Saw the write up this morning and the videos this evening.
Nothing to say that hasn’t been said, well done. Genuinely enjoyed watching the journey.
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Ditto from me, @MarkKO. This thread was the first thing I checked this morning, haha.
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Hell of a job man, nicely done!
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Great meet!!! but I also wanted to tease you about squatting too deep 
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Woke looking similar to yesterday, maybe a little more bloated.
Thanks everyone. You all rock
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It’s the wraps, they fuck with my proprioreception or something. Makes sure I get good rebound, though.
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Yes, they’re old Matflex 4s. They’re the best lifting shoes I’ve ever had. As close to barefoot as you’re going to get, plus the sole is pretty grippy.
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If your going for “barefoot-ness”, also check out the merrell vapour glove, vivobarefoot and Xero shoes.
tweet
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I think I’ve seen those kind of shoes. Seem decent, but I like the Matflexes enough I don’t see myself changing beyond a newer model when I need to replace them.
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Back in Canberra. Picked up some kind of stomach bug or something, started the first night I was in Newcastle. Could be as simple as different water for all I know, because it sure as hell tasted different. Nothing serious, so no worries.
I’ll be resting this week but extra workouts will start back up and I’ll do a couple of sessions in the gym with the prowler, reverse hyper and some kind of pulling.
I think I’ve gone over this before, but I have some rules for post meet week:
- no barbell
- nothing on my back or loading my spine
- no pushing/pressing
- raise my heart rate
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You missed, curl till your arms hurt !! 
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I did think about that, but experience tells me that curls can mess with my shoulder - in the same way they did to you. So yeah, no curls
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Yer sod em, curls are the devil
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Big moves man, great video and awesome lifts.
Other thing. Now the pressure is off I had a think about what could have caused the back issue. Now, we know (or as good as) that it originated last year when I was peaking for GPC States in March - I twisted awkwardly while seated and then squatted an hour later. I’m smart like that. It hung around at varying degrees of severity for another four or five weeks until it got really bad (remember the tingly legs?). Then I got given the rehab work (some stretches, the bracing hip thrusts and the bracing 90/90) and within a short time I was back to normal.
From what I could gather bar the initial instance where I twisted, the issue was that I wasn’t bracing correctly. My bracing got fixed, my back went back to normal. Easy. No idea what the issue was, I’m going to go ahead and assume it was poor bracing putting cumulative stress on my SI joint (credit to @flappinit for educating me to where it is), so at that point when I twisted it went. Squatting immediately after cemented the issue. Learning how to put my pelvis in the correct position and bracing properly let it recover.
Then late last year Greg says to us, here, this is how I want you guys to warm up, so I figure I’ll give it a shot. Until that point, as we all know I was doing the bracing hip thrusts and bracing 90/90 every lower body day along with some sled pushes and pump work. Greg’s suggested warmup was just stretching. It seemed to work fine, and was quicker (I did add in a few bracing hip thrusts for safety). Around this time Greg also encourages us to add extra workouts: cue pull aparts, banded good mornings, band curls and leg raises twice a week.
Then a couple of months later, I make that same bit of me go again. Squatting after a long drive, bang. More intelligence on my part. This time I know what to do, issue gets fixed within a week. Except during peak and I stretch it goes again.
Long story short, what I’m seeing is that I reduced the actual bracing warmups/practice and did a lot more stretching involving a flexed lower back. With two months or so of this, the issue comes right back (stupidity notwithstanding). I’m unsure how the extra workouts would have contributed to any issues. Possibly the leg raises?
Going forward I’m going to go back to the lower body warmups I was doing: bracing hip thrusts, bracing 90/90, sled pushes and pump work.
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I would suggest trying out windmills with a db or kb and “windmill squats” in addition. They’ve been suggested to me recently and I am starting to experiment with them. I can see why they have potential. Chris Duffin has also promoted them for strength athletes, as well as Martins Licis.
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Nice job man, solid lifts
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Awesome meet Mark, happy for you.
That is a mighty deadlift PR.
Your write up definitely has me excited for my return to the platform in May!
Lol, I can relate.
Do you already have your next meet lined up?
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Great job, great lifts! Smooth squat. I like how you had no problem adjusting to the judge wanting exaggerated elbow lock-out and still hit a nice bench PR. Beautiful deadlift!
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Thanks! Might get some myself some time in the future
@thebird thanks for the suggestions! I’ll look into those too
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