Gym And Supplement Discussion

[No Crust Racing]

Added a little weight to a few things last night. Feeling OK today.

Still no squatting though. Doing sprints on the bike with resistance to give legs some attention.

[God_speed]

Tried to crack the 500# the other night, pissed that I almost got it but missed.

Then did some reading of this excellent article and realised how I'm setting up with my hips too low, which is highly inefficient. Have a read, it makes good sense.

Why your Deadlift Setup is Wrong
http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/powerlifting-technique-deadlift-setup/

> Bar over mid-foot
> Hips high enough that arms make a 90 degree angle with your lats (well, the direction the lats are pulling, anyway) which permits proper lat engagement and reduces unnecessary "moment" of leverage, also reduces distance between bar and hips which decreases energy required to lift (bar will track a straighter path).
> Bar slightly behind shoulders

[r31slpr]

That wasn't too bad for a max attempt, you need to work on your lockout, you're good off the floor.

[mkn23]

fuahhh 230kg is a big number, my max is 205kg but that was before my month long holiday in which i lost 5kg and all my strength, been too scared to go heavy again

[-FIGJAM-]

That was my ex lol, such a different world now.

Yeah my ex was the polar opposite. Couldnt get enough

[God_speed]

Thanks fellas. 220 is my max, at 85.5kg.

Made some adjustments to my setup based on that article and I found the lift went much smoother, it felt more efficient with a higher hip starting point.

Mkn, I guess that just means you need to work up to it again slowly. Going for a DL PB there's always some psychology in it, but for me it's nothing like the squat. Going heavy on squats is really based on confidence I find.

[Birds]

Why not step up 5kg or even 2.5kg instead of a 10kg increase over pb?

[r31slpr]

A challenge, why go for something you know you'll get

[God_speed]

You're actually both right, 10kg was definitely a step up, but due to my ego I didn't want to have 2.5kg biscuits on there and I wanted to see if I could crack the 500 pounds.

[The Bogan]

I love my 1.25 plates, every so often go for new PB and have a win, I dispise not making a lift, my next attempt at some PB's will be in 6 weeks.

I feel for me getting a 1.25 or 2.5 PB's every couple of months is better then going to heavy and risk injury or failure.

My last PB was the 90 clean and press, training weight for 6 to 8 weeks then go for 92.5.

Have I said I hate missing lifts.

[God_speed]

You've also got a point Mark, I was just sort of joshing. If you take a leaf out of Jim Wendler's book, then one should try and steer clear of ego-lifting. And programs like 5/3/1 encourage the achievement of PBs no matter how slight, and the progression of weight from week to week or cycle to cycle, in small denominations. I just hate standing next to the barbell trying to calculate in my head what plates I need to give me the exact total I want, then having to pull about 2 or 3 off each side for the next set to reconfigure them for another odd numbered total.

[Birds]

A challenge, why go for something you know you'll get

That is the worst logic I've heard for someone trying to get stronger lol

[Birds]

You've also got a point Mark, I was just sort of joshing. If you take a leaf out of Jim Wendler's book, then one should try and steer clear of ego-lifting. And programs like 5/3/1 encourage the achievement of PBs no matter how slight, and the progression of weight from week to week or cycle to cycle, in small denominations. I just hate standing next to the barbell trying to calculate in my head what plates I need to give me the exact total I want, then having to pull about 2 or 3 off each side for the next set to reconfigure them for another odd numbered total.

An increase of 2.5kg to a 220kg deadlift is a bit over 1%...maybe not enough for your muscles to notice it (I bet they will) or be a bragging point to someone else, but that's the point...you do this minuscule increase another 3 times and in 2 weeks you've cracked 230. Now we know weight lifting isn't linear, so we know you can't just keep on doing this forever (even 2.5kg a week is 120kg across the course of a year); there will come a point where you can lift xxx but can't lift xxx+2.5kg, and then suddenly the 1.25kg plates aren't a pain in the arse to calculate, they're a pain in the arse to lift!!!

Bank the 225 or 222.5 and go up from there. 1.25kg plates added 20kg to my deadlift 1RM, as opposed to stepping up even 5kg at a time.

[r31slpr]

That is the worst logic I've heard for someone trying to get stronger lol

My point was he got the 220, got the 230 above the knees. Yeah he could have just chucked a couple kilos on 220 and made the lift. But now he knows his limits and sticking points. Unless it's a comp it doesn't really matter if you miss a lift.

[Birds]

If you make the 225 you end up stronger from succeeding with the lift. Getting stronger happens with progression and a failed lift isn't progression; an increase in amount of weight lifted is. Case in point: his PB is still 220. My point is that a 10kg leap is unnecessarily large when shooting for a new pb at the kind of weight he's doing, hence recommendation to give a 5kg or even 2.5kg increase a go and bank some more weight. Then the leap from that to 230 isn't so big.

In a competition, is ironically where you would put up a number that you don't know if you can get or not...on the 3rd lift.

[r31slpr]

I understand the point you're putting across, which is also right.

The one I was trying to make us that it doesn't matter if he makes the lift as long as something is learned from it.

If he'd have done say 225 and made it he may not have pursued the research that showed he needed to change the start position slightly, which will benefit him later on

[r31slpr]

Double post

Edited February 22, 2015 by r31slpr

[rev210]

I wouldn't argue with points made but also wouldn't argue a crack at 10kg extra on occasion.

Failing teaches you things.getting the PB's up becomes mental.Learning to persevere and back yourself are very impotant. An old training technique is to tell someone there is less weight (or more ) on than there really is. Numbers can intimidate or distract you ,making you lose effectiveness.

[God_speed]

I get you Birds. But problem is, I would be unlikely to be stepping up my weight successively for week after week, particularly if I was following a program like, say 5/3/1, which would involve a cycle of 4 weeks with the 4th and final being a deload. When you also factor in the other variables like diet, sleep, stress, other physical activity and lifting on the day/week in question, it's really not a linear progression (even if the line of best fit would resemble more or less a straight line if one were to plot their calculated or actual 1RMs) but instead there's a lot of randomness to it. I happened to feel pretty strong on the day. Having said all of that, I acknowledge 10kg was a significant bump up from my previous max. That previous max of 220 btw, was done back in November. My sets this time were 70x10, 70x10, 110x6, 150x4, 190x1, 210x1, 230x0

[Birds]

All I'm saying is you would have had 225, prolly even 227.5; a new PB plus taught your body to lift that much weight. Not saying you were wrong to try a 10kg step up...go for your life...everyone has failed a 1RM this way before and you almost had that lift - it was just a suggestion for your next 1RM attempt, that you try a smaller increment. It's an easier physical and mental battle. Bank the weight away throigu a full range of motion and be happy with an increase/progression - it's amazing how much stronger the body can grow with even a 2.5kg jump in the 1RM. It can easily add a couple of reps to heavy volume sets during your next session, which in turn help your 1RM.

Regardless, you will one day get to a point where to realistically progress in the 1RM, all you can do is add 2.5kg to it. As we all agree, lifting weight is not linear, so one day it will plateau and you will need to resort to this kind of increment anyway.

I'm actuallly surprised you lost the lift at the point you did - very close to lockout and thought you were there. If I can get a deadlift that high I can usually lock it out. My sticking point is just above the knees where I struggle with a 1RM. I need to hit the rack pulls.