[quote]combatmedic wrote:
That being said, really dude, the pad is for ass clowns[/quote]
I resent that…
You guys crack me up. My original post was stated as a question. No complaining, no bitching. I searched google prior to making the post but found nothing. Previously, I had seen people say “don’t use the pad.” But often times, such advise is given only so that one can feel good about themselves. Hence my motivation. It’s unfortunate, however, that people seem to be unable to read my writing objectively without casting the negative stereotypes they hope to see.
[quote]Racarnus wrote:
You guys crack me up. My original post was stated as a question. No complaining, no bitching. I searched google prior to making the post but found nothing. Previously, I had seen people say “don’t use the pad.” But often times, such advise is given only so that one can feel good about themselves. Hence my motivation. It’s unfortunate, however, that people seem to be unable to read my writing objectively without casting the negative stereotypes they hope to see.[/quote]
Well, our stereotypes are usually right 99% of the time.
[quote]AssClown wrote:
combatmedic wrote:
That being said, really dude, the pad is for ass clowns
I resent that…[/quote]
LMFAO!
The pad IMO makes squating more difficult with the bar being harder to balance and rolling off your traps.
So in answer to your question…
NO pad = easier to maintain correct form.
Oh, yeah. If its an issue with discomfort you could use a towel maybe?
Something which sort-of moulds to your body giving a wider surface area to make balancing the bar easier.
Again, with me, the pad just makes it harder to balance the bar.
When I first started I used the pad once and stopped because I couldnt balance with it.
Used a towel a few times.
Then I learned proper bar placement on the traps (i had the thing on my neck which is why it was uncomfortable!).
Dont use a pad.
I just read the original post.
Doesn’t make me fell badass.
Makes me feel good about having decent form and safe knowing I’m not going to hurt myself from shit bar placement.
[quote]Kalle wrote:
I bought a weight set off ebay for my little brother and it had a sissy pad in it. Every time I would go over he was using the damn thing.
I tore it up and threw it away. [/quote]
You are a good brother. Seriously. I actually find the pad uncomfortable and a slippage risk. You learn how to squat for a month or so and you get used to, even delighted by, the naked bar.
Most lifters get calluses on their hands. I get calluses under my neck.
pad puts the bar higher which can fuck up your form. dosent take long for you to get use to not using it
[quote]Racarnus wrote:
I shrug at the weight that I use because that’s just how my max strength to strength endurance ratio is. My 1RM is generally way ahead of my 15RM. (Additionally, it’s easier to hold on to a barbell with a mixed grip than two dumbbells at the same total weight) I use high reps because the range of motion is so small. I am increasing the weight and will continue to do so, and it feels very appropriate where I am.
[/quote]
Well, okay, fair enough. Can I ask why you care about using a 15RM? What is it about a 15RM that you feel would be superior to say an 8RM? If you’re focusing on strength endurance then I understand, but also remember that the higher your 1RM, the higher your 15RM.
Famous last words. 
(just messing with you). Seriously, why wait until then? Had you followed solid dietary methods up to this point, you wouldn’t be feeling the discomfort that you are feeling while not using the squat pad. 455 lbs is an impressive deadlift for a person your size (almost 3X bodyweight). That weight should have put on some serious size to your traps. That would have made squatting much less uncomfortable.
[quote]
Lifting isn’t my priority in life. It doesn’t have to be. I’ve made serious strength gains, and during the summer when I could focus more attention to it, I made significant size gains.
Right now, I have to go for long periods without eating. I don’t have an all you can eat hall. I have to buy everything. I still try to eat as much as I can. Cooking is time intensive. But these are small problems compared to the fact that with dieting I have to be damned near perfect all the time. Travel, sickness, missed meals…small mistakes erase weeks of good practice.[/quote]
Okay man, suit yourself. You’re still young and I’d suspect feel like you’ve got your whole life in front of you (which you do). I’m not trying to be a dick, just trying to help you avoid a pitfall that I see a lot of people fall into.
Good training,
Sentoguy
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
Racarnus wrote:
I shrug at the weight that I use because that’s just how my max strength to strength endurance ratio is. My 1RM is generally way ahead of my 15RM. (Additionally, it’s easier to hold on to a barbell with a mixed grip than two dumbbells at the same total weight) I use high reps because the range of motion is so small. I am increasing the weight and will continue to do so, and it feels very appropriate where I am.
Well, okay, fair enough. Can I ask why you care about using a 15RM? What is it about a 15RM that you feel would be superior to say an 8RM? If you’re focusing on strength endurance then I understand, but also remember that the higher your 1RM, the higher your 15RM.
[/quote]
That is what I am doing right NOW. That’s not what I’ve always done and that’s not what I’ll always do. I switch things up whenever things stop improving.
Also, I would never do repetitions that high for any compound movement or anything with a decent range of motion. I never do deadlifts for repetitions greater than 1 and I never squat beyond 7. So far this has worked. Shrugs have a very small range of motion. There is very little contraction that occurs each rep, so I don’t think much microtrauma can be induced per rep. I plan on taking these up to 20 reps x 3 sets and then moving up to 125 at however many reps it turns out I can do with that. After that, 150. Also, shrugs are the only isolation movements I use these days.
[quote]Racarnus wrote:
That is what I am doing right NOW. That’s not what I’ve always done and that’s not what I’ll always do. I switch things up whenever things stop improving.
[/quote]
Ok, no need to get defensive, I’m not attacking your training, just curious as to why you would do 15 rep shrugs.
Can I ask why you are doing shrugs? Really shrugs don’t have much use in my opinion other than as a trap builder.
If you were doing them to improve a certain lift, like say one of the olympic complex, then you’d probably be better off doing high pulls, or power variations.
And, if you are doing them to build muscle in the traps then realize that, sure shrugs aren’t a bad trap builder. But IMO, and from most of the anecdotal evidence out there, deads are a far superior trap builder to shrugs (rack deads are even better).
There is also benefit to doing some of the compound movements for higher reps. You say you never dead for more than 1 rep. That’s a great way to build up your 1RM (and if that’s your goal, then good job), but doing deads for high(er) reps is also a great muscle builder (traps included), and, as I mentioned earlier, rack deads done for reps is probably the best trap builder out there IMO.
If what you’re doing is helping you achieve your goals then great for you. Once again I’m not attacking you or your training, just trying to offer a different viewpoint.
Good training,
Sentoguy
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
Racarnus wrote:
That is what I am doing right NOW. That’s not what I’ve always done and that’s not what I’ll always do. I switch things up whenever things stop improving.
Ok, no need to get defensive, I’m not attacking your training, just curious as to why you would do 15 rep shrugs.
[/quote]
I didn’t mean to sound defensive. Just trying to clarify.
[quote]Can I ask why you are doing shrugs? Really shrugs don’t have much use in my opinion other than as a trap builder.
If you were doing them to improve a certain lift, like say one of the olympic complex, then you’d probably be better off doing high pulls, or power variations.
And, if you are doing them to build muscle in the traps then realize that, sure shrugs aren’t a bad trap builder. But IMO, and from most of the anecdotal evidence out there, deads are a far superior trap builder to shrugs (rack deads are even better).
There is also benefit to doing some of the compound movements for higher reps. You say you never dead for more than 1 rep. That’s a great way to build up your 1RM (and if that’s your goal, then good job), but doing deads for high(er) reps is also a great muscle builder (traps included), and, as I mentioned earlier, rack deads done for reps is probably the best trap builder out there IMO.
If what you’re doing is helping you achieve your goals then great for you. Once again I’m not attacking you or your training, just trying to offer a different viewpoint.
Good training,
Sentoguy[/quote]
Shrugs are part of my collective effort to improve my deadlift, the others currently being 45 degree hyperextensions and squats (and sometimes, leg presses). I currently use high reps for the hyperextensions as well.
I don’t deadlift for repetitions any more because I don’t enjoy lifting submaximal loads in that lift. Also, repetitions tend to tear up my hands a bit, and rip callouses. I tried following the 3 reps x 10 sets with deadlifts once, and ended up being out for over a week because my hands were all raw and bloody. Also, my form suffers toward the end of higher rep sets. I get tempted to round my back to complete the final reps, and this would lead to injury eventually.
The things you are saying are not without merit. But, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I used to fix things that weren’t broke. Actually I used to fix things without bothering to see if they were broken or working. I think it’s a common problem. I have something that works right now. I’ve decided that it’s important to commit to a program, even if I think of or hear of better ideas in the middle.
Their is no way you actually dl 450 lbs or w/e with your lack of knowledge.
Another problem with using a pad or other such aid is what happens when a pad is not avaliable? What do you do then, not squat?
I have not met anyone, skiny, with or without traps, that could not get through the discomfort of squating after a few sessions.
[quote]shizen wrote:
Their is no way you actually dl 450 lbs or w/e with your lack of knowledge. [/quote]
We need to see a photo of you deadlifting 450 pounds. Holding a shoe. And todays paper.
[quote]shizen wrote:
Their is no way you actually dl 450 lbs or w/e with your lack of knowledge. [/quote]
There is no way you actually know more than me with your lack of ability to learn and remember things.
Four months ago in my thread about deadlifting 405 lbs you wrote:
[quote]shizen wrote:
can we see a video of the lift? not that i think your lieing i would just like to see it
[/quote]
I posted a video and you replied to that thread as well.
Sigh. You useless internet warriors grow tiresome.
Seriously, if you pull 455@150 how on earth do you not have a) traps, or b) balls. If those numbers are correct I cannot comprehend why you’d even contemplate using the girly pad. Are you doing high bar squats with a collar to collar grip or something?
This is a quote from Practical Programming from Rippetoe&Kilgore:
“In the tables above, the term ‘untrained’ refers to the expected level of strenght in a healthy individual who has not trained on the exercise before but can perform it correctly. . . . ‘Novice’ means a person training regularly for a period of 3-9 months. . . . An ‘intermediate’ is a person who has engaged in regular treining for up to two years…The term ‘advanced’ refers to an individual with multi-year training experience with defninte goals in the higher levels of competitive athletics. The term ‘elite’ refers specifically to athletes competing in strenght sports. Less than 1% of the weight training population will attain this level.” (Practical Programming, p. 271
DEADLIFT
Adult men
Bodyweight = 148lbs
Un-trained
126 lbs
Novice
234 lbs
Intermediate
269 lbs
Advanced
380 lbs
Elite
482 lbs
I leave the rest up to you guys…
[quote]ninearms wrote:
Seriously, if you pull 455@150 how on earth do you not have a) traps, or b) balls. If those numbers are correct I cannot comprehend why you’d even contemplate using the girly pad.[/quote]
I’m sorry you can’t “comprehend” it. It’s not really that difficult. I have heard people mock and riducule people for using the pad. So I tried going without it. It was uncomfortable and caused my arms and hands to tingle. I thought “Why am I doing this? The pad feels better and doesn’t cause this problem.”
So I decided to look into the issue to see if there was any real reason to avoid the pad. If I’m convinced there are benefits, I end up doing things. But I never do things just because one option seems ballsier and another seems pussier. People like me need real reasons. If you’re still unable to “comprehend” perhaps your comprehension problem is more general.
I realize that I am so freaking amazing that it’s hard for you guys to accept. That’s OK. Skepticism is a good thing. You got your requested video before, but I’m not going to be making an updated one for a while.
http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=1659173
As for your chart, it’s a joke. I believe I will break 482 before I leave the novice (9 months) category. So far it’s been almost 8.