OG, I am not frustrated by it. I am just a little disappointed, because it was so close and I hit the wall so quickly. It’ll fall soon enough.
DBasler, yessir! I utilize the “suicide grip”. In fact, I use it for military press as well. Wrapping my thumb around the bar just feels so unnatural, when pressing.
Great pressing strength…have you every done a PL meet, I know the Squat and Pulling are out, but you would wreck it at a meet, gotta make those big bench numbers official!
[quote]LittleStrick wrote:
OG, I am not frustrated by it. I am just a little disappointed, because it was so close and I hit the wall so quickly. It’ll fall soon enough.
DBasler, yessir! I utilize the “suicide grip”. In fact, I use it for military press as well. Wrapping my thumb around the bar just feels so unnatural, when pressing.[/quote]
I’m with you Strick I use it for military presses as well albeit with a hundred pounds less than you, definitely feels more natural to me and helps keep me in a better pressing position.
I finally logged in from home and got to watch your videos. With the weight you pushing I feel sorry for your rack… 
Great job!
Mr. Strick,
You are ridiculously strong, especially with the OHP, 315 is a ton to put overhead congrats.
Matty – I have never competed. I had hoped to, at one point, then the spondy won out. I could go bench only. But I won’t do that unless I know I can put up over 400#. (Yes, that is a vanity thing. As big as I am, there is no excuse for not being able to do that.) I can touch and go that, but not pause it.
I am considering doing a meet next year…considering. I think it would be good for my youngest to see me go through that. And it would be nice to compete at something again. Of course, that means that I would have to get serious about my bench, which is easier since I finally hit my MP goal. So…we’ll see.
DBasler – I completely agree. Wrapping my thumb, on presses, actually makes my wrists and elbows hurt. Not to mention, it alters where the bar sits in relation to my forearm.
Corrmhona – lol It has been a good rack. Best $400 I ever spent. It has saved my rear many times. And it does get abused.
BH - Thank you. If I can just get my bench to match my MP, proportionally, I’d be all set. I see you benching your share as well.
Big work, wow, LS, a 315 Press is huge. I think you and your family would have fun at a meet, you should really give it some serious thought.
They fucking outlawed false grip in my Fed, it blows, it is so natural to me going false grip, on every pressing movement even incline. Its funny but whenever I get a wild hair up my ass and do Klokov Presses its hard for me not to go false grip on those and you really shouldnt.
I say the pause on the 4 wheels is something you have already and should do a meet withing the next 4 months!
Thanks Jack! I will check into it.
Matty, I had to youtube Klokov Presses. Okay, those would be a bear to flase grip. That said, now that I think about it, that might be part of my behind the neck issue. I use a wrap around grip. It hurts in the same spot that feels uncomfortable when I bench or MP with wrap around. Definitely an iffy proposition, though.
I will check into the meet situation. I have to make sure I would even qualify. If I do, there are still few meets in OK. At least few that I can find info on, on the web.
Football update…
Game last night… Joshua did not start the game. In fact, I told him to be prepared not to set foot on the field. He hurt his arm, in practice. Then he got rocked pretty hard, because he decided to stand straight up and jog, and the other kid was low and going full tilt. When Joshua’s head hit the ground, it rattled him pretty good. So, he had a 7 year olds’ cry-fest. He was hurting, but was mainly scared. He didn’t finish practice so…no practice, no play.
I told the other coach that it was up to him whether or not Joshua got to play, as I, obviously, couldn’t be impartial.
So…he didn’t start, or play, on offense. He didn’t start on defense either, but went in after the 1st series and played the rest of the game. In fact, it was his best defensive game of the year. They moved him to DT and he spent most of the night in the other teams backfield. He was the only lineman to get consistent penetration. He had a couple of solo tackles and a few assists. Not bad for a kid who can barely find the ball.
In the end, we won 18 - 14. We are now 6 - 2, which is kind of miraculous, given how practices have been run and some of the things that have been done , as far as schemes. Hopefully he/they continue to grow. That, after all, is the most important thing.
As for Joshua, he just suffers from a lack of confidence. He doubts himself. He also lets pain translate into fear, as opposed to getting pissed and trying to return the favor. That, of course, is not necessarily a bad thing, especially at 7 years old.
Still, though…just once…I’d like to see him get run over, pop right back up, look the kid in the eye and mutter, “That’s it, bitch. I’m gonna knock your fucking head off.” Whether or not he gets in trouble will depend on whether or not he actually decapitates someone. You just can’t go throwing those words around if you aren’t gonna back them up…
Well, the 5th day of being sick, and a couple of restless nights, and it finally caught me. I can’t say it was a bad workout. It just wasn’t up to par. In any case, it is done.
Alternated Sets
Military Press
barx20
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x5
255x5
285x2x2
225x5 - 2 second pause on bottom for each rep
Lat Pulls
105x15x3
175x15x3
200x12x2
I’m going to bed…
[quote]LittleStrick wrote:
he spent most of the night in the other teams backfield.
[/quote]
This is one of my favorite places in the whole world. I’d vacation there if I could. Your boy sounds like he’s doing great!
Jack, he’s getting better. He is still hesitant at times (doubts himself) and has a hard time finding the ball, but he gets good push/penetration and is starting to move towards the ball…once he finds it
Coach- I love the Joshua stories!! little kids are best! Confidence will come …they all get there at their own pace…
[quote]OldGoat wrote:
Coach- I love the Joshua stories!! little kids are best! Confidence will come …they all get there at their own pace…[/quote]
Yes he will, OG. I am just going to have to learn a little patience.
Mucking with my bench day…
Okay, I took a few approaches to this based on what I got from DBasler. The first attempt was simply not to tuck my elbows as much and touch my chest a little higher up. In order to achieve this, though, I had to alter my setup/base. When I normally setup, I pinch/pull my shoulder blades together, hard. I also pull them down. So, tight and down. In this position, it didn’t seem really possible to not hit my chest as low. So, I pinched, but lessened the "down"ward pull of the shoulder blades. I was able to get 365, with a pause. (See video #1) I felt incredibly unstable with this setup, though. Instead of being locked back and down, my shoulder blades we just locked back. When I pushed into my arch, without having pulled my blades down, I never seemed to lock into position. I could feel myself struggling with, not only being stationary on the bench, but keeping my forearms properly aligned on descent.
When I went to 385 with this setup, I had to revert to the same bar path as before in order to get the weight up. It wasn’t stable enough and that translated into a weak/sloppy lift.
After the less than pleasing results, I embraced the idea that I need to have my shoulders both pinched AND pulldown hard. So, as a next approach, I altered my grip, hoping that it would change the angles. Normally I cover the ring with my index finger…as wide as I can legally go. I first tried a rep having narrowed my grip to where my middle finger was covering the ring. This still didn’t feel quite right. So, I narrowed it a tad further, to where the ring was resting between my middle and ring fingers.
This did seem to have the effect of shallowing my bar path a bit. It is still definitely a touch lower and arc back to over the shoulders path. Not that it is necessarily a bad thing. This video is of my 4th rep at 365#, with the ring between my middle and ring fingers.
I could, in theory, narrow my grip even more. Eventually, though, I will start getting into CGB territory and start missing my stronger benching muscles. I will say that this rep, and the one after it, both with the same grip, felt the strongest and most controlled. After the 5th rep at 365#, though, I was getting tired and form was starting to be affected.
Anyway, DBasler (or anyone else), any observations or suggestions??
Oh…
Alternated sets again
Bench
barx20
95x10
135x10
185x5
225x5
275x3
315x3
345x2
365x1 - paused
385x1 - touch and go
365x1x4 - several paused
Face Pulls
80x15x3
105x15x3
130x15x3
155x12
155x10
130x10, 90x8, 55x12 - drop set
Much better Strick, nice work! The only reason the second video looks a bit unsteady was it looks like when you were taking it down you decided at the last second it needed to touch lower and moved it down quickly, that is easily fixed by just bringing the bar out of the rack further. As far as actually pressing it up, look how much more efficient this week as compared to last week.
You got 365 paused today and could have gotten at least 385, your previous best touch n go is 405 but I don’t think pressing the way you were before you would have been good for anymore than 385 paused. A little practice and experimenting with hand placement and were you touch and press from and you are on your way to 450 paused.
Sorry, I should have told you about narrowing your grip, definitely a must in order to press like this, my little finger is on the ring but with your shoulder width it makes sense you might be a little wider.
[quote]DBasler wrote:
Much better Strick, nice work! The only reason the second video looks a bit unsteady was it looks like when you were taking it down you decided at the last second it needed to touch lower and moved it down quickly, that is easily fixed by just bringing the bar out of the rack further. As far as actually pressing it up, look how much more efficient this week as compared to last week.
You got 365 paused today and could have gotten at least 385, your previous best touch n go is 405 but I don’t think pressing the way you were before you would have been good for anymore than 385 paused. A little practice and experimenting with hand placement and were you touch and press from and you are on your way to 450 paused.
Sorry, I should have told you about narrowing your grip, definitely a must in order to press like this, my little finger is on the ring but with your shoulder width it makes sense you might be a little wider. [/quote]
Thank you for the assessment. I definitely felt stronger on those reps. It is just going to take a little time to retrain myself to let the bar come down a little shallower.
Hopefully the physical shock of lifting with slightly different form/hand placement will also spur on a jump in strength. That is just a hope, but you never know.
Now I am frustrated that I don’t bench again until next Saturday…lol.
I have been contemplating throwing in a little speed work on MP days. Just a thought right now, though.
Thanks again!
Hello? Anybody home? Can Little Strick come out and play, Mrs Strickland? We promise he’ll be back in time for dinner!
Yep…I am home. Well, technically, I am at work. You know what I mean, though.
Sorry for falling behind. Lots of football…games and practices. Workouts have stopped for the moment. My right shoulder is giving me so many problems, I decided to take a week off and to come back slowly, for a week or so.
I think I finally figured out the cause of my initial bicep tendon pain…tightness. Yes, I feel like a dumbass. I realized it when I tried to throw a football. My shoulder had gotten really tight. So, I have started doing some works with my broomstick…dislocates, windmills and such. It is helping.
To make it worse, though, playing with new bench form has actually caused it pain. Pain that hurts when I lay down at night. (I sleep with my bottom arm up, pillow between it and my head.) The reason, to me, is obvious. My shoulders are not as tight (form, not physically). I seem to be in an in between bar path, where I am not pulled down as tight as I need to be, because I am trying to hit my chest higher. That is creating a lot of instability. My shoulder is paying for it.
So, it seems that I need to hit my chest lower. Or, I need to narrow my grip even further and hope that makes the higher touch point a tighter position. Or, hell, maybe I need to touch lower AND narrow my grip. In any case, it is going to take some more time and trial. I have got to get the shoulder restored first, though. Then I am just going to have to keep trying. At least I am learning some things that I do not want to do.
As for the fun stuff. The playoffs start this Saturday. They have a good shot at winning their first game. The second game will be tougher. Should they previal, however, they will be guaranteed, at ;east, 2nd place. Fingers crossed and players yelled at…er…encouraged.
They are all pretty much burned out, though. The season started 8/1 and they are still going. Thirteen games played and a lot of practices. They’ll be glad when the season is over. I will be glad. I just want them to finish well.
Then starts Joshua’s off-season training! Poor kid…