[quote]FarmerBrett wrote:
I agree Cav that wall squat thing does look a bit ridiculous, but I suppose it might help.
If your gym has windows looking out onto the street it might be fun to do them up against the glass to amuse the passers by.[/quote]
If he feels odd doing them in the gym. There’s no reason he cant do them in the privacy of his home.
[quote]FarmerBrett wrote:
I agree Cav that wall squat thing does look a bit ridiculous, but I suppose it might help.
If your gym has windows looking out onto the street it might be fun to do them up against the glass to amuse the passers by.[/quote]
Hah. I caught the funny you did there, FB.
Actually, the gym has stuff packed up against the walls, DB racks, machines, etc. Much more convenient to do at home.
Amuse the passersby sliding up & down the windows? After you, Brett.
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Actually, the gym has stuff packed up against the walls, DB racks, machines, etc. Much more convenient to do at home.
Amuse the passersby sliding up & down the windows? After you, Brett.[/quote]
if you have a head cold and runny nose, you would leave a vertical line of snot on the glass, which would be a good lube to stop your nose becoming red raw or just misshappen from sliding up and down on a hard dry surface.
Some great advice being given…window dancing aside. And Snap sounds like a professional trainer.
Great/quick progress already. Before you know it, you will be back to you original weights, and past them, with good depth and form.
And I think everyone goes through this. I thought my depth was great…until I saw myself on video.
Keep at it!
Everybody has had to do squat rehab at some point. Better to do it right the first time than have to do it again.
great form progress.
my $0.02, don’t bother with the wall squats. That is an exercise for geared lifters who squat uber wide. I don’t think there is much carryover for a non-geared lifter. just my opinion.
Great work. Do not hurry this thing with the squatting.
[quote]mjnewland wrote:
my $0.02, don’t bother with the wall squats. That is an exercise for geared lifters who squat uber wide. I don’t think there is much carryover for a non-geared lifter. just my opinion.
[/quote]
As I’ve said, I’ve never done these wall squats. But in thinking about it, I have to agree. It really requires a super-wide stance to do these successfully. And very few raw lifters squat like that. Not sure why Frenchy’s coach is having her do these since she lifts raw (except for knee wraps). I suppose the exercise is beneficial in learning to sit back, but I think the box squats are better for most raw lifters because they allow you to use a natural stance. The wall squats seem to require a wide stance because there’s biomechically no other way to do them. Don’t you just love all the advice, Cav?
[quote]kpsnap wrote:
Don’t you just love all the advice, Cav?[/quote]
Oh yeah, dandy. With all this advice, I can’t even figure out how to lift anymore. It used to be so easy.
OK. This morning I hit the gym when there weren’t many people there. I pulled on the singlet, put on my new knee length socks, took a deep breath, and walked out to the power rack. I’m just self conscious, always have been. Nobody laughed or threw me out, so I set up the bar and started deadlifts. Really comfortable, like nothing’s there. makes me look good & trim, too. Decided to do singles to train for the meet.
135 x 4
185 x 3
205 x1 x1 x1
225 x1 x1 used a parallel grip for this, first time, yeah! grip’s getting stonger
235 x1 x1 x1
strangely difficult, why should that be?
245 x0
ok, that’s enough. I know I can do this, must be psychological. Grit your teeth, get serious, you’re a lifter, don’t take no for an answer.
245 x1 x1
that’s more like it. Switched back to sweats and finished the workout.
machine bicep
40 x 15
55 x 14
70 x 10
85 x 5
85 x 5
85 x 5
DB shrug
30 x 15
45 x 10
55 x 11
60 x 7
My palms are hurting worse than my traps. Got some real calluses. Or I did - my calluses always melt back into my palms. It’s a couple of hrs later and you can hardly see them now.
inverse rows on dip handles
x12 x12 x11
Two weeks to contest. Concerned that deads feel so tough. Need to keep my eating up, slipped a bit in the past couple of days, I know better than that. Thinking of trying some rack pulls next week, just holding without lifting, get used to the feel of heavy weight.
Oh, and thanks everyone for all the support.
Just remember to grit your teeth the 1st time, and see the weight in the air before you lift it, every time. Don’t wait til you fail to get pissed off.
Ogre, are you having a hard time finding an avatar you like? Anyway, message received about attitude.
OK, hips still a teensy bit sore from the deads, definitely whacked them. Had a voracious appetite and been eating and sleeping well, hope it means a little growth spurt coming my way.
Bench day. Seemed to do well last time, go up a bit:
45 x 15
100 x 7
115 x 6
125 x 5
130 x 3
150 x 2 FAILURE spotter caught it
95 x 20
20? Are my triceps all slow twitch?
rope pulldown
60 x 15
90 x 13
120 x 6
130 x 6 didn’t intend 130, but somebody snuck weights on the stack when I wasn’t looking
120 x 6
pec dec
40 x 15
70 x 12
100 x 6
100 x 5
100 x 6
100 x 6
CG bench
45 x 15
70 x 12
90 x 7
90 x 7 getting tough
90 x 5
90 x 5
shoulder twinging a little, been doing it off & on for past few weeks. muscle inbalance? do some rows:
50 x 15
70 x 12
90 x 10
90 x 10
not twinging now.
Talked with a couple of other guys while working out. They’re training partners. One guy’s skinny, started weights 6 months ago. Then, he could barely get 95# off his chest benching. Now, he’s benching about as much as me. I told him how great he was really gaining, almost benching BW now, and he just shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.” The other guy is entering the same contest I am, will do bench. Also his first. Was hoping to bench 275, doesn’t look like it, he has real trouble with 200. Really depressed, afraid he’ll look bad.
I’ve had it way harder than these guys, yet have the feeling I’m getting more out of it.
^^^
One of the keys to being happy with your lifting is to not compare your self to everybody else. I’m betting that guy thinks he should be benching 275 because someone else is.
^^^
One of the keys to being happy with your lifting is to not compare your self to everybody else. I’m betting that guy thinks he should be benching 275 because someone else is.
true that joe, nice work cav!
Joe is spot on. I like to see what others do to get an idea of what is possible, not to judge success or failure.
I missed a part of the wall squat talk but i do have some thoughts. Years ago we used a wall or a wide pillar if you had access to one and worked on squat form. Used normal squat stance and feet were several inches from the wall, and just squatted.
Didn’t force knees out wide, take a wide stance …blah blah, we just did a normal squat. It helped to keep head/shoulders up and knees from going past toes, nothing more or less, just a tool. Use it as a warm-up or to work on flexibility and form if knees really shooting forward or torso really leaning forwar. I think they are done completely different now the way it sounds and probably not very realistic.
Joe, good advice. My own progress has been so disappointing that I’ve learned to appreciate results that others might not notice. I tried to impress on him how thrilled he should be that he’s doing so well, way better than I ever did, but it didn’t seem to take.
Matty: that’s high praise, coming from you. Thanks.
Strick: on that note, a 205 military is damn good. Don’t feel bad because it isn’t 255 yet.
Germanone, I’m still not sure what wall squats can do for me, but am getting curious. May give them a try.
doing wall squats with a regular or narrow stance help you learn to sit back, because your knees will touch the wall if you dont sit back. however, based on your vids, I dont think this is your problem. The only problem I can see is that you don’t have a real good “feel” for parallel when you are squatting with a load/without a box. You might want to have your training partners call dept for you when you are squatting with weight, to help you get the feel.
[quote]mjnewland wrote:
doing wall squats with a regular or narrow stance help you learn to sit back, because your knees will touch the wall if you dont sit back. however, based on your vids, I dont think this is your problem. The only problem I can see is that you don’t have a real good “feel” for parallel when you are squatting with a load/without a box. You might want to have your training partners call dept for you when you are squatting with weight, to help you get the feel.[/quote]
Agreed, that’s exactly the problem. Which is why I’m doing box squats for weeks to come.
OK, been having some problems with youtube, if these load, you’ll see some low squats:
and 65 lbs:
Only one week to the meet… my god, only a week. So starting deload. Did some leg extentions, leg curls, seated calf, but at about half max weight.
Did some rack lifts, deadlifts at almost lockup. Seeing if I can get used to the feel of heavy weight. Grab, lift a couple of inches. Got up to 315#, held for an instant before it tore from my grip.
When I ordered the singlet, they sent a copy of Powerlifting USA. Article on partial lifts, arguing that they can be deceptive, not always working what you think they will.
Oh yes, did some hangs from the chin up bar - no chins, just hanging. Trying to keep my grip strong.