I ordered the purple belt from Inzernet. It’s the Forever Bodybuilding Tapered Buckle. Like I said, I have a full-size lever belt, which works great to support my back during DL but seems to work against me during squat because of its bulk. Plus, I haven’t felt the need for back support when squatting raw. But with gear, I have so much more weight on my back.
Straps up vs. straps down . . . well, I squat and DL in a DL suit, which is shaped like a singlet (more or less) but is made of a super-tight polyester weave. These suits are nasty-unflattering and take a LONG time to sandwich into. I’m always left with bruises on my thighs and hips after squat/DL days. Straps down merely means the suit is only pulled up to the waist. There’s minimal gain when DLing with it like that. But when the straps come up over the shoulders, Yowsie! It’s damn tight. I actually have to pull myself down to the bar and the suit helps me spring off the floor. There’s a definite advantage there. Hence, the breakout of raw vs. geared lifting in a meet to keep it an apples to apples competition.
Regarding the 300-lb. DL . . . the bands are doing the bulk of the work. It’s just training the last six inches or so of the lockout portion, which can be a sticking point. The most I’ve pulled from the floor without bands is 230 lb. in a suit and 214.5 lb. raw.
Hell yes on the squat PR! That’s when you know you got it. On those days when you’re fatigued and still bustin out PRs is when you know you’re really making gains. What a great boost to the confidence. You must be flying high right now!
Thanks for all the kind words. You know, the 200-lb. squat didn’t really register until after I had left the gym yesterday. Truly, it’s a number I couldn’t have imagined hitting not long ago, even in gear. It’s not twice my bodyweight, NLmain, since I’m 110+. But to hit that number when I was feeling sluggish was pretty damn good for me. Plus, it gave me a good idea of my geared 1 RM.
Walking out the weight went much better yesterday. I lowered the pins where the bar rests.
Question: when you guys approach the bar to squat, where does the bar align with your body?
The new adjustment seems ridiculously low with low weights; it’s almost like I had to do a squat to unrack. But as the weight got heavier, I felt I was much steadier unracking and walking it out. So I guess that’s the ticket. There’s quite a distance between the pin adjustments on the cage at my gym.
I think I felt so sluggish yesterday because of my diet. I’m very fortunate in that I can essentially eat what I want. But the bottom line is: crap in, crap out. I gotta clean it up a bit.
If I understand your question right: I have the bar set to munchkin height. Because I squat low bar (lately) the pins are below my shoulderblades.[/quote]
I also set my bar to munchkin height. When I am squatting, it looks like a freakishly strong child is using the power cage.
Bench
10/62 (slow)
7/62 (fast)
5/72
3/87
3/87 (to boards in shirt)
1/92 " "
1/102 (to chest with pause)
1/112 " "
x/117 FAIL
1/116 (PR!)
5/115 (raw in cage with bands from top to one board)
5/125 " "
5/130 " "
3/135 (to two boards, failed on fourth rep due to fatigue)
Seated Row
3/6/90
Overhead Tricep Pull
3/10/80
Good session but very fatigued. I’ve finally come around to the “less is more” theory when it comes to lifting heavy. I used to be a five-day-a-week kind of girl with tons of accessory work thrown in. Then I cut back to four. And now I’m favoring three days a week, with a yoga session or such thrown in on the weekend. I’m making solid gains with this approach. And the low-rep scheme is well suited to my personality. On many of these sets, I’m busting my ass to get the last rep. Speaking of asses, mine will be sore from today!
I am also of the “less is more” school of thought. I train 3 days per week, full body workouts with as heavy weights as I can. Throw in one or two ski or bike days, and I’m cooked. Doubtful that I could recover sufficiently if I trained more days.
Great job on the Bench PR, Snapper! I know where you’re coming from- fatigue is the ever-looming enemy ready to strike whenever I bench, it would seem. The triceps just don’t wanna lock out sometimes! I have to agree with you, for upper body, less is definitely more.
Drove across town (45 minutes) for deadlifting today. My gym has 12-sided plates. I need round plates. It was worth the drive.
Deadlift
5/95
2/5/135
3/170
2/190 (belt)
1/205 (full gear)
1/220 " "
1/235 PR and more than twice my bodyweight!
1/240 PR!
Chins
3/8
Lat Pulldown
2/8/90
1/8/80 (throwing my form on the last reps so I dropped the weight so I could continue to isolate the lats)
Plank Holds
2/1 minute
The 240-lb DL was a bit challenging to lock out. But no stall. I’ll be looking to max at 242 lb. for the meet in three weeks . . .
After I finished lifting, a guy approached and told me that I was the strongest person in the weightroom for my size. I was slightly embarrassed but secretly very flattered!
