Did you have a good week?
Yes – Post the PR, cause it’s PR Friday
No – Update us on why you have failed.
Some things I read this week:
I got updated on Brent’s tlog.
I also got updated on Ben’s tlog. I hereby start a petition that requires Ben to upload one sketch each week.
This doctor is really good at simplifying science to understand why cholesterol levels are used inappropriately by your medical doctor (just one page of many).
This is a post about how honey is a bit better than standard sugar, which reminds me that this sugar post was top shelf.
The 70’s Big week started with a female post describing how certain exercises require a good “contraction of the muscles” instead of merely moving weight, yet the post is relevant to guys too. On Tuesday I cleared up that I don’t hate CrossFit because some people thought I did (though I obviously disagree with some things). The truth is I just don’t give too much of a damn what other people do and disliking someone for their training philosophy is just being a dickhead. Disliking someone (a bro) for walking in front of you is also being a dickhead. On Wednesday we inducted Ricky Bruch into the 70’s Big Hall of Fame. Thursday I told the story of how Sid Bream did the unthinkable and asked if you could live with yourself if you missed Donny Shankle’s shot at making the Olympic team (but also good luck to Chad Vaughn and Kendrick Farris).
CONTINUE READING
And onward to the Q&A. Remember, I do these to clear up any questions or concerns you guys have with the week of posts. I legitimately want you to understand why I give certain pieces of advice, and it’s okay to question what I say. If what I say is proved with physics or physiological-esque objective analysis, then know that it’s not just my opinion. If what I say contradicts something else and you want clarification, then ask away. If you want to know more or challenge my opinion, ask away. If I can’t answer, then I’ll try to find someone smarter than me who can. Everyone remember: I’m not the guy that gets pissed when you question his teachings.
80smediumbryce asks:
Justin. What about palms up pendlay rows?
Dear 70smediumbryce,
That’s a fucking hilarious name; well done. Supinated (underhand) grip rows are definitely doable, though I haven’t used them. The angle of the humerus will be slightly different due to the enhanced shoulder external rotation. Something tells me that they wouldn’t be able to be done as heavy as regular “Pendlay rows” off of the floor. I have half a mind to say that they would be really good for developing musculature to support external shoulder rotation, but the regular pronated grip will be superior for strength gains. If anyone uses these, let us know what you think (especially in comparison to the regular grip).
Can’t remember who this question is from,
Since you are blogging away about high/low bar squatting, any chance you can tackle “bouncing in the bottom of the squat”, vs “pausing at the bottom”? Pros and cons, etc? I’d just like to read your take on it is all. Thanks
Dear guy,
I’m not a fan of paused squats since squats of any kind are dependent on a stretch reflex out of the bottom. Whether you’re a single ply powerlifter, a raw powerlifter, or a weightlifter recovering from a clean, the stretch reflex is important (Note: multi-ply training will be different and out of my forte). The low bar stretches and contracts mostly on the the hamstrings while the high or front squats will do so off of the glutes, upper hamstrings, and quads. Paused squats and box squats aren’t in any of my programming. They may have value for advanced lifters, but I don’t see myself programming them since it will only alter the necessary physiological processes to make a good squat. Also, if you remove the stretch reflex then you can’t lift as much weight in the squat and lose that effective neuromuscular training adaptation that transfers into other sports so well. Losing the efficacy and using less weight reduce the effectiveness of the exercise overall, therefore average strength trainees will waste their time in doing paused squats.
oldmansquatting says:
@criedthefox, are you 14? Grow up.
_________
Justin about RDL loading. Do you continue to add weight each week or just get up to a reasonable weight and leave it there?
(I left that part where he bitches out Brian because I thought it was funny.)
Dear oldmansquatting,
Typically you would have started fairly light (to ensure the proper muscular work) and steadily increased over time. If you approach a weight in which you cannot maintain the lumbar position (which would result in slack hamstrings), then that weight is on the cusp of “too heavy”. A year from now we can worry about pushing the weight up for “strength purposes”, but getting proper muscular action is what will make you stronger now. Still, you could put on at least five pounds a week, but ten pounds is probably better. Like with most things, the jumps will decrease as the work set weight gets higher relative to your strength.
You can also gauge progression on “soreness factor”. RDLs can cause near crippling soreness, something that can be debilitating to subsequent training sessions in the week. I don’t think you should go high enough to wreck your hamstrings and ruin the next workout. I’ve kept my weight constant for several workouts to account for this. Training shouldn’t destroy the body, especially if it destroys the next session’s efficacy.
mattciupak says:
well-written post, Justin, I just have one concern. I thought more weight=more muscle, regardless of form (to an extent). back when I did BBing stuff I remember reading that Arnold did cheat curls fairly often, and it’s obvious that you can move significantly more weight while cheat curling. also, this is anecdotal, but there’s at least a few guys at every globo-gym who are fucking HUGE but do half, cheated, or force reps with just about every exercise. also, kroc rows.
i’m not trying to prove you wrong or disagree with you as I don’t have any factual evidence myself, i’m just curious.
Dear mattciupak,
Everyone remember: I’m not the guy that gets pissed when you question his teachings. You don’t have to tip-toe around the sensitivity of questioning me, though I appreciate your concern.
You are correct in that progressive overload is necessary for strength increases, but also hypertrophy. The latter is the case since if you can lift more weight for more reps, you’ll be “more big” than had you not had the strength to use that weight.
Cheated exercises like cheat curls or “kroc rows” are very specific methods to put more stress on the related exercise. I would argue that Matt Kroc cannot improve his range of motion due to the size of the dumbbell. You could argue that I do “kroc rows” here, but notice that I go through a full ROM with a little assistance out of the bottom due to my leg assistance.
More importantly than debating each movement, we must understand why we would use a given movement in a program. In someone who has a lack of musculature in their upper back and shoulders, doing cheated pull-downs would a) alter the mechanics so that the targeted muscles aren’t moving the apparatus, b) not work the muscle through a full range of motion, and c) not get quality work in that muscle. I want and need the muscle to develop — a term that would imply muscular growth and strength increase — in order to improve it’s use in more important lifts (like pressing, benching, squatting, deadlifting, etc.). It does so by improving it’s leverage (via growth) and force production ability (via strength increase). All the professionals you see doing “cheated movements” have established strength and musculature where an overload in a partial ROM will help stimulate development. The goober you see in your gym doing cheated ranges of motion is simply copying advanced lifters, a mistake that has been made by ignorant trainees for decades.
Remember that handling the most weight you can with proper mechanics and through a full range of motion is how you will get stronger and train all of the muscles fully. The post I wrote mostly was focused to assistance exercises, especially those designed to develop musculature to improve strength training. Remember that you, unlike Arnold, are not on steroids. And if you were, you don’t train like him anyway (I assume).
Many people were going back and forth about whether CrossFit was a sport or not.
I don’t think it’s a sport because it doesn’t fit in with having a ‘standardized set of rules’ across all competitions. People will usually cite strongman as something that is “just like CrossFit”, but it’s very different. If you look at the rules of most strongman organization, they have a very specific guideline on how a competition is formed. There are different types of events, like “overhead”, “deadlift”, and “carry”, that have a list of activities that fit within that type of event. The competition selects x amount of certified activities within that type of event to make the competition. The competitors know what events they will be doing before the event occurs.
In contrast, CrossFitters don’t know what the events are until they show up. And even if they did know the events before hand, there isn’t a standardized method of selecting the events. This is the primary thing that removes CrossFit from “sport” classification. And it has nothing to do with me “just not wanting CrossFit to be called a sport”, because I really don’t give a shit. It’s definitely a competition and can be both entertaining and fun, but depending on how “sport” is defined (and there isn’t a good definition”, CF would be left out of this designation.
On a side note, most of the people in the discussion create their definition of a sport based on what they do or do not want to be classified as a sport. That’s something Kim Jong-il would have done.
Shellie C. asks,
I have a question/issue that if you could shed any light on whatsoever it would greatly appreciated: I have 4 dislocated vertebrae/rib heads in my thoracic spine. I’m in the process of having it corrected, but in the mean time I have not been able to train. I had intended to compete again in June and this injury has obviously derailed that somewhat. Is there anything you would suggest for working around an injury of this sort or at the very least how to maintain as much of my strength as possible while I wait to get back into my normal program?
Dear Shellie,
Yikes. The basic answer: do what you can. If the area is really flared up and inflamed around your thoracic spine, than ice it every day, take fish oil, and do your best to mob the areas around it. Can you run five way shoulder well enough? If muscles are tight around those ribs, then it will be harder for them to get fixed. Of course, your chiro or doctor’s opinion trumps mine. If you were my lifter, I’d see what you could do without pain and have you do that. I’d even pursue machines like leg press, machine bench press, and machine overhead press. If something gives you pain, then you should probably avoid it unless it’s a small amount that you don’t think will make the issue worse. I highly suggest you ice it regularly; never before training, but always after (even if mobbing is “training”). Light horizontal rowing could help get some work in the area, but that’s only if the ribs are in the correct spot (think of this as something you do when it’s on it’s way to being more healed compared to when you’re still super tender). You could also do some light band work (doing standard movements with very low resistance). Whatever you do, ice it regularly every day and take fish oil.
Whats up 70’s biggers. I dont know if this week was a success, I ordered a pendlay bearing bar and some power perfect II’s so I am pumped about that. I had a good week of training only missing about 4 lifts as I have been tapering down for my meet on Sunday in Baltimore. Been nailing in the diet and getting down to 85, I normally run at 86 or 86.5 so its no big deal. I am praying for good results and will have an update on monday. Anyone else going? Also one week till the dc seminar. woo!
Good luck at the meet!
–Justin
P.R. Beltless squat 117.5kg for 3 sets of 5
@Stronger than yesterday, i recently got the power perfect shoes. They are my first pair of weightlifting shoes and i love them and they are my most treasured possession.
Squatted 295x3x3 and pulled 420×3.
@Stronger Good luck this weekend, three people from our gym are lifting at the same meet, probably gonna wander up there on Saturday to see some of the lifting.
PRs:
Squat: 375 9×1; 315 4×3
Deadlift: 425 4×1; 340 4×3
Bench: 285 10×1; 245 5×3
Bodyweight: 196
That was the most weight I’d ever deadlifted, the others were all rep PRs. I’m pretty pumped about my continued progress and think I’ll be able to total near 1200 at my meet on April 14; however, after that bench press session I’ve decided to take a week off of all pressing.
I’ve been having some steadily increasing pain in the tendons on/around my left scapular acromion and humeral head/Great tubercle (AKA front of shoulder). I think I do a good job of warming up, keeping myself properly rotated and elbows in when I bench but this issue still keeps happening. I get it from chin ups too sometimes. Sometimes the pain radiates down my biceps tendon and trap tendon. F that noise this has to stop. So I’m resting it, doing hard massage/accupressure on the trigger point 3-5 times/day until tomorrow when I’ll just do a few sets of push ups. Hopefully that will fix it.
I thought I was doing enough mobility by warming up really well and stretching/foam rolling twice a week. Well I was wrong. Last night I decided to start doing Mobility Wod every day starting with KStar’s Day 1. Holy shit I almost died trying to sit in a squat for ten minutes. I accumulated ten minutes but only by standing for a few seconds every other minute or so. I was pretty sore from squatting the day before but still, it’s pathetic and I resolve to fix it.
I’m also really looking forward to next weekend’s workshop.
Five way shoulder mob should be a regular, daily thing for you. The work you are having done on it only treats the symptoms instead of addressing the underlying cause (presumably “tight bits”).
–Justin
PR: Bench 205lb 3×5
I’m finally getting back into squat after back strain. I just wanted to say a thanks to this site and KStar for the great stretches and mobility work. I went to the chiro for 3 weeks with not much improvement, I did mobility/hamstring stretches for the past week and my back feels better than ever.
Question for Q&A: Will you take a butt load of video/pics at the Arnold so I can imagine myself there?
Videos from my weightlifting meet from last weekend. 5kg PR in the C&J and 7kg in the Snatch.
112kg snatch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb6EXoIrACs&feature=player_embedded
118kg Snatch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSEXi666Ccs&feature=player_embedded
122kg Snatch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d0B5AV__LQ
145kg C&J
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb2l57n-n94&feature=player_embedded
150kg C&J
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJgkpd7JbkQ&feature=player_embedded
155kg C&J
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mai-5vfeF8&feature=player_embedded
Just watched these. Well done man!
–Justin
Vomit and diarrhea PR on Sunday.
Training hasn’t been going well. Can’t seem to make myself get in the gym when I’m supposed to (causes include time management and social anxiety). Have only lifted once a week for the last two weeks. Hope to get in a second time this week later today. Also I keep forgetting to drink my whey. I’ll never be 260 at this rate.
PRs:
Press: 160 2×5, 1×3
Row: 200 3×5
RDL 185 3×5
Up to 9 pull ups now. Can’t manage that for multiple sets, though.
Bought a Captains of Crush trainer – could close it for several reps on each hand when I got it, but after a week it’s real fucking hard to close with either.
Forgot my knee sleeves on Tuesday and decided I didn’t want to go heavy, so I just had some fun and squatted 225×10 beltless. That felt real weird.
Life PR: Competed in my first usaw-sanctioned weightlifting meet Sunday as a tune up for the Baltimore Open. No PRs, as I set conservative attempts, but went 5 for 6. I missed my last clean.
Wednesday I C&J’d 70 kgs, finally.
Hoping to PR my snatch on the platform tomorrow in Baltimore.
Sending all my prayers and well-wishes to Shankle. Do it for ‘merica, Donny!
I haven’t missed a conditioning workout yet this week.
Did 7 press singles at 235lbs. I guess that is a PR for the most singles I have done at that weight.
Finishing out my second week of Nick Horton’s new squat template: Every workout squat up to a max single, deload 50-70#, and squat up to a max triple, increasing by 10# increments, then deload 50-70# more, and do 2 sets of 5. I’ve been doing four sessions a week, the first and third are high bar back squats, second and fourth are front squats. It’s been brutal, but at the start of this week, I tied a previous back squat PR (315#), and then got a 5# front squat PR (275#). Next week is a deload week, then I hit another two weeks of the squat program.
Also a volume PR: In the last two weeks, I’ve done over 100 back squats over 200#, and over 100 front squats over 175#.
I also tried snatches off blocks for the first time, and beat my snatch PR, breaking 70kg for the first time (155#/70.3kg).
Squat PR this week.
Justin,
That cholesterol information is very interesting. I had blood work done a couple months ago and it came back very high cholesterol which is very common in my family. My fat-ass doctor wanted to put me on lipitor and I refused… for now. I’m 24 years old, 5’9” 195ish and probably about 12% body fat. Aside from sprints or the prowler I never run, but I think I could run a mile easily in under 8 minutes if I ever found a reason to. I eat fairly clean as well, mostly animal meat, vegetables, and whole grains. In other words I think I’m very healthy. The science surrounding the whole cholesterol debate seems very inconclusive at best. I know you’re not a doctor but I’d love to hear more about your opinion on issues like this.
The topic is out of my forte and you can garner an understanding of cholesterol by reading everything here, but also checking out “The Great Cholesterol Con” and even “Good Calories, Bad Calories”. If you eat a high percentage of carbohydrates, then you need to get that under control and I don’t support the use of statins to lower cholesterol given their other nevative side ffects.
–Justin
just got settled in france for the semester and found a PL/OLY gym here in Dijon, its small local, and has a weightlifting coach so im pretty pumped.
No PR’s since it was my first session in almost 3 weeks due to traveling but i mobbed for about 20min before lifting today and the MWOD squat cycle 1/3 is no joke. squatting felt like slicing through warm butter
Pulled #515, then #545 w/ belt and chalk, no hitch, so seeds, no sticks – legit PR. Closing in on the fucking gap to 585 this year…
PRs:
Still progressing on the PTP program, so lots of deads and presses. Two more weeks.
Press PR: 145×6
Deads: 365×5- still light, getting there.
Bench: 205×2, 215×1, missed 225 four times this week. It’s really not fine.
Squat: 395×1- could have done more.
Weight is down 4 lbs from Monday(superbowl bloat), eating a legit amount of protein for the first time in a while.
Here’s a video of the press. Any critiques?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KlGdACzWMg&list=UU5emxa55pqjBXYaKXuc6QxQ&index=1&feature=plcp
You flex your knees at the bottom and shift your weight forward on your toes. Think “heels” and keep the knees locked. Other than that it didn’t look difficult.
–Justin
Fucking nice work Zapata. I to am chasing 585 down this year.
BW 179
Press: 145x5x4 + 4 (missed 5th rep on both Monday and Friday, time to drop cumulative volume).
Weighted Chin: +106lbs x 3
Weighted Pullup: +53lbs x 9 (right after the chins).
Incline: 175x5x3
Deficit Dead (2.5inch): 385×3
Pause Squat: 275x5x2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m23sAu_kFQ
Improving my pause at the bottom, I feel this is definitly strengthening my bottom position.
SQUAT: 315 x 5. Finally.
http://youtu.be/yiNMAf1J2TU
Deadlift: 355 x 5.
http://youtu.be/PQnVm0OGMbc
Longtime lurker, first time posting. Love the site, and check it daily.
Anyone ever experience elbow pain when squatting? Lately, whenever I hit over 300 on squats I get residual elbow pain (not a sharp pain). Wondering if my arms are not far apart enough or too far apart on the bar. Thanks for any input.
PRs (running GSLP):
Squat 300×10
Press 137.5×11
Assuming you’re using low bar, the elbow pain is due to the grip that you’re using. Double check all of your sources that you have a desirable grip. In the mean time, ice the elbow, mob the shoulder, and consider mobbing the tissues around the elbow. The grip is causing it though, so make sure and address that.
–Justin
Life PR, also competed in my first USAW-sanctioned meet with @mlsimmons on Sunday. Didn’t set any PR’s, but I’m not exactly training for that right now.
I also high-bar squatted 330#x2 on the minute for 7 minutes (14 reps total) – which is most certainly a volume PR.
@diomedes: Check your grip, make sure your wrists aren’t rolling under the bar, and work on your shoulder and thoracic spine mobility.
PR: All you can eat Brazilian BBQ after Death by Squats. It was an epic meal.
After last week, PRs are not indicated for a few days.
@Stroup: Thanks man, it’s us VS. the weights.
Oh snap. I forget. 200lb Push Press. Shit, I guess I did PR…again.
I WILL PR the following at a crossfit comp tomorrow:
Snatch: 205
C&J: 245
@harveymushman: thanks for the tips
No PR’s to report because SOMEBODY has yet to return my phone call.
Squat 305×21 PR
and Press 240
Wouldn’t supinated Pendlay Rows be hard to do mechanically speaking? I know with a pronated grip I still will sometime hit my shins with the bar. I would think a supinated grip would require you to be pretty forward of the bar to not pull it into your shins. I could be way off though, just spitballing.
They wouldn’t be as efficient, but I don’t think there’d be too much of an issue with the bar hitting the shins if you’re set up correctly.
–Justin
lascek!!!! (see pic for visualization)
http://i43.tinypic.com/23i6jih.jpg
Wonderful work, all. I did some self-diagnostic work on my squat last night and ended up switching to high-bar which has me squatting at an appropriate depth now. Finishing up week 10 of my high-protein-low-everything-else diet and haven’t lost any LBM to speak of but have made good gains in ROM and flexibility. Looking forward to squatting more than four wheels after I get off this fucking diet.
@criedthefox – you need to hit the concentration curls to get that bicep peak developed.
pssssh. i wasn’t flexing dude…… …dude…
Anticipation PR for the DC workshop. I’m planning on skipping my regular Friday evening workout to be fresh for Saturday’s lifting seminar.
Squatted
2x2x155
pressed
3x3x65
benched
2x3x90
all PRs
excited about my 1’s week next week.
weighed 138, I have only ever weighed that much at 8 months pregnant, fuscularity PR.
Justin,
Thanks, though you typed it with a 7 (vice 8), but it’s fine.
Regarding Pauses – even though you loose the immediate stretch reflex, I feel they have had a tremendous effect in helping me to find my glutes and hamstrings at the bottom.
In order to hold the pause, your mechanics have to be pretty good (hips back, weight over mid foot). Otherwise, your quads will just be on fire and you won’t be able to fight out of it. It wasn’t until I started doing them that I realized that I have been “high-barring” my Low-Bar squats with my mechanics. I don’t plan on doing them long term, but I’m just doing them for a month or two, until I reach or get near my previous 5RM (about 315-325) in them. Small numbers sure, but it’s only temporary. After that, I think I’ll be able to quickly work up to using 2xBW for work sets with no pause.
I bet there are a number of new or intermediate lifters, who don’t have access to excellent coaching, that might benefit from a short cycle (4-6 weeks) of pause squatting to simply reinforce good technique.
But that’s just me. I’ll let you know how it goes.
This doesn’t mean I’m telling you not to do them or that they aren’t helping you, but there are too many factors I don’t know of to determine their value in your program. If you have had a volume/intensity change, then that could help your squat. If you were a technically bad squatter, then I suppose they could help (but if you had some coaching you could have done it correctly, though that luxury isn’t available to everyone). The length of time you have been training could effect whether or not they are doing anything. Objectively (and not in mockery), you aren’t putting up hyooge numbers so that would lend me to believe you’re still in the earlier stages of training. The pause squats may be the thing that has “clicked” for you, but that doesn’t mean it’s a preferable way to develop them. The most important reason is because it teaches you to not do the thing that makes the squats superior to any other lower body exercise: use a stretch reflex properly out of the bottom. But, if it helps you in the long run (given that you don’t have a coach), then who am I to say that they aren’t valuable.
TL;DR:
I still believe a good coach to begin with would have prevented the necessity of your experiment. There’s no way of telling what factors are actually contributing to your improvement. But, given your circumstances (primarily not having a coach), you say they are helping so let me know how it goes.
–Justin
Yo stonkus great lifts man, especially that last clean, that was gutsy bro. Question- sicne I will be handling myself, do you have any suggestions for warming up for sn and c&j. As a note, I plan to be there mad eary to be near the front of the weigh in, hydrate substantially, but I have never warmed up my lifts meet style and I dont know how heavy I should go up to, or what the sop is for altering 1st attempts based on warm ups. help brah
@ bohdi ^^^
Title: A quick post on FAmilial hypercholesterolemia and statins
Link:
http://www.archevore.com/panu-weblog/2011/2/14/a-quick-post-on-fh-and-statins.html
Squatted 350 3×5 yesterday. So excited to see if I can progress to 365×5 next thursday.
Pressed 165×4, failed halfway on the last rep.
Finally got back to deadlifting regularly/correctly again. Did 275×5. Incredibly sore today. Need to catch that back up to my squat.
Weight PR kinda at 193. Slowin down though.
Made sure to do at least 10-20 minutes of Mobbing every night the last week, so I guess thats a PR.
Also, anyone know where I can get some of those bands for mobbing for cheap? Like what stores carry them and how I know they won’t break in 5 uses? I’m out in the middle of farmland at college, so there aren’t a lot of choices out here besides walmart and maybe like big5.
Quest-Athletics.com and RogueFitness.com both sell bands and mobbing packages.
–Justin
370×5 DL PR
Thanks for answering some of my questions this weeks, Justin.
You’re welcome. Thanks for reading.
–Justin
165# overhead press at 168.5# bodyweight. Closing in on BW press.
Doing a modified Greyskull LP so the numbers probably look wierd.
Bench 140x5x2 amrap x 11
Also on a squat reset with Greyskull and on the last round did 215×10.
I’m adding in some snatches and full cleans. If I could comfortably dump I’d also start cleaning and jerking. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks when they rearrange the gym I’ll have more space for dumping the weights.
Nick
Squat PR: 160kg (high bar)
5kg increase on my old, low bar PR from last year when I was about 4kg heavier. Someone caught it on camera, thought it looked like garbage. BRB, rounding my spine.
Are your knees shove out enough?
–Justin
Deadlift PR 470lbsx2, 385×10
Push Jerk PR 260×1
Just wanted to say, and I am a crossfitter, how can crossfit not be a sport? I’m sure the definition of sport is something to the effect of “recreational competition engaged in for blah blah blah”. I mean defining something as a sport hurts peoples feelings so much for some reason. I don’t want car racing to be a sport, but it probably is by definition. I do consider Arm wrestling a sport, but I’m sure most people don’t. On the flip side, in the words of kenny powers
“I play real sports, I’m not trying to be the best at working out”. That quote is the one thing I can’t combat when my strictly meathead friends bash crossfit.
Happy Friday! time for heavy cleans!
@strongerthanyesterday
thanks, much appreciated.
Handling yourself is tough, is thsi your first meet? My coach/handler was busy with someone else teh whoel competition so I effectivley had to handle myself. I had it somewhat easy as my weight class wasn’t very competitive and I had the heaviest openers I think so I knew exactly how many lifts there were before me. I beelive Justin had a post on warming up at a meet. Everyone is different but here is what I do, I start doing some light dynamic things for about 10-15 min (leg swings, no weight squats, rolling, light bar work, etc.) I typically do one warmup set for every 3 lifts on the platform ie.) if there are 10 lifters before me and I’m fairly confirdent that even on their thrid attempts won’t be in the ballpark of my openers then I know I have 30 lifts and therefore 10 warmup sets I I starts when the first lifter goes out. For snatch I usually do a triple at 40kg, 10kg jumps for doubles up to about 70kg, singles at 10kg jumps up until 90kg, then 95, 100, and 105. I never take my opener in the warmup room (personal preference). So based on my example I have 9 warmup sets (40,50,60,70,80,90,95,100,105) and if I were to take one after every three attempts I would need 36 lifts before me. So in my example with 10 other lifters I would probably start my warmup sets 15 min prior to the first lift. Same setup for C&J except I start at 60kg. It becomes much more difficult when you hav eto handle yourself and you are lifting in teh middle of the pack due to peopel could make unexpected jumps or misses, I would say see what other lifter if opening around your weight and try and pay attention to where he is at with his warmups, hopefully his handler knows what he is doing and you can time off of him. Goodluck, I’m sure mroe experienced lifters can speak to this.
I should point out that I warmup up until I’m 5-10kg away from my opener then cut it off then. I like my rest in between sets, and I find every 3 attempts on the platform works well for me.
Chicago 70’s Big Lifting Group will be meeting tomorrow, Saturday 2/11, at 1 PM at Conviction Fitness on Western and Montrose. All are welcome :)
Our March meeting will be on Saturday 3/10 at 1 PM AND we are all planning on heading to Sun Wah for a pig feast following lifting. If you are at all interested in joining us for any festivities, please feel free to “friend” me (Ellee Carlson) and I will add you to our FB group. It’s a really great group of people and we would love for you to be a part of it.
i finally did a dip on gymnastics rings that was witnessed by someone else. i’ve sworn i could do one for a while, but now i finally have proof.
i made through another week of school, that’s a PR.
i’ve been fasting for 45 hours, that’s not a PR, though. i will be training fasted for the second time in about 50 hours, i think that will be a PR. wish me luck.