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 you 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.

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 https://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/romanian-deadlift

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….

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXidHjXOJ9I[/video]

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 4×5 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 5×5 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 5×5 Cleans, 5×5 Squat super-setted with box jumps, then 5×5 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

lf squatting a lot and moving to bike season, my rides really suffer if I have squatted the day before.

You certainly can’t do max effort on both. All depends on what you want to focus on. Joe Friel (Mountain Bikers Training Bible) recommends weights in the off season and tapering them off completely before the race season. You could just do one squat session a week at say 70% of what you previously did to maintain familiarity etc.

Just watching a bit of World’s Strongest Man; I wonder how many of those guys are clean from drugs… I gather they’re not tested.

All doped to the eyeballs. Steroid use is endemic in most average gyms now.

Long break over the winter so backed off. Squatting just under body weight to start. Aim is to get to 1x, 1.5x, 2x body weight for bench, squat and deadlift this year! Let’s do it!

Just starting a mate on 5×5 this morning, he has apparently gained nearly 2st over the Christmas period 😯
I intend to make the bloater pay 😆

2st! Does his Christmas period,like the supermarkets etc start in September?

One of my new year resolutions is to get my waist back under control (38.5″ on 1st January!). The other is to learn a proper gymnastic handstand (totally straight body, pointed toes etc), 12 week course starts on the 13th…..

I’ve just started this today as I wanted a new challenge. I have always been doing weights back to my uni rugby days so not too big a shock. Can I ask if anyone uses a belt for the row and squat sets?

Can I ask if anyone uses a belt for the row and squat sets?

Never used a belt weight lifting as never felt the need….

Used a belt when younger…not since I turned 30 though (i’m 40 now)…if going for a PB then use one, for normal lifting focus on breathing correctly and bracing your core by keeping your back straight and tensing your abs…you’ll get far stronger in the long run.

Also re. head position in squats, I used to look at the crease where the wall joins the ceiling…nice position, not so high that I was craning my neck up and not looking down which often leads to leaning forwards and straining the lower back.

Squats vs deadlfts?… Personal choice, I stopped squats when I started cycling regularly, I have naturally big legs and I was out of kilter….cycling and the leg involvement from deadlifts has been enough to keep them big and not over power my upper body…others will differ obviously.

Start using dips and chins/pullups….you’d be gobsmacked how many big gym bunnies can lift 200kg but can’t chin themselves or do a set of dips….my bench also lagged behind my squat and deadlift until I started upper body sessions with those two movements…they compliment each other and my bench then came on at an astonishing rate (faster than when I first started lifting which is almost unheard of)….in my advancing years I can be in and out of the gym in less than an hour and complete a full body workout of chins, dips, deadlifts, bench and shoulder press…don’t even bother with arms anymore as they get a good workout from the pushing and pulling exercises just listed….I’m in the gym just once a week and look better than I did 20yrs ago, once you find what works for you it’s easy.

Started stronglifts couple of months before Christmas but didn’t really go gym over December/Christmas period so lowered all the weights and started fresh in new year. Currently deadlift 115kg, squat 65kg, ohp 40kg, row 60kg and bench 65kg. Think it will be slow progress as some weeks I can only go to twice a week at the most. Anyone had any success with two sessions a week ?

I think you’d be better off doing a different or adapted program no?

I don’t use a belt or straps/gloves or mixed grip and can 1rm 160kg at 61kg bodyweight, in fact if i was prepared to really push it i think 170g is now possible.
My squats are pathetic in comparison 90kg for 10 on a good day 1rm is only about 110kg.
I do dips instead of bench and can dip 10 below parallel with 30kg.
I’ve been training for 3 years.
As for how often you need to train is an impossible question to answer because some folk think they are training hard and are nowhere near so can train more often.

I believe with the right programe/intensity you could get strong/fit training once every 5 days.

Think it will be slow progress as some weeks I can only go to twice a week at the most. Anyone had any success with two sessions a week ?

Shouldn’t be a problem. I know people who only do power lifting (squat, bench, deadlift) once a week with good results.

Thanks. I will stick to stronglifts 2x a week + bike 2/3x a week and see how it goes. I’m happy with slow progress as long as there is some progress:)

Yesterday I did my first session after 8 weeks off due to illness so it’s quite nice being sore today.

Had to drop 10KG from squat and DL but weirdly not on OHP. Gym was weirdly empty as well. Thought it’d be full of new year resolutioners.

kuman…twice a week is more than enough for the big compound lifts.

Remember you’re not building strength or muscle in the gym, you’re creating micro tears in the muscle which is the stimulus for your body to repair the muscles stronger/bigger/better than before…i’d rather train once a week (hard) and then eat well and rest well than train 3x week and have to worry about fatigue, injury etc

Loads of people squat, bench and deadlift once a week and then focus on other stability/core exercises and accessory muscle groups in their other sessions that week.

I only squat and DL once a week but a tend to split Squatting, DL, OHP and Bench into separate workouts

eg:

Mon
Squat
Pulldowns

Tues
DL
Row

Thurs
Bench
Farmers walk
Lunge

Fri
OHP
Close Grip Bench
Plate Raises
Some arm work because #flexfriday

I’ll chuck in some core work, foam rolling etc as and when needed.

I’m having a very gentle restart after being ill in early Dec and then Xmas break. Plan to ramp up to my previous working weights over the four weeks of January and then continue with my 5×5 inspired routine (squats, bench, overhead press, barbell rows, minus deadlifts, plus accessories and core stuff; three sessions per week). Progress through injury avoidance is the 2018 goal!

Right. Since I’m now working at home again I’ve made a snap decision, going back to the gym. As previously said I want to try 3×10/12 instead of 5×5, but finding an app as clear and simple as the Stronglifts one isn’t easy. So I’ve set it to lower weights, 3×5 and I’m doubling reps. So I’ll do 3×10 and if I fail and do 8 I’ll record 4.

Also adding in dips and pull ups as additional, cos I’m ashamed I cannot do more than 5 pull ups.

3×10 really does feel completely different to 5×5 and, it has to be said, more satisfying.