There are different ways to do things, try and see what works best for you. Bar over mid foot is what I do, more or less.
Monday, June 15 - Squat day
Wasn’t really feeling it today so cut it short
Squat - wraps - kraits
545x1 - Technique was good but it was kind of slow and a 2nd rep would have been a grinder so I racked it. Warmups weren’t really moving too good either, I thought I would still try and see what I can manage but a grindy double that isn’t a PR is not worth it right now.
Squat - sleeves
425x3 - I was thinking to do a set of 5 instead of the usual 3x3 but again it wasn’t feeling good, this was like RPE 8 when it should be fast and easy.
It’s been a while since I had an easy squat day, but the other thing is that they changed my hours at work so now I have to start at 11am. That means that I have to start and finish training an hour earlier, which means waking up earlier. I’m not working much right now because school is closed so I have to look after my kids during the week and I haven’t really been getting up early, I worked the last 3 days and Friday and Saturday I had to get up early to train, I had trouble falling asleep (trying to go to bed earlier) each night too.
Sleep really makes a big difference in terms of recovery and energy, but I suppose it was time for an easy squat day anyway.
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Wednesday, June 17 - Main bench day
Bench press
365x3 - Good, moved better than 360x3 last week.
330x6
Floor pause DB flys/DB floor press
75’s x14/5
65’s x13/5
I don’t think I have ever done anything that hits the pecs as hard as this. Floor press is with palms facing, not sure if that makes much of a difference.
Arnold press
55’s x13, 10 -Strangely this pumped up my biceps
Friday, June 19 - Deadlift day
I finally pulled 600, but it wasn’t as glorious as I had hoped
Sumo
580x1 - I was going to pull this for at least a double but after the first rep the bar rolled forward, I tried to pull it back into position but the left side rolled away again so I stopped there. That one rep wasn’t hard though, so I figured I might as well throw some more weight on the bar for a small PR.
600x1 - It came off the floor easy, which is usually the hard part, but then I let it drift forward a bit which made it much harder than it should have been. My legs got wobbly and I was off balance, but I still managed to finish the lift. I’m sure I could manage more if it wasn’t for the technical issues, it was only 20lbs more than the set before but in terms of difficulty it was like 60lbs more.
I wasn’t planning on pulling any heavy singles, but these days I’m struggling to keep up with @guineapig so I do what I have to.
Conventional - straps/beltless
475x4 - Moved easy but my back position felt off on the 4th rep so I cut it there. I would have done another set but the 600 pull took a lot out of me, better err on the side of caution. I’m not really pushing conventional hard but I’m making progress, might as well keep that going.
Barbell row
365x8 - this was hard, 5lb jumps from now on
Chin ups - close neutral grip
bw+50x8 - last 3 weren’t all the way up, once I have 50+lbs extra on this it’s hard to keep it strict
bw x11 - I did these extra strict to make up for the cheatiness of the previous set, also I’m tired of doing curls and supposedly these with a neutral or supinated grip activate the biceps more than curls anyway so an extra set should do it. Having big biceps can’t hurt but it’s not really the main objective, I’m trying to avoid bicep issues from squatting (including wrapping my knees) and also biceps help to stabilize your arm on bench press.
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From the way you described it sounded like u allowed Some upper back rounding to get it off the floor easier. Didn’t really look like it at all but now that I think about it upper back rounding could be a useful strat. I guess because it creates better leverage at the cost of having to unround ur back and with ur rowing power you should be able to do that no problem
Not really, there are times where it felt like I lost tension in my upper back and this wasn’t one. Doing that intentionally could work, but mostly you see guys who pull conventional doing that. If you look closely, you can see a vertical line on the screen from glare on the camera lens just ahead of the bar at the start. When the bar is a few inches below my knees it suddenly shifts forward a few inches, that’s where I get thrown off.
I think if I can figure out how to pull with a rounded upper back but maintain a neutral lower back I could pull something half decent on conventional. Somehow with sumo it just doesn’t seem right, but maybe it’s because I haven;t figured out how to do it.
Isa bit awkward on sumo especially coming from flat back but like anything else u practice pulling rounded locking knees then finishing with the back. Jamal Browner and Amanda Lawrence would be examples of successful rounded back sumo pullers.
For the bar getting out in front of you I reckon it’s like knee locking or timing of knee locking. Once your knees get out of the way it’s nice efficient straight up for the bar but knees remaining unlocked they get in the way and the bar goes out in front of you.
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Yeah, maybe I should work on making my deadlift look a bit more like Browner’s, I already use the same stance. He just has like 6-8 inches longer arms though. Amanda Lawrence’s pull looks like her whole back is rounded, her spine is made of steel.
The bar getting in front of me was just a technical fuckup, not something that happens often but here I’m not sure why. It felt like I was off balance and my legs started shaking, but whether that caused the bar to drift forward or it’s the other way around I don’t know. Here’s a 590 pull from a couple months ago, looks much better and you can see the bar path is pretty much straight up and down.
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Yeah Lawrence’s deadlift is all back. She’s strong in spite of it but that’s the way of the genetic elite.
Like I said rounding is beneficial off the floor for the tradeoff. Little bit of rounding is pretty much all benefit to you.
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Like u know flat back Deadlift is “aesthetic” and shit but this powerlifting.
Flat back makes for easier lockout but doesn’t matter if u can’t even get there sticking off the floor or midpoint. So a bit of rounding makes sense
It’s like the opposite of round back pullers who are like look at me im so fast and explosive. Doesn’t matter if u break the floor at light speed if your rounded back position makes lockout 10x as hard
The other thing to consider is that pulling with a round back increases the risk of back injury, if you can keep your lumbar spine neutral then it’s much safer but it’s not easy to control upper back rounding at the same time.
It seems I don’t have much flexibility in my upper back in terms of rounding, I was always working on thoracic mobility in the other direction for arching on bench but I can’t actually get a lot of rounding out of my upper back. I was looking at myself in the mirror from the side to see what I can do. Maybe this won’t work for me.
Saturday, June 20 - 2nd bench day
Bench press
up to 375x1
Slingshot bench
450x1 - I was planing to do a double but I wasn’t sure about another rep, this wasn’t a grinder but it was slower than I would have liked
410x3 - +5lbs but down one rep, looks like strength is down slightly from last week. I don’t feel tired or anything like that, but I guess grinding out that 600 pull yesterday had some lingering effects. Also last week I had an easy deadlift session on Friday which would make even more of a difference.
Next week I’m going to try to double 455, whether or not it happens I’m going to start back lighter on slingshot bench the week after.
JM press
280x6
250x8
W shoulder rotation
super mini band x3 sets
This wasn’t really up to my expectations, but you can’t expect PRs every day.
Monday, June 22 - Squat day
Squat - wraps - kraits
550x2 - The goal was a triple but I messed up the 2nd rep, my hips came up too fast and I let the bar drift forward. 1st rep was no problem, just after that bad rep I felt the odds were against me for a 3rd and that was it. Seems like this forward drift thing is a bit of a problem for me, its happening all too often but I guess technique has to break down somehow.
Squat - sleeves
435x2x3 sets - Switched to doubles because it’s getting heavier and this is supposed to be submax work. It took some effort, I guess that set in wraps took my energy, but it moved well.
Band bad girl
light band x12, 10 - pausing each rep instead of adding more band resistance
On paper this looks like and easy workout, but it didn’t really feel that way.
Another thing, lately it’s real hot (over 30c) and humid, I feel like I don’t have much appetite so I’m eating a bit less than usual. I’m not really trying to cut a whole bunch of weight, but it wouldn’t hurt either and there is no sense in force feeding myself. I wouldn’t mind getting down to about 242, that would be a good weight for me, for the last while I have been around 255-260. At the same time, there are no meets coming up any time soon around here and gyms are still closed so maybe weight classes don’t matter too much, but losing a bit of fat would be a good idea. I just don’t want to get weak at the same time, back in April with all the bullshit I lost maybe 8lbs due to stress, not eating well, and having some stomach issues for a few days too, all my lifts were way down too but it looked like I lost muscle off my legs more than anything.
Before I started logging here I was around 230lbs for several years, I competed in the 105kg class in the IPF affiliate here (CPU) for 3 years. I definitely gained some muscle and got stronger since then, but I also gained a bit more fat than necessary.
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So what is the go nutrition wise? Cut slow and consume mucho protein?
More or less. Nothing too drastic, but less carbs on non-training days too.
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But will u have abs though. We can be diet buddies then.
I don’t really care about ab definition or anything like that, I just want to lose some unnecessary fat. I don’t think it’s doing anything to help my lifts, and also forcing myself to eat when I’m not even hungry (or eat more than I want to) doesn’t make much sense.
If you can get fat and set records and win world championships and that kind of thing then that’s cool, but I don’t even have a meet on the calendar.
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Is ur training gonna change much with the lowered calories?
No, I’m not turning into a bodybuilder.
This is my issue as well. I have long legs, and a long torso with shorter than average arms. My conventional lockout is at my dick and I used to struggle with positioning because everyone says hips low. Once I started videoing myself and starting with my hips high, I made a ton of progress, got sore in my hamstrings and glutes not just my back and could actually lean back and hinge.
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