PR Friday is a time to rejoice in any personal records you hit in the past week, update everyone on your training, and ask random training questions. Chances are other readers can help, and if not I’ll provide my own opinion. Good day to you, sir/madame.
I’ll add stuff to this throughout Friday, but the following video has nothing to do with 70’s Big.
Update: I said I was gonna add some stuff, but I’ve got nothin’. I’ve been doing this for over a year every week day, and unless I write an in depth post, I’ve got nothin’.
82 thoughts on “PR Friday”
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Why do I get the feeling that video is some sort of very odd fetish?
BW: 195
Squat pr: 405 x 3
Had to lift at a crossfit gym today where the genius owner decided to buy plates that were so fat, you can only fit 405 on the bar… Either that or his programming doesn’t make produce very strong clients, so he never has to worry about anyone putting more than 405 on the bar.
This proved to be a problem for my Deadlift. I was planning on pulling 460 x 5, but ended up pulling 405 x 10 (pr).
Justin – Would I have been better off just Pulling 405 for a set of 5 to keep volume down (Intensity Day for TM) and then hit that PR set the following week, or was hitting that 10rm ok? (I figure a little hypertrophy never hurt anyone…)
That depends on a lot of factors. You’ll find out when you go for the PR next week. If you don’t get it, then it was too much stress. If you don’t get it, it’s not a big deal because you learn something about your body.
–Justin
175lbs x3 overhead squat
145lbs x3 Press
135lbs bear complex and easy too, might have 165 in me, but I did after a benching, doing volume light snatch and clean and jerking( about 60%), and weighted pull-ups.
Injury/ form question:
I’ve been doing the Oly lifts for a while now (on and off for 3 years, but consistently revolving my training around it for a little over 2 months) In the past I’ve had problems with my left hip squatting, especially with high frequency. I’ve been stretching and foam rolling my glutes, IT band, posterior and anterior hips, and abducters like crazy, but the pain won’t go away. I’ve cut down my squatting frequency (I only squat with the oly lifts and sprinkle in some front squats, but I was doing them 5-6 days a week, so I cut down to 3-4 times and work more power) I even started doing some yoga, but nothing helps. It happens when I hit parellel, but I’ve been grinding thorugh to ATG. Sometimes if I do a bunch of air squats it will stay warm and go away, but comes back immediately after….Sooo my question is, should I switch to a split snatch and clean and jerk? I messed around with the split snatch today and felt fast and smooth with it. Was planning on trying a max split snatch and clean and jerk tomorrow to see if it is significantly higher than the normal versions.
BTW I’m 22, 6’2, 195-200 depending on the day. Thanks in advance
The split snatch is cool, but I don’t know if this is reason enough to switch just yet. Can you specify where your hip experienced pain?
–Justin
meant the pain comes back immediately after I lift. Like 5-10 minutes.
PR’s
Press 145X5X3
BW 245
30 days removed from a lower back injury. My body weight and lifts started to go up this week. Looking forward to the next couple of weeks in terms of PR’s.
Sort of an odd question, but I only have access to plates that are about 2 inches shorter then OLY sized plates. Any issue with me squatting and cleaning with these? Is there an adjustment I should make to my starting position?
You mean that the plates are of a smaller diameter and thus the bar is about two inches lower than it normally is when the barbell is lying on the ground? You could put other plates underneath the barbell to raise the bar up. In either case it won’t be optimal for the Olympic lifts (if the bar is lower, your starting position is different and if you’re putting plates under the barbell, when you drop the bar there could be problems). Are these bumpers or iron?
–Justin
Hey 70’s Big,
PR’d on my Deads this week and pulled 405 x 5 x 1. The funny thing though was the “shirtless, shaved, half-squatter” working on the rack next to me. He saw me load the bar and automatically assumed that I was shrugging because, let’s face it, that what Muscle and Fitness says to do. When he saw me take the bar out of the rack and put it on the floor before my set, he stopped and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Getting 70’s Big” I said.
“Are you going to use straps?,” He asked.
“For what?” I said.
“The Deadlifts.” He replied.
“Nah, I just hook-grip that sh!t!” I replied as cranked up the Pillar on my iPod and strapped up my belt.
When I was finished and let the eight plates come slamming to the ground, I heard him say, “No straps… that’s incredible.”
It scares me that someone thinks that is incredible. Has the world really come to this?
Well, your strength is much higher than average. Congrats on your improvement thus far. Even if you said it for comedic effect, I like how you responded with, “Gettin’ 70’s Big.”
–Justin
I got 163×3 on the bench. 295×3 on the squat, 323×2 on the deadlift, 150×3 on power cleans.
By the way, that mustache is 70s big.
PRs:
Squat: 290 3×5
Deadlift: 315 x5 (3 plates, bro!)
Barbell Row: 130 3×8–still not hard, just slowly working up.
Food: made Jacob’s chili again last night. It’s resting today and I’ll crush three or four bowls tonight.
Hitting the 315 pound deadlift is a fantastic accomplishment. I didn’t think I’d ever get up to three plates. Now I’m pretty confident I’ll get to four plates some time next year. I’m also almost positive I’ll enter a powerlifting competition next year and at least make it into the 1000-pound club.
Question: I’ve been getting some pain in the tendon(s) next to my medial epicondyle (the tendons between the little bony part of the inner elbow and the big bony part). I feel it after squatting and often later on in the day. I read in SS that this could be from allowing the weight of the bar to run down my arm. But I don’t think I do that. I’m pretty careful to keep my elbows back and I think I grip it right. I thought maybe I’m doing too narrow of a grip, so yesterday I tried widening my grip but I still had some pain in the tendon, including shooting pain up and down my arm. The pain isn’t debilitating or anything, but it’s been going on like three weeks and seems to be getting a little worse. I’ve added 120 pounds to my squat since my last deload in May. I’m not sure if that matters. Any ideas?
It’s a grip issue. Some amount of the weight is pushing your hand/wrist down and the elbow is receiving that stress. These grip issues are sometimes very hard to fix and even more so over the internet. If you took a picture/video of your grip, that would be something I could help with. If you have long arms, then a wider grip may help, but it depends. I’d have to see it because even something as simple as dropping the chest can cause this.
–Justin
I’m in my 12-week strength Program and did 3×3’s @ 90% of 1RM yesterday.
OHSQ 230
BSQ 365
DL 455
BW @ 205
OHS – 145 lbs
The most awesome part of this PR was that I actually dropped the bar on my head on my first attempt at 145 lbs. That was a HUGE PR, since I have somehow failed to hit myself on the top of the head with the bar in the last 16 months (although I’ve managed to whack my chin more than once).
Deadlift – 4 x 3 x 230 lbs
I’m going to claim this as a PR because it is a PR for this rep scheme. Plus, it was heavy.
In other news, my front squats did not totally suck ass this week. First time ever. I don’t know what the fuck was going on, but they felt great and looked good on video.
F/34/5’8/143lbs(wishful thinking)
PR bodyweight: 230
PR since broken arm:
Deadlift: 375×5
Last night I pulled a 475×1 deadlift for a 50lb PR. I can only assume that I was doing something wrong before to be able to make that big of a jump.
I hit a 235lb Overhead squat last week, which was a 50 pound PR, after doing zero overhead squatting for this whole year. Then I ended up in the hospital a few days later and have ended up with a -20 pound bodyweight PR. Must get my appetite back. GRRRR
My PR @ 212lbs:
DL – 551×2 (almost had 3 but stalled just over my knees)
Wife PR @ ~137lbs:
DL – 347×4 (I think it was a two rep PR for her)
Also, two not-exactly-70sBig videos. Ever wonder what it would be like to totally dominate? These two guys know.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK-H6Ll6Z8c
Back squat: 250×1
Press: 145×1
Deadlift: 315×1
BW is hanging steady around 190-192, up from about 175.
took most of this week off due to a pinched nerve or something in my arm. Worst pain ever when it was at its worst. Hopefully that’s gone.
Front Squatted 225x3x2 last night, not really a PR weight, but I hardly ever front squat, and I’m pretty sure this is the heaviest I have gone on them so far.
getting new oly shoes today (do-wins) also hoping for a C&J PR this weekend if all feels good.
@mtg0502
thats a pretty awesome story.
@ set2fathoms
Hey man, oly lifts are not my specialty but I know when I do them, I need to ride the bike for at least ten minutes and stretch the hell out of my hips. Without watching you, all I can suggest is to make sure your keeping your weight back on your heels and forcing your knees out when you catch the barbell (either clean or snatch). I dabbled with the split clean and snatch a bit in the past, it felt good but my lifts went down. I know most people that practice split lifts do so because of lack of flexibility. It doesn’t seem like this is your problem. Hope this helps.
PRs:
Squat 340# 3×5
Bench 270# 1×2
Deadlift 455# 1×5
BW: 209
Deadlift: 325 x 5 confident I’ll pull 335 next week.
Power Clean: 185 x 3 x 5 shooting for 195 next week.
Failed on squatting 245 x 5 x 3 this morning–kind of dissappointed…
Took off exactly one month (went on vacation for my 40th B-Day, came back with the flu for almost 2 weeks, etc.) after the VA State USAPL event last month.
Came back this week and hit a new squat PR on Tuesday:
5 x 3 @ 355#
I am still so f’ing sore, I can barely walk — but it was soooo worth it.
PR bodyweight 175lb
PR Press last night 125 x 3 x 5
First week of Justin’s Strength & Conditioning Program. I am really digging it. Eating pretty clean and already starting to lean out.
@Maslow–that second vid “amazing boxer” I believe that’s just what happens when a man of average toughness lives in a country full of pussies. Those guys he was hitting were flying around like they were in one of those A-Team explosions. What a pack of douchebags. Not 70s Big.
PRs:
Press 185×7
Bench 255×8
First “modern” PRs on press and bench since starting 5/3/1. Hitting some additional assistance on deload week seemed to help. Who knows.
Shirt PR:
Two old school brown/gold 70s Big shirts came in the mail. Sweet.
New 70s Big food submission:
Venezuelan Carne A La Parilla…big hunk o’ flank steak with two fried eggs on top served with beans, yucca, plantains.
Hit this for lunch pre-Deadlift day on Tuesday and smoked through 385×8 like it was nothing. Viva Chavez!
I laughed at the “A-team explosions” comment.
–Justi
@Justin, here’s some content for the homepage:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AnLuniQjsy8LdFdtR3FNUmlhQTdweEJIUmdCbGhMUFE&hl=en
It’s the Fall 70’s big TSC results I posted close to 2 weeks ago.
@mtg0502 Like the story, the dude got one shock after another. He probably didn’t understand what the hook grip was and thought you DOH’d it normally. Rip said he can do 405 for 8 that way in a video from this site.
BW: 212
Bench – 210 3×5
Squat – 290 3×5
DL – 405 5×1
(lbs)
KFC Double Down coming to Canada Oct 18!!! Limited time only!
Just wanted to get that out there, because I have been waiting so long.
Food pr, I ate 5 dozen eggs in 5 days.
Deadlift PRs- 421x2x5 and 476×1.
It was heavy single week this week. My favorite.
PR’s
Overhead press
15 X 1 at 195
and then:
Deadlift 15 X 1 465
Followed by Squat 1 X 20 at 240
Squats tomorrow- I’m pumped.
Life PR- Getting out of China to come back to the USA this week. I cannot wait for the looks of immigration when they behold another high Flyin’, limousine ridin’, mustache sportin’, kiss stealin’, wheelin’ dealin’ Son of A GUN!
I don’t know what you’re talking about with that Life PR, but I like it.
–Justin
BTW, Justin, WTF is going on with the girls’ t-shirts?
Several unrelated delays. The main one is monetary.
–Justin
@ smithb09 & Antigen
Thanks for the support. As much as I hate to admit the fact that I work out at the globo-gym that is my school, it’s all I got when I’m away from the iron in my garage. I’ve seen that video you (Antigen) mentioned of Coach Rippetoe talking about when he pulled 405# for eight. I don’t remember if he said he hooked griped it or not but I know I started hook gripping when I started concentrating more olymic lifting. The fact Justin has been posting videos as of late of the mastedon that is Chris pulling 600# for triple is also making me more of a believer in the hook grip method.
On that particular pulling workout that Rip is alluding to (he was doing halting deadlifts, a half deadlift), he was just straight up double overhanding it (no hook). I was watching that night (don’t know if I was training).
–Justin
Female 31
Third week of Starting Strength
Squat: 148 X 5 X 3
Press: 68 X 5 X 3
Bench: 78 X 5 X 3
DL: 193 X 5
Power clean: One on the minute for 15 minutes at 93
Squat – 300x5x3 – they were hard, but I got ’em. 315 is next on the list!
Bench – 195x5x3
Press – 130x5x3 – first press PR on SS, psyched! I’ll be microloading very shortly though.
Food PRs – Made 1.5 lbs of Gant’s CFS, after breading that stuff had to double in weight though, amazing!
Also had my fist “McGangbang”. Was too pussy to order it that way through the drive thru, so I assembled it myself, delicious. Had to wash it down with a BigMac and Reese’s Mcflurry though.
@Cannon – that is some sick egg consumption, nicely done.
Nice pull Rygor. Strong shit. Sounds like you need more rack pulls! Get that triple. And as always, your wife is still freakishly strong.
Kpow,
those are impressive numbers for only your 3rd week. Nice work.
160kg/352lb squat for 5
135kg/297 front squat for 3X3
77.5kg/170lb press single
192.5kg/432.5lb rack pull for 5
Here is a question for you:
I am now alternating rack pulls with haltings, what sort of weight jumps should i be taking? 2.5kg? 5kg?
if i only increase rack pulls 2.5kg at a time, won’t deadlift progress be very slow to the point where i will be squatting the same as my deadlift?
If you have opted to alternate the two, 5kg jumps would be a minimum since you’re doing each exercise twice a month. I still think this is an advanced programming method, and every person I know that has done it hasn’t liked it (including me, Chris, AC, and maybe Brent). That isn’t to say that either exercise is bad — they are both good ones but it isn’t optimal for most people.
–Justin
PR’s this week: in KG’s
SN 70×2
SN Bal 90×1
OHS 100×1
BS 100×15
70×2 SN I’ve just never really done doubles before. Pretty please with the SNbal and OHS PR’s as they both went up 10kg in one week…;)
First 70sbig meal:
2 pieces of chicken breast
a salad
Damn, i gotta eat more.
Still hitting PRs though.
Press 122.5 3 x 5
Deadlift 360 1 x 5
Squat 265 3 x 5
Bench 160 3 x 5
Power Clean 145 5 x 3
Progressing quite nicely right now. BW is up 5 lbs since last week at 197 right now, 200 next week? Maybe.
Justin,
Entered a Bench Press competition and got the gold for my class with a 150# lift. First meet jitters out of the way. Got the Oly meet in two weeks.
PRs this week:
DL 1RM: 305#
Jerk 1RM: 183#
I saw your pictures on Facebook. Nice!
–Justin
The quote below is from a fellow teacher I work with who has recently joined a workout group that I lead for faculty members on our campus. On Tuesday I had the group squat5x5 and press5x5 (we used 25lb. bars for press. This is a middle aged female who is extremely deconditioned, should I sub another exercise for press?
“I saw my chiropractor on Wednesday, and he told me to avoid raising my arms above 90 degrees to my shoulders until I gain more strength in my deltoids, meaning no lifting or reaching above my head”
I’d want to know what the chiropractor’s reasoning is. Was she in pain after the workout, and if so where was it? If she was, we should determine if it was anatomical (as in a previous injury) or just soreness (in which case you may have pushed her a bit too early). Finding out is important to make you better.
Barring any injury I can’t imagine why she shouldn’t put her arms overhead, but I don’t have the facts and observations.
–Justin
Chrio PR= had my shoulder issue worked out at my friends chiropractic office. Had some big knots in my lats, traps, and pecs causing me some strange shoulder issues. Haven’t lifted anything all week since then and feel great. Hoping to post some PRs next Friday!
hamburgerfan: according to his YouTube channel, the guy getting punched has a website called gayevilbiker.com, and his bio is as follows:
“Im a beer bellied biker into giving/taking/trading gutpunches. I also get into interrogation/bondage scenes. I’ve done some wrestling, and I have enjoyed it a lot.”
I think you may be on to something.
Totally shouldn’t have posted that vid.
–Justin
Thanks kittenSmash. I went to the 70’s Big seminar in Sacramento and Justin helped me establish my starting numbers based on my 1 RM’s. I’ve been eating my 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight like a good girl and hope to continue to make gains on my lifts for a while.
Squatted 340×13 today. On 5/3/1 – I just jacked my weights up this week to true maxes and it seems like I’m still blowin through my final set, should I have my working maxes higher than my true maxes if this is the case? I have included video of my 340×13 squat from today. Lookin for some help with form – My knees are fuckin killing me, like 15-20 min warm-up and can’t even crouch down to pet my dog in the evenings. Here is the vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA_yQbCVTlQ
Thanks!!!
Your knees go forward throughout the descent of your squats. It gets worse as you get tired, and this is why your knees hurt. You need to set them at some point, and then sit back. “Some point” is not up to you, it depends on your body dimensions but I’m not there in person. You can sort of see where your knee should be by doing the adductor stretch where you push your knees out with your elbows. Most people manage to F that stretch up, so I don’t know if that will help. When doing the stretch, you don’t let your butt sink as low as possible, you push it back at the depth that you squat to (hips a bit below knees with knees out). Assuming you do that stretch correctly, that point where your knees are is the point that they should go in the squat. Once they go forward and get to that position, you need to sit back. Sitting back stretches the hamstrings/adductors more, and this pulls on your knee from the posterior side instead of just the anterior (you are getting only anterior force since your knees slide forward in your squats here). Having posterior forces balances out the net force around the knee, and the tighter hamstrings/adductors will help you bounce a little bit (you’ll notice you have zero bounce, especially when you get tired — this is a function of your technique, not necessarily your lack of effort when tired).
I’ll probably clean this up for a post in the next few days.
–Justin
BW-180
Sq-380×3
DL-485×1
Squat PR: 405x2x2
3 weeks out from first meet, getting pumped.
Jeremy@CFV,
Dude that’s some serious reps!
The squats look pretty good, but I’m seeing your knees shooting forward at the bottom on a few reps. This makes your hips shoot forward as well, which takes the tension out of the hamstring, kills your bounce and shifts the brunt of the load to your quadriceps. This could cause a lot of strain on the knee. I imagine your hip flexors get pretty sore too?
What are your actual maxes and how old are they? Are you sure those are your no shit maxes now? You may be stronger than you realize. For my folks on 5/3/1 during the max rep sets, I only let them go as long as they were doing a quick single breath and then hitting the next rep. If they got where they were standing there taking 3-4 breaths between reps I cut it off. For one, to keep them from getting fried, and two, so that the rep max wasnt so high that they could never touch it again, especially if they over did it on the first cycle and went into the second cycle over trained.
To sum up, sticking with training maxes, being patient, and not drawing the max rep set out forever, and keeping the knees from sliding forward, ought to do a lot for your knees.
our mandatory weight training sessions for baseball has started and fortunately our strength/conditioning coach knows some shit about some stuff. He’s taken over the strength/conditioning for the whole athletic department so we are getting some squat stands and some oly lifting platforms with bumpers and decent oly bars. The problem is we don’t know exactly when we’re getting them but hey, better late than never.
Hang power clean(above knee) 205lbsx3 which was super easy…never really tried to hang clean heavy before but when we clean it is all hang cleans above knee and below knee for now.
Squat PR:
310 lbs for 3 sets of 5.
Thanks for the tips Ryan.
I don’t have any pain in my hip flexors but I’m pretty good about stretching and rolling all around my hips. Any coaching cues to help with stopping my knees from coming forward? I’ve noticed it when watching videos but didn’t think it was a big deal and couldn’t figure out a way to achieve full depth without A losing my lumbar curve or B knees forward. And we’re talkin serious loss of lumbar curve, major back pain after my session is done and saggy reps.