Scootermaster's Workout Journal, Part II: Scootermaster In Africa

[gramboh]

Nice numbers. On the spotting issue, if it isn't a friend spotting me I usually tell them how many reps I'm going for, and ask them not to help unless the bar stops moving for a second or I say something. With bench I don't mind letting a little grunt "help" to let the spotter know to help, that way you don't have to worry about them fingering the bar when you don't want (super frustrating I know, especially if they are leaning over you on the first rep even).

 

[scootermaster]

So, I'm posting this over a week late, so I don't really remember much.

But, what I DO remember is that I missed my Friday workout, because of the Fourth, and I missed the following Monday workout because I drank for four days straight (Thursday-Sunday) and I didn't sleep a lick and I needed the rest.

So, pretty much, what I'm trying to say is that I suck.


Wednesday July 9th:
Starting Strength Week 13, Day 1 (Workout A)

Leg warmup:
12 minutes on elliptical (6 min on normal height, 3 min all the way up, 3 min all the way down).

Squats
Warmup x 5 @ bar
Warmup x 5 @ 95
3 x 5 @ 180

Honestly, I don't remember anything here, except that I did it.


Bench Press
Warmup x 5 @ 135
3 x 5 @ 185

I think that's what I did. It was probably easy, regardless of what it was.


Deadlift
Warmup x 5 @ 155
1 x 5 @ 245

See above.


Abs
3 x 10 crunches.

 

[scootermaster]

Friday July 11:
Starting Strength Week 13, Day 2 (Workout B)

Leg warmup:.
12 minutes on elliptical (6 minutes normal height, 3 minutes all the way up, 3 minutes all the way down)

Squats
Warmup x 5 @ bar
Warmup x 5 @ 135
3 x 5 @ 185

I remember this being pretty tough, but I got it. (I'm posting this a week late, so it's all sorta hazy).


Pendlay rows
Warmup x 5 @ 115
3 x 5 @ 160

I remember this being tough, but doable. Getting worried about stalling again, but I guess we'll see. (For those of us scoring at home, I deloaded 10% from 170 down 20 pounds)

Press
Warmup x 5 @ 45
Warmup x 5 @ 105.
3 x 5 @ 120

I deloaded 10% from 130, or 15 pounds. This was, unfortunately, tougher than I'd hoped. 15 pounds is really only 2 weeks worth of lifting, so I'll be right back struggling with 135 in no time. So should I go lower? I guess we'll see.

General Activity
Haven't played volleyball in 2 weeks. Not happy about that. Did walk around a million miles on the fourth of July weekend.

 

[scootermaster]

Tuesday July 15th:
Starting Strength Week 14, Day 1 (Workout A)

Leg warmup:
12 minutes on elliptical (6 min on normal height, 3 min all the way up, 3 min all the way down).

Squats
Warmup x 5 @ 135
Warmup x 5 @ 155
3 x 5 @ 190

New PR! This actually felt pretty good. Heavy, for sure, especially on the second set, but it felt better on the third set. Went down reaaaaaaally slow, so I sped up a bit, but I'm still going down pretty slow. I tend to GM a bit out of the hole, especially when I get it in my head that it's "heavy" (scared of falling over). But, again, Mister Deadlift dude came over and asked what my max was...he said he was curious if I can keep up such good form when I'm doing "three wheels". His squat form is absolutely brutally bad, for what that's worth. I mean, super great depth, but horrible upper body positioning and a TON of GMing. Come to think about it, his deadlift form sorta sucks too (very stiff legged...we'll get to that in a sec).

Bench Press
Warmup x 5 @ 135
Warmup x 5 @ 190
3 x 5 @ 205

This is a little hazy. I haven't been writing down my weights since I rest, so I for some reason thought I was doing 185. I did it, and it was SUPER easy. So I thought, hey, why not add 10 more pounds. Then I realized that 10% of 225 is about 25 pounds, meaning I'm at 200, not 185. Oops. So I did 3 sets at 205. Harder, sure, but still doable. Hopefully I won't stall at 230 next time.


Deadlift
Warmup x 5 @ 155
Warmup x 5 @ 225
1 x 4 @ 255

So, I'd commented to mister deadlift guy, on how straight his legs were. And, apparently, turnabout was fair play. He commented that during 225 set, my legs really only bend at the end of the rep, and other than that I'm stiff-legging it up. So, I SUPER focused on that. It's probably been one of the hardest things I've done in the gym. When I was done I was COVERED in sweat, and given that I do this last, I was fucking EXHAUSTED. So I only got 4. So I may stick to more stiff legged. =] And, of course, this is still overhand grip.

Abs
No abs.


I missed my workout on Monday because I got tickets to this exclusive NFL thing (Called NFL 101/201. It was pretty cool...Peter King and Andrea Kremer and Tim Brown -- among other -- were there). After only going twice last week and missing Monday, I was pretty down on myself. But it felt good in there, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

One crappy thing about SS, and I've mentioned this before is that if you miss a day, it fucks EVERYTHING up because you don't want to squat heavy two days in a row. So I'll have to get to the gym Saturday, which I don't like doing.

Also, I've come to the conclusion I don't eat enough.

Perhaps confirmed: Daily plate profile Ugh. Terrified of getting fat, so I try not to eat a ton (of bad food). But I do feel like I eat a lot. I guess when I eat at home (shocker!) I don't eat a ton of calories. But I sure make up for it when I go out. Crap. Guess I need to eat more?

 

[gramboh]

Good on ya getting back into it, feeling guilty for missing is the most important motivator!

I'd never do two days in a row. I'd either full skip the workout (e.g. if it was ABA and Monday was A and I mised it, I'd just do B on Wednesday). Sometimes I'll push it back, say I do Monday and miss Weds, I'll do Thurs/Sat then go back to MWF, it just depends on my schedule. I go for the 90% rule Mehdi talks about on SL.com (aim to miss no more than 10% of workouts over a long time domain).

 

[paulxcook]

It's good to see you getting heavier with the squats. If you like to keep your legs stiff during deads, have you considering trying sumo? It might work for you. I don't like them myself but I know some people swear by them.

 

[scootermaster]

Thursday
Starting Strength Week 14, Day 2 (Workout B)

Leg warmup:.
12 minutes on elliptical (Actually ended up talking to someone in the middle of my ellipticaling so I didn't have a chance to raise the "crossramp". So it ended up being 9 minutes normal height, 3 minutes all the way down.)


Squats
Warmup x 5 @ bar
Warmup x 5 @ 135
3 x 5 @ 195

These were tough. It's weird, when I started, I was more worried about my form going down; is my ass going out, are my knees tracking over my toes, are my knees too far out, am I going to fast downward. Now, I'm much more concerned about coming back up; am I GMing out of the whole, am I coming up unevenly, etc etc. The up is muchhhhh harder now.

I guess Biggie said it best: Mo' weight, mo' problems. =]

Anyway, I'm a little concerned about my form breaking down, and I don't know if I can just keep adding weight. I mean, I can do it, but there are little spots when I'm going up when I sorta stall and really have to drive it upward.

**** Squat question ****

Also, I'm having some trouble with my bar placement, I think. I've been doing low bar placement (I think!) and it's low enough on my back where I feel like it's making me lean forward a bit to balance the bar. Is that okay? Also, because my grip is so tight (inner ring) it bends my wrists back a bit. I may widen the grip a bit, but anyone know what I'm talking about here?

**** Squat question ****

Pendlay rows
Warmup x 5 @ 115
3 x 5 @ 165

This was tough, but I felt pretty good doing it. Not so sure what's going to happen when I get back up to 170, 175. The deload took all of, what, three workout sessions? Not sure that's enough time, but I guess we'll see.

Press
Warmup x 5 @ 45
Warmup x 5 @ 95.
3 x 5 @ 120

Stayed at 120, because I wasn't sure what weight I did last time. Felt pretty good; easier than before. Still wondering about my "rack" form.

General Activity
Played beach football. Scored all our team's points, including a pick-6. So that was fun. Ended up going to a bar opening though, and missed dinner. Did eat 3 slices of pizza at 1am though. =]

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: scootermaster

**** Squat question ****

Also, I'm having some trouble with my bar placement, I think. I've been doing low bar placement (I think!) and it's low enough on my back where I feel like it's making me lean forward a bit to balance the bar. Is that okay? Also, because my grip is so tight (inner ring) it bends my wrists back a bit. I may widen the grip a bit, but anyone know what I'm talking about here?

**** Squat question ****

Do you have the starting strength book? Most of this is covered in it in detail. You sound very paranoid and worried about your squat form, so if you don't already have the book, you would really benefit from it. Also, take a look at this Stronglifts article that talks about bar placement.

To answer your questions, yes, you need to lean forward more with a low bar squat. No matter what kind of squat you do - high bar, low bar, front squat, overhead squat - the bar should always remain over the middle of your foot. Since the bar is further "back" in a low bar squat than a high bar squat, you have to lean forward more so it ends up over the middle of the foot. In a front squat, on the other hand, the bar is further forward, so you don't lean forward nearly as much.

Your grip should never be "tight" on a low bar squat. First, you should be using a thumbless grip - that is, your thumb is on the same side of the bar as your fingers. Second, the role of your hands here is to push the bar into your back, NOT to hold the weight. If the weight is wresting in your hand and putting pressure on your wrist, you are doing it wrong. Let me repeat that, as it's very important: your back holds the weight, NOT your hands!

If you're doing it properly, your wrist should be totally straight. There is a great picture in Rippetoe's book which shows the back of the hand with a piece of duct tape from wrist to knuckles. If your wrist is straight, the tape is totally flat and you're in good shape. If your wrist bends, the tape gets wrinkly, and you know you're not doing it properly. Also, remember to pull your elbows up/back, as that will create a better "surface" for the bar to sit on.

The bar should rest on the back of the shoulders and traps. You'll notice that the closer together your hands are, the more your traps and upper back muscles get pushed together. This gives you more padding for the bar and is generally more comfortable. However, bringing your hands closer together requires good shoulder flexibility and not everyone can do it.

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: brikis98

Originally posted by: scootermaster

**** Squat question ****

Also, I'm having some trouble with my bar placement, I think. I've been doing low bar placement (I think!) and it's low enough on my back where I feel like it's making me lean forward a bit to balance the bar. Is that okay? Also, because my grip is so tight (inner ring) it bends my wrists back a bit. I may widen the grip a bit, but anyone know what I'm talking about here?

**** Squat question ****

Do you have the starting strength book? Most of this is covered in it in detail. You sound very paranoid and worried about your squat form, so if you don't already have the book, you would really benefit from it. Also, take a look at this Stronglifts article that talks about bar placement.

To answer your questions, yes, you need to lean forward more with a low bar squat. No matter what kind of squat you do - high bar, low bar, front squat, overhead squat - the bar should always remain over the middle of your foot. Since the bar is further "back" in a low bar squat than a high bar squat, you have to lean forward more so it ends up over the middle of the foot. In a front squat, on the other hand, the bar is further forward, so you don't lean forward nearly as much.

Your grip should never be "tight" on a low bar squat. First, you should be using a thumbless grip - that is, your thumb is on the same side of the bar as your fingers. Second, the role of your hands here is to push the bar into your back, NOT to hold the weight. If the weight is wresting in your hand and putting pressure on your wrist, you are doing it wrong. Let me repeat that, as it's very important: your back holds the weight, NOT your hands!

If you're doing it properly, your wrist should be totally straight. There is a great picture in Rippetoe's book which shows the back of the hand with a piece of duct tape from wrist to knuckles. If your wrist is straight, the tape is totally flat and you're in good shape. If your wrist bends, the tape gets wrinkly, and you know you're not doing it properly. Also, remember to pull your elbows up/back, as that will create a better "surface" for the bar to sit on.

The bar should rest on the back of the shoulders and traps. You'll notice that the closer together your hands are, the more your traps and upper back muscles get pushed together. This gives you more padding for the bar and is generally more comfortable. However, bringing your hands closer together requires good shoulder flexibility and not everyone can do it.

Alright, alright. Sheesh.

First off, I've always used a thumbless grip. I don't know if I've mentioned it previously, but the first time I mentioned Mr. Deadlift coming over to compliment me on my squat form -- especially my grip and how tight it was -- I mentioned something about how the point is to hold the bar down against your back, not "up". So none of this is news.

Now, I used to have high bar placement, and I distinctly remember reading something about the tighter the better as far as that goes. It's obviously quite possible thats not the case with a lower bar position. I do pull my arms back and all that, creating a platform for the bar (and getting your damn spinal column out of the way) and all that. Obviously, I should have just widened my grip and seen if that fixed the wrist issues, but as I said, I remember reading that tighter was better, so I just translated that over to lower-bar positioning.

I don't have the book, but I do think I'll get it. I'd like to buy it if/when I post a vid for Coach to critique, since if he's going to spend his time doing that, I might as well pay him for it. But as for being paranoid, yes, I am paranoid. I also have all my joints and muscles intact. And you can claim that's because I'm 'only' lifting 195, but if I'm doing it right, I'm fine with that.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: scootermaster
Alright, alright. Sheesh.

First off, I've always used a thumbless grip. I don't know if I've mentioned it previously, but the first time I mentioned Mr. Deadlift coming over to compliment me on my squat form -- especially my grip and how tight it was -- I mentioned something about how the point is to hold the bar down against your back, not "up". So none of this is news.

Now, I used to have high bar placement, and I distinctly remember reading something about the tighter the better as far as that goes. It's obviously quite possible thats not the case with a lower bar position. I do pull my arms back and all that, creating a platform for the bar (and getting your damn spinal column out of the way) and all that. Obviously, I should have just widened my grip and seen if that fixed the wrist issues, but as I said, I remember reading that tighter was better, so I just translated that over to lower-bar positioning.

I don't have the book, but I do think I'll get it. I'd like to buy it if/when I post a vid for Coach to critique, since if he's going to spend his time doing that, I might as well pay him for it. But as for being paranoid, yes, I am paranoid. I also have all my joints and muscles intact. And you can claim that's because I'm 'only' lifting 195, but if I'm doing it right, I'm fine with that.

woah, dude, don't get all offended. none of my post was intended to be insulting. It was a genuine attempt to answer a question that seriously seems to be worrying you. Nothing wrong with being paranoid, but every post of yours that I read had some statement with you nitpicking over squat form, which is why I think you should get the book. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with squatting 195, 95 or 595 for that matter, so no need to defend yourself.

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: gramboh
Good on ya getting back into it, feeling guilty for missing is the most important motivator!

I'd never do two days in a row. I'd either full skip the workout (e.g. if it was ABA and Monday was A and I mised it, I'd just do B on Wednesday). Sometimes I'll push it back, say I do Monday and miss Weds, I'll do Thurs/Sat then go back to MWF, it just depends on my schedule. I go for the 90% rule Mehdi talks about on SL.com (aim to miss no more than 10% of workouts over a long time domain).

Yeah, I would maybe consider going two days in a row if I decided I couldn't make it any other time, and I didn't squat; if somehow doing, say, rows and OH press was better than nothing.

But I'm pretty proud of myself. I went back today (Saturday, so I got a full week in. I've missed three times in 14 weeks, so that's not too shabby. I think the problem was that my second (and third) miss was right after a scheduled week off. So I'd been to the gym twice in three weeks by the time I went this Tuesday (after another miss on Monday that I made up today). It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for that week off.

But I'm back in it and feeling good, so all is well. I'm at 95%, I guess, so nothing to compain about (and c'mon...fourth of July? I don't even know if my gym was open!)

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: paulxcook
It's good to see you getting heavier with the squats. If you like to keep your legs stiff during deads, have you considering trying sumo? It might work for you. I don't like them myself but I know some people swear by them.

Yeah, 200 pounds today!

I'll look into those. It seems to be considerably harder to DL with more bent legs. I'm guessing that's normal. What's the advantage/disadvantages there?

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: brikis98

Originally posted by: scootermaster
Alright, alright. Sheesh.

First off, I've always used a thumbless grip. I don't know if I've mentioned it previously, but the first time I mentioned Mr. Deadlift coming over to compliment me on my squat form -- especially my grip and how tight it was -- I mentioned something about how the point is to hold the bar down against your back, not "up". So none of this is news.

Now, I used to have high bar placement, and I distinctly remember reading something about the tighter the better as far as that goes. It's obviously quite possible thats not the case with a lower bar position. I do pull my arms back and all that, creating a platform for the bar (and getting your damn spinal column out of the way) and all that. Obviously, I should have just widened my grip and seen if that fixed the wrist issues, but as I said, I remember reading that tighter was better, so I just translated that over to lower-bar positioning.

I don't have the book, but I do think I'll get it. I'd like to buy it if/when I post a vid for Coach to critique, since if he's going to spend his time doing that, I might as well pay him for it. But as for being paranoid, yes, I am paranoid. I also have all my joints and muscles intact. And you can claim that's because I'm 'only' lifting 195, but if I'm doing it right, I'm fine with that.

woah, dude, don't get all offended. none of my post was intended to be insulting. It was a genuine attempt to answer a question that seriously seems to be worrying you. Nothing wrong with being paranoid, but every post of yours that I read had some statement with you nitpicking over squat form, which is why I think you should get the book. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with squatting 195, 95 or 595 for that matter, so no need to defend yourself.

Okay, sorry. It's cool. I just knew most of that, and I didn't get why you were stressing, over and over, a point that I'd known for awhile. Which isn't your fault. There are plenty of points I don't know, so you have no way of figuring out which is which.

A wider grip certainly did help with squats. It's not a big concern, but I feel like I'm "in between" where to rack it (on the rack, not my back). When I was doing high bar, I had the bar on the rack two "holes" from the top. Now I have it one hole from the top. But I sort of have to tippy toe to get it off the rack. Again, not the end of the world, but I bet somewhere exactly in between is right for my height.

 

[scootermaster]

Saturday July 19th:
Starting Strength Week 14, Day 3 (Workout A)

Leg warmup:
12 minutes on elliptical (6 min on normal height, 3 min all the way up, 3 min all the way down).

Squats
Warmup x 5 @ 135
Warmup x 5 @ 165
3 x 5 @ 200

New PR! (I get to say that every time now!) This felt pretty good. Used a wider grip, and it certainly helped with some of the wrist issues. One thing that sucks is my shoulders are uneven. And I don't mean, like, one's stronger than other, I mean they're uneven. When I stand and let my arms hang down, you can visibly see that one is an inch or more higher than the other (perfect example: When I do cable crosses -- or, rather, when I used to do cable crosses -- when I line up in the middle of the machine, one arm is closer to the side than the other. When I line up with my arms "even", I'm not in the middle). As a result, it's fucking hard to figure out what's "centered" for the bar on my back, especially in low bar position. So sometimes when I take it off the rack it feels a little uneven, even though visually it's not.

As for the actual squats, these feel good. It was nice to, FOR ONCE, not worry about something form related (i.e. leaning forward). I think I kept my speed nice and slow, and really tried to keep my ass and abs tight. I still GM out of the hole if it gets heavy, but nothing too insane.


Bench Press
Warmup x 5 @ 135
Warmup x 5 @ 165
3 x 5 @ 205

Now, I was all ready to write about how good this felt (and it did!) and then I realized, apparently, that I did this weight last time. Which, actually, I don't think I did. I tihnk I did 200 last time. But whatever. This felt REALLY good. Felt it in my chest, and it wasn't a struggle in the least except for maybe the last rep of the lat set. Obviously no spotter. I'm looking forward to being able to break through 230, which is where I stalled last time. I don't know what a realistic goal is, but I'll take suggestions!

Deadlift
Warmup x 5 @ 155
1 x 5 @ 260

New PR! Felt okay, I guess. Still overhand. I really, really fucked up my shins, so by the third rep, in addition to my grip failing, and worrying about how bent legged I was, I was sort of hesitant to keep it against my skin since it hurt like hell (moreso than it has before). I'm obviously reaching the limit of what I can do overhand, it'd seem, and I think a form check would be REALLY beneficial here. I'll see what I can do about that. My goal was 275 overhand, and I want to get there -- and I will -- but it's going to be a struggle.

Abs
3 x 10 crunches

Also, still trying to eat more. Or, really, no so much eat more, but just worry less about eating. Which will, of course, lead me to eating more! I have a food journal that I'm trying to update on the daily plate, but it's hard since I sometimes eat out at non big name places.

 

[GenHoth]

Originally posted by: scootermaster
but I feel like I'm "in between" where to rack it (on the rack, not my back). When I was doing high bar, I had the bar on the rack two "holes" from the top. Now I have it one hole from the top. But I sort of have to tippy toe to get it off the rack. Again, not the end of the world, but I bet somewhere exactly in between is right for my height.

I have this problem too, I found that just going to the lower placement is better. Once heavier weights start piling on going on your toes becomes not so fun

 

[scootermaster]

Monday, July 21
Starting Strength Week 15, Day 1 (Workout B)

Leg warmup:.
12 minutes on elliptical (6 minutes normal, 3 minutes all the way up, 3 minutes all the way down)


Squats
Warmup x 5 @ bar
Warmup x 5 @ 135
Warmup x 5 @ 165
3 x 5 @ 205

New PR! (Forgive me, I just love saying that)

So I moved the bar down, and it helped when un-racking it. It also tweaked my shoulder a bit when I'd rack it. Obviously that's because I'm exhausted, and paranoid about dropping the damn thing, so I don't take take the best time and effort to make sure I'm putting it back on the rack carefully. It doesn't help that I have to bend down to do so. But I think I'll stick with it on the lower setting. I also put the bar a tad higher on my traps. That seems more comfortable.

As for the squats themselves, I haven't really been able to tell a difference over the past, oh, 15 or even 25 pounds. It's pretty much been a struggle, with pauses (i.e. not shooting right up) since about 175. But I guess the good news is that while it's a tad harder (than back then), it's not much harder. So I guess the bad news is that it's not easy. The good new is it that it's not getting much harder. But I doubt that can go on for much longer.

The one thing I DID notice, however, is that my warmup sets are much, much MUCH easier. That is, anything LESS than, say, 165 or whatever is totally cake. It wasn't the case before. So that's good.

One last note: As of this Wednesday (tomorrow) I'll be able to squat my own body weight. Obviously never done that before. I'm likely to weigh in between 206 and 209 on Wednesday, and I'll be at 210. Go me!

Pendlay rows
Warmup x 5 @ 135
3 x 5 @ 170

Not real pleased about this. My form was okay, in terms of opening up my hips (which I see as the biggest caveat). The problem is I think other parts of my form might be failing. For example, where I pull the bar 'though' my upper body, and whether it goes straight up and down (it doesn't). I also feel my wrists curling back a bit...it's hard to explain, but I feel like I may be pulling the bar up too far down my chest. It may have something to do with my feet placement and how far away I am from the bar. I'm going to watch a couple videos and straighten that out. But Friday, I'll be back at 175, and I can't imagine I'll be able to fly past that. So I may be reseting again, this time at 180 or 185. But I guess we'll see. If I do, I'm going to go back down to around 150ish, and really focus on my form and making sure I'm pulling the bar, lowering it down slowly, and whatever. Or I may just scrap the thing entirely and take a swing at power cleans.

Press
Warmup x 5 @ 45
Warmup x 5 @ 105
3 x 5 @ 125

Watched some videos, and I just can't get my elbows to come that far forward when "racking". One thing I did notice is that I was likely WAAAAAAAY too wide in my grip. That forced my wrists to do some wacky shit. But still, bending the wrists back, holding 125 pounds on them really puts a strain on them. Not anything that doesn't fade in a minute or two, but it's not exactly comfortable. I could really use some personal help here. Also, I noticed my shoulders/arms aren't locked back (not up, but back) the way they are in some videos. The bar certainly does end up over the back of my head/middle of my feet, but you watch the videos on Stronglifts and you can see the guys shoulder socket/arms rotated back as he throws the bar over his head.

Perhaps those two things are related. I really gotta get another camera in the gym, it's just tough to do on your own.

Abs
3 x 8 (x2) Knee lifts/leg lifts. Lord these were hard.

 

[gramboh]

Congrats on the squats, regarding racking, I just step forward until the bar hits the power rack uprights then go down to drop the bar into the pins. I used to worry about racking it properly (worried it would bounce out or something) but once you have some weight on there, just walk forward and drop the thing. You won't waste as much energy/stress and don't have to turn your head to see if it is in. At least with the uprights in the rack I use, there is no way to miss as long as the bar contacts the uprights before you let it down.

On the press rack position, it shouldn't be painful on the wrists, it should be resting on the front delts while your hands grip it. Is the wrist pain from the rack position or from pressing/locking out? I think there is an article on SL.com "Why your wrists must be infront of the bar on OH Press" that gives advice on how to increase tricep flexibility to get the rack position. Good luck.

 

[scootermaster]

Wednesday July 23th:
Starting Strength Week 15, Day 2 (Workout A)

UGH.

What a shitty workout. I went drinking (free booze and free food at this bar's re-opening) the night before, so maybe that had something to do with it. I dunno. I was just in a shitty mood all day because of some social stuff, and my workout was just about as bad as it could be.


Leg warmup:
10 minutes on elliptical. Wanted to speed things up, needed to get out of there. Knew my energy level was low so I only did all the way up for 2 minutes.


Squats
Warmup x 5 @ 135
Warmup x 5 @ 175
3 x 5 @ 210

Well, I weighed in at 209, so I guess I squatted my body weight, but these were pretty brutal. The worst thing was that from the first second I unracked it, I felt a twinge in my right rear deltoid/shoulder. Ow. It's the same one I mentioned before when I was re-racking the weight. There's something about my bar placement that is tweaking my shoulder. So I had that in my head the whole time. Legs wise, it sure as shit wasn't easy, but it was doable.

But it was really hard mentally to get into it, and it doesn't help when my shoulder/back of my arm was hurting. I'm apparently letting the bar "lean back" on my back and bend my wrists back or something, because when I'd straighten them out (the wrists) it seemed to relieve some of the pressure/pain. Maybe I'm not leaning forward enough? I dunno. All in all, this sucked.


Bench Press
Warmup x 5 @ 135
Warmup x 5 @ 165
3 x 5 @ 210

This was just as bad. I was worried about my shoulder, and was in my head the whole time. I had to tell myself by the third set, that this acutally isn't that fucking hard. So, weirdly, the third set was the best. But my arms were shaking and stuff. Not sure if that as general fatigue, fatigue from the squats, my shoulder/back of my arm thing, or if because god hates me. But 205 was a walk in the park, 210 shouldn't have been that hard. Blah.

Deadlift
Warmup x 5 @ 135
Warmup x 5 @ 185
1 x 5 @ 265

I guess this felt okay. I was so excited to just get the hell out of the gym. Still overhand, still pretty much just standing up straightlegged.

So, um, thoughts on the shoulder thing? I've noticed it once or twice since the workout (like, when I'm bending my arm back and flexing my biceps or something). I noticed it throwing a football yesterday too. It's certainly not constant, but man, who hurts their shoulder doing squats? I mean really.

General Activity
Played beach football. We lost. Blah.

So, I gotta get back in the gym today, although I'm almost tempted to just go tomorrow. I didn't get much sleep, and another day couldn't hurt with the shoulder thing (although maybe I'm just being lazy. I guess we'll see).

 

[scootermaster]

So, I skipped Friday, and tried to go Saturday. To my credit, I actually went (even though there were about 1001 social things going on) but it was a waste of time. I tried to squat and my shoulder kept hurting. I did 12 minutes on the elliptical, and, I think, maybe one set of overhead press, but it was one of the only times I've ever just left in the middle of a workout. It wasn't doing me any good to be there, I was tired and I just said fuck it.

So that was pretty shitty.

But I got back Monday (yesterday) and I've got some more form check videos.

 

[scootermaster]

Monday July 28th:
Starting Strength Week 16, Day 1 (Workout A)

So, after leaving the gym on Saturday, I tried to come back strong here.



Leg warmup:
12 minutes on elliptical. 6 normal, 3 up, 3 down.

Squats
Warmup x 5 @ 135
Warmup x 5 @ 185
3 x 5 @ 210

So I did the first set using what I think was high bar (we'll get to that later). I could do it, no shoulder/back arm pain. It was just hard. I can't tell if that's because of normal high bar stuff (it's harder, right?), or because of the mental aspect (it's "supposed" to be harder) or just because I'm nearing a stall and it's just damn hard. But that was fine. Set 2, I tried low bar position, and low and behold, there's that shoulder pain. It's not even really my shoulders...I forget which deltoid group it is (it's the one worked out by upright rows, I think...medial?) but it's the back part of the arm that's not the tricep, near the shoulder joint. So I did my set, and when I rotate my wrists up (thereby "scooting" the bar up my back a little) it seems to release some of the pressure. But it still was uncomfortable. So I got three sets, but the last rep of the last set had a pretty big bar pause. So we're probably nearing a stall here. I'll say my goal is 225 before I reset. I'm gonna shoot for that. Any advice on bar placement (the second video, I tried to get her to shoot from the back so you guys can see, not sure how great of a job she did).

Am I too low on what I think is "low"? Am I low on what I think is "high"? Am I retarded? Am I just too good looking to be in public? 😀

Set 1, 210, high bar (I think)
Set 3, 210, low bar (I think)

Old Form check at 165 for reference

Bench Press
Warmup x 5 @ 135
Warmup x 5 @ 185
3 x 5 @ 210

This was a little better than last time. Not sure why I did 210 again, but I guess it's not the end of the world. I would be MUCH happier doing this without the shoulder pain; it sort of gets in my head and I worry about my shoulder giving and the bar coming crashing down on my neck.

Supposed to have a form check vid here, but the girl doing this pushed the button at the wrong time and stopped the camera.


Deadlift
Warmup x 5 @ 155
Warmup x 5 @ 185
1 x 5 @ 270

I did this. Don't know what else to say other than my form seems pretty stiff. But I guess that works? I dunno. The one thing I DO know is that I've got that "contact" thing down pat. You might not be able to tell, but my legs were RIPPED UP with nice little red stripes down my shins. Contact with the leg the whole time. So that's good, I guess.

Warmup @ 155 (threw this in there to see the difference in form)
Work set, 270.

Edit: I just watched the high bar video, and I'm wondering if I didn't have her record sets 2 and 3, both of which were low bar. That seems to make more sense. The question above still applies.

 

[TallBill]

I'm terrible at juding squat form but it looked ok to me. Looks like you didn't go as far down on the last reps, but I dunno.

For the deadlift though you need to get your ass down more. Your timing is off because you start to high. I like to take my shoes off for deadlifts which help me focus on driving my heels into the ground. It should feel like you'll go flying backwards, not upwards if your grip slips. Drop the weight of your work sets back to 225 and practice. I guarantee that you'll work your legs more immediately, and soon you'll be right back to where you're at now, but much safer!

This guy has a great tutorial video. Notice how his legs straighten in sync with his back rising up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-O_MT72rck

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: TallBill
I'm terrible at juding squat form but it looked ok to me. Looks like you didn't go as far down on the last reps, but I dunno.

For the deadlift though you need to get your ass down more. Your timing is off because you start to high. I like to take my shoes off for deadlifts which help me focus on driving my heels into the ground. It should feel like you'll go flying backwards, not upwards if your grip slips. Drop the weight of your work sets back to 225 and practice. I guarantee that you'll work your legs more immediately, and soon you'll be right back to where you're at now, but much safer!

This guy has a great tutorial video. Notice how his legs straighten in sync with his back rising up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-O_MT72rck

Good advice. I'm not getting the depth on my last reps because I want to make sure I can get back up! But that's good comments on the deads. I'll certainly do that on Friday.

 

[TallBill]

Yeah, your depth is probably fine, the camera angle kind of tricks the mind. Good luck with the deadlifts, I've been doing them for a year and still question my form.

 

[scootermaster]

Any more comments?

 

[crt1530]

Your hips are shooting straight up before you even start pulling on the deadlift. Keep them down.

Your knees are buckling in big time on the squat. You need to focus on activating your glutes and keeping your knees out. Letting them drift in like that causes a lot of extra strain on the joint.

Flex your glutes before you start your descent and try to maintain the tightness throughout the rep. Keep reminding yourself not to let your knees come in.