[quote]pbclax1 wrote:
Dude I recently switched to a low bar squat placement and was getting that abrasion from the bar too! I was beginning to wonder if I was the only person getting that lol…it hurts like heck if it gets deep enough as I see you experienced haha. Great squatting man and awesome PRs![/quote]
it’s like tearing a callous on a deadlift, it’s more annoying than anything but you can definitely push through it… even wen you don’t feel like it e.g. yesterdays max rep of 455 haha
[quote]BigBen198 wrote:
[quote]pbclax1 wrote:
Dude I recently switched to a low bar squat placement and was getting that abrasion from the bar too! I was beginning to wonder if I was the only person getting that lol…it hurts like heck if it gets deep enough as I see you experienced haha. Great squatting man and awesome PRs![/quote]
it’s like tearing a callous on a deadlift, it’s more annoying than anything but you can definitely push through it… even wen you don’t feel like it e.g. yesterdays max rep of 455 haha [/quote]
Yeah brotha, its one of those things that seperates the good from the great!
Where did you get your knee sleeves from? What shoes are you wearing? Keep fighting the good fight. We’re all pulling for you man.
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Where did you get your knee sleeves from? What shoes are you wearing? Keep fighting the good fight. We’re all pulling for you man.[/quote]
The knee sleeves are Rehband knee sleeves from jackals gym http://jackalsgym.com/store.aspx?cat_id=RH and I wear converse high tops for my deads and squats, and I wear risto white thunder Oly weightlifting shoes for my Olympic lifting and my bench press. the raised heel makes the transitioning to a flat footed press a little less extreme, great for me now that I am training with much less of an arch than I have used in the past
@pbclax1- You know it brotha
@Spart4tee- the knee sleeves are rehband knee sleeves from jackals gym http://jackalsgym.com/store.aspx?cat_id=RH. I wear Converse chuck taylor high tops for my wide stance squats and deads, and I wear olympic lifting shoes for my bench and oly lifts.
Great final session at Timber Gym before Europe
Felt like poo heading in (seems to be a trend) due to all the beltless squats on wednesday, but had a phenomenal workout regardless
Close Grip Bench
135x5
175x5
205x4
240x3x2
275x3x5 (finished the benches very quickly, was only taking about 90 second rests)
Deads
135x4
225x4
355x4
425x4
495x3x2
565x3x2 (cut 1 triple to save my torn callouses as much as possible)
605x2x2
615x7 (beats my all time PR)
Close Grip Bench Round 2
135x3
185x5
225x4
255x4x3
255x12 (PR)
Leg Press
5/6/7/7/8 plates all for sets of 5
Back Extensions
12 lb Ball
10x4
Did some pull ups and posing but mostly stretched out because tomorrow is going to be a very early training session down at Imperial Getting up at 4 to make it there by 6:30… doing this to see my brudah Grant Higa 1 last time before I leave for europe
Gonna get the video up sometime later this weekend
that’s some sick deadlifting mate.
Where in Europe are you off to?
Ben, you are something else. Stay healthy and keep it up. I want to see you lifting at 30 and beyond. Awesome to think where you will be.
Technical question: sumo stance width, what do you like - more of a whatever feels best approach, or something mechanical (e.g, shins perpendicular to the platform at the start, more of a modified, Coan-like stance to get more legs into it, etc). Have been converting to sumo myself - I dig it, largely due to much more proportionate stress across the whole chain, faster recovery, chance to train heavier, more often - but its hard to sort out the plusses and minuses. I don’t sense a decisive strength difference between the options, at least not yet, or wouldn’t be asking. What do you think?
Have a great time in Europe - keep the camera clicking - its the bomb.
hey man, just wanted to let yea know, your one hell of a strong mother fucker, ive read your whole log 2x now, very impressive
good luck
[quote]Adam-F wrote:
that’s some sick deadlifting mate.
Where in Europe are you off to?[/quote]
Thanks brother! we did a tour of the U.K. your hood it seems spent time in wales, Ireland, Scotland, and finished off in England. Was not my ideal trip (mostly due to the driving and lack of gym access with where we were at but I am home now and will be back to where I was soon I hope)
[quote]cutbackcoach12 wrote:
Ben, you are something else. Stay healthy and keep it up. I want to see you lifting at 30 and beyond. Awesome to think where you will be.
Technical question: sumo stance width, what do you like - more of a whatever feels best approach, or something mechanical (e.g, shins perpendicular to the platform at the start, more of a modified, Coan-like stance to get more legs into it, etc). Have been converting to sumo myself - I dig it, largely due to much more proportionate stress across the whole chain, faster recovery, chance to train heavier, more often - but its hard to sort out the plusses and minuses. I don’t sense a decisive strength difference between the options, at least not yet, or wouldn’t be asking. What do you think?
Have a great time in Europe - keep the camera clicking - its the bomb. [/quote]
Thank you for the kind words brother I intend to keep getting better until I can’t go anymore and then keep trying anyway haha
Technical answer: Sumo width, I would argue that personal preference is more important than mechanics because if you are super uncomfortable with the position than you will most likely not be able to lift more. however if you have the flexibility to make it happen comfortably I would recommend the law of straight lines if you can get your shins close to perpendicular to the deck at the start of the pull (or slightly wider) than it is mechanically advantageous in regards to muscle recruitment that the sumo pull is meant to utilize. For example a narrower stance would encourage more initial leg drive while a wider stance generally asks more of your hips. Think about it like a close stance (olympic) squat as opposed to a wider stance (power) squat. When comparing sumo to conventional pulls the normal responses I give are based off of individual bio mechanics. Usually (and I use that word sparingly because there are exceptions to every generality you can make) a shorter stouter athlete will get more from a conventional pull because they are more built to move that way. the conventional dead recruits more lower back strength and the stick point is most commonly at the top or lockout position. Sumo stance is usually more beneficial to a taller lankier athlete who may have a harder time getting the bar past their knees with a conventional pull. The sumo pull relies much more heavily on hip flexibility and strength and the stick point is usually right there off the floor. both have their benefits and drawbacks so I always recommend everyone pull both styles to cancel each lifts weaknesses, but you should always focus on your most natural style for me sumo for Andy Bolton and Beni Magnussen conventional.
Europe for me was a bomb but not in the good way, much love for my U.K. brothers and sisters who were great but the trip was not what I would have liked it to be and I felt like it really hurt my lifting more than I am ok with…
[quote]curnzy wrote:
hey man, just wanted to let yea know, your one hell of a strong mother fucker, ive read your whole log 2x now, very impressive
good luck[/quote]
I appreciate that very much it is very inspiring for me to know that people are enjoying what I’m doing and drawing ideas or inspiration from my sharing it. thanks again!
I’m Back!!!
Got home last night from my month over in the U.K. I have nothing but love and respect for my British bros but that area is just not for me. I didn’t get much opportunity to train in an actual gym largely due to where we were staying and largely due to the fact that every gym we found was not suitable for what I consider an appropriate training session to work towards my goals (I.e no deadlifting, squatting or benching capability except for machine simulation)
I did the best I could but there was only so much that I could throw together with what I had and obviously my strength took a hit (bet I could kick some but in a BW for reps contest though haha) but I won’t go into that right now. I will be writing my next article for universal about training on vacation and with diminished resources so I’ll cover those details there and maybe post it here when I’m done but it is safe to assume that for the last month I haven’t gotten a real training session in and I haven’t been taking any supplements except for my multi i.e. animal pak, so tonight was my first day back so to speak.
Now let me preface this by adding that I’m pretty embarrassed by the numbers I put up tonight and so be gentle with the comments about how much I suck right now because quite frankly I know and I will get back to where I was soon…
Squats
135x3 (felt totally foreign to get the motion right again)
225x3
305x5
365x4
add belt and sleeves
425x3x2
485x3x2
515x2 (really started to drift forward on these, my bodyweight squat and lunge regiment didn’t accurately simulate the feeling of heavier weight on the core and so the weight that I was smashing beltless before my trip was now feeling much heavier than I remember it being)
545xmiss
(as soon as I picked this weight up I got light headed and so I took a while holding it to get un fuzzy and keep from passing out, on the way down I decided I didn’t have it in me today so I came up just enough to safely dump the weight and bailed, didn’t have a spotter and so I probably freaked every one out when I let the bar hit the safety racks but I was in control the whole time and safe so I let the shocked observers know that the only injury was to my ego and that I was physically fine)
apparently the person using the rack before me set the safety bars up crooked which I didn’t realize until I was stripping the bar and a plate slid off the and landed on my left toe adding injury to insult… ugh definitely a crappy start to my road back but I sucked it up and decided that if my toe was broken it wasn’t broken enough to keep me from training so I moved to bench
I figured my bench would suffer less than my other 2 lifts because I think that the close grip bench push ups that I was busting out every night better immitate the bench than any BW stuff I could do for my legs and posterior chain and luckily I was right.
Close grip bench
135x5
185x5
215x4
250x3x2
285x2x2
315x1x3 (paused my last single and felt less defeated)
285x2
285x5 (paused the last rep)
DB flyes SS with Pull ups
40x10x5 & BWx10x5
though about going for the second round of squats but I decided after the first set and my newly inherited ability to suck at squatting it would be wise to ease back into the lift and save something for tomorrows deadlift workout so I cut my losses and called it a night.
Definitively not happy with where I feel like I’m at after killing 475x10 and smashing multiple sets of 2 at 515 beltless before I left but it is what it is and I can’t expect to take a moth off of real lifting, supplements, and controlled dieting and have my body react the way that it had when I was putting so much focus on it before (in all seriousness I usually have to squat twice a week to develop the lift so a month off from my most technically practiced starved lift hurt me more than anything else might have)
No matter how frustrated tonight got me I expected it and so won’t be pouting for a week waiting for things to magically fix themselves I am going to be dragging myself back up from the ashes. I am hitting the food, supplements, and training as hard as I can handle and trying to get back to where I was so I can move forward.
I am setting a rough goal of 2 weeks but if I can go faster you better believe that I will. So bring on the creatine, protein, and aminos, buts out the crazy amounts of food, and don’t get in between me and the gym and everyone will make it though this in one piece. I may be home but I’m not back yet, give me some time and I will be!
having some technical difficulties with the vid but I’ll get it up eventually so bear with me
Good to see you back at it again Ben! Very much looking forward to future updates. I see you traveled in Ireland a bit, what did you think of the place? I’m always interested to hear what tourists think of Ireland as I’ve lived here for 15-years (ish) and have a pretty strong love/hate relationship with the place…
Awesome to see you back! Sucks the trip didnt go well for you and your lifting…dont sweat it too much man, you know the strength is there cause youve done it before. Give it some time and youll be back smashing PR’s before you know it brotha!
[quote]phlegms wrote:
Good to see you back at it again Ben! Very much looking forward to future updates. I see you traveled in Ireland a bit, what did you think of the place? I’m always interested to hear what tourists think of Ireland as I’ve lived here for 15-years (ish) and have a pretty strong love/hate relationship with the place… [/quote]
Ireland for me pretty much equaled failed meal experiences haha just about every single meal I had there was a fail with the exception of breakfasts. people were very nice and the countryside was gorgeous, but driving anywhere was a hellish experience… roads were much narrower, there is usually a curb or stone wall instead of a shoulder, your on the opposite side of the road and car so everything feels weird and all the people who were friendly, kind and courteous in person were not that way in their cars haha. plus I couldn’t find any gyms except for the Dublin university rec center which was not the greatest facility for free weights that I have ever seen haha
[quote]pbclax1 wrote:
Awesome to see you back! Sucks the trip didnt go well for you and your lifting…dont sweat it too much man, you know the strength is there cause youve done it before. Give it some time and you’ll be back smashing PR’s before you know it brotha![/quote]
Thanks brotha it’s good to be back, and I intend to get it all back very quickly it’s more frustration due to the fact that I didn’t really enjoy the trip that made me sacrifice all the work I put in so I can’t even say it was worth it. but that’s life
Damn dude, I don’t know how I’ve missed your log. You’re an absolute beast, and I look forward to picking some tips up from you.
[quote]inkaddict wrote:
Damn dude, I don’t know how I’ve missed your log. You’re an absolute beast, and I look forward to picking some tips up from you.
[/quote]
haha thank you brother, don’t feel very beastly right now, but I’ll get back there soon
[quote]BigBen198 wrote:
[quote]phlegms wrote:
Good to see you back at it again Ben! Very much looking forward to future updates. I see you traveled in Ireland a bit, what did you think of the place? I’m always interested to hear what tourists think of Ireland as I’ve lived here for 15-years (ish) and have a pretty strong love/hate relationship with the place… [/quote]
Ireland for me pretty much equaled failed meal experiences haha just about every single meal I had there was a fail with the exception of breakfasts. people were very nice and the countryside was gorgeous, but driving anywhere was a hellish experience… roads were much narrower, there is usually a curb or stone wall instead of a shoulder, your on the opposite side of the road and car so everything feels weird and all the people who were friendly, kind and courteous in person were not that way in their cars haha. plus I couldn’t find any gyms except for the Dublin university rec center which was not the greatest facility for free weights that I have ever seen haha[/quote]
Good stuff man, I pretty much agree with everything you said and this is supposedly my home country! And the Dublin University gym you lifted in is my current gym (I go to college there). I must of been lifting there at some stage when you were hanging around! If I had known you were going to be in Dublin I could of suggested a couple of “off the beaten track” gyms with decent equipment. Small world!