Forgot to pause the next 2 sets
175x3, +155x15* rep pr.
Incline bench: 45x10, 10x95,115,135*
Wide grip lat pull down: 100x20,20,17
First set felt awesome…slow decay mid through second set…shut it down last set due to sloppy form and not able to really squeeze the bottom
Rev grip barbell row (DL body English style): 135x20,20,20
SS DB hammer curls/tri kickbacks
25x 15/20,15/20,20/20
Wide grip bench:
95x10
115x7
135x10*
Push-ups: 25,14,4. Totally gassed
I hope that I can recover CNS enough for squats tomorrow. I was fried at the end of this. Great day in the gym.
Your elbows also say stop cocking your wrists. Try using a false grip of sitting the heel of your hand on the bar and pulling your elbows into your sides like a lat pull-down.
@MarkKO@The_Myth so after you guys pointed out these alterations I worked with a broom stick to get bar and wrist position correct. My shoulders are so tight I have trouble getting the hands into position. So I tried to do shoulder dislocations. Wow my shoulders are so tight. I’ve got some work to do on this bar position and wrist position. Thanks for the pointers.
Was taught that wrists cocked back was fine cos the load was on your back? Add wrist wraps and it’s doubly fine. As long as you can get you’re back tight it’s all good: wide narrow full grip false grip that weird grip Ben pollack does
Yeah those wrists looks a bit twisted. I honestly don’t know how mine are. Will have to take a video and post in near future, for you guys to have a laugh.
But I will not join the form police, I know my lift are screwed.
I’d say not. I made that mistake and absolutely trashed my elbows. Look at any good squatter: one thing you’ll notice is an absence of overly cocked wrists. There may be some, but only to the extent that the wraps can negate most of the strain. Generally either their shoulders are mobile enough to not need to cock their wrists much; or they grip wide enough not to need to cock their wrists; or they grip with a false grip, or not all fingers over the bar; of a combination.
When you cock your wrists by bringing your hands in and elbows forward it gives you what I’d call a impression of tightness. Yes, there’s a ton of tension, except it’s in your shoulders, wrists and elbows. This isn’t doing you any good. What you want is tension in your lats and upper back, which you can generate without needing any tension in your wrists or elbows at all.
So I’ve had a couple of rest days. I watched every video I could find on squat grip position and went into the gym this afternoon to get under a bar and practice the straight wrist thing to feel it out.
Not happening. No way no how. To get my elbows behind the bar and wrist straight the lowest position I can get with the bar is about the base of my skull. I tried to widen the grip distance, squeeze my shoulder blades together, squeeze my elbows down to my lats, etc…nothing worked
So I tried to do more shoulder dislocation work. A broomstick is not long enough to get my grip wide enough to do them. I do have a band and I started working with to improve this…doing shoulder dislocations and pull aparts until my shoulders are sore. Ugggh.
I’d start where you can/are comfortable and slowly move towards what you want. Setting up for squat over and over will stretch you out over time. So like every set is a half to full minute stretch specific to squat mobility.
Yeah tried that too. I’ll take some video today of trying to set up and let you guide me some. I’m all for fixing this. @MarkKO
@guineapig I worked yesterday on it for 15-20 minutes. I work around the gym every weekday. So I will find time to get into a rack everyday. I plan on doing dislocations and setups until I get it right. It may never work. I’m so damn tight it may never happen
I’ve never actually had an issue with low bar mobility cos I bend my wrists but there’s plenty of vids on YouTube that have exercises/stretches that are more specific to squatting than shoulder dislocations so they are probably better for you. I just picked a bunch not sure if they are good
Go into your Back Double Bicep Pose. Hold the contraction, and Squeeze into it! Then picture this
And keep squeezing.
Use your lats to pull your scapulas down, into your back pockets to raise your elbows. Squeeze the muscles in your mid back to get your elbows forward. Figure out how to externally rotate your forearms to allow your biceps and delts to get into a comfortable position.
Once you feel all that mid back stuff working, your Pulldowns( you mentioned having but losing the squeeze at the bottom) and band pull Aparts will be more effective.
After that, it should be more natural to Pull yourself under the bar, instead of torture rack stretching yourself under the bar.
If you can get your scapulae pinching together, and pulling down, you might be able to get your hands closer together.
Bottom line, if you get the low bar position right, your hands don’t need to be all tight and shit. The bar will rest on the muscles without you trying to hold it. If you can get that right, it should be easier to straighten your hands.
