[quote]SteelyD wrote:
Nice volume (at least it would be for a mortal like myself).
I rewatched your 300# mil press. You know, you could probably add a few more pounds and about 12 reps to that if you had better spotting.[/quote]
Spotting a military press. I’m trying to work out the angles in my head. It’s not coming to me. They don’t have a platform tall enough to spot mils!!![/quote]
he’s talking about seated military press. there’s a vid in the t-cell of a guy doing seated presses and his spotters hands are wrapped around the bar for every rep.
[quote]ecogenx wrote:
Finally watched your GPP videos last night. That hill looks brutal. Now you just need to find a big rock to pick up and carry.[/quote]
that would be nice. actually jowee said he maybe able to get us a tire. i wouldn’t mind doing some tire flips. i might also find us a big ol’ log to carry around as well.
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
Nice volume (at least it would be for a mortal like myself).
I rewatched your 300# mil press. You know, you could probably add a few more pounds and about 12 reps to that if you had better spotting.[/quote]
that’s really becoming the norm in the gym these days. what is the point of lifting a weight that requires a “spotter” to row it from start to finish? i just don’t get it. i can definitley see a lift off and then maybe a little help to finish off a couple reps at the end. but even then it should be no more than maybe the index fingers under the bar. i shouldn’t see hands wrapped around the bar and the spotter gritting their teeth as they row with all their might.
If we don’t have a vest or tires we Firemans carry each other or over 1 shoulder carry and run.
I agree with you on the whole spotter thing - if you touch the bar it don’t count or if it did not go through the whole range of motion - it does not count.
There’s a guy who periodically asks me for a spot and expresses surprise each time at how little I helped at the end of the set. I thought that was the point, myself…
Hello Meat,
I have been following your thread and I know you have the biggest bench out of anyone on T-Nation and you like to help other lifters learn stuff.
Would you mind describing to me the correct protocol for retracting your shoulder blades to setup for a bench press?
What I do is sit down, squeeze my shoulder blades tightly together, hold that position then lay down and grip the bar. I’m sure that cant be right. =)
my other question is how do you get the right bar path from your lower chest to the lockout directly over you shoulders. I mean are you just moving you elbows from tucked to untucked/flared or is it a conscious effort to push the bar up and towards you head?
I would appreciate any help I can get because I have a lousy 215lb bench.
conditioning day- upped the volume quit a bit from last week. it was drizzling the entire time and the wet grass made it a lot easier to pull the sled. i’m thankful for that becuase i spent the entire yesterday putting dual exhaust on my F250 (yes… i’m a redneck) and then making my daughter a sand box (lots of digging and carrying sand bags around).
what we did-
warmup- sled drag. took turns between the four of us dragging across a few soccer fields. i used the harness for one turn and then for the rest of the time just threw the strap over my shoulder. i’m going to do it this way from now on. it adds some upper body as well.
hill sprints followed by hill sprints while pulling the sled. we did 4 sprints w/out sled and then 4 with the sled. these got really hard at the end. i shut it down once i couldn’t keep my momentum going up the hill. i felt like i could have pulled something once the body slowed. i think i will use this as a gage for increasing the volume.
sled row - one with no weight and then one with a plate. these were much faster than last week. i’m sure the wet grass helped.
cool down- sled drag across fields again. Each of use took a turn.
i have 10, 50lb sand bags left from making the sand box for my daughter. i think i’m going to get some canvas bags to put the sand in and use them for more conditioning work. if anyone knows where to get some durable bags, let me know.
[quote]montez wrote:
Hello Meat,
I have been following your thread and I know you have the biggest bench out of anyone on T-Nation and you like to help other lifters learn stuff.
Would you mind describing to me the correct protocol for retracting your shoulder blades to setup for a bench press?
What I do is sit down, squeeze my shoulder blades tightly together, hold that position then lay down and grip the bar. I’m sure that cant be right. =)
my other question is how do you get the right bar path from your lower chest to the lockout directly over you shoulders. I mean are you just moving you elbows from tucked to untucked/flared or is it a conscious effort to push the bar up and towards you head?
I would appreciate any help I can get because I have a lousy 215lb bench.[/quote]
retracting the scaps is very important and people do it in many ways. i personally lay on the bench and push myself back past the bar off the back of the bench some. i then set my feet. i pull myself back down the bench and force my knees out over my feet and ram my upper traps down into the bench with scaps retracted. with my feet planted initially this puts me into a very tight arch and keeps me up on my traps. you can also use some chalk to keep your traps planted on the bench.
as for bar path, i use a technique called “bending the bar” i force the outsides of my hands in to the bar as i’m rowing it down. this creates a very natural bar path. the elbows will tuck naturally and if you are consciously rowing the weight with the lats instead of just lowering it, the bar will naturally come down to a lower point on the chest. much like where the bar would come to when doing a bent over row. then i simply reverse the motion on the way up. problems with bar path usually come from not rowing the bar down and not staying tight during the ROM. be sure to take that deep breath in and hold it througout the lift.
hopefully this helps. i’ll attach a vid of my setup and bar path so you can see it.
Have you ever done farmer’s walks for conditioning or do you think that should be geared more towards grip strength? I did some farmers with my brother the other day, sets of 50 yards and rest periods are when the other guy is doing their set. It actually got my heart rate up fairly high. It sucked but it was pretty fun at the same time. I’m gonna do it some more!
[quote]ashylarryku wrote:
Have you ever done farmer’s walks for conditioning or do you think that should be geared more towards grip strength? I did some farmers with my brother the other day, sets of 50 yards and rest periods are when the other guy is doing their set. It actually got my heart rate up fairly high. It sucked but it was pretty fun at the same time. I’m gonna do it some more![/quote]
to use it as a conditioning tool i would say that straps would have to be used. that being said, i could see farmer’s walk being a really good variation for conditioning.
Nice training Meat. They should tie a lawnmower to you guys while you are doing this… make some beer money while you are at it for cutting their grass…
you could just get an old army duffle they are super cheap.
Your explanation for the bench set up makes more sense then other things I have read saying the same thing
particularly the part about rowing down - takes care of the arms tucking.
you could just get an old army duffle they are super cheap.
Your explanation for the bench set up makes more sense then other things I have read saying the same thing
particularly the part about rowing down - takes care of the arms tucking.
thanks
[/quote]
thanks. yeah… if you are having to actually think about tucking the elbows then you aren’t rowing the weight down. lat activation will bring it down in a proper bar path and naturally make the elbows tuck.
[quote]bunny7568 wrote:
Nice training Meat. They should tie a lawnmower to you guys while you are doing this… make some beer money while you are at it for cutting their grass… :)[/quote]
thanks buns. i’m hoping this new place we are going stays on top of the mowing. pulling a sled in tall grass is close to impossible.
Hey buddy… question for ya… why are some people deadlifting wearing wrist wraps like for benching? Seeing alot more of this lately… was laughing my ass off thinking it was silly… until I seen Andy Bolton wearing them in his WR attempts.
Figured I would ask you because you might know… and alot of people read your thread more than mine. I think the only people that read my thread is my mom and my dog. I did not want to start a new thread about this query either.
Also on a side note… tried the 5/3/1 for last 7 months… gave it a good go… not impressed. Have a few ideas for a program, wil run them by you after this meet June 5th.
[quote]bunny7568 wrote:
Hey buddy… question for ya… why are some people deadlifting wearing wrist wraps like for benching? Seeing alot more of this lately… was laughing my ass off thinking it was silly… until I seen Andy Bolton wearing them in his WR attempts.
Figured I would ask you because you might know… and alot of people read your thread more than mine. I think the only people that read my thread is my mom and my dog. I did not want to start a new thread about this query either.
Also on a side note… tried the 5/3/1 for last 7 months… gave it a good go… not impressed. Have a few ideas for a program, wil run them by you after this meet June 5th.
Peace.[/quote]
yeah… it’s used quit often when grip is an issue. i’ve used it with my training partner dave. he has very short thick fingers and really hard time holding onto the bar. what you do is close the hand and wrap the wrist and hand really tight. it will give you some help holding onto the bar.
sure thing hoss…run it by me and i’ll give you my 2 cents worth.
[quote]bunny7568 wrote:
Hey buddy… question for ya… why are some people deadlifting wearing wrist wraps like for benching? Seeing alot more of this lately… was laughing my ass off thinking it was silly… until I seen Andy Bolton wearing them in his WR attempts.
Figured I would ask you because you might know… and alot of people read your thread more than mine. I think the only people that read my thread is my mom and my dog. I did not want to start a new thread about this query either.
Also on a side note… tried the 5/3/1 for last 7 months… gave it a good go… not impressed. Have a few ideas for a program, wil run them by you after this meet June 5th.
Peace.[/quote]
yeah… it’s used quit often when grip is an issue. i’ve used it with my training partner dave. he has very short thick fingers and really hard time holding onto the bar. what you do is close the hand and wrap the wrist and hand really tight. it will give you some help holding onto the bar.
sure thing hoss…run it by me and i’ll give you my 2 cents worth.
[/quote]
hmmm… interesting. I may give it a try, although my grip has improved significantly.
Thanks buddy, I will put pen to paper and figure it out…
