Spidey: Eudaimonia

Training Training Logs
301

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
Glad I could help. You could probably get most of that stuff at Home Depot/Menards/Lowes. My patio tiles were about $5 a pop. If you’re really hurting for funds, you can cut them in half. I use half mats when I’m traveling, since I can fit them in a gym bag easier. They’re not quite as stable, since you’re turning a square into a rectangle, but they work.
[/quote]
The ones from Menards are the ones I’m using. They were right around $5. I had to go to two stores to find them, so check online (or call) first, but these ones are more solid than the ones at Home Depot and Lowe’s. 7 a side brings it to mid-shin for me, right around 5.5 inches off the ground iirc.

These: http://www.menards.com/main/p-2238625-c-5785.htm

In other news, there’s no Menards nor Tractor Supply around here, and the Home Depot and Lowes’ stock are missing things I’m used to. Like 1-1/2" pipe.[/quote]

Yeah there’s a Lowes and Home Depot around here. I know Pwnisher and you said Menards, but the closest one is 1.5 hrs away from me based on their online store locator. So I guess I’ll have to settle for Lowes

302

Yeah, the ones at Lowe’s or Home Depot will work fine too. In the end, you’re just looking for a fairly solid rubber mat.

The closet Menards here is 17 hours away, lol.

I had some info in my old log, first few pages, about chains. I can dig that up if you want.

303

Yeah that would be really appreciated Lorez

Heavy Upper day went well

Flat Bench: 3 mins rest on the 230 sets, 2 mins rest on the 210 sets
240x1 (paused)
230x2x3

210x3x3 (paused)

CG Bench: Nice PR
185x8

BB Rows: Just wanted to see what these look like, really try and control the eccentric. 60s rest
205x5x5

Then some arms, and 5 rounds of hollow holds.

Really happy with my Bench progress so far, moving up little by little.

304

Sure. I’ll just summarize from it.

Most “powerlifting” chains are 3.6 to 3.9 pounds per foot, and are 5/8" chains. They cost around $12 a foot, new, from Fastenal.

What I use for each side is a pair of 3/8" chains, 5.5 feet long, clipped together in the middle. Each individual chain is weighs 1.5lbs per foot, so 3 pounds per foot for each pair. If you actually wanted to make the whole group the same weight as the 5/8" chains, you could add another 1/4" chain, which would bring it to 3.66 pounds a foot.

4x 5.5 foot sections of 3/8" chains cost me $82 at Home Depot, not including the carabiners to clip them together.

When I use them for the mat pulls, I just put one pair on each side, and center the carabiner on the bar. Depending on how much you care, you might want to protect your bar, but I have the chains resting directly on the bar. (The carabiner rolled a bit to the back side in this picture and is behind the bar.)

(If I did my math right) For every foot in height you pull the bar, the chains add an additional 12 pounds of weight when set up that way.

For other lifts, like squats or pressing, you can use a lighter “loading” chain that run from the bar down to the heavy chains. I used 6.5 foot sections of 5/16" chain. You might want to go longer than that, since you’re taller. But… it doesn’t sound like that’s relevant right now.

I’ve read that people have gotten cheaper heavy chains from crane operators and such, but I just bought mine from the store.

EDIT:
And I totally misinterpreted something there, thinking you were going to use chains on your sumo pulls. Pwnishers videos show the chains and tow strap thing though. I don’t have a rack with bars on top to hook mine up that way.

305

Thanks Lorez! That still works for me, I’ve been thinking of using chains as another way to do my ‘over-warmups’, so that’s still extremely helpful.

Heavy Lower today

Beltless Front Squats: Fml, this is frustrating. 2 min rest
265x1
225x4
205x5

185x7

Sumo DL: Felt alright, took stance in a bit, helped with staying tighter. 30s rest
375x 15 singles

Then I tried some ghetto Nordic Raises, some single leg hanging raises, then some delt stuff

I know doing this will help in the long run, but I just don’t know how to keep my elbows up with Front Squats lol. Plus, I’m concentrating so hard on staying tight, knees out, elbows up, it almost doesn’t feel like a Squat, almost more like I’m balancing, and I’m not really able to ‘explode’. Just hoping down the line it’ll all add up and I’ll be able to do it all correctly, but right now this is frustrating lol.

306

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
This is what Pavel is talking about. [/quote]

ahhh ok. So I guess right at parallel? I may just add these in every other week, as I’m not sure I could do them from pins consistently and not wreck myself and/or my poverty gym equipment lol[/quote]

You can do right at parallel or you can use a height progression similar to the deadlifts progression a few people are talking about. The main point Pavel makes is that if you aren’t tight you aren’t going to move the weight. There’s no cheating it.

Once a week would probably be good. I’m thinking about trying it myself.

307

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
This is what Pavel is talking about. [/quote]

ahhh ok. So I guess right at parallel? I may just add these in every other week, as I’m not sure I could do them from pins consistently and not wreck myself and/or my poverty gym equipment lol[/quote]

You can do right at parallel or you can use a height progression similar to the deadlifts progression a few people are talking about. The main point Pavel makes is that if you aren’t tight you aren’t going to move the weight. There’s no cheating it.

Once a week would probably be good. I’m thinking about trying it myself. [/quote]

Yeah I might try them out tomorrow, I’ll see how I feel. Thanks for all your help!

308

Last few stressful days at work and little sleep caught up to me. Have to go into work early, so had to wake up, slam coffee, and lift. Was a shitty workout, not point in writing it all down. Nice thing about it is, though, with my programming, I get to kind of have a crap day, and am still able to redeem myself in about 48 hrs. So that’s cool.

309

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
I know doing this will help in the long run, but I just don’t know how to keep my elbows up with Front Squats lol. Plus, I’m concentrating so hard on staying tight, knees out, elbows up, it almost doesn’t feel like a Squat, almost more like I’m balancing, and I’m not really able to ‘explode’. Just hoping down the line it’ll all add up and I’ll be able to do it all correctly, but right now this is frustrating lol. [/quote]

You’re doing a good job with the front squats. The first rep looked great and the last had form break down but it’s okay since the change won’t be instantaneous. You’re making the effort and you’re aware of it so you’ll see progress over time. I would personally lower the weight a bit more just to make sure the reps are more consistent.

You don’t need to explode in the front squat. You’re mainly focusing on a rigid torso, leg extension and hip thrust. Developing the hip thrust is going to carryover well to your back squat because you’re opening up your hips (knees out cue) and forcing your hips forward to prevent from doing a good morning. This will help you learn to distribute the load over your entire back and not just your lower back. It will also help your hips work more efficiently with your torso as your abs and glutes keep the hips fixed relative to your torso instead of rotating if the abs or glutes disengage.

In the long run you will learn to grind through reps without your chest collapsing and your hips shooting back.

310

[quote]lift206 wrote:

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
I know doing this will help in the long run, but I just don’t know how to keep my elbows up with Front Squats lol. Plus, I’m concentrating so hard on staying tight, knees out, elbows up, it almost doesn’t feel like a Squat, almost more like I’m balancing, and I’m not really able to ‘explode’. Just hoping down the line it’ll all add up and I’ll be able to do it all correctly, but right now this is frustrating lol. [/quote]

You’re doing a good job with the front squats. The first rep looked great and the last had form break down but it’s okay since the change won’t be instantaneous. You’re making the effort and you’re aware of it so you’ll see progress over time. I would personally lower the weight a bit more just to make sure the reps are more consistent.

You don’t need to explode in the front squat. You’re mainly focusing on a rigid torso, leg extension and hip thrust. Developing the hip thrust is going to carryover well to your back squat because you’re opening up your hips (knees out cue) and forcing your hips forward to prevent from doing a good morning. This will help you learn to distribute the load over your entire back and not just your lower back. It will also help your hips work more efficiently with your torso as your abs and glutes keep the hips fixed relative to your torso instead of rotating if the abs or glutes disengage.

In the long run you will learn to grind through reps without your chest collapsing and your hips shooting back.[/quote]

Thanks dude! Truly, I appreciate all your input, and that puts things into perspective for me, makes me feel way better haha

311

Light Lower

Tried out some old flat bball shoes I have, use them for Benching but gave them a try.

Squats: Beltless. 2:30 rest
295x1
265x3x3 (slight pause)

HB Squats: Just for the pump. High Bar is much prettier, but then again this is light weight lol
225x10

Snatch Grip RDL’s: Really felt these in hammies, and just overall back tension, like even my lower lats. 90s rest
135x3x10
185x7

Then some delt circuits, some hollow holds, and then my cardio.

Felt wayyy better today. Really curious to hear input on how it looked in flats. I feel I don’t tip over as much, but depth is questionable IMO. I do notice on these sets, my toes raise up, I guess implying I really push through my heels in flats? but knees still cave, and I’m not sure if it looks all that different. I’ll let ya’ll tell me what you think.

312

IMO, you shouldn’t go any heavier than your form allows for the back squat or you’ll just continue to reinforce bad form. The heaviest should be a weight where you really have to focus on the cues to get a good looking rep. 295 was too heavy and 265 could be doable if you try the tips below.

Use a weight that allows you to keep your chest up and elbows under the bar. I can see in the set with 265 that your elbows move back as you squat up. Either your upper back is still too weak or it isn’t tight enough to begin with. Have you tried moving your grip in and does that help with lat tightness? You should feel the same tightness in your lats as you did with the snatch grip RDL.

Do you feel any tightness in your chest? Look straight ahead or at least a few feet further out when you hit the hole to see if that helps too. I don’t know if you’re too focused on getting your abs tight and that’s why your chest is down (doing an ab crunch instead of pure bracing) but you really need to focus on puffing your chest up and forward while bracing your abs. That will help to get the lats and erectors tight.

313

[quote]lift206 wrote:
IMO, you shouldn’t go any heavier than your form allows for the back squat or you’ll just continue to reinforce bad form. The heaviest should be a weight where you really have to focus on the cues to get a good looking rep. 295 was too heavy and 265 could be doable if you try the tips below.

Use a weight that allows you to keep your chest up and elbows under the bar. I can see in the set with 265 that your elbows move back as you squat up. Either your upper back is still too weak or it isn’t tight enough to begin with. Have you tried moving your grip in and does that help with lat tightness? You should feel the same tightness in your lats as you did with the snatch grip RDL.

Do you feel any tightness in your chest? Look straight ahead or at least a few feet further out when you hit the hole to see if that helps too. I don’t know if you’re too focused on getting your abs tight and that’s why your chest is down (doing an ab crunch instead of pure bracing) but you really need to focus on puffing your chest up and forward while bracing your abs. That will help to get the lats and erectors tight.[/quote]

Yeah today I was genuinely just kind of trying to see where I was at, as I’ve never really done much beltless low bar work. So I should ditch the ‘over-warmups’?

I actually moved my grip out with recently. My grip for all squats used to be narrow as my high bar Squat grip is, actually a bit more narrow. That caused a lot of upper back tightness, but would kind of cause me to ‘push’ the bar into my neck, making me fall forward even more because I never could engage my lats that was. So now it’s almost the opposite, I feel my lights are pretty tight, but no real upper back tightness now, or at least not as much. So I’m assuming my ideal grip is somewhere in the middle, but I can’t seem to find it lol

I’m having a real issue, keeping my chest ‘up’ while not overarching. I am concentrating really hard on the bracing, but it’s just not something I really have the hang of, so I could be focusing on it at the expense of other things.

Honestly, do you have a video or something on the ideal Squat form I’m trying to replicate? I know it’s going to vary from person to person, but I feel I’m making small adjustments but I’m trying not to get in my own head and ‘major in the minors’.

Thanks for taking the time to help me dude, it’s really helpful. Seriously.

314

Also, I bought some of the patio mats, going to look over Pwnishers stuff again and kind of figure out how he does the matt pulls progression. I’m thinking this could not only help my DL numbers, but also my hip strength for my squats as well.

315

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Yeah today I was genuinely just kind of trying to see where I was at, as I’ve never really done much beltless low bar work. So I should ditch the ‘over-warmups’?

I actually moved my grip out with recently. My grip for all squats used to be narrow as my high bar Squat grip is, actually a bit more narrow. That caused a lot of upper back tightness, but would kind of cause me to ‘push’ the bar into my neck, making me fall forward even more because I never could engage my lats that was. So now it’s almost the opposite, I feel my lights are pretty tight, but no real upper back tightness now, or at least not as much. So I’m assuming my ideal grip is somewhere in the middle, but I can’t seem to find it lol

I’m having a real issue, keeping my chest ‘up’ while not overarching. I am concentrating really hard on the bracing, but it’s just not something I really have the hang of, so I could be focusing on it at the expense of other things.

Honestly, do you have a video or something on the ideal Squat form I’m trying to replicate? I know it’s going to vary from person to person, but I feel I’m making small adjustments but I’m trying not to get in my own head and ‘major in the minors’.

Thanks for taking the time to help me dude, it’s really helpful. Seriously. [/quote]

The heavy single warmup isn’t worth it if it isn’t a clean rep. At this point it’s still hard to go heavy with good form because you’re still working on creating a stiff back and bracing your abs. Warmup as you like but just don’t get in the habit of accepting bad reps. They are fine once in awhile when pushing close to failure but shouldn’t be a common thing.

It’s possible that you were slightly shrugging your shoulders up when using a close grip. I used to do that and couldn’t help it. My upper back would get tight but not my mid back, which caused my chest to fold over. You want to feel your lats tight and shrug your shoulders down where it is more stable. The grip should be as close as possible but never compromising the shoulders down position. So starting with the position you have now, move it in little by little until the point you feel like your shoulder blades have to move up if you try to move the grip in any closer. It should still feel tight almost like doing a lat pull down while keeping your elbows in the same plane as your torso. The upper back tightness is something you should be able to nail down in just a couple weeks unless you never did much lat work in the past. If not you should do a lot of rowing movements to bring that up.

Ab bracing strength will definitely take longer to catch up. The reason why you over arch is because the ab bracing strength isn’t great enough yet to pull your lower spine into a neutral position during heavy weights. So just hang in there. That’s why I recommended front squats with correct form because it brought up my ab bracing strength much faster than beltless back squats. I would hammer the shit out of ab work by doing the main front squat work and finishing the sessions with paused breathing front squats. I paused for around 3-10 breaths with 60-70% of my max and it worked my abs hard. I basically did as much ab work as possible and only backed off if it affected my next session.

I don’t have a squat video on ideal form. I can record my front squat on Friday to show you some of the cues I focus on.

316

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Also, I bought some of the patio mats, going to look over Pwnishers stuff again and kind of figure out how he does the matt pulls progression. I’m thinking this could not only help my DL numbers, but also my hip strength for my squats as well. [/quote]

I haven’t done mat pull progressions but I think it would work really well. I wasn’t a big believer in it at first until I found that I could get really tight in the setup for mat pulls. The reduced range of motion allows for more focus on tightness (less on mobility) and that will gradually transition to pulling from the floor if you’re using the right muscles and staying consistent with the setup.

For now make sure to keep you shoulders above the bar and only do weights that your abs and upper back can handle. In the future you’ll be able to grind through reps without much form breakdown.

317

lift206: I’ll play around with the grip then, try to find that middle ground.

I’ve been doing breathing squats as a warm-up tool, but I haven’t thought of doing them in the 60-70% range. I guess I could start working up to beltless, good form front or back squat (depending on the session), do 3-5 sets of that, and then get in 3-5 sets of breathing Squats. It’s just kind of a weird thing for me, because I’m working on improved form, not more weight on the bar necessarily, so it’s hard for me to be objective on progress, so I’m trying to have some semblance of a game plan. I’d love you posted your video tomorrow, to just kind of help me get what i’m going for.

Yeah the mat pulls I think will help a lot. When you say shoulders over the bar, do you just mean not ‘behind’ the bar? Because i know with rack pulls I can basically ‘wedge’ myself in a position to move heavier weight almost by just putting all my weight back. Do you mean I need to just really try to kind of go straight up and down with it, not ‘back’?

318

Low on sleep and time again today

Light Upper

Paused Flat Bench: Just a pump. 90s rest
135x5x10

Then I superset deep stretch neutral DB presses with UH BB Rows, just sets of 15. Those felt decent. Then some arm stuff. And I did 300 good form band pull aparts through out the session. So it was quick, but even just a little bit of volume I think will add up over time, so I’m glad I didn’t hit the snooze button again and skip this session.

319

Huh, so it seems my link to pwnisher’s blog to the page discussing ROM progression was removed. That was one of the clearest explanations on the general approach, with videos. He, obviously, explains it better than I could ever paraphrase.

Anyway, you should be able to find it by searching: “Mythical Strength Range Of Motion Progression”.

320

[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
lift206: I’ll play around with the grip then, try to find that middle ground.

I’ve been doing breathing squats as a warm-up tool, but I haven’t thought of doing them in the 60-70% range. I guess I could start working up to beltless, good form front or back squat (depending on the session), do 3-5 sets of that, and then get in 3-5 sets of breathing Squats. It’s just kind of a weird thing for me, because I’m working on improved form, not more weight on the bar necessarily, so it’s hard for me to be objective on progress, so I’m trying to have some semblance of a game plan. I’d love you posted your video tomorrow, to just kind of help me get what i’m going for.

Yeah the mat pulls I think will help a lot. When you say shoulders over the bar, do you just mean not ‘behind’ the bar? Because i know with rack pulls I can basically ‘wedge’ myself in a position to move heavier weight almost by just putting all my weight back. Do you mean I need to just really try to kind of go straight up and down with it, not ‘back’?[/quote]

Yeah, not far forward or behind the bar, just above. If your shoulders are behind the bar then your thighs will support some of the weight and the lift can be red lighted in competition.