[quote]moshcamp wrote:
Also, OP, is that Suicide Silence shirt? Good band.[/quote]
Fo sho!
here’s a few tips that should help you out. The Mirror thing… take a dumbbell and throw it at the mirror in front of the squat rack problem solved…lol Seriously though… either look at yourself in the eyes the whole movement OR get a little post it note and stick to the mirror at eye level. Stare at it the whole squat. OR Third develop the 1000 yard stare. That mirror will f@wk you up.
maybe try lowering the weight slower. That dive bomb shit kills me. 315 moving slow is easier to get moving in the opposite direction than 315 dropping to the earth. Don’t be super slow but at any point in the movement you should be able to turn it around at will. did this make sense??
WATCH THESES VID’s ok they will set you straight. You’ll be repping that 315 like it aint shit.
If you can do this, you’ll be squatting like a pro…
here’s a few tips that should help you out. The Mirror thing… take a dumbbell and throw it at the mirror in front of the squat rack problem solved…lol Seriously though… either look at yourself in the eyes the whole movement OR get a little post it note and stick to the mirror at eye level. Stare at it the whole squat. OR Third develop the 1000 yard stare. That mirror will f@wk you up.
maybe try lowering the weight slower. That dive bomb shit kills me. 315 moving slow is easier to get moving in the opposite direction than 315 dropping to the earth. Don’t be super slow but at any point in the movement you should be able to turn it around at will. did this make sense??
WATCH THESES VID’s ok they will set you straight. You’ll be repping that 315 like it aint shit.
If you can do this, you’ll be squatting like a pro…
here’s a few tips that should help you out. The Mirror thing… take a dumbbell and throw it at the mirror in front of the squat rack problem solved…lol Seriously though… either look at yourself in the eyes the whole movement OR get a little post it note and stick to the mirror at eye level. Stare at it the whole squat. OR Third develop the 1000 yard stare. That mirror will f@wk you up.
maybe try lowering the weight slower. That dive bomb shit kills me. 315 moving slow is easier to get moving in the opposite direction than 315 dropping to the earth. Don’t be super slow but at any point in the movement you should be able to turn it around at will. did this make sense??
WATCH THESES VID’s ok they will set you straight. You’ll be repping that 315 like it aint shit.
If you can do this, you’ll be squatting like a pro…
Gawd: ‘I am not a wide-stance powerlifter, but I would still go a touch wider. When I began squatting, my narrow stance didn’t allow my hips to open up enough and squat down inside my legs. That’s one possible change that could be very minor and yet yield a big return-both in depth as well as in weight.’
this,
[quote]moshcamp wrote:
Eh, it’s referred to as both. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must get back to my laboratory…
[/quote]
This made me laugh out loud, touche.
Deep squats are harder than shallow squats, that’s why the lifters who does deep squats get more respect. 
Dude, StrengthDawg, thanks for posting that wall squat vid. I’d never seen that before but HAVE to squat tonight now after trying that.
[quote]JizzNibblets wrote:
I hear ya.
I’m actually trying to upload another video of me squatting that day from 2 different angles.
I went to squat today and I tried 2 different things.
-
I tried to squat with a lower bar squat and that straight up failed. I didn’t even unrack the barbell because it just felt too awkward and I felt like I wouldn’t be able to hold it for the whole duration.
-
The next thing I tried was to to go way wider than I usually do. I went slightly wider than shoulder width and I failed there as well, I couldn’t even get out of the hole.
I blame these 2 fails on the fact that I raised the weights by an additional 5 as the program wants me to do which isn’t very wise.
Either way, I am going to follow you advice and keep my high bar squat while trying to keep my torso more upright. I don’t know if it has any impact, however, I feel that this form will be healthier for my knees considering they will barely move.
Here it is:
The video is overly long, Skip at 37s to see the first lift and 1:49 to see the second.
[/quote]
When you perform the high-bar, olympic-style squat, your knees will move forward towards and over the toes (as yours do, quite obviously, in the video you posted). When you perform the ‘athletic squat’ that Rippetoe teaches, this should not happen. Buy Starting Strength and read the chapter on the squat a few times over.
Other than that, UrbanSavage has given plenty of good advice in his posts above. Buy some Chucks or a pair of squat shoes.
In terms of programming, what is your current progress like on SS? Are you still able to add weight to the main lifts pretty much every workout? If not, then it may be time for an intermediate program like 5/3/1 or the Texas Method, which would offer more scope for chucking in glute/ham raises, good mornings, and anything else that would bring up your hammies and glutes.
[quote]Element_26 wrote:
[quote]JizzNibblets wrote:
I hear ya.
I’m actually trying to upload another video of me squatting that day from 2 different angles.
I went to squat today and I tried 2 different things.
-
I tried to squat with a lower bar squat and that straight up failed. I didn’t even unrack the barbell because it just felt too awkward and I felt like I wouldn’t be able to hold it for the whole duration.
-
The next thing I tried was to to go way wider than I usually do. I went slightly wider than shoulder width and I failed there as well, I couldn’t even get out of the hole.
I blame these 2 fails on the fact that I raised the weights by an additional 5 as the program wants me to do which isn’t very wise.
Either way, I am going to follow you advice and keep my high bar squat while trying to keep my torso more upright. I don’t know if it has any impact, however, I feel that this form will be healthier for my knees considering they will barely move.
Here it is:
The video is overly long, Skip at 37s to see the first lift and 1:49 to see the second.
[/quote]
When you perform the high-bar, olympic-style squat, your knees will move forward towards and over the toes (as yours do, quite obviously, in the video you posted). When you perform the ‘athletic squat’ that Rippetoe teaches, this should not happen. Buy Starting Strength and read the chapter on the squat a few times over.
Other than that, UrbanSavage has given plenty of good advice in his posts above. Buy some Chucks or a pair of squat shoes.
In terms of programming, what is your current progress like on SS? Are you still able to add weight to the main lifts pretty much every workout? If not, then it may be time for an intermediate program like 5/3/1 or the Texas Method, which would offer more scope for chucking in glute/ham raises, good mornings, and anything else that would bring up your hammies and glutes.
[/quote]
Yea my progress on SS is pretty much done. I’m not gonna post every workout I’ve done over the last year but this is the progression I made (5rm’s).
Squat 135 to 325
Deadlift 135 to 345 (gonna try to pull a 365 tommorow to top things off)
Bench 135 to 230
OH Press 45 to 140
Dips Bw to BW+65
Chin ups Bw to BW+65
Pull ups Bw to BW+65
Pclean 45 to 155
Front Squat 45 to 245
I’m not really sure how I feel as far as progress goes, I think I could have done better on many of the lifts, especially the squat and deadlift… anyway.
I’m gunnin’ to start 5/3/1 maybe next week, I just don’t know if I’ll be able to make it fit in my schedule, I’m gonna have to see.
I saw this 5/3/1 template that I like a lot:
Day 1: Shoulders and Biceps
Standing Military Press 5/3/1
DB Military Press 4 x12
Side Laterals/Rear Laterals 4 x12
Barbell Curls 4 x12
Preacher Curls 4 x10
Day 2: Back
Deadlift 5/3/1
Bent Over Rows 4 x12
Chin ups weighted 4 x10
Good Mornings 4 x10
Hanging Leg Raises 4 x12
Day 3: Chest and Triceps
Bench Press 5/3/1
Weighted Dips 4 x10
DB Flyes 4 x12
Triceps Pushdowns 5 x 20
Push ups 4 sets to failure
Day 4: Legs and Abs
Squat 5/3/1
Leg Press 5 x 15
Leg Curls 5 x 15
Leg Extensions 4 x12
Ab Wheel 4 x12
I’ve been meaning to ask, is there a way to compress this template into a 3 days split?
Nevermind, I did some research of my own and found his writeup. I don’t quite get it though.
''One mesocycle lasts 16 workouts, or a little over 5 weeks.
Each mesocycle has 4 microcycles or “waves”.
Wave 1. Warmup, 75%x5, 80%x5, 85%x5
Wave 2. Warmup, 80%x3, 85%x3, 90%x3
Wave 3. Warmup, 75%x5, 85%x3, 95%x1
Wave 4. (deload) - 60%x5, 65%x5, 70%x5’’
So if I understand correctly a wave = a week? I only see 4 wave so why does he talk about 5+ weeks?
and I’m gonna need to know my 1rm’s which I have no clue of. Do I need to perform them to see or do I want to use some kind of calculator?
[quote]JizzNibblets wrote:
Nevermind, I did some research of my own and found his writeup. I don’t quite get it though.
''One mesocycle lasts 16 workouts, or a little over 5 weeks.
Each mesocycle has 4 microcycles or “waves”.
Wave 1. Warmup, 75%x5, 80%x5, 85%x5
Wave 2. Warmup, 80%x3, 85%x3, 90%x3
Wave 3. Warmup, 75%x5, 85%x3, 95%x1
Wave 4. (deload) - 60%x5, 65%x5, 70%x5’’
So if I understand correctly a wave = a week? I only see 4 wave so why does he talk about 5+ weeks?
and I’m gonna need to know my 1rm’s which I have no clue of. Do I need to perform them to see or do I want to use some kind of calculator?[/quote]
If you’re lifting 3 times a week, your mesocycle is going to take longer to complete. If you’re doing 5/3/1 four times a week, it’s 3 weeks of lifting and then you deload every 4th week. A wave consists of four workouts.
Instead of going:
Week 1: 1, 2, 3, 4 Week 2: 1, 2, 3, 4 Week 3: 1, 2, 3, 4 Week 4: Deload
It goes:
Week 1: 1, 2, 3 Week 2: 4, 1, 2 Week 3: 3, 4, 1 Week 4: 2, 3, 4 Week 5: Deload
You don’t need to actually test your 1RM’s to do 5/3/1. That’s why Wendler tells you to take 90% of your 1RM’s before you start the program and use those as your working maxes.
My advice would be to use your 4 rep maxes and work with those. Your 4 rep max is ABOUT 90% of your 1 rep max. If you know or find your 4 rep max, you can just use that number to start with and you won’t have to take 90% of it. If you already know your approxime 1RM, just take 90% of it and start the program. If you’re unsure, you can take 85% of your 1RM to be on the safe side.
[quote]UrbanSavage wrote:
[quote]JizzNibblets wrote:
Nevermind, I did some research of my own and found his writeup. I don’t quite get it though.
''One mesocycle lasts 16 workouts, or a little over 5 weeks.
Each mesocycle has 4 microcycles or “waves”.
Wave 1. Warmup, 75%x5, 80%x5, 85%x5
Wave 2. Warmup, 80%x3, 85%x3, 90%x3
Wave 3. Warmup, 75%x5, 85%x3, 95%x1
Wave 4. (deload) - 60%x5, 65%x5, 70%x5’’
So if I understand correctly a wave = a week? I only see 4 wave so why does he talk about 5+ weeks?
and I’m gonna need to know my 1rm’s which I have no clue of. Do I need to perform them to see or do I want to use some kind of calculator?[/quote]
If you’re lifting 3 times a week, your mesocycle is going to take longer to complete. If you’re doing 5/3/1 four times a week, it’s 3 weeks of lifting and then you deload every 4th week. A wave consists of four workouts.
Instead of going:
Week 1: 1, 2, 3, 4 Week 2: 1, 2, 3, 4 Week 3: 1, 2, 3, 4 Week 4: Deload
It goes:
Week 1: 1, 2, 3 Week 2: 4, 1, 2 Week 3: 3, 4, 1 Week 4: 2, 3, 4 Week 5: Deload
You don’t need to actually test your 1RM’s to do 5/3/1. That’s why Wendler tells you to take 90% of your 1RM’s before you start the program and use those as your working maxes.
My advice would be to use your 4 rep maxes and work with those. Your 4 rep max is ABOUT 90% of your 1 rep max. If you know or find your 4 rep max, you can just use that number to start with and you won’t have to take 90% of it. If you already know your approxime 1RM, just take 90% of it and start the program. If you’re unsure, you can take 85% of your 1RM to be on the safe side.
[/quote]
Easy enough. Is there a given number of cycle I should do before I call the program a wrap or do I use it until I don’t progress anymore?
Edit: Actually no, 2 other questions.
After the deload week do I go back to the numbers I had previously or do I make new calculations based on what I did the 3 waves prior?
Lastly, can I go back and forth between 3 and 4 times a week? I made myself unavailable on mondays/wednesdays/fridays to be able to hit the gym on 3 non consecutive days but there are gonna be some weeks where I’ll have plenty of time to hit the gym 4 times during the week.
If it is fine to make the switch, is it fine for me to go for something like
M/T/M/Rest/F/rest/rest
or is it preferable to do something like M/T/Rest/T/F/Rest/Rest?
There’s no given number of cycles you do, but a lot of people do up to 8 cycles before they back their maxes down a bit and start again.
After the deload week, you add 5 lbs to your bench/military press and 10 lbs to your squat/deadlift.
I don’t see any problem with going back and forth between 3 and 4 times a week as long as you still take a deload week.
Obviously, it’s preferable to not do three days in a row of lifting and to break it up more, but if you can handle it then do it. If you’re going to go 3 days in a row though, just make sure that the 1st and 3rd days of those 3 days in a row are bench and military press, and either squat or deadlift in between as the 2nd day and don’t do as much assistance work that day. Squatting and deadlifting with only one day of rest seperating them would be a bad idea.
It’s up to you whether or not you’d prefer only lifting 3 times a week for the majority of the time or having to lift 3 days in a row every week. Anyway, if you read the book it will clear a ton of this stuff up (Check your PM’s).
Many Many thanks. I’m gonna make sure I have the whole program down and then I’m gonna apply it. I’m gonna squeeze the remaining gains I have on my current routine and move on in about 2 to 4 weeks. Pretty stoked about it.
I have used 5/3/1 now for about 16 months now. I went 12 months before making any appreciable changes to the program as written by Jim Wendler in the 5/3/1 book. Less out of decreasing gains and more out of specialization. What I mean is this-I continued to see 5-10 pounds per exercise per cycle of improvement, but not only was I getting a bit complacent, but my goals to get a good entry-level powerlifter total were not being met.
So I decided to integrate some WSBB practises-DE exercises-into my 5/3/1 routine a month or two ago.
For a beginner, I would suggest knocking 10% off of your current max, and use that for your starting weight on all 4 movements. Continue to advance 5-10 pounds per cycle until you’ve wrung all you can out of it. I strongly believe that this program will continue to provide results for many cycle with little change, as long as you alternate your accessory lifts and fill in the holes in the program with other accessory lifts.
My big holes were hamstring and upper back development. I added some RDLs to DL day, GMs to squat day, and a back workout to my military press day.
Best of luck.
With 5/3/1 certain lifts will stall out before others. I did my first reset probably on overhead press at about 6-8 cycles. Deadlift I went past 12 before having to reset those numbers. Basically if your making progress, don’t change a thing including the program itself, if its working why stop or change anything. To track progress what I do is use a 1RM calculator and in excel do your estimated 1RM for each days lift on your last set, take the average of the 3 weeks and thats my number for the cycle. The next cycles goal is to beat that number/average.
[quote]GaWd wrote:
I have used 5/3/1 now for about 16 months now. I went 12 months before making any appreciable changes to the program as written by Jim Wendler in the 5/3/1 book. Less out of decreasing gains and more out of specialization. What I mean is this-I continued to see 5-10 pounds per exercise per cycle of improvement, but not only was I getting a bit complacent, but my goals to get a good entry-level powerlifter total were not being met.
So I decided to integrate some WSBB practises-DE exercises-into my 5/3/1 routine a month or two ago.
For a beginner, I would suggest knocking 10% off of your current max, and use that for your starting weight on all 4 movements. Continue to advance 5-10 pounds per cycle until you’ve wrung all you can out of it. I strongly believe that this program will continue to provide results for many cycle with little change, as long as you alternate your accessory lifts and fill in the holes in the program with other accessory lifts.
My big holes were hamstring and upper back development. I added some RDLs to DL day, GMs to squat day, and a back workout to my military press day.
Best of luck.[/quote]
Isn’t WSBB some sport oriented program?
And yea, I’m scared of 5/3/1 in the sense that I really wanted to be squatting 405 for reps by the end of june this year and from the looks of it this program is going to require me to take a huge step back at first and then take baby steps forward. Not sure how I like that considering I’ve been on SS for a while and I was seeing progress really really fast but a lot of people has been giving this program praise… I think I’m just gonna have to roll with it and see how it goes.
I transitioned from SS to 5/3/1 because I was having issues recouperating from SS workouts (squatting every day is a KILLER on a big guy like me). 10% isn’t a HUGE step backwards, and with better recouperation time, once your legs recover from the constant pounding of SS, maybe you’ll be able to squat more in only a few cycles (especially if you widen your stance!). Track your performance for a cycle or 3 and see how it goes.
If you do 5/3/1 4 days per week, that’s 4 weeks per cycle. Some people include the 1 week deload, and others do not. At 4-5 weeks per cycle, you can get 5-7 cycles in by the end of June.
315-10%=~285
If we assume that you are able to progress at 10 lbs per cycle, you’ll be about 50 pounds shy of your goal, but there are so many unknowns, from recovery time to your ability to adapt to a load, etc. You could find Jim’s suggestion of -10% putting you too high in reps (if you use 285 for your max and hit 10 reps, you should probably not subtract any load).
You can progress at more than 10 lbs per week, too, but it is not advisable. Even Rip doesn’t suggest more than 10 pounds per cycle in SS, so I don’t know that you would get there any faster using any other program.
WSBB is Louie Simmon’s program for powerlifting. Most of the world’s strongest powerlifters use his methods. I wanted to see if I could develop some real explosive strength for my lifts and I think adding dynamic (explosive/speed) exercises will help me.
[quote]GaWd wrote:
You can progress at more than 10 lbs per week, too, but it is not advisable. Even Rip doesn’t suggest more than 10 pounds per cycle in SS, so I don’t know that you would get there any faster using any other program.
[/quote]
I’d rather not go faster than 10lb a month, I wouldn’t want to stall too fast and then feel discouraged and give up.
I don’t know about what kind of cycle you are talking about when you’re talking about SS, do you mean a week?
I was on the advanced program and I was squatting on mondays and fridays adding 5lb each time. Considering I will hit 3plates10 tommorow, I would see 405 in a month +1week. On 5/3/1 I’m not gonna see it before several months, think somewhere near the end of fall 2011