Good looking dead. I think if you stuck your chest out more it would flatten your back some, but when you do you will have to get lower in your stance(I believe its called the hole). At least its my 2c.
Oh, and your chins are a sight to be envied by me. I hope to get there late this year.
Nice work, OP. What do you think about the Sumo’s? They feel pretty strange to me, and feel like they would be hard on the hips for rep work.
UN - You are spot on. Chest out is key, but I don’t have the flexibility yet to sit lower hence its hard to get the chest up. The two go hand in hand. Thanks for the chins compliment - Now if I could just reduce the extra one around my neck.
Jack - Jury is out on Sumos. I think it depends a lot on personal leverages, body type, etc. One of the advantages is less bar travel off the floor. I’ve seen stats that Sumo’s are 60/40 legs/back vs. conventional at 40/60 legs/back. Not sure if that’s true but it feels that way.
My Sumo form is better and they are easier on the back. I was coached after I shot the above video and took a slightly wider stance and grip. I’m going to switch between conventional and sumo for the next few cycles until I figure it out.
My IT Bands near the hips are always sore after squats and deads anyway, so Sumos are just one more irritant. I foam roll and stretch the heck out of them. Hope they adapt over time. I’ve decided to work on double overhand grip on deads to avoid any potential bicep problems. Might try a thumb hook at some point.
So can you just not get down there at all, or just not with the weight? I know no one wants hear this, but maybe if you lightened the weight? Just a small blow to the ego until you make it up? I had to do that on squats, and once I got lower on squats, I got better hip flexibility.
For deads I can’t get there at all. The weight could be pink dumbbells and it wouldn’t matter.
A tight posterior chain due to 25 years of sitting on my ass at a desk. Doing what I can to correct it.
I am lowering squat weight a bit to get into the hole with good form. Trying to learn to take advantage of the stretch reflex while I’m at it.
I’ll try to shoot some video sometime this week to check it out.
C4/W2
Bench Press Day
Working Sets
225 x 3
255 x 3
285 x 5 - last rep assisted
BBB:
165 x 10 five sets
Some single and double board presses with 210 x 5 as well, just to get the feel of it.
Krocs:
90 x 10
100 x 8
110 x 7
Bar Dips:
BW x 15
BW x 20
BW +55 x 10
Squats:
135 x 10
185 x 5
225 x 5
255 x 3
295 x 3
225 x 5 five sets
Workout at the PL gym. Shot some video and learned that my bench form needs work. Feet were moving, my heels were up and my butt didn’t stay planted.
Just felt like doing some squats tonight do I could get a form check on those as well. I managed to hit depth, but need to work on it. Was about 2" too high on the money set. Think I’m going to get some squat shoes until my hamstrings loosen up. Been working out in wrestling shoes.
A little disappointed - I’ve lost 3lbs and just wasn’t feeling as strong overall. But I’m really happy about the form help from the PL team. Everyone in the gym is either training for Collegiate Nationals or Masters Nationals. Pretty cool workout environment.
Might as well put up the damage. Not one of my better bench performances, but since I had a spotter I thought I would go for it. Squats are getting close, but I need to get those hammies stretched.
So I have a long way to go, but getting form nailed down is really important. This is the first time I’ve ever seen my lifts.
Good work. You need to be driving your feet into the floor on the bench, think pushing down hard with your quads, this will keep you more stable and add some leg drive. And keep you tight on the bench. Squat video, yeah, they were a little high. Classic advice is always open the hips and push out the knees.
Nice work.
Some heavy pressing.
Your kind of tall squats looked good, as Pete said push the knees out
you can look at it two ways, lead with the ass/glutes and the knees will push out.
nice work OP, like Pete said the squats were a hair high but I’m pretty sure at this point that most people will be working on squat form as long as they lift. Plus, at least in my mind, there is a difference between being slightly high and "partial knee bends:.
I’m pissed your video won’t play here at work. Glad you’re getting some good advice from experienced lifters. I need some of that.
Make sure you get used to keeping the feet flat on the floor for bench before the USAPL meet. I bet once you utilize some leg drive your already strong bench will improve even faster.
Pete - When you say “open the hips and push out the knees” aren’t they one in the same? I was concentrating on pushing out my knees on reps 3-5. I hit depth on 3 but the others aren’t there. I think I’ll buy some squat shoes in the short term.
KMC - I try to lead with my butt and my primary thought is spread the knees hard, you can see me tighten the back before I go down. I need to work on better hip/posterior chain flexiblity.
Joe - I’m still fighting the oldman in me. Looking back, I was probably doing true partials late last year to protect my lower back.
Eco - I’m glad I sought out some good help from the USAPL. Its golden.
mrodock - That caught me by surprise, you can see my reaction at the end of the bench video. Somebody said my heels lifted and I was like “what the hell???”. I didn’t know that was a rule. I was definately dancing so that will be an area to focus on for Bench. I’m sure I’ve had them planted before, just not conscious of it yet.
Thanks everyone for checking in and offering great advice! Its humbling.
OMP, during my warmups I put a decent amount of weight on the bar, say enough to lift 10-12 times. Then when I squat I spend some time at the bottom, say a second or two, and each time just stay at the bottom letting the weight stretch out my hips. After a few sets of those, getting deep inst a problem for me. Just keep the weight light, but not too light.
The old guys are kicking ass at the masters. Should be a good one.
UN - Great advice. The only way to get a good stretch for squats is to stretch doing squats.
JK - It would be great to see Tom and Freddy hang in there, but Tiger is out for blood. This is one of the first years I’m not walking the Augusta course.
I’m buried guys and probably won’t check in for a few weeks. I’m launching a new product next week, doing 3 trade shows in Vegas and Orlando, doing some speaking, bringing up a new company website, finishing off press releases and the list goes on.
Good thing I’m in decent enough shape for all of this.
Have fun and try to hit the hotel gyms if possible!
OK you old bastards, I’ve returned from my road trip and much worse for the wear and tear.
Since y’all are getting nostalgic about Stix, see if you can figure out who my golfing buddy is.
I’ve only had one round before he left for tour, but he joined my club and is a hoot to play with. Had him in the cart for 4 hours. Had to break out my rendition of Lady after he shanked one off the tee.
When I left for the road trip, I was on week 2 of 5/3/1 and picked up Week 3 this week.
Sore as hell but I got the reps in. Getting old isn’t for the faint of heart.
Welcome back OP!