Strength Weight Training: Anything and Everything II

[RU_]

First novice comp has been pencilled in for September, chasing a 120KG Bench, 180KG Squat and 200KG Deadlift in the under 100KG weight class.

Hit a pretty comfortable 100 kilo bench on New Year’s Day for the first time ever and today maxed out at a 180KG conventional deadlift, only just missed 185KG as I couldn’t quite get the lockout, I wasn’t using a belt or chalk though so I reckon with those two I’d piss it in. Let’s ignore squats for the moment as they are giving me hip drama.

May have to up the goal for the deadlift as I think ill hit the 200 way before September .

 

[HirdyLannister]

Impressive effort with the numbers bud.

 

[cptkirk]

used that app in the past myself but lost it - what's it called again?

 

[Aeglos]

used that app in the past myself but lost it - what's it called again?

The one I have is Iron Path.

 

[Mofra]

First novice comp has been pencilled in for September, chasing a 120KG Bench, 180KG Squat and 200KG Deadlift in the under 100KG weight class.

Hit a pretty comfortable 100 kilo bench on New Year’s Day for the first time ever and today maxed out at a 180KG conventional deadlift, only just missed 185KG as I couldn’t quite get the lockout, I wasn’t using a belt or chalk though so I reckon with those two I’d piss it in. Let’s ignore squats for the moment as they are giving me hip drama.

May have to up the goal for the deadlift as I think ill hit the 200 way before September .

Excellent numbers - my 1RM dead is 175kg and I didn't manage a 100kg bench until I was 40, so I find those weights very impressive

Keep us updated with your progress.

 

[chargers 09]

Front squats straight after deads this morning. Hooley dooley.

I barely do back squats anymore- almost exclusively fronts with some RDL’s.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mofra]

I barely do back squats anymore- almost exclusively fronts with some RDL’s.

Long femurs? I'm sticking with front squats for a while.

 

[RU_]

Excellent numbers - my 1RM dead is 175kg and I didn't manage a 100kg bench until I was 40, so I find those weights very impressive

Keep us updated with your progress.

What do you squat weight wise?

I get severe hip flexor pain and suffering from squats, bought a trigger point ball and getting a massage from a powerlifting gyms massage person Friday and will start rolling on the ball a lot more often as I do one squat and they are fired and shot for the rest of the session currently.

 

[Aeglos]

What do you squat weight wise?

I get severe hip flexor pain and suffering from squats, bought a trigger point ball and getting a massage from a powerlifting gyms massage person Friday and will start rolling on the ball a lot more often as I do one squat and they are fired and shot for the rest of the session currently.

If the comp isn’t til September you’re better off getting to the route of the problem rather than continually trying to paper over the cracks, otherwise you run the risk of having to take time off squatting close(r) to the comp if the issue gets worse/flares up.

 

[RU_]

If the comp isn’t til September you’re better off getting to the route of the problem rather than continually trying to paper over the cracks, otherwise you run the risk of having to take time off squatting close(r) to the comp if the issue gets worse/flares up.

My coach and I are pretty confident it’s to do with my mobility and core strength, got an extra day a week just working on those things to try and strengthen the abdominal region, I feel like I’m collapsing into the squat more than I should be if that makes sense.

 

[Taylor]

How is your pelvic rotation?

 

[saj_21]

My coach and I are pretty confident it’s to do with my mobility and core strength, got an extra day a week just working on those things to try and strengthen the abdominal region, I feel like I’m collapsing into the squat more than I should be if that makes sense.

Are you knees pulling/collapsing inwards when you squat heavy?

 

[Aeglos]

My coach and I are pretty confident it’s to do with my mobility and core strength, got an extra day a week just working on those things to try and strengthen the abdominal region, I feel like I’m collapsing into the squat more than I should be if that makes sense.

Yeah it does (and it’s the first thing I thought you might be doing when you mentioned hip flexor pain whilst squatting haha).
Slow eccentrics are probably going to be your friend for a while.
Slow leg raises may help as well. Psoas gets a fair workout during squats as it needs to act as a stabiliser at its spinal origins whilst also changing length during the movement (thus putting it under more stress than say QL which just stabilises the spine or the hip extensors which just shorten/lengthen).

Can you get into the bottom position of a squat without any load? If so the issue isn’t likely to be mobility (or even motor control) but rather absolute strength.

 

[RU_]

How is your pelvic rotation?

No idea what to compare it to.

Are you knees pulling/collapsing inwards when you squat heavy?

Nah not at all, can squat to depth fine and power out but I get stupidly sore hip flexors.

Yeah it does (and it’s the first thing I thought you might be doing when you mentioned hip flexor pain whilst squatting haha).
Slow eccentrics are probably going to be your friend for a while.
Slow leg raises may help as well. Psoas gets a fair workout during squats as it needs to act as a stabiliser at its spinal origins whilst also changing length during the movement (thus putting it under more stress than say QL which just stabilises the spine or the hip extensors which just shorten/lengthen).

Can you get into the bottom position of a squat without any load? If so the issue isn’t likely to be mobility (or even motor control) but rather absolute strength.

This is the weird part, with just the bar, my heels raise off the ground when I squat. Add even 5 kilos a side to the bar and my heels stay planted. I can’t hit depth/bottom of the squat without a bit of weight on the bar, moment it’s on there, I’m fine. Ankle mobility possibly causing dramas with hips?

 

[Taylor]

Your pelvis might be rotating to compensate for the range of motion required not being accommodated by your ankles and knees.

 

[saj_21]

I know when I squat in the heavy range, my right knee pulls inwards and i believe it causes issues with my right adductors

 

[Aeglos]

This is the weird part, with just the bar, my heels raise off the ground when I squat. Add even 5 kilos a side to the bar and my heels stay planted. I can’t hit depth/bottom of the squat without a bit of weight on the bar, moment it’s on there, I’m fine. Ankle mobility possibly causing dramas with hips?

It would (largely) depend on how you squat as to whether this might be an issue or not.
I watched Malanichev warm up when he was in Tas in 2011(?) and he had the same issue as you until there was a substantial amount of weight on the bar (the more weight the less noticeable it became each set).
I’m not so sure that it’s a mobility issue rather than a motor control/technique one where you’re used to using the weight as a bit of an anchor and/or counter balance; particularly for you if your eccentric phase is quite fast as it could just be the momentum that throws you forwards rather than a lack of mobility

 

[RU_]

It would (largely) depend on how you squat as to whether this might be an issue or not.
I watched Malanichev warm up when he was in Tas in 2011(?) and he had the same issue as you until there was a substantial amount of weight on the bar (the more weight the less noticeable it became each set).
I’m not so sure that it’s a mobility issue rather than a motor control/technique one where you’re used to using the weight as a bit of an anchor and/or counter balance; particularly for you if your eccentric phase is quite fast as it could just be the momentum that throws you forwards rather than a lack of mobility

Yeah could be, hoping that it will be just a core strength thing and I’m sitting into the squat too much, and not holding it with my core so it’s affecting my hips. Will see how this block goes for core strength.

 

[Mofra]

Yeah could be, hoping that it will be just a core strength thing and I’m sitting into the squat too much, and not holding it with my core so it’s affecting my hips. Will see how this block goes for core strength.

Out of interest, what sort of core strength exercises has your coach given you? Interested if the focus is on core strength for squats what they would be.

 

[RU_]

Out of interest, what sort of core strength exercises has your coach given you? Interested if the focus is on core strength for squats what they would be.

Hack squats, box squats, static lunges, glute bridges, etc.

Apparently they suffered from the same trouble so we are going the same solution route.

 

[Aeglos]

Downloaded an app to measure bar path/speed.
I’m sure it’s not 100% accurate (compared to a Tendo, gymaware type units at least) but seems pretty close.
Ideally I want to be between 0.8m/s - 1.2m/s for my dynamic work so I’ve been going a little heavy on squats and a little light on bench.
At least my bar path seems pretty consistent (and apparently is ~40cm for both bench and squats lol)

It’s been interesting playing around with the app.
Trends I’ve noticed so far
- my bar speed (at least while using accomodating resistance) could be put into 4 blocks, each lasting a 15-20% range (ie from 35-50% of 1rm my bar speed doesn’t change at all). 1st block is up to about 35% and speeds exceed 1.5m/s, I then drop pretty quick to .8-1.0m/s from 35-50%, over 50% seems to be around 0.6-0.7 and a heavy single (which equates to around 70-80% of a 1rm whilst using accomodating resistance) drops it under 0.5
- any time I’m under 0.8m/s coincides with a change in bar path
- the eccentric while using bands is as fast (if not faster) than my concentric, while when using chains the eccentric is about half as fast
- the more band tension I have the faster the eccentric gets
- the eccentric on my first rep is about half as fast as on subsequent reps
- an increase in accomodating resistance only needs a very small reduction in bar weight to maintain the same speed eg 45% of 1rm + 40% band tension (so 85% total) is roughly the same bar speed as 50% of 1rm + 25% band tension (75% total)

 

[vegasaaa]

It’s been interesting playing around with the app.
Trends I’ve noticed so far
- my bar speed (at least while using accomodating resistance) could be put into 4 blocks, each lasting a 15-20% range (ie from 35-50% of 1rm my bar speed doesn’t change at all). 1st block is up to about 35% and speeds exceed 1.5m/s, I then drop pretty quick to .8-1.0m/s from 35-50%, over 50% seems to be around 0.6-0.7 and a heavy single (which equates to around 70-80% of a 1rm whilst using accomodating resistance) drops it under 0.5
- any time I’m under 0.8m/s coincides with a change in bar path
- the eccentric while using bands is as fast (if not faster) than my concentric, while when using chains the eccentric is about half as fast
- the more band tension I have the faster the eccentric gets
- the eccentric on my first rep is about half as fast as on subsequent reps
- an increase in accomodating resistance only needs a very small reduction in bar weight to maintain the same speed eg 45% of 1rm + 40% band tension (so 85% total) is roughly the same bar speed as 50% of 1rm + 25% band tension (75% total)

Have you seen this article from physiqz (https://physiqz.com/velocity-based-training-devices-open-barbell-gymaware/)? it lays out a lot of different speeds depending on what type of work you're doing (hypertrophy vs. strength vs. speed etc). I personally haven't used a velocity training device but have been considering it. What are your thoughts so far? I'm about to start a new powerlifting program as well so might just bite the bullet and buy an app/device now for the plan to see if it helps (https://physiqz.com/powerlifting-programs/).

I was also considering trying out the PHUL workout:

What plan do you currently use? Sorry I know this is a lot lol.

 

[Aeglos]

vegasaaa
TBH I only started tracking to make sure my dynamic days were in the right ball park re: velocity.
I’ve got a couple more set ups to measure for squats and then I won’t bother re-assessing speed until at least after footy season as I don’t expect my 1rm to change significantly between now and then.

I’ve used a Westside barbell style program/template for the past 6-7 years, so the app was just to adjust % for my dynamic days.
I barely use barbells for accessories so velocity would be hard to track (accurately) anyway. For those each set is taken just short of failure (basically I pick a weight and just keep going at the same pace until I need to momentarily pause to do more reps).

 

[RU_]

Anyone else feeling weak? Her form went to s**t on the second rep but regardless, she’s strong as *.

 

[Aeglos]

Anyone else feeling weak? Her form went to s**t on the second rep but regardless, she’s strong as ****.

What I’m trying to work out is how she only totals 470kg with a 195kg squat at and least a 227.5kg deadlift.
I noticed she has like no bench vids so I’m presuming it’s fairly weak in comparison