Sweetlou's training log

I face away from the mirror so I don't watch myself either. I'm too tempted if it's right in front of me.
 
Diet is making me feel bloated and fat lol. Could be the 575g carbs I eat per day.

I'm beat up. Back aches daily. Hard to close my hands and grip anything in the morning. Feel like I've been run over by a truck everyday.

I hate steroids.

Mini update before I test my bench. Rip to my body.
 
Since returning to work my grip has been the same way. I wake up and can't open or close it without it pain takes a good ½ hr to work it out i need to stop griping the weld stinger so tight lol
 
Duramaxhd said:
Since returning to work my grip has been the same way. I wake up and can't open or close it without it pain takes a good ½ hr to work it out i need to stop griping the weld stinger so tight lol
Click to expand...

Well you have a reason. Im just a weakling with the work capacity of a baby. I will beat myself into the ground and force my work capacity up if its the last thing I do. Lol
 
8/16/15-comp bench
Warmup
Usual stuff
Comp bench feet flat to save back
Work up
315x2, restrained pec
Comp bench old form
315x1, pec is ****ed
JM press
135x4x10
135x20
Sohp
125x2x10
135x2x10
T-bar rows
115x5x10
Mini band unilateral pushdowns/db curls/bb shrugs
100 total/25x4x12/315x4x10
Bench
Barx3x20
Notes: 3rd injury on bench. **** man. Tricep work and ohp don't hurt. Its not to bad. Should recover quick. Gonna refocus on my triceps and lats to save my pec.
 
Maybe some bruising? Or it's my stretch marks. To small to tell. No real pain unless I flex the pec hard or cross my mid line. No inflammation.
 
8/18/15-comp squat/deadlift assistance
Warmup
Usual stuff
Plus CWS breathing
Comp squat in rack
435x5, new training max of 505. Rpe about 8.
2in block pulls
70% of training max-405x10x1 45s rest
Unilateral adductor leg press
90x5x15
Squat unrack breathing
135x3x10 deep breaths with 3s holds
Planks
3x30s with deep breaths with 3s holds
CWS breathing
2x10 breaths with 3s holds
Notes: smashed my rep max. Had more in me but took the 25lb increase on my training max. No pec pain, and I'm still not breathing the best plus my belt was a touch loose. Video up soon. Did the pulls to work on getting close to the bar and picking the weight up with my hips. The blocks will be easier to recover from. By the end my technique was the best its ever felt. Decided to start doing some work to take care of my hips again. Really driving the breathing home. Was feeling good by the end. And yes my squat depth is questionable when you see the vid lol.
 
Nice session man. Congrats on the forward progress. Need to work on breathing/bracing myself.
 
jswain34 said:
Nice session man. Congrats on the forward progress. Need to work on breathing/bracing myself.
Click to expand...

Thanks man!

The bracing is my number one priority and will stay that way until further notice. Its much harder with the closer grip for me. But since I won't have access to a mono for forever esp once I move to school I gotta learn to squat in a rack asap.
 
liftandswim said:
According to duffin, he's put 150lbs on his squat in the past few years and 100 of those pounds he attributed to improved breathing/bracing.

Killer session, Lou. In for vid!
Click to expand...

I'm horrible at it. Esp with the narrow grip.

Invalid Link Removed

Here's the bid guys. Please rip it apart form wise. I want to perfect my lifts again.
 
Hard to tell, but you might be losing your core in/near the hole. Elongating the torso. Try to keep that ribcage plugged in, as duffin would say. But again, idk. Videos are deceptive.

Too, you seem a bit hesitant. Not saying you need to be descend faster necessarily, but more fluid (if that makes sense).

Idk I don't got much. Looked good to me
 
SweetLou321 said:
I'm horrible at it. Esp with the narrow grip.

Invalid Link Removed

Here's the bid guys. Please rip it apart form wise. I want to perfect my lifts again.
Click to expand...

Reps looked easy, man.

Seems like you're breaking at the knees first and then trying to push your hips back, then your hips go back back back and no down. Arching too much maybe.

I'm terrible at explaining **** that's in my head.

Also, with 1, 2 & 3 reps, I'll use the RPE to calculate an estimated max. Say I did 1 @ 8, I could calculate 3 reps into the 1RM formula. I did that a lot going into my last meet.

Edit: What L&S said about the torso. He explained it. That's what's restricting your depth.
 
liftandswim said:
Hard to tell, but you might be losing your core in/near the hole. Elongating the torso. Try to keep that ribcage plugged in, as duffin would say. But again, idk. Videos are deceptive.

Too, you seem a bit hesitant. Not saying you need to be descend faster necessarily, but more fluid (if that makes sense).

Idk I don't got much. Looked good to me
Click to expand...

Yes on everything you said. I know that is happening and I can't seem to fix it squatting out of a rack. I was very hesitant due to how bad all y warm ups felt and looked. I guess I'll have to become a push pull when I move bc the root cause of my issues is my shoulders. I need to grab wider and all those issues go away even the bracing issues. But I can't go any wider in a rack.

Unsure what to do.
 
Sean1332 said:
Reps looked easy, man.

Seems like you're breaking at the knees first and then trying to push your hips back, then your hips go back back back and no down. Arching too much maybe.

I'm terrible at explaining **** that's in my head.

Also, with 1, 2 & 3 reps, I'll use the RPE to calculate an estimated max. Say I did 1 @ 8, I could calculate 3 reps into the 1RM formula. I did that a lot going into my last meet.

Edit: What L&S said about the torso. He explained it. That's what's restricting your depth.
Click to expand...

It does look like I'm breaking at the knees first. Doesn't feel that way. I can't seem to keep braced if I break the hips first as immediately enter anterior pelvic tilt and my core become elongated.

I am over arching bc my shoulders are to tight and push me forward at the bottom if I don't. I won't have access to a mono in about a month and i can't structurally squat out of a rack lol.

Idk what to do.
 
Breaking at your hips is almost like a hip hinge. Ass to shoulders should still be in line, no need for the pelvic tilt. I think people think their upper body shouldn't move as they break at their hips and that's what causes the tilt.

As far as the shoulders, I wish I could help, but I have nothing. Might have to accept squatting with a higher bar position?
 
Sean1332 said:
Mash your pec and shoulders pre squat and use a false grip? Or are they (shoulders) beyond that
Click to expand...

I do role and stretch my shoulder press squat and the false grip does not make a difference at all. Breaking at the wrist is the only thing I've found that helped some. They are beyond it.
 
liftandswim said:
Breaking at your hips is almost like a hip hinge. Ass to shoulders should still be in line, no need for the pelvic tilt. I think people think their upper body shouldn't move as they break at their hips and that's what causes the tilt.

As far as the shoulders, I wish I could help, but I have nothing. Might have to accept squatting with a higher bar position?
Click to expand...

I can't hinge that well. I can but its some bad tilt. It actually something I've noticed I've noticed is apart of my bracing issues. Its very apparent on good mornings and rdls. Super back extension patterns.
 
If you google "tony gentilecore breathing" a lot of his bracing articles come up. he explains **** pretty well and has videos. I'm not sure if any of the drills may help or not. There's one or two of them that I do to help cue
 
Sean1332 said:
If you google "tony gentilecore breathing" a lot of his bracing articles come up. he explains **** pretty well and has videos. I'm not sure if any of the drills may help or not. There's one or two of them that I do to help cue
Click to expand...

Well if my grip is wider then I can breath and brace just fine. But then I can't squat in a rack. Exactly what duffin talks about with the shoulders and elbows literally driving you forward or going into thoracic extension.
 
Perhaps you need to see a real chiro or movement specialist to figure out how to FIX your shoulders - it's pretty clear that they're the root cause, at least you feel from everything you can deduce and have tried. If there are no known tricks to work around them, you're gonna have to find someone that can help you fix them (if that's possible). I'm inclined to think there's a way, and also that you're not in a financial/insurance-having position to get that right now. Which leads to next point:

Find someone, on a forum, through other powerlifters at local meets, who has a mono in their garage/home setup you can train with. This is definitely doable if you're willing to go where and when once/wk to make it happen. If they've already got a couple other guys training together this could really be worth the time for a lot of other reasons anyway (spotters, motivation, friendship, real-time criticism/analysis). Guy at my gym drives an hour one way every week through the cornfields to come train stones and such. You can do high-bar and front stuff at wherever you get a commercial membership if you like.

Don't forget you can always practice grip/bracing at home any time you like w/ a shovel/broom etc. Just don't snap the broom!

Take care of that pec!
 
I always have to put my fingers over the hooks to unrack, I false grip it and roll the bar to the end of the J and go from there. As soon as I clear, I engage everything harder now that it's only the bar I'm pulling on. It works if you have the right kind of hooks.

I know if you have too much flesh packed into too small of an area it's impossible to engage the lats, see if you can try what I've been doing.
 
Just past the 5 minute mark there is a banded shoulder stretch here that will (slowly) train them to not roll forward.

Invalid Link Removed

Jealous of Herders squat setup. I'm scared to lose a finger at that wide.
 
Hyde said:
Perhaps you need to see a real chiro or movement specialist to figure out how to FIX your shoulders - it's pretty clear that they're the root cause, at least you feel from everything you can deduce and have tried. If there are no known tricks to work around them, you're gonna have to find someone that can help you fix them (if that's possible). I'm inclined to think there's a way, and also that you're not in a financial/insurance-having position to get that right now. Which leads to next point:

Find someone, on a forum, through other powerlifters at local meets, who has a mono in their garage/home setup you can train with. This is definitely doable if you're willing to go where and when once/wk to make it happen. If they've already got a couple other guys training together this could really be worth the time for a lot of other reasons anyway (spotters, motivation, friendship, real-time criticism/analysis). Guy at my gym drives an hour one way every week through the cornfields to come train stones and such. You can do high-bar and front stuff at wherever you get a commercial membership if you like.

Don't forget you can always practice grip/bracing at home any time you like w/ a shovel/broom etc. Just don't snap the broom!

Take care of that pec!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help. They are just tight is all. I have separated both ac joints in the past. I will most likely just look for a mono or try what herder suggested.

I have great external and internal rotation and do mobility work for them 5 times a week. As is.

I will see a chiro soon regardless.

Thanks for the advice. Pec is feeling great actually.
 
herderdude said:
I always have to put my fingers over the hooks to unrack, I false grip it and roll the bar to the end of the J and go from there. As soon as I clear, I engage everything harder now that it's only the bar I'm pulling on. It works if you have the right kind of hooks.

I know if you have too much flesh packed into too small of an area it's impossible to engage the lats, see if you can try what I've been doing.
Click to expand...

Do you have any vids of this? And how do you go about reracking the weight.
 
Also its all in my shoulders. Watched my squats from the meet in may and all looked perfect to me. If you on my fb and saw my 5rm, if you could compare my form I'd love to hear it.

Working on bracing and hinging better anyways tho.
 
I have trouble bracing with walkouts too lou. I feel your pain. I've been doing the thing before lifts where I breath out as if I was trying to blow a candle out across the room, and I start my breathing through the nose to get the diaphragm going and then finish as much as I can through the mouth. Still working, but that had been better for me so far then what I was doing.
 
liftandswim said:
Same. Now that I've backed off my usage.

There's some crazy fuggers around here (you know who you are) that used to pound more than that. Lol.
Click to expand...

Cool bro, I've been needing less caffeine lately too. I have 200 mg tablets. I lost a good amount of weight and BF this summer and have actually just been biting them in half
 
throneof said:
Cool bro, I've been needing less caffeine lately too. I have 200 mg tablets. I lost a good amount of weight and BF this summer and have actually just been biting them in half
Click to expand...

Weighing less allowed me to get more out of less caffeine. But I'm about to start bulking again, so prob back up to 200 haha
 
SweetLou321 said:
I see how you grab it. How long did it take you to be proficient at that grip and how many times did you catch your hands?
Click to expand...

Sometimes on speed days with heavy band tension I rig the bands too close to the hooks and smash my fingers on the bottom of the hooks on my way up, but I've been false gripping squats since October '13. It was honestly a very easy transition to move my grip to the hooks.
 
herderdude said:
Sometimes on speed days with heavy band tension I rig the bands too close to the hooks and smash my fingers on the bottom of the hooks on my way up, but I've been false gripping squats since October '13. It was honestly a very easy transition to move my grip to the hooks.
Click to expand...

Thanks man. I'll give it a shot on Saturday and see how it goes. If this works I'll be stoked. I've tried using a squat bar and grabbing outside the rack (which I can) but my back just isn't big enough to create a good shelf that wide. Or maybe I don't know how to?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top