Q&A – 13

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Happy first PR Friday of the 2012 year. Post your PR’s or training updates to the comments. You should make plans to go to the Arnold sport festival in March cause a few of us will be going. What that really means is we should all train specifically to walk around ironically flexing with everyone. Schwarzenegger will be mirin’.

Operation Support Donny
Before we start this week’s Q&A, I want to ask you to support Donny Shankle. Donny has a real chance at making it to the Olympics and he’s lifting better than ever. Glenn told me he’s cleaning over 220kg, hitting snatch PR’s and looking damn solid. Yet, Donny is training up to 30 hours a week. In order to recover and focus his efforts he’s taking in fewer personal training clients. Donny has a PayPal Donate button on his blog to receive donations as he prepares for Nationals to culminate 10 years of putting his body through hell to try and make the Olympics. If you’ve ever been inspired by the man known as SHANKLE, then donate a few bucks. It doesn’t have to be much, but a dollhair here or there will go a long way. This is a good way to support one of our loved American lifters (I’ve already donated). Thanks guys; it will mean a lot to him.

Donny’s PayPal Donation Page
Donny’s Store

Donny’s Blog (Donate button on right side bar)

Now let’s get on with the bloody thing!

jcdyer asks:

You said that deadlifts don’t count for posterior chain strength. Can you explain that a little more? What’s missing from the posterior chain in the deadlift?

Dear jcdyer,

One of the few times I actually get frustrated when running this website are when people misconstrue what I actually say. Here is the direct quote from the post:

Please note that a heavy deadlift is not a representation of posterior chain strength.

This doesn’t mean that “deadlifts don’t count” or that they are “missing a part of the posterior chain”. It means exactly what it says: just because a person can deadlift a lot of weight, it doesn’t mean they have a strong posterior chain. This may not apply to deadlifts that are, say, 650 lbs or greater, but too many people think that their posterior chain isn’t a problem because they can deadlift 500 pounds.

It’s possible to pull a deadlift off the floor with a round back. Then when the bar passes the knees, the knees shift forward, the lower back uncurls, and the knees extend. The knees thing happens in this video, though the back isn’t terrible (a bullshit red light though). When the knees shift forward, they are flexing. When the knee flexes, the hamstring shortens and subsequently slackens. A shortened and slackened hamstring is not tense, and not having tension in the hamstrings doesn’t help hold the pelvis in place and facilitates a curved lumbar. Not to mention that shortened hamstrings can’t shorten, or contract, any more in order to extend the hip (which is the whole point in doing the lift unless it’s done in a meet). To effectively train the lumbar and hamstring muscles, the lumbar muscles must maintain their contraction to keep the lumbar spine in neutral position (or extension) so that the pelvis maintains it’s anterior rotation to keep the hamstrings tight. Here’s a carefully prepared picture:



Some people can deadlift more weight by doing it crappily, yet this isn’t good in the long run as it will a) blunt their potential in the deadlift by not developing the posterior chain effectively, b) put the lumbar in an injurious position, and c) not have as much carry over into athletic movements or other lifts. Now, jcdyer, what are you going to misinterpret in this answer? That deadlifts make you poop? BECAUSE THEY DO.

adamwathan asks:

[spoiler]Something I’ve wondered that this post made me think about, is the whole idea of “hip drive” not just knee extension? I mean, when you watch videos of Rippetoe coaching hip drive like this one…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=yha2XAc2qu8#t=57s

…he is saying “drive up with your butt”. To accomplish that, you extend at the knee. It’s like a leg extension where the foot plate is stationary and you are pushing your body back instead. I’ve never heard an explanation of how “hip drive” actually uses the hips, it uses the quads! In the video at about 1:00 you see him coaching hip drive by letting the back angle stay the same while he focuses on driving up the ass. If the back angle isn’t opening or closing, the muscles in the hip are only working isometrically to maintain the same hip angle.

To me it seems like the muscles of the hips as well as the hamstrings have no actual bearing on the vertical up and down movement of the ass that is referred to as “hip drive”. Anyone able to explain to me what I’m getting wrong?[/spoiler]

Edit: TL;DR: Adam is having trouble understanding how the hips drive the ass up in a LB squat and cites an old clip of Rip teaching it.

Dear Adam,

I like that you are thinking, but you’re a little off here. First, the 1:00 minute mark of that video is a portion of the teaching method of the LB squat that helps teach the trainee how to push the ass. In this video, Rip isn’t concerned with the kid dropping his chest because he’s not focused on the back angle in an unloaded demonstrative squat. So disregard that part of the clip because it’s a coaching topic instead of a mechanics topic.

As for the LB squat itself: yes, the quads are clearly a part of the movement. However, if a lifter drives his heels and pushes with his quads, then the result is the same musculature used in the high bar squat to ascend out of the bottom (you may here this described as “leg pressing out of the bottom”). If you want a full understanding of this, then you should read the squat chapter in Starting Strength because it describes the anatomical function pretty clearly. You are probably missing the fact that the hamstrings not only cross the knee joint (and perform hip flexion), yet the also cross the hip joint (and perform hip extension). Hip extension is when the thigh moves back relative to the torso, or the same thing that occurs during the ascent of the squat. Obviously the knee extensors are also extending the knee during the ascent of the squat, but the goal of the LB squat is to put a premium on hip extension, or “hip drive”. The actual result is a balance around the thighs and hips. If the knees stay in the same position during the bottom half of the squat, then it anchors one end of the hamstrings while the other end is extending the hip. Therefore you have hip extension occurring at the same time with knee extension.

garrison asks:

Justin,

During the catch phase in the snatch it seems like a number of lifters have (more) noticeable forward lean. Would LB squatting benefit people who catch in said position?

Dear garrison,

I don’t know that “a number of lifters” constitutes a large enough percentage of the population to demand a different style of squatting (meaning it’s hard to say how much lifters actually incline their torsos severely). More importantly, the snatch is such a low percentage of the absolute squat max that it doesn’t matter much anyway. However, if we consider the actual mechanics, I wouldn’t want a lifter to use a style of squatting that primarily pushes the ass up (low bar) to help improve his snatch recovery when the overhead position is so sensitive to changes in leverage. In other words, habitually driving the ass up would encourage dumping the bar forward (in snatches or cleans). Also, chronic use of vertical squatting (front or high) would help reinforce the movement pattern necessary for receiving the snatch.

One of the best examples of inclined torso snatch recovery is Marcin Dolega. He does it during the ascent of this unofficial WR, yet note his actual receiving position:


This is clearly vertical torso mechanics in the receiving position. If he used the low bar, he would be reinforcing a more acute hip angle and and more obtuse knee angle in training when his actual receiving position demands a more obtuse hip angle with a completely flexed knee angle. If you read the article from the other day, then you’ll know that this not only effects the movement pattern, but how the muscular is trained through a given ROM. It isn’t specific to the recovery, therefore I don’t see a valid argument for it’s inclusion for this purpose (though I’ll remind you I think the LB squat has utility for the second pull in beginning weightlifters). Lastly, since I know it will come up, why not just front squat to emulate the receiving position? Well, we all know the high bar squat can handle more of a load than the front squat through nearly similar mechanics, so by training high bar it can help make the skill and musculature within the snatch or clean recovery ROM/position stronger than just using the front squat by itself. This paragraph also addressed Simonsky’s question from the other day.

Remember, I like the LB squat. I coach it all the time and it’s what I prefer to teach a beginner, but I don’t like it for weightlifting (and this is also from personal experience and success in doing the lifts and not just coaching or programming them). This is a good question, and it’s answer provides valid arguments as to why the LB shouldn’t be used.

criedthefox asks:

can you talk more about the knees in High Bar squat? I understand the reason that going below parallel in a LB squat creates an even force between quads and hams on the knee therefore it is better than half squats because it is less anterior force

So what does that say about high bar squatting? are HB squats destined to cause knee problems in the long run? What are the mechanisms that make a below parallel, or even ass to grass, front or high bar squat safe on the knees?

Dear criedthefox,

First, the reason for going right below parallel on a HB squat is to train the musculature through a full ROM. Any movement that neglects the full ROM (barring pathology) is a worthless movement (unless it’s something like rack pulls). Second, HB or front squats aren’t destined to causing knee problems. While they do have a net anterior force, it doesn’t mean that the hamstrings are “off”. There are some really shitty experiments done by the NSCA that shows some hamstring action in squatting (though they never, ever define what constitutes a squat). More importantly, the knees adapt and improve due to the stress of squatting — in this case high or front squatting.

If a “healthy-kneed” person used HB or front squats, maintained their knee’s adaptations to other movements like running and jumping, and also trained their posterior chain, then they probably won’t have long-term problems. However if they abuse training or programming techniques like constantly overreaching systemically, doing way too much work acutely and chronically, not maintaining their mobility, and having non-training injuries, then it will certainly effect their knees long-term.

Squats are not bad for the knees, but making tons of stupid decisions is. I spend a lot of time trying to help you guys take care of your body, so do it. If you do, you’ll be a strong old pain-in-the-ass grandpa who makes fun of his grandaugther’s husband for not wearing flannel and yogging.

Maslow asks:

[spoiler]Regarding *cleaning presses*, do you recommend putting the bar back down on the floor and cleaning it again between each press rep if one’s doing a set of several presses.

Is it necessary to adjust either the typical clean grip or typical press-from-the-rack grip to do this? Or should they already be the same?

Any reason to always focus on making the press strict? I’ve always avoided any leg drive in order to emphasize the press as much as possible. Am I missing out on some gains since I could move more weight if I added a little leg drive as you do in that second video? My purpose in doing presses is because strong people like you, Rip, Hepburn et al say to do them. I want to be a strong person and have healthy shoulders, plus any side benefits to my bench strength is a bonus.

Is this still advisable if you don’t have bumper plates to drop the bar down on to? The prospect of having a bar bump my thighs 10+ times twice a week isn’t very appealing, but I seem to recall Bill Starr harping about how this is how it was done in the old days when chest hair and strength were in vogue. So I’ll do it if you think it’s a good idea and figure out how to set it down nicely.

Thank you.[/spoiler]
TL;DR: He’s asking about cleaning the presses, press grip, mentioned leg drive in the press, strict pressing, not having bumper plates, and some other shit.

Dear Maslow,

This is a weird set of questions from you, but you’re my homie so I’ll answer them.
– No, don’t clean the press for each rep. This would be like racking and un-racking the bar for each squat rep.
– If possible, you should adjust to your press grip for the clean itself. If you normally use a wider grip for cleans (because you have long forearms), then see if you can move the grip in to where your press grip is. It shouldn’t be a high percentage of your power clean, so you should be able to pop it into place with your press grip easy enough. You can bump the press grip one finger width out if it’s giving you trouble (I moved mine out about a half finger width, but I have broad shoulders).
– First, I want to clarify that a “press with leg drive” is a push-press, so the second video I posted was me doing a push-press, not a press. Feel free to do either, but I think there is utility in both. Some people do presses for volume and push-presses for intensity. Glenn Pendlay thinks that push-presses are better than presses all around, but I still like regular presses because they also train that bottom range of motion (and subsequently train the deltoids and triceps through their full range of motion which results in maximum jackage along with the strength).
– You should be able to bring the bar down to your shoulders. I’ll make a video of this once my fucking vertebrae/rib is regular. In the mean time, when you bring it down, don’t worry about controlling it and get your elbows up so it lands on your deltoids (watch Olympic lifters). I know many girls who can do this, so I trust you’ll be able to figure it out after a session or two. If you’re having trouble, talk to Brent as he’s done this with like 275 lbs at a body weight of 160.

philw asks:

What is your opinion of good mornings as opposed to RDLs for strengthening the hamstrings while HB squatting? I just started a 3 month 5/3/1 cycle utilizing HB instead of LB squats after spending a year HB squatting. I did GMs today after squatting and the stretch in my hamstrings feels about the same.

Dear philw,

RDLs and good mornings are supposed to have the the same mechanics, yet the loading is different. In practice this isn’t really the case. Both movements are usually done with too much knee and/or lumbar flexion which results in slack, non-working hamstrings. I prefer people to use RDLs as they will be easier and can be loaded with more weight. For example, Pisarenko only used 100k for good mornings, and that’s where I start with my RDLs. If one of the strongest men in history didn’t go beyond 225 lbs for his good mornings, then nobody here has any business doing so. I think RDLs should be used weekly (at the opposite end of the week from deadlifts) with a controlled weight for at least several months, and more like half a year (this would cap the weight in the 225 to 245 range for most people). After they have been employed consistently, then they can be used with heavier weights like Vlad did. It’s not that I dislike GMs, it’s that I like RDLs so much better.

guythepikey asks:

A quick question regarding the missing type of Squat the Overhead Squat, do you see it as a lowbar or highbar in terms of quads/glutes/hams utilisation?

Dear guythepikey,

I don’t see the overhead squat as something that will build strength and primarily see utility in it to help with the overhead rack position (side note: I never did or do them). To answer your question, it’s going to reflect high bar mechanics. Observe the question above with the Dolega example and you’ll see that the receiving position is in done with HB/front mechanics. Pushing the butt up on the overhead squat will only encourage forward inclination of the torso with a subsequent dumping of the bar forward. Any purposeful attempt to use low bar mechanics on the overhead squat is probably due to a lack of mobility (ankles, knees, hip flexors, external hip rotators, lumbar, thoracic, shoulders, etc.).

78 thoughts on “Q&A – 13”

  1. Donny Shankle sounds like a white Morgan Freeman. I love his Bible readings.

    Pressed 180. Never tried pressing a max weight and it was awesome.

    Squat 315×5. I think that’s decent for 6 months post ACL/meniscus surgery.

  2. Justin I’m really enjoying your recent illustrations. Please continue with this trend.

    No PR’s yet, though I expect to tie my squat PR later today.

  5. Nothing that impressive this week. I Push Pressed 205#x2 which is a PR (and yes, I power cleaned it, due to recent writings).

    This week’s collection of articles has me all worried about balanced ham/quad development. If I look in the mirror I’d say I’m pretty quad dominant, however I just LBBS my way up to 405# before switching back to HBBS. If I’m doing all of the following once a week – HBBS, front squat, snatch, C&J, deadlift – should I be doing some RDLs as well?

  6. Awesome illustration post about the posterior chain haha it got me thinking which sparked a question(small):

    I tend to round my back in the pull aka crappy strength in the posterior chain, any suggested exercises to strengthen it outside of the squat and DL?

    Thanks brahski

    RDLs, RBEs, and doing back-off sets with absolute correct technique in the deadlift. If you’re rounding your back in the squat, then that is wrong and needs to fixed ASAP.

    –Justin

  8. I really like these weekly Q&A’s!

    ETA on TM part duex?
    (has probably been asked before, if so I’ll catch an arrow with my knee)

    I am finishing it, but I’m doing a very, very slow job of it.

    –Justin

  9. I am a prime example of the whole a deadlift isnt representative of posterior chain strength. I had a power meet in early december. I wanted to squat over 500 hundred (ended up getting 513). I trained my ass off in the squat and never pulled anything over 400 in training. During the meet I pulled a PR 540 with a rounded lower back. video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jEZeZcU8FQ&feature=g-upl&context=G2d477a8AUAAAAAAAFAA
    And yes I know powerlifting is one word.

  11. whats up bros long time no post. So far not too many prs this week. Hit a 90kg snatch at my house with a crappy york powerbar that doesnt spin which matches a pr. I have been really trying to stay calm while lifting and focus on squeezing the bar off the floor. Also hit 85kg for a double which I think is a pr. Bodyweight is creeping aroun 190ish so i am good for the 85s. Did one clean and two jerks at 105kg (1 power, 1 split) which was nice. All in all a good training week so far and I havent even had my max out sesh which is tmr.

    As a note, over christmas break I trained at tbone’s gym in asheville and it was awesome. Great equipment, great facilities, and a good overall time. while there, I hit a 95kg snatch and a 118 c and J and missed the jerk on a 120 twice. Fun stuff.

    Also, I trained at Steve Pulcinella’s gym in PA and that place was freaking awesome. I had a crappy day cuz I was tired from new year’s festivities (love making, not boozing for all that care) but his facility is awesome. Eleiko bars (comp and training) werksan plates, jerk boxes, squat racks, mono-lift, stones, etc, etc. Shit was real. If any of you guys are in Asheville or Philly, you gotta hit those two people up.

  14. Justin,

    At the Chicago lifting seminar you discussed the phenomenon of one’s hamstrings sputtering during a heavy deadlift (you referred to it as ‘tut-tut-tut’). I can’t remember your explanation on this and was hoping you could explain it on the site. I recently pulled a one rep max deadlift and my hamstrings were tut-tut-tutting like The Little Engine That Could.

  16. Ha ha! Sorry my misunderstanding was frustrating for you. I had interpreted the original statement to mean that a *well performed* or proper deadlift wasn’t representative of a strong posterior chain. It makes more sense that you were talking about the possibility of a trainee fucking it up with their own poor form. Thanks for being patient enough to explain it.

    I’ll also make sure to wear extra absorbent depends when I deadlift.

  17. I think if you maintain proper good form with good mornings they can be helpful going over 225# and can increase hamstring strength.

    PR this week 20 reps squat @280

  18. PR over Christmas: 280 squat single. Not great, but a 65lb jump after first months of LP.

    Also, Justin is right on about correcting a weak posterior chain. My max deadlift is only 20lbs more than my squat, but I’ve added in RDLs to help bring them up. If you do very strict form, you won’t be handling much weight. I was wicked sore from doing just 95# the first day. It’s fine.

  20. LOL @ the “jaygreenshirt” handle. Ya know, you’re saved in my phone as “jaygreenshirt”? You can wear any shirt you like, as long as it’s green. Don’t soil my vision of you . . . still LOLing. Can’t stop. oh well

    Benched 124# for a triple. It was EZPZ and I maybe should have gone for more, but 123# last week was an almighty grinder. Weeeeehooooo!!!! Looking forward to the Arnold. Rollin and swollin

  21. Still have to lift tonight but I was pretty excited about getting these 2 PRs the other day:

    80kg Press
    -makes it 5 more kg for bw!

    9’10” Broad Jump

  23. hit 420 1×5 on the squat which was a beast since I was dealing with a cramp in my hamstring
    stalled out on bench again, I need to up the weight for volume day and see if that helps.
    Pulled 420 1×5 pretty easily.

    So I find myself in a weird spot where my work sets for dead and squat are the same and I am increasing them at the same rate. I don’t think I could go for increasing my dead by any more than 5lbs a week that I am already doing. I know these two weights should not be equal but it was just a fluke from my LP that they ended up near each other when I entered the TM programming. Should I just not worry about it and let the dead naturally progress past my squat as I stall or slow at that lift or should I take steps to actively move the deadlift weight past the squat weight? I am already using RDLs on my assistance day.

  25. My buddy is an out of work electrician and has a new baby, but he’s not asking strangers to donate him money. Donny could easily make money doing his personal training, but is CHOOSING to try to make the olympics (do we even have any slots? I guess hes shooting for 2016). That’s not a charity case. Everyone wants something for nothing nowadays.

    I agree with the post under yours. Donny regularly inspires people to be better and provides information regularly to do so. He has accumulated respect over the past ten years of lifting and has made countless sacrifices to do it. It’s not to say your friend hasn’t made sacrifices or isn’t respected, but he chose the electrician field and chose to have a kid in the same way Donny has chosen to be a weightlifter. If he’s making sacrifices to help people and has a service or website, then drop the link here. It’d help if he’s a lifter.

    And Donny didn’t ask for shit, I did because I think he deserves it.

    –Justin

  26. wow briks42, point us to your buddy’s blog where he provides free electrical working knowledge and know how. I’ll gladly send him a few bucks. But don’t discredit Donny or what Justin or 70’sbig.com is doing. Don’t be a disrespectful tool.

  27. God forbid you support an American lifter who dreams of going to the Olympics.

    **Who actually has the possibility of going, an important distinction.

    –Justin

  28. briks42 do you say the same thing to the Girl Scouts raising money for their trips and charitable organizations that make dreams come true for people? Ya you’re an idiot.

    Donny I hope you make the Olympics and represent the USA proudly. We know you will!

    I have no problem donating for that.

  31. I should add, everyone who knows him says he’s a great guy too. Being a great guy doesn’t make you worthy of handouts however; especially when others actually really NEED handouts.

  32. Justin, that is definitely an important point.

    briks42 thinks that Donny just picked up a few weights 3 weeks ago and started training for a YMCA meet. It’s the OLYMPICS. Donny isn’t begging you for money he’s asking for a donation, if you don’t want to, don’t do it. But, if you want to see an American lifter represent this great country then support him. But don’t call him out like he’s some chump.

    The only chump in here is you briks42.

  35. @karibot…haha, that’s what i thought but i couldn’t sit back.

    Look if you can’t differentiate between a handout and a donation let me break it down. Donny’s worked hard for years to get to where he is, he is not some schlub who begs for money day in and day out. My donation to Donny is because he’s representing our country in the Olympics and wants to do something, that in my mind is awesome and inspiring. If your buddy needs help, again post the link and like Justin said if he’s a lifter and a good guy people would donate, but there’s no need to call a guy out as if he’s begging.

  38. In America, almost all Olympic athletes are supported through private funding (until they win some gold medals). Usually that’s through large national level organizations or from family members (usually parents making tremendous sacrifices when it is a young athlete in question). Rarely is anyone able to maintain employment sufficient to self-fund an Olympic endeavor and still have time to train to get o that level. I think it’s great that we live in a time where private individuals can make donations to support the athletes of their choice without having to go through a national Olympic athlete support organization and just hope some of it goes to their favorite athlete. And by donating directly to the athlete of you choice, you circumvent all the administrative costs

  39. accidentally clicked submit too soon.

    by donating directly to the athlete of you choice, you circumvent all the administrative costs associated with those types of charitable organizations. So really, by having a donate button Donny’s just cutting out the middle man of Olympic support organizations. And Donny’s not in your face asking for money – the button is there, but you can ignore it pretty easily if you want to.

    Oh yeah, and Ben Claridad has a donate button as well. Are we gonna bitch him out too? What about Justin for having a donate button to help keep all this amazing free advice coming?

  40. Yo brolios and ladybros: everybody needs to calm the fuck down, put on some Daft Punk, bang out some curls, and read Brent’s most recent blog post.

  42. somewhere out there, there’s an out of work electrician with two new babies, maybe even 4 new babies, and a bum leg with no health insurance and he probably wears dentures or something.

    who do we donate to first? well the beautiful thing about donations is you can choose who you donate to. so if you think someone deserves a donation more than put your money where you think it should go.

    but don’t start trying to determine who deserves a donation more. that’s not what it’s about.

    this is a lifting site, and justin simply asked if we wanted to donate to a fellow lifter.

  44. Happy new year to the 70’s Big crew!
    I made a life PR by getting out of community college while working full time+. I’m transfering to Humboldt State University in a week to study Marine Biology.

    Justin, I will be starting the 5/3/1 north of vag template when I move to HSU. What would be a productive way to get back into volume training?

    I never lifted in highschool and did Stronglifts 5×5 for about a year stopping in early 2011 (because of working two jobs and a crazy class schedule)
    My last SL workouts were as follow(all in lbs): squat 295 5×5, bench 190 5×5, press 155 5×5, row 155 5×5 and deadlift 365 1×5.

    I started at 240lbs about 30% bodyfat, got down to 211 17% bodyfat, then used gomad to get to 235 20% bodyfat, wich is my current weight. I am 21 years old and 6 feet tall.

    I did track and field conditioning last semester to throw hammer. We did ALOT of distance running/sprints/conditioning before the rare occurence of lifting, or throwing (our head coach was a runner FML), and never did 5×5 stuff. My best lifts during that time were: Deadlift 455×1, squat 345×1, bench 180×1, press 155×1, snatch 135×1, and power clean 225×1.

    Sorry for the novel, but I felt the background was necessary.

    Any guidence would be appreciated.
    -Daniel

  45. PR’s from 2011: (lbs)
    Press: 190
    Bench: 300- no pause
    Squat: 405
    Deadlift: 475

    Due to some family stuff, I’m going to have to go down to 2 training sessions per week from a TM setup. TM was really doing me good too. Hopefully I can at least maintain strength with 2/week for the next 4 months.

  46. Justin,
    I really appreciate the feedback on my question. I will start hitting the RDLs. Thank you.
    Ps. There is a great interview of Donnie on YouTube “you gotta pull that bar like you’re ripping the head off a goddamn lion”.
    Also a video of him explaining how he almost got mugged at Euro Disney. Donation is inbound.

  47. One of my lifting buddies was talking to me about Dinosaur Training by Brooks Kubik. I have also read the book a while back. Kubik sounds like a proponent of using singles not only for being able to use heavier weight to be the greatest stimulus for muscular growth but also for the fact that heavy singles are superior for tendon and ligament adaptation to higher poundages/stress. He says old school strongman like Grimek/Saxon/Sandow/Cyr all had great ligament/tendon “strength” built over time from heavy singles and odd object lifting. It makes sense to me that if connective tissues can’t handle the stress that it would limit lifting ability. I haven’t read too much or anything on other people discussing the role of tendon/ligament adaptation on strength but what are your thoughts?

  48. kittenSmash Says:
    January 6th, 2012 at 4:37 pm

    Unemployed people should not have kids. Then our tax dollars usually end up taking care of them. That is called being irresponsible.

    Really? Come on that’s just flat out ignorant. What about the people who had kids or got pregnant prior to losing their jobs? I have a friend in that situation, and he’s no bum. He’s working part time and under the table at two different jobs while he tries to find another full time in his career. It’s one thing to call out those trying to milk the system and be lazy. It’s another to do it to those who do work hard and ended up a victim of our shitty economy right now. Some of you should think before you type or grow up a little, leave home, and see what the real world is like. And for the record, I am fully employed with no children.

  49. Snatch PR – 61 kg

    FUCKING WOOOOOOOOOO! Long time coming.

    Power clean PR – 80 kg

    I cleaned 85 kg today, which ties my current PR but it was way easier than the last time I hit it. Super excited. I took two attempts at 90, and the first one was legit. I would like 90 by Monday, thanks.

    I love 2012.

    Clean at 85 kg:

  50. 1) I’m not even going to get into the socio-political discussion about who deserves money and who doesn’t.

    2) I donated money to Donny so fuck you.

    3) I didn’t PR anything, so fuck me.

    4) Justin, realease the fucking book, fuckin’ fuck already.

    5) No, I haven’t drunk any whiskey anything tonight.

    Did I mention fuck you briks42?

    DOUCHE BAG. Move somewhere where there is no social services.

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