What Constitutes Strong?

Training Powerlifting
141

[quote]DoveofWar08 wrote:

[quote]RealPC wrote:
That’s why when someone was saying the 315 strict was so easy it made me laugh. Everyone I know that talks about putting that kind of weight overhead it’s almost always a push press or a push jerk. And yeah, lots of guys can do 315 in that fashion. That doesn’t really impress me. A 315 STRICT standing overhead is pretty rare.

Instead of trying to drop weight later just get in shape and start the chins now. Again, the whole point of all the numbers is to produce something that is in awesome shape and strong as hell. Striving for all the numbers at once is really the big picture because it forces you into uncomfortable places.

Critique wise, the squats looked high to me. But I’m kind of an asshole about squat depth. The top of your thigh doesn’t look like it breaks below your hip or even gets parallel. Maybe a side view next time.

Obviously no hitching on the dead. You noted that.

Your video also has a lot to do with why I would never include rows in this. Everyone has their idea of what a row is. That’s not mine.

Your base is good on the squat, dead, bench, and overhead of course. I would start in some conditioning work after you lift and work the hell out of the chins now instead of later. [/quote]

Thanks for this. I will see if I can get a better video for the squats next time then and work on my depth. No worries on calling it high. If it looks high, then its high, its just something to work on.

Fair enough on the rows, as it does seem like everybody does rows a little differently.

Having never done the strict standing overhead press, I was rather supprised at its difficulty. Easy is not the word I would use for getting 315 strict on this, after having actually done them.[/quote]

I have never seen, much less heard of, dumbbells that heavy. Two and a half more weeks until I can start tackling this challenge. Can’t wait.

142

[quote]RealPC wrote:
That’s why when someone was saying the 315 strict was so easy it made me laugh. Everyone I know that talks about putting that kind of weight overhead it’s almost always a push press or a push jerk. And yeah, lots of guys can do 315 in that fashion. That doesn’t really impress me. A 315 STRICT standing overhead is pretty rare.

Instead of trying to drop weight later just get in shape and start the chins now. Again, the whole point of all the numbers is to produce something that is in awesome shape and strong as hell. Striving for all the numbers at once is really the big picture because it forces you into uncomfortable places.

Critique wise, the squats looked high to me. But I’m kind of an asshole about squat depth. The top of your thigh doesn’t look like it breaks below your hip or even gets parallel. Maybe a side view next time.

Obviously no hitching on the dead. You noted that.

Your video also has a lot to do with why I would never include rows in this. Everyone has their idea of what a row is. That’s not mine.

Your base is good on the squat, dead, bench, and overhead of course. I would start in some conditioning work after you lift and work the hell out of the chins now instead of later. [/quote]

His rows may not be anything close to strict, but they sure as hell are going to get him damn strong!

143

skwatt night highlights.

worked up to 700 with the reverse band (medium bands) on squats. unfortunately stepped back too far and the band tension was in front of me. coming out of the hole the bands pulled me forward. i didn’t even attempt to fight it. just put it on the pins. confident i would hit it strong with the proper set up. moved on to paused squats. set a baseline of 585x1. next squat cycle will revolve around them.

squat rep set- damn… i was fried going into this set. it’s going to take a long time to hit 500x20 if i keep doing them at the end of my training. oh well… i like the challenge.

405x10- weight didn’t get heavy but everything was burning… bad.

my conditioning sucks.

144

I bet if you did it right after your last heavy set of the reverse bands you’d get more. Unless you’re doing that already. Throw in 10 minutes of semi hard conditioning after squat and dead day and you’ll be surprised how fast it all comes up.

145

[quote]DoveofWar08 wrote:

[quote]RealPC wrote:
That’s why when someone was saying the 315 strict was so easy it made me laugh. Everyone I know that talks about putting that kind of weight overhead it’s almost always a push press or a push jerk. And yeah, lots of guys can do 315 in that fashion. That doesn’t really impress me. A 315 STRICT standing overhead is pretty rare.

Instead of trying to drop weight later just get in shape and start the chins now. Again, the whole point of all the numbers is to produce something that is in awesome shape and strong as hell. Striving for all the numbers at once is really the big picture because it forces you into uncomfortable places.

Critique wise, the squats looked high to me. But I’m kind of an asshole about squat depth. The top of your thigh doesn’t look like it breaks below your hip or even gets parallel. Maybe a side view next time.

Obviously no hitching on the dead. You noted that.

Your video also has a lot to do with why I would never include rows in this. Everyone has their idea of what a row is. That’s not mine.

Your base is good on the squat, dead, bench, and overhead of course. I would start in some conditioning work after you lift and work the hell out of the chins now instead of later. [/quote]

Thanks for this. I will see if I can get a better video for the squats next time then and work on my depth. No worries on calling it high. If it looks high, then its high, its just something to work on.

Fair enough on the rows, as it does seem like everybody does rows a little differently.

Having never done the strict standing overhead press, I was rather supprised at its difficulty. Easy is not the word I would use for getting 315 strict on this, after having actually done them.[/quote]

Wow, someone who can take constructive criticism! Amazing! You have a good attitude. You will reach a lot of these goals I think.

146

[quote]RealPC wrote:
I bet if you did it right after your last heavy set of the reverse bands you’d get more. Unless you’re doing that already. Throw in 10 minutes of semi hard conditioning after squat and dead day and you’ll be surprised how fast it all comes up.[/quote]

i did the reverse band work and then the paused squats. i hate excuses though. the weight never felt heavy, i’m just not in shape yet to do the high rep stuff. i’ll get there. it’s going to be a tough road though.

147

Some serious inspiration in this thread.

My current goal is a 315 BTN shoulder press, will post a video when I Achieve it. I have hit 253 roughly

148

Last night was bench/dip/curl night. Went like this:

Bench:
BarX12
135X10
225X5
315X10
315+ about 80LBs of chain X4 for 2 sets

I went for 365+ 80LB of chain, but could not lock it out.

315 no chains X11.

Dips:
bodyweightX10
+45X10
+140X5
+180X2

BB curls
BarX10
95X10
115X8

My wrists felt ok on these. The weight was not that heavy, but I am going to give my wrists some time to get used to the bar.

Cardio:
Intervals on the treadmill. I walked for 2 minutes to start this, then did incline sprints for 1 minute. The time spent running up the incline was all I timed. I rested at a level walk until my breathing went back to normal and then did another sprint. I did 3 of these, and then a fast jog for 5 minutes, and 2 minutes of walking at the end. All told, I was on the treadmill for about 22-25 minutes, give or take.

149

Very cool thread. I’ve been inspired to add some of these movements in as my accessory work on 5-3-1. Tonight was squat night, and I found a PL friendly gym out here in San Diego with a mono and all kinds of cool equipment that would just confuse most people at my home gym.

After hitting a PR in 5-3-1 squat, plus some other accessory exercises, I tried 225x20 on the safety squat bar. I had never used one of these bars and the movement just felt very awkward. I hit 11, racked for a second, 3 more, racked for a little longer, then finished up the last 6. I obviously have a very long way to go, both strength and conditioning wise, but I gotta start somewhere right? And maybe I’ve got a lot more in me on a bar that I’m actually used to using :slight_smile:

150

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
Very cool thread. I’ve been inspired to add some of these movements in as my accessory work on 5-3-1. Tonight was squat night, and I found a PL friendly gym out here in San Diego with a mono and all kinds of cool equipment that would just confuse most people at my home gym.

[/quote]

Let me guess – World Gym in Pacific Beach?

151

Noooooowwwwwwwww someone is figuring it out. Way to put your thinking cap on MM.

152

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
…Saturday will be dedicated soley to conditioning. I’m going to take the guys to a park nearby. There’s plenty of fields and tall hills. We are going to take my sled and weighted vest to do some hill sprints and sled pulls. through the week i’ll do light conditioning work as well.[/quote]

Meat: Check this out → Manual Treadmill Pushing

articles.elitefts.com/articles/training-articles/treadmill-pushing-the-solution-to-the-prowler-less-gym/

You know for any of those upcoming rainy Saturdays… I don’t want you to to have any excuses!!!

Enjoying your posts; thanks.

Charge on machine.

153

Just an FYI MM, for running you’ll either need to buy some cleats or trail running shoes. I bought the ones by brooks called cascadia. They are awesome. Basically they have rubber “spikes” on the bottom but you can wear them walking or just as casual shoes and they feel great.

A couple of pointers from my experience with this.

Don’t do too much at first. Overuse injuries will occur FAST with conditioning. Read that twice. Start off small. If you are going to run hills, run at a stead speed not all out, and pick a number for the day that isn’t a big deal. Like 3 or 4. Depending on your hill that could be a lot or a few. Either way, don’t go overboard at first.

I personally like to do hard conditioning after the actual leg workout, or the day after a hard leg workout. The reason why is because if you do a hard conditioning leg workout the day after legs it gives you more recovery time before you squat or pull again.

Like so for me…

Tuesday - upperbody
Wednesday - light conditioning
Saturday - squats and deads
Sunday - hard conditioning

This way all of my hard work is done over two days and I have the next week to recover.

154

last official accessory day. i was very happy with today. made some good progress of hitting my goals.

standing strict military press
295x1 +20lb PR

205x8

pullups
BW +45lb x 7- trap is feel’n better. time to start pushing these again.

BW- very long count of 5 at bottom x 10- these are getting really easy and grip isn’t an issue at all now.

strict barbell curls

135x10 + 2 rep PR

next week this time i’ll probably be collapsed on my couch from all the sprinting and sled dragging.

155

Some of the 20 rep squat guys pick the weight they want to do for 20 reps and work up incrementally on reps using that weight. For example, 500 pounds is the goal so you start with that and do it until you can do 20 reps.

For high-rep deadlifts, touch and go or resetting, starting with 500 pounds and working your reps up is the way to go. Historically with DL I’ve found that a 2-3 week period between efforts were necessary for me to do my best at 500 pounds and beyond (maybe more mentally than physically). I haven’t always been skinny and weak fwiw.

Conditioning in between workouts is an absolute must for high reps to work.

156

Bluejay this is exactly how I plan on approaching this when I take a run at it. I will just pick the weights and add reps to them as often as possible.

I agree on the mental aspect of it all. The mind will fail long before the body and weeks and weeks of grinding high reps in the squat and dead will wear on your mind like nothing else.

157

[quote]Ricochet wrote:

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
…Saturday will be dedicated soley to conditioning. I’m going to take the guys to a park nearby. There’s plenty of fields and tall hills. We are going to take my sled and weighted vest to do some hill sprints and sled pulls. through the week i’ll do light conditioning work as well.[/quote]

Meat: Check this out → Manual Treadmill Pushing

articles.elitefts.com/articles/training-articles/treadmill-pushing-the-solution-to-the-prowler-less-gym/

You know for any of those upcoming rainy Saturdays… I don’t want you to to have any excuses!!!

Enjoying your posts; thanks.

Charge on machine.[/quote]

i’ll give it a read. thanks hoss!!!

158

[quote]RealPC wrote:
Just an FYI MM, for running you’ll either need to buy some cleats or trail running shoes. I bought the ones by brooks called cascadia. They are awesome. Basically they have rubber “spikes” on the bottom but you can wear them walking or just as casual shoes and they feel great.

A couple of pointers from my experience with this.

Don’t do too much at first. Overuse injuries will occur FAST with conditioning. Read that twice. Start off small. If you are going to run hills, run at a stead speed not all out, and pick a number for the day that isn’t a big deal. Like 3 or 4. Depending on your hill that could be a lot or a few. Either way, don’t go overboard at first.

I personally like to do hard conditioning after the actual leg workout, or the day after a hard leg workout. The reason why is because if you do a hard conditioning leg workout the day after legs it gives you more recovery time before you squat or pull again.

Like so for me…

Tuesday - upperbody
Wednesday - light conditioning
Saturday - squats and deads
Sunday - hard conditioning

This way all of my hard work is done over two days and I have the next week to recover. [/quote]

Thanks for the suggestions PC. I used to do a lot of sled dragging with my last training partner. when he gave up powerlifting. i also gave up the conditioning work.

i will definitely take it slow and work up. i definitely don’t want to be layed up from a pulled muscle or from over doing it.

thanks again.

159

came into the gym sore as shit. we did our last official accessory day yesterday. my lats, shoulders , bicep and forearms were tore up. as a result, i had a hard time lowering the bar under control tonight.

highlights from tonight…

4 board bench press- feet up, no liftoff, paused
535x1 -hit the uprights with this weight last week. smoked it this week. +20lb PR

bench press- with competition setup and press command

455x1- something very interesting happened on this set. my lats, shoulder and entire arms are extremely fatigued and sore. as a result, lowering the weight under control was pretty much not happening. i lowered the weight and it basically flopped down on my chest. in the past when that happened with moderate weight, the lift was pretty much over. this time i muscled the weight right off my chest to full lockout. i’m thinking that all the heavy dips and strict overhead pressing has really increased my power throughout the entire stroke of my bench. in the past, i’ve relied on my speed off the chest to get me to lockout. now i’m getting strong through the entire stroke. it’s nice to actually see your hard work paying off.

dips- since my upper body is basically fried i stuck with light weight and just did reps until i got bored.

BW x 20
BW+90lbs x 23

BW+45lbs x 33

good night considering…

160

Thanks for the suggestions and tips RealPC.

Update:

5/7/10 Squat night.

Went like this:

BarX10
135X10
225X5
315X5
405X4
500X3 for 4 sets
405X10

I feel like I need to get more consistant with my depth. Some of my reps felt, and looked, deeper than others. I also felt like I let the bar get too far forward after my first rep on all of the 500 sets. In short, most of my form needs a lot of work I think. I am taking the weight down in future sessions and working on this. Vidoes are here. I took multiple camera angles to see which was best for judging depth/form in general. Any tips you guys(especially Meat and RealPC) have on video technique as well as squat form in general are most welcome at this point.

5/9/10 Millitary press night.

BarX15
95X10
135X5
185X3
225X3
245X3
295X1
140+50LB chains X8
140+80LB chains X7

Again, tips welcome here. Not sure if this one was strict enough or not.

Tri chain press.

4X15

High pulls.
110X10 for 3 sets.

Cardio: same as last time.

5/10/10

Box pulls.
135X10
225X5
315X3
405X3
545X3
600X1
600+40LBs chain X1

Pullups.

BDWX8
X5
BDW+25LBsX4 we shall say, for 2 sets.
BDWX8

These need some practice.