If you have yet again failed to note, I have repeatedly said that I don’t by any means know everything, and would never claim such. There are many people who know way more than I do. However, you don’t know me so you can’t tell me what I do and don’t know based off of one post (which was correct, you just saw the need to defend your friend it looks like).
And also, wtf is wrong with my picture? You are flexing with your shirt off in yours. Difference? and actually you are wrong again, because Louie and Dave both openly offered me (and many other people) their personal phone numbers. Louie was a huge help to me in understanding the science behind the dynamic effort days.
My tendons have only been under recovery rehab for one week…are you going to tell Dave Tate that he should be benching his same usual weight with his torn pec? No. Quit jumping to conclussions. Again, you don’t know me.
Yeah, I was defending a point that I agreed with. Using soreness as an indicator can be used, but it’s not the sole indicator. My picture was a progress picture and I thought it would look cool to photoshop the T-Nation logo on it, thats about the extent of it. You look like you’re trying to look hyooge.
You definitely seem like you know everything based on your HUB and these posts, especially thinking you know any “deep” meaning about lifting. You’ll realize how naive you are when you are older and really understand it, and I don’t claim to understand it. Louie was a help in my understanding of DE days as well, but I just read his articles. lol
I don’t care. When you say “rarely” that means it’s lasted a long time. Not one week.
I’m not posting on this topic anymore^^
Anyway, the point of this thread is for the OP to figure out why his big 3 are weak relative to his accessory lifts. The answer has been stated by StormTheBeach. Fix your form.
No. I dont think I’m “hyooge”; I’m 170 lbs, really now? And no you are definitely under the wrong impression about me; when I say that i look at lifting on a deep level, I’m saying that it’s not just working out for me. It’s a spiritual thing for me as well. I don’t expect you to necesarily understand that, because you seem fixated on trying to conjure up anything possible about me to switch around into something it isn’t.
I have put up with the pain in my tendons since march, not knowing exactly what it was. Until I went into the doctor not long ago and realized I further tore a tendon that was already damaged (along with 3 others). Correct, I have benched about 3 times in the past 3-4 months. My reverse grip incline bench has 35 lbs on my normal grip flat bench…that shouldn’t be the case.
I’m not posting on this anymore either.
I’m not on these forums to argue about shit, or to make enemies.
To the OP, I’m sorry we have blown your thread to shit; as threewhitelights said, you have plenty of good advice from plenty of people.
Thanks for the responses again. Perhaps next time I train with hungry4more we can do some videos. I think most of you are accurate; I tighten up but I don’t really focus on tightening my abs as I should. I try to fire the muscles in question (ie hams, glutes) and that is where my attention is focused. I own a belt but have not used it in 18 months because I do not want to become reliant on it. However, I will try it per threewhitelights guidance because I understand it may help me in learning how to puff my belly out.
To entertain what you’ve said, squats leave my low back and quads sore (no ham or glutes) and deadlifts is usually just low back, sometimes a little hams. I feel like the only way to hit my glutes is with walking lunges and heavy back extensions (135 lbs, 3 plates). That is besides the point. Will try to update with a video in the next few weeks.
[quote]njrusmc wrote:
Thanks for the responses again. Perhaps next time I train with hungry4more we can do some videos. I think most of you are accurate; I tighten up but I don’t really focus on tightening my abs as I should. I try to fire the muscles in question (ie hams, glutes) and that is where my attention is focused. I own a belt but have not used it in 18 months because I do not want to become reliant on it. However, I will try it per threewhitelights guidance because I understand it may help me in learning how to puff my belly out.
[/quote]
You don’t have to become reliant on it. Work up to 80-85% of it, then put it on loose. It should be loose enough to fit some fingers in it when you are relaxed, and tight when you breathe in and push against it. Don’t use it on your supplemental movement. The important part is learning to push against it. It WILL make your beltless squat and deadlift go up, I assure you. Just don’t neglect regular ab work and don’t put it on till the weight gets heavy.
As far as the hamstring thing, I’d bet my right glute that you aren’t sitting back far enough. To load the hamstrings, you need to sit BACK, BACK, BACK, and then dip and drive through. However, if you have weak abs or aren’t using them properly and you sit back, you’ll fold over when trying to drive out of the hole. You’re probably squatting almost up and down to compensate for poor core strength and tightness.
I stand by what I suggested to you in person…try a higher frequency approach, with lower volume. It allows you to practice the movements multiple times per week, without overworking them (if you do it right). It WILL take a couple weeks to adjust, and initially, your posterior chain will take a beating. Then again, maybe that’s why all my lifts involving my posterior chain are so strong, because I FORCED it to adapt, while stopping short of injury.
And don’t be afraid to use a belt man, they’re not evil lol. When you wanna hit some pendlay rows, but were just doing back squats the day before, a belt can be just what you need to keep your lower back from being the weak point in the lift. It’s kinda a “go by feel” thing.
This article is for 1 rep max, but I like thought process for heavy days also. For deads (or squats), I like to get blood moving with a few minutes of bike and rowing machine. Then I will do a couple of sets bodyweight knee bend/straight leg bend overs. You should be totally loose and just need to acclimate your body for the load at this point.
5x135
4x185
3x225
2x275
1x315 This equals 1/2 of your total work load in your current warm up.
Then do your low rep work sets. Obviously, if one is stronger, the jump early on could be 45# rather than 25# or just keep singling up in weight to work set weight.
[quote]hungry4more wrote:
I stand by what I suggested to you in person…try a higher frequency approach, with lower volume. It allows you to practice the movements multiple times per week, without overworking them (if you do it right). It WILL take a couple weeks to adjust, and initially, your posterior chain will take a beating. Then again, maybe that’s why all my lifts involving my posterior chain are so strong, because I FORCED it to adapt, while stopping short of injury.
And don’t be afraid to use a belt man, they’re not evil lol. When you wanna hit some pendlay rows, but were just doing back squats the day before, a belt can be just what you need to keep your lower back from being the weak point in the lift. It’s kinda a “go by feel” thing. [/quote]
Well I was going to add my 2 cents to the thread, and hungry hit it on the head! So I decided to quote him for emphasis.
Things that strike me:
your GM sucks ass. Ok, when I was starting GMs, and I was weak and small all over…I did 135x3 and maxed at 150. And I squatted less than you at the time. It seems to me your lower back is weak if that is all you can good morning.
hip mobility is probably a part of it. But also, probably not the whole issue and likely you can make great strides in strength without incredibly increased mobility.
Technique most likely sucks. This is a combination of lack of coaching (maybe. maybe not since hungry knows his shit and seems to have seen you in person), poor motor learning, and bad habits. From what I can glean from this thread, it is not likely that your technique is super poor all over, but that your ab tightness sucks ass.
Whoever said work abs and strengthen your lower back had a good idea
Also, as regards motor learning, hungry’s high frequency/low volume split is GREAT for hammering technique. It makes your nervous system get more efficient at the squat/dead forms and trains proper execution without undue muscular fatigue. However, you do have to do every rep perfect so it is very mentally rigorous. Otherwise you’ll start to develop bad habits.
seems to me your legs are plenty fucking strong. What is not strong is your core and lower back.
I guess I would second the high frequency approach from hungry, with maybe an added suggestion that you might want to try hammering low back work before hitting the high frequency block. Sort of as a preparation phase.
Yeah Aragorn we’ve gotten to lift together a few times, only done one leg workout though, and there was barely any back squatting. Depending on schedules, I’d like to change that though, and see if I can figure out anything HUGELY wrong with technique.
Makes sense guys. I generally do GM’s a little differently: my knees are locked and I make my torso parallel with the ground, and shoot my butt backwards. The angle between my quads and my stomach is like 60 degrees. It puts a tremendous strain on hamstrings (especially coming out of the ‘hole’) and even weights of ~100 lbs leave them hurting. If I do the bent leg technique, I can do 135x10 easily. Because I am not accustomed to that movement, I decided not to go heavier right away.
You’re not doing them to make your hamstrings sore, you’re doing them to get stronger. Once you get strong enough on them, you won’t have to worry about them not making your sore.
^Thanks. I tried the belt today for deadlifts, I felt the difference. I can feel that when I puff my stomach out, it becomes very tight. Question is … usually when I tense up while beltless, I don’t necessarily puff out like I would with a belt. I tighten up, but it wasn’t intentional puffing, if that makes sense. I managed a few heavy triples, followed by some sets of 5 … to get the hang of using it. I think I will break out the straps as well and try for new PRs. I figure if I can pull heavier weights with belt + straps, after hitting 405x1, I should be able to pull high 300s raw.
Those 150s are money. I’m satisfied with my 5 reps for now. Was that before or after your 500 lb barbell rows?
Next time I do the exercise in Swansboro, I am going to take a bicep curl bar and stack 25s on the ends so they have a low profile. It might be hard to balance for DB-style rows but its worth a try.
[quote]njrusmc wrote:
Those 150s are money. I’m satisfied with my 5 reps for now. Was that before or after your 500 lb barbell rows?
Next time I do the exercise in Swansboro, I am going to take a bicep curl bar and stack 25s on the ends so they have a low profile. It might be hard to balance for DB-style rows but its worth a try.[/quote]
Lol, this time I did it fresh. When I did it with you there it was 20, didn’t go quite all out. This time was all out, including cramped hamstring after the set.
I’m gonna start using a DB handle that holds olympic weights, so I can throw however much I want on there. Was gonna grab them next time I go home in NH…then I remembered those ones are a little flimsy. Maybe the dick’s sporting goods here in town has them…I’ll go check.
Working with hungry can do one of two things for you:
You look at his numbers and then at his bodyweight and realize that you’re a hopeless pussy and you end up convincing yourself that your genetics want you to be a distance runner.
Let me know if you find them out here. I will definitely buy a pair and take them to the gym.
@Carnage: Yea, it’s ridiculous. He’s 4 inches shorter and the same weight, and he’s almost 2x my squat and deadlift. When he’s not around I can usually hold my own in the gym. Otherwise, I’m just an afterthought. That’s why we train a few times a year. Must protect the delicate male ego.
But seriously, he knows his shit. He’s a good coach and I’m sure if our schedules matched better, I would be stronger myself.
