Thats some good pulling, your sumo pulling is very smooth, I’d love for mine to be that smooth.
Nice work, KK. Your pulling is really coming along. I doubt anyone here would be surprised to learn that your deadlifts attract attention.
I’d take front row seats to the Kimba show any day.
Honestly, those deads looked good! and good job on the big breath and the bracing, i also think that helps a ton. I can’t see what the belt is going to do. I think its going to be very helpful for you, with what little help you need.
Btw, booty is popping there! and your arms are delish!
Congratulations on the bench pr. It feels good doesn’t it.?
Spend as much time as you can playing with squat stance. It will pay off. Also take videos and watch yourself if you haven’t already. Earlier today, I was watching videos of myself this time last year when I was doing some squat rx.
I moved my feet wider amongst other things. People have a lot of advice on what they think a squat stance ‘should’ be. That’s fair enough as far as it goes but we all need to work the fine points for the mechanics of our own bodies. It really is time well spent.
[quote]Mascherano wrote:
I’d take front row seats to the Kimba show any day.
[/quote]
x2!!!
Thanks for the kind words re: the sumo deadlifts. Um, yeah Mascherano. Booty popping. My husband stood a plate on it the other night as a joke. But the plate stayed up.
ouroboro, I read your comment just prior to today’s squat training and it really focused my attention on playing with my stance. Exactly right, there is no-one other than moi who can tweak my stance to work with my body mechanics. My goal with this today was to stop overthinking stance and just go on what feels the strongest.
5/3/1 - Wave 6, Week 3 - Squat and Bench Day
Squats (to 3 risers/step unless noted)
75# 1 x 5 ← wider stance, toes only slightly flared. This felt bad and looked bad the last few reps. Nope.
75# 1 x 5 ← slightly less wide stance, toes very flared. This felt good and looked good. SCORE! Kept this stance for the remainder of the training.
82.5# 1 x 5 <–working, all good.
93.5# 1 x 3 <–working, all good.
105# 1 x 4 <–money set, last two reps got increasingly knee cavey and right-pullin’. Disappointing.
So, I started to play with stance again:
105# 1 x 1 ← narrow stance, toes straight, bad knee cave. No good.
105# 1 x 1 ← wider stance, more toe flare = felt stronger and looked alot better
105# 1 x 1 ← same stance, felt stronger but right pulling. Fatigue has set in.
85# 1 x 2 ← same stance, felt strong, looked good
85# 1 x 3 ← same stance, felt strong, still good but slightly less so on on last rep.
Then, channeling CBear’s last box squat video, I set up the step with five risers (just to parallel) to try this for the first time, focusing on sitting way back, and using knees out and hips forward to come up out of the hole smoothly.
65# 2 x 10 ← this was GREAT! I could really feel my hips and glutes working as they should.
I don’t know why I haven’t tried box squats before but I think this will really help strengthen what is weak in my squat. Next week I will try more weight.
Bench Press
Bar 1 x 1
My left shoulder/outer pec is tweaked and wasn’t happy with the pushing movement. So I racked the bar and when on to something else. Maybe I’ll make this up during deload week next week.
Neutral grip pullups
4/4/3
supersetted with
Kroc Rows
40# 2 x 10
Triceps Rope Pushdowns
22.5 1 x 10
27.5 2 x 10
All of the above did not hurt my shoulder. A trial DB shoulder press also did not hurt. So, I’m trying to be grateful for what I can do and wait out the sore bit.
Bulgarian split squats (with shoes on and strict knee tracking)
12.5s 3 x 10 <–these looked good and I didn’t cave in my knees. YEAH!
Back Raises
25# dumbbell behind head 1 x 20 ← rep PR +10
Windmills with 10# plate (no KBs at this gym)
3 sets, both sides
I’m pretty satisfied with today’s training. I learned more about squat stance and discovered box squats. All good.
Bike ride up next.
Excellent work with the squat stance experimentation!
Hope you have a great ride
weird, I got the same tweaky pec/shoulder thing too…it’s so random and usually happens when I stretch of all times.
sorry I’m late to the show but you are looking scrumptious in that deads vid- and your form is tight!
Thanks George. Two good hours in the saddle, mostly flat. All good.
Betty, I don’t know what caused this tweaked shoulder either! Crazy. I hope both of us recover quickly.
N., thanks for the kind words. I am always working on deadlift form…so much to think about on the sumo.
Tonight’s dinner was delicious grilled steak tips, marinated in a mix of olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, pepper and…gin. Tanqueray, because I’m classy like that. I’ve also been chowing down on the fruit. Cherries! Strawberries! Canteloupe! Keeps me away from the sugar, which my body doesn’t like but I do.
I think you’ll find those box squats very helpful. Like I’ve said in the past, I do them as an accessory exercise after DLs sometimes.
mmmm cherries. 'Tis the season for fruit. I’m enjoying the cherries and berries myself. A friend gave me some rubarb from her garden which I will cook into jam with strawberries tonight…
p.s: marrinated pork loin in whiskey, brown sugar and soysauce is a must try. Trust the fat frenchy. lol.
Snapper, that is interesting. I have always separated deadlift and squat days.
N., that pork loin marinade is right up my alley. And, you aren’t fat.
As soon as I went to bed last night, I realized that my shoulder was uncomfortable to the point where I had a difficult time finding a comfortable sleeping position. I got up and took two ibuprofen (I rarely do this) and for awhile the discomfort was worse. I did get to sleep, though. And it feels better this AM.
But discretion being the better part of valor and all, I’m nixing my MP workout. I’m hoping if I rest my upper body today and Tuesday, I’ll be good to go for my regular Wednesday training.
Its pretty cool to see the annotated stance experimentation. HA! (might be the nerd in me). So the “wider stance more toe flare” was the one that worked best?
I need to look into box squats, not really sure what they’re for tbh.
All in all great workout Kimba! That’s a ton of work there. Excellent suppersetted pullups.
Maschy, you are the cutest nerd ever! Yup, so far the wider stance (its about a hair wider than shoulder width) with quite a bit of toe flare worked the best.
Box squats are for teaching powerlifters to really sit back in the hole (among other things and I hope those with more expertise will chime in). This apparently works especially well if you are a geared lifter. For me, I am using them to work getting out of the hole smoothly with no knee cave. Coming up from a dead stop cues me to really work the hips/glutes.
All that work and a PR too.
I also have a fruit orgy every so often. Oranges, apples, pineapple and grapes for me. A ice cold orange right after lifting is a hell of a treat.
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
Snapper, that is interesting. I have always separated deadlift and squat days.
[/quote]
I do too. When I do box squats after DL, I keep them light and high rep.
hi ms. kimba! missed ya woman…ya, of course you’ve been here but i’ve been MIA. i must try these box squats. always awesome to see you hitting it hard. 
Jeez Kimba, you’d better start chargin’ those guys for the show! Seriously though, nice work on your deads AND your experiments with your squat! Really great work goin on there!
[quote]nlmain wrote:
mmmm cherries. 'Tis the season for fruit. I’m enjoying the cherries and berries myself. A friend gave me some rubarb from her garden which I will cook into jam with strawberries tonight…
[/quote]
I love strawberry rhubarb jam. There’s a flea market I go to every year in WI and the Amish booth always has some.