Critique: Squat, Deadlift, and Bench

Training Powerlifting
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so… a few things… as a preface, i’m 6’5, about 235…relatively (for my height of course) short torso, and long legs…i’ve always deadlifted a kind of basterdized sumo style… i’d put my feet way out… but would not have that much bend in my knees… it worked for a deadlift of mid 400’s… i decided to go a little narrower… and just before this basketball season i hit a 500 lb. deadlift with a “hybrid stance”… as i called it… it had my feet basically out in an athletic stance with a little more knee bend than conventional deadlifts, but less that sumo’s should (theoretically have)…

this past week, since season is over, and i’m going hard again, i tried conventional deadlifts (for the first time in a while) and hit 465 with maybe 10 or 15 lbs left in the tank… basically my question is… is the hybrid stance unheard of???.. does anybody know of anybody who lifts best this way?.. or should i work @ my conventional and be able to (theoretically) lift more eventually that way (i would predict my “hybrid” deadlift to be at about 490-495 right now for reference

second question… when i squat near my max (highest i’ve hit recently was 375… i predict 385-390 to be a true max)…or if i miss, it’s because i lean forward, my ass comes up, but my head doesn’t… i would THINK that this would mean that i have a weak low back… but i don’t THINK that’s the case, as i can deadlift (as said) close to 500…

and i can good morning 315x5 RELATIVELY easily (i’d preict my max there to be about 360 or so)… this is a low-bar goodmorning, taken to where my chest is at the same height as my hips, with the same stance i use for squats and a slight knee bend… so, anybody have any ideas as to why the forward bend?

lastly, i bench around 305 touch-and-go, 290-295 paused, i’d like to do a combination of RE and DE work, at this point should i bother doing DE work, and if so can you do DE and RE in the same workout, or would it be okay to do say RE 1 for a couple of weeks, then do DE for a couple of weeks (i’m obviously using a modified westside template)

…i realise this was a long (hopefully not too poorly worded) post, but any insight to any of the 3 questions would be awesome, thanks guys

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People DL stance varies widely. If your hands are in between your legs then you pull sumo regardless of how wide your stance is. I don’t really know what you are talking about with the knee bend thing. There is no right amount of knee bending, but you should try to get your hips under you if you pull sumo.

Squat…falling forward is almost always weak abs. The other thing it could be is not pulling your elbows forward. If your elbow swing back at any point coming out of the hole it will have a tendency to cause you to fall forward. The ass coming first is a technique issue. You are not pushing into the bar with your back first. This is also probably related to the elbow thing. Think about pulling the bar into your traps really hard right before you explode out of the hole.

Lots of people rotate DE and RE work. I would pick one per session. You could do some DB work after DE work as well.

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Great tips, Pemdas, I found an answer before I asked my question. I should try it in the gym, but I’m pretty sure my squat problem, similar to the OP’s, will resolve with pushing the elbows forward and exploding with more upright posture :slight_smile:

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[quote]Pemdas wrote:

Squat…falling forward is almost always weak abs. [/quote]

That’s good to know. I have that problem sometimes and I thought it was just technique. I have neglected ab training because it sucks but I guess I need to stick with it.

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thanks for the info pemdas… i suspected it may have something to do with abs, but didn’t know, i had no idea about the elbows though… regarding the deads… typically (from what i’ve seen/heard) the point of sumo deads is to get your ass low…and use your legs more, generally if you have short stubby, powerful legs, and not as strong of back, whereas when i was doing them it was nearly (though not quite) stiff-legged… and was wondering if they still held any advantage, or if i was simply pulling more due to practicing that way for so long

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[quote]joburnet wrote:
Pemdas wrote:

Squat…falling forward is almost always weak abs.

That’s good to know. I have that problem sometimes and I thought it was just technique. I have neglected ab training because it sucks but I guess I need to stick with it.[/quote]

Oh believe me, technique can be just as big a culprit. To an extent eithe strong abs or better technique will help with the weight you’re currently using, but if you want to improve on that then you’ll need to pay attention to both!!