Feedback From Meat

Training Over 35 Lifter
141

[quote]trav123456 wrote:

Finally got a camera going, so I recorded my last set of deads from today
It’s pretty weird watching yourself, looks urky jurky to me, and back is rounded
I was kind of tired by this set but I don’t think it was too different from the first 2[/quote]

you are spending way too much time down there getting ready. watch your vid and just as you are getting ready to pull freeze it. look where your shoulders are in relation to the bar. they are way in front. pulling with your shoulders in front of the bar makes it impossible to pull from your heels. it appears that you are trying to pull the bar back into you with that rolling thing but it’s not working. you are rolling it back and then once it gets to your shins you are pulling up. if you want to continue doing the rolling thing, you need to time it so once the bar reaches your shins you then shift your weight to your heels and continue pulling back and up at the same time.

you are right about your back. upper back rounding limits the range of motion and many deadlifters use it but you are rounding through the upper back and the lower back. you need to keep the chest high throughout the lift and keep your head in a neutral position. this will keep your back arched.

once you get the bar moving you need to force your hips forward to the bar. you leaning back with the weight. a good pull has two distinct parts 1. initiating the pull by pulling the weight back while staying on your heels 2. once you break it off the floor, the hips need to be forced forward fast. so it’s pull back, push forward.

keep at it and keep videoing.

142

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
skidmark wrote:
maraudermeat wrote:
skidmark wrote:
Teach -

I been tryin’ real hard to fix my squats and was hoping to get your critique on my progerse [sic]. The weight is light, but it did let me concentrate on the form.

Back Squat - side view

Back Squat - 3/4 rear view (ain’t that fine for spoonin’?)

Front Squat

Thanks.

it’s very apparent that you have been working hard. those are much better. your hips still rise a little early and that’s because the elbows drift on you some once you reverse it but not nearly as much as before. i’m just nitpicking here. just keep working on keeping those elbows forward with constant pressure and you will be golden.

the front squats look really good. the only thing i noticed was on the first one or two, you didn’t have your head back and that made you lean forward a bit. it looked like you corrected yourself though.

great work skid!!

Thanks Meat.

The interesting thing about the setup is how you feel like a human-sized spring hinge. I’m feeling a bunch of power in the hole from it, but am encountering a weakness just out of it and I think that’s where the elbow-wibble occurs. Gonna have to look into that.

bottom up squats off pins may help.

[/quote]

That’s such a reasonable suggestion that I may have to actually follow it.

143

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
trav123456 wrote:

Finally got a camera going, so I recorded my last set of deads from today
It’s pretty weird watching yourself, looks urky jurky to me, and back is rounded
I was kind of tired by this set but I don’t think it was too different from the first 2

you are spending way too much time down there getting ready. watch your vid and just as you are getting ready to pull freeze it. look where your shoulders are in relation to the bar. they are way in front. pulling with your shoulders in front of the bar makes it impossible to pull from your heels. it appears that you are trying to pull the bar back into you with that rolling thing but it’s not working. you are rolling it back and then once it gets to your shins you are pulling up. if you want to continue doing the rolling thing, you need to time it so once the bar reaches your shins you then shift your weight to your heels and continue pulling back and up at the same time.

you are right about your back. upper back rounding limits the range of motion and many deadlifters use it but you are rounding through the upper back and the lower back. you need to keep the chest high throughout the lift and keep your head in a neutral position. this will keep your back arched.

once you get the bar moving you need to force your hips forward to the bar. you leaning back with the weight. a good pull has two distinct parts 1. initiating the pull by pulling the weight back while staying on your heels 2. once you break it off the floor, the hips need to be forced forward fast. so it’s pull back, push forward.

keep at it and keep videoing.

[/quote]

alright thanks for the input, to be honest I didn’t think I was that bad before I saw this video but I guess that’s what happens when you don’t lift with someone who knows what they are doing or get checked. I’m going record all my lifts next week. I’ll try to apply what you’ve said about the deads immediatly, I think I’m going to drop the rolling thing also.
I guess it should only get better from here, better than going years with poor form.

Edit: I’ll keep the weights down until I correct these issues

144

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
… you could rotate them in as either a first movement using your normal squat stance and then maybe rotate them in as a second movement with a wider stance to supplement your deadlift. the great thing is that it’s a win, win either way.

if you had to choose, i would make that decision based on which movement is more important to you. do you need more work on your squat or deadlift?

[/quote]

Thanks. Well, they both need a lot of work… So, I guess I’ll be doing both … :wink:

145

bench video from today

146

Coach Meat - I continue to work on improving my sumo deadlift form but still have issues. Here is a video of my money set from week 3 of Wendler’s 531 program.

I believe my hips are still rising to fast. So starting today I am doing Sumo DL’s to the knees as you have recommended to others. Here is a video of the 3rd set of 10 of these

Any feedback you have for me as well as suggestions for other assistance exercises will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

147

[quote]trav123456 wrote:

bench video from today[/quote]

set up isn’t too bad. you still need to get tighter. when you push yourself down over your feet, you should have to still hold the bar to keep from sliding back up the bench. if you can release the bar with both hands and then set your grip, you aren’t tight enough. set landmarks so you know when to push yourself back down the bench. when i set my feet i know if they are where they need to be if my back is off the bench and touching the top of the bench in the correct place.

also, your lower arms are drifting out in front of your elbows some when you are touching on your chest, then when you press it’s not arcing back over the tops of your shoulders. keep the lower arm perpendicular at the bottom and then flare back over the shoulders.

definitely looking better.

148

Mister E. Meat,

Thoughts on bench, please? Tried to arch with toes on floor per your last comments. I felt unstable on the bench even though I was pretty tight.

Floor press-- I’ve seen people to both flat legged and knees up with arch on the floor. I prefer knees up. Is there a real reason to keep legs flat?

Thanks!!!

149

[quote]soldog wrote:
Coach Meat - I continue to work on improving my sumo deadlift form but still have issues. Here is a video of my money set from week 3 of Wendler’s 531 program.

I believe my hips are still rising to fast. So starting today I am doing Sumo DL’s to the knees as you have recommended to others. Here is a video of the 3rd set of 10 of these

Any feedback you have for me as well as suggestions for other assistance exercises will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance![/quote]

yeah. your hips are definitely coming up too fast. then you are leaning forward to initiate the pull. i think you need to experiment with foot placing. how much farther can you take your feet out? also, i think some deficit pulls could help to teach you to initiate the lift with your hips. either use smaller plates or stand on something about 2 inches higher than the floor. you need to get it into your mind that you start the pull by forcing the knees out and squat the weight up.

until you fix the hip rising thing i would work on trying to get your legs and feet as close to parallel to the bar as you can and work that deficit. this will stretch the groin and hips as well as strengthen them. i would start with a small deficit and keep stretching to get more of one.

150

[quote]SteelyD wrote:
Mister E. Meat,

Thoughts on bench, please? Tried to arch with toes on floor per your last comments. I felt unstable on the bench even though I was pretty tight.

Floor press-- I’ve seen people to both flat legged and knees up with arch on the floor. I prefer knees up. Is there a real reason to keep legs flat?

Thanks!!![/quote]

you will get more comfortable with it as you do it. it’s never going to feel good, but if it feels tight then you are doing it right. make sure that you pull yourself way past the bar and then push back over the toes. you really need to have a liftoff on all sets over 135. there’s no way to stay tight when you liftoff the weight yourself.

the setup looks pretty good. i can tell that you aren’t activating the lats on the way down just by watching how you lower the weight. the best cue i can give you for this is as you unrack the weight, take the sides of your hands near your pinkies and force them into the bar. think of trying to bend the two ends of the bar together at liftoff and then keep trying to bend it as hard as you can throughout the lift. this will immidiately make you tuck and flex the lats. the first movement after the unrack should be a break at the elbows, not the the shoulders like most people do. this is a difficult concept to figure out but once you do, it’s like night and day. most people just lower the weight down but once you learn to row it down, you will immidiately be stronger. think of using one of those old skool crushers that arnold had in pumping iron:)

on the floor press, those risers make it pretty much a pin press. if you want to do them solo, put the bar on the edge of a bench behind you and then lift it off or set the hooks on a power rack all the way down. or just have someone deadlift the weight behind you and hand it to you.

on a floor press you need to keep the weight on you throughout the range of motion-especially at the bottom. i prefer to do them with legs straight and no arch. this takes the lower body out of the motion as well as the arch. you have to muscle the weight up using mostly shoulders and triceps. this movement should be a real grinder. muscling the weight up teaches you to strain when you are attempting a max attempt as well as overloads the triceps to make a more powerful lockout.

151

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
SteelyD wrote:
Mister E. Meat,

the best cue i can give you for this is as you unrack the weight, take the sides of your hands near your pinkies and force them into the bar. think of trying to bend the two ends of the bar together at liftoff and then keep trying to bend it as hard as you can throughout the lift. this will immidiately make you tuck and flex the lats. the first movement after the unrack should be a break at the elbows, not the the shoulders like most people do. this is a difficult concept to figure out but once you do, it’s like night and day. most people just lower the weight down but once you learn to row it down, you will immidiately be stronger. think of using one of those old skool crushers that arnold had in pumping iron:)

[/quote]
Hey Boss…
I am still having a hard time grasping/ understanding this concept… when you say “think of trying to bend the two ends of the bar together at liftoff and then keep trying to bend it as hard as you can throughout the lift. this will immidiately make you tuck and flex the lats.”— do you mean bending the bar towards you… or away from you? Or to save some confusion… the very ends/ tips of the bar… am I trying to bend them so they are pointing towards the ceiling… or the floor? Or better yet… am I trying to make the bar smile… or frown?

152

[quote]bunny7568 wrote:
maraudermeat wrote:
SteelyD wrote:
Mister E. Meat,

the best cue i can give you for this is as you unrack the weight, take the sides of your hands near your pinkies and force them into the bar. think of trying to bend the two ends of the bar together at liftoff and then keep trying to bend it as hard as you can throughout the lift. this will immidiately make you tuck and flex the lats. the first movement after the unrack should be a break at the elbows, not the the shoulders like most people do. this is a difficult concept to figure out but once you do, it’s like night and day. most people just lower the weight down but once you learn to row it down, you will immidiately be stronger. think of using one of those old skool crushers that arnold had in pumping iron:)

Hey Boss…
I am still having a hard time grasping/ understanding this concept… when you say “think of trying to bend the two ends of the bar together at liftoff and then keep trying to bend it as hard as you can throughout the lift. this will immidiately make you tuck and flex the lats.”— do you mean bending the bar towards you… or away from you? Or to save some confusion… the very ends/ tips of the bar… am I trying to bend them so they are pointing towards the ceiling… or the floor? Or better yet… am I trying to make the bar smile… or frown?

[/quote]
think of the old skool chest bendy thingies that arnold use to model. he would hold it out straight in front and then bend it down like a horse shoe to his feet. if you were laying on your back, that would be the same way you would want to bend the bar.

153

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
bunny7568 wrote:
maraudermeat wrote:
SteelyD wrote:
Mister E. Meat,

the best cue i can give you for this is as you unrack the weight, take the sides of your hands near your pinkies and force them into the bar. think of trying to bend the two ends of the bar together at liftoff and then keep trying to bend it as hard as you can throughout the lift. this will immidiately make you tuck and flex the lats. the first movement after the unrack should be a break at the elbows, not the the shoulders like most people do. this is a difficult concept to figure out but once you do, it’s like night and day. most people just lower the weight down but once you learn to row it down, you will immidiately be stronger. think of using one of those old skool crushers that arnold had in pumping iron:)

Hey Boss…
I am still having a hard time grasping/ understanding this concept… when you say “think of trying to bend the two ends of the bar together at liftoff and then keep trying to bend it as hard as you can throughout the lift. this will immidiately make you tuck and flex the lats.”— do you mean bending the bar towards you… or away from you? Or to save some confusion… the very ends/ tips of the bar… am I trying to bend them so they are pointing towards the ceiling… or the floor? Or better yet… am I trying to make the bar smile… or frown?

think of the old skool chest bendy thingies that arnold use to model. he would hold it out straight in front and then bend it down like a horse shoe to his feet. if you were laying on your back, that would be the same way you would want to bend the bar.
[/quote]

got it :slight_smile:

154

Okay I can see now on the bench video that my forearms were pitched forward, I was tucking hard so I must just have to aim higher on the chest.
Here’s a high bar squat video.

I was trying to really sit back but my knees ended up a coming forward quite a bit anyways, and I rolled forward quite a bit even with this relatively light weight, though maybe a lower bar position would help that. I’m sure there’s some other things I’m doing wrong though.

Another question: Should I be using a belt? I notice most guys tend to use them for their heavy sets and I’m wondering whether I should even bother at this stage. I’ve read that some people think it doesen’t allow your core to strengthen as it takes some of the load off your lower back, is that BS?

155

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
soldog wrote:
Coach Meat - I continue to work on improving my sumo deadlift form but still have issues. Here is a video of my money set from week 3 of Wendler’s 531 program.

I believe my hips are still rising to fast. So starting today I am doing Sumo DL’s to the knees as you have recommended to others. Here is a video of the 3rd set of 10 of these

Any feedback you have for me as well as suggestions for other assistance exercises will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

yeah. your hips are definitely coming up too fast. then you are leaning forward to initiate the pull. i think you need to experiment with foot placing. how much farther can you take your feet out? also, i think some deficit pulls could help to teach you to initiate the lift with your hips. either use smaller plates or stand on something about 2 inches higher than the floor. you need to get it into your mind that you start the pull by forcing the knees out and squat the weight up.

until you fix the hip rising thing i would work on trying to get your legs and feet as close to parallel to the bar as you can and work that deficit. this will stretch the groin and hips as well as strengthen them. i would start with a small deficit and keep stretching to get more of one.

[/quote]

Thanks meat - I can get my feet parallel to the bar but the legs need some work… I’ll keep pluggin’ away.

156

[quote]trav123456 wrote:
Okay I can see now on the bench video that my forearms were pitched forward, I was tucking hard so I must just have to aim higher on the chest.
Here’s a high bar squat video.

I was trying to really sit back but my knees ended up a coming forward quite a bit anyways, and I rolled forward quite a bit even with this relatively light weight, though maybe a lower bar position would help that. I’m sure there’s some other things I’m doing wrong though.

Another question: Should I be using a belt? I notice most guys tend to use them for their heavy sets and I’m wondering whether I should even bother at this stage. I’ve read that some people think it doesen’t allow your core to strengthen as it takes some of the load off your lower back, is that BS?[/quote]

if you choose to use a high bar position, sitting back is only going to make you lean forward more. a raw squatter really doesn’t sit back much. sitting back is more for the geared lifter. a raw squatter is more straight up and down. kind of like a piston.

things i see that you need to work on-

-get your neck back into the bar. this will keep your chest high and back arched.

-spread the floor. force your knees out on the way down and up. this will help with the knees rolling over your feet. again, a high bar position lends itself to the knees coming forward since the weight is in front of the hips instead of over the hips.

-if you aren’t married to the high bar position, i would slowly work on getting it a little lower. bring your grip in some will help stablize it more. get your thumbs behind the bar with a thumbless grip will also control the bar more.

as for the belt, what you’ve heard is BS. A belt is a tool. i wear mine sort of loose and then when i fill my belly full of air and push out with my abs, it becomes tight. it cues me to keeping a tight core that way. if i let out my air or relaxe my abs, the belt gets loose. i think a belt is very important. i wear mine for all sets up from 135. the reason is that i want all my sets to be just like a competition lift. the belt cuts into my sides a certain way when i hit depth. this is another cue to let me know i’ve hit depth.

if you are looking for suggestions, i really like my lever belt from Inzer. it’s got a lifetime guarentee and it was only $80. i don’t like belts with the prongs. they take too much energy to close. the lever jsut locks into place.

157

thanks for the help! I should probably work on getting used to low bar if I ever want to get some serious numbers up.
I’ll probably have to go out of town to get a belt, or order it over the internet, I’ll be looking into that one though.

Is there a reason people pick the 10mm or 13mm? And should I just go for the waist size that I get my jeans in, I’m planning on gaining some weight so I’m wondering if I should just go for a regular one rather than a lever with a fixed waist size

158

[quote]trav123456 wrote:
thanks for the help! I should probably work on getting used to low bar if I ever want to get some serious numbers up.
I’ll probably have to go out of town to get a belt, or order it over the internet, I’ll be looking into that one though.

Is there a reason people pick the 10mm or 13mm? And should I just go for the waist size that I get my jeans in, I’m planning on gaining some weight so I’m wondering if I should just go for a regular one rather than a lever with a fixed waist size[/quote]

just go to Inzer advanced designs. i have the 13mm. it’s very stiff. my training partner has the 10 and it’s not nearly as stiff. i like the stiffness. the lever belt can be adjusted very easily. i’ve had to move it around with my different levels of fatness. the lever has two screws and a backing plate that moves to different holes.

159

Here’s another squat question for you related to sitting back. I’ve spent a lot of time recently looking at my squat videos. I tend to lean forward quite a bit regardless of the weight. This is my raw squat. I haven’t spent as much time recently looked at geared squats.

I’m pretty sure this was my tendency even before I got into gear. How do I change my squat so it is more straight up and down or should I given that I compete in gear. I’m thinking I should because the forward lean makes it harder to hit depth but I look like I’m folding like a house of cards.

I’ve moved the bar lower and pushed my elbows forward but I still lean forward. I watch other people squat and it’s like they go up and down like a piston. I can’t seem to replicate that.

160

[quote]ouroboro_s wrote:
Here’s another squat question for you related to sitting back. I’ve spent a lot of time recently looking at my squat videos. I tend to lean forward quite a bit regardless of the weight. This is my raw squat. I haven’t spent as much time recently looked at geared squats.

I’m pretty sure this was my tendency even before I got into gear. How do I change my squat so it is more straight up and down or should I given that I compete in gear. I’m thinking I should because the forward lean makes it harder to hit depth but I look like I’m folding like a house of cards.

I’ve moved the bar lower and pushed my elbows forward but I still lean forward. I watch other people squat and it’s like they go up and down like a piston. I can’t seem to replicate that.[/quote]

it really comes down to how you are built. you have extremely long legs and long torso which makes squatting straight up and down nearly impossible for you. you are doing a great job of working with what God gave you. you will always have some forward lean to maintain balance. as long as you continue to get stronger and are doing all you can do to make your form as perfect as you can, then you are doing great. leaning forward isn’t a big deal as long as you are keeping the elbows down as well as keeping the chest high and the back arched. don’t stress over it.

besides, you have long legs and get stares from people wishing they were you. i have short stubby legs and can NEVER find pants that are big enough around and short enough. imagine going to your local clothing store and asking for 42 x 30 jeans… or XXXL shirts. I basically live in golf shirts because they don’t shrink and they have extra long short sleeves.

see…things can be worse:)