“Live every day like it’s Shark Week.”
Look, I don’t have much time to post right now, so lets get some basic stuff taken care of.
- If you are going to send me a friend request on Facebook, and are a guy, give me the courtesy of identifying your purpose of doing so. In other words, I don’t like getting friend requests from creepy dudes that live in Montana.
- Edit: This did not say “every dude on here needs to send me a friend request today”.
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- The reason that whenever you type a single right quote mark (’) into the comments and it turns into a double quote mark is because there is some kind of coding error on our server. We called the people that run it, and they are unable to do anything about it. Some people have offered to look at the issue, but we’re just living with it for now.
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- Lastly, http://StartingStrength.com has published a couple of articles lately that may be pertinent to your training or knowledge thereof. So far, Mark Rippetoe is the only author, but there will be more articles by VIP’s. Stay tuned. You can read the articles here.
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Daniel is a 19 year-old sophomore at Gonzaga University. He is 5’11″ and 210. This here is a video of him pulling 525 for a 1RM.
THAT GOES FOR ME TOO! I dont like accepting random dudes. Tell me you are from 70s big.
Props Daniel, that looks really easy.
i like the guy on the right of the screen. curl press in the mirror
sick pull Daniel
Nice job Daniel, that doesn”t look like your max
i actually thought about ceasing to visit this site because because of the apostrophe error.
nice pull, duder – did you go for anything higher after that?
AC and Justin,
FYI,Im that lanky guy from PA with the sunglasses.
Dan, let”s try and go for a real 1rm next time- lol. Nice job, and solid pull…
I am now starting a personal crusade against people who use the squat rack for anything other than the basic barbell lifts. I wasted 30 minutes last night watching some 150lb kid doing wrist curls, then struggling to shoulder shrug 135. There is a reason why its called a SQUAT rack, not the Guido Forearm Fist Pump Curl Rack. I need to find a better gym.
“Guido Forearm Fist Pump” hahaha, that is fucking classic bluecheese.
Pulling 525 at 19y.o. damn Daniel, nice job.
One more comment on the belt. I used one for the first time today squatting and pressing. It was a low quality one and it was still awesome. I can”t wait to get a high quality belt.
Not having to see guys occupy the squat rack for their “Guido Forearm Fist Pump” is reason #631 I work out in my garage.
x2 JAM
Hi Justin,
Maybe you are busy but it would still be nice to hear something about your modified Texas method programming with olympic lifts. Of course if it is not too much trouble. :)
I haven’t talked about it because what I originally drafted won’t work long term for me. I am currently making modifications. The problem with posting programs is that at the intermediate (or higher) level, things are very individualized.
–Justin
Pretty sure your 1RM is higher than 525…that was way to easy.
Thanks for your reply Justin. You are correct that things are very individualized.
The reason I was asking is that you mentioned earlier that you could post your Texas method program. I was just impatient. Point of view was in my opinion how you train not how everybody else should train.
Yeah, I said that, and then it stopped working as well.
–Justin
Justin,
I just read Rip””s “Incremental Increases” article. Great stuff. Thanks for the link. I have a related question regarding lateral progressions and squatting (though I guess the question would be the same for any other lift). For the squat, I have found (unsurprisingly) that recently, as I add more weight to the bar, my form is deteriorating (some lower-back rounding and difficulty keeping a tight mid-section), but I””m not literally failing (I can get below parallel and then back up, but it””s just “ugly”). This does not happen at slightly lighter weights. Is this the point in my lateral progression at which I should consider myself to have “failed,” and thus evaluate whether to re-set? Or do I try to keep going with the lateral progression, in the hope that increased strength will fix the form issues (if they are, in fact, a result of not being strong enough)? Note that I know it””s difficult for you to guess what I may be doing wrong, so if there””s more general guidance you can give, that would be appreciated. Oh, and I am using a belt!
Many thanks.
Linear, not lateral. You need a coach or some way of being evaluated so that you can be cued into doing the correct thing.
–Justin
nice pull guy.
quick question for Justin, or others. Is there any problem with squatting in the morning and then doing the latter portion of the SS workout later in the day?
No problem with that.
–Justin
Love the site.
Big skinny guy (6””5””””, 200lb former D1 college lacrosse player), been doing SS for about a month now.
Press: 125x5x3
Squat: 315x5x3
BP: 225x5x3
Really looking to a better job on the nutritional side. I have a crazy fast metabolism as-is. How do people space out their gallon of milk a day? Was thinking a quart before 9:30, a quart before lunch, quart before 4:00, quart with dinner… this just seems like a ton.
Just do it. You can have a quart four times a day, or drink 2 cups 8 times a day.
–Justin
Oops. Sorry about the typo, and thanks for the response. Wish I could go back and edit! Doh!
pstansik,
I drink at least 8 ounces in the morning before leaving for work, pick up a half gallon at Wawa on the way to the office and drink that with breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack. Then I drink another 8 oz. post workout or when I get home on non workout days. Drink about 16 oz. with dinner and another 8 oz. with dessert and you are between 3/4 and 1 gallon for the day.
Daniel, that was way too easy. I also hate you for being 6 years younger and lifting over 100 lbs more than me. Good for you.
i”m the one who”s curl&pressing in the background. daniel asked me to do it so it would make his lift look that much more badass than the sissy man lifting in the mirror behind him.
If I drink my mlik to fast and chuke, do I have to drink another gallon or only the portion of gallon that I spewed?
@FilthyBrit
I”m right there in the same boat as you. I just hit 225x3x5 last week, and while I didn”t fail per se, the last few reps of each set were looking pretty bad. However, at, say, 205, I feel good about my form and theres little to no breakdown as the sets progress. Note: sounds like my form breaks down similar to yours, i.e. trouble keeping my trunk stable and upright enough. Justin, barring personal access to a good coach, how would you feel about drilling technique hard at a slightly lower weight (maybe 205 for me) to reinforce how it should feel and adding in some “core” work like weighted situps, reverse hypers, and/or GH raises? Obviously not for a long time, but maybe a few workouts of lighter drilling, then get back on linear progression. Not to mention anyone can film their squats and put them out there for more experienced eyes to see, so that is another tool (that I plan to use) for fixing this problem.
Random thoughts: I feel like some form breakdown is inevitable in the quest of getting stronger. When I first started SS, 185 was doable but form was ugly. As I pushed through and got stronger, 185 was easy w/good form, but 205 was ugly but barely doable. Today, 205 is there with good form, but 225 is ugly. In addition, I am waiting on weightlifting shoes and a good belt for Christmas and I am hopeful that they will have a positive effect on my form.
I recently read an essay by Henry Rollins, written 15 years ago, on his experience and thoughts on lifting which I thought was a great read. Below is a link for those interested.
http://rosstraining.com/blog/2009/12/04/iron-and-the-soul-by-henry-rollins/
justin, i almost added you as a friend today on facebook, but i HTFU and refrained.
crouton, great article. Thanks for posting it.
FilthyBrit and python2705
I”ve had a similiar experience as you guys, and I hope what I”ve got to say can help. Anyone please chime in to disagree, agree, add to, or whatever.
Not to long ago I shot some video of myself hitting a big milestone, 315x3x5, and I was surprised at how much my form sucked. What I percieved as butt-wink was full on lumbar rounding, and my knees where sliding forward at the bottom, explaining the knee pain I was developing. I labored over what to do and decided that I would try and fix it as I countinued my progression – I found this was not realistic. Resetting the weight was something I desprately didn”t want to do, but I accepted that dealing with the frustration now is a far better alternative to dealing with the long term issues of bad squat technique: over use injuries, inefficent force production, etc.
Assuming you don”t have access to a coach/more knowledgable training partner, my advice to you guys is to make a camera your new most valuble piece of gym equipment. I would videotape every work set and drop down to a weight you can squat with acceptable form. Be very critical of yourself and use the squat form checks over in Rip”s Q&A board for comparison. I found I had to pretty much reteach myself the squat using a whole new set of ques. I”m not back to 315x3x5 yet, but I”m progressing much faster then I did the first time around, and I feel much more confident about my technique.
Sorry about the huge post, I hope that it is atleast slightly helpful.
Dan,
That is very helpful. Thanks so much. I do fortunately have access to some top-shelf coaches, but I”ve been doing a lot of my squat work on my own at 24 hour fitness (working late), and can”t always get real-time coaching. But, I”ll strive to make more videos, to critque myself honestly and, if, necessary, show my coaches the videos.
Cheers!
@Dan
Definitely good to get input from someone who”s worked through it. I think the concern about issues stemming from bad squat technique is legitimate, most importantly regarding injuries. I”m not trying to permanently fuck myself up at the age of 19 by squatting with bad form. And I don”t think anyone is a pussy for feeling that way.
I plan to film my work sets for a while. One question for you Dan, after you reset to a weight you could do with solid form, what kind of increases did you make on your way back up? 5 pounds, 10 pounds, whatever you did the first time through? Once again thanks for the input!
@python2705
Well when I decided to reset I played around with different weights, trying to maintain as high a weight as possible. This was a mistake, after about a week and a half of fooling around I finally made a lot of progress just working with 135. After I got that I hit 185 my next workout, and then I hit 275 with reasonable form my next workout. I was not progressing slowly because I wasn”t limited to wait for an increase in strength. The only thing that limited me was my ability to correctly apply my relearned squat technique at heavier weights. As Rip says, your mileage may vary. Next workout I”m going to make a move for 315 again, well see how that goes. I”ve fixed my knee slide at the bottom and my lumbar rounding has improved, but definately not cured. I”m working on this by very diligently stretching my hamstrings and exagerating the contraction of my spinal erectors throughtout the squat. Also, I”m going to start belting and see if that helps. We”ll see.
Good luck.
The belt should definitely help. Even adding the shitty tapered belt that I have made a noticeable difference. So it looks like you made a pretty rapid increase back to near your previous working weights. I will have to reset a bit and work technique hard, then get back on the increase. Once again thanks and good luck to you as well.
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