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ok cheers all, made me feel a bit better. I'm enjoying the challenge but I guess I just pictured everyone upping the weights everytime and just breezing through it, getting huge and getting all the girls.
I just pictured everyone upping the weights everytime and just breezing through it, getting huge and getting all the girls.
If by this you mean 'slumped over a barbell, trying not to vomit, and fighting back the tears', then you're exactly right.
Incidentally, has anyone here tried/mastered kettlebell windmills? **** me, they're hard!
You've seen Steve Cotter?
His single leg squat jumps are just unreal!
getting huge and getting all the girls
You know Stronglifts isn't about making you huge, right?
[quote=howsyourdad1 ]ok cheers all, made me feel a bit better. I'm enjoying the challenge but I guess I just pictured everyone upping the weights everytime and just breezing through it, getting huge and getting all the girls.
My lifting coach is a competitive lifter. One of the best in the country. His philosophy is that at best he may add on a couple of kilos to his lifts over the course of a year.
what about getting all the girls?
I was joking 😆
cheers all I'll keep plugging away
Eventually I got to 105kg but lost my bottle as my squat stands have only got tiny safety tabs and I was worried I was going to get stuck under a failed rep.
Dumping the bar on squats isn't a massive deal. Even if it is "off the back onto the floor". Try it with a light bar sometime, it will lose its menace. There are guys training massive weights on stands like these without problems.
Bar bench is the genuinely deadly one, every year there are a few people Darwin'd out by that.
I'll keep plugging away
Don't forget to rest, too. I'm about 15 years older than you and take a week off every 8-10 weeks - always come back with new found vigor.
cheers yes I wanted to ask that but it slipped my mind. I see things occasionally about deloading weeks etc. I guess some will be enforced (illness ) but what happens after you rest for a week? Do you carry on at the same weight?
About 10-15%. If it feels as 'easy' as it did before your rest then just carry on. It probably won't.
I find my upper is fine with a break but my lower suffers, particularly the squat.
ok next question. I'm finding I have to wait perhaps 5-10 seconds between squats (say after the 3rd squat of a set of 5) to recover and lift again. In the stronglifts videos he does them pretty dman quick. Should I drop the weight? carry on?
actually I'm looking at my technique, I think it may be wrong. I'm quite upright when I squat, looking straight ahead. I think perhaps I should be looking at the floor with a more diagonal back than vertical. my quads are sore after workouts but not so much my hamstrings.
Watch the bar.
The bar should go straight up and down (or near as dammit).
If you are sitting too upright (a la front squat) you'll find that it moves backwards too much.
Ok dropped the weight right down for technique
Whaddyathink?
It looks like there is a little rounding of your lower back at full depth. Hard to tell on the video. Might want to find some one knowledgable to have a look / put their hand on your lower back as you squat. The lower back should stay flat. I can only just make parallel before my lower back rounds out.
The risk, if it is rounding, is that under heavy load you're making the discs change position, which isn't good for them....
[quote=howsyourdad1 ]Ok dropped the weight right down for technique
Whaddyathink?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DLbLCPurTE
Not much wrong there.
Only couple of things I'd point out.
Chin and chest up. You're looking down at the start and throughout. Keeping the chin up and looking forward also keeps the chest up and helps combat that back rounding.
Also, I always tense my glutes right before I start to lower. A big tense and then go. Always feels noticeably more stable particularly on really heavy lifts
ok, but you're not shocked , "jesus that's awful" , it looks pretty decent? If there is a slight rounding, how do I correct that?
Edit: cheers, ive had a look at some vids online and many say to look at the floor I think? from about one minute in
If there is a slight rounding, how do I correct that?
Squat less deep. It's just your mechanics.
ok, cheers, but still break parallel?
[quote=howsyourdad1 ]
Edit: cheers, ive had a look at some vids online and many say to look at the floor I think? from about one minute in
My coach is always screaming "chin up" at me throughout lifts 😆
The Westside Barbell guys. Watch their eyes/ chin/ chest
I'm so confused 😯
nipples pointed at the floor... but yes I suppose I can do that whilst looking ahead.
As they say chest up, keep the head in a neutral position, the little tuck under as you go deep will iron itself out as you get stronger/more flexible.
I'm more concerned with what the bird in the background is doing.
@howsyourdad
For low bar squat pointers:
This YouTuber/Powerlifter is a great resource for lifting mechanics:
I'd also consider getting some powerlifting shoes. They help with the mechanics.
ok, cheers, but still break parallel?
Only as far as you can go without the lower back rounding.
NB All these form videos are complete BS, everyone has different mechanics which will determine how much you can lean forward / stay upright and what depth you can go. It's a bit like saying you should be 5'8" when you're not, utterly pointless. We all squat differently. These is no single perfect form you need to aim for.
Your form is absolutely fine, I would just go 2-3" less deep.
This vid explains why we can't all squat the same.
People seem to be crossing over betwixt high/low bar squats.
A high bar (in which the bar is resting on your traps) will necessitate a more upright body position; looking ahead. This hits your quads more.
A low bar (with the bar behind your shoulders) will force a more bent-over posture; looking down. This will use your hips more. The people who lift really heavy will often use this method, as it shortens the lever by a couple of inches.
Definitely follow advice to keep the head in a neutral position. Do be looking forward when the rest of you is pointing at an angle - keep it all straight.
got a bit of lower back pain today, must be from the squats I guess. I'm going to try to concentrate on my breathing, so big gulp of air at the, brace like i'm about to be punched in the stomach and keep that for the whole squat.
head up , and not squat so deep. hope it works as the rest of stronglifts is going grand but this is pissing me off!
got a bit of lower back pain today, must be from the squats I guess
Probably your lower back rounding out at depth. The change in disc angle under heavy load is a good way to damage your discs.
That's why it's important to only squat to a depth at which [b][u]you[/u][/b] can maintain a neutral spine.
Is anyone familiar with Romanian deadlifts? I had a small hamstring tear a month or so back and a physio recommended strengthening as the best rehab, using this exercise in particular.
Not sure if I'm doing them right (just using a 10 or 20 kg dumbell), and a lot of the youtube fitness spanners seem to conflate them with stiff-legged deadlifts.
Can anyone suggest a helpful phrase for visualising the movement? - basically need to understand the arse trajectory.
[quote=Garry_Lager ]Is anyone familiar with Romanian deadlifts? I had a small hamstring tear a month or so back and a physio recommended strengthening as the best rehab, using this exercise in particular.
Not sure if I'm doing them right (just using a 10 or 20 kg dumbell), and a lot of the youtube fitness spanners seem to conflate them with stiff-legged deadlifts.
Can anyone suggest a helpful phrase for visualising the movement? - basically need to understand the arse trajectory.
Yes, very familiar. Do them a lot!
Hold the bar (I prefer a bar) at hip height.
Slowly lower the bar keeping it in contact with your legs, keeping your chin and chest up and push your bum back
As the bar gets below the knees you should feel the hamstring tension
At that point extend back to an upright position and repeat
"butt back" and "hammy tension" are the two things my coaches shout at me the most during the movement
Edit: good synopsis
BODYBUILDING.COM Thanks Boardinbob - v helpful. Can see that I've been bending my legs way too much compared to that video in the link.
Romanian / semi-straight deadlift are the same thing essentially.
Your truly demoing....
Footflaps how often do you deadlift do you do the romanians on the same day?
Held my breath and tensed my glutes and stomach during squats today. That felt with not going quite as low felt alot better. Much more solid and actually easier. Cheers for the advice all
Footflaps how often do you deadlift do you do the romanians on the same day?
I've actually dropped RD from my current program and just try and deadlift once a week. Really just in maintenance mode for Squat and deadlift as I'm mainly concentrating on gymnastic strength training now. I'm often quite tired when I DL, so don't get anywhere close to PBs, but just want to keep some lower back strength whilst I'm not strong enough to Planche etc....
Right, I'm finished on Stronglifts (for now, at least). At around 90kg bodyweight, I've gone from zero up to a 135kg squat (5RM) and a 170kg deadlift (1RM). Having never lifted weights before, I'm really pleased with the progress I've made. Upper body is miles behind though.
I've switched onto the Madcow programme; monday is volume day, wednesday is a recovery day (albeit with 4x5 on deadlifts), and friday is intensity day. It's a much reduced volume when compared to Stronglifts, and I'm a bit worried I'm going to take a backwards step. But I'll stick with it for now and see where i end up.
@Duffer
That's great progress! Were you a novice to weight training, or did you already have some background in it?
Thanks!
I should clarify; I was on the programme for just over a year. I was also not very well disciplined (work or life often gets in the way) so it's not unusual for me to miss a week. I also didn't necessarily follow the progress/stall/deload process as strictly as I might.
That said, I'm pretty pleased with my progress. I'd never really weight trained before, although I've been running and singlespeeding for years, so at least had some base level of fitness.
That's great work Duffer! Where did you get to on bench and overhead press?
I'm following my own program to work around my various injuries and it seems to be going well. So much technique to get right though!
Settling nicely into low bar squat, getting full depth without rounding of the back (which I couldn't with high bar due to limited ankle mobility). Bench and overhead press progressing. Deadlift on hold until SI joint is happier - so deadlift day is replaced with other back, pulling, and core work.
Did anyone ever try the Fierce Five program? My gym stuff is a bit rudderless at the moment and I was thinking of trying this come January.
Where did you get to on bench and overhead press?
Terrible, I'm afraid. A long way behind where I am with the other lifts. 70kg ish on the bench, and 50 on the OHP.
No excuses here, just poor discipline; these are always the first to get skipped (bench more so than OHP) if I'm short of time, or if the gym is busy and I can't get a bench. Consequently I struggle on them, fail to make progress, and don't enjoy them. So I've had a bit of a negative feedback loop going on. It's something I'm going to look to work on more next year.
I've never heard of Feirce Five; let us know how you get on!
Will do, I picked it up from earlier in this thread. After reading about it compared to 5x5 it sounds like something I'll stick with a bit more. Thinking 3 or 4 months and see how I get on. Currently bench is 85kg, deadlift 110kg and squat a paltry 50kg. Totally neglected squatting as I've never felt comfortable with it but have went back to an empty bar and gradually adding weight.
Hi all, stronglifts progressing nicely and just get back up to where I was before Christmas as I took a week off. I'm starting to think about early March and really preparing for the biking season.
I think I'd like to reduce the squats around then and go over to more deadlifting and perhaps clean and jerk type stuff, whilst maintaining a reasonable squat. any ideas for a routine 3 times a week until around May when the snow has melted here?
I think I'd like to reduce the squats around then and go over to more deadlifting and perhaps clean and jerk type stuff, whilst maintaining a reasonable squat. any ideas for a routine 3 times a week until around May when the snow has melted here?
I'd chose squat over deadlift (Dan John - 'if in doubt, squat'). Squat also has more carry over to cycling being quad dominant (at least until you get below parallel).
If you want to add in C&J, then best to split them up and order them: Cleans then Squats then Jerks. I used to do 5x5 Cleans, 5x5 Squat super-setted with box jumps, then 5x5 Jerks when I was being coached for OLs.
Cheers, I just thought that from previous experience, lf squatting a lot and moving to bike season, my rides really suffer if I have squatted the day before. Perhaps deadlifts when i actually start riding again