Feedback From Meat

Training Over 35 Lifter
401

soldog,

i really like your setup. you get a great arch. when you lift off, hold the bar at arm’s length for a moment before you lower the weight. doing so compresses the shoulder joint which in turn shortens your ROM. it will also show the head judge that you have complete control over the bar. he may give you a shorter press command as a result. also, be sure to press to a full lockout, hold for a moment and then rack.

it’s a common mistake to press back into the rack. that will get you redlighted for sure. just get in the habit of being very deliberate with all of it- take the liftoff at arm’s length, hold for a moment, lower under control, wait for press command, press to arm’s length and wait for rack command. practice all these things and make them automatic.

other than those little things, i do see you flaring a bit early. that could be caused by bringing it too low on the chest, grip needs to be adjusted, tightness issue or muscular weakness. it’s not really bad and don’t get overly concerned about it this close to your comp. i would start with trying to bring the bar down just a little higher on the chest and see if that helps.

402

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
soldog,

i really like your setup. you get a great arch. when you lift off, hold the bar at arm’s length for a moment before you lower the weight. doing so compresses the shoulder joint which in turn shortens your ROM. it will also show the head judge that you have complete control over the bar. he may give you a shorter press command as a result. also, be sure to press to a full lockout, hold for a moment and then rack.

it’s a common mistake to press back into the rack. that will get you redlighted for sure. just get in the habit of being very deliberate with all of it- take the liftoff at arm’s length, hold for a moment, lower under control, wait for press command, press to arm’s length and wait for rack command. practice all these things and make them automatic.

other than those little things, i do see you flaring a bit early. that could be caused by bringing it too low on the chest, grip needs to be adjusted, tightness issue or muscular weakness. it’s not really bad and don’t get overly concerned about it this close to your comp. i would start with trying to bring the bar down just a little higher on the chest and see if that helps. [/quote]

Great! thanks meat!

403

thanks for your advice meat

will continue to work at it

404

I was pointed over here by Kimbakimba, who said you’d helped her out a lot.

Essentially, I am trying to fix my squat. I’m 42 and have been training for about 24 years (not that I knew what I was doing to start with) but never really incorporated squats due to the issues I had with them.

These are the structural issues I have. I’m 5’7 and have a long back (sitting down I was always taller than my 5’10 friend), fairly long femurs and short shins, which makes getting my heels under my butt pretty difficult. I have a big, boxy pelvis and a large Q-angle, particularly on the right leg. My right foot is rotated out and I have a bum ankle (it’s been sprained multiple times, most recently in September).

I also work at a computer for long hours, and have done for over 20 years, and I play computer games in the evenings (I actually work in the games industry - I’m a geek). Consequently I have very tight psoas, a slightly kyphotic posture with little mobility in the t-spine and a pretty bad anterior pelvic tilt.

I’ve been doing stretching and mobility work but it takes time to undo 20+ years of postural problems.

So, on to the squat. My biggest challenge is actually getting to parallel without folding like an accordion.

Overhead squats with a body bar. I do these to warm up (holding the bar over my head also forces me to keep my torso relatively upright). You can see the APT in evidence.

Box squats - I forget to sit back on the first two.

Back squats. Sorry about the angle. These get pretty ugly towards the end. You can also see my spastic right foot in evidence. Not sure there’s much I can do about that due to my leg structure.

Anyway, any advice much appreciated.

405

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
kimbakimba wrote:
That is some strong rowing. My new goal is to row your warmup weight.

be sure to video it and send it to me:)

[/quote]

Ask, and you will receive. :slight_smile:

Its only your warmup weight, but its a PR for me!

406

[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
maraudermeat wrote:
kimbakimba wrote:
That is some strong rowing. My new goal is to row your warmup weight.

be sure to video it and send it to me:)

Ask, and you will receive. :slight_smile:

Its only your warmup weight, but its a PR for me![/quote]

great form… better camera angle and best…uhhhhh yeah.

thanks… i needed that:)

407

Hey meat. Could you critique my bench technique please? I actually went up to 1x290 today, but didn’t get it on vid, my phone kept freezing. This 265 is AFTER the 290 max. I only did it because I wanted a heavy one to show you. My first impression is that I’m not tucking enough, and I’m losing some tightness after I pull the bar out. Perhaps my grip is too wide(middle finger on the rings) and it’s causing my to have trouble tucking properly. Also, I don’t think my bar path is ideal.

edit: embed doesn’t work because I’m retarded. Here’s a link

edit2: apparently linking automatically embeds. Cool. I’m double retarded but it works so whatever.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

408

Hey meat, did some box squats today. This was a rep PR. Any advice on technique would be much appreciated.

3x3x335

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Thanks!

409

Cal Jones and Papashlapa, I’ll take some time tomorrow to watch your vids and give you some feedback. didn’t want you guys thinking i was slacking:)

410

lol no worries, I appreciate it. I won’t be able to put anything you say to use for another week anyway. Take your time!

411

Hey meat, my third and final video series. The deadlift. Haven’t pulled from the floor in months so I could definitely use some advice. Went 2x5x135, 2x185, 2x225, 1x275, 1x315, 1x365(shown), 1x405(shown), 0x425(shown), 0x415(shown) then some singles and a triple with 365.

1x365

1x405

0x425

0x415

3x365

All sets were done without straps, with chalk. First time I’ve ever used chalk, I like it a lot :slight_smile:

Thanks again for any help you can provide.

412

[quote]Cal Jones wrote:
I was pointed over here by Kimbakimba, who said you’d helped her out a lot.

Essentially, I am trying to fix my squat. I’m 42 and have been training for about 24 years (not that I knew what I was doing to start with) but never really incorporated squats due to the issues I had with them.

These are the structural issues I have. I’m 5’7 and have a long back (sitting down I was always taller than my 5’10 friend), fairly long femurs and short shins, which makes getting my heels under my butt pretty difficult. I have a big, boxy pelvis and a large Q-angle, particularly on the right leg. My right foot is rotated out and I have a bum ankle (it’s been sprained multiple times, most recently in September).

I also work at a computer for long hours, and have done for over 20 years, and I play computer games in the evenings (I actually work in the games industry - I’m a geek). Consequently I have very tight psoas, a slightly kyphotic posture with little mobility in the t-spine and a pretty bad anterior pelvic tilt.

I’ve been doing stretching and mobility work but it takes time to undo 20+ years of postural problems.

So, on to the squat. My biggest challenge is actually getting to parallel without folding like an accordion.

Overhead squats with a body bar. I do these to warm up (holding the bar over my head also forces me to keep my torso relatively upright). You can see the APT in evidence.

Box squats - I forget to sit back on the first two.

Back squats. Sorry about the angle. These get pretty ugly towards the end. You can also see my spastic right foot in evidence. Not sure there’s much I can do about that due to my leg structure.

Anyway, any advice much appreciated. [/quote]

sorry it took me so long to get back to you… been busy.

anyway… watched your squats.

a few things-

  1. sitting back onto a box will do nothing for you as a raw squatter. people read that box squat will help your squat and you are supposed to sit back onto the box. this is good advice for someone in a supersuit to sit back into. i find that the best way to squat raw is to squat down… not back.

when i squat, i force my knees out, building tension in my hips and just lower. as i lower more tension is built in the hips as i force my knees out more. now this isn’t with a super wide stance. my stance is just outside shoulder width.

  1. the bar is wayy too high in my opinion. work on getting it lower. high bar squatting requires a very very strong back. most people don’t have that. actually some people use high bar squats to improve their normal squat becuase it’s so hard on the lower back. so… bring that bar down. with that get your elbows under the bar. they are drifting back as you squat down. you want to strive to get those elbows directly under the bar and keep them there.

  2. get rid of the running shoes. you need a pair of rigid soled shoes that are flat. the shoes you are wearing are forcing you forward from the start.

  3. turn yourself around and squat facing away from that damn mirror.

  4. going back to #1, get rid of the box. if you are looking to figure out depth, have someone call depth for you. for most raw lifters, box squats don’t transfer well to your reqular squat. sometimes it will make it worse if you are flopping down and rocking off:)

start with those things and get back to me.

413

Hi Meat,

Been reading your feedback for a while - great stuff!

Here’s a vid of my bench today - 205lbs x 7 reps. I’m 35 years (I guess I should call myself junior in this forum…), 200lbs, 6’2", and I’ve been lifting for about a year. I fully recognize that my bench technique to put it mildly sucks, so any feedback / pointers much appreciated!

Thanks!
O.

414

Thanks for the pointers. I train alone and on weekdays before work, when the gym is pretty much empty, so getting someone to spot or look out for me is pretty much out of the question except on weekends.

I will dump the shoes - I use Chucks most of the time so will keep those for squatting as well.
The stuff about the high bar is really useful - I have rather poor mobility in my upper back but will see what I can do to fix it.

415

Meat-

I know from looking at your log you do a lot of deads from different heights. When I do elevated deads right at the kneecap or slightly below it, I find that I am weaker than when doing the full ROM, why? Does this mean that elevated deads are going to benefit me more or less?

The other thing I cant figure out is that my squat is pretty close to my deadlift, so my legs are strong (relative to my body), and I can dumbell row 140’s for about 10 reps, so my upper back is strong (relatively), so what the hell is wrong with me? Last time I tested my squat was 385 and my deadlift was 405. I am in the middle of a sheiko cycle that I have every plan on finishing and I feel that both of these lifts are going to be quite a bit better when I am done, but I guess my question is, why so little separation between the two? I want my deadlift higher!

416

Hey Meat.

I’ve been lifting for about 2 months now. I’m going through the eternal beginner program using workouts made by Alwyn Cosgrove from the New Rules of Lifting. I’m 39, and attempting to stick to a program for the first time in my life.

The workouts currently have me doing front squats, which I prefer to back squats because they feel more natural to me. I’m 6’2" - maybe that makes a difference. Anyway, please check out the videos of my front and back squats.

Rip me apart! And Thanks.

Sincerely,
Rob

Back Squats w/185 lbs
[video]1500[/video]

Front Squats w/185 lbs
[video]1499[/video]

417

[quote]Papashlapa wrote:
Hey meat. Could you critique my bench technique please? I actually went up to 1x290 today, but didn’t get it on vid, my phone kept freezing. This 265 is AFTER the 290 max. I only did it because I wanted a heavy one to show you. My first impression is that I’m not tucking enough, and I’m losing some tightness after I pull the bar out. Perhaps my grip is too wide(middle finger on the rings) and it’s causing my to have trouble tucking properly. Also, I don’t think my bar path is ideal.

edit: embed doesn’t work because I’m retarded. Here’s a link

edit2: apparently linking automatically embeds. Cool. I’m double retarded but it works so whatever.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks[/quote]

first off… i’m really sorry it took me so long to get back to you. i’m really sorry.

anyway… a couple things-

i really like your setup. that is one hell of an arch.

having said that, you should really get a lift off on your working sets. i know that commercial gyms suck when it comes to finding someone to do that. but at least they can help. just give them a bit of guideance you can get them to do more good than harm.

lifting the bar off yourself immidiately makes it almost impossible to keep your upper back tight.

you are definitely not tucking enough and that is leading to bringing the bar down too high. it appears to me that you are just lowering the bar. as you liftoff, immidiately roll your elbows in slightly as if trying to get them to face each other. this is the result of doing the “bend the bar in half”. let me know if this doesn’t make sense. doing this makes tucking more natural and keeps tension on the lats.

i would work on these couple things and then revideo after practice.

again… i really like the setup though.

418

[quote]Papashlapa wrote:
Hey meat, did some box squats today. This was a rep PR. Any advice on technique would be much appreciated.

3x3x335

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Thanks!
[/quote]

okay… first off, i used to do a ton of box squats and i got really good at doing box squats. unfortunately i find that box squats don’t transfer to a raw squat. at least they don’t for me. the reason is that the box squat is typically used by a geared lifter to teach them to sit back into their gear. that’s why you always hear people saying " you need to sit back more" that’s fine and all if you have many layers of supersuit to hold you from falling on your ass. i find that the hardest part of a raw squat is the bottom position and that transition to ascending. this takes mega tightness in the hole. most people perform box squats by plopping down on a box and then rocking off. this doesn’t reinforce proper motor patterns for a real squat. if you are trying to get used to squatting to depth, i would use pins. pins require you to still stay tight in the bottom. if that is what you are doing, just squat down to the pins and gently tap them and then come up. if you’ve ever seen one of my squat videos you will see that i don’t sit back. i break at the knees and just force my knees out as i descend. constantly forcing the knees out will build tension in the hips which will control your decent, protect you knees and give you pop out of the hole.

with all that said, from watching your vid, you are sitting back too far, plopping down and then rocking off. all of this leads to not staying tight in the bottom.

419

[quote]Papashlapa wrote:
Hey meat, my third and final video series. The deadlift. Haven’t pulled from the floor in months so I could definitely use some advice. Went 2x5x135, 2x185, 2x225, 1x275, 1x315, 1x365(shown), 1x405(shown), 0x425(shown), 0x415(shown) then some singles and a triple with 365.

1x365

1x405

0x425

0x415

3x365

All sets were done without straps, with chalk. First time I’ve ever used chalk, I like it a lot :slight_smile:

Thanks again for any help you can provide.[/quote]

form looks good. i can’t really give you much advice there.

what i do see is the need for more speed off the floor. look into some speed work and deficit work. also, when it comes to getting stronger, you don’t want to miss lifts. you should program your training so that you are training in the 90% range on your working sets. going for a max attempt should only happen, IMO, every 4 weeks or so. if you do miss a lift, don’t go for another lift anywhere near that weight. it’s okay to back off and do some reps but the only thing worse than missing one lift, is two. so… go for that max lift every once in awhile, if you make it, great, be happy and back off. if you miss, back of and do some reps in the 70-80% range.

420

[quote]iyaayas wrote:

Back Squats w/185 lbs[/quote]

Rob, I was watching your back squat video and # 9 and her two friends caught my eye…

Other than that I have nothing constructive to add.