Happy PR Friday, great day to be alive. Now it’s business time.
And in case you missed it, here’s one of the new shirts (also available for women):
Click to buy -- ON SALE
Adam W. asks on the Facebook fan page:
Justin, if you can figure out why I got 3 whites on this lift…
…and 3 reds on this one.
I will be very grateful. And since my deadlift lockout is the ugliest thing in lifting history, I was wondering if you think rack pulls might be a good way to clean them up, and if so how do you usually program them?
Dear Adam,
We talked back and forth about this on the page, but I thought it was good topic for everyone else to see. The federation is the CPF which is a WPC affiliate. Personally I’ve only coached in the USAPL, which is under IPF ruling.
Adam is a glaring example of blatantly removing tension from the hamstrings during the deadlift lockout. I don’t think the last attempt in the second video should have been red lighted, but the excessive forward knee movement emulates what would happen when the bar is hitched. Had the bar stopped moving, I would agree with them, yet it continued to move. Your feet remained in the same place, you locked your knees out at the top, and lifted the chest at the top. That jacked loader on the right was surprised it was red-lighted too. Whatever the problem was, it was something that all three judges agreed on. They must have considered your shitty knee position a hitch, I guess. My suggestion would be to go over the rule book and find out what happened.
However, the fact that you remove hamstring tension is something that you can (and need to) control. Adam told me he’s doing RDLs, but I’d still want to see how he’s doing them because I have a hunch he’s flexing his knees too much and not getting the full use of them. In any case, he asked about rack pulls. Rack pulls will definitely help this pulling issue when they are done correctly. The bar should be put right below the knee (at about the tibial tuberosity), and the lower back should remain locked in place during the movement. You don’t need to hyper-extend it (I’ve been hurt this way), but the goal is to not allow it to flex. If it flexes, then it slackens the hamstring tension. Do not allow your knees to shift forward under the bar (like you’re currently doing in your deadlift). By doing it this way, you won’t be able to use as much weight as you think you can, and it will probably be lower than what you deadlift. This is fine. Chris’ set of five on rack pulls is still below what his max is.
Lastly, when you do actually deadlift, think about keeping the knees back (cue is “knees back”). Really work on this since a) knees forward is causing you to miss lifts in meets and b) strengthening your hamstrings by maintaining tension during deadlifting and rack pulling will make for a stronger deadlift. If you’re confused, see Chris’ 650 miss on his third attempt at USAPL Raw Nationals in 2010 compared to his last three meets: 661, 666, and 677.
gumbo asks:
What’s your basic recommendation for increasing bodyweight pullups during a linear progression?
Your article on weighted pullups is great but I’m not ready for them yet, as I’m only doing 3×5 at bodyweight. I know this is discussed all over the net, but I’d appreciate the 70s Big recommendation.
Details: I’m doing SS (A day: squat/bench/dead, B day: squat, press, clean) and I’m doing three sets of unweighted pullups on A days with 2 minutes rest between sets. I’ve been getting ~5,5,6. The most I can do in one all out set is 7 reps. Do you recommend ladders or pyramids? Or just doing them more frequently, grease-the-groove style? Or a couple of weighted singles? Also, the pullups are the only assistance work I’m doing now. Thanks.
Dear gumbo,
If you aren’t progressing much with the “three sets of as many reps as you can do”, then there a few other options. The first is to use the frequency method. It’s essentially the same thing as this Monday’s pull-up post, and Johnny Pain has written about it extensively in his Greyskull LP e-book. Basically consistently do them throughout the day every day.
You could also ladder them in a given workout. Do a single, then rest a sec, then a double, and so on until you fail. Then rest, and try another ladder. Record your total reps and aim to increase that. Another method is to do a higher number of smaller sets. If you can only do 3×5 right now (totaling 15), then do ten doubles (totaling 20). Do a single every thirty seconds, a double on the minute, or something like that. Your goal should be to increase the daily allotment whether it’s every day, or just on your training days. Once the body weight numbers go up, you can start throwing in some weighted stuff, even if it’s light. You could make one day body weight and another weighted, but I suggest using the above techniques before doing this.
Now that the pull-up shit is out of the way, let’s correct your template. You’re alternating cleans and deadlifts every workout. That shit won’t work beyond a month or so, especially when squatting 3 days a week. I don’t know why this isn’t talked about more, but deadlifting more than once a week is a good way to drive the dick into the ground. And even if someone is “so novice” that they can deadlift more than once a week, that just means they are using such a light weight that it isn’t much of a stress. Besides, RDLs are probably going to be much better for a novice anyway since even experienced lifters still don’t deadlift well (observe Adam above).
Deadlift and clean just once a week. I suggest deadlifting Friday; any earlier in the week and it can interfere with everything else. Also, RDLs on Monday will do more for you than cleans will; something to think about.
Wolf asks:
Justin, can you elaborate a bit on the acute vs obtuse angles of attachment? I assume you’re referring to the lat/humerus relationship, and I was trying to picture it but for some reason (protein coma?) couldn’t get a handle on it.
Dear Wolf,
Look at this sweet pic I drew.
The black segments are a leg (femur, shank, and foot — the circle is the knee). The blue muscles are small. Take the apex of the blue quad and trace it to the knee; see how that line makes an acute angle with the femur? Now do the same with the red quad. See how that makes a larger angle with respect to the femur? Now consider that the blue and red quads need to shorten, or pull, on the knee joint in order for that shank to be raised (i.e. the knee to extend). It will be more efficient to do so with the red quad since it has a greater attachment angle.
This same concept applies to other joints, yet it gets more complicated since the shoulder and hips aren’t just hinge joints and muscle fibers aren’t always longitudinal with the joint action. Just understand that larger muscles make for better angles of attachment and subsequently more efficient mechanics; that’s a big reason why bigger guys lift bigger weights.
Deadlift question. I’m trying to figure out optimal feet separation for my DL. Do I want them narrow enough so my arms can hang down straight, thus putting less emphasis on my arms during the pull? Or does it not really matter? Obviously the closer my feet are together the farther one has to pull to complete the rep. thanks.
Dear lefty,
I think your answer can be answered in this back issue of Q&A. Generally speaking, a hip width stance will allow the knees to be shoved out more than a wide stance. This will tighten up the hip muscles more as well as allow for a more vertical torso as well as an extended lumbar. In other words the starting position will be better. If the starting position is better, then you’re set up to have a more efficient lift. Efficiency equals strength. Another way of explaining this is Kelly Starrett’s “tunnel” concept; the athlete needs to get in a good position before entering the “movement tunnel” so they can come out of the movement tunnel in a good position.
Don’t forget that if your stance is a little more narrow than what it used to be, your grip will be too. But lettuce be real tea, unless you’re pulling 500+ at a meet, doing things as efficient as possible is more important than doing whatever you can to lift the most weight. Would a novice lifter worry about how they can round their thoracic spine to shorten the overall pull? No. My guess is that you don’t need to worry about the subtle little details that will change your pull length by an inch or so (assuming that is even the case anyway), especially since doing it better will improve your training more than decreasing the pull by a single inch.
wallymoccasins Says:
Justin,
Off topic, but with winter coming I thought this might be a decent question for everyone. How do you treat a cold to get rid of it ASAP, and how long before you start training again?
Dear wallymoccasins,
This is a good question. I’ve always prided myself on my ability to not get sick. There are things you can do to ensure that your body isn’t susceptible to pansy bacteria that float around. Obviously wash your hands any time you touch something weird, including your penis. I’m real ornery about washing my hands and I know that’s a big reason why I don’t get sick. If you travel via plane or train, aim to clean yourself ASAP (shower, wash hands, etc.)
Here’s a list of things to focus on to prevent and treat sickness. You shouldn’t be surprised to see that it’s the same stuff you should do to recover well. If one of these things is out of whack, fix it.
Stay hydrated. Drink mostly water. Do not drink soda. Seriously. Fucking stop it.
Sleep well. Bare minimum is 7 hours, but get 8 of actual sleep time (don’t count the time it takes to fall asleep).
Consume adequate protein. At least as many grams as your body weight in pounds. At least.
Take a multivitamin with Vitamin C.
Eat a healthy, low inflammatory diet. Sticking to a paleo outline will provide nutrient dense foods and help lower overall systemic inflammation. Meat and potatoes ftw.
If you feel any sniffles coming on, increase your Vitamin C and water intake immediately. Make an extra effort to increase the protein. All of this are the building blocks to a healthy system. I’ve always imagined that the water helps flush the system, but it’s necessary for efficient biochemical processes to occur. If you still get hit with a virus despite your efforts, stay hydrated, consume vitamin C, and try and get as much protein as you can. If it’s one of those nasty stomach bugs, get calories any way you can (even if it’s crackers once the initial eruptions settle).
If you did get sick and you missed some training, then follow the advice in THIS POST about being sick.
All right, it was fun, I’ll see you guys on the field.
@strongerthanyesterday – We will be here the entire Christmas weekend, so just send me an email or text me. sparkleglitterelite@gmail.com. For real. That’s a great email address.
PR Deadlift … 425# at 166# BW
I had a school PR this week. Got my first ever 4.0 (only took me 4 years of highschool and 5 years of college)
@criedthefox, congrats on the 4.0! That’s damn awesome.
Finally hit 225 on my press, a 5 pound PR. Came home after having 3 beers at a work holiday party, gulped down water for 2 hours while playing Skyrim, then went up to the gym and nailed it. Fuck yeah.
Also, this week we submitted my daughter’s paperwork for high school next year. The years seem to be accelerating. For you younger folks, when your parents tell you, “it seems like the other day you were just a wee baby,” that really is how it feels.
Tamara you’re such a gay. Pressed 200 x 3.
Last heavy lifting session of the year.
Notable lifts this week.
Squat: 415×1, missed second rep forward. Meh.
Deadlift: missed 515 just below knees.
Press: 125x12PR
Bench: 190×7
I’ve missed getting a triple three times at 415, going to do a reset and work up slower. De loading for the holidays the next two weeks on lower body stuff. Upper body lifts are moving along smoothly. Finished finals finally.
415 1×5 squat for a PR
260 1×4 for a PR
415 1×5 Deadlift PR for volume.
Even with the PRs, I could probably leave this workout. Missing the last rep on the bench was a bummer.
DL: 385 x2
Food/Life: Friday night, wife went out, blasted through a full roast chicken, 1 LB bag of spinach and season 1 of Battlestar Gallactica.
Food-Other: ate a Trinidad Scorpion chile
If you stay very hydrated, you will pee often, and then you just wash your hands after you pee and 2 goals accomplished in 1. Best method.
Thanks for the extra response on the deadlift, appreciated! I barely unlock my knees in an RDL, I can actually RDL to the floor with my knees totally locked because of flexible hamstrings so I make a real effort to push back with my hips and ensure I’m feeling a deep hamstring stretch when I do them, but for some reason when the weight gets heavy on a deadlift it all goes out the window.
The rulebook says this:
1. Any downward motion of the bar before it reaches the final position.
2. Failure to stand erect.
3. Failure to lock the knees straight at the completion of the lift.
4. Supporting the bar on the thighs during the performance of the lift. ‘Supporting’ is
defined as a body position adopted by the lifter that could not be maintained without
the counterbalance of the weight being lifted.
5. Movement of the feet laterally, backward or forward that would constitute a step or
stumble.
6. Lowering the bar before receiving the head referee’s signal.
7. Allowing the bar to return to the platform without maintaining control with both
hands.
I don’t think I broke rule #4 because I could easily maintain the position I was in without the counterbalance of the weight, but whatever.
Squat: 310×5
Bench: 275×5
DL: 335×5
Week 2 of a TM set-up. Gonna progress things quickly as I think I reset the weights too low after some time off.
Also found an old MobilityWOD video about compensating for the mechanical disadvantages caused by fallen arches. Huge help for a flat-footed gent like myself.
Justin – thanks for the guidance on both pull-ups and my template.
Can you elaborate on this, though? “RDLs on Monday will do more for you than cleans will.” I’m intrigued – do you mean they’ll do more for my deadlifting performance, or for overall strength/size development? And are you suggesting dropping cleans?
Bench Press 250x3x1
Squat 235x5x3
Deadlift 250x5x1
I’m coming back after surgery on my lower back. Working LP on Squat and deadlift, and alternating fives and triples on bench and press. Looking for 300# bench press by the end of the Spring.
Had my 1st full PL meet last week…went 8 for 9. Went 465/440/530. PR’ed squat and bench each by 15 lbs despite a training injury to my lower back two weeks out from the competition. Did not PR deadlifts.
@adamwathan…Sometimes that knee thing happens to me too on a heavy deadlift attempt. For me it all depends on how tight I can keep my lumbar locked throughout the movement. This is never a problem at weights where I keep my lumbar locked perfectly. For me, at limit lifts, its my lumbar that fails first which means my hams have nothing to contract against and I’m left with all lower back and quad to try to finish the lift. I accept that that is what might happen on a limit lift but I don’t accept it in training.
Squat 240×5 – previous best was 240×1
Deads 300×3 – missed the 4th rep, but still a PR previous best was 300×1
Press 130×5 – previous best 135×1 and I’ll hit that next week
Bench 135×5 – Considering I never benched before starting a couple months ago I’ll take it.
3 PRs today:
Squat 310×5
BP 205×5
DL 390×5
I only have 390 pounds of plates+bar, so I’m kinda hosed until I get my hands on more.
Justin,
One of my goals is 30-40 bw chins pullups (going for a Marine OCS spot). I’m at around 25 right now. I don’t have a weighted chins goal. However, I’m at the point where a bw chin workout is a ton of volume (75 or more) and basically a drag.
Can I drop bw chins/pullups altogether and still improve them by doing heavy-ass weighted chins/pullups a couple of times per week? Or do I still need to practice bw chins for muscular endurance or whatever? Basically, what’s the deal with specificity/carryover here?
Thanks.
Snatch PR – 58 kg
I swear, I am going to learn how to fucking snatch, and then it’s on.
Press PR – 5 x 100 lbs
It turned into a shitty life week, so there was more screaming and crying in the gym than usual.
Deadlift PR 490lb
I have that same hitch sometimes on really heavy DL 5’s. For me it’s almost like the double knee bend in OLY lifting. I tend to want to leg press the last few inches to get to full extension instead of keeping my glutes and hammies on to finish the pull.
PR press on Monday 215×1, bwt is at 225
Justin, would you mind talking a little more about taking a LP to fairly high weight. Like, squats over 400, deads over 500. I know you wrote about it a little while back and didn’t really recommend it. I’m making good linear progress with CF Football in bench and press, but squats and deads have slowed. Would you reset those to keep everything linear for a little while longer or switch all of it up to something more periodized? I’m a little reluctant to start mixing and matching stuff because that always turns into a mess. Thanks for all the good info and laughs on here.
@TheWheelofPain – that’s an awesome goal, but I though they won’t give you extra points on the PFT for going beyond 20 dead hangs?
Business time!
You guys. I summoned four mental hurricanes today, set 3 lifetime PRs, and tied another.
Benched 115×5 (PR)
Pressed 87.5×5 (PR)
Squat (high bar, ATTN: Brent): 155×5 (ties post-injury PR)
Deadlift: 215×5 (PR)
I’ve never FELT adrenaline like this, you guys. ANIMAL.
Hi Justin, in the ebook you say that a small amount of volume is needed on ID to get the right stimulus. I’ve recently moved to 3RM on my squat, is this enough volume or should I do more I.e two triples or a back off set? If not, at what point do you need more volume? 2RM? Thanks
HB squat: 150kg
Grip PR: 2 x 3 DL’s @ 170kg, double overhand. Hopefully pull 4 plates double overhand before the end of the year.
PR for total sets
Bench (pinkies inside rings): (300×3)x9 and then a final set of 300×5~32 total reps with 300
Did this last week but want to throw it up one more week since I did it a little late.
I am currently in the process of training for ultra marathons and being as strong as possible (mostly for powerlifting as I am on my colleges club team) and I’m hoping to gain some viewers from the strength community. Most of my followers are CrossFitters or ultra runners and I want to get some people with a different perspective.
If you get a chance my blog is
http://headhearthustle-bk.blogspot.com
Power Clean 211 x 1 *PR*
Deadlift 406 x 5 x 1 set *PR*
Bench Press 291 x 5 x 3 sets *PR*
Press 163 x 5 x 3 sets *PR*
Chin-Ups BW x 14, x 13, x 13 *PR*
Adam, both of those deadlifts should have been redlighted. What you did was a double knee bend. Once the bar pased the knee, your knees flexed and the bar was in essence resting on your thighs. Red light!
Push Press #225 x 1 x 5
Back Squat #405 x 1 x 5
1/4 Squat Lockouts up to #635
Been running an oldschool power rack routine inspired by Brooks Kubik/Anthony Ditillo for a while and am loving the sustained overload during volume resets. The quest for circus strength continues…
Deadlift 3×3 420
Squat (high-bar) 1×395
Bench 1×285
Press 3×5 155
All PRs
Justin: what are your thoughts on alternating halting deadlifts and rack pulls on a biweekly basis rather than deadlifting heavy each week on a TM setup? I didn’t see it mentioned in the ebook. I will still be doing speed deadlifts on tuesday.
5/3/1 program is really lifting off… literally. LOL
Week 3 of month 4: @ 135lbs BW
Squat: 150×5, 170×3, 190×5 (attempted a 6th rep, told that chest fell forward and depth was above parallel, no go on form)
Bench: 80×5, 100×3, 110×6
Snatched 102, 7kg PR.
I pressed 215lbs.
Oh, holy shit. I forgot to post about my BEST PR EVER. What the hell is wrong with me?
92 kg behind the neck jerk.
Yes, that fucking happened.
202.4 lbs over my head.
It was the most awesome thing in the history of lifting.
Hey Justin, don’t have a PR for you, but I think you can help me get there. I need to stretch my delts so I can front squat without pain.
Any mobs for this?
Adam, I used to deadlift like that until I recently moved from using shoes with heels to flat shoes. Completely stopped the knee movement and made my deadlift go up. Now I don’t have issues with lockout at all either.
Oh, big bench PR for me: 110kg x 5.
Yesssss.
Thanks for the tip tescott, I’ll give deadlifting a whirl with flat shoes and see if there’s a difference.
Bench: 155×1
Not quite BW, but getting there.
Been reading for a while, this is my first post. Wanted to share this link:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jamesged/the-best-ron-swanson-food-quotes-41ea
example: YOU HAD ME AT MEAT TORNADO
Shitty month, but still got a nice 3 kg PR in the push press.
120 kg push press
PR: DL – 270.5# for 5 reps.
When I hit 275# next week it will turn my CrossFit DL 1RM PR into a 5RM PR.
Can’t wait.
Justin,
You mention, and suggested to me, the GSPL by Johnny Pain. I’ve been running it for a while and I like it. I haven’t seen a review or mention of his “SWOLE” ebook. What’s your opinion on this diet vs a paleo type diet?
Only PR this week: Push Press 245 lb x 5 x 3
Holy shit I love these. The overall stress it put on my body was similar to a heavy set of squats. Dizzy, ears ringing, etc. Fucking awesome.
webb, you must have missed it, here’s the SWOLE review:
http://www.70sbig.com/blog/2011/08/swole/
PRs:
Deadlift: 415 4×1; 330 5×3
Squat: 370 5×1; 300 5×3
Bench: 280 5×1; 230 5×3
OHP: 160 5×1; 135 4×3
All of these were PRs in terms of total weight used for the session. Deadlift was an absolute PR, my previous record was 412.5 set in April at a meet. OHP is a true record also. This is very exciting. This Hepburn method is really working for me. I had to lift at 5 a.m. again to attend evening work events. There are pretty much only Marine and Army types in my gym at that time. I guess it’s true what they say about them doing more before 9 a.m. than the rest of us do all day. Clearly they don’t teach deep squatting yet in the corps as this site has discussed, but now these fellas might start doing it after seeing someone smaller than them lift more. I might have had to start quoting Full Metal Jacket’s obstacle scene while this one guy was repping out on his 1/4 squats.
Thanks Adam. I remember reading that now. I’m an idiot.
@wheelofpain-
If you’ve already got 25 pullups there’s no need to go for 30-40. 20 is all they’re looking for and more won’t make you more competitive at the board. Focus on running or crunches or whatever else is holding back your overall PFT score, or do some squatting and deadlifting to get your legs and back stronger for when you have to put on a heavy pack.
Also pr’ed in weight this morning. at 205.5.