My Road to Elite

Training Training Logs
881

[quote]mrodock wrote:

I figured why not throw a golf swing into the mix.

I am wearing a dress pant type belt. I never liked the way a standard lifting belt felt.

I am a little paranoid about getting called for belly benching, so that is probably why I am not tucking my elbows as much as I should.

Did you like the bar path on any of the presses or could they all have been pushed back more toward my face?? Probably not a good enough angle to really tell.

That squat/deadlift suit is really working well, thanks again![/quote]

I couldn’t see the belt. Does it hold the shirt in place pretty well? I wore one of those smaller tapered belts EFS sells (used to sell?). It worked great for holding the shirt in place. The angle of the camera made it tough to judge the bar path, so when (if) you get the chance to shirt bench again try snapping some vids from the side. As for the elbow tuck/belly issue, you only need to tuck just a smidge more to make it work. Finally, do you pull the collar down much at all? Again, that makes touching harder but the pop can be unreal if you get it right.

882

[quote]novaeer wrote:

[quote]mrodock wrote:

I figured why not throw a golf swing into the mix.

I am wearing a dress pant type belt. I never liked the way a standard lifting belt felt.

I am a little paranoid about getting called for belly benching, so that is probably why I am not tucking my elbows as much as I should.

Did you like the bar path on any of the presses or could they all have been pushed back more toward my face?? Probably not a good enough angle to really tell.

That squat/deadlift suit is really working well, thanks again![/quote]

I couldn’t see the belt. Does it hold the shirt in place pretty well? I wore one of those smaller tapered belts EFS sells (used to sell?). It worked great for holding the shirt in place. The angle of the camera made it tough to judge the bar path, so when (if) you get the chance to shirt bench again try snapping some vids from the side. As for the elbow tuck/belly issue, you only need to tuck just a smidge more to make it work. Finally, do you pull the collar down much at all? Again, that makes touching harder but the pop can be unreal if you get it right.[/quote]

I plan on shirt benching at least once and probably twice before the meet so I will get some more video and at a better angle. Would I position the camera perpendicular to the bench or at a slight angle?

The belt does hold the shirt in place.

For 275 the collar is pulled up. For 295 it was pulled down pretty far, for 285 it was also pulled down.

Okay, will tuck slightly more, thanks!

883

[quote]mrodock wrote:

Golf swing looked pretty good at the end, lol.

[/quote]

Who’s that skinny dude swinging the club at the end?
He is taking it up the elbow plane, double-shifts at the transition to a steeper turned shoulder plane and appears to use a random release with horizontal hinging. What is the shape of the divots?

Seriously good lifting. Your sumo deadlift is exactly the form I’m trying to groove. Shoulders over the bar, not in front, start with leg press and drive the hips once the bar passes the knees. I’m just beginning but the form feels right.

Best wishes on the meet.

884

That 590 squat flew up, im sure youll get well over 600 at your meet. Good luck!

885

[quote]Oldman Powers wrote:

[quote]mrodock wrote:

Golf swing looked pretty good at the end, lol.

[/quote]

Who’s that skinny dude swinging the club at the end?
He is taking it up the elbow plane, double-shifts at the transition to a steeper turned shoulder plane and appears to use a random release with horizontal hinging. What is the shape of the divots?

Seriously good lifting. Your sumo deadlift is exactly the form I’m trying to groove. Shoulders over the bar, not in front, start with leg press and drive the hips once the bar passes the knees. I’m just beginning but the form feels right.

Best wishes on the meet.[/quote]

Ha, that was about 60 pounds ago.

Sounds like an accurate characterization of that action. Divots . . . no divots off of that turf shit. I worked pretty hard on stack and tilt for a few months and things were really starting to fall into place when I found lifting.

Thanks man.

Post some video of the deadlift when you get the chance. There are two things that it took me awhile to learn/implement in the sumo deadlift. 1. Don’t allow the knees to get out front, the shins should be perpendicular to the ground. 2. The pelvis should not be tucked in the bottom position, it is more difficult to lock out if you have to untuck the pelvis during the pull. One other thing is to make sure you lock your arms down (by contracting your lats). This will shorten the pull.

886

[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
That 590 squat flew up, im sure youll get well over 600 at your meet. Good luck![/quote]

The 590 squat literally shocked me. I really thought it would be a grind, but that certainly wasn’t the case. Hopefully I can replicate the form at the meet. The plan is definitely to go well over 600, thanks!

887

Week 9, Day 3

Squat (cambered bar, belted)
1x3x225 (50%)
2x3x270 (60%)
2x3x315 (70%)
4x2x340 (75%)

Bench (paused, technique drilling)
1x2x135
1x2x165
9x1x185

Close grip pin press (#13, 1 in. from smooth)
1x4x135
1x4x165
1x4x195
1x4x215
1x4x230
1x4x245@10
1x3x255@10

Lat Pulldowns (V-bar)
1x10x90
1x10x110
1x12x130

Bentover Band Row
1x15xmini
4x12xmonster mini

Behind Neck Pullaparts
3x20xmini

Leg Lowering
3x10

Floor Skullcrushers
1x10x45
1x10x55
1x13x65

Tricep Pushdowns (rope)
1x5x70
1x11x50
1x18x40
1x39x30

Hammer Curls
3x8x30

Felt borderline awful before I went to the gym, really felt like not going. But once I got there I knew it was going to be a good session.

I suppose the bench today was sort of dynamic effort in nature. I just want to get some good technique work in before the meet without inducing all that much fatigue.

On the pin presses I raised the pins 1 notch and was able to use a decent amount of weight.

Squats were quite a bit easier than I thought they would be. I skipped good mornings because I thought it was crazy to do them 2 days after the skills evaluation (even though they were programmed). As I gain more experience I feel more comfortable making some modifications.

888

So I was thinking, today I tried deadlifting and just couldnt move any weight. It’s not because im overtrained, I think its just because I got little sleep last night, and didnt have much to eat today.

I only worked up to 375 (80% of my max) for a single. I would like to try DLing and perhaps squatting tomorrow. Do you think I will be to worn out from today do lift again? Maybe if I have to wait a day and try it again? (train on wednesday instead of tomorrow)

889

[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
So I was thinking, today I tried deadlifting and just couldnt move any weight. It’s not because im overtrained, I think its just because I got little sleep last night, and didnt have much to eat today.

I only worked up to 375 (80% of my max) for a single. I would like to try DLing and perhaps squatting tomorrow. Do you think I will be to worn out from today do lift again? Maybe if I have to wait a day and try it again? (train on wednesday instead of tomorrow)[/quote]

You’ll probably be fine to deadlift and squat tomorrow. I don’t think working up to 80% for a single will have worn you out at all.

890

[quote]mrodock wrote:

[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
So I was thinking, today I tried deadlifting and just couldnt move any weight. It’s not because im overtrained, I think its just because I got little sleep last night, and didnt have much to eat today.

I only worked up to 375 (80% of my max) for a single. I would like to try DLing and perhaps squatting tomorrow. Do you think I will be to worn out from today do lift again? Maybe if I have to wait a day and try it again? (train on wednesday instead of tomorrow)[/quote]

You’ll probably be fine to deadlift and squat tomorrow. I don’t think working up to 80% for a single will have worn you out at all.[/quote]

you forgot to yell at him for not eating enough. that will sap your strength fast! blacklabel, you should stuff your face tonight and tomorrow.

891

[quote]grettiron wrote:

[quote]mrodock wrote:

[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
So I was thinking, today I tried deadlifting and just couldnt move any weight. It’s not because im overtrained, I think its just because I got little sleep last night, and didnt have much to eat today.

I only worked up to 375 (80% of my max) for a single. I would like to try DLing and perhaps squatting tomorrow. Do you think I will be to worn out from today do lift again? Maybe if I have to wait a day and try it again? (train on wednesday instead of tomorrow)[/quote]

You’ll probably be fine to deadlift and squat tomorrow. I don’t think working up to 80% for a single will have worn you out at all.[/quote]

you forgot to yell at him for not eating enough. that will sap your strength fast! blacklabel, you should stuff your face tonight and tomorrow.
[/quote]

Thanks guys!

892

[quote]grettiron wrote:

[quote]mrodock wrote:

[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
So I was thinking, today I tried deadlifting and just couldnt move any weight. It’s not because im overtrained, I think its just because I got little sleep last night, and didnt have much to eat today.

I only worked up to 375 (80% of my max) for a single. I would like to try DLing and perhaps squatting tomorrow. Do you think I will be to worn out from today do lift again? Maybe if I have to wait a day and try it again? (train on wednesday instead of tomorrow)[/quote]

You’ll probably be fine to deadlift and squat tomorrow. I don’t think working up to 80% for a single will have worn you out at all.[/quote]

you forgot to yell at him for not eating enough. that will sap your strength fast! blacklabel, you should stuff your face tonight and tomorrow.
[/quote]

Truth is I was stuffing my face as I was typing the message, but thanks for filling in the gap!

893

This is like my PR thread and I would love your critique on this…

Out of all my PR’s, this is by far the most important one to me so far. I’ve wanted to Squat 300 for reps since I started working out 5 1/2 months ago. I have maxes next week and I’m hoping for a 350 BS.

Let me know what you think

894

[quote]ALKoHoLiK wrote:
This is like my PR thread and I would love your critique on this…

Out of all my PR’s, this is by far the most important one to me so far. I’ve wanted to Squat 300 for reps since I started working out 5 1/2 months ago. I have maxes next week and I’m hoping for a 350 BS.

Let me know what you think[/quote]

Funny I watched the video on youtube 5 minutes ago and congratulated you, haha.

As far as a critique goes the first thing that comes to mind is you sit way back on your heels like I do, so much so that your toes lift up. For me this felt extremely unstable and felt as though I could not transfer force as efficiently because of the instability. You’ll have to consider whether this is the case for you. If it is, I couldn’t recommend squat shoes with a moderate heel (like the Do-Win Rogues) highly enough.

I’m not in love with this camera angle but a couple of things. It doesn’t look like you are forcing your knees out hard as you descend in the squat. It looks as though you have to tip toe to unrack the bar, you need to lower the rack setting if possible. I am not certain if you are locking your upper back by depressing your scapulae and rolling up your chest before you unrack the bar. I don’t like how much your feet move around during the set, the feet should feel glued to the ground. One thing I like thinking about is feeling as though every back extensor muscle is squeezed to the maximum throughout the rep so your posture stays stable.

I do like how you are patient coming out of the hole. That is, you don’t panic when the weight doesn’t fly up, you stay solid in your posture and keep pushing.

Best of luck on PR day, let me know how things go!

895

[quote]mrodock wrote:

As far as a critique goes the first thing that comes to mind is you sit way back on your heels like I do, so much so that your toes lift up. For me this felt extremely unstable and felt as though I could not transfer force as efficiently because of the instability. You’ll have to consider whether this is the case for you. If it is, I couldn’t recommend squat shoes with a moderate heel (like the Do-Win Rogues) highly enough.[/quote]

I was actually looking at those today. I saw the new 2010 Do-Win’s and was thinking about getting them.

I will have to look at my knees again, I’m not sure if they do go out very far. The angle is to see if I got depth, I will try to find a good mix between the two. I do have to tip toe to unrack, I will adjust the setting now, that you mentioned it. As far as my back and scapulae all I know is, is that I try to force my back as far into it as possible, while pushing my head/neck back. Is that the same thing?

As for the feet moving around, it was me being nervous/anxious. This was as much a mental lift for me as a physical. I will work on that as well.

[quote]I do like how you are patient coming out of the hole. That is, you don’t panic when the weight doesn’t fly up, you stay solid in your posture and keep pushing.

Best of luck on PR day, let me know how things go![/quote]

Lol, well if I don’t come out of the hole, that weight will crush me. I kinda like having that in the back of my head when I attempt something. Keeps me humble and doesn’t let my ego hopefully get the best of me

I will definitely let you know how things go, as you seem to give me a honest and lengthy critique that I enjoy reading. I have Squat, Bench, Deadlift and OHP maxes next week, I will be sure to stop on by and post them up either here or Training Personal Records thread.

Thank you

896

[quote]ALKoHoLiK wrote:

I was actually looking at those today. I saw the new 2010 Do-Win’s and was thinking about getting them.

I will have to look at my knees again, I’m not sure if they do go out very far. The angle is to see if I got depth, I will try to find a good mix between the two. I do have to tip toe to unrack, I will adjust the setting now, that you mentioned it. As far as my back and scapulae all I know is, is that I try to force my back as far into it as possible, while pushing my head/neck back. Is that the same thing?

As for the feet moving around, it was me being nervous/anxious. This was as much a mental lift for me as a physical. I will work on that as well.

Lol, well if I don’t come out of the hole, that weight will crush me. I kinda like having that in the back of my head when I attempt something. Keeps me humble and doesn’t let my ego hopefully get the best of me

I will definitely let you know how things go, as you seem to give me a honest and lengthy critique that I enjoy reading. I have Squat, Bench, Deadlift and OHP maxes next week, I will be sure to stop on by and post them up either here or Training Personal Records thread.

Thank you
[/quote]

The 2010 model looks solid, the main thing I wouldn’t to make sure of is that you didn’t get something with too big of a heel, .75 inches is about perfect. It will give you something to squat back into.

Yes, sounds as though you are doing the right stuff with your upper back. Try to maintain that tightness throughout your set.

Get rid of the nervous habit of moving your feet around as soon as possible. Use your breathing to break through nervous tension.

The truth is, if you happen to miss a squat, you fling that bar off your back and go forward. This is a hobby, not some live and death shit. I would recommend stacking some tires or some blocks or something so you can set the bar on them if you have to. Whether I have safety bars, a spotter, whatever, I have it in my head that I do not miss squats, period. But if something should happen to go wrong, it is covered.

Feel free to post in here anytime for feedback. I feel comfortable critiquing squat and deadlift, I think you could do much better than me when it comes to overhead press and bench.

897

[quote]mrodock wrote:

The truth is, if you happen to miss a squat, you fling that bar off your back and go forward. This is a hobby, not some live and death shit.
[/quote]

Wish I could do that in my gym. Just dropping the deadlift weight from above my knees would scare the shit out of the cardio wimps, leave a dent in the shiny wood floor and get me kicked out for good. It’s a country club gym…literally. They have a decent power rack and I’m about the only person that uses it properly.
Some dude was doing 20 minutes of ab work in the middle of it this morning when I came in to do squats. Good thing he was out before I finished stretching or I woulda stepped on his flabby ass.

You have it good!

898

[quote]Oldman Powers wrote:

[quote]mrodock wrote:

The truth is, if you happen to miss a squat, you fling that bar off your back and go forward. This is a hobby, not some live and death shit.
[/quote]

Wish I could do that in my gym. Just dropping the deadlift weight from above my knees would scare the shit out of the cardio wimps, leave a dent in the shiny wood floor and get me kicked out for good. It’s a country club gym…literally. They have a decent power rack and I’m about the only person that uses it properly.
Some dude was doing 20 minutes of ab work in the middle of it this morning when I came in to do squats. Good thing he was out before I finished stretching or I woulda stepped on his flabby ass.

You have it good![/quote]

My comment was aimed at Alkoholik’s situation where he doesn’t have safety bars and lifts in his basement(?). Although at the gym I train at it seems every few months someone flings 500+ pounds off their backs while doing suited squats in the open squat rack. From what I understand the gym owner is a little pissed for a few days and then it passes.

I really don’t think I’d last long at a country club gym, I give you credit. I’ve dropped more than a couple deadlifts from the lockout position because my deadlift suit was binding up in a way that made it nearly impossible to return the weight in a dainty fashion without increasing my chance of injury.

Oh why can’t we be like normal gym goers and have our only multi-joint exercise be squat rack curls? I once said to a fellow powerlifter that barbell curls might be a better way to work the back extensors than good mornings.

899

[quote]mrodock wrote:
Oh why can’t we be like normal gym goers and have our only multi-joint exercise be squat rack curls? I once said to a fellow powerlifter that barbell curls might be a better way to work the back extensors than good mornings.[/quote]

Excuse me, but the proper exercise term is “squat rack reverse hang cleans”. They also server as very good front delt developers, assuming you do them as 95% of gym goers do.

900

[quote]novaeer wrote:

[quote]mrodock wrote:
Oh why can’t we be like normal gym goers and have our only multi-joint exercise be squat rack curls? I once said to a fellow powerlifter that barbell curls might be a better way to work the back extensors than good mornings.[/quote]

Excuse me, but the proper exercise term is “squat rack reverse hang cleans”. They also server as very good front delt developers, assuming you do them as 95% of gym goers do.[/quote]

Awesome, I’ll have to throw them in next cycle!