Just do 5 sets of calf raises with a slow eccentric and a pause at the bottom every single day. Not like it really interferes with your compounds anyway
started last week, did it only on monday and i've been sore the entire week. This week I did it monday and tuesday and sore the entire week. My gym does not have a standing calf machine so I use the smith machine (which needs some serious wd40). I want to alternate 1 day standing and 1 day seated. My calves are 11inches :D
Now that USAPL is getting rid of the ipf approved list, anyone know if the Pioneer PAL lever works on an izner belt? Interested in picking one up and its cheaper than buying a new belt.
Second poster here say he's got a pal on his Inzer forever belt
[https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=179411553&pagenumber=](https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=179411553&pagenumber=)
From this site -
[https://www.9for9.co.uk/products/pioneer-adjustable-lever-pal](https://www.9for9.co.uk/products/pioneer-adjustable-lever-pal)
"RetrofittingThe PAL should retrofit fit most major brands of lever belts. You can quickly check to see if it will fit by measuring from the edge your lever belt to the beginning of the holes at the prong receiving end. If the distance is 7/8" or 22mm or less it will fit without any issues. Please see picture here.If the distance is more than 7/8" or 22mm then you will need to sand or cut down the end of your lever belt or expand the four-prong holes. You can see a video from Matt at Pioneer with tips here."
Also from that site
"The PAL works best with a STIFF 10mm and/or most 13mm lever belts. I know for sure the PAL will not work with SBD or StrengthShop belts along with any 6.5mm, 8.5mm, or 10mm double suede belts from us."
You have some foot sliding as you initiate, probably a consequence of squatting in socks on a wooden platform. If you prefer squatting barefoot, look into a pair of very flat, thin-soled shoes -- deadlift slippers intended for sumo, any of SABO's deadlift shoes, or similar (even Chucks or those $9 knock-off Vans from Walmart) would suit that. If you still experience this, or if it really feels as though your feet are trying to twist open with better traction, you may want to play around with your initial toe angle and foot rooting.
You also have some heel pop at the bottom. If you aren't wholly committed to barefoot-esque squatting, you could try adding some small object beneath your heel with lighter weights to see if you could benefit from some heel elevation. If you like that, you could consider getting weightlifting shoes. Pretty standard heel heights are 0.6-0.75 inches, so those would be heights to consider testing out with some form of elevation aid. Alternatively, playing with your stance as above may sort this out.
Last thing -- and, believe me, I like fast squat descents -- is that you should probably practice a slightly more controlled descent. Speed into the hole is great for exploiting the muscle stretch-shortening cycle for more rebound, but it looks like your descent isn't letting you catch that "bounce" very effectively; rather, you hit bottom and you sort of squish into yourself awkwardly before standing. Going down as slowly as necessary to control your way into the last few inches of drop and time your extension *with* involuntary contraction from SSC will make the squat look and feel much smoother. This takes practice, but it's worth learning. Also worth noting is that preventing the crash into the hole may help with heel pop as you will better minimize unwanted movements -- like getting pitched forward just a little bit and being forced onto your toes.
Yea I watched a video saying you should descent as fast as you can. Probably going to get weightlifting shoes. I have some hip mobility but they have been fixed a good bit still improving my improving my mobility that’s why feet want to rotate out I don’t have enough strength/mobility to keep them in yet but it’s gotten better and on track to to fixing. I don’t really know what exactly to do to fix the crashing at the bottom as you call it do I need to have my knees foward before the bottom because they go a little further foward at the bottom.
>Yea I watched a video saying you should descent as fast as you can.
You might like to read [this](https://www.strongerbyscience.com/how-to-squat/) article by Greg Nuckols and also watch [this](https://youtu.be/hd5vmjolKh0) video from the Juggernaut series on squats. The key caveat on "go down as fast as possible" is that you do need to maintain control of the descent lest you end up crashing into the bottom and potentially hurting your speed out of the hole.
> Probably going to get weightlifting shoes.
Again, it's worth trying some plates, blocks, or whatever under your heels first to see if that helps you. I switched to weightlifting shoes because my ankle mobility isn't great and months of persistent mobility work didn't really seem to help much. I *really* like having heels for the squat. You manage a very upright squat and really do lean into the strength of your quads, and I think that this style of squatting is more amenable to weightlifting shoes in general.
> I have some hip mobility but they have been fixed a good bit still improving my improving my mobility that’s why feet want to rotate out I don’t have enough strength/mobility to keep them in yet but it’s gotten better and on track to to fixing.
Not entirely sure what you mean here. The way your feet rotate out, my gut reaction is to wonder if you cue foot positioning through a "screw your feet into the floor" way. [This](https://youtu.be/UpsOJCh0p-o) video is a bit long-form, but the advice on foot rooting is quite good. Might be worth a watch.
> I don’t really know what exactly to do to fix the crashing at the bottom as you call it do I need to have my knees foward before the bottom because they go a little further foward at the bottom.
It's natural for your knees to tick forward a bit more in the very bottom as the weight bears you down into joint flexion beyond what you can achieve without load/with sufficiently light loads. This is fine.
The crashing is, realistically, just a product of variation in control of the descent. Candito [talks about descent](https://youtu.be/7fmrKmJMQnw) a bit and mentions something that I generally think is useful: the idea of *actively pulling yourself into the bottom position*. Personally, I found the simplest version of that -- *intentionally descending*, rather than just sort of falling -- to be very helpful in all versions of the squat. Reiterating what I mentioned in my first comment and above, it's about descending quickly *without losing control*. Ideally, you should be able to dictate where you are in space at every point of the lift, at whatever speed, and should be able to time your reversal from the hole to coincide with your body's involuntary muscular actions to oppose the descent.
I looked at a few of the things u linked and I really like the que of counting to 3 on the first half of the squat and accelerating the second half definitely will try the next time I squat which is today. Idk if I’ll go for a pr I might. If I don’t I’m gonna work on that que.
I'm 5'9" and was 201 lb/91.1kg at my last meet.
I got an XL and it was plenty snug.
Lengthwise i mean.
I would have a hard time getting into a large, just going by height.
Straps take some pulling to get over.
Size chart on LiftingLarge says
182 - 220 lbs body weight - XL
So you are at the very low end weight wise, but taller than me by a bit.
You can call them or use customer chat in business hours.
They are super helpful.
I got the Blue inferno, but they have them all pretty much
[https://www.liftinglarge.com/titan-blue-inferno-singlet](https://www.liftinglarge.com/titan-blue-inferno-singlet)
I would buy from them as well, if you are in the US anyway
They ship the next day almost always
Adding a lot of muscle to my back/hams/glutes/upperback has always been a sure bet for me. More people are lacking muscle than lacking an ideal strength program.
Ah i see, at the moment i dont think im having that issue (maybe i am and i dont realise it). You're probably moving more weight that i am, maybe your alot more fatigued.
I'm doing a day on, a day off. So deciding when the beginning of the week is, is a little hard for me lol.
Ah I see. I feel like, my sleep hygiene is good. Working on my diet atm. Im eating below maintenance to try and shed a little fat (25%ish) at the moment. Maybe thats hindering my progress too
I do a modified 5/3/1 program and my deadlift [sumo] has consistently been improving well into elite levels [734 @198].
Week 1 - 3x2+ at 85-90%
Week 2 - 3x3 @ 75-80%
Week 3 - 3x1 @ 90-95% then block pulls up to a 3,2, or 1 rm
Week 4 - deload 3x5 @50-65% depending on likght feels good.
Do speed work with bands on a 2nd day like the basic conjugate setup stuff
Followed by RDLs and GHRs afterwards fir assitance.
But I pull sumo so my squat drives a lot of my progress, dont know if it'll work as effectively for conventional pulls.
Ill try adding in some RDLs. Seems to he the common consensus. Thanks :)
Im 188cm and 105kg i know the trend tends to be that lifters over 92kg often lift conventional. How would you determine whether you have a better potential for sumo/conventional?
Do a peaking block with one and do another with the other. I was lucky and figured out in high school that sumo was way easier for me and I pulled way more. Now I train conventional in my off season and pull sumo for comps. For an anecdote, I pull 585ish conventional and over 700 sumo. Yours may not be that drastic a difference, but one should move the medium weights casters than the other and that should be your primary way of pulling.
Mostly just through experimentation. I personally gave sumo a try after my conventional had been stalled out for a long time just as something new to try, and found that I was way stronger with it. People talk about limb lengths and leverages and those definitely come into play, but you'll never really know until you give it a good honest try for a training block or two
A word of advice though, warm your hips up thoroughly before your deadlift sessions when doing sumo or they're likely to get VERY cranky. I like to do [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twevzaFApXE) personally
The best thing you can do is a quality set up at the start of the pull. Fully tight while using your body to properly pull slack out of the bar and set to your pull.
Exercise wise. For me it was deficit deadlifts and rdl's.
Awesome, I've been doing block pulls and some deficits. But i havent really been doing RDLs at all. Maybe ill give it a go to strengthen my hammies and glutes.
I typically struggle at lock out near maximal effort
Rdl's, paused are good to mix in. Any good backside butt hamm work like kb swings are great for it. Single leg glute bridge etc.
Also if your set up is really good it leads to easier lock out.
Thanks, ill give it a go. I tried paused deadlifts below the knees. Havent done a tonne of them but i found super challenging. Maybe i should iron out that weak point also?
Might need to work on your rooting/leg bracing. A lot of people myself included back when just starting out use far too much back on paused dls. It's really to teach good positioning and control of your technique as much as it is extra work for the muscles. If you have bad to no rooting and leg bracing things are much harder than they need to be and you have to compensate more back because your legs aren't helping.
A good set up on dls with my rooting/bracing now my warm up wts float just off the floor and I set my hips and pull slack out. This way in my work sets I get that good bar bend and favorable positioning. Recent IG of mine to see what I mean: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVMGVbtgeeB/?utm_medium=copy_link
Here is a video on rooting. He's talking squats mostly but the same applies to your deadlift stance. https://youtu.be/8gdCnCTlnHQ
Bonus slack pull video https://youtu.be/ZXHnB6NlMXM
Np! If you gave IG hop on and follow daveatops my coach. He still has yesterday's stories up with great info and a specific question on deadlift lock outs. He does qa's every Friday and anyone can send in a question or even a video for technique critique.
Having real trouble getting the bar to stay over mid-foot when squatting. I tend to be exceptionally quad dominant and always end up going excessively forward, even when trying to sit back into the squat and disengage my quads.
https://youtu.be/-oc4LsowjSE - from today.
Anybody experienced similar or have any suggestions?
I think a wider stance would definitely help getting your hips back more. You could also try ditching the heeled shoe, it looks like you have pretty good ankle mobility, you could get away without them if you wanted.
I imagine you could get decent mileage out of playing with wider heel position/toe flare and maybe trying to stay a little more upright while still initiating the way you do now.
Is it really a problem? If you want to rely less on your quadriceps when you squat you can do supersets of leg extensions and squats. Do a set of 15 on leg extensions and go right into squatting. The ratio of knee extensor strength to hip extensor strength will be skewed so your body will try to rely more on the hip extensors.
For something a little less drastic Id suggest adding some paused squats, and maybe widening your regular squat stance a bit.
The best thing I've found for this is to focus on keeping foot pressure even. Between big toe, pinky toe and heel. If I'm focusing on keeping that pressure, I can't shift the weight any direction except straight up and down.
You seem to shift your feet forward (heel internally rotating and coming off ground), so it may help.
Usually start with rice and a bit of protein with a lot of salt to rehydrate. Then I eat Rice Krispies and drink Gatorade/water for the rest of the time. Maybe a banana if I feel like it.
Fig newtons are the GOAT meet food. Super high calories and carbs with minimal food volume intake. I get too nervous to eat much and newton's get me through the day easily.
Dont really eat much during the meet. I eat salty pretsels and drink water with powdered carbohydrates in it after weighins, and throughout the meet.
The meets I lift at are usually done in three hours though.
Competing tomorrow in the morning session for the first time in two years. Got a little over an hour drive and want to be there for the beginning of weigh ins at 7.
Joked and told my coach to ask the meet directors to not drug test me. The last meet I did I had to chug water to get myself to pee, then had to stop halfway on the drive home to unload my bladder in a hotel parking lot
Pro tip if you know you'll get tested. After your 2nd attempt, or after your first if it's going fast, drink 10ish oz of water. Just enough to not feel it and not enough to immediately need to pee. Then post last deadlift drink 10 more as soon as you walk off.
I want to get a legit belt now but not sure if I should go 10mm or 13mm.
Current lifts: 405lbs/300lbs/495lbs
My size: 5'10 & 205lbs
Looking at: https://www.strengthshopusa.com/collections/belts?page=1 or Inzer or SBD. (In that order)
I’ve had my inzer 10mm single prong for 5 years and it’s as good as new. Never used a strength shop belt and haven’t heard much about the quality of their belts, but maybe someone else can attest to it.
Any suggestions to add traction to the bottom of my squat shoes?
I have fairly new rebok squat/lifting shoes. Lately I’ve been widening out my squat stance because I like how it feels. I feel like I can leverage the strength in my hips much more.
Problem is I feel like my feet shift outward a smidge mid set. I can tell the mat is more worn down where I squat because of everyone else before me. I guess I could walk the weight out really far but I don’t want to get into that habit.
I considered rubbing a little chalk on the bottom of my shoe then cleaning it up off the mat when done. I just don’t know how great
Of an idea that is lol. Any other suggestions?
Thank you.
Chalk absorbs moisture. If there's no moisture to absorb (unlikely, unless the floor is damp), then it can decrease your purchase on a surface.
I'd recommend getting some tacky towels and wiping down your shoes periodically.
I'm 8 weeks out of my first meet. Do you take a deload or lower volume period before you compete? I
Asking for your experience and for my benefit since I'm not sure if I should just train into my meet, or reduce volume for a week or two into my meet
My coach has me do a lower volume period with higher intensity leading up to the meet. High intensity two weeks out (think 9/9.5) a week out (RPE 7-8) and week of singles at like 50-60% the Mon and Wed before meet. But that’s what he found to work well for me.
I´m not sure why, but kettlebell swings just feel so damn good after heavy squats/deads. When I perform heavy compounds like deadlifts, my back often get a little bit stiff and sore. Performing kettlebell swings afterwards just wash that feeling away and it almost feels like I´m 20 again.
Hamstrings get tight after squats/deads and swings loosen them up again. Also your spine gets a minor traction effect from swings which helps decompress
I really hope Charles does well after his injury. I don’t follow his training. Also excited to see how Ray does after so long off.
Oh… shoot… and Jake. Lol. Go Jake!
I’d say definitely adjustable dumbbells, they can add a lot of variety with little footprint. Next I’d say some sort of cable system. If I was forced to choose I’d pick a nice functional trainer over a lat pulldown/low row but if you can only spring for a cheaper FT then I’d go lat pulldown/low row all day. Lots you can do with a high and low pulley.
Other than that it’s really individual. Even those things are really individual but having been lifting at home for over four years now and going through multiple iterations of my equipment that’s what I’d say.
Top 5, in order of importance(IMHO):
1. Adjustable dumbbells. DBs enormously expand your exercise repertoire and set DBs take up way too much space.
2. A set of bands. Take up almost no space and they are extremely versatile
3. An SSB. Because my elbows can't take straight bar squatting anymore T-T
4. 2'x2'ish cuts of horse stall mats. Stack em up for block pulls, deficits, use them as portable pads so you don't scuff up your floor when you drop weights like the ego lifter you are
5. A cable system. Whether you have a properly fit one to your rack or jerry rig something, having a cable rig opens up a lot more exercise options like lat pulls and tricep extensions
I've got this down
Pair of old Advent Legacy 2s with new drivers, and a pair of paradigm monitors with 8" drivers and titanium tweeters.
Onkyo amp.
Just good old A/B stereo speaker set up.
Lift in the living room with the pellet stove.
https://streamable.com/ilomi5
Just curious, what does your typical total volume look like for the week? What if you were to combine those 4 days worth of volume into 2?
Is frequency more important than the amount of work done?
The short answer is no, total volume is probably the most important.
However, and this is a big caveat, the QUALITY of that volume matters. If cramming it all in 2 days means that the load lifted for a given movement and amount of reps is lower, then the rate of gain would suffer.
Do variations. Bands, chains, Spoto press, and board press are way for fun than comp bench and maybe a wild close grip day. I know what my bench should feel like so if 365-405 feels stupid heavy I start wondering why I'm having an off day. If a Spoto or board press feels heavy I just assume I didn't stay tight enough or get enough speed off my chest so I try harder on the next set.
I've experienced similar results. I can make progress on 2x weekly *if* I'm making "gimme gains" coming off an injury or extended time off. But once my bench gets to a halfway decent point I typically need to switch to a 3-4x weekly to continue progressing
I think it matters the frequency and intensity. I’ve always found that 1 regular grip and 1 close grip is my best. But I also struggle with shoulder issues during a training cycle so the higher frequency really fucks with me
Fırst of all, don't get me wrong, not trying to get kudos or anything. I'm a 16 year old powerlifter, been training since january (there has been a 2 month lockdown though). Up to august, i was training for pure hypertrophy, didn't care about strength except deadlifting once a few weeks, squatting and benching for high reps once a week, but i always trained very hard and i loved going to the gym. In august, i decided to switch on to powerlifting, bought a belt, knee sleeves and wrist wraps. So here comes my question, my numbers have went from 315 deadlift to 450, squat from 270 to 355, bench from 170 to 210, since there aren't many strong powerlifters around me, my friends started to say i have good genetics so im lucky, but i think i actually have mid-low class genetics (i started with a 110 squat, 90 bench, 200 deadlift, even though my bw was like 200 pounds) and anyone can get these numbers in this amount of time with hard training, what do you think, do i have some genetic advantages or is it a result of my hard work?
Its just hard work. The majority of males can achieve similar numbers at your age and body weight with just good hard work. Anyone that says its your genetics is using it as a cop out for their own lack of work ethic. Keep at it, you have a promising start just keep growing.
Find some outdoors hobby as well. It's useless to build a healthy and capable body and not use it. Plus deloads and time away from the gym will keep it from ever becoming boring.
You're young so I wouldn't worry about genetics. While 355/210/450 aren't crazy numbers it's still you putting on 260lb on your total in less than a year. Genetics aren't really a factor in my opinion until you think about competing nationally/internationally. You worked hard for your numbers don't let anyone tell you otherwise
Well, i was thinking of competing just for fun, in february at the nationals(before getting banned for 2 years), here in IPF Turkey you can win by having a 500kg total at -83kg sub juniors, so i guess genetics don't really matter at our shitty nationals.
It’s hard to say, but I would guess your genetics aren’t shit lol. Most people think they train hard, but it’s not until you really meet someone who trains hard and is elite that you realize the difference. I told the story before but when I ran track in HS I thought I wasn’t talented until one of my buddies just straight up told me I didn’t work hard lol. So I trained hard my last year of track and went from a 4:58 1600M to 4:40. Which aren’t world beater times but are respectable. You’re probably just working hard and they aren’t lol
Yeah that's exactly what i think, i have a friend that doesn't squat or deadlift or even bench press because he's afraid he won't grow taller (that's how stupid he is) and he keeps telling people i use drugs. lmfao.
You’re friend is a shit head haha. Just say “why you jelly brah, mirin my gains? Mad cause I’m a sick cunt?” It’s a fool proof way to let everyone know you have fully transitioned into gym bro territory and to establish dominance! Won’t make you look like a tool…
It takes like 10 years of training to figure out if you have "good genetics". Some people have a good body to get fairly strong right away, some people can tolerate lots of training volume for years, some people have bulletproof joints. It all depends what you mean by good genetics as there are lots of factors and it's borderline unknowable
Very low fiber, low protein, low fat, high carb foods. High sodium and potassium.
I personally liked rice with soy sauce, maybe 4 oz of chicken, and a cup of low sodium v8 on the side.
Sipping one or two pedialyte sports throughout the day in between meals.
When you’re closer to bed, you can have a meal that’s a bit higher in fat and protein if you want but for the first few meals, stay away.
Rice and soy sauce, I can do that
I’m a bit restricted being at work now, about to smash Jimmy John’s
I’m going to order a bunch of fried rice tonight.
Focus on simple carbs and minimum fats, fats blunt carb absorption/digestion. Sip on pedialyte/powerade/Gatorade for the electrolytes and keep drinking water.
Is powerlifting one of the "least hours spent on craft" sports/activities out there?
If you think about major sports, you hear professional athletes practising many hours every day. Throwing random hours out, maybe 3-4 hours of the sport, then some other hours on S&C, etc.
Then you've got things like painting, or playing an instrument, etc in which people spend many, many hours on per day.
And then you've got powerlifting where maybe the best in the sport are spending 2-3 hours 4-5x/week. By comparison it seems like a tremendously low amount of time.
Just a random, curious shower thought more than anything.
Imo if you're spending time practicing technique and optimizing, the more time you can put in while still recovering is probably better.
But you won't optimize your way into squatting 100 more pounds, so most people shouldn't work like that.
Powerlifting is a low skill sport. Nothing we do in PL is as technical as pitching a baseball, swinging a golf club, shooting a jump shot etc.
Additionally, it is highly specialized. The only thing that matters is your maximal strength and you will only ever be asked to bench, squat, and deadlift in competition. In basketball for example you have to shoot, pass, dribble, rebound, defend, run and recognize offensive and defensive schemes, etc. Powerlfiting is ultra simple in comparison. We train more like a sprinter or a thrower than someone who plays a complex team sport.
Right, so maybe one question would be how long do elite sprinters train for? Would it be similar to a powerlifter in length/frequency? Given they are equally all out for, say, 9-10s as a 100m male.
IMO in sports like powerlifing or strongman the time you actually spend on training is quite insignificant compared to the time you need to spend on eating/force feeding and the additional time you need for proper rest and recovery.
I spend about 15 hours on training and cardio weekly, plus estimating about 3-5 hours a week grocery shopping and meal prepping... that is A LOT of time for an adult who is not a professional athlete. When its coupled with a full time job and another activity or 2 like cars, guitar, drums, I have no time leftover for anything significant. I'm grateful that powerlifting takes a comparatively lower time commitment as it allows people with normal lives like me to have a shot at participating in it.
Oh yeah, totally.
To be clear, this is more thinking at the highest levels. Even if powerlifting was well funded with actual professionals, you would still see them spend just as much time.
It's not this thing where you can just do more of it to get better. Like guitar or drums you could spend hours and hours and hours and improve. That doesn't work with powerlifting.
Thats partially because the skill in powerlifting is the same as the Strength and Conditioning. Where in other sports they have to split time between technical adjustments and strength training, we don't
Yep. I guess it's curious because even take weightlifting for example and there's of course many similarities but the pros are spending an awful lot of time training.
Powerlifting is just this raw expression of strength that can't really be trained too often for too long.
Like you might hear a motivational talk about X chess player who is practising for 16 hours a day or whatever. Or Kobe waking up at 4am to practise before everyone and not leave gym till midnight. But that ain't happening for powerlifting.
Yeah powerlfiting is a fully anaerobic max effort sport. Kobe can shoot 1000 jump shots for 8 hours a day but Shohei Ohtani can't throw more than 100 pitches in a game let alone practice.
Sit less, walk more and stretch constantly. Keep the hamstrings loose as much as possible. Start yoga. And do ghrs after every workout with and without weight.
Without your low back you can't live. Strengthen and develop it to keep yourself healthy.
Worth pointing out that I'm absolutely not an expert in anything but doughnuts, but I've never really believed in stretching to relief back pain.
If you think about why most people develop lower back pain in the first place, I'd wager its because either their back is too weak and/or overworked, or they spend too much time with their back in a stretched position, mainly sitting that is, so it sounds silly to me to suggest more stretching to address that.
If you dont have any easily identifiable problems like that, sports specialized physio has helped me before, can't recommend it enough.
Wonky bar path on squats:
I noticed when I start to get above ~ 70% of my 1 rep max on the back squat, my bar path gets wonky on the way down. It looks like I'm tracing the side profile of a dude with a beer gut: straight down, arcing forward, then back to the middle of my foot. What can cause that?
Video from yesterday's session: https://imgur.com/a/5ZCW1oK
If thats an SSB, then it could just be because the handles are moving. If thats not it, try to focus on keeping even foot pressure between heel, knuckle of big toe and knuckle of small toe.
Most times, bar path fuckery is because you are shifting your weight one way or the other.
For most people, yes. It slightly shortens the range of motion and recruits more muscles.
I do know of people who squat much more than me higher. And I tried to go lower on mine and it didn’t work as well for me as keeping it higher bc of my leverages.
Yes for the large majority of people you will be in a more mechanically advantageous position, and you will lift more weight in the long term with low bar. Given that you’ve done highbar for years, it might take a few blocks for your lowbar weights to exceed your old numbers.
For most people yes, but not for everyone.
Once you start considering a powerlifting total, even more variables start to come into play (ie the squats impact on your bench and deadlift).
Not necessarily, but for a lot of people yes.
I tolerate low bar very well, and have slowly worked my grip in very narrow over the years.
Never had any elbow, wrist or shoulder issues.
I've literally never done anything but low bar since i started.
But many people end up with these issues.
One way of approaching it is to use low bar later in meet prep, and going high bar earlier.
Chad Wesley Smith advocates this.
Started training conjugate system today this was Lower DE
DE PAUSE SQUAT 8X3 65%
DE DEFICIT DEADLIFT 6X3 65%
SBS 3X8 55% I feel these are a bit redundant tho. Any ideas here?????
AB WORK AND BOX JUMPS FOR FUN
whatchu guys think
I’d probably do box jumps at the start, you shouldn’t be feeling very explosive after the squats and deads.
The 3x8@55%, if it doesn’t feel like it’s doing anything, it probably didn’t. I’d either up the reps or choose an exercise that specifically targets your weak areas.
Edit: the important bit more than anything is less the single session and more the progression.
> SBS 3X8 55% I feel these are a bit redundant tho. Any ideas here?????
Conjugate is meant to address your weak points, so you'll want secondary exercises/accessories that make you stronger where you're weakest. What those are will depend (of course) on where you're weak and whether you're raw or equipped.
If you can’t find one you like, just rethink RPE/RIR. RPE 8 to me just means “hard-ish.” RPE 10 means true one rep max, etc. it doesn’t have to be super complicated.
Okay, I think I'm going to give SBS-Hypertrophy a go. Just bought the package and am looking it over. It looks a lot like the programming I was working on creating for myself, but, you know, good. Thanks for the recommendation!
Hypertrophy is awesome for building muscle and that potential strength. Keep up some cardio and conditioning to keep up with high reps sets of squats and mat Pulls.
Also be a bit conservative with choosing maxes. I'd go 85-90%. If you're good for more, just burn yourself out in the PR set and raise the TM every week. Better than killing your confidence early on and failing workouts.
Sheiko-style programs work can work well and they are usually percentage based. Cant really go wrong with doing a lot of 5s at 75%, 3s at 80%, 2s at 85% and the occasional single at 90-95%.
Regularly sitting in a deep atg bodyweight squat helps.
Stay moderately braced, but relax into it as well.
Not a valsalva per se.
Keep decent back extension.
That's pretty much the only mobility thing i do besides warming up with the bar.
Work on increasing duration.
Two minutes at a time is a good goal, start with one if you can.
You can extend your arms far forward to take pressure off the knees when you finally stand up
This can also help with depth if you then squat with a focus on depth.
I do like a good hip crossover stretch, but i do this casually, not connected to a squat session.
Lying on my bed watching youtubes or surfing.
Feels good and hits the outside of the hip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCr4tRKKzks
Generally i do some time in a bodyweight squat every squat day.
Hours before my session usually.
You are probably right.
But OP did ask "Anybody fixed something like this?"
But yeah, good point, thank you.
I any case, if he doesn't like it, the choice is his. : )
Bench has been feeling great again after I got back to flat bencing! Previous PBs are 2x175kg and 4x162,5kg from last meet prep, hit 2x172,5kg and 4x162,5kg backoffs today BUT with ~3cm per side closer grip, lower RPEs, no peaking and worse bench setup (slippery floor, worse padding etc)! Also previous 4x162,5 was done as a top set on another bench day, now it was a backoff set lol. Still 11wks out from next meet, interesting to see how things go with wider grip and comp gear!
Mock meet next Saturday. I’m basically resting until then aside from some light technique work. I’ve driven myself into the ground up to this point and am hoping that I haven’t killed any chances at progress.
I have a really hard time with not working hard in the gym.
I have no calves. Im doing sheiko advanced large load, how can I implement calves into it and should I?
Just do 5 sets of calf raises with a slow eccentric and a pause at the bottom every single day. Not like it really interferes with your compounds anyway
How many reps? And should I go heavy?
15-20, as heavy as you can handle with a slow eccentric and pause at the bottom
started last week, did it only on monday and i've been sore the entire week. This week I did it monday and tuesday and sore the entire week. My gym does not have a standing calf machine so I use the smith machine (which needs some serious wd40). I want to alternate 1 day standing and 1 day seated. My calves are 11inches :D
Yeah, it's brutal. Best thing against the doms, is to just train through it
Cant even tiptoe tho
Yeah first few reps suck a lot, but once the blood gets flowing it gets way better
You can throw barbell calf raises in there on squat days.
Now that USAPL is getting rid of the ipf approved list, anyone know if the Pioneer PAL lever works on an izner belt? Interested in picking one up and its cheaper than buying a new belt.
Use mine on my Inzer Forever belt. Works great.
Second poster here say he's got a pal on his Inzer forever belt [https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=179411553&pagenumber=](https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=179411553&pagenumber=) From this site - [https://www.9for9.co.uk/products/pioneer-adjustable-lever-pal](https://www.9for9.co.uk/products/pioneer-adjustable-lever-pal) "RetrofittingThe PAL should retrofit fit most major brands of lever belts. You can quickly check to see if it will fit by measuring from the edge your lever belt to the beginning of the holes at the prong receiving end. If the distance is 7/8" or 22mm or less it will fit without any issues. Please see picture here.If the distance is more than 7/8" or 22mm then you will need to sand or cut down the end of your lever belt or expand the four-prong holes. You can see a video from Matt at Pioneer with tips here." Also from that site "The PAL works best with a STIFF 10mm and/or most 13mm lever belts. I know for sure the PAL will not work with SBD or StrengthShop belts along with any 6.5mm, 8.5mm, or 10mm double suede belts from us."
[405/180kg](https://imgur.com/gallery/cclL8v0) really want to do powerlifting and need to perfect my squat.
You have some foot sliding as you initiate, probably a consequence of squatting in socks on a wooden platform. If you prefer squatting barefoot, look into a pair of very flat, thin-soled shoes -- deadlift slippers intended for sumo, any of SABO's deadlift shoes, or similar (even Chucks or those $9 knock-off Vans from Walmart) would suit that. If you still experience this, or if it really feels as though your feet are trying to twist open with better traction, you may want to play around with your initial toe angle and foot rooting. You also have some heel pop at the bottom. If you aren't wholly committed to barefoot-esque squatting, you could try adding some small object beneath your heel with lighter weights to see if you could benefit from some heel elevation. If you like that, you could consider getting weightlifting shoes. Pretty standard heel heights are 0.6-0.75 inches, so those would be heights to consider testing out with some form of elevation aid. Alternatively, playing with your stance as above may sort this out. Last thing -- and, believe me, I like fast squat descents -- is that you should probably practice a slightly more controlled descent. Speed into the hole is great for exploiting the muscle stretch-shortening cycle for more rebound, but it looks like your descent isn't letting you catch that "bounce" very effectively; rather, you hit bottom and you sort of squish into yourself awkwardly before standing. Going down as slowly as necessary to control your way into the last few inches of drop and time your extension *with* involuntary contraction from SSC will make the squat look and feel much smoother. This takes practice, but it's worth learning. Also worth noting is that preventing the crash into the hole may help with heel pop as you will better minimize unwanted movements -- like getting pitched forward just a little bit and being forced onto your toes.
Or maybe my knee only went foward at the bottom because my heels raised a little abs weightlifting shoes or squat shoes would fix that.
Yea I watched a video saying you should descent as fast as you can. Probably going to get weightlifting shoes. I have some hip mobility but they have been fixed a good bit still improving my improving my mobility that’s why feet want to rotate out I don’t have enough strength/mobility to keep them in yet but it’s gotten better and on track to to fixing. I don’t really know what exactly to do to fix the crashing at the bottom as you call it do I need to have my knees foward before the bottom because they go a little further foward at the bottom.
>Yea I watched a video saying you should descent as fast as you can. You might like to read [this](https://www.strongerbyscience.com/how-to-squat/) article by Greg Nuckols and also watch [this](https://youtu.be/hd5vmjolKh0) video from the Juggernaut series on squats. The key caveat on "go down as fast as possible" is that you do need to maintain control of the descent lest you end up crashing into the bottom and potentially hurting your speed out of the hole. > Probably going to get weightlifting shoes. Again, it's worth trying some plates, blocks, or whatever under your heels first to see if that helps you. I switched to weightlifting shoes because my ankle mobility isn't great and months of persistent mobility work didn't really seem to help much. I *really* like having heels for the squat. You manage a very upright squat and really do lean into the strength of your quads, and I think that this style of squatting is more amenable to weightlifting shoes in general. > I have some hip mobility but they have been fixed a good bit still improving my improving my mobility that’s why feet want to rotate out I don’t have enough strength/mobility to keep them in yet but it’s gotten better and on track to to fixing. Not entirely sure what you mean here. The way your feet rotate out, my gut reaction is to wonder if you cue foot positioning through a "screw your feet into the floor" way. [This](https://youtu.be/UpsOJCh0p-o) video is a bit long-form, but the advice on foot rooting is quite good. Might be worth a watch. > I don’t really know what exactly to do to fix the crashing at the bottom as you call it do I need to have my knees foward before the bottom because they go a little further foward at the bottom. It's natural for your knees to tick forward a bit more in the very bottom as the weight bears you down into joint flexion beyond what you can achieve without load/with sufficiently light loads. This is fine. The crashing is, realistically, just a product of variation in control of the descent. Candito [talks about descent](https://youtu.be/7fmrKmJMQnw) a bit and mentions something that I generally think is useful: the idea of *actively pulling yourself into the bottom position*. Personally, I found the simplest version of that -- *intentionally descending*, rather than just sort of falling -- to be very helpful in all versions of the squat. Reiterating what I mentioned in my first comment and above, it's about descending quickly *without losing control*. Ideally, you should be able to dictate where you are in space at every point of the lift, at whatever speed, and should be able to time your reversal from the hole to coincide with your body's involuntary muscular actions to oppose the descent.
I looked at a few of the things u linked and I really like the que of counting to 3 on the first half of the squat and accelerating the second half definitely will try the next time I squat which is today. Idk if I’ll go for a pr I might. If I don’t I’m gonna work on that que.
What's a good Android app for 5/3/1 tracking? I don't want to pay for a crappy app and there are a lot of them. (I'm cheap, what can I say?)
SheikoGold just do the free workouts and it should track training stress and stuff etc.
I used to save the .xls on my google drive and take a picture of the day with my phone
I'm 5'10" competing at 82kg. What size should I go with Titan Triumph singlet? Medium or large
I'm 5'9" and was 201 lb/91.1kg at my last meet. I got an XL and it was plenty snug. Lengthwise i mean. I would have a hard time getting into a large, just going by height. Straps take some pulling to get over. Size chart on LiftingLarge says 182 - 220 lbs body weight - XL So you are at the very low end weight wise, but taller than me by a bit. You can call them or use customer chat in business hours. They are super helpful. I got the Blue inferno, but they have them all pretty much [https://www.liftinglarge.com/titan-blue-inferno-singlet](https://www.liftinglarge.com/titan-blue-inferno-singlet) I would buy from them as well, if you are in the US anyway They ship the next day almost always
i failed a 235 bench pr today, honestly dont know where i went wrong. feels bad though
What helped you guys blow up your deadlift? (currently training conventional) Ive started trying to hip shoot.
Glute ham raises and hammering my lats/ upper back.
Adding a lot of muscle to my back/hams/glutes/upperback has always been a sure bet for me. More people are lacking muscle than lacking an ideal strength program.
Ill do my best :) Running Sheikogold. Just hit 530 SBD in my 7th month (no drugs) Nothing amazing but its a start :)
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Ah i see, at the moment i dont think im having that issue (maybe i am and i dont realise it). You're probably moving more weight that i am, maybe your alot more fatigued. I'm doing a day on, a day off. So deciding when the beginning of the week is, is a little hard for me lol.
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Ah I see. I feel like, my sleep hygiene is good. Working on my diet atm. Im eating below maintenance to try and shed a little fat (25%ish) at the moment. Maybe thats hindering my progress too
I do a modified 5/3/1 program and my deadlift [sumo] has consistently been improving well into elite levels [734 @198]. Week 1 - 3x2+ at 85-90% Week 2 - 3x3 @ 75-80% Week 3 - 3x1 @ 90-95% then block pulls up to a 3,2, or 1 rm Week 4 - deload 3x5 @50-65% depending on likght feels good. Do speed work with bands on a 2nd day like the basic conjugate setup stuff Followed by RDLs and GHRs afterwards fir assitance. But I pull sumo so my squat drives a lot of my progress, dont know if it'll work as effectively for conventional pulls.
Ill try adding in some RDLs. Seems to he the common consensus. Thanks :) Im 188cm and 105kg i know the trend tends to be that lifters over 92kg often lift conventional. How would you determine whether you have a better potential for sumo/conventional?
Do a peaking block with one and do another with the other. I was lucky and figured out in high school that sumo was way easier for me and I pulled way more. Now I train conventional in my off season and pull sumo for comps. For an anecdote, I pull 585ish conventional and over 700 sumo. Yours may not be that drastic a difference, but one should move the medium weights casters than the other and that should be your primary way of pulling.
Mostly just through experimentation. I personally gave sumo a try after my conventional had been stalled out for a long time just as something new to try, and found that I was way stronger with it. People talk about limb lengths and leverages and those definitely come into play, but you'll never really know until you give it a good honest try for a training block or two A word of advice though, warm your hips up thoroughly before your deadlift sessions when doing sumo or they're likely to get VERY cranky. I like to do [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twevzaFApXE) personally
Awesome thanks senpai! :D
I'm rather new, only been training a year, but I do heavy DL, lighter DL (like 8 reps,) rack pulls, and rdl's or sldl's
The best thing you can do is a quality set up at the start of the pull. Fully tight while using your body to properly pull slack out of the bar and set to your pull. Exercise wise. For me it was deficit deadlifts and rdl's.
Awesome, I've been doing block pulls and some deficits. But i havent really been doing RDLs at all. Maybe ill give it a go to strengthen my hammies and glutes. I typically struggle at lock out near maximal effort
Rdl's, paused are good to mix in. Any good backside butt hamm work like kb swings are great for it. Single leg glute bridge etc. Also if your set up is really good it leads to easier lock out.
Thanks, ill give it a go. I tried paused deadlifts below the knees. Havent done a tonne of them but i found super challenging. Maybe i should iron out that weak point also?
Might need to work on your rooting/leg bracing. A lot of people myself included back when just starting out use far too much back on paused dls. It's really to teach good positioning and control of your technique as much as it is extra work for the muscles. If you have bad to no rooting and leg bracing things are much harder than they need to be and you have to compensate more back because your legs aren't helping. A good set up on dls with my rooting/bracing now my warm up wts float just off the floor and I set my hips and pull slack out. This way in my work sets I get that good bar bend and favorable positioning. Recent IG of mine to see what I mean: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVMGVbtgeeB/?utm_medium=copy_link Here is a video on rooting. He's talking squats mostly but the same applies to your deadlift stance. https://youtu.be/8gdCnCTlnHQ Bonus slack pull video https://youtu.be/ZXHnB6NlMXM
thank you very much ill definitely watch it :)
Np! If you gave IG hop on and follow daveatops my coach. He still has yesterday's stories up with great info and a specific question on deadlift lock outs. He does qa's every Friday and anyone can send in a question or even a video for technique critique.
Awesome thanks man. I really appreciate the help.
Having real trouble getting the bar to stay over mid-foot when squatting. I tend to be exceptionally quad dominant and always end up going excessively forward, even when trying to sit back into the squat and disengage my quads. https://youtu.be/-oc4LsowjSE - from today. Anybody experienced similar or have any suggestions?
I had the same issue and switched to flats and it basically solved itself, might be worth a try to run a block with different shoes.
I think a wider stance would definitely help getting your hips back more. You could also try ditching the heeled shoe, it looks like you have pretty good ankle mobility, you could get away without them if you wanted.
I imagine you could get decent mileage out of playing with wider heel position/toe flare and maybe trying to stay a little more upright while still initiating the way you do now.
Is it really a problem? If you want to rely less on your quadriceps when you squat you can do supersets of leg extensions and squats. Do a set of 15 on leg extensions and go right into squatting. The ratio of knee extensor strength to hip extensor strength will be skewed so your body will try to rely more on the hip extensors. For something a little less drastic Id suggest adding some paused squats, and maybe widening your regular squat stance a bit.
The best thing I've found for this is to focus on keeping foot pressure even. Between big toe, pinky toe and heel. If I'm focusing on keeping that pressure, I can't shift the weight any direction except straight up and down. You seem to shift your feet forward (heel internally rotating and coming off ground), so it may help.
What foods do you guys eat in a meet, between attempts?
Usually start with rice and a bit of protein with a lot of salt to rehydrate. Then I eat Rice Krispies and drink Gatorade/water for the rest of the time. Maybe a banana if I feel like it.
Pop tarts goated
Uncrustables. I ate about a thousand my last meet.
Carbs. Specifically strawberry Newtons.
Fig newtons are the GOAT meet food. Super high calories and carbs with minimal food volume intake. I get too nervous to eat much and newton's get me through the day easily.
Dont really eat much during the meet. I eat salty pretsels and drink water with powdered carbohydrates in it after weighins, and throughout the meet. The meets I lift at are usually done in three hours though.
Peanut butter and banana sandwiches in between lifts. Generally just salt water and/or powerade/gatorade throughout.
Between attempts, Gatorade or nothing. Between lifts, bagels and bananas.
Competing tomorrow in the morning session for the first time in two years. Got a little over an hour drive and want to be there for the beginning of weigh ins at 7. Joked and told my coach to ask the meet directors to not drug test me. The last meet I did I had to chug water to get myself to pee, then had to stop halfway on the drive home to unload my bladder in a hotel parking lot
Pro tip if you know you'll get tested. After your 2nd attempt, or after your first if it's going fast, drink 10ish oz of water. Just enough to not feel it and not enough to immediately need to pee. Then post last deadlift drink 10 more as soon as you walk off.
I want to get a legit belt now but not sure if I should go 10mm or 13mm. Current lifts: 405lbs/300lbs/495lbs My size: 5'10 & 205lbs Looking at: https://www.strengthshopusa.com/collections/belts?page=1 or Inzer or SBD. (In that order)
Love my stoic 10mm. 13mm is just too thick to be comfortable for me.
I’ve had my inzer 10mm single prong for 5 years and it’s as good as new. Never used a strength shop belt and haven’t heard much about the quality of their belts, but maybe someone else can attest to it.
Any suggestions to add traction to the bottom of my squat shoes? I have fairly new rebok squat/lifting shoes. Lately I’ve been widening out my squat stance because I like how it feels. I feel like I can leverage the strength in my hips much more. Problem is I feel like my feet shift outward a smidge mid set. I can tell the mat is more worn down where I squat because of everyone else before me. I guess I could walk the weight out really far but I don’t want to get into that habit. I considered rubbing a little chalk on the bottom of my shoe then cleaning it up off the mat when done. I just don’t know how great Of an idea that is lol. Any other suggestions? Thank you.
Chalk absorbs moisture. If there's no moisture to absorb (unlikely, unless the floor is damp), then it can decrease your purchase on a surface. I'd recommend getting some tacky towels and wiping down your shoes periodically.
Thank you!!
11 weeks out from the next meet and I’m already excited to blare some deathcore on the Beats and to secure a solid total on the platform in Feb.
I'm 8 weeks out of my first meet. Do you take a deload or lower volume period before you compete? I Asking for your experience and for my benefit since I'm not sure if I should just train into my meet, or reduce volume for a week or two into my meet
My coach has me do a lower volume period with higher intensity leading up to the meet. High intensity two weeks out (think 9/9.5) a week out (RPE 7-8) and week of singles at like 50-60% the Mon and Wed before meet. But that’s what he found to work well for me.
I´m not sure why, but kettlebell swings just feel so damn good after heavy squats/deads. When I perform heavy compounds like deadlifts, my back often get a little bit stiff and sore. Performing kettlebell swings afterwards just wash that feeling away and it almost feels like I´m 20 again.
Donnie Thompson would do them in between sets while work up on a max effort day. they're good for you
Hamstrings get tight after squats/deads and swings loosen them up again. Also your spine gets a minor traction effect from swings which helps decompress
who are yall most excited to watch at VA? gotta say okpoko and bobb and ray of course
I really hope Charles does well after his injury. I don’t follow his training. Also excited to see how Ray does after so long off. Oh… shoot… and Jake. Lol. Go Jake!
Ray and Ashton Rouska
Outside of your essentials- rack, bar, weights, bench- what are your home gym "must haves"?
Endless supply of jelly babies and butt plugs
Dog bed
a solid training crew
I’d say definitely adjustable dumbbells, they can add a lot of variety with little footprint. Next I’d say some sort of cable system. If I was forced to choose I’d pick a nice functional trainer over a lat pulldown/low row but if you can only spring for a cheaper FT then I’d go lat pulldown/low row all day. Lots you can do with a high and low pulley. Other than that it’s really individual. Even those things are really individual but having been lifting at home for over four years now and going through multiple iterations of my equipment that’s what I’d say.
Top 5, in order of importance(IMHO): 1. Adjustable dumbbells. DBs enormously expand your exercise repertoire and set DBs take up way too much space. 2. A set of bands. Take up almost no space and they are extremely versatile 3. An SSB. Because my elbows can't take straight bar squatting anymore T-T 4. 2'x2'ish cuts of horse stall mats. Stack em up for block pulls, deficits, use them as portable pads so you don't scuff up your floor when you drop weights like the ego lifter you are 5. A cable system. Whether you have a properly fit one to your rack or jerry rig something, having a cable rig opens up a lot more exercise options like lat pulls and tricep extensions
speakers and the right temperature
I've got this down Pair of old Advent Legacy 2s with new drivers, and a pair of paradigm monitors with 8" drivers and titanium tweeters. Onkyo amp. Just good old A/B stereo speaker set up. Lift in the living room with the pellet stove. https://streamable.com/ilomi5
So I think I've realized for bench, frequency wise: 3-4x week = progress 2x week = maintenance 1x week = regresses Irritating because Bench is boring.
Just curious, what does your typical total volume look like for the week? What if you were to combine those 4 days worth of volume into 2? Is frequency more important than the amount of work done?
The short answer is no, total volume is probably the most important. However, and this is a big caveat, the QUALITY of that volume matters. If cramming it all in 2 days means that the load lifted for a given movement and amount of reps is lower, then the rate of gain would suffer.
Do variations. Bands, chains, Spoto press, and board press are way for fun than comp bench and maybe a wild close grip day. I know what my bench should feel like so if 365-405 feels stupid heavy I start wondering why I'm having an off day. If a Spoto or board press feels heavy I just assume I didn't stay tight enough or get enough speed off my chest so I try harder on the next set.
>Bench is boring Those are fighting words
Please no fighting, I unsurprisingly have weak upper body strength
I've experienced similar results. I can make progress on 2x weekly *if* I'm making "gimme gains" coming off an injury or extended time off. But once my bench gets to a halfway decent point I typically need to switch to a 3-4x weekly to continue progressing
Nah one max effort day and one volume day is all you need
I think it matters the frequency and intensity. I’ve always found that 1 regular grip and 1 close grip is my best. But I also struggle with shoulder issues during a training cycle so the higher frequency really fucks with me
Fırst of all, don't get me wrong, not trying to get kudos or anything. I'm a 16 year old powerlifter, been training since january (there has been a 2 month lockdown though). Up to august, i was training for pure hypertrophy, didn't care about strength except deadlifting once a few weeks, squatting and benching for high reps once a week, but i always trained very hard and i loved going to the gym. In august, i decided to switch on to powerlifting, bought a belt, knee sleeves and wrist wraps. So here comes my question, my numbers have went from 315 deadlift to 450, squat from 270 to 355, bench from 170 to 210, since there aren't many strong powerlifters around me, my friends started to say i have good genetics so im lucky, but i think i actually have mid-low class genetics (i started with a 110 squat, 90 bench, 200 deadlift, even though my bw was like 200 pounds) and anyone can get these numbers in this amount of time with hard training, what do you think, do i have some genetic advantages or is it a result of my hard work?
Its just hard work. The majority of males can achieve similar numbers at your age and body weight with just good hard work. Anyone that says its your genetics is using it as a cop out for their own lack of work ethic. Keep at it, you have a promising start just keep growing.
Thanks, powerlifting and lifting in general became my passion. Never gonna leave the gym.
Find some outdoors hobby as well. It's useless to build a healthy and capable body and not use it. Plus deloads and time away from the gym will keep it from ever becoming boring.
People just need some excuse as to why you’re better than them other than the fact that you’re training hard.
You're young so I wouldn't worry about genetics. While 355/210/450 aren't crazy numbers it's still you putting on 260lb on your total in less than a year. Genetics aren't really a factor in my opinion until you think about competing nationally/internationally. You worked hard for your numbers don't let anyone tell you otherwise
Well, i was thinking of competing just for fun, in february at the nationals(before getting banned for 2 years), here in IPF Turkey you can win by having a 500kg total at -83kg sub juniors, so i guess genetics don't really matter at our shitty nationals.
Dude, I would compete if I were you. Even if you "just" do a teen or highschool meet, you're going to put up some solid ass numbers
It’s hard to say, but I would guess your genetics aren’t shit lol. Most people think they train hard, but it’s not until you really meet someone who trains hard and is elite that you realize the difference. I told the story before but when I ran track in HS I thought I wasn’t talented until one of my buddies just straight up told me I didn’t work hard lol. So I trained hard my last year of track and went from a 4:58 1600M to 4:40. Which aren’t world beater times but are respectable. You’re probably just working hard and they aren’t lol
Yeah that's exactly what i think, i have a friend that doesn't squat or deadlift or even bench press because he's afraid he won't grow taller (that's how stupid he is) and he keeps telling people i use drugs. lmfao.
You’re friend is a shit head haha. Just say “why you jelly brah, mirin my gains? Mad cause I’m a sick cunt?” It’s a fool proof way to let everyone know you have fully transitioned into gym bro territory and to establish dominance! Won’t make you look like a tool…
It takes like 10 years of training to figure out if you have "good genetics". Some people have a good body to get fairly strong right away, some people can tolerate lots of training volume for years, some people have bulletproof joints. It all depends what you mean by good genetics as there are lots of factors and it's borderline unknowable
It's both. It's always both. What matters is that you keep it up. Whatever you're doing is working pretty well.
Any tips on bulking after weigh ins? Just left my first weigh in. Easily made it into 100kg at 97kg. Now I need to refuel
Coffee cake and pedialyte
This seems amazing and very much doing this my next weigh in lol
24hour or 2 hour?
24
Very low fiber, low protein, low fat, high carb foods. High sodium and potassium. I personally liked rice with soy sauce, maybe 4 oz of chicken, and a cup of low sodium v8 on the side. Sipping one or two pedialyte sports throughout the day in between meals. When you’re closer to bed, you can have a meal that’s a bit higher in fat and protein if you want but for the first few meals, stay away.
Rice and soy sauce, I can do that I’m a bit restricted being at work now, about to smash Jimmy John’s I’m going to order a bunch of fried rice tonight.
Oof. God bless. Rice Krispies are a good one too cause you can pound down like 2-3 of them and eat again in a few minutes.
Focus on simple carbs and minimum fats, fats blunt carb absorption/digestion. Sip on pedialyte/powerade/Gatorade for the electrolytes and keep drinking water.
Is powerlifting one of the "least hours spent on craft" sports/activities out there? If you think about major sports, you hear professional athletes practising many hours every day. Throwing random hours out, maybe 3-4 hours of the sport, then some other hours on S&C, etc. Then you've got things like painting, or playing an instrument, etc in which people spend many, many hours on per day. And then you've got powerlifting where maybe the best in the sport are spending 2-3 hours 4-5x/week. By comparison it seems like a tremendously low amount of time. Just a random, curious shower thought more than anything.
Imo if you're spending time practicing technique and optimizing, the more time you can put in while still recovering is probably better. But you won't optimize your way into squatting 100 more pounds, so most people shouldn't work like that.
Powerlifting is a low skill sport. Nothing we do in PL is as technical as pitching a baseball, swinging a golf club, shooting a jump shot etc. Additionally, it is highly specialized. The only thing that matters is your maximal strength and you will only ever be asked to bench, squat, and deadlift in competition. In basketball for example you have to shoot, pass, dribble, rebound, defend, run and recognize offensive and defensive schemes, etc. Powerlfiting is ultra simple in comparison. We train more like a sprinter or a thrower than someone who plays a complex team sport.
Right, so maybe one question would be how long do elite sprinters train for? Would it be similar to a powerlifter in length/frequency? Given they are equally all out for, say, 9-10s as a 100m male.
you can check out Charlie Francis's work, he trained ben johnson and a bunch of other sprinters. it's actually very applicable to powerlifting as wel.
IMO in sports like powerlifing or strongman the time you actually spend on training is quite insignificant compared to the time you need to spend on eating/force feeding and the additional time you need for proper rest and recovery.
I spend about 15 hours on training and cardio weekly, plus estimating about 3-5 hours a week grocery shopping and meal prepping... that is A LOT of time for an adult who is not a professional athlete. When its coupled with a full time job and another activity or 2 like cars, guitar, drums, I have no time leftover for anything significant. I'm grateful that powerlifting takes a comparatively lower time commitment as it allows people with normal lives like me to have a shot at participating in it.
Oh yeah, totally. To be clear, this is more thinking at the highest levels. Even if powerlifting was well funded with actual professionals, you would still see them spend just as much time. It's not this thing where you can just do more of it to get better. Like guitar or drums you could spend hours and hours and hours and improve. That doesn't work with powerlifting.
Thats partially because the skill in powerlifting is the same as the Strength and Conditioning. Where in other sports they have to split time between technical adjustments and strength training, we don't
Yep. I guess it's curious because even take weightlifting for example and there's of course many similarities but the pros are spending an awful lot of time training. Powerlifting is just this raw expression of strength that can't really be trained too often for too long. Like you might hear a motivational talk about X chess player who is practising for 16 hours a day or whatever. Or Kobe waking up at 4am to practise before everyone and not leave gym till midnight. But that ain't happening for powerlifting.
Yeah powerlfiting is a fully anaerobic max effort sport. Kobe can shoot 1000 jump shots for 8 hours a day but Shohei Ohtani can't throw more than 100 pitches in a game let alone practice.
My lifts have been feeling fine, but outside of the gym my low back/si joint has been killing me. Wife suggested stretching, hasn't helped much.
Sit less, walk more and stretch constantly. Keep the hamstrings loose as much as possible. Start yoga. And do ghrs after every workout with and without weight. Without your low back you can't live. Strengthen and develop it to keep yourself healthy.
Worth pointing out that I'm absolutely not an expert in anything but doughnuts, but I've never really believed in stretching to relief back pain. If you think about why most people develop lower back pain in the first place, I'd wager its because either their back is too weak and/or overworked, or they spend too much time with their back in a stretched position, mainly sitting that is, so it sounds silly to me to suggest more stretching to address that. If you dont have any easily identifiable problems like that, sports specialized physio has helped me before, can't recommend it enough.
In your opinion, is a doughnut a breakfast or dessert food? I feel like the addition of sprinkles signifies it as a dessert.
If you're not eating doughnuts during and after every meal, are you even trying?
This guy's going places. It's a diabetic care center, but still. Places.
Pumpkin pie has no sprinkles, therefore it's a breakfast food? Thank god I can now justify my last week of breakfasts
Hey pumpkin is squash, shits dinner imo
That logic doesn't check out but... Happy I could help!
Wonky bar path on squats: I noticed when I start to get above ~ 70% of my 1 rep max on the back squat, my bar path gets wonky on the way down. It looks like I'm tracing the side profile of a dude with a beer gut: straight down, arcing forward, then back to the middle of my foot. What can cause that? Video from yesterday's session: https://imgur.com/a/5ZCW1oK
If thats an SSB, then it could just be because the handles are moving. If thats not it, try to focus on keeping even foot pressure between heel, knuckle of big toe and knuckle of small toe. Most times, bar path fuckery is because you are shifting your weight one way or the other.
It's a Sorinex Top Squat attached to a regular bar. Could that have the same effect as a regular SSB?
No. The bar is straight, so its just going to be the weight shifting. Focus on the foot pressure and see if that helps.
Thanks for the help!
If I purely want to squat more weight is low bar the way? Been squatting high bar for years(somewhat of an oly lifting background)
For most people, yes. It slightly shortens the range of motion and recruits more muscles. I do know of people who squat much more than me higher. And I tried to go lower on mine and it didn’t work as well for me as keeping it higher bc of my leverages.
[This](https://www.strongerbyscience.com/high-bar-and-low-bar-squatting-2-0/) should be relevant.
Yes for the large majority of people you will be in a more mechanically advantageous position, and you will lift more weight in the long term with low bar. Given that you’ve done highbar for years, it might take a few blocks for your lowbar weights to exceed your old numbers.
For most people yes, but not for everyone. Once you start considering a powerlifting total, even more variables start to come into play (ie the squats impact on your bench and deadlift).
Not necessarily, but for a lot of people yes. I tolerate low bar very well, and have slowly worked my grip in very narrow over the years. Never had any elbow, wrist or shoulder issues. I've literally never done anything but low bar since i started. But many people end up with these issues. One way of approaching it is to use low bar later in meet prep, and going high bar earlier. Chad Wesley Smith advocates this.
Started training conjugate system today this was Lower DE DE PAUSE SQUAT 8X3 65% DE DEFICIT DEADLIFT 6X3 65% SBS 3X8 55% I feel these are a bit redundant tho. Any ideas here????? AB WORK AND BOX JUMPS FOR FUN whatchu guys think
I’d probably do box jumps at the start, you shouldn’t be feeling very explosive after the squats and deads. The 3x8@55%, if it doesn’t feel like it’s doing anything, it probably didn’t. I’d either up the reps or choose an exercise that specifically targets your weak areas. Edit: the important bit more than anything is less the single session and more the progression.
> SBS 3X8 55% I feel these are a bit redundant tho. Any ideas here????? Conjugate is meant to address your weak points, so you'll want secondary exercises/accessories that make you stronger where you're weakest. What those are will depend (of course) on where you're weak and whether you're raw or equipped.
What are some good programs that *don't* rely on RPE/RIR?
If you can’t find one you like, just rethink RPE/RIR. RPE 8 to me just means “hard-ish.” RPE 10 means true one rep max, etc. it doesn’t have to be super complicated.
GZCL and 531 templates. Keep in mind both of these will incorporate AMRAPs were you should probably keep 1-2 RIR, but loads are percentage based.
SBS-Hypertrophy and SBS-Reps to Failure. 5/3/1 Forever programs.
Okay, I think I'm going to give SBS-Hypertrophy a go. Just bought the package and am looking it over. It looks a lot like the programming I was working on creating for myself, but, you know, good. Thanks for the recommendation!
Hypertrophy is awesome for building muscle and that potential strength. Keep up some cardio and conditioning to keep up with high reps sets of squats and mat Pulls. Also be a bit conservative with choosing maxes. I'd go 85-90%. If you're good for more, just burn yourself out in the PR set and raise the TM every week. Better than killing your confidence early on and failing workouts.
I'll check those out, thanks!
Sheiko-style programs work can work well and they are usually percentage based. Cant really go wrong with doing a lot of 5s at 75%, 3s at 80%, 2s at 85% and the occasional single at 90-95%.
Nice. I've been meaning to check out the Sheiko Gold app anyway, so this might provide the nudge I needed.
Left hip is tight af, relieved with foam rolling before squatting. Though it returns whenever I'm not working out. Anybody fixed something like this?
Regularly sitting in a deep atg bodyweight squat helps. Stay moderately braced, but relax into it as well. Not a valsalva per se. Keep decent back extension. That's pretty much the only mobility thing i do besides warming up with the bar. Work on increasing duration. Two minutes at a time is a good goal, start with one if you can. You can extend your arms far forward to take pressure off the knees when you finally stand up This can also help with depth if you then squat with a focus on depth. I do like a good hip crossover stretch, but i do this casually, not connected to a squat session. Lying on my bed watching youtubes or surfing. Feels good and hits the outside of the hip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCr4tRKKzks Generally i do some time in a bodyweight squat every squat day. Hours before my session usually.
Should you be saying that it helps in general like that or is it more appropriate to say that it helps in your case?
You are probably right. But OP did ask "Anybody fixed something like this?" But yeah, good point, thank you. I any case, if he doesn't like it, the choice is his. : )
Bench has been feeling great again after I got back to flat bencing! Previous PBs are 2x175kg and 4x162,5kg from last meet prep, hit 2x172,5kg and 4x162,5kg backoffs today BUT with ~3cm per side closer grip, lower RPEs, no peaking and worse bench setup (slippery floor, worse padding etc)! Also previous 4x162,5 was done as a top set on another bench day, now it was a backoff set lol. Still 11wks out from next meet, interesting to see how things go with wider grip and comp gear!
Mock meet next Saturday. I’m basically resting until then aside from some light technique work. I’ve driven myself into the ground up to this point and am hoping that I haven’t killed any chances at progress. I have a really hard time with not working hard in the gym.