Q&A – 22

Posted on by

It’s PR Friday. Post your training updates and PR’s to comments.

Question of the Weekend
What do you think is the most effective assistance exercise for your training? List your training focus to give us perspective.

There is no reading list this week (I lost all the links I had saved up).

Random pic of Mike and Mark Felix from the Arnold

Scott P. asks,

Justin, I know you’re probably not considered an expert on the subject but if I were training for an endurance event like the GoRuck Challenge, what would you recommend to keep strength gains made while on 70’s big programming? Ideally I would obviously like to continue making strength/power gains while bolstering endurance and I know at some point something will give. I figure if my character in Skyrim can whip a dragons ass with an 90lb hammer while running 60+ miles in a day why can’t I?

CONTINUE READING THE Q&A

Dear Scott,

Like I told you on the Facebook Fan Page, over the last couple of years I have had a vested interest in training military and related personnel. I’ve worked with or trained Special Operations personnel from every branch of the American military (some more than others) including SOF personnel in two other countries and have worked with various airmen, soldiers, and Marines that worked in a variety of jobs. I also told you that I’m going to be doing a Go Ruck Challenge in June in Washington D.C. (where they originated) with my friend Jeremy of CrossFit Annandale (Shawn says he’s gonna do it too, so we’ll see…).

I specifically have a few friends that are current or prior Airborne infantrymen in the Army. For anyone who doesn’t know, they regularly have to do a 12 mile road march in under 3 hours with 35 pounds, not counting food, water, and the rest of their kit (usually a rubber ducky M4, their full kit including kevlar vest, helmet, possible weapon magazines, etc.). The standard weight easily reaches 45 pounds of weight, and probably is 50 or more, especially if it’s wet. I’ve heard of guys doing this as fast as 1 hour and 20 minutes (which is really fucking crazy). But let’s talk about how you’re going to train for it.

The most important thing about adapting to road marching is progressing slowly and getting “time under ruck”. You wouldn’t want to randomly throw 50 pounds on your back and set off because your feet will probably blister and your structures won’t be able to handle it (feet, shins, knees, hips, back, shoulders, etc.). Make sure you have good foot wear. Standard desert issue boots from the Army are fine, but any hiking boot will do. Jeremy has completed one Go Ruck Challenge and he wore Merrel trail/hiking boots. On your first training day, just load a pack or book bag with about 25 to 30 pounds and walk at an easy pace for at least 30 minutes but no more than 60. Be cognizant of potential blisters on your feet; if needed, stop and check out your feet to make sure you haven’t developed one. It’s okay to stop if one develops — the GR Challenge is not today. Road marching foot care is a lengthy topic, so we’ll save it for another time.

If you didn’t complete one hour with your starting weight, then increase your time by about 15 minutes each session until you do. Once you are on the move for an hour, the next session you can start increasing your weight. To be safe, increase by five pounds. Maintain an hour-long walk until your pack is up to 45 or 50 (if you were doing military prep, I’d say 50, depending on your body weight). Once you get a at least several sessions with the heavier weight for an hour, start alternating sessions where you drop the weight back down to about 30 pounds and increase the distance by 30 minutes. To clarify, once you have adapted to carrying the heavy weight for one hour, you will start doing 90 minute walks with lighter weight. When you increase duration, make sure to initially decrease the weight and work the weight up over several sessions.

Since the go ruck is with about 30 pounds of bricks (not counting food/water), I’d have you stay at 30 pounds and increase duration every couple weeks. Military personnel will regularly hit 6, 8, 10, or 12+ mile marches in training. For the sake of doing a Go Ruck, just focus on the duration and over time work up to around three hours. This whole progression should take at least three months.

If your Go Ruck Challenge is sooner than later, then just work with 25 to 30 pounds and increase duration. The Go Ruck Challenge is what is called a “gut check”; there’s no solid way you can train for a gut check because it’s designed to test your limit. It’s supposed to be hard and there’s no way you can prepare yourself to the point that you’ll breeze through it. But you should definitely train for it so that you don’t subject your feet to blisters and your joints and muscles to strains or pulls.

Now, how do we incorporate this into a strength training program? I like a HVY-MED-LT set up for this (and use this template for many general strength and S&C programs — more on this in the future). If the HVY-MED-LT set up fell on MWF, then you could road march on Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Saturdays. Your goal should be at least two road marches a week, and there should always be one on Saturday morning since you’ll have the rest of the weekend to recover. Your longest efforts will also go on Saturday for the same reasons. Cap your week-day road marches at an hour, but aim to go faster (in contrast, the Saturday movements will focus on increasing the total duration). I suggest doing the week-day road march on Thursday in a HVY-MED-LT set up since Friday’s training day is just a light session (that probably only includes conditioning, light strength movements, or isolation work). If you’re on another template, consider modifying it or logically place the rucking in (remember, one road march on a week-day and one on Saturday).

It’s easy to drop this stuff into a template, but it’s hard to actually do it. Don’t get a big ego and load your pack up heavy (and never go above 50 pounds). Progress everything slowly; you don’t want to have a minor tendon strain interfere with your squatting. If you’re moving in hot climates for long durations, stay hydrated. High speed socks and boots will help, but aren’t necessary. Powder your feet. Take care of the structures. And for gods’ sake, if you show up to the challenge, don’t fucking quit.

Dave N asks,

I saw someone else post a question a long time ago about long forearms and trouble getting into a good rack position for cleans and front squats. I have a similar problem. When I put my arms into a good elbows up rack position, my knuckles are resting on my shoulders up almost past my delts. My shoulder ROM is actually fairly decent (I do a lot of MWOD stuff for it), so I’m not really sure what to do. Right now I simply don’t clean (I snatch) and I do the crossed-arm thing for front squats, but for weights over about 275 that hurts like hell. Does anyone have a suggestion on what, if anything, I can do to get a decent rack position?

Dear Dave,

Hope you’ve been doing well. People with long forearms will require a wider grip in the clean and front squat rack. It’s not uncommon to have the pinky finger within an inch of the outer ring (on an IPF regulation bar, but it may be necessary on an IWF bar). The key isn’t only to have the elbows up, but to bring them “in” towards each other. By bringing the elbows in, the shoulders externally rotate. External rotation of the shoulder promotes good thoracic positioning by putting the shoulder joint back and down. The opposite internal rotation would bring the shoulder forward and inward, which wouldn’t be conducive to having a good “chest up” position when front squatting or recovering from a clean. Also, the “elbows in” position facilitates a better rack compared to having the elbows pointed straight forward or slightly out.

Other extremely common mistakes are that lifters try to keep their fingers wrapped around the bar as they are in the front squat position. Instead, let the bar sit loosely in the fingers, and it’s okay to pull the pinky and ring fingers off of the bar to achieve a better position. If the upper arm (the humerus) isn’t parallel with the floor, then it’s wrong.

It’s likely that lacking mobility prevents a good front rack position. In which case, use tack and stretch on the distal triceps (with a bar or lacrosse ball), use 5 way shoulder (particularly the “external rotation while in flexion” stretch that hits the lat), and any other mob that improves external rotation.

enlightenedsnipe asks,

I’ve really been struggling lately to keep my knees out. I really noticed it this past weekend at my first meet on my heavy attempts, however I looked back and I’ve been doing it regularly for close to a year. I couch stretch/table stretch/foam roll regularly and cue knees out in my head, but it feels more like a muscular imbalance or something.

(this one is the worst but it was there on the lighter ones as well)

Dear enlightenedsnipe,

I hope you are also doing well. Your video is pretty bad, and it’s probably a bit worse than normal given that it’s a limit rep. However, it’s something that needs addressed if you are going to get stronger and if you are going to prevent injury.

Strength training with compound movements isn’t solely based on mechanics; the musculoskeletal anatomy must do its job in order to achieve good mechanics. Biological structures don’t simply “get better” because we cue them, they get better because they adapt to a specific stress within a given ROM in a respective movement. In other words, improving your ability to keep your knees out is dependent on the chronic application of a proper mechanical stress. You have to train and develop the muscles to lift properly, because you’ve allowed them to develop improperly.

This is done in three ways: a) using loads with the primary movement so that proper mechanics are achieved, b)improve mobility to allow the structures to function in the desired ROM, and c) possibly use ancillary exercises to develop the weak structures. Right away you need to stop squatting shitty. Use only loads in which you can track your knees with your toes. If you cannot do this with a given load, then drop. Yes you will be using lighter loads than you think you should. Yes you will feel like a bitch. I’d rather see you squat bitch weight properly than blow out a meniscus or lumbar disc squatting heavy weight like shit. I would even venture to say that for a minimum of two months, this should be your method of squatting (while squatting twice a week). It will be likely that you will fatigue in the middle of a set; the first few reps may look good while the last two reps will look and feel shitty. If this is the case, then just use more sets of triples. You should aim to get 15 to 25 reps at your “work set” weight. This weight will be lower than you would like, but I predict you’ll have difficulty in doing it properly. If you have to use exceptionally light weights in order to keep your knees tracked with your toes, then focus on having fast bar speed out of the bottom; the effect will be similar to speed or dynamic effort squatting. Only do these things if, and only if, you can keep your knees tracked with your toes.

Work on your mobility twice a day. If you are a chump about this, then decrease it to once a day on the weekends. You should be hitting the anterior hip, internal rotators, external rotators, 10 minute squat test, ankles, lumbar, thoracic spine, etc. If you don’t mob, then you don’t care.

I’m not really concerned about assistance exercises given that you have a lot of work to do. Some options off the top of my head are:
– front squat with knees tracked for back off sets if your regular squats are particularly light
– RDLs
– Good mornings
– weighted walking lunges while holding DBs (where you drive your heel through the floor on the ascent)

Realistically I don’t think lunges are necessary. Don’t get cute. Work on the fundamentals. Get to work and update me on your progress.

Eli W. asks,

I dont know if its Q&A friday worthy, but do you have any suggestions on a program that incorporates the 3 big lifts along with Oly lifting? I train 4 times a week and just add the lifts in whenever I have time but I feel like I need more structure to actually progress the lifts.

Thanks brah

Dear Eli,

I do. This was the original template I was playing around with back in 2009 in my training. There are some updates I would make to it now (and I intend to release a .pdf eventually), but it’s mostly the same.

Monday — LT or MED Snatch, HVY Clean and Jerk
Tuesday — Squat, Press, RDLs
Wednesday — OFF
Thursday — HVY Snatch, LT or MED Clean and Jerk
Friday — Squat, Press, DL or heavy pull, Weighted pull-ups or chin-ups

I’m not a huge fan of heavy deadlifting in an Oly program, so this is more “novice focused” template. The light or medium Oly work can be timed (snatching on the minute, CJing on 90 seconds to two minutes) and staying at the same weight (perhaps about 75 to 80% of max, or hypothetical max) for about ten singles with the intent of not missing. For someone wanting to focus on Oly stuff, it would kind of depend on their strength and establishes musculature, but I’d prefer to have a 3x/week template that has SN/CJ each day, with fluctuating intensities (so it’s not maximal every day). I’d drop in squatting, pressing, or posterior chain work relative to the lifter (squatting would always be there).

If someone just wanted to work the lifts along with their strength or S&C program, they could throw in one of the lifts at the beginning of their training session.
Remember the priority continuum of:
Explosive lifts > Strength Lifts > Compound assistance > Isolation assistance

If you aim to compete in weightlifting, I suggest focusing on an Oly-centric template for 4 to 8 weeks. If you end up not enjoying it, it’s easy to shift your training focus after.

Adam W. asks,

Hey Justin how high is the effective heel in the VS shoes, over an inch for sure? I have fucking atrocious ankle flexibility that is killing my squat technique, even with a 0.75″ heel. I’m losing extension for depth because of the chain reaction of bullshit stemming from the ankles. My squats are fucking beautiful if I’m wearing my heeled shoes AND elevating my heels on 3/4″ rubber but that is gay. Not sure what to do while I work on improving my mobility.
Here’s a video showing it.

Dear Adam,

First, I hope your ego is intact from the lashing Marotta gave you in the Fan Page thread about this. Second, I apologize it took this long to answer; there wasn’t a Q&A last week due to posts about the Arnold. Third, you have the shittiest ankle mobility of anyone ever.

First thing you need to do is to mob them daily with anterior and posterior band distraction. I can’t find the video I wanted to show you, but I have two examples of the technique: one and two. Both of these videos include a “super friend”, but having help from someone isn’t necessary. By the way, for everyone else, this is the specific ankle work that can reduce the tension on the knee and even alleviate posterior (rear) knee pain. Adam, regardless of the band distraction (anterior or posterior), think about getting as much dorsiflexion as possible (pushing shin to toes). Aside from that, work on getting the shin ankle lateral with respect to the ankle (the same that occurs when the knees are shoved out). If the inside of your foot lifts up while you are trying to push the shin laterally, then hold your foot or shoe down with your other hand and go to the end ROM your ankle allows. Spend at LEAST one minute on each direction for each ankle EVERY DAY.

You should be able to low bar squat with limited ankle flexibility (since low bar positioning doesn’t require much dorsi flexion). Also note that your lumbar flexibility is non-existent. You, specifically, need to work on your anterior hip (banded anterior distraction to start, couch stretch to finish), lateral hip (roll slowly on lacrosse ball for 2 minutes each side prior to squatting), as well as your lumbar and thoracic spine (thoracic spine can be hit decently with “5 way shoulder” and double lacrosse ball while supine). Stop using the extra rubber to squat. Hit these mobs before squatting. Test/re-test. Do it daily. Update me on your progress.

52 thoughts on “Q&A – 22”

  1. I find work for my mid/upper back to be the most important accessory work for me as it impacts all of my lifts. I mix between Kroc Rows, BB Rows, Pendlay Rows, Chest Supported Rows and Hammer Strength Rows.

  2. Maybe a cop out answer but –

    More mobility work is the most effective assistance for me. Ancillary exercises don’t seem to offer as much on a tight schedule, after the main lifts.

    I did start with truly terrible mobility though, so YMMV.

  3. Lame answer but glute activation exercises for me. I’m a person who sits for 9 hours in a cubicle then goes to train, therefore, my hip flexors are really tight and my ass is lethargic. As a result my mobility got real bad. It wasn’t until I began doing glute activation stuff that all the mobility work actually kicked in. It sounds lame but it has helped every single one of my lifts. I don’t mind if I get a look for dong glute bridges because I know 9 out of 10 times I’m about to squat at least 200 lbs more than that person will half squat.

  5. As far as an actual exercise, I would say GHR’s definitely help me on the next workout with squatting and deadlifting, and it makes it much easier to keep my hamstrings from going slack.

    As far as mobility, shoulder dislocations with a stick are immensely helpful in loosening up my shoulders to comfortably low bar or front squat. And although I hate them, the couch stretch and the more recent pre-squat hip opener mobs do amazing things for my squat form/strength.

    Also, I forgot to ask this yesterday, but have you done a post yet on back angle during deadlifts Justin? I’ve tweaked my low back muscles on two separate occasions while deadlifting with a traditional setup, but if I raise my hips higher before the start and have a more horizontal back angle and straighter legs I have far more strength. However, I constantly see form checks telling people to lower their hips before the start so that their legs don’t straighten instantly and make the movement back only. I’m open to feedback from anyone on this

  8. Pendlay rows. These single-handedly fixed all my shoulder problems in the squat. My chest was over-developed relative to my back, so whenever I benched my chest was excessively tight the next training session, which made it hard to keep my elbows back in the squat. Bringing up the back with the Pendlay row completely eliminated this, more so than any of the mobility work I was doing. I now row and bench about the same (but not enough).

    RDL’s have probably helped out, but I haven’t noticed the benefits nearly as much.

  10. In fact, I would go so far as to say that for me, the Pendlay row isn’t even an assistance exercise. I consider it, for myself, to be one of the “big lifts” that I want to excel at, not just a lift I do in order to be better at the other lifts.

  13. I have a mostly powerlifing focus with the side goal of being swoler.
    I’ve found that barbell rows are the most effective assistance exercise. For one thing they’re really tiring and hard, and I sometimes dread doing them, so that alone tells me they must be good. I’ve been doing a 4x/week program for a few months that includes rowing heavy twice a week. Not only do I think they’ve helped my bench, press and deadlift get stronger, and helped my shoulder overall become stronger, but they’ve also made my upper back and arms more swole. Better strength, safer shoulders, and more swole? What more could you ask for in an assistance exercise?

    Training this week:
    Squat: 380 7×1; 320 5×3
    Bench: 290xfail; 275 4×1; 250 2×3; 225×5 (building bench back after not being able to do it for a month due to injury)
    Deadlift: 425 9×1; 345 5×3
    OHP: 160–fail; 145 5×3 (also building back)
    Mobility: I did MWODs 17-20 so far this week, as well as some other stuff related to my goats.

    I’ve only got two weeks left to train hard before slowing it down to compete.

  14. Oh yeah, my training focus –
    Short term: get bigger, stronger and more conditioned. Reach what I consider to be “minimum” level of strength – 200, 300, 400, 500 in press, bench, squat, and deadlift.

    Long(er) term: compete in powerlifting, strongman, and Highland Games.

  15. Not really a PR, but worth mentioning: Back to training after 2.5 months off due to family stuff. Lay-offs suck.

    Preferred assistance: BB Rows

  16. Rowing right now is a big thing for me, particularly supine ring rows. Kinda lame but beats rubbing your dick up against a bosu ball. Discovered renegade rows recently which are good. I should probably get some DBs for Kroc rows, but not until my I shift my focus from body fat reduction to being on a more traditional type of program.

    I am incorporating RDLs into my programming as well. Good stuff.

  17. I also have a question about front squats. My right collar bone sticks out and quite a bit more than my left and is higher up than my left. Ive showed it to doctors and they said that’s just how it grew in and as long as there’s no pain it’s fine. When I front squat the bar digs into my right collar bone and causes much pain. Wtf can I do to prevent that shit?

  18. Probably not exactly what you are looking for as far as an assitance exercise. But its my reality.

    Mobility.

    Compete in Oly and Power lifting and CrossFit (don’t jduge me).

    Oly-limited by flexibility in shoulders and hips.

    Power-develop wood blocks (only way I can describe it) in my hips after a few months of squats. Limits my range of motion, makes me deviate my form, puts pressure on a bulged disc I have.

    CrossFit-Lack of mobility makes for lack of muscle endurance.

    I have been doing dedicated mobility work MWODS etc to help myself out, but FUCK, it takes awhile to undo years of inflexibilty. Making huge progress in hips but upper body is still a major issue.

  19. PR today bench 215lb 3×5

    Dips have helped me tremendously with bench and overhead press. Although I’m not happy with my progress doing overhead presses. Been stuck at 135 3×5 for a while. But bench keeps progressing nicely.

  21. Pressed 205 x 1 for a PR.
    Most effective assistance is grip stuff. I always hit grippers at the end, and try to add in pinch lifts and thick handle stuff regularly as well. You can never have enough grip strength.

  22. I have been doing a lot of rotator cuff assistance work, mostly because I increased my volume by about 200% (smart, I know) recently and my shoulder carriage hates me.
    PRs:
    75 kg clean
    74 kg c&j
    109kgx3 HB squat

  24. Apparently, my wrist injury has now aggravated my rotator cuff, so all I can do at the moment are safety bar squats.

    I guess I will claim them as PRs because there is nowhere to go but up.

    Safety Bar Squat:
    1 x 95 kg

    Stupid fucking wrist.

  27. Discomfort PR: only big dental work so far, and it’s getting my wisdom teeth pulled. Thank heavens for general anesthesia, and pain meds. This of course is probably doomsday for my strength goals for the next few Weeks, especially since I’m stuck eating no solids… Bah.

    Lifting PR’s:
    Squatted 325 for 3×5
    OHP 140 for 3×5

    Maybe I’ll try for max singles Monday before lack of volume kills me…

  28. No PRs this week. Attempted to bench 140 without a spot and shoveled shit.

    Favorite assistance exercise: RDLs, hands down. Training focus: powerlifting.

  30. rdl baby- I have pretty big quads but my hammies lack the ropey tightness that I crave. Also, I love kroc Rows, I got up to 150 times 20 for both right and left hand no straps neither in college but now I dont have a dumbbell large enough to do that, but I did notice that the resulting yoke-age was indeed beautiful. peace

  33. Hey Justin and other 70s big peeps. Love the recent posts about the Arnold and stuff. I have a question about squats (high bar) and hip/low back pain. I favor one side at the bottom of the squat. I basically bounce off of my right calf at the bottom of the squat, and my left hip and lower back really hurt as a result, I’m assuming. I think my piriformis is tight. I have been stretching a lot but it hasn’t seemed to affect it yet, but I was just wondering if you have ever seen this before and if have any tips for fixing it. Thanks a lot.

    -Lou

  34. Hey, thanks so much for answering my question Justin! I definitely agree that I need to work on mobility. I’ve been doing 4x per week heavy lifting and while I’m a supple leopard in the shoulder region (doing twice a day mobs all over the place with a lax) I was only hitting my legs/hips once or twice per week. This week I tried the ten minute squat test and failed like a bitch… soooo, back to the pain cave!

    I noticed today working on stuff that I have the beginnings of the drop in at 275 and I have to work really hard to fight it off above 315. Over the next month I’ll keep the weight light enough to maintain proper form and rebuild slowly.

    Also, after watching his video, I realized I have only somewhat better ankle mobility than Adam. Going to start working on that ASAP.

    Also: PRs the past week
    PL: did my first competition. Had a blast!
    Squat: 425×1- 10 lb PR
    Deadlift: 530×1 – 30 pound PR

    Also, the writeup on the meet is on the way soon.

  35. Keep it simple and keep it heavy! Close grip bench presses (just inside shoulder width) pushes up the pounds on all pressing exercises and makes delts and tri’s grow).

    For squats, anything to get stronger hips!

    BSGC

  36. Haven’t posted in a quite a bit…that is because i havent been setting PRs. Set some tonight tough.

    Squats (w/o belt): 420×5 (rep PR), 465×1 (10lb PR)

    Sumo Deadlift (w/o belt): 505×1…w/ slight hitch (50lb PR…most i have ever sumoed before was 455 and that was with a belt so i am real happy abou this.)

  38. bench 270×3
    dead 440×3
    press 190×3

    I probably started too high on my new programming but I am stubborn enough to keep trying these weights to see what happens, so far I have been hitting PRs.

    In terms of accessory work, I like the cuban presses I have been doing for a few weeks now.

  39. Thanks a lot for answering my question Justin! I appreciate the time you take to keep the posts/answers coming in and stuff, keep up the good work! I’m gonna give your program a shot this next week but its exactly what I was looking for.

    Thanks again!
    Schmee (Eli)

  40. Justin – When you have the time and if you’re interested, will you cover which mobs are okay to hit pre-workout and which should be done at a separate time?

  41. hi guys i havent posted in a while but i just wanted to take a quick second to tell all of you that are beta fucks and can zuk all over my hairy ass balls

  42. Mark Felix is the Man!

    Still doing the BBB Challenge. This month the BBB sets are with 70% of Training Max:
    Press – 135x10x5
    SQ – 300x10x5
    BP – 175x10x5
    DL – 330x10x5

    Fav assistance exercise is Kroc Rows. Most effective? For me it seems to be just doing the big lifts for higher reps with lower weights. Grease the groove and all that. Note I haven’t been training long (9 months).

  43. Did a GoRuck last year, it was a lot of fun and the group is great. I’m not well versed in training for these types of things, but like Justin said you need to get under a ruck. I started out w/25# for a few miles then gradually worked up. Eventually, I think we hit ~10 miles on moderate terrain with 50# or so. The last 5 miles was intervals of running and quick walking. Its been almost a year since then, but I think it helped.

    Other than that, I did typical interval work – 200s, 400s, hills, prowler, kettlebell swings, etc. But my focus during the time was strongman – I competed 2 weeks before the GoRuck, did well, and finished the GRC without too many problems. The biggest pain I had was my feet-I was wearing crappy sneakers and the last 2-3 hrs were painful. Strength work IS important, you will be carrying packs, logs, people, and whatever else the cadre deem amusing. It is an endurance event in the sense of the distance involved, but you won’t be running the whole time – jogging (weighted), sprints, walking, swimming, and a few rests.

    The most important thing to realize is you are going to be uncomfortable for an extended period. Bring extra socks and some (not too much) water and snacks – its going to be a long night. Bring enough water to last a few hours, and refill when you get the chance (but don’t weight yourself down with an extra gallon). Make this a priority if and when you rest (not sitting). My ass was thirsty and hungry when we were done.

  44. PR’s?

    Doing a reload, involving high rep drop sets …
    Press: 115×13

    Assistance:
    KB Swings (48kg) (grip, glute activation)
    Farmer’s walks (48kg+) (grip, obliques, hips)
    Pause squats
    Hamstring curls/ghd’s (to prevent front of knee soreness (patellar tendonitis?), like curls for elbows…)
    Incline and Close Grip (no flat bench because I’m trying to prevent an old RC injury from flaring up). Weighted Chins, Pendlays, Krocs.
    Power and Full Cleans.
    FSQ’s.

    Training Focus: general strength – no time for BJJ now, so I intend to be the most shredsky mother imaginable when I can actually get back into it and compete in the 180lb ish category (80’s medium).

  45. I’ve spent a bit of time with a ruck sack. Take extra socks and switch them out even if you don’t think you need to and use foot powder. Dry feet are happy, blister-free feet.

    Most important assistance exercise is chewing. Eating is training.

  46. Question about power cleans during novice starting strength LP.

    I am just adding power cleans into the progression. My rack position sucks to the point that it really hurts my shoulders, and doing them is interfering with my ability to bench and press pain free.

    I have done power cleans before and have decent form. I am certain that I am having a hard time due to atrocious shoulder and thoracic mobility. My retarded long forearms are not helping the situation at all. I am working at my mobility every day to improve on this front. My question is whether or not it would make sense to just do speed deadliest instead of cleans while I work towards being a supple leopard.

    I would like to compete in powerlifting at some point.

    6’2 208 Squat 315, Bench 240, Deadlift 385, Press 145

  49. I have a number-of-people-interested-in-what-I-was-reading-during-flight PR.

    I often travel for work and when I do I bring along a book to read. This time I brought my Anatomy Without a Scalpel book and had four individuals comment on what I was reading. Obviously, people look over your shoulder more than you know during flight, but I never had anyone interested in what I was reading until this book.

  50. PR Squat 327.5. Was going to match a previous PR when I heard Pendlay’s voice in my head. Always add 1 kilo instead of matching a PR.

    Lost 5lbs. Meh, hopefully just BF.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.