[quote]skidmark wrote:
If you warm up thoroughly at the bottom end you can take bigger jumps and spare the energy for the top attempt. I’d take 30 lb jumps on squats and 40 lb jumps on DL. Bench looks reasonable. My rule of thumb is 10% jumps in weight - 15% if I’m feeling squirrelly. [/quote]
Thanks skid - the 10% rule of thumb had crossed my mind. I believe I’ll go with that and gauge my high warm-up set to put my first max attempt around 5% higher than my previous max.
[quote]soldog wrote:
So I’m looking for suggestions on how to approach testing max lifts in Bench, Deads, MP and squats.
My current thinking is to hit Bench then Deads Thursday evening at home and then Squat and MP Friday when I can get to the company gym and use a power cage.
I’m also looking at the following progression of warm-ups and attempts:
Bench (Previous max of 180# on March 19)
Barx10, 95x3, 115x3, 135x1, 165x1, 185, 195, 205 …
Dead lift (previous max of 365# on March 12)
115x5, 185x3, 275x2, 325x1, 355x1, 375, 395, 405, 415 …
Squat (previous max of 255 June 6, 2008 but I’m pretty sure the depth wasn’t good)
barx10, 135x5, 185x3, 205x1, 225x1, 245, 265, 285, 305 …
MP (no previous max attempt)
barx5, 70x3, 85x1, 95, 105, 115, 125 …
Any and all suggestions welcomed. My thought looking at this written out is that I’m taking too small of steps.
Thanks[/quote]
El Perro del Sol,
I recently got a tip about my squats and deads from a local coach that I was doing way too much before max attempts. I wasn’t making as small jumps as you but doing way too many reps before the higher attempts.
Is it too much too soon to slap plates on? Eg. Squat: 135x, 225x, 275x, Maxx. DL: 135, 225, 315, 405, max. Or something like that?
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
El Perro del Sol,
I recently got a tip about my squats and deads from a local coach that I was doing way too much before max attempts. I wasn’t making as small jumps as you but doing way too many reps before the higher attempts.
Is it too much too soon to slap plates on? Eg. Squat: 135x, 225x, 275x, Maxx. DL: 135, 225, 315, 405, max. Or something like that?
[/quote]
I dunno - I do know that sometimes over the last couple of months it has seemed like I haven’t gotten warm until my 3rd working set. But conversely, as you say, too much prior to max attempts is counter-productive. Much to ponder…
Thanks
There was a great article on warm ups within the past 6 months, I think from Tim Henriques, but I can’t find it. I’m pretty sure it was here. search on Articles with warm-up as the keyword. I used his warmup style the last time I tested 1rm, and I’ll use it at a meet in May.
[quote]mjnewland wrote:
There was a great article on warm ups within the past 6 months, I think from Tim Henriques, but I can’t find it. I’m pretty sure it was here. search on Articles with warm-up as the keyword. I used his warmup style the last time I tested 1rm, and I’ll use it at a meet in May.[/quote]
MJ is on the money about Tim’s article
[quote]formfunction wrote:
mjnewland wrote:
There was a great article on warm ups within the past 6 months, I think from Tim Henriques, but I can’t find it. I’m pretty sure it was here. search on Articles with warm-up as the keyword. I used his warmup style the last time I tested 1rm, and I’ll use it at a meet in May.
MJ is on the money about Tim’s article
How to Warm Up for a One-Rep Max [/quote]
Hey thanks guys! I hadn’t seen that article.
Major stress in my life these days, wife is ready to kick the boy out of the house at age 15 due to attitude toward her and school. The boy is failing 3 classes as a freshman with a “D” in another. He and another boy just got caught turning in identical science papers. My son’s had whiteout over the name with his name written in at the top.
Just how stupid can he be. The other night I caught him swiping my beer and he denied it until I showed him that simple addition and subtraction told me how many he drank that evening.
I’ve been trying to keep a relationship going with him in the face of all this lying because he and his mother can’t even talk without one or the other blowing up.
I don’t f’n know what to do…
I guess keep on keepin’ on and try to talk frankly without getting angry and vindictive but consequences have to come his way.
sorry for dumping…
I feel your pain. The son-wife wars are just beginning in my home.
The problem for us will be that if my son begins lying to me, that will be a terrible strain on our relationship because it means that trust has been broken, either by him for lying or by me - causing him to lie.
If he’s stealing beer and flunking the majority of his classes at 15 it might be wise to find out as much as you can about his friends and what reputations they have. Drugs may be involved here.
He may also have no idea what it is he wants to get out of high school or why he is even there. If he is at all intelligent he’s probably dead-tired of the public school system. What if he got a GED and got a job for a while or moved up into community college or both?
At 15 I wanted to be respected as an adult even though I was still a child. I would have settled for a facade of respect from my father while leaning on him heavily for advice if I could have. At that age you want to make your own decisions, but don’t have enough experience, usually, to make good ones. You also don’t want to look weak and indecisive. And you don’t want to be ordered around even if what’s being ordered makes sense. You can’t hear that part, because you’re prideful and all the more so, because you know you haven’t much, experientially, to be proud of yet.
I can’t do with my son as my father did with me, because it caused me to avoid my family for more than a decade as soon as I got out of the house. I’m trying to apply my understanding of what I felt as a tween and as a teenager to what I’m trying to do (and not do) with my son. We’ll see if it works or not, but I can’t help but think that respect is at the base of it, no matter how stupid I think his past-times are or how stupid the decisions he makes. Past a certain point, I believe, one doesn’t have any control over one’s children, one only has influence - and that’s a tenuous thing.
[quote]skidmark wrote:
I feel your pain. The son-wife wars are just beginning in my home.
The problem for us will be that if my son begins lying to me, that will be a terrible strain on our relationship because it means that trust has been broken, either by him for lying or by me - causing him to lie.
If he’s stealing beer and flunking the majority of his classes at 15 it might be wise to find out as much as you can about his friends and what reputations they have. Drugs may be involved here.
He may also have no idea what it is he wants to get out of high school or why he is even there. If he is at all intelligent he’s probably dead-tired of the public school system. What if he got a GED and got a job for a while or moved up into community college or both?
At 15 I wanted to be respected as an adult even though I was still a child. I would have settled for a facade of respect from my father while leaning on him heavily for advice if I could have. At that age you want to make your own decisions, but don’t have enough experience, usually, to make good ones. You also don’t want to look weak and indecisive. And you don’t want to be ordered around even if what’s being ordered makes sense. You can’t hear that part, because you’re prideful and all the more so, because you know you haven’t much, experientially, to be proud of yet.
I can’t do with my son as my father did with me, because it caused me to avoid my family for more than a decade as soon as I got out of the house. I’m trying to apply my understanding of what I felt as a tween and as a teenager to what I’m trying to do (and not do) with my son. We’ll see if it works or not, but I can’t help but think that respect is at the base of it, no matter how stupid I think his past-times are or how stupid the decisions he makes. Past a certain point, I believe, one doesn’t have any control over one’s children, one only has influence - and that’s a tenuous thing.[/quote]
Thanks skid - I’ve had many of those discussions with Chris and today I even told him that I’m trying to be a father and a friend at the same time and that it is really hard. He acknowledged that and said he appreciated it. I’m doing my best to be supportive but also telling him when he crosses the boundaries also trying to help him in his relationship with his mother.
Raising kids is always a work in progress…
Stressed out or not I went ahead and did a push-pull tonight.
30 April 2009
W=197
Bike 10m, sh rehab
1RM tests
Bench barx10, 95x8, 115x5, 135x3, 155x1, 175x1, 195x1, 205x0/0 10 lb PR at 195
1st fail
Sumo DL 135x8, 225x5, 275x2, 325x1, 375x0 didn’t break the floor
I haven’t pulled heavy since dislocating my fingers and it showed here. 325 was heavy but I stuck with the plan and at least videoed my setup on the 375#. Might try again on Sunday if I sleep better between now and then. Got some Z-12 ZMA today that I hope helps. (Just call me a Biotest whore now…)
Holy RDL’s batman - I tried to Sumo RDL that sucker.
A few things:
Smaller guys like us benching raw can’t go so far down the torso. I like to hit right about where the ribs come together at sternum. Much farther and the torque is too much for me to overcome.
You’re coming down pretty fast and that takes you out of control, making it harder to hit the groove on the way up.
The main strength is there, just some technique work is needed.
Sumo - first thing to move was your hips. That took you right into a wide stance stiff-legged DL. Was the 325 like that too? I have a strong tendency to backlift sumos myself.
[quote]skidmark wrote:
A few things:
Smaller guys like us benching raw can’t go so far down the torso. I like to hit right about where the ribs come together at sternum. Much farther and the torque is too much for me to overcome.
You’re coming down pretty fast and that takes you out of control, making it harder to hit the groove on the way up.
The main strength is there, just some technique work is needed.
Sumo - first thing to move was your hips. That took you right into a wide stance stiff-legged DL. Was the 325 like that too? I have a strong tendency to backlift sumos myself.[/quote]
I never thought about how fast to come down on the bench and I have been targeting the xyphoid process (as you say - where the ribs come together)
Didn’t video the 325 because I was running out of battery but I have a feeling it was the same
1 May 2009
W=198
Bike 5 min
1RM tests
Squat barx10, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1 (something squirrely happened with my hips)
245x1,
265x1 PR
285x1 PR
video of 285 above, I think I was a bit high on this one.
225
MP Baseline PR sets
Barx8, 65x5, 85x3, 100x1, 115x1, 125x0 (didn?t get above my nose)
I welcome any and all comments and critique to improve my form on any of these lifts. Fire at will!
CONGRATS on your PR’s Dog!
[quote]soldog wrote:
1 May 2009
W=198
Bike 5 min
1RM tests
Squat barx10, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1 (something squirrely happened with my hips)
245x1,
265x1 PR
285x1 PR
video of 285 above, I think I was a bit high on this one.
225
MP Baseline PR sets
Barx8, 65x5, 85x3, 100x1, 115x1, 125x0 (didn?t get above my nose)
I welcome any and all comments and critique to improve my form on any of these lifts. Fire at will!
[/quote]
You were indeed high on the 285. but that 265 looked pretty good. Knees caved a bit and you shot the hips back a tad. I’m in process of fixing that in my squats right now too. Near-max lifts are always somewhat fugly. I’d bring the pins down a bit. so you can’t whack 'em.
That 115 MP pretty much flew up.
MP’s are like that. You’ll have a strong press at one weight but can’t move a weight just 10lbs more past the forehead. It’s a lift very dependent on a complex of some very small muscles. Not only do they have to be strong, they have to coordinate properly to get that bar up. A little boost in poundage almost requires a new style of pressing, sometimes.
[quote]skidmark wrote:
You were indeed high on the 285. but that 265 looked pretty good. Knees caved a bit and you shot the hips back a tad. I’m in process of fixing that in my squats right now too. Near-max lifts are always somewhat fugly. I’d bring the pins down a bit. so you can’t whack 'em.
That 115 MP pretty much flew up.
MP’s are like that. You’ll have a strong press at one weight but can’t move a weight just 10lbs more past the forehead. It’s a lift very dependent on a complex of some very small muscles. Not only do they have to be strong, they have to coordinate properly to get that bar up. A little boost in poundage almost requires a new style of pressing, sometimes.[/quote]
Thanks SteelyD!
and thank you skidmark for the comments. I think I’ll add a band around my knees on squat day to work on keeping them out. I actually had the pins there as a secondary depth check, but you are right they should go down another notch. Whacking them was getting annoying.
Sorry to hear about the strain of emetions in the family. It is always so difficult to figure out a solution. Best of luck with that soldog.
Awesome workouts however. Congrats on the PR"s, there will many many more in your future. Stay strong during these trying times brother.
Hey, I found you! 
Granted I didn’t read all 48 pages you’ve got here, haha…
Good work on your PR’s!! Sorry if I missed it, but are you doing a particular program right now?
Also sorry to hear about the troubles you are having with your son…is that your only one?
From my experience as a teen,all I ever wanted was one on one attention from my mom…I only ever got it when I was being bad…she never acknowledged the GOOD things…maybe that’s what he needs? A little one on one time and positive reinforcement! 
My son is 7, and I wish he could stay this way forever! 
[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
Hey, I found you!
Granted I didn’t read all 48 pages you’ve got here, haha…
Good work on your PR’s!! Sorry if I missed it, but are you doing a particular program right now?
Also sorry to hear about the troubles you are having with your son…is that your only one?
From my experience as a teen,all I ever wanted was one on one attention from my mom…I only ever got it when I was being bad…she never acknowledged the GOOD things…maybe that’s what he needs? A little one on one time and positive reinforcement!
My son is 7, and I wish he could stay this way forever! :([/quote]
Hey there - I have a daughter in college finishing her freshman year this month. She has been virtually a straight “A” student and no trouble at all throughout growning up.
EDIT: I’m moving from a upper/lower split to Wendler’s 531 program. Which is why I’m testing my max lifts these past few days.