I see your squat struggles. Interesting that a wider stance would have made such a difference, but I’m weaker wider too.
Lexen deads look painful, but I’m like you. If I can break it, I can lock it out.
word! those lexen dls are sinister looking…man… that’s the WORST part of dl’s…and you held it well!
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
I see your squat struggles. Interesting that a wider stance would have made such a difference, but I’m weaker wider too.
Lexen deads look painful, but I’m like you. If I can break it, I can lock it out.[/quote]
Yea it isn’t so much the width of the stance as how far back they’re looking for me to sit. They want my knee directly over my ankle looking at it from the side and that’s a difficult thing for me to balance at the moment. I keep tipping backwards. Once I sit on the box coming back up is a breeze we’re just working on the balance of sitting waaaaay back.
For lexen notes see reply to brute.
[quote]brute_fury wrote:
word! those lexen dls are sinister looking…man… that’s the WORST part of dl’s…and you held it well![/quote]
If you consider that the worst part of the DL then it’s probably a good exercise for you. My sticking point is breaking it. Like kimba, once I can break it, it will continue accelerating up. As a rule, that’s a sign of newb-ness and there’s a lot more power once it’s a couple inches below the knee so we’ll be doing a lot of band work getting that pop off the ground. Hopefully that should lead to some big jumps in the deadlift in the coming months.
I’m also learning sumo. I wanted to give it an honest shot considering how many top powerlifters pull that way so even though I’m stronger and more fluid conventional we’re giving sumo some time to develop.
Those lexen Dls do look killer! Impressive.
I got nothing for ya on the bench, its my nemesis. I even scowl at it when i walk by…and I never scowl.
SUMO FTW!! Just sayin’
Oooo. I’d love to hear about the band work. I SO need pop off the ground!
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
Oooo. I’d love to hear about the band work. I SO need pop off the ground![/quote]
I’ll get some video next time for you.
I don’t arch because it feels and I never know if I’m doing it right. or if there is a need since I’m not benching with pl’ing in mind.
whatever ‘arch,’ I have comes from the chest popping a tad when the shoulders come together.
Speed bench. First time using chains, still, pretty happy getting 115 up for a bunch of trips, even with the wobbly-ness. http://bobbiskai.blogspot.com/2010/11/powerlifting-westside-de-bench-week-2.html
Question…or several…since everybody is discussing the arch. What are the advantages/disadvantages to having a high or low arch? Who should be doing which? Is one or the other less likely to lead to injury? Seems like this is the place to find out!
nice presses and pullups 
Plucky: I have a strong back and the arch helps me recruit more back muscles to push the bar up. I’ve been using it for a year and no hurting so far. Although arches vary widely from lifter to lifter.
[quote]MissPlucky wrote:
Question…or several…since everybody is discussing the arch. What are the advantages/disadvantages to having a high or low arch? Who should be doing which? Is one or the other less likely to lead to injury? Seems like this is the place to find out! [/quote]
MsPlucky, powerlifting will try to arch big to reduce the range of motion to touch the bar to the chest, less ROM, more weight to weight press. My arch is good, but I am short waisted and don’t have much to arch, but again, my arms are short so I have a natural short ROM. Also the other tricks to benching big, pulling your upper back/lats together in hard and that’s where your upper back support comes into play. If you can get your upper back arch high it’s probably better than a large lower back arch.
Bobbi, this log is getting really interesting, I’m glad you found these group and it sure sounds like you’re enjoying it. I’ve been doing this for over 4 years and you’re showing me some new things to ponder…Keep it up girl!!!
Plucky: I think Vikki answered pretty well. A high arch shortens the ROM which is a plus for powerlifters. I bench pretty flat and find that it’s more important to be tight and stable than how high your arch is, however, I’m sure I would lift more if I had a higher arch because of the aforementioned shortened ROM.
Vikki: Thanks for the support. I think I could really come to enjoy this sport. With these guys I feel like I’m getting stronger via osmosis. haha
Todays lift was ME Squat. The squats were LOW weight while I work out the technique. The guys were laughing about how when I revert to my quad dominant style the weight shoots up. I always tell my clients do what you suck at, so I’m trying to walk the talk with this hamstring dominant style.
You know those betting charts women have for when they’ll have a baby? The guys are running one for when I squat 2 plates. haha. 2 guys have 6 months and a guy today took 4. We shall see.
Had some solid 190lb good mornings, first time with chains, to make up for the crap squat. 120lbs of chain. Go big or go home. I’ll let ya’ll know when the videos get put up. http://bobbiskai.blogspot.com/2010/11/powerlifting-westside-me-squat-week-2.html
what is the difference between hamstring dominant vs quad dominant for the squats? Hmmm…i wonder what i do.
yeah-- i am going to try the lexen dls’! UUUUHHHHH awful looking, but a great idea!
good morning to you!
190lbs. I’d fold like butter in batter.
Sounds like you found a great place to train–where you’re getting something back. Squatting 2 plates-craziness! Put me down for 4 months too.
[quote]nlmain wrote:
190lbs. I’d fold like butter in batter.[/quote]
LOL! exactly.
Bobbi, can you give some more input re: how this squat differs from a conventional back squat? gracias en avance!
Got the videos up! http://bobbiskai.blogspot.com/2010/11/powerlifting-westside-me-squat-week-2.html
You guys can see more of what I mean in the squat video. Notice how my knee stays in line with my ankle, shin strait up and down. That puts all of the load in the hips - glutes and hamstrings. You can see how challenging it is for me as I lose it in the bottom and just kind of plop down.
You can’t really tell from that angle, but my feet are damn far apart and pointed 45 degrees out. Again, this loads the hips. I’m used to squatting Oly style, with my feet just outside of shoulder width, facing forward and my knees coming over my feet, loading the quads. Here I found a video so you can see what I mean.
You can also see from how fast the bar comes up that the weight isn’t the issue. I’m just trying to fight the urge to ‘quad’ it up. I’ll be spending a lot of time on the glute ham raise in the coming months to address this.
[quote]Nadia Comeandeat wrote:
Sounds like you found a great place to train–where you’re getting something back. Squatting 2 plates-craziness! Put me down for 4 months too. [/quote]
Thanks for the faith! Or did you mean you were going to squat 2 plates in 4 months?
Hmm…interesting…
Since i just re-injured my hammie my PT assessed that I have a weak pelvis (i.e. weak glutes and core - quad dominant). I’ll have to see if i can squat similarly to what you’re doing here - altho without a coach or trainer watching form, who knows…
On a side note - damn you cute! I always thought you were a blonde. lol!