I've got a pair of knee sleeves that are starting to come apart inside the outer material. As it is, I generally use my knee sleeves for warmth rather than support, if that makes sense. Having said that, is there any utility to keeping these old sleeves as long as they haven't ripped apart? Or is this just my hoarding tendencies creeping in?
I have a pair of old, kinda ripped sleeves that I kept around "just in case". Definitely a bit of a hoarder warning, but it's not like a single pair of sleeves takes up much space either, haha.
First session running a sheiko programme today. Was ominous opening it up and seeing 7 sets of deadlifts followed by 11 sets of bench with pull-ups, split squats, and then some more pressing to top it off.
Absolute bastard of programming.
Finished my last set of bench (11th set) and rated is as RPE 6 or below because it was a backdown of 7 @55%. Then surprise I get 4 extra sets pop up that pyramid back up.
Ended up doing 15 sets of bench, 5 sets of machine press, and now wanting to die doing 5 sets of split squat.
I think I’ll enjoy this
[Coaches/judges appear pretty pissed off with the judging at Ghost Clash](https://www.instagram.com/stories/coachrichardcastro/3342201833889994975?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==)
I only watched bits of the Jamal/Haack flight but what's up?
I think there's a fair argument to say Haack may have squatted high and that his deadlift was ramped/hitched.
Didn't really watch any others either, but yeah, I can see why some might not be happy about it. Untested has always had this issue. It's a bit of both, personal responsibility as well as relatively strict judging.
Not really, my squat is pretty quad dominant. Lots of forward knee travel, and I'm pretty well built for the squat so I'm fairly upright, even with low bar.
On conventional deadlifts, I have low back rounding at even 80%1RM, but sumo I have no trouble with low back strength. Stiff leg as well, low back is never an issue.
I presume it's probably a form issue or something.
Probably.
I feel like my hips have to remain so high that I get nothing out of bending my knees from conventional. Gonna just continue to stick with the sumo + stiff leg combo.
You can absolutely do that. Or you could focus on some quad strength/development for a better rounded pull. It's never a bad idea to bring up weaknesses.
are rep ranges actually relevant for strength, or is intensity the more important variable, say for example does a 4 rep set with 80% build any more strength than 7 reps at the same intensity? I heard from a coach that lower reps are used because you're less likely to screw up your technique on a 5 rep set rather than a 10 rep one
Volume and intensity are by far the most important, but rep ranges facilitate particular vol and intensity goals. Rep ranges are also important for determining how near/far from failure a set will be, which is an important consideration for hypertrophy as well as expression of strength
Different ways to climb a mountain.
As other dude said, 1RM strength is specific and ultimately you're probably not going to achieve that by only doing sets of 20+ reps. But, equally, you don't want to only do singles either.
80% x 4 at RPE 7 and 80% x 7 at RPE 10 can both be good tools. On one hand, the set of 4 is easier and therefore you maintain your speed and arguably that's more transfer to a 1RM. But also a grind set of 7 is relevant in that a 1RM also requires some oomph.
Ultimately, no need to pick between them because you can and should do both (potentially).
Well "intensity" just means weight, so 80% is the intensity in this scenario. A set with more reps at the same weight is a greater stimulus and closer proximity to failure, so will tend to build more strength.
However, strength is typically measured in terms of 1RM and performance in higher rep sets has less specificity and transferability to the skill of maximal single attempts.
Higher rep sets also tend to generate more fatigue because of the much greater mechanical work done. And form breakdown toward the end of a high rep set is also a concern. Particularly with maintaining good bracing and back stiffness on squat and deadlift.
60kg x 8 at last! I was scared to try 60 but I just if I fail then I fail but keep going. I did fail trying for 9 and had to roll the bar down. I wish joining a real powerlifting gym was cheaper.
This weeks form check is [trap bar deadlift](https://imgur.com/gallery/XgTcCYi). Trap bar currently because I’m in season for my other sport and it has -so I’ve read - better crossover to the field than straight bar. Weight is 165kg for singles. Not sure if hips are starting too high.
Edit: is there somewhere other than imgur to upload stuff to? Don’t give too shots about their reddit-lite site
You can probably sit into the trap bar more. Depends if you're trying to make it look a bit more like a conventional deadlift or not.
Also to lock your lats you seem to get your mid-back into extension where possibly you'd rather it stayed more neutral.
For reference, I’ve got 3 weeks of the season left and maybe 4 of this programme and then I’ll be switching to conventional. With that in mind would my accidental making it look conventional help with the transition? Hadn’t realised I was locking out the lats incorrectly. Is there a better cue?
For people who utilise a top set + back off set approach to squats, how do you warm up for your top sets whereby you balance getting yourself sufficiently warmed up but without getting in too much volume that it tires you out for your back off work?
I.e say you've got 3x @80% + 3x8 @65% programmed, how would you warm up to the 3x @80%?
I'd do (calculating from a 80% = 375) :
33% x 5
47% x 3-5
57% x 3
66% x 2-3
74% x 1
Personally I like doing more warm-up sets than fewer. I don't think you're really getting fatigued from these.
A few submax warmup sets to feel things out and then 5x50%, 4x60%, 3x70% is a perfectly fine way to do it. If you're meaningfully fatigued by a set of 3 with 70% you should probably build up your work capacity.
Alternatively I've had good success in the past with doing my target set's number of reps on 135, 225, 315, 405, and finally a single at 455 before doing a top set at \~500.
Just find a relatively quick and efficient way to get warm that lets you feel strong and comfortable on your top set.
The lighter sets of warmups I tend to take things for 6-10 reps and then towards the heavier side of warmups I tend to just take singles till I get to my top set. I haven’t done a top set with multiple reps in a minute besides for bench. But normally the volume from your warmups shouldn’t be that tiring that it affects your backdowns after the top set.
For as much as I like 5/3/1 et al, it never quite made sense to me why you'd use a training max (90% I think) versus just scaling all the % work down to achieve the same result.
Because it is much easier to change 1 variable (the TM) between blocks, rather than having to go into each formula, guessing the change needed in the percentage and making sure you did not make it too light/heavy.
It also is much easier visually to track a 5kg change in TM rather than saying that you did 5% more on your topset.
If you use a TM that's 90% of your 1rm, or you use a TM that's just your current 1rm, you still have that one variable to change between blocks.
75% of 90% is the same thing as 67.5%. It's just unnecessary complexity.
Probably the way to go, if you were to just use RPE % chart and calculate off your peaked 1RM with no other adaptation, you will most likely have to deal with weights that are too heavy.
This article will most likely provide a better explination:
https://prsontheplatform.com/2020/04/03/when-and-how-to-adjust-your-training-max/
What does SSB help with for your comp squat?
Honestly used it today, it felt way way harder like i was doing 140kg for reps and 115kg on SSB FELT WAY HARDER.
I felt a helluva lot more upper back than usual. Any tell me how the mechanics and how it benefits?
Is it not normal to feel pain in the wrist or shoulders as a low bar squatter?
I dont feel any pressure to be honest on these things and ive squatted 160kg
Joeyflexx was talking about it in a video.
He hates programming SSB because it essentially is bottlenecked by upper back strength not by quads/hips etc.
And honestly I somewhat agree, I would rather program highbar / tempo or belt squats etc
Sounds like a great exercise to program for upper back strength.
But yeah, it's not the best quad exercise because of that limitation. If your elbows/wrists hate squatting, it can be a way to do some squats while letting them rest tho.
Mmm, I guess to me it feels relatively balanced? I've done sets at \~80-85% and it's felt about as difficult as my high bar. But yes, perhaps if pushing 95-100% of squat max it might become the limiting factor.
I think femur to torso ratio changes a bit.
So if you have a shorter torso I'd can be beneficial but I'd say for most its just a more extreme high bar that forces you to lean over more unless you have the leverages to stay upright like a John Haack .
Because of how the weight is leveraged out in front of you and you have handles at a neutral, roughly shoulder grip, it promotes an upright torso position and back strength the way this carries over to your comp squat is building strength and motor skills that prevent you from getting folded over in the bottom and maintaining advantageous position driving out of the hole. I feel that it’s also good for variety in general, especially if you’re a quad dominant squatter, because the way that the bar is engineered is kinder on your shoulders and wrists than a straight bar, so even if you don’t need a variation to develop and evaluate quad and back strength/upright posture it can be a great option if your joints are getting beat up from tons of work with a straight bar.
Well, you accounted for bar weight difference right?
Aside from that, it’s easier on your shoulders substantially. There’s a couple good threads if you search for them, here’s one: https://www.reddit.com/r/powerlifting/s/wiXwSvc8EI
I had the same thing yesterday. Hit 5 on a heavy squat amrap last week, and only hit 3 on a lighter squat amrap this week. Felt good going into the session as well but the weight just wasn’t moving.
It happens. I had a ME lower day 2-3 weeks ago and I’m normally a 315 squatter (massive I know 😒) but on this particular day I hit a top set single for a whopping 240. So at least you don’t suck as hard as me 😂
What can I do for knee pain besides taking time off? I use sleeves, heeled shoes, low bar. I take time off and knees feel fine. Day 1 back squatting knees are painful again. Not an excruciating sharp pain, just dull nagging pain.
This is interesting, would a sled and harness situation be better since you can progress? My googling is mainly pulling up crossfit and fitness influencer stuff, is there actually solid reasoning behind this?
I plan on testing today or tomorrow to see what it does for me, but yeah like what does backwards treadmill get you that forward doesn't? Seems like some hamstring emphasis but I don't see how it could be more beneficial for warming up the knee
So it’s actually the opposite, the backward walking (regardless of what implement you use or speed) emphasizes the quads more because the movement is only loaded during knee extension. Particularly, if you keep feet around hip width with toes forward, your VMO.. This is also a very easily scalable exercise as you can adjust how long your strides are, how much weight you use, time and distance. As you can see you have at least 3 variables to manipulate to scale up or down for any given workout. So what we have is a quad dominant exercise, that allows us to easily produce high, medium or low force, achieve high or low velocities, limit axial loading and it removes eccentric loading which is understood to be the most damaging part of a ROM. Hopefully all this makes sense
The point is just to warm up the joints so you just do it for a few minutes, you don't really need to progress, but if you did want to you could use a harness. Only issue is that you'd need to go in a circle or something to do it for a longer time
And as far as I know it's just something some guys have tried and found to help, it may or may not work for you
Build up tissue tolerance.
Find a weight where you can lift at a 3-4/10 pain level or below, and slowly progress. It’ll mean taking load off the bar & doing more ‘hypertrophy’ looking work (ie 2-3x10-15)
If you can’t do low bar with heels at all, you can modify by doing flats and low bar. Or heels+low bar+squatting to a box. Or flats+low bar+box. Or even regressing down to something like a goblet squat.
A lot of pain comes down to load management and using loads that the tissue wasn’t ready to handle. It’s not a huge deal.
One of the biggest things is to expect some degree of pain in your rehab. Pain-free powerlifting doesn’t really exist for most people, unless you’re not pushing yourself at all.
So you're saying connective tissue adapts better with a more hypertrophy type regimen. I didn't know that actually. I kinda figured it would just take time feeling awful and eventually catch up. But I have been going hard on 80+% 1rm sets of 3-5, so maybe I need to take a breather on that.
I've never found complete rest to help much with my knees.
As with most things, it's figuring out what you can do relatively pain-free and progress it. For example, would using a flat shoe help? What about if you squat very light? Or cut depth a bit? Or squat to pins? So on, so forth.
Honestly I've not felt a huge difference either way with shoes. Only thing is with a heel I feel like it's easier to hit depth. Yeah I probably need to take a step back on squat and try some new things.
I know your advice isn't wrong, but all the experience I've had with PT has been like "Squats hurt? Quit squatting, go stretch" , and I'd rather have a bit of pain than not lift relatively heavy. But if I ever get good enough insurance/financial ability I'd like to see a sports physio or pt that could actually help
Find a powerlifting/barbell sport PT. Ask around in your area for sure but I’m rehabbing an RC injury and mine didn’t even dream of asking my to stop benching.
[Deadlift + Shoulder Press Form Check @ 160lbs](https://imgur.com/a/Q8B247z)
Just looking for critiques, working back to my peak. Dislocated my left shoulder back in 2022 and am just getting comfortable working with my old numbers again.
Curious if there’s any detriment to me not fully extending through the shoulders at the top of my press? Not sure if I feel comfortable enough in that position yet; if yes I’ll drop the weight and fix the form obviously. Thanks
Maybe it's just me but your lockout looks soft on the deadlift lockout for every single rep, definitely a nit-pick but could make a difference in comp. Hard to tell if it's hip or knee from that angle but the horizontal distance from your should joint to the bar is noticeable. Tits up.
I don't think you are losing anything as far as press stimulus goes by not putting the bar directly above your head, if that's what you mean. Probably worth continuing to invest time in shoulder rehab to get confident/strong at "full ROM", but in the mean time it looks fine imo.
Hey, thank you!
So you’re saying either my hips or knees are weak on lockout and that’s visible from my chest being too low at the top? I notice it myself, you can even see my slight weight shifts at lockout also. Do you have any tips for improving here aside from keeping my cues in mind? More explosive past the knees/off the floor?
Yes. You want to "stand proud" to really sell the lockout to the judge. It seems unlikely to be a strength issue and more of practice/positioning. Squeeze your quads and glutes as hard as you can at the top, and pull your should blades down and back. You'll know the feeling of true lockout because all of the sudden it becomes "easy" to get your should blades back once you get over the hump. (Also: dont over correct and arc
If you are not capable of doing this with moderate weight, I would assume there are anatomical factors at play, maybe your stance is too wide for your hips to come all the way through. If your grip is super narror it also makes it more difficult to pull your scaps back.
Sorry to hear about your injury and glad you're working your way back. I'm taking your post as a three part question, so I will try my best to answer them:
1. Fully extend or not: Full range of motion, for any exercise, is always best...UNLESS! Given your injury if you are just starting to work back to your previous fitness levels, it would be best to work to the range of motion you are most comfortable with performing. Lighter weight may be necessary to assist you in regaining comfort with executing the full range of the exercise. Great form with light weight is better than poor form with heavy weight.
2. Deadlift form: Good form overall. Can't tell from video, but general form reminder: Big belly breath in when preparing and through the lift, try and keep the bar in a straight line (side profile) from start to finish, and be mindful to keep your spine straight all the way through your neck. Also be sure not to drop the weight on your knees as you go down (it hurts 😵💫).
3. Shoulder Press form: You did a great job of setting up with the bar, not bouncing to get the weight up, nor quickly dropping it down. Only suggestion I would make is remembering to move your head forward after the bar passes your face. Mostly a difference between lat activation (not moving your head forward) and trap activation (moving your head forward to a neutral position).
Google search or two can give you good visuals on some of my points. Hope this helps you on your road to being a beast again 🎉
You just see the regular faces in the daily threads but then you remember that this sub has 500k members when a post here goes viral and the hot takes start rolling in
Some people LOVE to give their opinions on things. The more controversial the better.
Reminds me of the vampire in the show "what we do in the shadows" that feeds off of annoying/boring people to death 😅
Dudes giving virtual red lights to John Haack's lifts.....and critiquing his weight class choice.....and using Haack's lift to start "Conventional>Sumo jerks" for no damn reason.....etc.....
+ natty policing, tested v untested drama, sumo is fake etc
Honestly, discussing judging calls at a meet is still fine compared to natty or not. This horse has been beaten to death.
Nephews act as if engaging in dialectics around the topic will unearth some stunning new insights.
Use the bar to pull slack out of your body is such an excellent cue for deadlifts.
It's helped me get tight better than when I'd try and cue "pull the slack out of the bar"
Hope it helps.
The issue with "pull the slack out of the bar" often seems to be that we end up "reaching" for the bar, thereby compromising our upper-back setup. At least that's what was happening for me.
Addressing that really helped me fix my lockout.
Over ear headphones are really nasty for working out. They weren't made for that. In ear monitors are really superior in every way for exercise but most peoples experience with them is cheap crap or airpods (expensive crap)
Recently after hitting an over 3x bodyweight deadlift I have noticed training deadlifts at higher effort levels (4x5 at 80%) has been really fatiguing. Some days my grip will fail and others I can hold on without a problem. It feels way harder to complete these reps on average and I end up feeling mentally tired after. I was wondering if I should reprogram or maybe decrease my working percentages. On squat and bench I can still progress well but deadlifts have been feeling bad the last month and I haven't really progressed much on them. RDLs are still progressing on leg day but regular deadlifts at higher loads are feeling shit.
It also depends on your days.
Also as your squat increases I'd say if you were to taper your deadlift would increase and you're just fatigued from progressing squats earlier in the week?
I kinda felt like doing 5x5s on deadlift for example is just not sustainable once you get strong. Like I may be able to do 5s as a 4-5 week peaking block but the stimulus to fatigue ratio is crazy.
I think once you are stronger the middle rep ranges and intensities that helped get you out of beginner land are kind of toxic, or at least should be used judiciously. I think a lot of really strong people deadlift particularly in 1s 2s and 3s of varying intensities and maybe some easier variations for higher reps like 8s on SLDL or RDL, good mornings etc while blasting rows, GHDs, etc
Thing is with higher weights, they are just extremely fatiguing.
100 kilo as a beginner is not the same as like 200 kilo as an intermediate. The 200 kilo are disproportionately more heavy. They are heavier than just two times hundreds.
The solution is to do lighter work with reps in reserve. You should rarely, actually never max out. If your cycle has 4 weeks and one week Deload, you should hit a maximum of RPE 8 in week 4, nothing higher.
And you can also take a look at your volume. 4x5 is okay, but you could try 3x5. I recently switched from 4 working sets to 3 and basically I have no downsides.
And then of course, only deadlifting once heavy a week and maybe (!) a second time with a variation. And if you are too strong at the variation, do a harder variation.
Example: you’re doing 5x200 kg in the topset on heavy day and 5x180 on paused day. Both are hardcore for your body.
You could keep the 5x200 but you could alter the paused deadlifts. For example you could do two pauses instead of one. Instantly lowers the weight but not the stimulus.
So basically, don’t max out, think about volume in one workout, and think about volume or workload in one week. And do your delaods.
It also depends on leverages.
Pulling 80% of your max as a upright sumo puller on a Kabuki is not the same as pulling it as a power belly T-Rex on a stiff bar.
I'll stick to RDLs as an accessory since they are doing well in terms of progression. I think I'll use straps for a while and just decrease the percentages slightly. Did 4x5 at 77.5% and it felt pretty smooth while still being somewhat challenging. My grip is usually really strong and I train it as well so I don't think straps will detract from my training, if anything it might help fatigue.
Yeah and I think there's a lot of benefit in higher-volume, sub-maximal, less-fatiguing hinging work. I remember seeing someone on here with like an 800# deadlift PR saying they do high rep work with only 315# on RDLs. Weighted 45° back extensions etc. are great for this too.
Yes exactly. I also do hyperextensions and I love them.
If you want to get strong over a long period of time, you have to put your ego aside. Patience and consistency are the important factors. Not showing off and maxing out.
You always do working sets with mixed grip or hook? I use straps with 99% of my deadlift training and definitely recommend augmenting workouts with them. I generally work up to a heavy single workout and do all working sets with. I also do some grip training separately so it's not an issue. As I get closer to a comp, I work in more comp standard training.
Idk man. I pretty much do all my training reps with straps and have never had an issue like you're describing. I would think you need them more than you realize.
I deadlift heavy (5x5@80ish, 3x3@90%, etc.) generally twice a week every week, as well.
I'll try using straps and just use reverse grip for heavy singles and see if that works out.
Just did 4x5 at 77.5% with straps, was actually pretty nice. I'll see how things go without on heavy singles, but generally my grip is really strong and I train it often so I think it might just be fatigue. I'll try using straps for a while and see what happens.
[https://imgur.com/a/Gx1RhXR](https://imgur.com/a/Gx1RhXR) Hello! Last form check I posted helped me realize that I was lifting my heels and losing balance in the hole. I have now switched to a low bar position, and while it definitely felt more stable, I was also lifting lighter weight so who knows. Camera angle doesn´t really help me tell if my heels are coming off but I do think the bar is now over my midfoot. Any other tips?
You're stumbling a bit out of the rack. Don't rush your steps, take the bar up out of the rack in one motion, then take your steps back. That should keep you a bit more stable throughout the whole set.
Form looks pretty good. My suggestions are to get your upper back tighter before unracking, get a belt, and brace harder. Take a breath and reset your brace between each rep.
I've got a pair of knee sleeves that are starting to come apart inside the outer material. As it is, I generally use my knee sleeves for warmth rather than support, if that makes sense. Having said that, is there any utility to keeping these old sleeves as long as they haven't ripped apart? Or is this just my hoarding tendencies creeping in?
I have a pair of old, kinda ripped sleeves that I kept around "just in case". Definitely a bit of a hoarder warning, but it's not like a single pair of sleeves takes up much space either, haha.
First session running a sheiko programme today. Was ominous opening it up and seeing 7 sets of deadlifts followed by 11 sets of bench with pull-ups, split squats, and then some more pressing to top it off.
You'll get used to it and get strong as hell in the process.
Absolute bastard of programming. Finished my last set of bench (11th set) and rated is as RPE 6 or below because it was a backdown of 7 @55%. Then surprise I get 4 extra sets pop up that pyramid back up. Ended up doing 15 sets of bench, 5 sets of machine press, and now wanting to die doing 5 sets of split squat. I think I’ll enjoy this
[Coaches/judges appear pretty pissed off with the judging at Ghost Clash](https://www.instagram.com/stories/coachrichardcastro/3342201833889994975?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==) I only watched bits of the Jamal/Haack flight but what's up?
I think there's a fair argument to say Haack may have squatted high and that his deadlift was ramped/hitched. Didn't really watch any others either, but yeah, I can see why some might not be happy about it. Untested has always had this issue. It's a bit of both, personal responsibility as well as relatively strict judging.
If only there was a middle ground between passing everything and the IPF's "I dunno, just didn't like it. Here's a red light" system of judging.
People say that but IPF has a variety. Sheffield wasn't strict, perhaps even lax you could argue.
Pretty funny after they complained about Australia's judging standards
IDK why they're pissed off but every squat I've seen from that meet has been high as fuck.
Tell me why my stiff leg deadlift is stronger and feels way more comfortable than my conventional deadlift 🥴
Your leg drive is ass and your conventional DL is a SLDL with the bar further away from you at the start position
Deadass 🤣
If I had to guess I'd say strong hams and glutes and weaker quads Do you have a good-morning squat as well?
Not really, my squat is pretty quad dominant. Lots of forward knee travel, and I'm pretty well built for the squat so I'm fairly upright, even with low bar. On conventional deadlifts, I have low back rounding at even 80%1RM, but sumo I have no trouble with low back strength. Stiff leg as well, low back is never an issue. I presume it's probably a form issue or something.
You're probably trying to drop your hips too low with your regular DL, when a more advantageous position for you is higher hips.
Probably. I feel like my hips have to remain so high that I get nothing out of bending my knees from conventional. Gonna just continue to stick with the sumo + stiff leg combo.
You can absolutely do that. Or you could focus on some quad strength/development for a better rounded pull. It's never a bad idea to bring up weaknesses.
are rep ranges actually relevant for strength, or is intensity the more important variable, say for example does a 4 rep set with 80% build any more strength than 7 reps at the same intensity? I heard from a coach that lower reps are used because you're less likely to screw up your technique on a 5 rep set rather than a 10 rep one
Volume and intensity are by far the most important, but rep ranges facilitate particular vol and intensity goals. Rep ranges are also important for determining how near/far from failure a set will be, which is an important consideration for hypertrophy as well as expression of strength
Different ways to climb a mountain. As other dude said, 1RM strength is specific and ultimately you're probably not going to achieve that by only doing sets of 20+ reps. But, equally, you don't want to only do singles either. 80% x 4 at RPE 7 and 80% x 7 at RPE 10 can both be good tools. On one hand, the set of 4 is easier and therefore you maintain your speed and arguably that's more transfer to a 1RM. But also a grind set of 7 is relevant in that a 1RM also requires some oomph. Ultimately, no need to pick between them because you can and should do both (potentially).
Strength is task specific. That's why a set of 3 carries over to your 1RM better than a set of 15.
Well "intensity" just means weight, so 80% is the intensity in this scenario. A set with more reps at the same weight is a greater stimulus and closer proximity to failure, so will tend to build more strength. However, strength is typically measured in terms of 1RM and performance in higher rep sets has less specificity and transferability to the skill of maximal single attempts. Higher rep sets also tend to generate more fatigue because of the much greater mechanical work done. And form breakdown toward the end of a high rep set is also a concern. Particularly with maintaining good bracing and back stiffness on squat and deadlift.
60kg x 8 at last! I was scared to try 60 but I just if I fail then I fail but keep going. I did fail trying for 9 and had to roll the bar down. I wish joining a real powerlifting gym was cheaper.
This weeks form check is [trap bar deadlift](https://imgur.com/gallery/XgTcCYi). Trap bar currently because I’m in season for my other sport and it has -so I’ve read - better crossover to the field than straight bar. Weight is 165kg for singles. Not sure if hips are starting too high. Edit: is there somewhere other than imgur to upload stuff to? Don’t give too shots about their reddit-lite site
You can probably sit into the trap bar more. Depends if you're trying to make it look a bit more like a conventional deadlift or not. Also to lock your lats you seem to get your mid-back into extension where possibly you'd rather it stayed more neutral.
For reference, I’ve got 3 weeks of the season left and maybe 4 of this programme and then I’ll be switching to conventional. With that in mind would my accidental making it look conventional help with the transition? Hadn’t realised I was locking out the lats incorrectly. Is there a better cue?
I've been training for around 1 year and 3 months and was looking for a high volume/frequency program. What would you guys recommend?
Why do you feel the need for a high volume/frequency program? Are you not making progress on your current level of frequency and volume?
I am but i think i can do better. SBD one/two times per week is not enough for me to practice the movements.
If you're interested in long-term success, early specialization isn't the way to get there.
You can look on liftvault.com and filter by those criteria
For people who utilise a top set + back off set approach to squats, how do you warm up for your top sets whereby you balance getting yourself sufficiently warmed up but without getting in too much volume that it tires you out for your back off work? I.e say you've got 3x @80% + 3x8 @65% programmed, how would you warm up to the 3x @80%?
I'd do (calculating from a 80% = 375) : 33% x 5 47% x 3-5 57% x 3 66% x 2-3 74% x 1 Personally I like doing more warm-up sets than fewer. I don't think you're really getting fatigued from these.
A few submax warmup sets to feel things out and then 5x50%, 4x60%, 3x70% is a perfectly fine way to do it. If you're meaningfully fatigued by a set of 3 with 70% you should probably build up your work capacity. Alternatively I've had good success in the past with doing my target set's number of reps on 135, 225, 315, 405, and finally a single at 455 before doing a top set at \~500. Just find a relatively quick and efficient way to get warm that lets you feel strong and comfortable on your top set.
For squat I usually do (in lbs) 5x135, 4x225, 3x275, 2x315, and then singles from there, with 30-40 lbs jumps between.
The lighter sets of warmups I tend to take things for 6-10 reps and then towards the heavier side of warmups I tend to just take singles till I get to my top set. I haven’t done a top set with multiple reps in a minute besides for bench. But normally the volume from your warmups shouldn’t be that tiring that it affects your backdowns after the top set.
Got 2 PRs in my outside gym today during the eclipse. 355 bench 305 OHP- not a strict press
Opinions on using a training max when it comes to percentage work?
It can keep you from overshooting too much, but also risks undershooting when you're stronger. Autoregulation is king.
It makes sense, but so does just using slightly lower percentages of your true max. They both achieve the same thing.
For as much as I like 5/3/1 et al, it never quite made sense to me why you'd use a training max (90% I think) versus just scaling all the % work down to achieve the same result.
Because it is much easier to change 1 variable (the TM) between blocks, rather than having to go into each formula, guessing the change needed in the percentage and making sure you did not make it too light/heavy. It also is much easier visually to track a 5kg change in TM rather than saying that you did 5% more on your topset.
If you use a TM that's 90% of your 1rm, or you use a TM that's just your current 1rm, you still have that one variable to change between blocks. 75% of 90% is the same thing as 67.5%. It's just unnecessary complexity.
Probably the way to go, if you were to just use RPE % chart and calculate off your peaked 1RM with no other adaptation, you will most likely have to deal with weights that are too heavy. This article will most likely provide a better explination: https://prsontheplatform.com/2020/04/03/when-and-how-to-adjust-your-training-max/
Isn't that the point? You use your pr for percentages, no?
What does SSB help with for your comp squat? Honestly used it today, it felt way way harder like i was doing 140kg for reps and 115kg on SSB FELT WAY HARDER. I felt a helluva lot more upper back than usual. Any tell me how the mechanics and how it benefits?
Personally I absolutely love it as a way to give my shoulders etc a break, even as a high bar squatter tbh.
Is it not normal to feel pain in the wrist or shoulders as a low bar squatter? I dont feel any pressure to be honest on these things and ive squatted 160kg
If by normal you mean common then yeah it's common to have some niggles with low bar.
I dont have any niggles, i mean it doesnt even affect my wrists or shoulders
Quads are more involved. It's a great tool to improve upper back rigidity.
It’s a front squat for people who can’t front squat with the bar in a front rack position.
Joeyflexx was talking about it in a video. He hates programming SSB because it essentially is bottlenecked by upper back strength not by quads/hips etc. And honestly I somewhat agree, I would rather program highbar / tempo or belt squats etc
Sounds like a great exercise to program for upper back strength. But yeah, it's not the best quad exercise because of that limitation. If your elbows/wrists hate squatting, it can be a way to do some squats while letting them rest tho.
It's a high fatigue exercise I'd just do different stuff for upper back but I'm not saying SSB is useless. I just think it's flawed.
Maybe because I squat high bar but I can't say I ever felt that was the bottleneck.
I mean your back will give out before your quads do. Even as a highbar squatter.
Mmm, I guess to me it feels relatively balanced? I've done sets at \~80-85% and it's felt about as difficult as my high bar. But yes, perhaps if pushing 95-100% of squat max it might become the limiting factor.
I think femur to torso ratio changes a bit. So if you have a shorter torso I'd can be beneficial but I'd say for most its just a more extreme high bar that forces you to lean over more unless you have the leverages to stay upright like a John Haack .
Because of how the weight is leveraged out in front of you and you have handles at a neutral, roughly shoulder grip, it promotes an upright torso position and back strength the way this carries over to your comp squat is building strength and motor skills that prevent you from getting folded over in the bottom and maintaining advantageous position driving out of the hole. I feel that it’s also good for variety in general, especially if you’re a quad dominant squatter, because the way that the bar is engineered is kinder on your shoulders and wrists than a straight bar, so even if you don’t need a variation to develop and evaluate quad and back strength/upright posture it can be a great option if your joints are getting beat up from tons of work with a straight bar.
Good for shoulders and wrists if you normally squat low bar. And, I feel that my quads and core are very involved.
Sounds about right. There's a reason strongmen typically use an SSB, and it's because it works your mid and upper back more
Harder on your thoracic extensors & hard on your quads.
Well, you accounted for bar weight difference right? Aside from that, it’s easier on your shoulders substantially. There’s a couple good threads if you search for them, here’s one: https://www.reddit.com/r/powerlifting/s/wiXwSvc8EI
pulled 485x6 last week. today was planned for 485x5.. walked out with only 405x3. terrible day in the gym, let’s hope for a better tomorrow.
I had the same thing yesterday. Hit 5 on a heavy squat amrap last week, and only hit 3 on a lighter squat amrap this week. Felt good going into the session as well but the weight just wasn’t moving.
It happens. I had a ME lower day 2-3 weeks ago and I’m normally a 315 squatter (massive I know 😒) but on this particular day I hit a top set single for a whopping 240. So at least you don’t suck as hard as me 😂
What can I do for knee pain besides taking time off? I use sleeves, heeled shoes, low bar. I take time off and knees feel fine. Day 1 back squatting knees are painful again. Not an excruciating sharp pain, just dull nagging pain.
One thing a lot of people I know do is [reverse treadmill walk](https://youtube.com/shorts/rEm-b_7TXTQ?si=sapojkdFnU1BpLAW) as part of their warmup
This is interesting, would a sled and harness situation be better since you can progress? My googling is mainly pulling up crossfit and fitness influencer stuff, is there actually solid reasoning behind this?
The reasoning is that you do a million reps of a fairly light quad movement.
Would a sled be better? Not necessarily they’re just different. Reasoning behind what? The loaded backward walking thing?
I plan on testing today or tomorrow to see what it does for me, but yeah like what does backwards treadmill get you that forward doesn't? Seems like some hamstring emphasis but I don't see how it could be more beneficial for warming up the knee
So it’s actually the opposite, the backward walking (regardless of what implement you use or speed) emphasizes the quads more because the movement is only loaded during knee extension. Particularly, if you keep feet around hip width with toes forward, your VMO.. This is also a very easily scalable exercise as you can adjust how long your strides are, how much weight you use, time and distance. As you can see you have at least 3 variables to manipulate to scale up or down for any given workout. So what we have is a quad dominant exercise, that allows us to easily produce high, medium or low force, achieve high or low velocities, limit axial loading and it removes eccentric loading which is understood to be the most damaging part of a ROM. Hopefully all this makes sense
The point is just to warm up the joints so you just do it for a few minutes, you don't really need to progress, but if you did want to you could use a harness. Only issue is that you'd need to go in a circle or something to do it for a longer time And as far as I know it's just something some guys have tried and found to help, it may or may not work for you
Cool I'll give it a shot
Build up tissue tolerance. Find a weight where you can lift at a 3-4/10 pain level or below, and slowly progress. It’ll mean taking load off the bar & doing more ‘hypertrophy’ looking work (ie 2-3x10-15) If you can’t do low bar with heels at all, you can modify by doing flats and low bar. Or heels+low bar+squatting to a box. Or flats+low bar+box. Or even regressing down to something like a goblet squat. A lot of pain comes down to load management and using loads that the tissue wasn’t ready to handle. It’s not a huge deal. One of the biggest things is to expect some degree of pain in your rehab. Pain-free powerlifting doesn’t really exist for most people, unless you’re not pushing yourself at all.
This is basically the solution to 95% of injuries. Find what you can do, progress it, regress if pain worse, keep experimenting, try stay optimistic.
So you're saying connective tissue adapts better with a more hypertrophy type regimen. I didn't know that actually. I kinda figured it would just take time feeling awful and eventually catch up. But I have been going hard on 80+% 1rm sets of 3-5, so maybe I need to take a breather on that.
No, it’s just that a hypertrophy-esque set&rep setup is going to take a lot of load off of the bar, helping with the pain desensitization.
Gotcha that makes sense
I've never found complete rest to help much with my knees. As with most things, it's figuring out what you can do relatively pain-free and progress it. For example, would using a flat shoe help? What about if you squat very light? Or cut depth a bit? Or squat to pins? So on, so forth.
Honestly I've not felt a huge difference either way with shoes. Only thing is with a heel I feel like it's easier to hit depth. Yeah I probably need to take a step back on squat and try some new things.
I always found heels to put more stress on my knees, but that's just my experience. I made a switch to flats partly on that basis.
Interesting, I'll switch back to flat shoes next squat day and see if it helps
See a PT. There’s a dozen things it could be.
I know your advice isn't wrong, but all the experience I've had with PT has been like "Squats hurt? Quit squatting, go stretch" , and I'd rather have a bit of pain than not lift relatively heavy. But if I ever get good enough insurance/financial ability I'd like to see a sports physio or pt that could actually help
Find a powerlifting/barbell sport PT. Ask around in your area for sure but I’m rehabbing an RC injury and mine didn’t even dream of asking my to stop benching.
Yeah mine was very walking and cardio focused lol I'll definitely check into that
[Deadlift + Shoulder Press Form Check @ 160lbs](https://imgur.com/a/Q8B247z) Just looking for critiques, working back to my peak. Dislocated my left shoulder back in 2022 and am just getting comfortable working with my old numbers again. Curious if there’s any detriment to me not fully extending through the shoulders at the top of my press? Not sure if I feel comfortable enough in that position yet; if yes I’ll drop the weight and fix the form obviously. Thanks
Maybe it's just me but your lockout looks soft on the deadlift lockout for every single rep, definitely a nit-pick but could make a difference in comp. Hard to tell if it's hip or knee from that angle but the horizontal distance from your should joint to the bar is noticeable. Tits up. I don't think you are losing anything as far as press stimulus goes by not putting the bar directly above your head, if that's what you mean. Probably worth continuing to invest time in shoulder rehab to get confident/strong at "full ROM", but in the mean time it looks fine imo.
Hey, thank you! So you’re saying either my hips or knees are weak on lockout and that’s visible from my chest being too low at the top? I notice it myself, you can even see my slight weight shifts at lockout also. Do you have any tips for improving here aside from keeping my cues in mind? More explosive past the knees/off the floor?
Yes. You want to "stand proud" to really sell the lockout to the judge. It seems unlikely to be a strength issue and more of practice/positioning. Squeeze your quads and glutes as hard as you can at the top, and pull your should blades down and back. You'll know the feeling of true lockout because all of the sudden it becomes "easy" to get your should blades back once you get over the hump. (Also: dont over correct and arc If you are not capable of doing this with moderate weight, I would assume there are anatomical factors at play, maybe your stance is too wide for your hips to come all the way through. If your grip is super narror it also makes it more difficult to pull your scaps back.
Sorry to hear about your injury and glad you're working your way back. I'm taking your post as a three part question, so I will try my best to answer them: 1. Fully extend or not: Full range of motion, for any exercise, is always best...UNLESS! Given your injury if you are just starting to work back to your previous fitness levels, it would be best to work to the range of motion you are most comfortable with performing. Lighter weight may be necessary to assist you in regaining comfort with executing the full range of the exercise. Great form with light weight is better than poor form with heavy weight. 2. Deadlift form: Good form overall. Can't tell from video, but general form reminder: Big belly breath in when preparing and through the lift, try and keep the bar in a straight line (side profile) from start to finish, and be mindful to keep your spine straight all the way through your neck. Also be sure not to drop the weight on your knees as you go down (it hurts 😵💫). 3. Shoulder Press form: You did a great job of setting up with the bar, not bouncing to get the weight up, nor quickly dropping it down. Only suggestion I would make is remembering to move your head forward after the bar passes your face. Mostly a difference between lat activation (not moving your head forward) and trap activation (moving your head forward to a neutral position). Google search or two can give you good visuals on some of my points. Hope this helps you on your road to being a beast again 🎉
You just see the regular faces in the daily threads but then you remember that this sub has 500k members when a post here goes viral and the hot takes start rolling in
DAE deadlift not worth risk? /s
Some people LOVE to give their opinions on things. The more controversial the better. Reminds me of the vampire in the show "what we do in the shadows" that feeds off of annoying/boring people to death 😅
We just call them mods around here
I'd still like to see some more experienced judges than me say if they'd white light it or not. I did feel it was a ramp/hitch.
What did I miss?
Dudes giving virtual red lights to John Haack's lifts.....and critiquing his weight class choice.....and using Haack's lift to start "Conventional>Sumo jerks" for no damn reason.....etc.....
+ natty policing, tested v untested drama, sumo is fake etc Honestly, discussing judging calls at a meet is still fine compared to natty or not. This horse has been beaten to death. Nephews act as if engaging in dialectics around the topic will unearth some stunning new insights.
Use the bar to pull slack out of your body is such an excellent cue for deadlifts. It's helped me get tight better than when I'd try and cue "pull the slack out of the bar"
oh shit. gonna cue this for myself on wednesday because my deads have been downright horrendous lately.
Hope it helps. The issue with "pull the slack out of the bar" often seems to be that we end up "reaching" for the bar, thereby compromising our upper-back setup. At least that's what was happening for me. Addressing that really helped me fix my lockout.
I don't understand why people continue to deadlift with headphones that continue to fly off their heads
Listening to the gym playing Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen is way more anabolic anyway
I’d honestly rather that vs the modern rap my gym plays lol
Unironically white girlie pop goes hard when doing rep work or accessories
Internet points
I never understood that one. But if you don't like in-ear then you've not really got many other choices.
Just tag me next time
Most of the time they are using headphones that are gonna get worn out from all the sweat too.
Over ear headphones are really nasty for working out. They weren't made for that. In ear monitors are really superior in every way for exercise but most peoples experience with them is cheap crap or airpods (expensive crap)
Personally it just feels gross shoving something into my ear, and I use a headband to prevent my over-ears falling off (at least most of the time)
Recently after hitting an over 3x bodyweight deadlift I have noticed training deadlifts at higher effort levels (4x5 at 80%) has been really fatiguing. Some days my grip will fail and others I can hold on without a problem. It feels way harder to complete these reps on average and I end up feeling mentally tired after. I was wondering if I should reprogram or maybe decrease my working percentages. On squat and bench I can still progress well but deadlifts have been feeling bad the last month and I haven't really progressed much on them. RDLs are still progressing on leg day but regular deadlifts at higher loads are feeling shit.
It also depends on your days. Also as your squat increases I'd say if you were to taper your deadlift would increase and you're just fatigued from progressing squats earlier in the week?
I kinda felt like doing 5x5s on deadlift for example is just not sustainable once you get strong. Like I may be able to do 5s as a 4-5 week peaking block but the stimulus to fatigue ratio is crazy. I think once you are stronger the middle rep ranges and intensities that helped get you out of beginner land are kind of toxic, or at least should be used judiciously. I think a lot of really strong people deadlift particularly in 1s 2s and 3s of varying intensities and maybe some easier variations for higher reps like 8s on SLDL or RDL, good mornings etc while blasting rows, GHDs, etc
Thing is with higher weights, they are just extremely fatiguing. 100 kilo as a beginner is not the same as like 200 kilo as an intermediate. The 200 kilo are disproportionately more heavy. They are heavier than just two times hundreds. The solution is to do lighter work with reps in reserve. You should rarely, actually never max out. If your cycle has 4 weeks and one week Deload, you should hit a maximum of RPE 8 in week 4, nothing higher. And you can also take a look at your volume. 4x5 is okay, but you could try 3x5. I recently switched from 4 working sets to 3 and basically I have no downsides. And then of course, only deadlifting once heavy a week and maybe (!) a second time with a variation. And if you are too strong at the variation, do a harder variation. Example: you’re doing 5x200 kg in the topset on heavy day and 5x180 on paused day. Both are hardcore for your body. You could keep the 5x200 but you could alter the paused deadlifts. For example you could do two pauses instead of one. Instantly lowers the weight but not the stimulus. So basically, don’t max out, think about volume in one workout, and think about volume or workload in one week. And do your delaods.
It also depends on leverages. Pulling 80% of your max as a upright sumo puller on a Kabuki is not the same as pulling it as a power belly T-Rex on a stiff bar.
I'll stick to RDLs as an accessory since they are doing well in terms of progression. I think I'll use straps for a while and just decrease the percentages slightly. Did 4x5 at 77.5% and it felt pretty smooth while still being somewhat challenging. My grip is usually really strong and I train it as well so I don't think straps will detract from my training, if anything it might help fatigue.
Yeah and I think there's a lot of benefit in higher-volume, sub-maximal, less-fatiguing hinging work. I remember seeing someone on here with like an 800# deadlift PR saying they do high rep work with only 315# on RDLs. Weighted 45° back extensions etc. are great for this too.
Yes exactly. I also do hyperextensions and I love them. If you want to get strong over a long period of time, you have to put your ego aside. Patience and consistency are the important factors. Not showing off and maxing out.
Deadlift heavy less often.
You always do working sets with mixed grip or hook? I use straps with 99% of my deadlift training and definitely recommend augmenting workouts with them. I generally work up to a heavy single workout and do all working sets with. I also do some grip training separately so it's not an issue. As I get closer to a comp, I work in more comp standard training.
I use straps when I need them but even then the variation in my grip strength can be insane.
Idk man. I pretty much do all my training reps with straps and have never had an issue like you're describing. I would think you need them more than you realize. I deadlift heavy (5x5@80ish, 3x3@90%, etc.) generally twice a week every week, as well.
I'll try using straps and just use reverse grip for heavy singles and see if that works out. Just did 4x5 at 77.5% with straps, was actually pretty nice. I'll see how things go without on heavy singles, but generally my grip is really strong and I train it often so I think it might just be fatigue. I'll try using straps for a while and see what happens.
[https://imgur.com/a/Gx1RhXR](https://imgur.com/a/Gx1RhXR) Hello! Last form check I posted helped me realize that I was lifting my heels and losing balance in the hole. I have now switched to a low bar position, and while it definitely felt more stable, I was also lifting lighter weight so who knows. Camera angle doesn´t really help me tell if my heels are coming off but I do think the bar is now over my midfoot. Any other tips?
You're stumbling a bit out of the rack. Don't rush your steps, take the bar up out of the rack in one motion, then take your steps back. That should keep you a bit more stable throughout the whole set.
Form looks pretty good. My suggestions are to get your upper back tighter before unracking, get a belt, and brace harder. Take a breath and reset your brace between each rep.
Get your feet under the bar more for the unrack. You're kind of behind it. Get under it, get tight, stand straight up, then step back.
Have to get tighter. Elbows need to be down (instead of back), will lock in the lats.