[quote]mrodock wrote:
Why I think I’ll switch from Sheiko-style training to Mike Tuchscherer’s Reactive Training System (RTS):
Separate days for bench/upper body will help me bring up my lagging bench.
Need the flexibility to work in equipment weekly at various volumes and intensities.
Easier to spread out my accessory work if I am working out 4 days a week instead of 3.
Can do conditioning work on bench days and get in a little better shape.
Easier to bring up a variety of components with more exercise variation
I believe I’m technically proficient enough in the three lifts for great variation.
It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to not do anything heavier than 360 for 3 reps on squat until 4 weeks out from the meet when I do 3x1x540 in a suit. I need to do much more work in the 450 to 540 range if I want to squat deep into the 600’s.
[quote]mrodock wrote:
7. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to not do anything heavier than 360 for 3 reps on squat until 4 weeks out from the meet when I do 3x1x540 in a suit. I need to do much more work in the 450 to 540 range if I want to squat deep into the 600’s.[/quote]
This part is key – time in the suit and getting heavier weights on your back. Wish I had learned this earlier. Have fun with your new suit.
[/quote]
Yeah seems kind of silly I didn’t think of it earlier. Do you have any tips for breaking in my new suit? I can squat down about 1 inch whether I have the straps up or down.
[quote]mrodock wrote:
Why I think I’ll switch from Sheiko-style training to Mike Tuchscherer’s Reactive Training System (RTS):
Separate days for bench/upper body will help me bring up my lagging bench.
Need the flexibility to work in equipment weekly at various volumes and intensities.
Easier to spread out my accessory work if I am working out 4 days a week instead of 3.
Can do conditioning work on bench days and get in a little better shape.
Easier to bring up a variety of components with more exercise variation
I believe I’m technically proficient enough in the three lifts for great variation.
It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to not do anything heavier than 360 for 3 reps on squat until 4 weeks out from the meet when I do 3x1x540 in a suit. I need to do much more work in the 450 to 540 range if I want to squat deep into the 600’s.
IPF and its affiliates banned Metal, APT, and Crain gear as of 2/6/10. I’d post a link to the article but it will probably get deleted anyways so look it up if this affects you. About 90% of my gear was Metal and APT until I ordered a bunch of new stuff from Titan and Inzer earlier this week. Thanks for absolutely nothing Metal.
[quote]mrodock wrote:
IPF and its affiliates banned Metal, APT, and Crain gear as of 2/6/10. I’d post a link to the article but it will probably get deleted anyways so look it up if this affects you. About 90% of my gear was Metal and APT until I ordered a bunch of new stuff from Titan and Inzer earlier this week. Thanks for absolutely nothing Metal.[/quote]
For Metal, looks like you have until June 30th. This sounds like it could be messy.
[quote]mrodock wrote:
IPF and its affiliates banned Metal, APT, and Crain gear as of 2/6/10. I’d post a link to the article but it will probably get deleted anyways so look it up if this affects you. About 90% of my gear was Metal and APT until I ordered a bunch of new stuff from Titan and Inzer earlier this week. Thanks for absolutely nothing Metal.[/quote]
For Metal, looks like you have until June 30th. This sounds like it could be messy.[/quote]
Oh I attempted to edit my post to reflect that but it didn’t work for some reason, thanks!
Good luck with that terrible snow storm! Think you could help me put together my first RTS mesocycle?
[quote]mrodock wrote:
Ordered one on Monday, thanks for the advice!
Why are you looking to drop weight? How tall are you? Do you have powerlifting aspirations or do you have different goals?
Thanks man and glad to help. One day we WILL be strong, and hopefully the pursuit will make us better people.[/quote]
I don’t know if you’ve ever tried one… but you will be happy with the choice.
I’m looking to drop weight as I’ve put on a good 10-15lbs of fat way to quickly. I am 5’8" and I was 196 at the beginning of the week. I’m down to 192 (doing the Keto diet so water weight is lost). I prefer to lift in the 181 class and I do have aspirations to powerlift, however I’d rather make the smart choices and healthy choices and gain wisely and be able to do other things, while not being out of breathe or having to buy new clothes all the time.
[quote]mrodock wrote:
Ordered one on Monday, thanks for the advice!
Why are you looking to drop weight? How tall are you? Do you have powerlifting aspirations or do you have different goals?
Thanks man and glad to help. One day we WILL be strong, and hopefully the pursuit will make us better people.[/quote]
I don’t know if you’ve ever tried one… but you will be happy with the choice.
I’m looking to drop weight as I’ve put on a good 10-15lbs of fat way to quickly. I am 5’8" and I was 196 at the beginning of the week. I’m down to 192 (doing the Keto diet so water weight is lost). I prefer to lift in the 181 class and I do have aspirations to powerlift, however I’d rather make the smart choices and healthy choices and gain wisely and be able to do other things, while not being out of breathe or having to buy new clothes all the time.[/quote]
I have never tried one, but it is perfect timing as my APT belt is illegal.
Okay, makes perfect sense! I’m definitely looking to improve my conditioning in the next few months.
The floor presses with chains felt pretty good on the shoulder. I think the shoulder is at about 95% now.
[/quote]
If the shoulder doesn’t hurt from floor presses, that is good news indeed. I know that when my shoulder is f’ed up, floor presses are a recipe for pain.
The floor presses with chains felt pretty good on the shoulder. I think the shoulder is at about 95% now.
[/quote]
If the shoulder doesn’t hurt from floor presses, that is good news indeed. I know that when my shoulder is f’ed up, floor presses are a recipe for pain.[/quote]
Yeah I think it is reason for optimism.
From what I have read it looks like you’ve gotten somewhere around 20 inches of snow, holy shit!
I will try sending you the same pm from two different browsers and see if it goes through. If you don’t get anything from me, if you could send me an email at mrodock@gmail.com that would be great.
Really fun session. Damn I missed front squatting, hadn’t done it for over a year until this week. The squat shoes make it really comfortable going ATG which is fun. I think this is going to be a great stability movement for me.
The suspended chain bench press is probably a fair amount more stable than doing it with suspended kettlebells. I definitely had to work hard though to stabilize the bar with the suspended chains, and thus I think it will be a great movement. After this first 3 week cycle I plan to switch to suspended kettlebells though.
Those SSB upper back good mornings are so damn cool, love that exercise.
A week from today I start my 19 week program into the USAPL Badger Open. Going to be an adventure, can’t wait to get started. If all goes as planned I will be using a tighter squat suit, tighter bench shirt, and a tighter deadlift suit.
[quote]mrodock wrote:
7. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to not do anything heavier than 360 for 3 reps on squat until 4 weeks out from the meet when I do 3x1x540 in a suit. I need to do much more work in the 450 to 540 range if I want to squat deep into the 600’s.[/quote]
This part is key – time in the suit and getting heavier weights on your back. Wish I had learned this earlier. Have fun with your new suit.
[/quote]
Yeah seems kind of silly I didn’t think of it earlier. Do you have any tips for breaking in my new suit? I can squat down about 1 inch whether I have the straps up or down.[/quote]
Ha! I’ve officially been powerlifting for nearly ten years (counting from my first meet) and I didn’t even think of it – someone else suggested it to me.
As for breaking your new suit in, the only real tip I have it to get in it, get some weight on your back and squat it. One key is not to curl your pelvis forward and lose the arch in your back. You’ll see people do this to try to hit depth with a weight that isn’t sufficient to get them there. Just arch hard, sit back into the suit and go down until it stops you and then come up. In my new suit I couldn’t hit depth for the first couple of sessions in it even though I was working into the low 600s (with a best squat of about 650 at the time).
Ha! I’ve officially been powerlifting for nearly ten years (counting from my first meet) and I didn’t even think of it – someone else suggested it to me.
As for breaking your new suit in, the only real tip I have it to get in it, get some weight on your back and squat it. One key is not to curl your pelvis forward and lose the arch in your back. You’ll see people do this to try to hit depth with a weight that isn’t sufficient to get them there. Just arch hard, sit back into the suit and go down until it stops you and then come up. In my new suit I couldn’t hit depth for the first couple of sessions in it even though I was working into the low 600s (with a best squat of about 650 at the time).[/quote]
Well if it was only 10 years . . .
At the risk of asking something really stupid, do you work in the suit with the straps down until you can get depth that way, then work with the straps up? Or do you go straps up from the start?
When I put the new suit on I can only squat 1 inch down without any weight on my back whether the straps are up or down. Is this reason for concern or does that just mean I have the right size? edit: Tonight I was able to squat down about 3 inches with the straps up, and 5 inches with the straps down (without any weight). Maybe the suit is too loose, haha.
Ha! I’ve officially been powerlifting for nearly ten years (counting from my first meet) and I didn’t even think of it – someone else suggested it to me.
As for breaking your new suit in, the only real tip I have it to get in it, get some weight on your back and squat it. One key is not to curl your pelvis forward and lose the arch in your back. You’ll see people do this to try to hit depth with a weight that isn’t sufficient to get them there. Just arch hard, sit back into the suit and go down until it stops you and then come up. In my new suit I couldn’t hit depth for the first couple of sessions in it even though I was working into the low 600s (with a best squat of about 650 at the time).[/quote]
Well if it was only 10 years . . .
At the risk of asking something really stupid, do you work in the suit with the straps down until you can get depth that way, then work with the straps up? Or do you go straps up from the start?
When I put the new suit on I can only squat 1 inch down without any weight on my back whether the straps are up or down. Is this reason for concern or does that just mean I have the right size? edit: Tonight I was able to squat down about 3 inches with the straps up, and 5 inches with the straps down (without any weight). Maybe the suit is too loose, haha.[/quote]
I’ve found with the Titan suits that the weight I can hit depth with is about the same whether the straps are up or down. Now, I like my straps on the looser side. If your straps are tight, putting them up is going to increase the amount of weight it takes you to hit depth vs. the suit with the straps down. When I have a new suit, I usually work with straps down for a couple of weeks (not in a row) until I find a weight that I can hit depth with. Then, I’ll put the straps up and keep adding weight until I get to within an inch or so of depth. I know if I’ve only got an inch to go, I can make depth even if the suit feels really tight. So, I’d give yourself 2-4 sessions in it with straps down to see where you’re at.
From your description, it sounds like the suit fits well. I can barely squat down at all in my competition suit without weight on my back.
Ha! I’ve officially been powerlifting for nearly ten years (counting from my first meet) and I didn’t even think of it – someone else suggested it to me.
As for breaking your new suit in, the only real tip I have it to get in it, get some weight on your back and squat it. One key is not to curl your pelvis forward and lose the arch in your back. You’ll see people do this to try to hit depth with a weight that isn’t sufficient to get them there. Just arch hard, sit back into the suit and go down until it stops you and then come up. In my new suit I couldn’t hit depth for the first couple of sessions in it even though I was working into the low 600s (with a best squat of about 650 at the time).[/quote]
Well if it was only 10 years . . .
At the risk of asking something really stupid, do you work in the suit with the straps down until you can get depth that way, then work with the straps up? Or do you go straps up from the start?
When I put the new suit on I can only squat 1 inch down without any weight on my back whether the straps are up or down. Is this reason for concern or does that just mean I have the right size? edit: Tonight I was able to squat down about 3 inches with the straps up, and 5 inches with the straps down (without any weight). Maybe the suit is too loose, haha.[/quote]
I’ve found with the Titan suits that the weight I can hit depth with is about the same whether the straps are up or down. Now, I like my straps on the looser side. If your straps are tight, putting them up is going to increase the amount of weight it takes you to hit depth vs. the suit with the straps down. When I have a new suit, I usually work with straps down for a couple of weeks (not in a row) until I find a weight that I can hit depth with. Then, I’ll put the straps up and keep adding weight until I get to within an inch or so of depth. I know if I’ve only got an inch to go, I can make depth even if the suit feels really tight. So, I’d give yourself 2-4 sessions in it with straps down to see where you’re at.
From your description, it sounds like the suit fits well. I can barely squat down at all in my competition suit without weight on my back.
[/quote]
The far bar inclines felt great, as did the olympic squats. I’m finding that beltless front squats and olympic squats with a quick descent and a2g are an excellent way to work on squat stability. They also work a different groove than my standard powerlifting squat which is kind of nice for my hips.
Just couldn’t seem to get set up properly for conventional deadlifts. I know my leverages strongly favor sumo, but I still thought these would feel a lot better. I was a decent conventional deadlifter before I made the switch, although I had pretty ugly form at near max weights.
I really feel I am getting comfortable with the RPE’s, which I thought would take quite a bit of getting used to. When you really pay attention to the effort you are putting in, it is surprisingly easy to rate pretty accurately (at least I think).
I’ve been doing most of these exercises before every workout for the last few weeks and they are changing my life. It has never been more comfortable for me to sit in a chair for a long period of time:
