Bench: Major sticking point in the middle
What I’m doing: pin presses, both on bench and upright (shoulder). Limited range ME work (boards, floor press, etc.)
Squat: 1) Coming out of the hole 2) I slow down in the middle too
For 1) Doing low box squats, glute-ham raises, various glute work (pull-throughs, barbell hip thrusts)
For #2) Doing good mornings. Perhaps add good-mornings off pins in the middle?
Used to be a bigger problem than it is now, but it’s still hampering my ability to pull heavy weights. It just gets painful at high weights sometimes. I guess focus more on fixing this, with the tennis ball pressing into it, stretches, etc.?
[quote]TheBlade wrote:
Bench: Major sticking point in the middle
What I’m doing: pin presses, both on bench and upright (shoulder). Limited range ME work (boards, floor press, etc.)
Squat: 1) Coming out of the hole 2) I slow down in the middle too
Thoughts? Suggestions?[/quote]
Sounds like you are struggling a tad in the transitional areas of the lifts. Maybe add in a bit or more speed work. Are you able to bench or squat with chains? They will help you build speed thru theses areas so when you go back to straight weights, you should sail thru to lock outs. Hope this helps.
[quote]TheBlade wrote:
Bench: Major sticking point in the middle
What I’m doing: pin presses, both on bench and upright (shoulder). Limited range ME work (boards, floor press, etc.)
Squat: 1) Coming out of the hole 2) I slow down in the middle too
Thoughts? Suggestions?[/quote]
Sounds like you are struggling a tad in the transitional areas of the lifts. Maybe add in a bit or more speed work. Are you able to bench or squat with chains? They will help you build speed thru theses areas so when you go back to straight weights, you should sail thru to lock outs. Hope this helps.
[/quote]
If you are having troubles coming out of the hole, box squats might not be the best idea… if you lift Raw. If you are a raw lifter you need to work on using your stretch reflex to rebound out of the hole. It definitely sounds like if you get faster you would do really well for your squat. It will help you come out of the hole faster and blow through your sticking point as well.
I’ll get some videos up soon. My PRs are: 295 Bench, 355 Squat, 495 Deadlift. Last time I tested (in early December) it was 285/315/465, however.
There are chains at my gym, yes. I do my Bench Max Effort work with Chains Sunday. I do speed work in the form of bench throws at the smith machine Thursday.
My lower body days are organized as follows:
Monday: Box Squat 5/3/1 + Accessory
Wednesday: Deadlift ME + Accessory
Friday: Bulgarian Split Squats 5 rep ramp + Accessory
No I’m not overtraining, I think Anaconda is helping a lot with that. I’m training twice a day 3x a week for upper body. I don’t think I should add a different squat variation friday though as it would add a lot of pressure for my lower back
Accessory is various hamstrings, abs, glute, lower back and a bit of grip work.
Perhaps I should replace the Box Squats to ME (with chains) or something?
What would be a good way to develop my stretch reflex out of the hole?