Video of My First Meet, Advice?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
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I give up on the 2nd attempt bench because I felt there was no way I could lock it out and I wanted to conserve energy for the 3rd attempt, that didn’t pan out. I bailed on the 3rd attempt deadlift because once the bar passed my knees I felt something in my low back start to pull. My low back feels like I did light dumbbell swings today (it feels amazing) so I’m guessing I bailed before anything bad happened.

(PR’s before I started my 9 week cycle, Squat-375, Bench-225, Deadlift-455). I deadlifted 475 pretty early in this cycle. So overall I was quite disappointed with my performance at the meet. Main lesson learned, getting stronger can be a slow process at times, and it certainly isn’t necessarily linear. I knew that but had to learn it the hard way.

Any suggestions or recommendations would be most welcomed.

If you want to see my log to see where I went wrong:

http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/blog_sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_log/my_road_to_elite

Thanks!

Matt

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Good job man.

Take my comments below for what they’re worth, they’re jst my personal opinion.

  1. Your stance is too wide for a raw lifter. Wide stance is great when you’ve a suit to sit back into, but raw, closer/medium works better.

  2. You’re squatting way too deep.

  3. You wimped out on the second bench. If you’d have kept pushing it would have gone.

  4. Looks like you tried to touch too low on bench 3. The bar got ahead of you and from there you couldn’t get it back towards your face so you could flare your elbows and lock it out.

  5. Talc your legs up for the deadlift, it’ll help lockout.

  6. Drop the shorts, the bar will only get hung up on them.

Finally, don’t be surprised at your numbers taking a dive first time on the platform. It happens to most people. It’s hard to bench after maxing out squats, and it’s hard to pull after a long ass day and 6 other max/near max lifts.

But like i said, good job. now go get a plan to beat those numbers!

EDIT: whatcha weigh in at?

3

[quote]Hanley wrote:
Good job man.

Take my comments below for what they’re worth, they’re jst my personal opinion.

  1. Your stance is too wide for a raw lifter. Wide stance is great when you’ve a suit to sit back into, but raw, closer/medium works better.

  2. You’re squatting way too deep.

  3. You wimped out on the second bench. If you’d have kept pushing it would have gone.

  4. Looks like you tried to touch too low on bench 3. The bar got ahead of you and from there you couldn’t get it back towards your face so you could flare your elbows and lock it out.

  5. Talc your legs up for the deadlift, it’ll help lockout.

  6. Drop the shorts, the bar will only get hung up on them.

Finally, don’t be surprised at your numbers taking a dive first time on the platform. It happens to most people. It’s hard to bench after maxing out squats, and it’s hard to pull after a long ass day and 6 other max/near max lifts.

But like i said, good job. now go get a plan to beat those numbers!

EDIT: whatcha weigh in at?[/quote]

Thanks a lot for the advice Hanley, means a whole lot coming from someone of your caliber.

Weighed in at 175.

  1. I have experimented with stance width and I squat more wide. I could try slightly narrower but I am a shitty narrow stance squatter. Not entirely sure what to think about that. I’m going to do Sheiko next so I won’t be maxing for awhile to really test what works best. How much narrower would you recommend if I’m a shitty narrow stance squatter?

  2. greed I’m squatting too deep but definitely wanted to error on that side my first time. I will learn though!

  3. While you may be right when I don’t have any momentum I am presently terrible at locking out. Not entirely sure how to deal with that in the context of Sheiko, any advice?

  4. Makes sense, great. It felt terrible.

5 & 6. excellent, thank you

Again, thanks so much for chiming in Hanley. I read your log regularly and you are doing amazing things, look forward to seeing your next meet results!

4

I disagree re: Hanley’s stance statement. Your raw stance is as wide as my raw stance. It might just be natural to him (although he doesn’t have my hips!).

I absolutely agree re: Hanley’s third point. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pussed out on a squat when I’ve hit a sticking point. Once you learn to Just Keep Pushing, it will go. It is amazing. You had that bench, and you know it.

I know I’ve made lifts in more recent meets that I would’ve bailed on in my first or second meet.

Also, baby powder is awesome. Just keep it off your hands.

Why did you wear those shorts? Half the fun of PL is looking awful!

Good on you for getting on the platform. Now on to your next meet!

5

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
I disagree re: Hanley’s stance statement. Your raw stance is as wide as my raw stance. It might just be natural to him (although he doesn’t have my hips!).

I absolutely agree re: Hanley’s third point. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pussed out on a squat when I’ve hit a sticking point. Once you learn to Just Keep Pushing, it will go. It is amazing. You had that bench, and you know it.

I know I’ve made lifts in more recent meets that I would’ve bailed on in my first or second meet.

Also, baby powder is awesome. Just keep it off your hands.

Why did you wear those shorts? Half the fun of PL is looking awful!

Good on you for getting on the platform. Now on to your next meet![/quote]

I vaguely remember something about girls have relatively stronger hips to guys, which is why they;re more suited to wide stance squats and sumo DL’s.

Anyway, if you’re stronger like that, obviously squat like that!! I can only speak from personal exp, but with a stance similar to that I struggle with 400-420 x5 beltless, but when I stick on a belt and take my stance in to jst outside my shoulders I’d do 460 x4-5.

As for Sheiko, I’m not really a fan tbh. As a multi year training approach I’m sure it works great, but as a short term thing I wouldn’t back it. That’s speaking from experience!! Anyone I personally know who’ve tried it short term have seen some squat improvements, and nothing in their bench, and a minimal increase in their dead.

The bench percentages are just too low imo. I (and the people I mentioned) got really good with 80-85% weights, speed was unreal. But once it went over 90%, things went to hell.

Anywho, play about and see what happens for you!

6

[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
I disagree re: Hanley’s stance statement. Your raw stance is as wide as my raw stance. It might just be natural to him (although he doesn’t have my hips!).

I absolutely agree re: Hanley’s third point. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pussed out on a squat when I’ve hit a sticking point. Once you learn to Just Keep Pushing, it will go. It is amazing. You had that bench, and you know it.

I know I’ve made lifts in more recent meets that I would’ve bailed on in my first or second meet.

Also, baby powder is awesome. Just keep it off your hands.

Why did you wear those shorts? Half the fun of PL is looking awful!

Good on you for getting on the platform. Now on to your next meet![/quote]

I don’t mean this to sound wrong, but I didn’t puss on the 3rd attempt squat, they grabbed it before I was ready. I wasn’t giving up on that until they took the bar, they took the bar far before I wanted them too. I was out of position so I don’t completely blame them but I felt like I was an inch away from hitting it. As for the bench, I guess you could say I pussed. But the truth is I have no idea how to lock out when I have no momentum. I mean, it NEVER happens. If I stall I miss. And I have waged some battles, so I decided I would spend my energy on the next attempt. Bad call? I think so!

Baby powder where???

I wore the shorts because it was a gym meet and no one had a singlet on! I didn’t want anyone to see more of me than they were showing of themselves! Stupid? Yeah, probably.

Thanks for the comments, looking forward to my next try!

7

[quote]Hanley wrote:

Anyway, if you’re stronger like that, obviously squat like that!! I can only speak from personal exp, but with a stance similar to that I struggle with 400-420 x5 beltless, but when I stick on a belt and take my stance in to jst outside my shoulders I’d do 460 x4-5.

As for Sheiko, I’m not really a fan tbh. As a multi year training approach I’m sure it works great, but as a short term thing I wouldn’t back it. That’s speaking from experience!! Anyone I personally know who’ve tried it short term have seen some squat improvements, and nothing in their bench, and a minimal increase in their dead.

The bench percentages are just too low imo. I (and the people I mentioned) got really good with 80-85% weights, speed was unreal. But once it went over 90%, things went to hell.

Anywho, play about and see what happens for you!

[/quote]

Is there a program you would more highly recommend? There are just so few options out there it seems to me. Particularly well-tested powerlifting programs, at least that I have been able to gain access to.

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Baby powder (Hanley said talc) goes on your legs and thighs where the bar might rub and drag during your DL. For me, it’s on the inside thighs, but I’m a sumo Dler.

Baby powder IS NOT chalk! Chalk the hands, powder the thighs!

If they call a squat before you’ve dipped, etc., you can always try to get another go at it. My friend was squatting at Raw Nationals, they took the bar too soon, and she got another go at it. Granted, she missed it, but she only had a couple of minutes rest.

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[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
Baby powder (Hanley said talc) goes on your legs and thighs where the bar might rub and drag during your DL. For me, it’s on the inside thighs, but I’m a sumo Dler.

Baby powder IS NOT chalk! Chalk the hands, powder the thighs!

If they call a squat before you’ve dipped, etc., you can always try to get another go at it. My friend was squatting at Raw Nationals, they took the bar too soon, and she got another go at it. Granted, she missed it, but she only had a couple of minutes rest.[/quote]

Great, excellent advice times too, thank you very much!

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Oh, and that would be in the event the spotters take the bar before the refs signal.

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[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
Oh, and that would be in the event the spotters take the bar before the refs signal.[/quote]

okay, makes sense, thanks

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[quote]mrodock wrote:

If you want to see my log to see where I went wrong:

Thanks!

Matt

[/quote]

Hey Bro - Like I told you elsewhere, I’m really proud of you and you did nothing wrong. Just the opposite, you tested yourself and now you know the truth. What can possibly be wrong with that.

As far as Bench goes, I noticed that as the bar reached the pause point, you let it drift forward towards your stomach before initiating the press. In addition, your elbows looked a little too close to the body. I like mine a little more flared, but hey I’m not on the fricken platform either.

Awesome job and keep up the good work.

Bagger

13

Just to reiterate on what some of the guys said above.

You’re stance is quite wide in the squat but you seem to have the posterior chain flexibility to do it properly, experiment with other stances but that may well be what works best for you. I also think its quite possible that you’re spending to much time descending, work on a faster descent.

For deadlifts you attempt selection looked a little off, your opener should never look like a 2nd/3rd. Regardless of what you pull previous to competition your openers need to be be based off your warm ups from that day.

If you feel you were stronger in your peaking cycle than in competition then you may need to reexamine your programming and nutrition leading up to the meet.

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i squat about that wide (course im 6’ 4’') but if i try squatting shoulder width ive never been able to get aboe 275, where as my wider stance squat ive done 345, so it just depeneds on ur comfort but you definitly went to deep

15

when stuck at the bottom try to push twards your head because it gets the bar moving faster. if you had of done this you would have deffinatly locked out

16

[quote]Power GnP wrote:
Just to reiterate on what some of the guys said above.

You’re stance is quite wide in the squat but you seem to have the posterior chain flexibility to do it properly, experiment with other stances but that may well be what works best for you. I also think its quite possible that you’re spending to much time descending, work on a faster descent.

For deadlifts you attempt selection looked a little off, your opener should never look like a 2nd/3rd. Regardless of what you pull previous to competition your openers need to be be based off your warm ups from that day.

If you feel you were stronger in your peaking cycle than in competition then you may need to reexamine your programming and nutrition leading up to the meet.[/quote]

I will experiment on the squat width. I had been working on a slower descent because it seemed I could stay more upright when I come out of the hole. Obviously that didn’t work well on the 3rd attempt. How much faster would you recommend I descend? Any advice for staying more upright? Should I sit back slightly less???

I agree completely about the deadlift attempts being off. I’ll be honest with you though, my 395 warm-up looked hard, I assure you it wasn’t, but it looked hard. The reason I believe is because my deadlift form is pretty jacked up. I use my legs way too early, and then my glutes aren’t ready to fire as I near the top. It really makes me wonder if pulling semi-sumo is the answer.

When it comes to deadlifts, 365 has felt heavy as a warm-up and I’ve set a 20 pound PR, 475 before. I just cannot tell anything by feel (yet) when it comes to deadlift. It probably has a lot to do with my form but lack of experience could also play a major role.

My peaking cycle did not work at all and it will be changed. I peaked about 3 weeks before the meet, hit a big wall a few days later and then Modi helped me with programming to get me into the meet the best I possibly could.

You are doing big things man, all the best!

17

[quote]Bagger wrote:
mrodock wrote:

If you want to see my log to see where I went wrong:

Thanks!

Matt

Hey Bro - Like I told you elsewhere, I’m really proud of you and you did nothing wrong. Just the opposite, you tested yourself and now you know the truth. What can possibly be wrong with that.

As far as Bench goes, I noticed that as the bar reached the pause point, you let it drift forward towards your stomach before initiating the press. In addition, your elbows looked a little too close to the body. I like mine a little more flared, but hey I’m not on the fricken platform either.

Awesome job and keep up the good work.

Bagger[/quote]

You are certainly right, I shouldn’t get down on myself. I feel a lot better about everything now. Truth is, if I had hit that 2nd bench attempt I would have felt worlds better about everything. I am going to start videoing bench regularly and having people like yourself take a look. As far as you not competing yet, the platform doesn’t change the biomechanics of the lifts so your advice is just as meaningful whether you’ve competed or not.

Again, thanks for the support and the advice Bagger.

18

[quote]themusclegod wrote:
when stuck at the bottom try to push twards your head because it gets the bar moving faster. if you had of done this you would have deffinatly locked out[/quote]

I will be working on this, thanks!

19

[quote]bignate wrote:
i squat about that wide (course im 6’ 4’') but if i try squatting shoulder width ive never been able to get aboe 275, where as my wider stance squat ive done 345, so it just depeneds on ur comfort but you definitly went to deep[/quote]

I think the 400 was about right on depth (we had to break parallel)? But yeah, I definitely errored really far on the side of deep on the first 2 attempts. I guess I was banking on that my nerves would make me cut depth, they sure didn’t! Will be good to know going into the next competition.

20

I really think I am going to switch to pulling semi-sumo. I absolute HATE the way my form looks on max effort attempts. Around 85-90% it looks good but it is trash above that.

On max or near max attempts my hips come up so fast and then by the time I near lockout my hamstrings and glutes aren’t ready to fire, they’ve fallen asleep because they’ve put in most of their work long before. I think sumo is just so damn mechanically efficient, if I can get strong in that movement early in my lifting career I will get very good at it.

Plus, stronger hips will help my wide stance squat.

Now how in the hell am I going to figure out what my max sumo deadlift is before I start Sheiko on Wednesday (Dave Bates’ 13 week program)? How do I figure out how wide to stand? Oh what a complicated sport!