Textbook form on squats today, feeling awesome. I'm confident in saying that my squat & bench are pretty solid in terms of technique. Just gotta work on the ol' deadlift now...
If everything goes right, I'll be competing in my first powerlifting meet on the 15th. After that, I think I'd like to try out 5/3/1 with the Boring But Big template. It's slow, but steady gains so it may actually take me longer than expected to reach the 1000# club.
Its shot from behind, otherwise i couldn't get a shot and I wanted proof. Also proof that sports authority bars aren't actually meant for people who lift.
That's quite soon! Do you have a plan for peaking and then taking a light/rest week? You should be maxing out this week, getting up to maybe 5-10# more than you expect to use on your second attempts, and then not doing any lifting after Monday or Tuesday of next week. Do you have attempts in mind now? What has your training been looking like the past few weeks? Have you practiced the commands? Do you have a singlet? Good to see you going for it on a meet!
I had my second PR by misload in six months today. Last week I was on vacation and just did some light squats in the hotel "fitness center", but the week before was squatting 405#x5x5, so I planned 425#x5x5. The rack I normally use was in use for reverse band deadlifts so I used the monolift. I did my first set of 5, it was crazy tough, then on the second set I missed the 5th rep. I did two more sets of 3, I figured that would at least get me to 15 total reps. I was thinking, why were the weights so tough? 20# is a big jump I guess, and 425# was my previous PR for one set of 5, and having a week off to throw off my momentum, and I think I lost 5# over the holidays, so I've accepted it, and then as I come out under the last set of 3, one of the spotters says "What bar are you using? I think that's the 55# special squat bar?" and sure enough, it was 10# heavier than I thought. So set a PR hitting 435# for a set of 5 and some extra reps. Then put on chains and did up to a triple with chain weight of 405# at the bottom and 465# at the top. Didn't have to do anything else but some bullshit light facepulls. Getting up the stairs out of the gym (it's in a basement) was a struggle.
To give you guys an idea of my pace in the gym, I did 7, maybe 8 sets that I'd consider challenging over the course of the workout. I spent about 140 minutes in the gym. If I spent 40 minutes warming up and working up the light weights to the hard stuff, that's 100 minutes to do 8 sets - about a set every 13 minutes. We do it lazy style but it really works. You can move a lot more weight and more weight on the bar means more strong. Bench day is always shorter and this one was maybe a little longer than usual but squat and deadlift days are usually at least two hours. We spend a lot of time talking, it's fun.
Kick ass!! Those are some strong fucking squats. I do the same thing with sprints. High quality, high rest. Lifting i drop the rest back to like 3-4 min per set but for sprints is usually 10+ for anything where I hit max speed
That's quite soon! Do you have a plan for peaking and then taking a light/rest week? You should be maxing out this week, getting up to maybe 5-10# more than you expect to use on your second attempts, and then not doing any lifting after Monday or Tuesday of next week. Do you have attempts in mind now? What has your training been looking like the past few weeks? Have you practiced the commands? Do you have a singlet? Good to see you going for it on a meet!
I was planning on working up to heavy singles near my 1rm's this week, and then going light next week just to keep myself prepared/solid on my form and technique.
My training hasn't been suited perfectly to prepare for the meet, because I've been wanting to actually bulk up and jump up in weight class (I'm pretty light). Mostly, I'm doing this one for the experience, as it'll be my first, and I figure I have plenty of time to take a more professional approach to competitions in the future.
My attempts aren't finalized but here they are:
Squat: #1 285lbs #2 305lbs #3 315lbs
Bench: #1 205lbs #2 215lbs #3 225lbs
Dead: #1 330lbs #2 350lbs #3 370lbs
Nothing impressive, but it's a start.
I do have the proper gear for raw lifting: singlet, belt, and wrist wraps. I don't have knee/elbow sleeves because I feel comfortable without them (so far).
That's quite soon! Do you have a plan for peaking and then taking a light/rest week? You should be maxing out this week, getting up to maybe 5-10# more than you expect to use on your second attempts, and then not doing any lifting after Monday or Tuesday of next week. Do you have attempts in mind now? What has your training been looking like the past few weeks? Have you practiced the commands? Do you have a singlet? Good to see you going for it on a meet!
I was planning on working up to heavy singles near my 1rm's this week, and then going light next week just to keep myself prepared/solid on my form and technique.
My training hasn't been suited perfectly to prepare for the meet, because I've been wanting to actually bulk up and jump up in weight class (I'm pretty light). Mostly, I'm doing this one for the experience, as it'll be my first, and I figure I have plenty of time to take a more professional approach to competitions in the future.
My attempts aren't finalized but here they are:
Squat: #1 285lbs #2 305lbs #3 315lbs
Bench: #1 205lbs #2 215lbs #3 225lbs
Dead: #1 330lbs #2 350lbs #3 370lbs
Nothing impressive, but it's a start.
I do have the proper gear for raw lifting: singlet, belt, and wrist wraps. I don't have knee/elbow sleeves because I feel comfortable without them (so far).
When you do the heavy singles, make sure you have somebody give the commands - rack, pause, down, etc. Nothing more embarrassing than getting red lights for a squat you made because you racked the bar early. 305-315# seems like kind of a small 2nd-3rd jump on the squat - maybe depending on how this week goes, bump the 3rd up. Whatever your max attempt you get in the prep week, should be your second attempt or maybe 5-10# more than your 2nd. Sounds like you have an idea of what you are doing though.
After bench pressing today, my right shoulder is pretty damn sore (no sharp pains, but just a general soreness). I've never really experienced any shoulder pain before due to bench pressing, but I have recently increased my reps from 3x5 to 3x10, so maybe the additional volume is causing it (or a breakdown in form?). Anyone have any suggestions on stretches or technique tips to think about while pressing?
After bench pressing today, my right shoulder is pretty damn sore (no sharp pains, but just a general soreness). I've never really experienced any shoulder pain before due to bench pressing, but I have recently increased my reps from 3x5 to 3x10, so maybe the additional volume is causing it (or a breakdown in form?). Anyone have any suggestions on stretches or technique tips to think about while pressing?
This is kind of duh but it'd be easiest for us to help if you had some video of you benching.
Without that, how do you bench? High arch, elbows tucked, aiming to bring the bar to your sternum? Elbows more flared, bar coming down on your nipples?
And are you doing any shoulder work? Some kind of pressing, face-pulls, prehab/warmup stuff?
When I bench, I focus on bring the bar down on my nipples, should I aim to go lower. And I do shoulder work, but nothing this week so far, but it consists of OHP and front/side lateral raises. Also, not sure I understand what it means to flare your elbows? I wish I could get a video of my bench, but I (1) don't own a camera or recording device and (2) I usually go at 5am and am the only person in the free weight section. But if the pain continues, I will definitely try and get some video.
For those of you folks that do compete there are some new lifter classifications going into effect Jan 1st, 2012 for the 100% Raw powerlifting Federation and the ADAU.
So while squatting last night I was on the 4th rep of my last set when I felt a bit of a pop in my right hamstring and my right leg went all tingly. I finished up the rest of my stuff, but now my lower back hurts like a motherfucker.
The squat was 275 pounds which is the most I've done, and I just took a week off because of Christmas and being on vacation (no access to any gyms). I picked up where I left off so I figured it wouldn't be a problem but I guess I was wrong...
My lower back has always hurt and I've torn this hamstring in the past (huge bloody under the skin mess) and it's really the only place that's ever been painfully sore after lifting. I would guess that my form is off so I'm thinking I'll drop down in weight on squats and deadlifts by quite a bit for a few weeks. Any other recommendations?
When I bench, I focus on bring the bar down on my nipples, should I aim to go lower. And I do shoulder work, but nothing this week so far, but it consists of OHP and front/side lateral raises. Also, not sure I understand what it means to flare your elbows? I wish I could get a video of my bench, but I (1) don't own a camera or recording device and (2) I usually go at 5am and am the only person in the free weight section. But if the pain continues, I will definitely try and get some video.
This guy is flaring his elbows. See how they are far from his torso, with the upper arm nearly parallel to the bar? This is bad:
This guy is tucking his elbows. See how they are close to his torso, with the upper arm more perpendicular to the bar? This is good:
This is a main source of shoulder pain for people. Keep the elbows tucked. They'll naturally flare a little as you get about halfway up, but it's at the bottom, both coming up and going down, that you really want them tucked. The cue to do this is: BEND THE BAR. You want to try to bend the bar into a horseshoe (this is a lot easier to show than explain in text) and thinking this really hard will naturally get your body to do closer to the right thing. Obviously you aren't actually going to bend the bar but you'll be pulling your elbows in which is what you want.
Thanks Big l, I'll try to remain more cognizant of my elbows while benching next time.
I too want to join the 1000# club, but I will be adding my OHP number in there as well - so 405, 315, 235 and 100 for the big 4. Don't think this is possible only after 1 year, but I would be happy with a 250+ squat and 300+ deadlift.
The "bend the bar" cue is one that helped me quite a bit with my bench. I feel it's extra tricky as I'm 6'4" and my arms are loooong and my elbows just want to flare out all the time, but I do what I can do.
I've never had shoulder problems from bench or overhead pressing (though to be fair I'm fairly new to lifting and my numbers aren't high). Ironically, my recent shoulder injury is from doing a French Press (overhead triceps extension). I probably need to get it scanned then rehabbed. It's not causing any major problems for most of my heavy pressing, unless the bar travels behind the neck, but it's definitely taking a while to heal up.
The "bend the bar" cue is one that helped me quite a bit with my bench. I feel it's extra tricky as I'm 6'4" and my arms are loooong and my elbows just want to flare out all the time, but I do what I can do.
I've never had shoulder problems from bench or overhead pressing (though to be fair I'm fairly new to lifting and my numbers aren't high). Ironically, my recent shoulder injury is from doing a French Press (overhead triceps extension). I probably need to get it scanned then rehabbed. It's not causing any major problems for most of my heavy pressing, unless the bar travels behind the neck, but it's definitely taking a while to heal up.
What did you do? A scan is probably a waste of money. A good physical exam should be able to tell if it is a rotator cuff injury (which is most likely), a scan won't help any with that, and rehab is pretty simple.
Yeah it might be unnecessary. I'm not sure how much it would cost, but I'm not in the US, so it won't be $10,000 (hurr durr).
My right shoulder uh... slipped for lack of better words during the concentric part of the press. I think it happened because my right elbow flared out too much and I lost stability in the shoulder, and it kinda just crunched and felt like it kinda moved out of place momentarily. Maybe a slight subluxation?
After bench pressing today, my right shoulder is pretty damn sore (no sharp pains, but just a general soreness). I've never really experienced any shoulder pain before due to bench pressing, but I have recently increased my reps from 3x5 to 3x10, so maybe the additional volume is causing it (or a breakdown in form?). Anyone have any suggestions on stretches or technique tips to think about while pressing?
How's your posture? If your posture sucks, the muscles in your back are too loose compared to the chest being too tight and this can cause all sorts of shoulder issues. I'd look at your posture, lay off the bench a bit and do more back work and see what that does for ya.
"I will f**kin' beat you into the ground in front of your whole life that I don't get to have." -Nick Diaz
So I've started lifting weights, nothing major but enough for me at the moment. What can I do to help recover afterwards? I did back and legs the other day and my triceps were killing me and eh the backs of my legs are still kinda sore.
I also like to have an ice bath after anything that I think will leave me really sore the next day like playing soccer, contrast showers are also good.
It happens, the first few times you workout it sucks big time the next few days. Take some ibuprofen and get back to the gym, consistent lifting is the only real way to make it go away.
Posts
my bench has gone backwards
eff
Gonna have all the DOMS and love every second of it.
15th of what month?
Its shot from behind, otherwise i couldn't get a shot and I wanted proof. Also proof that sports authority bars aren't actually meant for people who lift.
8x 30m block starts
4x med ball throw + 30m accel contrast)
3x8 skips for distance
3x5 hurdle hops for distance (10 feet between the last two)
8x2 snatch from blocks workin gup to 185
4x4 RDL working up to 385
3x4 bench @ 205
2x8 single leg hip thrust @ 90
That's quite soon! Do you have a plan for peaking and then taking a light/rest week? You should be maxing out this week, getting up to maybe 5-10# more than you expect to use on your second attempts, and then not doing any lifting after Monday or Tuesday of next week. Do you have attempts in mind now? What has your training been looking like the past few weeks? Have you practiced the commands? Do you have a singlet? Good to see you going for it on a meet!
I had my second PR by misload in six months today. Last week I was on vacation and just did some light squats in the hotel "fitness center", but the week before was squatting 405#x5x5, so I planned 425#x5x5. The rack I normally use was in use for reverse band deadlifts so I used the monolift. I did my first set of 5, it was crazy tough, then on the second set I missed the 5th rep. I did two more sets of 3, I figured that would at least get me to 15 total reps. I was thinking, why were the weights so tough? 20# is a big jump I guess, and 425# was my previous PR for one set of 5, and having a week off to throw off my momentum, and I think I lost 5# over the holidays, so I've accepted it, and then as I come out under the last set of 3, one of the spotters says "What bar are you using? I think that's the 55# special squat bar?" and sure enough, it was 10# heavier than I thought. So set a PR hitting 435# for a set of 5 and some extra reps. Then put on chains and did up to a triple with chain weight of 405# at the bottom and 465# at the top. Didn't have to do anything else but some bullshit light facepulls. Getting up the stairs out of the gym (it's in a basement) was a struggle.
To give you guys an idea of my pace in the gym, I did 7, maybe 8 sets that I'd consider challenging over the course of the workout. I spent about 140 minutes in the gym. If I spent 40 minutes warming up and working up the light weights to the hard stuff, that's 100 minutes to do 8 sets - about a set every 13 minutes. We do it lazy style but it really works. You can move a lot more weight and more weight on the bar means more strong. Bench day is always shorter and this one was maybe a little longer than usual but squat and deadlift days are usually at least two hours. We spend a lot of time talking, it's fun.
I dislocated my shoulder again this weekend, skiing, so I guess I won't be getting back into serious lifting this month.
I was planning on working up to heavy singles near my 1rm's this week, and then going light next week just to keep myself prepared/solid on my form and technique.
My training hasn't been suited perfectly to prepare for the meet, because I've been wanting to actually bulk up and jump up in weight class (I'm pretty light). Mostly, I'm doing this one for the experience, as it'll be my first, and I figure I have plenty of time to take a more professional approach to competitions in the future.
My attempts aren't finalized but here they are:
Squat: #1 285lbs #2 305lbs #3 315lbs
Bench: #1 205lbs #2 215lbs #3 225lbs
Dead: #1 330lbs #2 350lbs #3 370lbs
Nothing impressive, but it's a start.
I do have the proper gear for raw lifting: singlet, belt, and wrist wraps. I don't have knee/elbow sleeves because I feel comfortable without them (so far).
When you do the heavy singles, make sure you have somebody give the commands - rack, pause, down, etc. Nothing more embarrassing than getting red lights for a squat you made because you racked the bar early. 305-315# seems like kind of a small 2nd-3rd jump on the squat - maybe depending on how this week goes, bump the 3rd up. Whatever your max attempt you get in the prep week, should be your second attempt or maybe 5-10# more than your 2nd. Sounds like you have an idea of what you are doing though.
This is kind of duh but it'd be easiest for us to help if you had some video of you benching.
Without that, how do you bench? High arch, elbows tucked, aiming to bring the bar to your sternum? Elbows more flared, bar coming down on your nipples?
And are you doing any shoulder work? Some kind of pressing, face-pulls, prehab/warmup stuff?
i should record it
and deadlifting is the most simple which is why i at least am making some progress with it
The squat was 275 pounds which is the most I've done, and I just took a week off because of Christmas and being on vacation (no access to any gyms). I picked up where I left off so I figured it wouldn't be a problem but I guess I was wrong...
My lower back has always hurt and I've torn this hamstring in the past (huge bloody under the skin mess) and it's really the only place that's ever been painfully sore after lifting. I would guess that my form is off so I'm thinking I'll drop down in weight on squats and deadlifts by quite a bit for a few weeks. Any other recommendations?
This guy is flaring his elbows. See how they are far from his torso, with the upper arm nearly parallel to the bar? This is bad:
This guy is tucking his elbows. See how they are close to his torso, with the upper arm more perpendicular to the bar? This is good:
This is a main source of shoulder pain for people. Keep the elbows tucked. They'll naturally flare a little as you get about halfway up, but it's at the bottom, both coming up and going down, that you really want them tucked. The cue to do this is: BEND THE BAR. You want to try to bend the bar into a horseshoe (this is a lot easier to show than explain in text) and thinking this really hard will naturally get your body to do closer to the right thing. Obviously you aren't actually going to bend the bar but you'll be pulling your elbows in which is what you want.
Another angle. Bad:
Good:
I too want to join the 1000# club, but I will be adding my OHP number in there as well - so 405, 315, 235 and 100 for the big 4. Don't think this is possible only after 1 year, but I would be happy with a 250+ squat and 300+ deadlift.
I've never had shoulder problems from bench or overhead pressing (though to be fair I'm fairly new to lifting and my numbers aren't high). Ironically, my recent shoulder injury is from doing a French Press (overhead triceps extension). I probably need to get it scanned then rehabbed. It's not causing any major problems for most of my heavy pressing, unless the bar travels behind the neck, but it's definitely taking a while to heal up.
What did you do? A scan is probably a waste of money. A good physical exam should be able to tell if it is a rotator cuff injury (which is most likely), a scan won't help any with that, and rehab is pretty simple.
My right shoulder uh... slipped for lack of better words during the concentric part of the press. I think it happened because my right elbow flared out too much and I lost stability in the shoulder, and it kinda just crunched and felt like it kinda moved out of place momentarily. Maybe a slight subluxation?
where the hell are theyyyy
FML.
How's your posture? If your posture sucks, the muscles in your back are too loose compared to the chest being too tight and this can cause all sorts of shoulder issues. I'd look at your posture, lay off the bench a bit and do more back work and see what that does for ya.
I love south american ground karate
I want this kind of back
Hoping to get this shit to 305 in the next 3 weeks
Going to test my military press max tomorrow for 5/3/1. According to a 1RM calculator it should be 146lbs. Let's see if we can make it 150lbs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8caF1Keg2XU
I also like to have an ice bath after anything that I think will leave me really sore the next day like playing soccer, contrast showers are also good.
I took two days off and I'll be going for the next 5 and so on. Should I do it differently?