so far I’ve done 3 meets as a 181 . the 3rd was the only one I’ve done un-equipped . shouldnt have trained with gear at all , now that I look back on it . probably wont again until my lifts get a lot stronger .
currently using a conjugate template . just started using bands regularly for both squat and bench…DE style .so the lay out is ME bench/DE squat/DE bench/ME squat . dont always get the 4 sessions within a 7 day window though . I’ve read both sides of the debate whether this style template along with DE can help the raw / beginner lifter and decided to try it and find the answer myself . I totally dig the rotation of lifts , as it keeps things fresh…and in my mind thats a big deal . pushing for PRs on the variations as they come back around is the shit . I just keep the number of variations to a minimum .
I did switch to 531 for a few months last summer ; just to take a break from the heavy reps . enjoyed that program also . different mind set for sure . the plan was to go back to the WS style , and I stuck to that plan . I’ll probably go back to 531 for a bit this next autumn/winter for a few months again .
I dont compete all that often ; local state meets only for now. gonna do a meet in October . so for the next few months I’ll be focusing on hitting the 5’s and 3’s in the competition lifts along with 1 and 2 board press , box squats , and maybe defecit deads (not sure on that one yet). sometime in late July or August I’ll take a big week off and then fire up a peaking cycle , 10 weeks or so , right up to the meet .
best lifts so far is a 220 bench (210 in a meet) , 360 squat (350ish meet) , and 360 deadlift (350 meet) . last total was 910 if I remember correctly . gunnin’ for a 375 squat/220 bench/375+ deadlift for a 970 total . that would equate to 60 pounds progress over about 18 months . not awe inspiring progress , but I’ll take it .
Any of you guys here that train raw do band deadlifts or reverse band deadlifts? My sticking point for my deadlift is the transition and the lockout, so i was thinking about getting some bands to fix that. Also, if you have, recommendations on bands? I was looking at the EFS short bands but was unsure. Thanks
Speaking of bands, what’s the general consensus on their use? Which do people feel is more helpful for a raw lifter, reverse band work or regular band work? What’s a good way to set them up?
Got my second meet coming up April 10th, SPF Carolina Classic (Billed as a push-pull, but its actually a full meet plus push-pull, plus various other odd lifts (Bench for reps, power curls)). Hoping to open with:
Squat: 270
Bench: 180
Deadlift: 310-315
My hips have been bothering me my last few squat sessions, could this be due mainly to weakness, or more to my form? I squat very wide for a raw lifter (as wide as my rack will let me). Would bringing my stance in relieve this? I’ve read in several places super wide squatting can cause hip problems for raw lifters.
[quote]omfgapolarbear wrote:
Got my second meet coming up April 10th, SPF Carolina Classic (Billed as a push-pull, but its actually a full meet plus push-pull, plus various other odd lifts (Bench for reps, power curls)). Hoping to open with:
Squat: 270
Bench: 180
Deadlift: 310-315
My hips have been bothering me my last few squat sessions, could this be due mainly to weakness, or more to my form? I squat very wide for a raw lifter (as wide as my rack will let me). Would bringing my stance in relieve this? I’ve read in several places super wide squatting can cause hip problems for raw lifters.[/quote]
Is there a reason you squat so wide? I know a lot of ppl see these guys squatting super heavy and super wide and think thats the way to go, I know I was guilty of that when I was just starting out. But as far as your hips go it could be anything or it could be nothing. It may just be you need to worm up more, I know that when my hips ache its b/c I didnt warm up as well as I should have.
[quote]165StateChamp wrote:
Speaking of bands, what’s the general consensus on their use? Which do people feel is more helpful for a raw lifter, reverse band work or regular band work? What’s a good way to set them up?[/quote]
As a general rule I’ve used reverse bands more for max effort work, and regular band setups for speed work.
The regular band setup seems to remove momentum from the weight and teaches you to maintain force throughout the lift. This lends itself well to speed work in my experience. You can use a fairly easy resistance, lift explosively at higher speeds, and not have momentum carry the bar through parts of the lift.
[quote]omfgapolarbear wrote:
Got my second meet coming up April 10th, SPF Carolina Classic (Billed as a push-pull, but its actually a full meet plus push-pull, plus various other odd lifts (Bench for reps, power curls)). Hoping to open with:
Squat: 270
Bench: 180
Deadlift: 310-315
My hips have been bothering me my last few squat sessions, could this be due mainly to weakness, or more to my form? I squat very wide for a raw lifter (as wide as my rack will let me). Would bringing my stance in relieve this? I’ve read in several places super wide squatting can cause hip problems for raw lifters.[/quote]
Is there a reason you squat so wide? I know a lot of ppl see these guys squatting super heavy and super wide and think thats the way to go, I know I was guilty of that when I was just starting out. But as far as your hips go it could be anything or it could be nothing. It may just be you need to worm up more, I know that when my hips ache its b/c I didnt warm up as well as I should have.[/quote]
I’ve always squatted fairly wide, I taught myself form for every lift and it simply felt more natural, but it has transitioned out wider and wider as I’ve watched more videos of powerlifters, so it’s probably a combination of both personal preference and outside influence. There are videos from my last meet at: Youtube.com/omfgapolarbear for an example of my form. My meet squat is slightly narrower then my training squat, but only by an inch or so.
[quote]165StateChamp wrote:
Speaking of bands, what’s the general consensus on their use? Which do people feel is more helpful for a raw lifter, reverse band work or regular band work? What’s a good way to set them up?[/quote]
i do a lot of band work. here’s some medium band, reverse band setup from tonight. you can see in the vid how i set them up.
[quote]165StateChamp wrote:
Speaking of bands, what’s the general consensus on their use? Which do people feel is more helpful for a raw lifter, reverse band work or regular band work? What’s a good way to set them up?[/quote]
As a general rule I’ve used reverse bands more for max effort work, and regular band setups for speed work.
The regular band setup seems to remove momentum from the weight and teaches you to maintain force throughout the lift. This lends itself well to speed work in my experience. You can use a fairly easy resistance, lift explosively at higher speeds, and not have momentum carry the bar through parts of the lift.[/quote]
I don’t do speed work. When using a reverse band setup, do you think the switch from band assistance to no assistance could have a negative effect on a raw squat? How do you work reverse band training into your programming?
[quote]165StateChamp wrote:
Speaking of bands, what’s the general consensus on their use? Which do people feel is more helpful for a raw lifter, reverse band work or regular band work? What’s a good way to set them up?[/quote]
i do a lot of band work. here’s some medium band, reverse band setup from tonight. you can see in the vid how i set them up.
I’ve been keeping up with your training and I just have to say nice work. But in terms of setup, I’m more interested in how you’re attaching the bands to your rack.
[quote]165StateChamp wrote:
Speaking of bands, what’s the general consensus on their use? Which do people feel is more helpful for a raw lifter, reverse band work or regular band work? What’s a good way to set them up?[/quote]
i do a lot of band work. here’s some medium band, reverse band setup from tonight. you can see in the vid how i set them up.
I’ve been keeping up with your training and I just have to say nice work. But in terms of setup, I’m more interested in how you’re attaching the bands to your rack.[/quote]
i didn’t actually watch the vid so i assumed you could see it in the vid. i’ll paste another one in that shows it.
in this vid you can see how we do it sometimes but normally we loop it on the sides of the top just like in the second vid showing reverse band squats. if you look in the mirror behind the rack you can see them looped on the sides. it’s importand to loop the in a position that when you step back, they are straight up and down. you don’t want to step back and have the bands at an angle either in front or behind you. when the weight gets heavy, it will definitly throw you out of your groove. same with bench. you need to place the bands in a position that when you get your liftoff, they are directly over your bar path.
I’ve competed twice as a raw 165…
Best gym lifts: 425/265/475
Best meet: 385/226/440.5
It’s been a while since my last meet, been busy with work and other things. I generally follow a 5/3/1 or WS template- find them to be pretty similar. I’d love to do another Shieko sometime, although I can’t afford 2-2.5 hours in the gym four days a week yet.
I do like some regularly setup bands for benching- i feel like it makes my technique better- staying tighter etc.
Currently am working on some elbow tendonitis rehab, so taking things “easy” with the IBB training program.
highlight from yesterday’s dead session- i stumbled upon a foot position that made the weight off the floor feel like nothing and my hips came through very fast. i stumbled upon it on my second set of deficit speed pulls against bands. i got a video of it so i don’t forget. Dave compared it to a sissor lift. i called it the t- rex deadlift.
anyway…here’s the vid. if anyone pulls sumo, give it a try and let me know if it works for you.
[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
highlight from yesterday’s dead session- i stumbled upon a foot position that made the weight off the floor feel like nothing and my hips came through very fast. i stumbled upon it on my second set of deficit speed pulls against bands. i got a video of it so i don’t forget. Dave compared it to a sissor lift. i called it the t- rex deadlift.
anyway…here’s the vid. if anyone pulls sumo, give it a try and let me know if it works for you.
[quote]165StateChamp wrote:
Speaking of bands, what’s the general consensus on their use? Which do people feel is more helpful for a raw lifter, reverse band work or regular band work? What’s a good way to set them up?[/quote]
i do a lot of band work. here’s some medium band, reverse band setup from tonight. you can see in the vid how i set them up.
I’ve been keeping up with your training and I just have to say nice work. But in terms of setup, I’m more interested in how you’re attaching the bands to your rack.[/quote]
i didn’t actually watch the vid so i assumed you could see it in the vid. i’ll paste another one in that shows it.
in this vid you can see how we do it sometimes but normally we loop it on the sides of the top just like in the second vid showing reverse band squats. if you look in the mirror behind the rack you can see them looped on the sides. it’s importand to loop the in a position that when you step back, they are straight up and down. you don’t want to step back and have the bands at an angle either in front or behind you. when the weight gets heavy, it will definitly throw you out of your groove. same with bench. you need to place the bands in a position that when you get your liftoff, they are directly over your bar path.
[/quote]
Awesome! Thanks for that. Do you have anything for a regular band setup? Also, how do you fit band work into your programming? I know you use regular bands for your speed work, but what about reverse bands? Do you use it for a set after your last heavy set like BIG?
Anyone have any advice on key assistance movements for the big 3? Currently, my main assistance exercises are floor presses, Good Mornings, and Rack pulls. I think my next rotation, I’ll sub the floor presses for close grip bench, good mornings may get switched to oly squats or hack squats, and rack pulls may become deficit deads. Obviously I change out assistance exercises based on where i’m missing my lifts at.
I was looking over my log book and I found an entry dated May 2008 , about the time I started using the conjugate methods (with a 4 month shot of 531 last summer). belted/wrapped 1RM PR’s for the squat was 345 , and deadlift was 325 . Im in the process of testing both lifts , and am expecting the deadlift to come in around 370/380 . squat Im not exactly sure , but would expect to be 360+ .
the thing is , the deadlift is by far the least performed competition movement through-out this time span , yet is the lift which shows the most progress .
best program for the circumstances ? who knows for sure .
can a less than stellar PLer in his 40’s make progress on it ? looks like it .
[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
highlight from yesterday’s dead session- i stumbled upon a foot position that made the weight off the floor feel like nothing and my hips came through very fast. i stumbled upon it on my second set of deficit speed pulls against bands. i got a video of it so i don’t forget. Dave compared it to a sissor lift. i called it the t- rex deadlift.
anyway…here’s the vid. if anyone pulls sumo, give it a try and let me know if it works for you.
Cool idea. I have seen where Chuck Vogelpohl sets up a squat with his instep tilted up, keeps it up until he gets down, and then flattens to come up. Seems like the same philosophy shoudl work with sumo pulls
[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
highlight from yesterday’s dead session- i stumbled upon a foot position that made the weight off the floor feel like nothing and my hips came through very fast. i stumbled upon it on my second set of deficit speed pulls against bands. i got a video of it so i don’t forget. Dave compared it to a sissor lift. i called it the t- rex deadlift.
anyway…here’s the vid. if anyone pulls sumo, give it a try and let me know if it works for you.
Cool idea. I have seen where Chuck Vogelpohl sets up a squat with his instep tilted up, keeps it up until he gets down, and then flattens to come up. Seems like the same philosophy shoudl work with sumo pulls[/quote]
i hope it works out. i start on the outsides and as i lockout, my feet naturally flatten out.
