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  1. #121
    Hammy Hammy Hobbes thehobbes's Avatar
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    That makes sense on the inclines. My shoulders hate those too, feelsweirdman.jpg so I've pretty much given up on bb inclines.

    Originally Posted by itsagoodday
    The fed I compete in (RPS) uses specialty bars that are designed for each lift. The squat bar is Iron Wolfe which is heavy, thick, and really stiff so the guys with big squats don't kill themselves with the bar moving around, and has sharp knurling that is designed to not slide so it will literally rip the skin off your back. It's also extra long so you can throw a gazillion plates on it and still have space for spotters to grab the bar. I think it's 65 lbs and about 35mm. That thing freaked me out initially, but I've come to appreciate it.

    The bench bar is the one that throws me every single freakin' time. It's also Iron Wolfe, again heavy, thick and stiff for the big benchers so it doesn't bend and whip around on them. I think it's 50 lbs and around 30mm. I just can't get comfortable with that thing.

    The deadlift bar is an Okie. Love love love. It's narrow, easy to hold, flexible, and has a ton of whip, I get about +20 lbs off the ground with an Okie than what I get with a regular bar, because it's so much easier to start a deadlift when the bar bends off the ground that much.
    Ahh I see, certainly makes everything safer and better suited for something where max weight and insanely heavy weight is used. That would be tough on people with smaller hands. I wanna try an Okie sometime, I see Maxima talk about those a lot.
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  2. #122
    Assuming I woke up itsagoodday's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by thehobbes View Post
    That makes sense on the inclines. My shoulders hate those too, feelsweirdman.jpg so I've pretty much given up on bb inclines.
    Yeah, I'm way more comfortable on DB inclines and can definitely go deeper with them. But then I'm limited by how much weight I can actually get into position on my own. I can't win

    Originally Posted by thehobbes View Post
    Ahh I see, certainly makes everything safer and better suited for something where max weight and insanely heavy weight is used. That would be tough on people with smaller hands. I wanna try an Okie sometime, I see Maxima talk about those a lot.
    A lot of stuff at meets is geared towards the safety of the biggest lifters. Which is great, but it's kind of overkill for someone like me. Like I don't really need three spotters for bench, or even squats for that matter lol.

    The Okie is a delight I really want to try a Texas Deadlift Bar sometime, but I don't know anyone who has one around here. My understanding is that they're quite comparable, but I hear that the TDB does not do the whip backwards thing once you're off the floor as much as the Okie does. Which would be nice, because it tries to pull you back towards the ground when that happens.
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  3. #123
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    Weird comment from guy... smacks a little of "girls shouldn't lift heavy" lol his insecurity is not your issue!

    Nice lifting!!!

    This may sound a little dumb... I don't know what wrist wraps are for or why'd you use them. Are they a fabric like my hand wraps for boxing, or like a neoprine sleeve or something else? How do you know what kind of bar it is? At my gym, I have no idea what they have. I know there's one I'm not fond of because the knurling is deep and grabby, kinda wants to bite into your hand.
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  4. #124
    Team Ogre penny0527's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by itsagoodday View Post
    Good call! I do need to do that in the next squat session or two, for one thing to make sure my depth is where I think it is. I sometimes record myself when I'm squatting in the basement because it's quieter and easy to set up down there. If I'm upstairs, I'm not sure where I'd even put the stupid phone where people wouldn't step on it lol. It's chaotic and everything is jammed really close together. Getting my knees wrapped in the middle of that three ring circus was fun enough
    Now that I have switched to morning lifting it is much easier to get video. The afternoons are super busy with people everywhere and it can be inconvenient....but still doable. I use a Gorillapod tripod for my phone. It hangs on pretty much anything.
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  5. #125
    RE1GN in Blood VO2Maxima's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    This may sound a little dumb... I don't know what wrist wraps are for or why'd you use them. Are they a fabric like my hand wraps for boxing, or like a neoprine sleeve or something else? How do you know what kind of bar it is? At my gym, I have no idea what they have. I know there's one I'm not fond of because the knurling is deep and grabby, kinda wants to bite into your hand.
    Wrist support, prevents your wrist from extending too much and takes strain off your wrist for pressing motions (and for low-bar squat). The really stiff ones pretty much turn into a cast on your wrist.
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  6. #126
    Registered User Todayisforme's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by VO2Maxima View Post
    Wrist support, prevents your wrist from extending too much and takes strain off your wrist for pressing motions (and for low-bar squat). The really stiff ones pretty much turn into a cast on your wrist.
    Thanks How do you know when/if you need to get them? lol OMG I feel like an idiot asking that. I presume if you get pain you probably should have already had them no?
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  7. #127
    RE1GN in Blood VO2Maxima's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    Thanks How do you know when/if you need to get them? lol OMG I feel like an idiot asking that. I presume if you get pain you probably should have already had them no?
    Lol nah, not an idiot at all. Wrist pain, trouble keeping wrists straight, wrists being the limiting factor in how much you can bench/military press/whatever = all good reasons to pick them up.
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  8. #128
    humble beginnings geek23ka's Avatar
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    when is your next meet? *excited*
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  9. #129
    Assuming I woke up itsagoodday's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    Weird comment from guy... smacks a little of "girls shouldn't lift heavy" lol his insecurity is not your issue!
    LOL! If he doesn't want to see girls lifting heavy, he needs to look in another direction. Except he might see another girl lifting heavy in that direction too, sucks to be him

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    This may sound a little dumb... I don't know what wrist wraps are for or why'd you use them. Are they a fabric like my hand wraps for boxing, or like a neoprine sleeve or something else?
    VO2 answered that really well. I think I picked up wrist wraps when I switched from high bar squatting to low bar. And my wrists freaked out immediately lol.

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    How do you know what kind of bar it is? At my gym, I have no idea what they have. I know there's one I'm not fond of because the knurling is deep and grabby, kinda wants to bite into your hand.
    If you're really lucky, the bar will be marked with a brand or logo on the end cap. Most basic gym bars aren't though. My gym has such a crazy selection, I'm trying to learn to recognize certain ones by sight just by color of bar, width of ring markings, whether or not it has center knurling, etc. It's a hobby lol. When I bench, I seem to be really sensitive to bar thickness, so I now know which ones are thinner vs thicker just from benching them. The one I had the other day was great, it was very similar in thickness to the bar I'll bench with in competitions, I need to find that again. It was quite a nice power bar before it got bent. But then all the bars at my gym are bent, so I can't really rule them out for that

    Originally Posted by penny0527 View Post
    Now that I have switched to morning lifting it is much easier to get video. The afternoons are super busy with people everywhere and it can be inconvenient....but still doable. I use a Gorillapod tripod for my phone. It hangs on pretty much anything.
    I'm going to need to look up that tripod, thanks! Usually I just try to find a quiet spot to lean my phone against a wall or piece of equipment, but yeah with heavy traffic that's more of a problem. Definitely need to video one of my next squat days just to make sure everything looks like what I think it does lol.

    Originally Posted by geek23ka View Post
    when is your next meet? *excited*
    Soon aaauuugghhh!!! April 23rd, so just over 3 weeks. I'm starting to mull over my openers, should probably just do a separate post on that, now that I think of it
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  10. #130
    Assuming I woke up itsagoodday's Avatar
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    Meet musings (skip reading this if you are easily bored)

    Geek reminded me that I should probably start finalizing some plans about my meet, since it's just over three weeks away

    Weight class - 165, 181, whatever. It will be one of those. Wasn't going to break any amazing records or anything, so I'll just come in with whatever I've got and have some fun.

    Old meet PRs - last meet was in August, and I squatted 230 (without wraps), benched 140 and deadlifted 335. Although one never knows how things will feel on meet day, my squat and deadlift are both up from where they were then. Bench, not so much, lol.

    Squat - biggest thing freaking me out right now is squat. I'll be competing with wraps for the first time, and that is adding a new level of difficulty to everything. I am planning on wrapping myself, just because I don't ever train with anyone else who could wrap for me, and I worry that if someone else were to wrap me a lot tighter than what I'm used to, it would throw me off. I need to figure out my timing as to when I'll wrap. If you wrap too soon, they hurt like hell and your legs go numb. If you wrap too late, you risk timing out and losing your chance to lift, as you have only 60 seconds to start your lift after they call your name. My plan right now is to purposely wrap what will hopefully be a little too early (but not super tight) on my first attempt, just to get one on the board. RPS does tend to do the bomb-out rule, which means if you don't successfully complete ANY squats (or ANY bench later on), you're done and out of the competition. No deadlifting. That is my worst case scenario, since deadlift is my thing. So I can't bomb out on squats or bench. I would need therapy if that happened

    Opener for squat - oh geez. That's another issue. You always want your very first lift of the day, which is the first squat, to be easy enough that you can get it NO MATTER WHAT and be a confidence builder. *If* I were going in without wraps, I would open with 215, period, end of story. With wraps... that's too low and it would give me a huge jump to make for my second attempt. And I don't like huge jumps between attempts. So technically I need to add 15-20 to everything to account for what I get out of the wraps, even the opener. But the thought of opening with something like 235 is NOT a confidence building number, believe me. Now I *can* squat that number without wraps, and I can at least triple it with wraps, but I'm just having a hard time with the numbers. If I can wrap my head around it, I think realistically I need to open at 230-235, with maybe a second attempt at 250 just so I can crack that number. Third attempt, eh, I'll see what happens with one and two.

    Bench - I think the best I can hope for right now is to match my 140 from my last meet. Not too much thinking going on here and no strategy required, I may just try to go 130/135/140 and get it over with. Bench has not been going well for me this winter lol.

    Deads - if I made it this far, I survived squats and bench! So happy Plan right now is to open with 320. Last meet I opened with 315, which freaked me out ahead of time but wound up launching off the ground like an opener should. So I'll start just a little up from there with the 320, but take a bigger jump for a second attempt than I did last time. Kind of thinking 340 for a second, if 320 feels right. Would really love to crack 350 for a third. But I'll figure it out as I go. If the deadlift bar and I are getting along well, I actually should be somewhere in that ballpark. My stiff bar max (which is all that I ever train with) is around 325-330 right now, and I get about 20 extra pounds out of a deadlift bar so... yeah... should be in the ballpark.

    Tapering up to my meet - actually have never gotten too involved with this previously. My trainer friend used to do all my programming, and for the first few meets he had me maxing out right up until the day before. Really not recommended in powerlifting, although at the time my lifts were low enough it probably didn't matter much. For the last meet, I took the week before the meet to myself and just did light stuff to keep things moving. This time I'm going to try more of a legit taper. So I get that the first thing to remove is volume, then accessories, then intensity. Deads are going to respond to this the best (and need it the most), then squats, and I really don't think bench is going to matter too much what I do with it lol.

    Easiest way for me to kill volume is to drop back-off sets. Already done that on deads, will do that with squats probably next week. I'll start trimming down on accessories for both, just do anything that I feel like I need to do and then walk away. The last sessions will involve working up to fast openers and paying attention to commands, even if I have to just say them in my head. I won't deadlift at all for 7-10 days before the meet, I've only been doing them once a week anyway and it's going to want that time off. I can't stop squatting completely because my mobility goes to crap if I don't squat, but that last week will just be light and fast stuff maybe every 3 days to keep me moving. Bench... eh. Not going to go nuts, and I'll give it a rest right before the meet and treat it more like squats with light / fast stuff. I think I need to keep plugging away at it until then though.

    So that's my rambling. And it's all subject to change
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    RE1GN in Blood VO2Maxima's Avatar
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    IMO with a planned second squat attempt at 250, if you wanted to have a conservative opener, 225 is still only a 10% jump to second attempt. 230-235 sounds like it would be fine, but yeah, no one wants to bomb out and if you miss your first attempt, even though you have two more shots at it, yeah, nerve-wracking. And doesn't every federation do the bomb-out rule? I know USPA does it, for example. See how it feels during the peak and go from there (I'm assuming you're starting peaking now?)

    You get 20lbs from a deadlift bar??? Wtf I get like 5, *maybe* 10 (at least judging from 1RM calculations based on AMRAPs, since I rarely test maxes), no idea what my problem is. What I do get a massive deadlift boost from though is the taper. Going from deadlifting every day to 5 days off prior to the meet makes a huge difference for me.
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    humble beginnings geek23ka's Avatar
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    my coach would have me back off for an entire week. no more than 50% and only practicing singles setting up the way i would for a meet. i needed that sort of thing because i was terrible at waiting for commands.

    (i've never been good at following orders. heh.)

    whatever you do, i think resting up for a week but still getting to the gym to do light work is a great idea.

    the two weeks prior to dead week (he called it dead week because we didn't do any real work. not volume or heavy). it was all about doubles and singles. warm up with just enough reps to get warm and then doubles and singles from there on out. all about setting up and racking like you would in the meet.

    just some thoughts.
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  13. #133
    Assuming I woke up itsagoodday's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by VO2Maxima View Post
    IMO with a planned second squat attempt at 250, if you wanted to have a conservative opener, 225 is still only a 10% jump to second attempt. 230-235 sounds like it would be fine, but yeah, no one wants to bomb out and if you miss your first attempt, even though you have two more shots at it, yeah, nerve-wracking. And doesn't every federation do the bomb-out rule? I know USPA does it, for example. See how it feels during the peak and go from there (I'm assuming you're starting peaking now?)
    Yeah, I think that magic opener number is going to be somewhere 225-235. I need to actually try it and video it, I also want something I can bury the depth on more with my first attempt and still stand up fast with. Which should be anything in that range, really. 225 sounds easier for opener purposes, but I know I'd feel more confident going into 250 as a second attempt with a smaller jump than that, usually I'm not comfortable over 15-20 lb jumps at those weights. It's a trade-off which is totally nitpicking but I will probably agonize over it for a while lol. Do I want to be more confident going into my first attempt, or my second? I think if I could smoke 235 on an opener, I'd be super confident after that. And I can't actually imagine myself failing it three times in a row especially with the wraps, but who knows. Oh great, I think I'm trying to talk myself into 235

    Peaking, ah yes there's something else I haven't gotten much mileage with before. Can you tell that my method of doing meets before was basically "I think I'll just show up." I'm trying to get more technical about it now. Right now my biggest thing is trying to guarantee that I can get into the gym enough days over the next few weeks to be useful. And I'll taper off so at least I'll come in rested, basically if I can figure out some peaking stuff in there too, awesome

    Originally Posted by VO2Maxima View Post
    You get 20lbs from a deadlift bar??? Wtf I get like 5, *maybe* 10 (at least judging from 1RM calculations based on AMRAPs, since I rarely test maxes), no idea what my problem is. What I do get a massive deadlift boost from though is the taper. Going from deadlifting every day to 5 days off prior to the meet makes a huge difference for me.
    It's about +20, yup. I get a lot of help off the ground from it with my deadlifting style, I think. Isn't it funny how I'm fine adding +20 for the deadlift bar, but I'm freaking out about adding +15-20 for wrapped squats? LOL.

    Originally Posted by geek23ka View Post
    my coach would have me back off for an entire week. no more than 50% and only practicing singles setting up the way i would for a meet. i needed that sort of thing because i was terrible at waiting for commands.

    (i've never been good at following orders. heh.)
    I definitely need to practice the commands that last week. Kinda skipped over it before my last meet and then almost blew right through one on bench, which I'd never done before. Your last week was similar to what I did with the last meet, just taking stuff light and I'd try to do lighter singles as fast as possible. I'm pretty slow by nature, I should probably do speed work more often than the week before a meet

    Originally Posted by geek23ka View Post
    whatever you do, i think resting up for a week but still getting to the gym to do light work is a great idea.

    the two weeks prior to dead week (he called it dead week because we didn't do any real work. not volume or heavy). it was all about doubles and singles. warm up with just enough reps to get warm and then doubles and singles from there on out. all about setting up and racking like you would in the meet.

    just some thoughts.
    Thoughts always appreciated, thanks! You got me excited when I saw "dead week" because I was hoping it was a week of nothing but deadlifts, lol. Yeah, that wouldn't work. But I'd enjoy it! I love it when I get down to the lowest rep ranges leading into a meet, that's where all the fun is anyway
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    Got my two heavy days in yesterday and today, so I'm happy. Likely tomorrow is a day off, taking my mom in for a medical appointment again.

    Tuesday 3/29 - Gym

    Legs Day

    SQUATS
    3x145
    3x175
    3x205
    1x225

    Add wraps
    2x235
    1x245
    0x255 - argh
    1x255

    Realized belatedly that I really don't need to do any singles without wraps, it's more important to get the mileage with wraps at this point. Had two guys come over to side spot me on the 255 attempts, which was nice of them. And I immediately realized that two people were standing there waiting for me, so I rushed my set up, didn't take enough time to get my upper body tight, and basically got crushed by the weight from the top down, that was the end of that. Sigh. If I'm going to make stupid mistakes though, I'm glad I'm doing them now and not three weeks from now. Took more time setting up for the next attempt at 255, and had no problems with it.

    That was an important lesson for me. It doesn't matter if I'm strong enough for a weight, if I don't give proper time and respect for setting up my tightness and bracing, I'm pretty much wasting my time. So I'm glad that happened, hopefully it will hammer that lesson home in my brain. I know I want to rush my set up at meets, and I just need to slow the heck down and make sure I'm doing everything that needs to be done.

    Also, one guy was a retired powerlifter and gave me a tip on wrapping that was helpful. I was holding the wrap with the roll on the outside, and I kept dropping it. He had me change it so the roll was facing in toward my leg, and it was easier to keep control of that way. Although I still dropped it hehehe

    LEG EXTENSION
    8x45's
    6x50's
    4x55's

    1 LEG LYING HAMSTRING CURL
    8x22.5's
    6x25's
    4x27.5's

    FRONT SQUATS
    6x95
    5x105
    4x115

    Realizing my mistake with that first 255 attempt, one thing I wasn't happy about is that as I lost control and my weight pitched forwards over my quads, they just gave up on me immediately. That's something they were doing a few months ago, and I thought I'd fixed it. Basically when I was asking them to work harder, instead of fighting they just turned the power off. My quads are wimps. I got them firing better before with front squats and one-legged leg extensions, thought it might not be a bad idea to throw some front squats on at the end of my workout today when my quads were the most tired. Up yours, quads.

    ---------------------------------

    Wednesday 3/30 - Gym

    Back Day

    DEADLIFTS
    8x135
    5x185
    3x235
    3x265
    1x295
    1x305
    1x315

    Wasn't really feeling like a great deadlift day. I think the squat fail yesterday sapped a lot of strength out of me. I'm actually trying to NOT fail in training, but it's inevitable sometimes if you're pushing hard (or if you make mistakes, which I do.) I find that failing a lift takes much more out of me than succeeding on one, even if it's an epic grinder.

    Something was also tight in my right leg today, and I couldn't for the life of me get it worked out through stretching or foam rolling. It made getting the bar against my legs pretty much impossible, which was weird. My bar path felt quite lovely in terms of being vertical off the ground, but it was nowhere near my legs lol. So a bit of an extra back workout there, I guess. I was going to stop at 305 but thought eh, I only have so many heavy days left before I have to back off, let's see if I can get 315 when I don't feel up to it. It wasn't a problem, my back didn't even care that the stupid bar was hovering in midair the entire time.

    Also was deadlifting in a cloud of WD-40 because they were trying to fix the cable machine right in front of the platform. Ack. At one point they over-sprayed it onto the platform, covering all the plates and part of the bar on one side, but luckily it stopped short of the grip area. I don't think any amount of chalk would have been able to fix WD-40 on the bar

    WIDE GRIP LAT PULLDOWNS
    8x90
    6x100
    4x110

    1 ARM DUMBBELL ROWS
    8x80's
    6x85's
    4x90's

    DB HAMMER CURLS
    6x30's
    5x35's

    Pretty much just did those to warm up for chin ups. I didn't want to through 170-odd pounds of Kelly at my biceps suddenly and be like WORK!!!!

    WIDE GRIP PULL UPS
    0

    LOL. That was silly, but I was in the mood to try. I figured I wasn't there yet though, so not really a surprise.

    CHIN UPS
    x2
    x3
    x3
    x1.5

    Alrighty then. Will just keep working with these then.

    Day off tomorrow, bench or squats Friday just haven't decided yet. Or could do both. Hmmmm.
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    Wide grip pull ups are hard on their own. After deads.....yikes
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    Originally Posted by itsagoodday View Post
    LOL! If he doesn't want to see girls lifting heavy, he needs to look in another direction. Except he might see another girl lifting heavy in that direction too, sucks to be him
    I was thinking he could go shuffle over to the cardio machines, they face away from the weights a lot of the time

    VO2 answered that really well. I think I picked up wrist wraps when I switched from high bar squatting to low bar. And my wrists freaked out immediately lol.
    My wrists never liked squatting with a bar on my back, I always thought it was because of my shoulder mobility.. maybe a combo of both.


    Please excuse me about to ask LOTS of questions, I know nothing about meets and would like to understand what your talking about.


    Old meet PRs - last meet was in August, and I squatted 230 (without wraps), benched 140 and deadlifted 335. Although one never knows how things will feel on meet day, my squat and deadlift are both up from where they were then. Bench, not so much, lol.
    Knee wraps, wrist wraps or both?

    Squat - biggest thing freaking me out right now is squat. I'll be competing with wraps for the first time, and that is adding a new level of difficulty to everything. I am planning on wrapping myself, just because I don't ever train with anyone else who could wrap for me, and I worry that if someone else were to wrap me a lot tighter than what I'm used to, it would throw me off. I need to figure out my timing as to when I'll wrap. If you wrap too soon, they hurt like hell and your legs go numb. If you wrap too late, you risk timing out and losing your chance to lift, as you have only 60 seconds to start your lift after they call your name. My plan right now is to purposely wrap what will hopefully be a little too early (but not super tight) on my first attempt, just to get one on the board. RPS does tend to do the bomb-out rule, which means if you don't successfully complete ANY squats (or ANY bench later on), you're done and out of the competition. No deadlifting. That is my worst case scenario, since deadlift is my thing. So I can't bomb out on squats or bench. I would need therapy if that happened
    Your knee wraps are like a tensor bandage? I've only ever seen one that looks kinda like a stretchy sleeve, people just pull them up and down their leg.

    3 attempts for each lift. Squats first, then bench, then deads? If you don't make one of the three do you get to try again? Like if you get the first two but not the third do they let you try for the third again, or is it a flat 3 tries? How much time is between each attempt?

    Why do wraps make it so you can lift more, just extra support on the joint?

    Deads - if I made it this far, I survived squats and bench! So happy Plan right now is to open with 320. Last meet I opened with 315, which freaked me out ahead of time but wound up launching off the ground like an opener should. So I'll start just a little up from there with the 320, but take a bigger jump for a second attempt than I did last time. Kind of thinking 340 for a second, if 320 feels right. Would really love to crack 350 for a third. But I'll figure it out as I go. If the deadlift bar and I are getting along well, I actually should be somewhere in that ballpark. My stiff bar max (which is all that I ever train with) is around 325-330 right now, and I get about 20 extra pounds out of a deadlift bar so... yeah... should be in the ballpark.
    You're gonna kicka$$ so you're gonna make it this far

    I so need to learn about bars :/ The stiff bar is the one you don't like? Why does the deadlift bar let you lift more weight then the stiff bar? Is it like springy or something? I really wish I had different bars to go poke about with so I could understand better.

    You use knee wraps still for deads or no? Wrist wraps?

    Tapering up to my meet - actually have never gotten too involved with this previously. My trainer friend used to do all my programming, and for the first few meets he had me maxing out right up until the day before. Really not recommended in powerlifting, although at the time my lifts were low enough it probably didn't matter much. For the last meet, I took the week before the meet to myself and just did light stuff to keep things moving. This time I'm going to try more of a legit taper. So I get that the first thing to remove is volume, then accessories, then intensity. Deads are going to respond to this the best (and need it the most), then squats, and I really don't think bench is going to matter too much what I do with it lol.
    Tapering is like a deload? Right before the meet will you have rest day(s) or still do something light?

    The last sessions will involve working up to fast openers and paying attention to commands, even if I have to just say them in my head.
    Fast opener? Commands like when the judge says what he says, I don't know what it is sorry... have only seen it on video and could never understand what was being said.

    Originally Posted by VO2Maxima View Post
    See how it feels during the peak and go from there (I'm assuming you're starting peaking now?)
    What's peaking?

    Originally Posted by itsagoodday View Post
    I find that failing a lift takes much more out of me than succeeding on one, even if it's an epic grinder.
    Me too... spend what seems like ages agonizing over what I did wrong, BUT if I ever sort it out it always teaches me a really good lesson.

    Also was deadlifting in a cloud of WD-40 because they were trying to fix the cable machine right in front of the platform. Ack. At one point they over-sprayed it onto the platform, covering all the plates and part of the bar on one side, but luckily it stopped short of the grip area. I don't think any amount of chalk would have been able to fix WD-40 on the bar
    Nice... I thought breathing with the perfume bombs was bad, nothing like a chemical cloud to make things more interesting!
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  17. #137
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    Originally Posted by VO2Maxima View Post
    And doesn't every federation do the bomb-out rule? I know USPA does it, for example.
    I think I forgot to answer this earlier lol. It seems to be pretty standard. My understanding with RPS is that it depends on the size of the meet (and probably also meet director). If they've got the time, they may not do bomb-outs, and they may also let people take 4th attempts if they're close to breaking a record. That having been said, every meet I've done with them has been crowded enough that they've enforced bomb-outs and disallowed 4th attempts.

    Originally Posted by penny0527 View Post
    Wide grip pull ups are hard on their own. After deads.....yikes
    Pull ups are a goober I keep crossing a line with my bodyweight where I can't do them anymore, and then it's a matter of waiting for the right correlation of bodyweight / strength / stars in alignment to get them back again. Not there yet.

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    I was thinking he could go shuffle over to the cardio machines, they face away from the weights a lot of the time
    Ours face towards the gym floor, that wouldn't work lol.

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    Knee wraps, wrist wraps or both?
    With raw squatting at meets, you'll either see raw with nothing on your knees, raw with sleeves, or raw with wraps. It depends on the fed and the division as to what they allow. I've always been raw with nothing up until this meet, so it's the knee wraps I haven't competed in before (or trained in very much either, lol). If anyone is discussing squatting with or without wraps, it's always knee wraps they're referring to.

    Knee sleeves are those things that are one-piece, something like neoprene, and you just slide them on and off your leg. They'll keep your knee joints warm, which is a good thing, and some people feel more secure in them. They don't technically add anything to your squat, but some people will order them like two sizes too small and get a small amount of rebound out of them. I've never gotten into sleeves. These are sleeves:

    http://www.andersonpowerlifting.com/category-s/1823.htm

    Knee wraps are a separate creature. They're like a long stretchy bandage, you wrap them super tight and it hurts like heck. I have them on for like 2 seconds and want to get them off. If you ever see anyone walking around in knee wraps for any length of time without showing signs of agony, they're doing it wrong They do offer some stability to the knee itself, but they also give you some pop / rebound out of the hole which makes it possible to put up a little more weight. 10% more is pretty standard, which seems to be about the case for me as well. These are wraps:

    http://www.andersonpowerlifting.com/...son-s/1830.htm

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    3 attempts for each lift. Squats first, then bench, then deads? If you don't make one of the three do you get to try again? Like if you get the first two but not the third do they let you try for the third again, or is it a flat 3 tries? How much time is between each attempt?
    Yup. Three attempts for squat, three for bench, three for deads, in that order. They break people into flights, could be something like 15 people per flight. Everyone in that flight takes a turn to do their squat attempt #1, then everyone does attempt #2, etc. So the length of time in between your own attempts depends on how many people are in the flight, and how long they take. Deads usually run fastest, squats and bench take longer because people take longer to set up for those lifts. I think for me it’s usually been something like 10-15 minutes between attempts, it varies though.

    If you miss a lift for any reason, you can try the same weight again on your next attempt, or you can go up in weight. You can never, ever go down in weight. Every meet there are a couple of people who set their weight for attempt #1 too high, then can't get it over three tries, so they're out.

    On rare occasions and in some feds, they may allow a fourth attempt if you’re really, really close to breaking a record (like a few pounds away). That’s pretty rare to see though, and even if it's something that fed recognizes, if the meet is crowded they probably won't allow them anyway.

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    I so need to learn about bars :/ The stiff bar is the one you don't like? Why does the deadlift bar let you lift more weight then the stiff bar? Is it like springy or something? I really wish I had different bars to go poke about with so I could understand better.
    Stiffer bars are great for squat and bench, you really don’t want the bar to bend a lot or bounce around over you as the weight gets heavier. When you start thinking of big guys with like a 400lb bench or 800 lb squat or whatever, extra movement is dangerous. Deadlift is the opposite, really. A deadlift bar is thinner and bends very easily. When you start to pull, the bar bends immediately and lets you get some momentum going before the plates come all the way off the ground. It does make it easier, and most people will be able to pull at least a little more with a deadlift bar.

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    You use knee wraps still for deads or no? Wrist wraps?
    What you can wear for each lift is determined by the different feds. Using a belt is fine in every lift. Using wrist wraps is fine for squat and bench, I think also deadlift although I don’t quite recall. Whether you can use knee sleeves or knee wraps depends on the fed and the division, and would only be allowable for squats.

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    Tapering is like a deload? Right before the meet will you have rest day(s) or still do something light?
    Along those lines, yes. I’m still trying to learn how to do these things myself, so these parts of meet prep are newer to me. It means that in the weeks leading into your meet, you want to start removing things that are fatiguing, so by the time the meet rolls around, you’re well rested and in great shape, maybe even heal up some aches and pains along the way. You want to remove volume initially, so maybe just do fewer sets. Then you want to start removing accessories, so that at the end you may only be training just the squat, bench and deadlift. And then closest to the meet, you want to pull back on intensity, the weight you’re using, and just plain go lighter. That last week, some people literally take the whole week off from the gym and do nothing. That’s not a good choice for me, for one thing my mobility gets terrible with time off, so it’s not something I’m going to do. Generally the strongest people who lift the most weight need to have the longest tapering period, because the weights they are lifting normally are the most fatiguing (think of someone squatting 200 lbs vs 600 lbs). I never bothered with it previously other than just doing a generic going-lighter-the-week-of-the-meet type of thing, so this is my first experiment with even trying more of a legit taper.

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    Fast opener? Commands like when the judge says what he says, I don't know what it is sorry... have only seen it on video and could never understand what was being said.
    You generally want your first attempt to be something that moves well and you’re not going to have any problems with. Fast is good. When things get more difficult, they’re going to slow down. You don’t want to purposely pick something really hard that's going to be a grinder on your first attempt. Recommendations that I’ve heard for attempt selection…

    1st attempt – pick something that you can at least triple in training, and that you can put up as a single on your worst day.
    2nd attempt – this could be an attempt at matching a training PR
    3rd attempt – you could use this to try for a new PR

    For me, first attempts are about getting yourself on the board, get some confidence, but also keep in mind what the jump for my second attempt will be like from there. Third attempts I may have a goal in mind, but I’ll ultimately select that number when I see how attempts one and two go.

    Commands, yeah. There are three judges, the head judge in front, and two side judges. Each essentially gives you a pass / fail grade (white lights or red lights). If you get 3 out of 3 whites, the lift is good. 3 out of 3 reds, the lift is bad. Majority rules otherwise, so 2 out of 3 is still good, 1 out of 3 isn't. They're judging whether you did the lift by the rules (squatting to the appropriate depth, for example), and also whether you followed the commands.

    The head judge will give you commands for each lift. Again it varies by feds. What I'm used to is that you set up for your squat, then wait for the head judge to say SQUAT. Then you actually squat, stand back up (hopefully) and have to stay there frozen until he says RACK IT. If you squat before he tells you to or try to rack it before he tells you to, it's no good.

    Bench you have to unrack the bar, hold it motionless and wait for the judge to say BENCH. You bring the bar down to your chest and pause it on your chest. He'll wait for the bar to stop moving completely, then tell you PRESS. You press the bar up, and again hold it there until he says RACK IT. If you're lucky, he'll call the press command quickly. If you're unlucky or you're not good at keeping the bar still against your chest, you could have a nice long several second pause, which is a great power killer.

    Deadlift is the simplest. As soon as the bar is loaded and the judge indicates he's ready, essentially you're good to go, walk out, set up and lift it. Then you have to hold it at the top, fully locked out, until the judge tells you to put it down, which may just be him lowering his arm.

    Following the commands makes life more interesting. It sucks to lose a lift due to failing a command, especially when you would have had a good lift otherwise. It's recommended to practice lifting with commands in the week or two before the meet, just so you get used to waiting for them.

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    What's peaking?
    I’m still reading up on this lol. It’s a way of building up to, hopefully, a new PR. It’s can be like a pyramid where you may start with more reps, lighter weight, then the reps decrease as the weight increases closing in on the meet, until on the day of the meet you’re lifting a single rep at the heaviest weight possible. I’m definitely not going to be a model of peaking skills on this meet, I’m still trying to figure out how to taper well lol. Here’s a good article on preparing for a meet:
    http://www.jtsstrength.com/articles/...-powerlifting/

    Hope that helps Meets are a lot of fun, you've just got to follow all the rules
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    That was awesome!!! Thank you for the links to, everything is much clearer now! If it would let me rep you again I would!

    This is going to sound really dumb... I've been trying to sort out since I started lifting again IF I should get a belt and if I do when I should use a belt. Never used one, never touched one. Obviously being paralyzed once upon a time, I have a pre-existing back issue. I've read a myriad of articles about belts, there is a ridiculous number of studies out there researching people who aren't actually using them to lift, and then claiming they aren't beneficial. Articles talking about how bad they are blah blah... people who've never lifted a single dumbbell giving advice on whether to use them or not! There's also lots of pro belt arguments. I think to sort out if something will benefit you, it makes more sense to find out the reasons behind why other people use something, rather then relying on a blog article which may or may not be written by someone who actually has a clue. I see people with them all the time, sometimes they are tight and sometimes they are really loose and I wonder why they even have it on. Despite being rather abrasive I'm too shy to walk up and ask them when their working out why they wear one. Why do you wear one? What dictates when you decide it's time to put the belt on?
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    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    That was awesome!!! Thank you for the links to, everything is much clearer now! If it would let me rep you again I would!

    This is going to sound really dumb... I've been trying to sort out since I started lifting again IF I should get a belt and if I do when I should use a belt. Never used one, never touched one. Obviously being paralyzed once upon a time, I have a pre-existing back issue. I've read a myriad of articles about belts, there is a ridiculous number of studies out there researching people who aren't actually using them to lift, and then claiming they aren't beneficial. Articles talking about how bad they are blah blah... people who've never lifted a single dumbbell giving advice on whether to use them or not! There's also lots of pro belt arguments. I think to sort out if something will benefit you, it makes more sense to find out the reasons behind why other people use something, rather then relying on a blog article which may or may not be written by someone who actually has a clue. I see people with them all the time, sometimes they are tight and sometimes they are really loose and I wonder why they even have it on. Despite being rather abrasive I'm too shy to walk up and ask them when their working out why they wear one. Why do you wear one? What dictates when you decide it's time to put the belt on?
    I think most people can benefit from a belt. There are some things like squat shoes, knee wraps, Slingshots that people get overeager and buy and they don't need them and/or they can actually be detrimental for development depending on where that person is in their lifting career/that person's anatomy/etc. But I don't think belts fall into that category, personally. As long as you already know how to abdominal brace, it's worth considering...it'll allow you to build up more intra-abdominal pressure and brace harder than you would without. For me, personally, I do about half my squat sessions with a belt, and the other half without, using the half without as kind of lower body recovery days but still allowing myself to get in the motion and get bloodflow to the area. I have one conventional deadlift day beltless, and then belt up for all other deadlift variations (heavy sumo, deficit, SLDL). Some people warm-up without a belt, but if I'm doing working sets with a belt, I prefer to warm-up with so I don't get to a later heavy set and my body is like "oh wtf I have to remember how to brace against the belt NOW?" Well, sometimes I'm lazy and do bar sets/135 sets without, but above that no.
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    ^^ Agreed

    A belt is a tool. Some people just throw them on, wear them around the gym for every single exercise that they do, and think it protects their back somehow just by the mere fact that they're wearing it. That's really not the case. Once people learn how to brace their core properly, it's something to brace against and can help overall core stability. For people who just throw one on and that's it, a belt is only going to serve decorative purposes.

    It also won't protect from back injuries even when it is used properly, I can say this from personal experience lol. I injured my back on several occasions while wearing my belt, because I had some huge form issues at the time that needed to be resolved. When I fixed my form, I stopped injuring myself, and the belt had nothing to do with it one way or another.

    I purchased my belt originally when I decided to do my first powerlifting meet. At the time my thinking was probably along the lines of "when in Rome...", since most people at meets do use them. Two and a half years later, I'm still figuring out how to use it more effectively, and it probably didn't do me too much good early on.

    I'd say if you're good at bracing your core without a belt and you have your eye on lifting progressively heavier weights, a belt isn't a bad idea and it certainly won't hurt you. Similar to VO2, I don't use it for every set, every day, and sometimes I'll even set it aside for a whole training cycle. But usually for squats I'll throw it on sometime around 135+, and for deads at 225+. Which are totally arbitrary numbers, now that I think of it.
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    Originally Posted by itsagoodday View Post
    Some people just throw them on, wear them around the gym for every single exercise that they do, and think it protects their back somehow just by the mere fact that they're wearing it.
    Lol if people can do that comfortably, they're likely not wearing it right anyway. It's not like belts are fun things to have on.
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    Awesome work with that workout including a 3 plate DL and 90lb rows.

    Belts of peace. When I wear mine I feel like I may crap my shorts and or puke, and I get big red marks that last the rest of the day. Belts are awesome.
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    Originally Posted by VO2Maxima View Post
    I think most people can benefit from a belt. There are some things like squat shoes, knee wraps, Slingshots that people get overeager and buy and they don't need them and/or they can actually be detrimental for development depending on where that person is in their lifting career/that person's anatomy/etc.
    Admittedly there's at least one toy itsagoodday has worked out with (slingshot) that I'd like to play with, but I'm a more worried about getting entangled or hurting myself so it can wait! I haven't seen squat shoes, there's a guy at my gym who takes his shoes off when he squats. I'm guessing it's because it helps him balance and brace his feet better? Someone suggested I get a sleeve for my knee (laterally dislocated years ago) when I squat because I have a wobble from time to time. I was thinking it would be better to focus on form and let the muscles get stronger around the knee instead of trying to hold in place with a brace/sleeve.

    But I don't think belts fall into that category, personally. As long as you already know how to abdominal brace, it's worth considering...it'll allow you to build up more intra-abdominal pressure and brace harder than you would without. For me, personally, I do about half my squat sessions with a belt, and the other half without, using the half without as kind of lower body recovery days but still allowing myself to get in the motion and get bloodflow to the area. I have one conventional deadlift day beltless, and then belt up for all other deadlift variations (heavy sumo, deficit, SLDL). Some people warm-up without a belt, but if I'm doing working sets with a belt, I prefer to warm-up with so I don't get to a later heavy set and my body is like "oh wtf I have to remember how to brace against the belt NOW?" Well, sometimes I'm lazy and do bar sets/135 sets without, but above that no.
    I think I know how to brace. I pretty much try to engage my core with anything I pick up and sort of breathe into my belly so everything is really tight. Sometimes when I'm benching, I breathe/brace wrong as soon as I go to move the weight I KNOW it's wrong. Does that sound right?

    Originally Posted by itsagoodday View Post
    A belt is a tool. Some people just throw them on, wear them around the gym for every single exercise that they do, and think it protects their back somehow just by the mere fact that they're wearing it. That's really not the case. Once people learn how to brace their core properly, it's something to brace against and can help overall core stability. For people who just throw one on and that's it, a belt is only going to serve decorative purposes.
    I've seen people wearing them quite loose, so they are flopping around and it didn't make sense to me. When I activate my core it expands for sure, but not enough to take up several inches in space.

    I'd say if you're good at bracing your core without a belt and you have your eye on lifting progressively heavier weights, a belt isn't a bad idea and it certainly won't hurt you. Similar to VO2, I don't use it for every set, every day, and sometimes I'll even set it aside for a whole training cycle. But usually for squats I'll throw it on sometime around 135+, and for deads at 225+. Which are totally arbitrary numbers, now that I think of it.
    Building a badass body one rep at a time! (seriously want to get a shirt that says that) I definitely want to move up in weight, just as long as I can hold form.

    Originally Posted by VO2Maxima View Post
    Lol if people can do that comfortably, they're likely not wearing it right anyway. It's not like belts are fun things to have on.
    lol so glad it isn't just me that thought it was wrong!

    I've seen people sometimes using them for BOR. Do you ever use them for rows? I love rows... granted I haven't gone heavy with them only 85lbs, with squats and dl I can understand how it would be helpful to have something to brace against, it doesn't really make sense to me with BOR
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    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    Admittedly there's at least one toy itsagoodday has worked out with (slingshot) that I'd like to play with, but I'm a more worried about getting entangled or hurting myself so it can wait! I haven't seen squat shoes, there's a guy at my gym who takes his shoes off when he squats. I'm guessing it's because it helps him balance and brace his feet better? Someone suggested I get a sleeve for my knee (laterally dislocated years ago) when I squat because I have a wobble from time to time. I was thinking it would be better to focus on form and let the muscles get stronger around the knee instead of trying to hold in place with a brace/sleeve.
    Squat shoes can be useful if there's some combination of one or more factors: long femurs, trying to make their squat more quad dominant rather than hip dominant (keeps your more upright), squat high-bar, squat with a narrow stance. But just because you have one or more of those variables doesn't mean you would benefit from them...kind of depends on how dominant that variable is and whether it outweighs the other ones, etc.
    Don't rely on a sleeve to stabilize your knee...strengthen your quads/adductors/glutes. Sleeves are nice to keep your knees warm, but it's minimal stabilization and relying on them for that is a good way to get injured.
    Slingshot is good for overloading bench, or good for people who bench geared and are programming something between raw and a shirt. I don't use one, personally, don't see a need at this point in my training...my bench hasn't hit a point where I feel I'll benefit from it yet. Plus for people too early on, adding all kinds of toys that aren't programmed intelligently into their plan and/or they don't need since they really just need to focus on getting stronger with the lift itself will just slow development. Just my $0.02.

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    I've seen people sometimes using them for BOR. Do you ever use them for rows? I love rows... granted I haven't gone heavy with them only 85lbs, with squats and dl I can understand how it would be helpful to have something to brace against, it doesn't really make sense to me with BOR
    Yeah I've used it for heavy BOR.
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    Originally Posted by VO2Maxima View Post
    Don't rely on a sleeve to stabilize your knee...strengthen your quads/adductors/glutes. Sleeves are nice to keep your knees warm, but it's minimal stabilization and relying on them for that is a good way to get injured.
    That's exactly why I don't use one. I think it's too easy to have something that snugs up give you a false sense of confidence. I didn't even like wearing a brace right after the injury.
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    Originally Posted by VO2Maxima View Post
    Lol if people can do that comfortably, they're likely not wearing it right anyway. It's not like belts are fun things to have on.
    Yeah, that's what I figure lol. My gym has a lot of guys who do everything in their belt. We also have a number of people who spend their entire workout in knee wraps. Not sleeves, wraps. Done so loosely that they just walk around in them for an hour or until they start falling off their legs and need to be rewrapped. And I never see those same people squat, oddly enough. My gym is filled with weird, mystical people who do strange and unusual things (ok, technically every gym has those same people or their cousins)

    I could never walk around with my belt on for everything, it would kill me lol. Also at my current weight it gives me terrible muffin top rolls, I'm not displaying those for an hour straight. Even I have my limits.

    Originally Posted by thehobbes View Post
    Belts of peace. When I wear mine I feel like I may crap my shorts and or puke, and I get big red marks that last the rest of the day. Belts are awesome.
    Hahaha, the things we do for fun, right?! We're all just gluttons for punishment

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    I haven't seen squat shoes, there's a guy at my gym who takes his shoes off when he squats. I'm guessing it's because it helps him balance and brace his feet better?
    I actually did spend most of the last few years squatting without shoes, even though I had my Oly shoes at the time, I just felt more secure with my feet on the ground. And now the Oly shoes feel more comfortable, so go figure. But I have also made changes to my squat like bringing my stance in closer, and the shoes do tend to go well with a narrower stance.

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    I think I know how to brace. I pretty much try to engage my core with anything I pick up and sort of breathe into my belly so everything is really tight. Sometimes when I'm benching, I breathe/brace wrong as soon as I go to move the weight I KNOW it's wrong. Does that sound right?
    Sounds right to me, I think probably the key component of bracing properly is breathing into your belly / diaphragm. People who hold their breath up in their rib cage just won't get the same effect.

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    Building a badass body one rep at a time! (seriously want to get a shirt that says that) I definitely want to move up in weight, just as long as I can hold form.
    Atta girl! And I want one of those shirts, too

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    I've seen people sometimes using them for BOR. Do you ever use them for rows? I love rows... granted I haven't gone heavy with them only 85lbs, with squats and dl I can understand how it would be helpful to have something to brace against, it doesn't really make sense to me with BOR
    Trying to remember, but I don't think I've ever used a belt on rows. I really only use it for squats and deads. I've tried it on bench, and just didn't "get it" at the time. I keep thinking I should absolutely use it on things like standing OHP and push press, but then I never remember to lol.
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    Friday 4/1 - Studio

    Chest Day

    Took advantage of most excellent spotter by training chest at my friend's studio again. Keeping my narrower grip where it felt the most comfortable and effective, and worked up to a lovely paused 135x2 and a fairly smooth paused single at 140 (failed 145, but hey I had to try). Busted out my measuring tape to see where my grip actually was that felt so good, and it was 79cm.

    So for those of you keeping track, my grip was previously 80cm wide, which for powerlifting is fairly narrow. So I spent time trying to develop a wider competition grip. And now I'm performing best with a 79cm grip. So I trained wider, and got narrower. I seriously can't do anything right sometimes.

    Also did some close grip bench, incline and flat flyes, push ups, plate-loaded incline chest press. Was probably the happiest with the two solid reps at 135, it's been a long time since I've been able to rep that weight given the decline of my bench performance this past winter. Aiming for squats day over the weekend!
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    Good to hear you got a successful bench day with going back to your reg grip. I'm guessing you have great tricep strength but not as much shoulder strength. What do your OHP numbers look like?
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    Originally Posted by itsagoodday View Post
    Yeah, that's what I figure lol. My gym has a lot of guys who do everything in their belt. We also have a number of people who spend their entire workout in knee wraps. Not sleeves, wraps. Done so loosely that they just walk around in them for an hour or until they start falling off their legs and need to be rewrapped. And I never see those same people squat, oddly enough. My gym is filled with weird, mystical people who do strange and unusual things (ok, technically every gym has those same people or their cousins)
    So glad it isn't just my gym...

    I actually did spend most of the last few years squatting without shoes, even though I had my Oly shoes at the time, I just felt more secure with my feet on the ground. And now the Oly shoes feel more comfortable, so go figure. But I have also made changes to my squat like bringing my stance in closer, and the shoes do tend to go well with a narrower stance.
    Interesting... I know if my feet feel wrong, sock gets bunched up or something my squat also isn't as smooth as it should be. I'll keep in mind taking my shoes off when I decide it's time to go with the bar on my back. Really the more stable I feel I think the more confident I'll be about having it on my back.

    Sounds right to me, I think probably the key component of bracing properly is breathing into your belly / diaphragm. People who hold their breath up in their rib cage just won't get the same effect.
    I used to sing years ago, and found out one day I'd spent my whole life breathing wrong lol ever since I've breathed into my belly instead of my chest.

    Trying to remember, but I don't think I've ever used a belt on rows. I really only use it for squats and deads. I've tried it on bench, and just didn't "get it" at the time. I keep thinking I should absolutely use it on things like standing OHP and push press, but then I never remember to lol.
    Ohhhh... overhead press! Mine sucks such complete a$$ hasn't been progressing like I'd like it to. I wonder if I'm not bracing/breathing right. I usually brace do a few reps (4 or 5 maybe) and then breathe/brace again. Is there a better way?

    Originally Posted by itsagoodday View Post
    Took advantage of most excellent spotter by training chest at my friend's studio again. Keeping my narrower grip where it felt the most comfortable and effective, and worked up to a lovely paused 135x2 and a fairly smooth paused single at 140 (failed 145, but hey I had to try). Busted out my measuring tape to see where my grip actually was that felt so good, and it was 79cm.

    So for those of you keeping track, my grip was previously 80cm wide, which for powerlifting is fairly narrow. So I spent time trying to develop a wider competition grip. And now I'm performing best with a 79cm grip. So I trained wider, and got narrower. I seriously can't do anything right sometimes.
    Wider means less distance to travel yes? I only tried wider one time, and it felt really weird on my shoulder.
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    Originally Posted by thehobbes View Post
    Good to hear you got a successful bench day with going back to your reg grip. I'm guessing you have great tricep strength but not as much shoulder strength. What do your OHP numbers look like?
    Yeah, it's got to either be a strength discrepancy issue or a technique issue. Or I'm weird. That's always a possibility. I think my upper body parts are fairly proportionate to each other in strength. Last time I was doing seated military press regularly, I got up to 100x1, and I can shoulder press the 45 dumbbells for multiple reps (with help getting them into position initially lol).

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    Ohhhh... overhead press! Mine sucks such complete a$$ hasn't been progressing like I'd like it to. I wonder if I'm not bracing/breathing right. I usually brace do a few reps (4 or 5 maybe) and then breathe/brace again. Is there a better way?
    I'm not very good at standing OHP, but then I rarely ever work on it lol. I think it's whatever works for you as far as how long you can brace on one breath, no rules that I'm aware of.

    Originally Posted by Todayisforme View Post
    Wider means less distance to travel yes? I only tried wider one time, and it felt really weird on my shoulder.
    Yes, it would decrease the distance. I've been having issues with wider bugging my shoulders as well, although I think I may have resolved that by using the "pull the bar apart" cue, which seems to take a lot of pressure off my shoulders.
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