Thanks Mark, I’ll try to remember those cues.
The bracing is probably where I fail the most.
1 Like
Too long didn’t read all the things. Sorry if I repeat stuff already said. Hopefully @mortdk can pick out some useful stuff.
Round Back Deadlift
Round back deadlifting is often regarded as poor form but there are ways to pull round back that improve leverage ala Konstantin Konstantinovs.
It’s a technique like any other that confers an advantage but requires you be particularly strong in certain areas and carries with it certain risks.
Usually using a round back deadlift is something reserved for more advanced lifters if at all but if you are comfortable in such a position due to having done a lot of cycling or what not I don’t see why you can’t start working towards it if you wish. Obviously depends on ur goals also so like if you want to maximise back health or be super CrossFit Functional or some bullshit then is not for you. If you want to move loads of weight and get strong as fuck then I can link you some vids.
Weakness Off The Floor
There’s probably lots more information on this around if you look. Often it’s a matter of more tightness and a better set up but for you I think it’s also important to start pulling with some real aggressive intent.
Every rep from warming up with one plate to a 1RM should be driven off the ground with maximum force and you should be trying to accelerate the bar throughout the range of motion. Warm ups explode off the ground and bar speed slows as you get closer to 1RM and to failure but the intent to maximise bar speed must be there.
Apply this for a while and it’ll carryover into your big lifts and max attempts.
Bracing
Bracing is a term thrown around a lot but for many it’s almost instinctive and requires little to no thought or practice to it. Even if you are one of these peeps its worth understanding and practicing to improve your bracing and maintain a more rigid torso for both performance and safety. Bracing is pretty much comes down to breathing and muscular activity. More for deadlifts but the lats also play an important role.
It’s pretty dry stuff to watch/apply but its worth the effort. Here’s some vid spam:
Some other random thoughts/responses
-
Simple/Minimal Cueing works best IMO. 2 cues maximum and they should be near automatic. Obviously you may not be there yet but you should be working towards this.
-
The cue of “Shoulder blades in ur back pocket” is usually a bench cue and if applied as for bench is going to take away from your deadlift. To deadlift the more weight shoulders/scapula should be depressed and protracted i.e. locked down and slightly forwards. Cues or combinations of cues such as long arms, flex the triceps, externally rotating the elbows, protecting the arm pits etc. could be worth a try. If a certain cue just doesn’t do it for you then try another.
- Sitting Back is a cue that loads of people mess up. Many end up dropping their hips /sitting down instead of shifting their body and thus centre of gravity back. I explained in this vid:
If anything is unclear or needs more explanation just call it out for me.
k thnx bai.
3 Likes
So much yes.
Bend the bar, sit back. That’s pretty much what I do, it just ends up including dragging the bar up my shins and squeezing my lats.
1 Like
@khangles thanks a lot chiming in.
I’ll watch the video’s later, and hopefully, I’ll learn something.
Well I already did/have.
In a week or two I know.
Thanks again.
I’ll find my two cues 
2 Likes
woke at 79,3 kg - 174,8 lbs
yesterday 2750 calories A lot was cake
A bit beat up by badminton, yesterday. In a good way.
2 Likes
Todays training
28 week of training 5/3/1 from Beyond
Cycle 6 week 2 day 1 OHP
SG High pull
40 x 8
45 x 8
50 kg x 8 (110 lbs)
OHP
Worksets
40 x 5 good strong
45 x 3 fine
50 x 2 felt heavy, but strong reps.
50 kg x 7 (110 lbs) Rep PR. Strong reps all the way, maybe there was even another rep in there.
Training max amrap
56 x 2 (123,5 lbs) PR 2 strong reps, last weeks 1 RM was a struggle. Very good, I almost can’t believe it. OHP is moving a bit.
DIP
BW 5 sets of 10
SS
Pull up with 5 kg
5, 6, 5, 5, 5
EZ BB curl
27,5 kg x 3 x 10
SS
AB wheel
4 x 13
Today I Paced myself a bit. Again, feeling good.
Cardio: bike 2 x 10 km to work.
4 Likes
woke at 79,4 kg - 175 lbs
yesterday 2400 nice clean calories
Todays training
28 week of training 5/3/1 from Beyond
Cycle 6 week 2 day 2 squat
Warm-ups agile 8, lazy lifter, jump rope, yoga stuff.
Front squat + back squat
30 x 5+5
40 x 5+5
50 x 5+5
Back squat
work sets
82,5 x 5 good fast (or as fast as I can, I’m quite slow)
92,5 x 3 ok
102,5 x 1 belt on again like yesterday heavy, no way I’m PR
102,5 x 8 225 lbs PR, where did that come from
TM AMRAP
112,5 x 3 248 lbs PR
Back off
82,5 x 5 no belt
Did SS all warm-ups with
db lat raise 3 x 8 kg x 12 reps
alternating Band pull aparts 3 x 15
KROC rows
22,5 x 10, 27,5 x 8, 32,5 x 5 warm up
37,5 x 17 82,5 lbs rep PR
25 x 10 back off
KB swings
14 kg x 12, 12, 12
SS
Hanging leg raise
3 x 10
Good workout again. Paced a bit. Except before the PR sets.
I absolutely know what I need to work on. BRACING. I’m so untight.
Thanks to everybody who gave advises.
Hoping KB swings will help, they are good.
Videos of squats today, in near future. In my head wow they must look amazing, Videos not so much.
Sun is shining today, so I’m smiling
3 Likes
All right here comes the squat session.
That is not something I’m proud of.
Will start learning to squat proberly from now.
My camera failed on the 5x 82,5 First set.
So here goes:
PR set 102,5 kg x 8
AND
Back off 82,5 x 5 no belt
My bracing is of, my depth is of, kind of everything is off.
SO googled a bit, Elliot Hulse says widen the stance, that I will do, Rip says “Hip Drive” in that all american way. So that is what is going to happen.
Every day 7 days a week I will squat with just the bar and do 3 x 5 and hit prober depth.
Will dial my squat day back A LOT and do 5x5 FSL (box squats?)
@TriednTrue, @MarkKO, @guineapig; @khangles @Frank_C
I’ll tag you guys again.
AND in a year I will squat 3 plates proberly… I hope.
These vid’s is my starting point and my bad conscience
5 Likes
Sometimes seeing yourself is all the coaching you need. Make your adjustments, practice, film again, and reassess.
3 Likes
Yeah right on man.
1 Like
Look what I found this morning on ThibArmy:
TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY
Technique work is best done with moderate weights and non-maximal reps. If the weights are too heavy (85-100% zone) you are likely to fall back onto default or compensatory motor patterns, making it harder to voluntarily make modifications to your technique. On the other hand, if the weight is too light you don’t really “feel” it properly and it will become harder to transfer the improved technique to heavier sets.
The best training zone to work on technique is 70-80%. I recommend starting closer to 70% and gradually adding weight while maintaining perfect form. Reps per set should be in the 3-5 range and the number of sets should be fairly high (5-6 or even more). But remember that none of these sets have a high level of stress because you’ll be lifting at a RPE (rate of perceived effort) of around 7. For more on RPE read Alex Babin’s articles on the subject (on the ThibArmy site).
Ideally, the frequency of practice should also be very high because frequency, not quantity, is the most important principle of motor learning. So, if you are in a technical development phase, hitting each lift 3 times per week or even more is recommended.
But remember it is important to practice the proper technique because practice doesn’t make perfect, it only makes permanent. And practicing the wrong pattern will only make that bad pattern more difficult to correct.
TECHNIQUE WORK PARAMETERS
Loading: 70-80%
Reps per set: 3-5
Sets per exercise: 5-6
Rest intervals: 2-3 minutes depending on recovery capacities
RPE: 7 – 7.5
2 Likes
Thanks, @chris_colucci. I didn’t realize those sneaky little devils copied over.
1 Like
It’s not as terrible as you might think. Push your knees out rather than forward; sit back a little more with the pressure on your heels and outside of your feet; pull your elbows into your sides; and work on keeping your wrist straighter.
2 Likes
Thanks great information Big J
Thanks Mark kind words. I Will try the cues
1 Like
Develop clean technique first. Chuck more weight on the bar later.
It’s worth noting that there’s many different ways to squat. Expose yourself to lots of different sources of information, give it a good try out under the bar, keep/refine what works, tweak what doesn’t and you’ll end up with the perfect squat for you.
Depth
For athletes with issues hitting depth Boris Sheiko likes to have them do soft touch box squats at depth and or pause squats at depth.
If you don’t have a good sense of where depth is go with the former. If you’re always cutting depth or squatting slightly high the latter would be more appropriate. If you got time and can be bothered do both, box squats first then pause squats (maybe full squats after too if you wish).
These variations can be incorporated at the same time as you try to improve other aspects of your technique.
I’ll try to dig up some videos for you. Take your time going through them because trying to implement a dozen things at a time is bound to fail. Improving technique is a never ending process so there’s no rush. A nice way to organise your thoughts is to split the squat up into set up, walk out and descent/ascent.
Hopefully we’ll be seeing a proper squat soon tho.
2 Likes
It’s all been said already I think but I’m going to chime in with some equipment talk because I like shoes and gears and other stuff I can use all my money on.
I can’t tell from the video but what kind of shoe are you wearing right now like is it good for squats. I think a decent pair of heeled lifting shoes would help you out if you are stiff in the ankles
3 Likes
IPF Anti Doping monitoring intensifies
3 Likes
Woke at 79 kg - 174,2 lbs
Yesterday 2400 calories.
Wonder why the scale goes down?
Alright here goes todays training
Squat 4 x 5 x bar
They where good, I had a Mirror in front so depth where good.
Stance a bit wider, toes pointing a bit more out.
Cardio bike 2 x 10 km
And tonight I’ll watch squat videos
3 Likes
Thank you @khangles.
I’ll watch them closely, and keeping your words of cleaning up technique and then add weight.
For start I am going for a bit wider stance. Today with just the bar that felt right. So I’ll tweak from there.
Should I stay with just the bar or load up a bit?