How did you both increase your deadlift speed off the floor? Thats my weakest point that I noticed in my workout video
[quote]mattd534 wrote:
How did you both increase your deadlift speed off the floor? Thats my weakest point that I noticed in my workout video[/quote]
Personally I’m very slow off the floor. In both cases I think it’s mostly a set-up issue, but I noticed block pulls helped with Sumo from the floor, and I don’t pull conventional often, but deficits obviously help to teach yourself to get tight while executing leg drive.
MarkKO’s DL is much stronger though so he’s the man to ask haha
Did a solid Back workout
SG High Pulls: Just trying to stay explosive
185x4x4
Fat Grip Chins:
+35x4x3
BWx12
Yate’s Rows: Slow eccentrics
135x3x12-15
Rear Delts, Curls, and Shrugs
Easy pump style workout. Felt good, hopefully this with DL’ing will help get dat dere thickkkk back
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
MarkKO: Yeah one of my biggest issues for Sumo is I can’t ‘rip and grip’ like I could with conventional. Though with hook grip now, even with conventional set-up takes a bit longer than I’d want
Hit Legs today, and had a great session!
Moderate Squats: Just felt so good today.
315x5x2
255x3x3 (Speed)
Paused High Bar Narrow Squats: Beltless
185x8
195x7
205x6
Deficit Conventional DL’s: Easy
345x6
Abs
Great workout, all 5 sets with 315 felt great. Not sure if depth was good enough, but I’ll have to take a vid from the side to know. Also put my belt up a bit higher. I don’t have that wide of a waist, so I felt pushing my ‘lower’ abdomen out wasn’t as good as pushing out aroung my belly button. Seemed to help a lot
[/quote]
That’s looking a lot more comfortable, very fast coming up. Depth from that angle looks just ok, but you’re right that a profile view will tell for sure. Good idea to experiment with belt height too (and that could maybe affect depth as well). I’m sort of the opposite, I’ve got a fairly thick waist so lower belt works better for me with squats, but I’ve recently found for DL it works better a tad higher.
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
[quote]mattd534 wrote:
How did you both increase your deadlift speed off the floor? Thats my weakest point that I noticed in my workout video[/quote]
Personally I’m very slow off the floor. In both cases I think it’s mostly a set-up issue, but I noticed block pulls helped with Sumo from the floor, and I don’t pull conventional often, but deficits obviously help to teach yourself to get tight while executing leg drive.
MarkKO’s DL is much stronger though so he’s the man to ask haha[/quote]
You are too kind. I’ve got a ways to go, I’m very excited about my meet in October because if I’m brutally honest all I’m thinking about is my deadlift.
For conventional, I found speed off the floor is linked to the time spent between gripping the bar and initiating the pull: the longer time spent between gripping and pulling, the slower the bar comes up and the harder it feels. That said, I know a bunch of people take a bit of time to set their grip and that works fine for them so you’d be best off figuring out which works for you. I do reckon its worth a note that monsters like Konstantinovs and Magnussen don’t spend much time between gripping and pulling though. I picked that idea up from an article about deadlifting by Andy Bolton.
For sumo, I’ve actually found in the short time I’ve been doing it that speed off the floor is pretty irrelevant compared to positioning because the bar is naturally slow off the floor and accelerates once you approach the knees. Any time with sumo if I try to be aggressive off the floor I get pulled horribly out of position. Watch Belyaev - he’s patient off the floor and then the bar starts to speed up. Its different to someone like Dan Green, who’s got a much more aggressive approach. For sumo, what really helped me off the floor were high box squats with a relatively heavy load (around 80% of my conventional DL), with the box sets so my hips were where they are for the start of a sumo pull. That really helped me in moving a dead weight with my glutes and hams.
Yeah I’m a little concerned about depth, but I once I take a side video I’ll be able to reevaluate, and I know I’m at least in the ball park enough to hit consistent depth with a bit of intention.
I agree on the speed off the floor sentiment. I think Chris Duffin has an ideal Sumo form, a blend of calm and collected but a bit of ferocity that’s needed with max attempts I think .
Push Volume
Paused Bench: These were a bit tough, a few hard reps in there. But still went up 5 lbs so can’t complain
195x5x5
Pin Presses: Will do these for another week, then re-evaluate
145x5
135x6
DB Presses:
40’sx2x12
CG Bench: Triceps fatigue soooo fast lol
150x3x10
Then some Tri and Delt iso stuff
Good workout. Do think I may put CG as my 2nd lift, and maybe do OHP variations for 8+ reps exclusively. Idk how I like the lower rep stuff for a lift I’ve been injured on previously lol
Legs Volume
Beltless Squats: Took so video of my sets from the side, to show depth. Shelves next to my rack aren’t at the best height for depth, so took it from two angles
275x1
245x5x5
Franken-Fronts: These feel so sketchy, even with chalk, the sweatiness really makes it risky lolol
175x3x6 (paused)
195x2x3
Split Squats + abs
Good workout. Garage was extra humid today, had to really chalk up a lot.
Squats look very good. Either you really improved your form our you outangled your previous squats lol
[quote]Samplaysbaseball wrote:
Squats look very good. Either you really improved your form our you outangled your previous squats lol[/quote]
Thanks man! I’ve been working hard on it haha
Heavy Pull
So I was getting frustrated, because Sumo just felt horrible. However, I realized I was making too big of jumps in weights. I was going from 405 to 435, and it just felt heavy, so I stripped off some weight and worked back up, and it felt better
Sumo DL: Videoed last 3 singles
405x3
425x2
435x1
445x1
455x1
SLDL: Off small deficit
225x2x10
Rear Delts, Band Pulldowns, and Curls
My Narrower stance is faster off the floor, but lockout, as you can see, is a hassle. Upper back is really rounded, but I’m not sure how to get more ‘vertical’. Also feel I’m pulling ‘up’, not ‘back’. Like 455 doesn’t feel heavy at all, but I can tell my form is just railing me. Plan is to just slowly add weight to these singles each week.
Nice job, squats moving in the right direction for sure! Watch your upper back position though, try to lock it in tighter so it doesn’t move as much during the squat - it’s rounded a bit, but that won’t matter so much if it doesn’t move. Reducing some of these tension leaks should really kick your weights up a notch, but great progress.
I agree with halcj. The squats are looking better and the upper back weakness is still apparent in the deadlift.
Whether you start the deadlift with a straight back or rounded upper back, you’ll still need your upper erector to be stronger to complete the lift. I know you’re doing front squats but if you feel like your erectors still aren’t getting enough work, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do more thoracic extension work (either static or dynamic work) within your recovering abilities.
Currently it looks like your erectors are strong in an extended state (like a long rubber band) but not strong in a shortened state (like a short rubber band). Being stronger in a shortened state means you’ll be a lot stiffer and be able to prevent being pulled out of position. Two rubber bands can have the same limiting strength but the one able to handle that load with smaller strains would be more useful for something like maintaining torso position when squatting. Just something to keep in mind.
With your sumo set up, try pulling your shoulders further back behind the bar and dropping your hips more (thighs around parallel to the ground); then arch your lower back. Once you’re in that position, start raising your hips. It should keep your lower back arched and stop upper back rounding. You’ll be slow off the floor, but just lever the bar up patiently. You’ll feel it start to accelerate just past mid shin, and that is the time to snap your knees into lockout aggressively and then extend your hips.
Heavy Push
Just got a rough nights of sleep last few days, but still got some work in
Flat Bench: Did some ‘fatigued’ singles too see if I should up my training max
230x3x2
235x1
240x1
195x3x4 (speed)
Paused Wide Grip Bench: Just felt like shit so did one set and racked it
185x5
Tris + Delts
Bench video doesn’t look bad IMO. Par path isn’t super straight but I think it’s better than it used too. Just need bigger muscles, end of story. Really concentrating on getting delts/tris size up with lots of pump work.
[quote]halcj wrote:
Nice job, squats moving in the right direction for sure! Watch your upper back position though, try to lock it in tighter so it doesn’t move as much during the squat - it’s rounded a bit, but that won’t matter so much if it doesn’t move. Reducing some of these tension leaks should really kick your weights up a notch, but great progress.[/quote]
Yeah upper back is kind of bitch too me. It’s slowly getting better though, but a lot of it may just be I need more upper back muscle to even stay as tight as I want. Thanks for the compliment, I’ve been working hard.
[quote]lift206 wrote:
I agree with halcj. The squats are looking better and the upper back weakness is still apparent in the deadlift.
Whether you start the deadlift with a straight back or rounded upper back, you’ll still need your upper erector to be stronger to complete the lift. I know you’re doing front squats but if you feel like your erectors still aren’t getting enough work, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do more thoracic extension work (either static or dynamic work) within your recovering abilities.
Currently it looks like your erectors are strong in an extended state (like a long rubber band) but not strong in a shortened state (like a short rubber band). Being stronger in a shortened state means you’ll be a lot stiffer and be able to prevent being pulled out of position. Two rubber bands can have the same limiting strength but the one able to handle that load with smaller strains would be more useful for something like maintaining torso position when squatting. Just something to keep in mind.[/quote]
Yeah I’m going to start putting in some banded upper back goodmornings, like you previously mentioned too me. I understand the rubber band analogy, but not 100% sure how I strengthen the ‘shortened’ state specifically? Is that just more about bracing, and being ‘compact’?
[quote]MarkKO wrote:
With your sumo set up, try pulling your shoulders further back behind the bar and dropping your hips more (thighs around parallel to the ground); then arch your lower back. Once you’re in that position, start raising your hips. It should keep your lower back arched and stop upper back rounding. You’ll be slow off the floor, but just lever the bar up patiently. You’ll feel it start to accelerate just past mid shin, and that is the time to snap your knees into lockout aggressively and then extend your hips. [/quote]
Yeah I’m having a tough time ‘wedging’ myself with the bar. It’s a bit easier with straps, but without I’m very ‘aware’ of my grip and kind of end up gripping hard, and pulling ‘up’, and not back. I forget to arch my back with Sumo, I’m not sure why. I need to though, because when I think about it it usually straightens out my form a lot.
Patience with the bar at the bottom is tough. Even on these, I feel I’m pulling for a few seconds before any movement begins haha
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
[quote]lift206 wrote:
I agree with halcj. The squats are looking better and the upper back weakness is still apparent in the deadlift.
Whether you start the deadlift with a straight back or rounded upper back, you’ll still need your upper erector to be stronger to complete the lift. I know you’re doing front squats but if you feel like your erectors still aren’t getting enough work, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do more thoracic extension work (either static or dynamic work) within your recovering abilities.
Currently it looks like your erectors are strong in an extended state (like a long rubber band) but not strong in a shortened state (like a short rubber band). Being stronger in a shortened state means you’ll be a lot stiffer and be able to prevent being pulled out of position. Two rubber bands can have the same limiting strength but the one able to handle that load with smaller strains would be more useful for something like maintaining torso position when squatting. Just something to keep in mind.[/quote]
Yeah I’m going to start putting in some banded upper back goodmornings, like you previously mentioned too me. I understand the rubber band analogy, but not 100% sure how I strengthen the ‘shortened’ state specifically? Is that just more about bracing, and being ‘compact’?[/quote]
I used that analogy only to demonstrate that strength can vary throughout the range of motion. You need to train the range of motion for your erectors in the shortened state where it’s weak. Static work like bracing or dynamic work like rounded back good mornings (where you fully contract and arch) both work when you put yourself through that range of motion while contracting those muscles hard. Bracing is more specific but really you just need to do what you can to get your erectors stronger.
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
[quote]MarkKO wrote:
With your sumo set up, try pulling your shoulders further back behind the bar and dropping your hips more (thighs around parallel to the ground); then arch your lower back. Once you’re in that position, start raising your hips. It should keep your lower back arched and stop upper back rounding. You’ll be slow off the floor, but just lever the bar up patiently. You’ll feel it start to accelerate just past mid shin, and that is the time to snap your knees into lockout aggressively and then extend your hips. [/quote]
Yeah I’m having a tough time ‘wedging’ myself with the bar. It’s a bit easier with straps, but without I’m very ‘aware’ of my grip and kind of end up gripping hard, and pulling ‘up’, and not back. I forget to arch my back with Sumo, I’m not sure why. I need to though, because when I think about it it usually straightens out my form a lot.
Patience with the bar at the bottom is tough. Even on these, I feel I’m pulling for a few seconds before any movement begins haha[/quote]
That’s sumo for you. I think its always going to feel very slow off the floor. It doesn’t have to feel bad though, just slow. If I get the pull right it feels heavy and slow off the floor but it feels ok. I don’t feel like I’m really pulling, just levering it up with my glutes and hams.