04.30.2017 Bench Press, touch and go 45 x 16 x 4 135 x 6 x 2 185 x 4 225 x 2 245 x 2 255 x 2 265 x 0 225 x 8 Deadlift, conventional, no belt 315 x 4 365 x 3 405 x 2 445 x 2 475 x 1 495 x 0 Bent Over Barbell Row 225 x 6 x 2 Stiff-Legged Pull 335 x 8 355 x 8 375 x 8 I missed 265 on the bench really badly. Just couldn't move it at all. Then I got some volume with 225. Shoulder is much better, but not quite enough for the really heavy stuff over 95%. I also missed 495 on the deadlift, but I didn't grind. Just immediately gave up when I saw it was going to be hard. I didn't want to burn out. I just wanted to feel fairly heavy weight in my hands after giving up at 435 x 2 on Wednesday. I also tried out barbell rows. Dumbbell rows are much, much better. I can generate a lot more tension when I brace against a bench.
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
04.26.2017
Bench Press, touch and go, paused first rep or two till 225
45 x 16 x 2
135 x 6
185 x 4
225 x 2
245 x 2
255 x 3 x 2
Dumbbell Row, supinated 150 x 5r5l x 2
Left shoulder still hurting, but not enough to prevent benching. Left adductor still hurting and just enough to keep from squatting for another week or two. I'm using the time away from squats to pour my energy into the deadlift, a lift I surely backburnered for years.
My best ever bench for 10 was 255. I only managed 255 for two sets of three tonight, but that is by far the best I've done this year, so no complaints. And supinated DB row is back up to solid sets with 150!!!
04.23.2107 Deadlift, conventional, no belt, hook grip 315 x 5 385 x 3 435 x 2 475 x 2 495 x 2 Stiff-Legged Pull 315 x 5, 6, 7, 10 So excited. Worked up to 495 for a double @ 189. This is just five pounds shy of my best ever of 500 for a double, but I was at 195+ at the time. And this time I worked up with doubles instead of doing singles up to the top set. I am categorically the strongest on deadlifts that I've ever been. 04.09.2017 Deadlift, conventional, no belt, hook grip 315 x 4 385 x 3 435 x 2 465 x 1 495 x 1 510 x 1
I followed that up with trying out stiff-legged pulls (I won't call them "deadlifts" since the reps don't start on the floor. I felt things out with a set of five and was amazed at how light 315 felt. I finished up with a set of ten. I would have gone for a few more sets, but I had to go get the groceries. I was very winded after that set of ten, though. Sucked wind for three minutes. I should also note that my left adductor isn't quite healed. It forced me to do an extended warm up and that extended warm up is something I really should keep doing. I did the long pull and then a bunch of high and low bar squats with just the bar until my back and thigh muscles all felt full and warm. I also hung from the pull up bar after my last set of lower body pulls until my grip gave out. I heard my spine "clunk" when it stretched out after a few seconds.
04.19.2017
Olympic Back Squat, no belt, no wraps, no sleeves, paused first rep till 315
45 x 5 x 2
135 x 4
225 x 3
315 x 2
355 x 1
375 x 1
325 x 2 x 2
Leg Press, 45-degree, thighs to chest
495 x 1, 2, 3
545 x 10
585 x 9
My adductor felt healed enough to squat, and I just didn't want to wait around and NOT squat anymore. It held up amazingly well, then I tweaked it again when I lost control on the last rep of leg presses! The leg press was how I hurt it in the first place. Letting my knees drift out at the bottom and really stretching the adductor then reversing direction against all that weight.
I am basically doing short cycles and have started over with the squat. I went up to 385 last microcycle and now this microcycle I'm starting at 375 as of today and hoping my adductor has pulled itself together again by next week. I really should have not gone to failure on leg press.
04.16.2017
Bench Press, touch and go
45 x 15 x 2
135 x 6
185 x 4
225 x 2
245 x 2
255 x 3
Dumbbell Row 145 x 5r5l x 3
First bench in a long while. Left shoulder held up, but started giving slight warning at 245. I tried to do a pull up after the rows and it hurt so I will hold off on those till next week.
I have lost little to no strength on the bench. Such a big difference from the squat where two weeks off would have meant a 100-lb drop.
You don't get points for how aesthetic your squat is.
But maybe you should.
Maybe if your squat doesn't resemble and athletic squat that tests leg strength, then it shouldn't count at all.
Purists lament that any arch at all is allowed in the bench -- and they lose their minds when certain feds very loosely interpret how much of a lifter's nether regions should stay in contact with the bench -- but I more bothered at the how the written rules for the squat allow lifters to wear the bar way down on their backs and turn the squat into a good morning, a test of back resilience and glute strength instead of a test of quad and glute strength.
In a thick wad of irony, the people who champion the low bar squat as both a competition movement and a training tool blanch at the inclusion of the sumo style of deadlifting as an acceptable competition movement and a training tool. And I agree with them. The deadlift is supposed to be a test of back strength along aided by the legs, just like the squat is supposed to be a test of leg strength aided by the back.
People who hate the sumo style hate it because it reduces the stress on the spinal erectors. It's a deadlift for people who don't want to tax their backs too much while moving as much weight off the floor and to lockout as possible.
This really seems to be an insult to the lift that's supposed to be the ultimate test of back strength.
The good morning squat is largely born of lower bar placement. The longer the torso is in relation to the femurs, the more upright a squat will be. So some people (dwarfs, most East Asians, a good percentage of whites, and a smattering of blacks) can low bar with zero heel elevation and still keep a fairly erect torso because their individual (and shared) anthropometry is still in balance with a mostly vertical torso, that is the lower bar is still over the mid-foot with minimal increased torso inclination.
But many, many lifters (taller men, most blacks, and a good chunk of whites) with their longer femurs relative to their spines have to use a higher bar placement and an elevated heel to keep the barbell-lifter system in balance with a more vertical torso.
And it's really a wonder what a higher bar position and a proper heel height can do for a deadlift-favored lifters squat form!
low bar with low heel with a belt and sleeves...
notice the forward lean; I'm horizontal when it gets hard
high bar with high heel, no belt, no wraps, no sleeves...
notice how upright I manage to stay
and here is when I was at my peak a few months before that 385
425 high bar, no belt, but with wraps
Also while I was lifting more weight in legal fashion in that low bar vid from years ago, there was no way in hell I could have managed to squat that same weight high bar at all, even with a belt. I would have been crushed. I am much stronger now with my high bar and completely unequipped squat at ~405 than I was with that low bar and belt with 405 x 3.
A simple rule change would eliminate the sumo from powerlifting.
"Both the lifter's legs must be between the lifter's forearms at the start of the lift."
There. Done. No more sumo. The competition deadlift will from then on be the deadlift that tests back strength like no other lift. Hell, even rounded back deadlift in which ALL the vertical bar movement is accomplished by unfurling the back with zero assistance from the hip and knee extensors would count. And would be more bad ass in their own right than the sumo deadlift.
An equally simple rule change would eliminate the good morning squat.
"The barbell must rest on the lifter's trapezius without touching the rear deltoids."
There.Done. No more good morning squats. The squat would be more aesthetic and more importantly it would actually be a test of what the legs can do. The rules as they exist allow for squats with minimal quad involvement.
Traditionally powerlifting training for the "competition" low bar squat has involved mostly getting stronger with the "Olympic" high bar squat. So why not just make the more productive main lift the actual competition lift and -- ya know -- test butt and leg strength instead of butt and back strength. We already have the deadlift for the latter, after all.
You don't get style points in powerlifitng, but even though I won't lift as much this way, I'm going to play the sport the way I believe it should be played. Who knows? Maybe the pendulum for this will swing the way the pendulum swung away from extreme gear back to "classic" lifting and to raw lifting.
I'm writing this as a person who has trained low bar and sumo exclusively for years to take advantage of the rules to lift the most in competition. But now I'm too old to care about placing in local meets or taking state records. I still want to compete, but my audience by a wide margin is composed of the casual gym-goer. I want them to see squats and deadlifts that are as heavy as they are athletic and pleasing to the eye.
I'm going to save ruminations about feet-up benching for another time.
04.12.2017
Olympic Back Squat, no belt, no wraps, no sleeves, paused first rep till 315
45 x 5 x 2
135 x 4
225 x 3
315 x 2
365 x 1
Standing Barbell Press 135 x 2
Standing Barbell Curl, straight bar 135 x 2 x 2, cambered bar 110 x 7, x 5
This cycle may be over.
I knew I was too burned out to match my previous best much less surpass it. Plus my left adductor really felt like it was going to give out. When my squat feels burned out, I like to get volume with the leg press, but my adductor wasn't really up for that either.
Sadly, my left shoulder still doesn't feel solid so I'm not sure I can press either. I was able to get a couple reps with 135, but the shoulder hurt. Granted, the overhead position hurts the most, so I'll try the supine press tomorrow and see how that feels.
Or maybe I'll just wait till next weekend to do anything. I doubt I can stay away that long, but I really need to let my shoulder and my groin heal fully.
I think I should give the adductor and my nervous system a full ten days rest from the strain of squatting or pulling. That means not squatting till Saturday after next. Sucks because I just got my new shoes customized.
Our new Wei-Rui Warriors. $70 each pair, then $40 for the local shoe repairman to add 3/4" of hardened leather to the heels.
They fit perfectly. Just snug enough when I wear my normal medium thickness socks. They run a half size small so 10 1/2 fits me like a 10 normally does.
Today I lifted the most weight in the deadlift that I have ever lifted. I lifted more in the weaker (conventional) and beltless style than I did in the stronger (sumo) style with a belt at my best ever pull which was in competition.
I pulled 506 sumo style with a belt in 2010 @181. Today was 510 conventional style without a belt @ 189.
Sumo with a belt has historically been 50-70 lbs weaker than conventional. This varies with how much I focus on the sumo and let the conventional languish. So while I beat my absolute deadlift best by just four pounds, this is at the very least a 60-lb PR on this particular version of the lift.
I'm now wondering about working on the sumo with a belt to peak for a triple bodyweight pull during a meet. I'm also wanting to hit triple bodwyeight in the conventional, beltless style and then work on my sumo pull.
Friday, April 7, 2017
04.04.2017 Olympic Back Squat, no belt, no wraps, paused first warmup rep till 315
45 x 5 x 2
135 x 4
225 x 3
315 x 2
355 x 1
385 x 1
-paused-
315 x 2 x 2
Messing around: Standing press 135 to test shoulder (it still hurt a bit); strict cambered bar curl 110 x 5.
Two days after last session because I was worked up after a rough week and uneven Friday at work. This 385 is a new max at this weight, 5 lbs more than two days ago and moved way faster.
355 fast single warm up...
380 two days ago...
385 today...
315 x 2 paused, second of two sets...
I walked out 395, then decided against it. I was too tired for it not to be close and I wanted to end on a high note: 5 lbs more at greater speed after only two days.
Knees feeling great on a steady diet of three ibuprofen every eight hours. That's probably why I'm able to squat so often and without any knee protection. And still able to sprint with Gigi on the off days.
Also, I think not doing any upper body work is the real reason I am able to increase my squat so quickly (dedicated recovery) while not adding much bodyweight (upper body not growing and adding weight).
04.06.2017
My left adductor got a little strained yesterday during the leg press. And I'm feeling just plain tired today.
But my Olympic no no on squat (high bar, way below parallel, no belt, no sleeves, no wraps) and my conventional beltless deadlift are each within 25 lbs of my best ever successful attempts with these specific versions of the movements.
Best ever no no no Olympic Squat = 405
Current no no no Olympic Squat = 380
Best ever beltless conventional deadlift = 500 x 2 yields 510
Current beltless conventional deadlift = 485
405 no no no Olympic Squat 11.23.2016
380 no no no Olympic Squat 04..06.2017
500 x 2 beltless Deadlift 10.30.2016
485 beltless Deadlift 04.01.2017
Obviously, the current squat max with 380 was a lot slower and more grinding than the smooth, quick single with 405 in the fall. So I'm more than 25 pounds away if I'm being really honest. But I'm regaining strength so quickly right now that I will be at 395 in just a couple more days.
Back Squat (high bar), no belt, no wraps, no sleeves, paused first rep or two till 315 45 x 5 x 2 135 x 4 225 x 3 315 x 2 345 x 1 365 x 1 380 x 1 Leg Press (45-degree) 6 plates per side (585 load) x 1, 2, 5, 5\
A few videos from tonight. I worked up to 380 and, as always, I hoped for a double with a new higher weight, but I only got a single. Still not bad. Less than 20 days ago I started with 275 for two singles. And I only weigh about four pounds more than I did then! My improvements are slowing down along a predictable attenuation curve, but I still think 405 for a single is coming up within two or three sessions. And I will weigh less than I did the first (and only) time I got 405 for a single no no no Olympic-style squat.
A steady regimen of ibuprofen is keeping inflammation at bay. I'm able to run and jump without pain and I am hitting depth that I could not last winter because my knees aren't swollen or effused. I can keep up with my Italian greyhound puppy in a flat out sprint, though she is superhero level agile and makes me look foolish when she cuts and turns.
Also, I hit six plates a side on the 45-degree leg press. Leg press is never anything to brag about, but I am happy to use it as a gauge of carryover strength as well as an aid to thigh size and deadlift ability. There is room enough for another four plates on each side and I hope to get them all on there this year. I figure that means a full high bar back squat north of six hundred pounds.
04.01.2017
I'm going to be a lot less rigid in my approach to training. Bench and Back Squat will be mainstays, but I'm going to rotate in other lifts as I deem necessary and as I feel I have the energy.
For example, today I wasn't planning on doing deadlifts, but I wasn't planning on doing squats yesterday either. I keep going in to bench, but my shoulder starts to hurt when I load the first plates. I can't do any overhead pressing or pulling either. Horizontal rowing seems to be okay as does lower body work of all kinds.
So it's going to be a steady diet of back squats, leg presses, and deadlifts for a while with dumbbell rows thrown in on days I have the energy to give them a lot of focus.
When I get back to being able to press and exert force in the overhead position without pain, I will stick mainly to competition and paused benching and weighted chin ups, but I will rotate in incline pressing, standing pressing, and any upper body machine work I deem fit for that session or time of my cycle.
I'm disappointed that I can't bench or chin right now, but I'm using the leftover recovery ability to drive my squat, leg press, deadlift, and DB row to the moon. Barring catastrophe, there is no reason I shouldn't be squatting 405 no no no for a couple of reps by May 1. Also I should be deadlifting in the low 500's, too. Leg press is assistance, but that should also be at 7 plates a side for at least five by then.
04.01.2017 Deadlift, conventional, no belt, hook grip
315 x 3
365 x 2
405 x 2
435 x 2
455 x 2
475 x 1
485 x 1
Farmer's walk, very short range 100s and 105s.
This deadlift was not a max and despite being the first time I've pulled in months, this was 15 shy of my best pull ever (500 for a double, no belt, hook grip) and 25 lbs shy of my best projected pull ever (510 based on 500 x 2).
I am going to chalk this performance up to the leg presses I've been doing. I really felt like my legs had the power to keep going. It was my grip that was starting to give out.
My lower body thrives on high bar back squats, but it thrives even more when I add leg presses. To be clear, I am talking about the 45-degree leg press on a rails where the weight is much more honest and can actually pin and crush the lifter. I am not talking about that levered leg press where the weight moves just a few inches vertically even if the lifter's legs move through a complete range of motion.
The Internet gave me exposure to weightlifting and powerlifting that I would never have gotten otherwise. But that there Internet lets a lot of bad ideas flourish. So my exposure to proper weight training was riddled with some really ridiculous ideas.
I have believed stupid things like:
the bench press was a lazy movement that built man boobs but not useful strength
the front squat could entirely replace the back squat
and today's topic: the leg press was a waste of metal that distracted the uninitiated from real lower body training like back and front squats and deadlifts.
This past year I grudgingly admitted that the squat was not for everyone and that for those not suited for squatting (long femurs relative to torso length) who didn't need to compete in the squat, the leg press could be an inferior substitute.
What I have come to discover is that the leg press offers salient benefits that the squat simply doesn't. In my case these benefits were:
quad size beyond what the squat has ever given me
an end to chronic knee pain
I care a lot more about the latter. Maybe it's the slightly greater stress on the quads at the very bottom of the movement that activated some stability that my knees had been missing. Whatever the reason, though my knees have hurt for years from squatting (low bar, high bar, whatever), they have stopped since I started leg pressing.
And my quads are bigger and fuller after only one month of including the leg press. I have squatted over 400 lbs for (very) low reps. My quads were larger than average, but not anything special. And of course, my knees almost always hurt. But now my quads are starting to get "sweep" and "separation". And my knees just don't hurt anymore.
Articles and forum posts warn of the danger to the low back when letting the weight descend too much on the leg press. But the same thing that fixes a bent over squat fixes back forward rounding in the leg press: a sensible weightlifting shoe with a decent size heel. I wear my weightlifting shoes with their pimped out modified heels when I leg press and I can let my thighs press against my chest and my lower back stays neutral.
I don't understand why no one does this. Olympic level weightlifting athletes use a heel when they press with their legs in the back squat, front squat, the snatch, and the clean. You would think that people would figure out that the heel that allows full hip and knee flexion without compromising a natural arch in the lower back would also help correct the lower back rounding in a deep leg press that destroys lumbar spines.
Instead, even voices that tout the benefits of the leg press also warn of too much range of motion. I suppose these are the people still squatting in Chucks instead of taking a hint from the best squatters in the world.
As we all know stimulation to the lower body muscles will always lag with the squat due to the torso stabilization muscles always giving out before the legs. This is even truer for the front squat, which is a step in the wrong direction, toward the overhead squat; other factors limit the lift that have nothing to do with leg strength, so even though the more upright torso emphasizes the quads, the front squat is really a test of the upper back's ability to hold the rack position, not a challenge for the quads. In the deadlift, the grip tends to give out, but the torso is also usually caving when things get tough.
But the leg press...ah, now the legs can actually get some work done without the movement-resisting muscles of the torso or the hand putting the brakes on by giving out and letting the back round or the grip open up.
I have been a fellater of the high bar back squat for all of my training life. But I have to admit that while they reign for improve total body strength with an emphasis on the legs, the leg press is better suited to taking the legs to their full potential for size and strength.
I'm treading dangerous ground now, I know. I'm not saying that the leg press is better than the squat for increasing things like vertical jump. The squat is still the best way to develop strength to locomote one's body in the real world with things like vertical jump and sprint. (That's why the leg press is necessarily a little better at developing the legs; it doesn't hold the leg adaption back while adapting the torso muscles to making the spinal column a better transmission for the energy generated by the legs.) But the leg press seems a good choice for sprint/speed cycling wherein a relatively fixed upper body has the legs churning beneath it.
Back squats make me strong on everything else involving the legs, and this includes the leg press. If I improve my back squat by 100 lbs, my front squat will almost automatically go up about 80 lbs, my deadlift about 90 lbs, and my leg press by about 150 lbs. I can abandon those other movements for years and within a couple of sessions of practice with them, I can realize all the strength gains from the back squat.
My best front squat was 275 years ago when I focused on it for months. I dropped the movement for years and upped my back squat from around 330-365 to 425-440 (depending on whether I added light knee wraps). When I tried to front squat again, I found that my max was initially 315 and within a few weeks I got it up to ~350. Same with my conventional deadlift which got up to around 425 years ago, but went up to 500 x 2 when I got my Olympic squat up from mid-300's to low-400's.
Same thing with the leg press. I hadn't tried it for years until I hopped on to show my girlfriend how to use it. I was able to work up to four plates a side for a set of ten when my curiosity about my ability on the movement overcame my embarrassment from being seen on it. I'm working up to six plates a side now as I reclaim the squat strength I recently lost.
But while my squat strength drives my leg press strength, the actual practice of the leg press is conferring something extra. Again, I think it's because while the squat develops the combo of leg and strength and torso rigidity like nothing else, it has to divide its benefits between the legs and the postural muscles. Meanwhile the leg press lets the legs "keep going" without the torso being a limiting factor so that more size and strength is attain in the leg muscles.
The combo of back squats and leg press ends up producing a multiplier effect. Like hot dog and mustard. Sure no normal person enjoys mustard on its own as a meal. The hot dog is the meat, literally, of the meal. But mustard makes it so so so much better.
So it goes with the leg press. The squat is the overall more productive movement and I do believe that if it can be done with no risk to joint or back health, then the lifter should do it. But the addition of the leg press can make the end results for the legs so so so much better.
If proper coaching and sufficient motivation aren't present -- or if the lifter's body type really is just too skewed away from squats and toward deadlifts (like my girlfriend's who has a combination of long femurs and short spine that makes my own deadlift-favored ratio seem like a natural squatter) -- then the leg press -- the "mustard" -- will have to be used on its own. But I would still strongly urge the use of a proper weightlifting shoe while leg pressing.
There are those who may be better off with the leg press instead of the squat, but I'd wager most people who squat seriously (Olympic-style weightlifters not withstanding) would be better off adding the leg press from time to time.
Addendum:
Hours after I typed this up, I went to the gym to see if my shoulder was up to letting me press or chin up. It wasn't so I decided to play with the deadlift. It's been months since I last deadlifted and I promised myself I would do not grinding attempts where my grip was giving out and my back was painfully rounding.
I warmed up with 315 for a fast triple and then did doubles with 365, 405, 435, 455, and then a nice single with 475. Gotta say I was giddy at that point. My best ever pull under the same conditions (conventional, no belt, hook grip -- how I have been training exclusively these last couple of years) was 500 x 2 when I was using a lot more supplementation and weighing somewhere around 200 lbs.
I loaded up with 485 with the hope that I could do multiple singles. I got the first one well enough, but realized that every pull after that with any real weight would be murder.
What's amazing about this is that it's been months since I deadlifted and I'm rebuilding after losing almost 20 lbs in a few days. My squat is still in the toilet compared to my best a few months ago (a very hard but legitimate 365 no no no back squat versus a much easier 405 no no no in December.
I am a natural deadlifter, but I have seen my deadlift go down the drain very easily if I either pull heavy too often or don't pull heavy often enough. Lately not even upping my squat has had the same one-to-one benefit to the deadlift it used to have.
So I'm chalking this startlingly good performance to my recent inclusion of the leg press...which is why I'm amending this article. At a relatively low bodyweight I pulled a fairly hard single that was less than 5% of my best ever when I was ten pounds heavier. After not practicing the lift for months and after losing a lot of ground on my squat.
This is anecdotal, not scientific, but the thing I did differently this time was add the leg press and really push for higher numbers and volume on this lift the days my squat was feeling awful, which has been almost every squat day these last few weeks.
There may be another reason that while I can only no no no back squat 365 right now, I can comfortably pull 485 without a belt at 188. I felt very strong off the floor, stronger than ever. I'm going to keep using the leg press after squats and saving the heavy pulls for once or twice a month.
And because I'm just another middle aged amateur howling into the wind, here are some references from stronger and more respected people who love the leg press:
03.28.2017Bench Press, touch and go 45 x 12 x 2 135 x 6 185 x 3
(left pec-delt injury)
Back Squat, no belt, no wraps 45 x 6 x 3 135 x 4 225 x 2 275 x 2 315 x 1 335 x 1
45-degree Leg Press, thighs to chest 405 x 5 x 2 455 x 5 475 x 5 495 x 5 545 x 4 03.26.2017 Chin Up @ 186 +00 x 4 +45 x 3 +70 x 2 +80 x 2 +90 x 2 03.25.2017 Back Squat, no belt, no wraps/sleeves 45 x 6 x 3 135 x 4 225 x 2 275 x 1 315 x 1 330 x 2
03.22.2017 Back Squat, no belt 45 x 8 x 2 135 x 4 225 x 2 275 x 1 x 2 245 x 3 x 2
Paused first rep till 225, then paused second single with 275. Weight: 180 lbs.
03.19.2017 Bench Press, touch and go 45 x 12 x 2 135 x 6 185 x 3 225 x 5 235 x 5 245 x 5 Dumbbell Row 125 x 8r8l x 2
Back Squat 45 x 6 x 3 <<<>>> 03.08.2017 Bench Press 45 x 12 135 x 5 185 x 3 225 x 2 245 x 2 255 x 2 265 x 2 Incline Bench Press 145 x 8 Weighted Chin + 70 x 5 x2 Dumbbell Row 140 x 6r6l, 7r7l
03.05.2017
Clean and Press 45 upper and lower portion x 5 45 x 5 x 2 95 x 2 105 x 2 115 x 2 125 x 2 135 x 2 140 x 2 135 x 3
Weighted Chin @ 194 +00 x 2 +45 x 2 +65 x 1 +80 x 1 +90 x 1 +95 x 1 +100 x 1
