A little background…
Just started back up on weightlifting a couple of months back after being out for about 6 months. So, I was trying to find my max Deadlift, something I really have never done. I guess you could say I have been deadlifting for reps. Read Eric Cressey and wanted to find out what I could lift. I am 44, BTW. No, I didn’t set no record, far from it. I typically do my deads in the power rack and set the bar on the holder about mid shin. So I have been starting my first lift from there, let the weight down almost to the floor and pull back up. I know, that’s basically cheating. I can usually get up to reps of 8 for 315. Yesterday, did a “max” straight off the floor of 365. First time I tried it, nothing budged but my eyeballs, so I figure I got a lot of work to do. I guess I created a sticking point at the bottom due to using bad form.
My question is that I feel my hams are lacking, which hinders me from getting off the floor with the weight. I could be wrong but I was under the impression that the quads/hams need to have a relative balance, so how do you measure the strength balance of the 2? No, I don’t have a glute-ham machine. My thinking is that folks say you need to be able to bent row about what you bench press, or at least the more your back gets stronger, the stronger your bench. But do you see what your leg press is versus leg curl or am I just out of luck? Part of my assessment problem deals with that I have had both acl’s torn and recon’d, but still feel I have a left right quad imbalance. And yes, I squat, but am “learning” how to squat deeper without hurting the knees (it doesn’t) its just that I can only do a little because I want to fall backward.
Just feel my hams are weak but don’t know how strong really they are and how that is impact my deads, or my squats for that matter
maybe this should have been 2 threads?