i still got the video of the squats if you want me to post it up so that people can critique it.
[quote]dropshot001 wrote:
i still got the video of the squats if you want me to post it up so that people can critique it.
[/quote]
Sure man, thanks!
[quote]mrodock wrote:
Squats felt alright. I had felt that I was favoring my right side slightly as I was squatting up. Sure enough, my hips shift to the right as I squat up. I don’t know if this is a strength imbalance or specific to the glute medius. If anyone has any information please let me know. Otherwise I will be on the lookout.
[/quote]
Sometimes it’s something as simple as one leg being too far apart or the angle of your feet being angled differently. Every time I’ve favored a side it’s because my set up is off. Obviously this would be the easiest of things to fix and would be great if that is all you’re dealing with.
[quote]novaeer wrote:
mrodock wrote:
Squats felt alright. I had felt that I was favoring my right side slightly as I was squatting up. Sure enough, my hips shift to the right as I squat up. I don’t know if this is a strength imbalance or specific to the glute medius. If anyone has any information please let me know. Otherwise I will be on the lookout.
Sometimes it’s something as simple as one leg being too far apart or the angle of your feet being angled differently. Every time I’ve favored a side it’s because my set up is off. Obviously this would be the easiest of things to fix and would be great if that is all you’re dealing with. [/quote]
I will definitely pay more attention to set-up but I fear there is something else behind it.
Here is what I think my bench program is going to look like over the next 9 weeks leading into my simulated competition day:
[b]Week 1[/b]
Day 1
3x6x70%
Day 2
4x5x75%
[b]Week 2[/b]
Day 1
5x4x80%
Day 2
6x3x85%
[b]Week 3[/b]
Day 1
3x3x75%
Day 2
5 rep max
[b]Week 4[/b]
Day 1
3x6x70% (+5/10 pounds)
Day 2
4x5x75% (+5/10 pounds)
[b]Week 5[/b]
Day 1
5x4x80% (+5/10 pounds)
Day 2
6x3x85% (+5/10 pounds)
[b]Week 6[/b]
Day 1
3x3x75%
Day 2
3 rep max
[b]Week 7[/b]
Day 1
3x6x70% (+10 to 20 pounds)
Day 2
4x5x75% (+10 to 20 pounds)
[b]Week 8[/b]
Day 1
5x4x80% (+10 to 20 pounds)
Day 2
6x3x85% (+10 to 20 pounds)
[b]Week 9[/b]
Day 1
off
Day 2
1 rep max
[b]Accessory Work[/b]
Day 1
Incline Bench Press (5x5, ramping)
Rear Laterals (3x12)
DB Bench (1 top set)
Day 2
Sahrmann Press (3 sets of 6-8)
DB Rolling Extensions/Lying Skullcrushers (4 sets of 8)
GOLF? What the hell? dropshot did you let a barbell fall on this guy’s head? 
Sorry man, not a big fan of that game, I think it has something to do with really sucking at it.
On a serious note, sorry about misunderstanding your prior post. I didn’t think you were going to quit, but I thought (“feared”) you were going to start treating powerlifting as just a recreational hobby based on the benching set back.
I would recommend you start golfing again as well if it’s something you really enjoy. As an aside, mobility drills can do wonders for your golf game. Look up some of Phil Hartman’s (sp?) stuff. He has some golf specific stuff out there. The mobility will also transfer over nicely to your lifting as well.
I’ll leave you with one piece of advice I received earlier this year after my disappointing results from my 2nd competition. One of the guys helping me out said, " Don’t worry about it, you haven’t even scratched the surface of the disappointments this sport is going to give you."
My response (with a smile), “Gee thanks, that’s something to look forward too.”
[quote]mrodock wrote:
Here is what I think my bench program is going to look like over the next 9 weeks leading into my simulated competition day:
[b]Accessory Work[/b]
Day 1
Incline Bench Press
Rear Laterals
Day 2
Sahrmann Press
DB Rolling Extensions/Lying Skullcrushers
[/quote]
Where do you miss? Off the chest, 3-4 inches off or at lockout? Unfortunately you need to answer this for both raw and equipted.
What I’m getting at is you should likely base your accessory work on the answers.
Also what’s a Sahrmann Press?
[quote]Ruggerlife wrote:
GOLF? What the hell? dropshot did you let a barbell fall on this guy’s head?
Sorry man, not a big fan of that game, I think it has something to do with really sucking at it.
On a serious note, sorry about misunderstanding your prior post. I didn’t think you were going to quit, but I thought (“feared”) you were going to start treating powerlifting as just a recreational hobby based on the benching set back.
I would recommend you start golfing again as well if it’s something you really enjoy. As an aside, mobility drills can do wonders for your golf game. Look up some of Phil Hartman’s (sp?) stuff. He has some golf specific stuff out there. The mobility will also transfer over nicely to your lifting as well.
I’ll leave you with one piece of advice I received earlier this year after my disappointing results from my 2nd competition. One of the guys helping me out said, " Don’t worry about it, you haven’t even scratched the surface of the disappointments this sport is going to give you."
My response (with a smile), “Gee thanks, that’s something to look forward too.”
[/quote]
Well I can’t guarantee exactly what that first post meant. I guess some setbacks in the weight room really made me miss golf. To be honest I don’t think I can treat lifting as a hobby. It is either to get really strong or I’d drop it like a bad habit. The idea of going in to the gym and putzing around with no real aim makes me sick.
But in the back of my mind I know my body is really tired now, my mind is tired, and I am really pissed about my bench and I don’t exactly know what to do. In other words I am completely incapable of reasoning with rationality. I will complete this 16 week cycle, I will re-evaluate, then plan my competition cycle. There will be hardships, sure, that is part of the deal. But I will get better at being strategic in how I mentally deal with them.
The truth is I would have ordinarily kept all of that bullshit that was going through my head to myself but I decided to write it on here because if people are actually willing to click on this thread and read something in here I decided I am just going to be brutally honest. I feel I owe anyone/everyone that. Whether it makes me look like a puss, baby, moron, whatever.
In a way powerlifting was a re-invention of myself. I spent 17 years struggling to become a great golfer. I never got there. I never dropped below a 4 handicap but I had found a really good teacher a month before I fell in love with lifting. Golf was about to take off but I chose lifting over it. Even though I had started lifting to help my golf. So I am still trying to really figure out who I am as a lifter (that sounded like some Oprah bullshit, fuck!)
Once school starts again I’ll have far less time to get in my own way!
Yeah I am definitely familiar with Bill Hartman, I have a couple of his golf-related videos.
[quote]Ruggerlife wrote:
mrodock wrote:
Here is what I think my bench program is going to look like over the next 9 weeks leading into my simulated competition day:
[b]Accessory Work[/b]
Day 1
Incline Bench Press
Rear Laterals
Day 2
Sahrmann Press
DB Rolling Extensions/Lying Skullcrushers
Where do you miss? Off the chest, 3-4 inches off or at lockout? Unfortunately you need to answer this for both raw and equipted.
What I’m getting at is you should likely base your accessory work on the answers.
Also what’s a Sahrmann Press?[/quote]
Sahrmann press is a DB overhead press with palms facing: Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION
I miss a few inches off my chest. I don’t get stapled ever but after the pause I just can’t get the bar moving that well when I miss (typically). I will miss higher up in a shirt, a few inches from lockout. So I guess with that being said I just need to get stronger plain and simple.
I am absolutely terrible at barbell incline presses so I figure trying to get stronger on those might be beneficial.
I think from now on when I do raw bench testing I will pause very briefly without a press command. So a person could subtract a few pounds off for my true raw competition bench but I am an equipped lifter where the lift is hard further off the chest so the strategy works for me. I don’t want to get too comfortable with touch and go for singles whether I am in a shirt or raw. Haha, broke into a ramble.
[quote]mrodock wrote:
I will definitely pay more attention to set-up but I fear there is something else behind it.[/quote]
You could be lucky that the set-up is the factor (also remember one leg can be a smidge shorter than the other and this affects things as well). Just take some videos from different angles (front, back, side) and we’ll see if we can’t get to the bottom of this.
[quote]mrodock wrote:
I miss a few inches off my chest. I don’t get stapled ever but after the pause I just can’t get the bar moving that well when I miss (typically). I will miss higher up in a shirt, a few inches from lockout. So I guess with that being said I just need to get stronger plain and simple.
I am absolutely terrible at barbell incline presses so I figure trying to get stronger on those might be beneficial.
I think from now on when I do raw bench testing I will pause very briefly without a press command. So a person could subtract a few pounds off for my true raw competition bench but I am an equipped lifter where the lift is hard further off the chest so the strategy works for me. I don’t want to get too comfortable with touch and go for singles whether I am in a shirt or raw. Haha, broke into a ramble.[/quote]
I know you made a thread in the strength sports section, but I thought it’d be better to answer you in here regarding the bench press. I had a decent shirted bench and a lot of my raw board press numbers were pretty good. However, when I decided to take the shirt off and focus on going RAAAAAWWWW, I realized my bottom end was weak as shit. I realize a lot of the issue was focusing on the shirt but I thought it ridiculous that I could shirt bench 480 easily and struggled to raw bench 315 for a paused single. Just didn’t want to be that guy, you know?
Not to sound like an infomercial, but RTS has made all the difference for my bench. Having the raw bench day (paused benches, 1-board, soft-touch bench) and a top end/lockout day (bands, chains, boards, etc), I’ve found them to be very complementary to one another. Instead of periodizing your bench, maybe follow something like an RTS-inspired template for your bench for the next couple of months and see where it takes you. The shirt work fits in very nicely with it because it would go in on the top end/lockout day. If you have any interest in something like this, let me know and I’ll see if I can help you put it together.
[quote]novaeer wrote:
mrodock wrote:
I will definitely pay more attention to set-up but I fear there is something else behind it.
You could be lucky that the set-up is the factor (also remember one leg can be a smidge shorter than the other and this affects things as well). Just take some videos from different angles (front, back, side) and we’ll see if we can’t get to the bottom of this.[/quote]
Thanks man that is really cool of you. I will get some video this week.
[quote]mrodock wrote:
dropshot001 wrote:
i still got the video of the squats if you want me to post it up so that people can critique it.
Sure man, thanks![/quote]
okay, now i have to figure out how to get the card out of my phone and how ot put it on youtube, quite a challenge
[quote]Ruggerlife wrote:
GOLF? What the hell? dropshot did you let a barbell fall on this guy’s head?
[/quote]
no, i didn’t do it, but maybe next time he crashes on squats i’ll let him be stapled for a little bit before helping him up so he can think about his silly comment.
i think that he’s depressed because i almost beat him in mini golf and i’ve never golfed in my life. i like to use my putter as a driver and see how far i can hit the ball.
Yeah I certainly understand what you are saying about the raw and shirted bench. Right now I just suck at both. As long as I get good at shirted bench that is good enough for me. That said, the reason I have been focusing on the raw bench is that I figured I need to start building a decent base.
I have the RTS book and really like his approach toward bench in particular. I think I would be terrible at the RPEs for squat and deadlift but probably good with bench. I like the idea that there is room for experimentation and working on bottom end and top end strength simultaneously. There is one important thing tokeep in mind though. I still don’t know how to fucking bench (in Dave Tate’s words). So I think I should stay pretty basic with the movements.
I would have to do the bench days on my squat days. Do you think that can work? If so I would like to run a 6 week mesocycle followed by a 5 week mesocycle. Then it will be time for a 12 week meet cycle. Give me any thoughts you have on this so far novaeer. Thanks man!
[quote]novaeer wrote:
mrodock wrote:
I miss a few inches off my chest. I don’t get stapled ever but after the pause I just can’t get the bar moving that well when I miss (typically). I will miss higher up in a shirt, a few inches from lockout. So I guess with that being said I just need to get stronger plain and simple.
I am absolutely terrible at barbell incline presses so I figure trying to get stronger on those might be beneficial.
I think from now on when I do raw bench testing I will pause very briefly without a press command. So a person could subtract a few pounds off for my true raw competition bench but I am an equipped lifter where the lift is hard further off the chest so the strategy works for me. I don’t want to get too comfortable with touch and go for singles whether I am in a shirt or raw. Haha, broke into a ramble.
I know you made a thread in the strength sports section, but I thought it’d be better to answer you in here regarding the bench press. I had a decent shirted bench and a lot of my raw board press numbers were pretty good. However, when I decided to take the shirt off and focus on going RAAAAAWWWW, I realized my bottom end was weak as shit. I realize a lot of the issue was focusing on the shirt but I thought it ridiculous that I could shirt bench 480 easily and struggled to raw bench 315 for a paused single. Just didn’t want to be that guy, you know?
Not to sound like an infomercial, but RTS has made all the difference for my bench. Having the raw bench day (paused benches, 1-board, soft-touch bench) and a top end/lockout day (bands, chains, boards, etc), I’ve found them to be very complementary to one another. Instead of periodizing your bench, maybe follow something like an RTS-inspired template for your bench for the next couple of months and see where it takes you. The shirt work fits in very nicely with it because it would go in on the top end/lockout day. If you have any interest in something like this, let me know and I’ll see if I can help you put it together.[/quote]
[quote]dropshot001 wrote:
mrodock wrote:
dropshot001 wrote:
i still got the video of the squats if you want me to post it up so that people can critique it.
Sure man, thanks!
okay, now i have to figure out how to get the card out of my phone and how ot put it on youtube, quite a challenge[/quote]
I don’t want to give you a headache friendo.
[quote]dropshot001 wrote:
Ruggerlife wrote:
GOLF? What the hell? dropshot did you let a barbell fall on this guy’s head?
no, i didn’t do it, but maybe next time he crashes on squats i’ll let him be stapled for a little bit before helping him up so he can think about his silly comment.
i think that he’s depressed because i almost beat him in mini golf and i’ve never golfed in my life. i like to use my putter as a driver and see how far i can hit the ball. [/quote]
Well said. I think psychology is your calling. It’s not too late to start a new major. By the way, there is a new thread in the bodybuilding forum that is just begging for your input.
[quote]dropshot001 wrote:
[/quote]
Thanks buddy. If anyone has any ideas about the hip drift. Looks pretty darn subtle to me today. But the bar shifting on my back is damn weird.
[quote]mrodock wrote:
Yeah I certainly understand what you are saying about the raw and shirted bench. Right now I just suck at both. As long as I get good at shirted bench that is good enough for me. That said, the reason I have been focusing on the raw bench is that I figured I need to start building a decent base.
I have the RTS book and really like his approach toward bench in particular. I think I would be terrible at the RPEs for squat and deadlift but probably good with bench. I like the idea that there is room for experimentation and working on bottom end and top end strength simultaneously. There is one important thing tokeep in mind though. I still don’t know how to fucking bench (in Dave Tate’s words). So I think I should stay pretty basic with the movements.
I would have to do the bench days on my squat days. Do you think that can work? If so I would like to run a 6 week mesocycle followed by a 5 week mesocycle. Then it will be time for a 12 week meet cycle. Give me any thoughts you have on this so far novaeer. Thanks man!
[/quote]
I think you can definitely set it up that way. As far as exercise selection is concerned, do you have access to bands or chains, because they can really help out with developing that all-important lockout strength you need for shirted bench?
Can you break down what your training week looks like so we can figure out how the bench exercises fit into the overall scheme?