3/4 from the front and back is good. If depth is of concern of course from the side and hip height.
If it isn’t causing you pain (which it absolutely doesn’t have to, just because it is there), then yes it is bugging you too much. Sometimes we get paralyzed obsessing over nuances. But that’s of course just my personal opinion.
I would still argue that you should continue on your squats and it will eventually correct itself over time (given that you’re not hurting). However something that might help get a better feel for hip activation is doing some box squats. Definitely helped me.
That’s always gonna be the name of the game in the pursuit of strength! It all takes a lot of time and a lot of repetitions. Some lifts will feel good for a while and then all of a sudden feel shit again. An endless cycle of learning and refining.
On the feet in specific: Try to imagine a claw and think about 3 point of contact: Hallux, lateral part and heel.
Glad to hear that the set was alright. You are right, I’m going to a fysio to get it sorted out. I am been obsessing of this for quite a while now, might be best to just to get an examination.
Yeah, I will focus on bracing and tightness in the back. It is apparent from the feedback I have been given that is the first way to move forward here. Probably not good for the spine to get folded like a biscuit : ) Once that is resolved I can move to other things.
Ah, right. I will try to get a wider grip then. Guess it is pointless to keep a tight grip if you can’t keep tight under the whole lift…
Thanks, will look through the videos and try the stretch. Focus on getting back tight first, then when that works, bend the bar. Check. I have a broom so I can do some practice bracing with that during off days.
No pain for now. The only thing is irritated knee joints above and below the kneecap. Suspect that it might have to do with tight quads. Left quads is more tight than the right one.
I am a bit neurotic by nature, I honestly believe on some emotional level that I need to get symmetric in order to progress. Might have to accept that it is not that clear cut in reality.
Physio should give some emotional and physical closure though.
Yeah, I will keep loading. Most people are telling me to do that. Box squats might not be a bad idea, I will consider it.
Have to accept and be fine with that I guess… Comfortable being uncomfortable and all that.
Taking note on the feet. Will try it next time!
Maybe but honestly the approach should be to get maximally tight as though as supramaximal weight every set/rep already. Heavy walkouts are an inelegant way of forcing that plus added fatigue so if can avoid would not
Bench again. Testing and cement the form tips that I got last week. Got a co-worker to follow along and film and could make some more improvements from that.
No jumps or mobility this time. Only did band-pull aparts for warmup.
Lift
Sets
Reps
Weight
Notes
A. Bench
warmup
5
40
warmup
5
50
warmup
5
60
1
5
70
1
5
80
1
5
88
10
5
70
B. Seal Row
4
10
65
C1. Bicep Curls
3
12
30
C2. Lateral Raises
3
10
9
C3. Hanging Leg Raise
3
12
91
Bodyweight
Sets went quite nice. I feel the setup I have now works and keeps getting better. I get a good scapular retraction and I finally feel somewhat even ( filming supports this ) in the shoulders during the whole lift and can also get into a adequate arch so that I can use leg drive for each rep. Now it’s just a matter of refining and ingraining it to keep the weights going up. The 10x5 really helps with this, I quite like it. Will be interesting to see how this translates into the anchor set and RP sets later.
Heard a story about some local strong guy with some sort of hip shift that got fed up and quit correcting his form and then after a while had something snap. Translated to a general advice to correct errors in form early before they escalate when you move up in weights.
As people have said, probably far away since nothing hurts yet and the weights are quite light.
Anyway, fysio will help with resolving if I have any serious issues that can be corrected.
Scapulas are retracted during the setup (pinching a pencil cue). Guess they move a little out of that during the concentric(?) and then back retracted again.
Shoulders and elbows feel somewhat even, I get a strong load in both. That feeling might change when I go back to benching 95kg+
Practiced bracing earlier in the week. It turn out I do not activate my lower back or obliques as much as I could. When I do that I get into position that I am used to; but it is stronger. Tried to use it during the press to get a stable foundation. Got shaky results at first but it got better and better at the end. Focusing on the cue “blowing out air in your obliques” does get the proper muscles activated.
Also threw in some squats in the end to practice more; bracing with neutral spine and blow air downward. Think I started to get the hang of it at the end, the form got better and my core was on fire. Legs were fine though, the weight got a lot easier as the back tightened up. Quite apparent that the core needs more work. Thus, I should add in some core/unilateral leg stuff that enables activation of the lower back/core.
I will continue to practice this and test it out on squat day on Sunday. That will be interesting : )
Messed this one up a bit. Was supposed to super-set chins with the supplemental squats but I forgot; Instead reverted on auto-pilot to the previous setup that super-setted chins and dips which I wanted to skip to save the triceps and pecs for bench day : )
Squats was okay; not really struggling with the sets. Feeling stronger than the week before. Still trying to get the hang of the bracing but it was very inconsistent. When I do get air down into the core properly and also get proper back tightness, the weights become far easier. Having trouble with getting and feeling if I have right and even activation but that’s just practice I guess.
Going in on the final week with Bench. Was actually a bit worried about this one since bench performance and development has been sub-par since the start of the 5/3/1 journey. On top of that I went in with a set of dips from the previous day.
Did some band pull-aparts and rows for scapula and lat activation.
Lift
Sets
Reps
Weight
A. Bench
warmup
5
40
warmup
5
50
warmup
5
60
1
5
72.5
1
5
82.5
1
5
92.4
10
5
72.5
B. Row
4
12
70
C1. Bicep Curls
4
12
32.5
C2. Lateral Raises
4
8
12.5
C3. One Leg RDL
3
12
91
I admit, this workout left me exhausted. The bench sets wore me down quite a lot, surprisingly. Had a hard time focusing on work afterwards due to brain fog. Was not really a good idea to do dips the day before.
Bench setup was inconsistent with respect to scapula stability and tightness. Spent quite a lot of energy trying to get the scapula retraction right during the initial phase but often could not get them tight enough. Also struggled to get proper arch and tightness.
Also did not manage to get the 5 for 92.5 which was also really a bummer, but I guess I could have had it if not for the dips. All the other sets went well though. Honestly I think this might be a tightness problem. Getting a good core stability under the bench might fix this, so I will work harder with the brace. Also looking on some videos for bench setup in general that I can follow.
Trying out some tips from the Juggernaut series for deadlift with regards to lats and arm extension and it turned out to work quite nicely. Also worked more on the bracing by doing 90/90 breathing beforehand. Worked quite alright. Filmed all the lifts and managed to get into a good position. Not much more to say. Deadlift is looking better.
Next thing is to focus more on glute activation; trying to figure out if they are under-activated or not. I suspect they are.
Missed one rep in the last set. I have not seen that much development on the lift since September strength wise. Might be some core issue underneath it all. Anyway, too early to tell. Might keep the same TM for the next cycle.
Tried some new bracing stuff in the end with Squats. Had some irritation in the knee so took it a bit easy. Looked it up and it seems that imbalance issues in the squat can cause the knee tendons to travel a bit fudgy over the joint, causing irritation around the area. Anyway, fysio will have a look at it.
I messed up this session. Forgot to do 90/90 bracing before and really did not get the bracing to work for me. Most of the lifts looked bad and also felt bad. Also got a afraid of the weights, especially the top set. This probably fudged with my bracing and the overall setup. Looking at the video I am not tight at all. Bailed in the bottom of the 4 rep.
I have started to do some medium cardio 2-3 times a week. Holding it at a pulse of around 140 in about 25 minutes. 4-5km jogging. Did this the day before so it probably impacted performance here.
Good session. Continuing with the scapula and trapezius activation work. Getting better and better. Also watched a vid about how to do one leg RDL properly, so that was helpful. Not much else to say.
Good session. Weights felt light, so was fairly fresh at the end. Still some problem with the left side activation being funky. Tried my hand at weighted dips and those went well also.
So finally visited the fysio for a movement diagnostics.
We have only done some preliminary diagnostics and corrections starting at the feet for a fairly long session ( 1h ).
Turned out I might have structural imbalances. There was an uneven loading of the left feet where the tip of my toes went of the floor and pressure was mainly on the outside of the foot. In my deadlift vids you can see that the tip of the left foot shoots up. This was also visible when I simply walked. That would then affect and mess up the whole posterior chain on the left side, which probably is one of the reasons why I have felt unstable in there. It became apparent when he applied a pressure test on my shoulders which promptly caused the left back to fold a bit.
This could also explain why the “screw your feet in the floor/ activate the glute” always seemed to never work for me as it felt uneven. I always thought I did it wrong and needed to practice more…
He did some corrections on the foot, knee, leg, hip and back. This caused a significant change in the way my feet felt on the floor. I never reacted to the uneven loading before but it became obvious when walking afterwards.
Did the pressure test again and this time I was rock solid. He gave me some tips about pushing and putting pressure through the toes to get into the proper position. At first it felt weird but after putting some pressure and on the correct muscles and joint it became almost automatic.
Wil definitely go back again and continue with the rest of the body.
I will be very interesting moving forward from this. If stability is one of the main things holding me back this will be a game changer.
I will keep being mindful of how I walk to etch in the new movement pattern until squat day which will be very very interesting : )
