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Killn' The Cube: My powerlifting venture begins

MUCH better! Nice work! When are you testing your 1RM?
 
herderdude said:
MUCH better! Nice work! When are you testing your 1RM?

Thanks dude. It's pretty clear this frequency of squatting has helped me pretty significantly.

My plan is to finish this week, then take 4-5 days off and re-test. It's going to be weird not squatting for 4-5 days, lol.
 
Thanks dude. It's pretty clear this frequency of squatting has helped me pretty significantly.

My plan is to finish this week, then take 4-5 days off and re-test. It's going to be weird not squatting for 4-5 days, lol.

It's interesting how you get better day by day. Put it side by side with how you used to squat and it'd be night and day. Especially your tightness on the descent now. Before you just kind of dropped.
 
Definitely an improvement there man. Keep it up. I'm interested for sure on how these lighter volume sets really carry over to heavy weights as far as form goes.
 
herderdude said:
It's interesting how you get better day by day. Put it side by side with how you used to squat and it'd be night and day. Especially your tightness on the descent now. Before you just kind of dropped.

No doubt. I had no reverse strength before. I'd just drop down and try to use the bounce to carry myself out of the hole. I actually feel strong down there now.
 
CountryLiftin said:
Definitely an improvement there man. Keep it up. I'm interested for sure on how these lighter volume sets really carry over to heavy weights as far as form goes.

Thanks. Me too man. Something clicked today. I'll do my best to carry it over on the heavier sets.

I'll be doing 330+ Saturday, so I'll be able to see something in terms of form and heavi(ER) weight.
 
You were saying you add 15-25 from last week, so you're 335-345, right? Don't be skyrd. Just make it work.
 
That's my favorite part, lol.

Best part is queens which is questions. If you get the card, all you have to do is this...


Look to the person next to you and say " what's queens again?"

They almost always say " questions".

Boom they drink
 
Form is getting more and more natural looking. Very solid work man. I is impress. I also notice your unrack has gotten much better than it used to be. Nice braced core. Good job Cincy. It's gonna be cool to see how this treats you overall. Looks like it will be nothing short of great results in a small period of time.
 
rob112 said:
Form is getting more and more natural looking. Very solid work man. I is impress. I also notice your unrack has gotten much better than it used to be. Nice braced core. Good job Cincy. It's gonna be cool to see how this treats you overall. Looks like it will be nothing short of great results in a small period of time.

Appreciate it Rob.

Whether I gain 5lbs or 30lbs to my squat, it's been a hell of a run. My squat is forever better.
 
Upper:

DE bench: 3x6- 225

Arnold press:
55x12
55x10
55x8

First time hitting these in 2 years, felt good.

Cable side lateral: 6x3- 20lbs (6-8 sec eccentric)

Cat back lat pulls: 20x4- heavy band

Banded press downs SS pull aparts: 20/30x3

Spider curl:
40x20
60x12x3

Face pull:
90x15x2
100x15x2

Pretty much a BB type of day. Everything was done with strict form and a slowww negative. Feelin' like swollingham lincoln.

School shut down day 2. Off to the gun range to let the pistol eat a lil.
 
pew pew. Good little gun.

1 more year and I can get my CC. Yippee.
 
Smolov jr: Week 3- Day 2


Squat: 7 sets of 5:
295x5x5
305x5x2

Pretty challenging day. 295 was going smooth, so I upped the weight for the last 2 sets. Got a little too much upper torso lean on a few reps, but quickly eradicated the issue.

Depth was there all day. This mobility work has really opened up my hips. Felt like my ass was 3-5 inches from the ground.

Heavy walk outs again as well.
 
Did a little research last night and came across a westside Q&A from the dawn of time; Dave Tate was 31 when answering these questions.

QUESTION: Does Louie have any articles in which he goes into detail in describing compensatory acceleration?

I think the best explanation of Compensatory Acceleration I have ever read is by Fred Hatfield in his book POWER. He writes of the lifer who squats 5 sets of 5 reps. He guessed that only 25% of the work was enough to force the adaptive. This 25% was in the bottom part of the lift where the lifter
strains. The upper part of the motion involves better leverage so the weight is lighter. This is why you can partial squat more than you can full squat. He also writes that what you are left with is only the last two reps are difficult enough to force any kind of adaptive process. The first three reps are easy because you not in fatigued state. Thus 75% of the movement is wasted.

As I see it, there are three ways to get 100% efficiency out every rep.

Isokinetics
Contrast Methods
Compensatory Acceleration

I will discuss the last two as they are the easiest to use. The use of contrast methods such as chains and bands will cause greater efficiency because the weight will never feel lighter. At the point where you body will normally start to slow down the bands and chains kick in. This will cause the lifter to have to apply force throughout the entire movement. Thus, a higher percent of efficiency.

Compensatory Acceleration is similar to contrast methods and Isokinetics except that you have to control the amount of effort being produced. The idea according to Fred is to "speed up the movement in such a way that increased leverage is accommodated for" Other benefits according to Fred are Fewer Injuries because you can use a lower percentage of weight and the over all Power is increased. He also states that with explosive movements against resistance the Golgi tendon organ will be delayed in sending its stretch message to the brain. When the happens the brain sends a message to the contracting muscle to shut down. This response limits strength. So by delaying this message you are allow your strength to increase.

This information provided by Fred can help you see the why percent training with fewer reps and Compensatory Acceleration has helped so many of our lifers. When this is combined with the use of contrast methods the overall effect is much greater as seen in the recent PR's set by Westside lifters.


I find this really interesting. I also did not know Westside guys trained completely raw heading into their meets. Good stuff.
 
My question to this would be; if you're still getting stronger at the BOTTOM of the lift, that has a direct correlation to strength through the entire concentric phase.

While the assertion is that you're only truly getting stronger during 25% of the movement, that 25% is the most difficult part. You necessarily get stronger in terms of weight moved.

I don't disagree with the methods mentioned, but does this article overstate their value to a raw lifter?
 
Swanson52 said:
My question to this would be; if you're still getting stronger at the BOTTOM of the lift, that has a direct correlation to strength through the entire concentric phase.

While the assertion is that you're only truly getting stronger during 25% of the movement, that 25% is the most difficult part. You necessarily get stronger in terms of weight moved.

I don't disagree with the methods mentioned, but does this article overstate their value to a raw lifter?

Good question man and obviously I am no authority on this.

I can read an article promoting accommodating resistance and one dismissing it, but the only way I will truly know how I respond is to give it a shot and find out how my body reacts.

When I restart conjugate, I'll implement them more than I have in the past. This question has been lingering in me for a while. Only one way to find out.

Edit:

There's an older guy at my gym that swears by bands/chains. Certainly you can get stronger with straight weight, but he said when he started implementing bands frequently his total shot up fast.

It's hard to argue with a 55 year old that still has numbers of: 545/405/605. He says he's drug free as well and I believe it.
 
I like accommodating resistance (in theory) personally, but I agree. You can find just as many opinions blasting it for raw lifters as you can promoting it.

It's pretty damn subjective that way, but still ends up being a polarizing method. Several years ago the prevailing wisdom was that speed work was marginally effective for raw guys, now you have the top raw lifters hammering it.

If you haven't seen it, check out Chris Duffin's update a day or so ago. Dude is TIMING his speed work. Amazing, really.
 
I'll def check that out. This was written by an elitefts person and it also has to do with the time aspect.

Speed work is in the conjugate system because if you think about the force velocity curve (basically the concept that governs strength development), one must train both traits to continue to build strength. You see, once you tap out max strength (aka: force), one can only continue to get stronger by addressing speed on the curve (velocity), which will, in turn, cause the curve to shift and allow you to once again have room to increase force. In this concept, of course, is the beauty of concurrent training. It addresses both aspects in a week of training, thus allowing one to continue the shift and avoid a plateau.
Unfortunately, it’s when people apply speed work incorrectly that issues develop. Speed work can be trained in a range as large as 30 to 60 percent because, well, everyone is different and not everyone moves a weight at .7 meters per second squared—so there is the issue! Everyone is worried about percents, yet they should really be worried about moving the weight at the percent that equates to them moving the weight at .7 m/s/s. Otherwise, what you are doing is not accomplishing what your intention was.

I understand that some believe that peak force output is not maximized during speed work. I also understand that with speed work we are after maximal acceleration—because if force is mass times acceleration, then the purpose of a speed day is to maximize accretion. Finally, I understand that some believe that you can’t maximize peak force with speed work the way you can with a max lift. But then here’s the issue: perhaps the speed work is implemented incorrectly and this is the reason why the speed work is failing to achieve the training effect it was intended to elicit.

Let’s say we go back to the velocity of .7 m/s/s concept. While speed percents are often assigned between the 50- to 60-percent range (or even the 60- to 75-percent range when using straight weight), the more important idea is to find the percent where you can accomplish this acceleration, regardless of whether the percent of weight on the bar is 40 or 80! Truly, if one is doing speed work correctly, another rep could not be completed by maintaining that .7 acceleration regardless of the fact that one is moving a sub-maximal weight.

When done correctly, the RPE of a set of speed work should be a 9 or a 10 (meaning that you couldn’t do another rep). And if it’s not? Well, then you are doing speed work incorrectly and probably shouldn’t be using a concurrent system because you are not achieving the purpose of the dynamic day—achieving maximal acceleration. If that’s the case, don’t stress. Either get with lifters who can get you to implement speed work correctly or pick a different training system. Honestly, lifters should choose training programs that they can execute correctly, and if speed work is being more of a hassle than a help, well no harm there. At the end of the day, one would probably benefit more from training with heavier weights more often so that max force can be achieved via attacking the mass portion of the Force = Mass x Acceleration equation. And if you’re worried that you are neglecting acceleration and are not okay with it, don’t worry—just add ploys, Olympic lifts, or jumps to your training because in those situations, you have no choice but to be fast and accelerate.
 
My question to this would be; if you're still getting stronger at the BOTTOM of the lift, that has a direct correlation to strength through the entire concentric phase.

While the assertion is that you're only truly getting stronger during 25% of the movement, that 25% is the most difficult part. You necessarily get stronger in terms of weight moved.

I don't disagree with the methods mentioned, but does this article overstate their value to a raw lifter?

I've seen a good few guys (Chad Smith, Corey Hayes, Sam Byrd) using straight weight compensatory acceleration for raw strength with good success. The key to compensatory acceleration isn't necessarily accomodating resistance, it's continuing to accelerate the bar even as your leverages improve. Blast out of the hole, and keep your foot on the pedal.
 
herderdude said:
I've seen a good few guys (Chad Smith, Corey Hayes, Sam Byrd) using straight weight compensatory acceleration for raw strength with good success. The key to compensatory acceleration isn't necessarily accomodating resistance, it's continuing to accelerate the bar even as your leverages improve. Blast out of the hole, and keep your foot on the pedal.

Yeah, there's no doubt there's a lot of people that have got crazy strong without them. By the same token, there are a lot of people that have got crazy strong with them.

Bands/chains definitely aren't the end all be all, but I got to see for myself if they can provide anything additional.
 
Yeah, there's no doubt there's a lot of people that have got crazy strong without them. By the same token, there are a lot of people that have got crazy strong with them.

Bands/chains definitely aren't the end all be all, but I got to see for myself if they can provide anything additional.

If nothing else, lifting with a bunch of chains makes you feel like a total badass. That, alone, makes them a worthwhile training implement.
 
The way I look at it, you can perform a certain workload in one session. Your weak point is whats holding you back from bigger #s. As that weak point increases the rest of your ROM or whatever terminology you want to toss about, gets stronger as well. Using chains and bands has it's place. They make you work through the whole range. You get stronger through the whole movement. This could have carry over to the lift as a whole. But it also means more work overall, with the same amount of work at your weak point. I'd rather put effort into supplemental exercises that train weak points and train the movement as a whole with standard weight. I would use chains at times if I had them available at my current gym. I will work bands in on bench every once in a while. But I don't think they should take the place of plain old weight. Chains and bands should be used after you do your normal working volume of the movement. That's my opinion.
 
Swanson52 said:
If nothing else, lifting with a bunch of chains makes you feel like a total badass. That, alone, makes them a worthwhile training implement.

Hahaha, for sure man.

I want to go to planet fitness, bring my chains, take my shirt off, pull a ME set of deadlifts while blaring disturbed and see how long it takes to intimidate/offend someone.

Edit:

And make a huge chalk mess.
 
CountryLiftin said:
The way I look at it, you can perform a certain workload in one session. Your weak point is whats holding you back from bigger #s. As that weak point increases the rest of your ROM or whatever terminology you want to toss about, gets stronger as well. Using chains and bands has it's place. They make you work through the whole range. You get stronger through the whole movement. This could have carry over to the lift as a whole. But it also means more work overall, with the same amount of work at your weak point. I'd rather put effort into supplemental exercises that train weak points and train the movement as a whole with standard weight. I would use chains at times if I had them available at my current gym. I will work bands in on bench every once in a while. But I don't think they should take the place of plain old weight. Chains and bands should be used after you do your normal working volume of the movement. That's my opinion.

There's no doubt you got to target the weak points bro. I'm not sure just how I'm going to implement them, but I'll figure it out. I think the bands/chains will help me develop that ballistic speed. That's the carry over I'm looking for.

I'm still in the infantile stages of my PL'ing career. Just want to try a bit of everything and see what's best for ME. I'm pretty much a French powerlifting whore.
 
Speed will help you power through your sticking point as long as it's not the initial/bottom of the lift. I just focus on accelerating through the whole rep. Haha. No chains or good bands to work with so I don't worry about it for now.
 
Today:

WG pull-ups:
BW+25x5x3
BWx8- as slow as possible

Meadows row:
Bar+45x12x3
Bar+2 45x10

T-bar row (drop set):
4 platesx10
3 platesx12
2 platesx13

DB rear delt fly SS pull aparts: 20/20x3

DB hammer curl: slow as possible weight/reps; who cares

Preacher curl (rest pause): a lot

Voodoo hip flossing/foam rolling/stretching

Just wanted to get in the gym today. Can't do enough upper back work.
 
Smolov jr: week 3- day 3

Squat: 8 sets of 4- 320

Phuckin killed it, depth all day. I felt a little tight today, so I was feeling weary about it, but nothing felt too heavy.

Tmrw is going to be a straight grind. 10 sets of 3 with 345. I want it to be known that my previous PR is 365x3 WITH a belt. I'm going without tmrw and if I do well I'll be expecting a hefty PR next week.
 
Sean1332 said:
They're nice. I saw some today.

Hell yeah.

I have very flat feet, so I think I stand to benefit from a good pair. They'll last me forever, so it's not too bad.

Do most big squatters use oly shoes?
 
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