Weight Lifting

[TheNewbie]

When deadlifting, how do you know if your upper back is rounding vs your lower back?

I'm probably overly cautious but when I think I feel my lower back rounding I quit pulling.

Have you checked out Alan Thrall or Starting Strenght for YouTube videos on this? I bet they have some. I’ll look when I get a chance.

[Jay585]

After watching some videos, I'm probably just rounding my upper back, but there's a hell of a lot more going on that I need to look for.

Arms straight
Lockout at top
Knees back, weight on heel, press through floor.

*sigh* I miss the days of youth and ignorance where picking up big numbers and never getting hurt was the norm

[txdpd]

Got 250 x 20 today. It’s probably that I’m a little bitch, but each session of 20 squat reps seems to take more and more out of me. After doing those and the other lifts listed in the t nation article, I did about 5 hours of house cleaning.

Thanks for the video on safety. Hopefully I can start improving my bench and pushing myself in that area. One thing I probably need to work on is tricep Strength.

Give it another week or two and you’ll get a crick in you neck, burning sensation in your traps, and shooting pains down your hamstrings and calves. You’re showing the signs of over training/under recovering, it’ll only get worse. Hard 20 rep squats are a once a week affair at best, especially if you’re not juicing. Besides sucking, ive never really gotten into a high rep squat program because I don’t recover well. It’s like GVT sound good in theory but the body gets derailed quickly.

[txdpd]

Thanks for the video on safety. Hopefully I can start improving my bench and pushing myself in that area. One thing I probably need to work on is tricep Strength.

I can't even claimed that I got distracted by a butterfly last night......If you want them I have an EliteFTS shoulder saver and BWTG cambered squat bar you can have. The Shoulder Saver is great for tricep work, because it's convenient. Slap it on the bar at the end of your bench session and crank out a couple high rep sets. Easier on the elbows than skull crushers or lying tricep extensions and easier on the shoulders than dips. The cambered bar is good for a little variety and mixing things up so you're not pounding the same muscle and tendons with the exact same pattern of movement all the time.

https://www.blackwidowtg.com/product...t-rackable.htm
https://www.elitefts.com/eliteftstm-...saver-pad.html

[Jay585]

Had my first major flub up today.

Trying to squat 260 (bodyweight 210). Had a long warm up:
Bike ride to the gym (15 minutes) change in the locker room, Concept2 rower (3 minutes)
bodyweight x10
bar x10
135x8
185x5
205x4
225x3

Then 1 working set of 260 that was rough but doable. 3 minute break went to do the second set and bottomed out. Using the squat rack with the arms that are wayyy too low. My back probably looked like a snailshell setting the bar on the arms. Looks like this guy: https://www.ironcompany.com/producti...d/3138_xlg.jpg

Took a break, backed down to 225, and tried again: same result. Tried again at 135. Was able to do it, but it wasn't warm up easy.

I think I figured out that I was losing tension at the bottom: knees slid forward, no core bracing, just a deflated balloon. Called it quits on squats, spent the day doing my overhead presses (no issues), bent rows (no issues) and deadlift practice. Deadlifts are going better, but I noticed sometimes I was feeling the weight in my toes. Then I'd adjust to weight on heels and could feel it in my lower back, but I'm still unsure if I'm just feeling muscles at work or straining my lower back.

Also, occasionally when the bar was back on the ground (I was pulling singles) I'd notice the bar would be 10 degrees closer to my right shin. Is this an issue? Somewhat in line with this I was feeling more of a "pump" on my left lower back than my right.

[TheNewbie]

Had my first major flub up today.

Trying to squat 260 (bodyweight 210). Had a long warm up:
Bike ride to the gym (15 minutes) change in the locker room, Concept2 rower (3 minutes)
bodyweight x10
bar x10
135x8
185x5
205x4
225x3

Then 1 working set of 260 that was rough but doable. 3 minute break went to do the second set and bottomed out. Using the squat rack with the arms that are wayyy too low. My back probably looked like a snailshell setting the bar on the arms. Looks like this guy: https://www.ironcompany.com/producti...d/3138_xlg.jpg

Took a break, backed down to 225, and tried again: same result. Tried again at 135. Was able to do it, but it wasn't warm up easy.

I think I figured out that I was losing tension at the bottom: knees slid forward, no core bracing, just a deflated balloon. Called it quits on squats, spent the day doing my overhead presses (no issues), bent rows (no issues) and deadlift practice. Deadlifts are going better, but I noticed sometimes I was feeling the weight in my toes. Then I'd adjust to weight on heels and could feel it in my lower back, but I'm still unsure if I'm just feeling muscles at work or straining my lower back.

Also, occasionally when the bar was back on the ground (I was pulling singles) I'd notice the bar would be 10 degrees closer to my right shin. Is this an issue? Somewhat in line with this I was feeling more of a "pump" on my left lower back than my right.

How do you grip the bar? Double over hand or mixed? When I am at 225 and below on the DL, I try and use double overhand, and only use mixed for anything heavier than that.

Nothing wrong with failure, as it helps motivate you to work towards improvement.

I did one set of for 255 x 20 on squats today. At 10 reps I almost quit, but I kept pushed myself to finish. However, when I tried to do 405 on the DL, no amount of pushing would help. So it happens, just have to keep working.

Your "warm up" routine is much better than mine, and probably a lot healthier than mine.

[breakingtime91]

Two a days going well..

Been splitting it up as compound movements at 430 in the morning and isolation movements at night after my kids are asleep at a base gym.

Monday: Upper compound + upper isolation
Tuesday: Lower Compound/isolation + lower isolation/abs
wednesday- active rest
Thursday: repeat monday
Friday: repeat tuesday
Saturday: Upper/Lower slay fest (hypertrophy isolation movements)
Sunday: Sprint workout/abs/stretch session

Dropped from 185 to 170 and now through hitting my protein macros/calories I''m at 175 and feel great and look pretty lean/muscular


get after it

[Jay585]

How do you grip the bar? Double over hand or mixed? When I am at 225 and below on the DL, I try and use double overhand, and only use mixed for anything heavier than that.

Nothing wrong with failure, as it helps motivate you to work towards improvement.

I did one set of for 255 x 20 on squats today. At 10 reps I almost quit, but I kept pushed myself to finish. However, when I tried to do 405 on the DL, no amount of pushing would help. So it happens, just have to keep working.

Your "warm up" routine is much better than mine, and probably a lot healthier than mine.

Had to google that.

So I use double overhand, no straps, but I use chalk. I plan to use double overhand always, unless for some reason that's no good.

I worked up to 225 while I was practicing, and did not feel my grip being close to giving out. I do a lot of farmer's walks with 2 kettlebells and hangs from a chin up bar, so I think my grip strength is pretty good and should (I hope) be able to keep up with my DL progress.

[98z28]

Had my first major flub up today.

Trying to squat 260 (bodyweight 210). Had a long warm up:
Bike ride to the gym (15 minutes) change in the locker room, Concept2 rower (3 minutes)
bodyweight x10
bar x10
135x8
185x5
205x4
225x3

Then 1 working set of 260 that was rough but doable. 3 minute break went to do the second set and bottomed out. Using the squat rack with the arms that are wayyy too low. My back probably looked like a snailshell setting the bar on the arms. Looks like this guy: https://www.ironcompany.com/producti...d/3138_xlg.jpg

Took a break, backed down to 225, and tried again: same result. Tried again at 135. Was able to do it, but it wasn't warm up easy.

I think I figured out that I was losing tension at the bottom: knees slid forward, no core bracing, just a deflated balloon. Called it quits on squats, spent the day doing my overhead presses (no issues), bent rows (no issues) and deadlift practice. Deadlifts are going better, but I noticed sometimes I was feeling the weight in my toes. Then I'd adjust to weight on heels and could feel it in my lower back, but I'm still unsure if I'm just feeling muscles at work or straining my lower back.

Also, occasionally when the bar was back on the ground (I was pulling singles) I'd notice the bar would be 10 degrees closer to my right shin. Is this an issue? Somewhat in line with this I was feeling more of a "pump" on my left lower back than my right.

I'm no expert. Just an amature trying to follow Rippitoe's Starting Strength. So take the following with a substantial grain of salt.

On the deadlift: Taking a deep breath into the belly, holding the breath with abs tight, and pulling mid-foot has kept the strain off my lower back. When I feel like more weight is towards the front or back of my foot, I'll feel the strain in my lower back. When the weight stays mid-foot, I feel the lift happen in my quads and I have no back soreness afterwards. It took some experimenting to figure out what mid-foot meant, but you know it when you find it. There is no lower back strain during the lift. With Rippitoe's method I can do five reps at 214 without issue (I'm 5'11", 180lbs and started lifting again a little over a month ago after years off).

[Guinnessman]

Had to google that.

So I use double overhand, no straps, but I use chalk. I plan to use double overhand always, unless for some reason that's no good.

I worked up to 225 while I was practicing, and did not feel my grip being close to giving out. I do a lot of farmer's walks with 2 kettlebells and hangs from a chin up bar, so I think my grip strength is pretty good and should (I hope) be able to keep up with my DL progress.

As you go heavier in the deadlift, look into using straps to ease the strain on your grip. Are you going to compete in powerlifting? If not go with straps on the heavier weights or volume sets.

If straps allow me to focus on lifting heavier weights and form, while allowing me to worry less about grip, that’s a win in my book.

Sometimes you need to do what works for you and goes against the purists recommendations.