feel strained. I'll look up what the heck this means.


[Olympic Bar + 6x45 lbs = 315 lbs]
2 Reps - just focusing on form here, trying to aim for a consistent setup as described by Alan Thrall, but I think I need to pull my lats in a bit tighter in order to get my lower back flatter, if that makes sense


[Olympic Bar + 6x45 lbs + 2x25 lbs + 2x5 lbs = 375 lbs]
3 Reps - I had a couple left in the tank but I didn't want to push it. I'll go heavy on Thursday. My second rep the bar was a bit too far in front of me. The third rep felt the best of all because I focused on tightening up my lats. Have to remember to tighten those lats. Lower back should be flatter, but I'll work on it.


I'm leaving my ego at the door and hiring a trainer to correct my form in real time. The dude is a powerlifter and has a 460+ bench at what looks like 190 lbs. Tomorrow he's helping me figure out Bench Press and if that works out I'll keep him on for a session a week to work on form queues.

**EDIT**

I found some old advice for groin/anterior pelvic tightness/pain.

I'd do them both. I had the same issue I wrote about and would warm up with the good girl machine before squatting. then either do it after your leg day or on an entirely different day and focus on going heavier to help strengthen the adductors more.

FYI, when I first tried out the good girl machine, I noticed improvement (but not fully fixed) with even the first use. After 1-2 weeks of me warming up before my leg session and then going heavy after legs and I was doing heavy adductions on a random day, I had zero pain.

Basically I'm going to warm up with light adductor machine and finish up eg days with heavy adductor machine.

[CW47]

Today was decent, still just matching ERMs for these blocks but solid singles.

Really solid reps. Bench especially moved really well.
Not familiar with the ERM acronym. What is that?

[WolfRose7]

Really solid reps. Bench especially moved really well.
Not familiar with the ERM acronym. What is that?

Cheers man, bench is my main drive at the moment.

Estimated 1 rep max

[WolfRose7]

decided to give conventional a shot for a block, first time in... forever really

[Camarija]

decided to give conventional a shot for a block, first time in... forever really

Solid lift! And your form videos are selling me on the SBD lever belt now.

I'm putting in an order for the SBD belt, knee sleeves, elbow sleeves, wrist straps, deadlift socks... and that's it.

I'm starting with Calgary Barbell 8 week on Monday and I was hoping you could give me some pointers.

Are there any reccomended warm up sets progression for the different lifts? I'm asking because I'm curious if the extra sub-maximal volume is expected. I've been using this as a reference so far: http://warmupreps.com

Also, I'm planning on running the program exactly as written, but I'm planning warmup and cool down routines. Some foam rolling, stretching, light hip adductor + abductor machine (~3 sets each) to warm up. Maybe some light one arm face pulls (~3 sets) and light restorative reverse hyperextensions (~3 sets of 15 at 50% 1 rm Squat) for cool down. Would that be interfering with the program or are warm up & cool down routines expected?

Super psyched to get started!

[ECGordyn]

I'm starting with Calgary Barbell 8 week on Monday and I was hoping you could give me some pointers.

Are there any reccomended warm up sets progression for the different lifts? I'm asking because I'm curious if the extra sub-maximal volume is expected. I've been using this as a reference so far: http://warmupreps.com

Also, I'm planning on running the program exactly as written, but I'm planning warmup and cool down routines. Some foam rolling, stretching, light hip adductor + abductor machine (~3 sets each) to warm up. Maybe some light one arm face pulls (~3 sets) and light restorative reverse hyperextensions (~3 sets of 15 at 50% 1 rm Squat) for cool down. Would that be interfering with the program or are warm up & cool down routines expected?

Super psyched to get started!

Light warmups and cool downs wouldn't interfere in any way, although those hyperextensions sound like a lot. For warm ups of your main lifts, it's not advisable to do multiple reps of heavy weight, but you could go as high as 90% of your top weight for the day for 1 rep.

[WolfRose7]

Solid lift! And your form videos are selling me on the SBD lever belt now.

I'm putting in an order for the SBD belt, knee sleeves, elbow sleeves, wrist straps, deadlift socks... and that's it.

I'm starting with Calgary Barbell 8 week on Monday and I was hoping you could give me some pointers.

Are there any reccomended warm up sets progression for the different lifts? I'm asking because I'm curious if the extra sub-maximal volume is expected. I've been using this as a reference so far: http://warmupreps.com

Also, I'm planning on running the program exactly as written, but I'm planning warmup and cool down routines. Some foam rolling, stretching, light hip adductor + abductor machine (~3 sets each) to warm up. Maybe some light one arm face pulls (~3 sets) and light restorative reverse hyperextensions (~3 sets of 15 at 50% 1 rm Squat) for cool down. Would that be interfering with the program or are warm up & cool down routines expected?

Super psyched to get started!

That app looks okay,
I also like the Tate warm up here,
https://www.t-nation.com/training/6-dirty-tricks.

I wouldn't stretch the muscles you are going to work, I mostly just do light band work for shoulder mobility and then jump under the bar.

I don't think what you wrote would interfer though.

[Camarija]

Light warmups and cool downs wouldn't interfere in any way, although those hyperextensions sound like a lot. For warm ups of your main lifts, it's not advisable to do multiple reps of heavy weight, but you could go as high as 90% of your top weight for the day for 1 rep.

Thanks for the feedback! I could dial down the weight for reverse hypers to something like 25-30% of 1 RM Squat. I really like the feeling of decompression at the end of workouts, that's all I'm really looking for here. And I'll keep that 90% of top weight for 1 rep in mind. Thank you!

That app looks okay,
I also like the Tate warm up here,
https://www.t-nation.com/training/6-dirty-tricks.

I wouldn't stretch the muscles you are going to work, I mostly just do light band work for shoulder mobility and then jump under the bar.

I don't think what you wrote would interfer though.

OK cool! The main difference seems to be that the Tate warmup has more reps with little to no weight. I understand the logic behind more reptitions but overall less volume. Makes sense, thanks!

And no to stretching? I remember something about mobility warmups vs static stretching warmups being a topic a while back, but I'll be 'lazy' and skip stretching on your recc really the main stretches I was thinking about could be replaced with cossack squats and hanging from a pullup bar so it works out.

Cheers mate, thank you for the help!

[ECGordyn]

And no to stretching? I remember something about mobility warmups vs static stretching warmups being a topic a while back, but I'll be 'lazy' and skip stretching on your recc really the main stretches I was thinking about could be replaced with cossack squats and hanging from a pullup bar so it works out.

Cheers mate, thank you for the help!

Probably Wolf means no static stretching. Dynamic stretching/mobility warmups are good to do. Air squats, bounce in the hole, lunges, light RDL, band pullaparts, shoulder dislocations, etc. are all good. Static stretching causes tiny muscle damage which can take away some of your top power.

[Pterodactyl314]

[CW47]

Impressive Block Pull

[WolfRose7]

Slingshot bench was a journey today, worked up to a terrible 130 single, awful unrack ruined all positioning.

Took a few doubles with 110, worked out how to self unrack better (usually have a spotter for heavy bench).
Took 120, then retook 130 and hit it @7 lol.
Couldn't resist working up to my first ever 140kg, albeit in a sling with butt up a bit.