Hit a push press PR last night of 205. That was kinda cool. I’d like to do a strongman comp mid-June, so I need to improve my overhead pressing a little bit if possible. I generally just perform strict presses, but that isn’t necessary for strongman. I also remembered to do dips. I really want dips to be a focus in my training for awhile. I think that over time they’ll be good for my shoulders.
Crossfit workout on Saturday was tough. back to back kettlebell goblet squats (55 lbs) and pull ups. 3 reps, 6 reps, 9 reps, 12 reps, etc. of each. For 8 minutes. I got to my set of 18 pull ups, and got through 14 of them. Biceps/forearms are still sore.
Came in just to say new avi looks good, and now skimming through your log, it seems you’re much leaner @175-180 then you were in the beginning, which is great progress. Gj dude!
Also strong OHP. I’m impressed.
Squats last night, some sandbag carries, and some 1-hand kettlebell carries.
For the squats, I worked up to 315x7 (beltless by accident), then 335x3 for 3 or 4 sets (belted). My last set felt good, still had 1 or 2 reps in the tank. Then I dropped the weight to 275 for 8 more reps. Great depth and speed on thse. This ended up being quite a bit of volume for me at those weights. I ended my squat session by doing some holds in the bottom position with 225 on my back for like 20 seconds at a time. Finished with the aforementioned loaded carries.
I’m making the executive decision to forego squats next week, and maybe the week after as well. My elbows are beat to hell right now. A lot of pain that I’ve just been ignoring and working through. This is something I need to address. Both back squats and front squats are problematic for my elbows, although I could do the cross-grip on front squats without issue. I’ll be hack squatting, leg pressing, leg curling, etc instead.
I’m convinced that my current elbow issues are actually a symptom of my lack of shoulder flexibility that I mentioned a few posts ago. When I force my elbows under the bar in my back squats, my shoulders don’t really rotate adequately, so there’s undue strain at the elbow joint to compensate.
Thanks Spidey! I’m definitely stronger and leaner than I’ve been… well probably ever. My lifts weren’t any better when I weighed 190 than they are now. I feel like my current level of leanness is also something I should be able to maintain year-round if that’s what I choose to do.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
I’m making the executive decision to forego squats next week, and maybe the week after as well. My elbows are beat to hell right now. A lot of pain that I’ve just been ignoring and working through. This is something I need to address. Both back squats and front squats are problematic for my elbows, although I could do the cross-grip on front squats without issue. I’ll be hack squatting, leg pressing, leg curling, etc instead.
[/quote]
A wise decision. Sometimes we have a tendency to ignore pain and just keep doing a movement because it’s what we think we’re supposed to do. I am absolutely a believer in heavy compound lifts as the basis for a program, but sometimes it’s wise to step back and ask if it’s really the best thing for you at the time.
Have you ever tried no-hands front squats, just holding your arms straight out in front of you and balancing the weight on your clavicle? If you get used to the movement, you ought to be able to handle some pretty heavy weight; I did a triple with 275 and a single with 315 in that style back in my prime 
Could be worth messing with next week (even with just 135-185) while you’re on hiatus to give your elbows a break!
Edit: found a vid of someone doing a solid single. Had to post.
That’s not a bad idea, I may play around with it a little bit. I’ve never used no-hands squats in my regular programming, but I’ve done them a few times. These might actually have the added benefit of helping me with bar placement on front squats.
A 405 front squat with any grip is big, let alone no grip.
Hit a major milestone yesterday, derived from this article: Deadlift Challenge: 405 x 10 . I hit 10 reps with a couple left in the tank. No straps, dead stop reps. Weighed in right at 180.
Time for my much needed de-load week, can’t remember the last time I de-loaded.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
I’m convinced that my current elbow issues are actually a symptom of my lack of shoulder flexibility that I mentioned a few posts ago. When I force my elbows under the bar in my back squats, my shoulders don’t really rotate adequately, so there’s undue strain at the elbow joint to compensate.
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Have you tried shoulder dislocates?
[quote]magick wrote:
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
I’m convinced that my current elbow issues are actually a symptom of my lack of shoulder flexibility that I mentioned a few posts ago. When I force my elbows under the bar in my back squats, my shoulders don’t really rotate adequately, so there’s undue strain at the elbow joint to compensate.
[/quote]
Have you tried shoulder dislocates?
[/quote]
I don’t even know how to do that.
These. You can use a bar or a towel or bands. With a band you can adjust the resistance by moving your hands further in. I think John Meadows calls them “over and backs”, but same thing as far as I can tell. Personally I prefer using a band; I just have one of those cheap ones from Target.
Thanks LoRez. I actually do those. I’ve got a set of bands, and use a couple of the lighter ones for these. I’ve also used pvc pipes and broom sticks. Since we’re talking about this, I’ll ask a question that’s concerned me on these. Hopefully I can articulate this appropriately…
I can’t keep my grip fully on the bar (pipe or stick) when I do these. I can hold onto it, but my grip changes as I go over my head, to where I’m just holding on with a couple fingers. My hands rotate outwardly. If this makes sense. I don’t know if this is the case for everyone, or if others can maintain a full grip throughout the motion. Thoughts? If I haven’t conveyed this clearly, I can make a video…
I think that’s normal with the bar and grip. If I hold on out toward the ends, I can keep a good grip on it, but the further in I move my hands, the less I’m able to. I think that’s why towels and rope are often recommended, since it keeps you from tweaking your wrists or forearms like you would with a bar.
Now, personally, I’m really liking the bands since it helps to have that extra resistance to work against through the “tight” spots. Plus, it just keeps everything engaged around your shoulders. I’ll usually do 10, then bring my grip in a few inches, do another 10, etc. I don’t really track it too closely.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
Thanks LoRez. I actually do those. I’ve got a set of bands, and use a couple of the lighter ones for these. I’ve also used pvc pipes and broom sticks. Since we’re talking about this, I’ll ask a question that’s concerned me on these. Hopefully I can articulate this appropriately…
I can’t keep my grip fully on the bar (pipe or stick) when I do these. I can hold onto it, but my grip changes as I go over my head, to where I’m just holding on with a couple fingers. My hands rotate outwardly. If this makes sense. I don’t know if this is the case for everyone, or if others can maintain a full grip throughout the motion. Thoughts? If I haven’t conveyed this clearly, I can make a video…[/quote]
I cant do them at all with a pipe, I just use a big towel and start with my thumbs up instead of in. Just more comfortable for me.
Nothing real interest to report, but I’m spend all my time this week on machines and dumbbells. Tuesday was centered around machine military press, along with some back/arms work. I also tried the crucifix hold with 20 lb dumbbells for time. I’ll be doing these with kettle bells in a few weeks in my strongman comp, so I wanted to see what they were like. I did a set of 30 seconds, then 2 or 3 sets at 20 seconds.
Last night I just did hack squats on the hack squat machine for 30-40 minutes, 2 plates for 20 reps, 4 plates for 15 reps, then 6 plates for several sets of 8-10. This was a nice change of pace. Crazy pump, totally full ROM, and no pressure on my elbows. I could barely walk down the stairs at my gym afterwards, hadn’t gotten a pump like that in awhile.
Another day, another couple PR’s…
This was actually huge for me, and I even caught it on video. I brought a couple friends to my gym who were thinking about joining. They’re doing Starting Strength, so I just did their workout with them. Did squats for awhile, then moved to bench, which is what I would have done if I had been alone. Hit 5 reps with 225, and it felt really easy, so I jumped straight to 275 and got 6 reps. This was either a 2 or 3 rep PR for me… and I felt like it translated to 3 wheels, so I went for it. GOT IT.
Ass came off the bench, and no pause, but I did touch the chest, and I’m totally pleased with it. If I hadn’t spent my energy on 6 reps at 275, I likely would have been able to perform the rep better… although that’s just speculation.
Will post the video soon.
My training over the next 2 weeks will be centered around prepping for my strongman comp in 2 weeks. Last night was mostly about preparing for the max log press and the car deadlift.
I don’t have a log, so I feel like the power clean/ push press should translate better than just about anything else. I worked up to 205 for 2 singles. Hopefully this translates to at least a 190 log clean and press. Anyone have thoughts on this? I only get 3 attempts, at 10 lb increments, so I’ll need to know approximately what my capacity will be on this.
On the deadlift I just worked up to doubles/singles at 465 (the most I can put on the bar with the bumper plates available). I was happy to get several sets in at this weight after being so fatigued by the clean and pressing. That always takes a lot out of me.
Here’s my 315 BP video, also posted in the Natty Games thread.
youtube link in case the other upload doesn’t work.
last night I had a free session with a trainer at my gym. She had me do a burpee/KB swing combo, which consisted of 1 of each, 2 of each, etc up to 10. KB was 44 lbs. My time was 9:10. Burpees were the limiting factor here, the swings were almost like rest periods, although the delts were aching by the end.
After this I did my strength workout. I didn’t really have a plan going into the session since I knew the trainer would be putting me through something like this, so I just told myself that squats would be involved in some capacity. A friend was doing snatch grip deadlifts, so I did a few of these, doubles and triples at 315.
After this, I decided to do some pause squats along with some speed squats. I worked up to about a 30 second pause with 275, then 10 seconds at 315 and 335. Then I went back to 275 and knocked out some really speed reps trying to take advantage of the rebound. I did all my squat work in my Oly shoes, high bar style. I was pleased with how these felt, this was my first time to back squat with any reasonable weight in my Oly shoes. I threw in some power cleans at the end, and I was done.
The guy I was lifting with has a log at his house, so I’m going to get to play around with that this weekend. Should be fun, and useful for the upcoming competition.
[quote]flipcollar wrote:
I don’t have a log, so I feel like the power clean/ push press should translate better than just about anything else. I worked up to 205 for 2 singles. Hopefully this translates to at least a 190 log clean and press. Anyone have thoughts on this? I only get 3 attempts, at 10 lb increments, so I’ll need to know approximately what my capacity will be on this.
[/quote]
I know you’re sensible enough to play it safe on your opening attempt with the log. Theoretically I would agree with your 190 estimate, but 3 attempts isn’t much time to get used to the feel of pressing the log. It’s really not too different though. You just have to start out a bit more leaned back, and make sure you drive the log back cuz it’ll try to pull forward on you since the center of gravity isn’t as close to your body.
Make sure you know how to clean one though. Lots of guys who’ve never touched a log will waste massive amounts of energy on the clean, not to mention strain their biceps. The best cues for me are once you pick it up, point your wrists down such that the handles are almost perpendicular to the ground rather than parallel with it. Then squat down real low and bring the log into your chest as high on your torso as you can get it.
Then get your elbows way out as far as you can, high and wide. Then drive your hips forward as you stand up and you should be able to simply bring your elbows in and turn your wrists up and roll the log right into position. Maybe check some videos lol. Showing is a lot easier than typing.
Thanks for the advice! I talked to Reed a bit about this as well, he gave me some pointers. I’m glad I’ll get to practice with a log this weekend, that should help quite a bit. I’ll watch some videos on youtube as well. I was watching keg tosses yesterday, I won’t be able to practice with those.