Q&A – 29

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PR Friday

Please post your training PR’s and updates to the comments. Remember, it’s the best way to integrate yourself in this incredible community. Oh, and I’m more likely to help you or answer your question(s) if you post regularly; fuckin’ oath.

Last Week’s Challenge was to do at least two days of heavy farmer’s walks at the end of your training session. Did anyone hit this challenge up? Post your weight and estimated distance.

Next Week’s Challenge: Given this week’s article on conditioning, the challenge is to add in a day or two of conditioning into your program. Don’t over-complicate it, and no I’m not turning you into a CrossFitter. How intense the conditioning should be is dependent on what you’re adapted to. Just drop some sled drags/pulls in, do some kettlebell work, or try one of those fancy barbell complexes. If you hate it, well, shit, it’s only one week of it.

Weekly Recap

On Monday I recapped some of the Tucson, AZ seminar, but also traveled all friggin’ day (never good for mobility). Tuesday made the point that even strength athletes will benefit from conditioning, and unless it’s misused, it won’t interfere with strength training. Wednesday discussed training efficiency and urged readers to ensure that they were getting the most of their time spent training and recovery. Thursday started as a rant because of something corny I saw on Facebook (it was a picture of a self assurance fortune cookie that said, “You are wonderful,”) — it developed into having a mindset that always aims to improve, but then focused on being able to instill that in trainees/clientele as a coach or trainer.

There are tons of pictures from last week, but the most poignant lesson I learned is: “Don’t mistake a cactus for a tree.” In my defense, there are no cacti where I’m from. I leaned against one to step off of a trail, and ended up with at least 15 spines in my hand. Here’s a picture that encapsulates some pain and embarrassment.

I usually try to label these file names for your amusement

In other news, there will be a surprise for many of you on Tuesday.

Q&A

CONTINUE READING

Ed W. posted to 70’s Big,

I was couch stretching this morning, two minutes a side x 2. When I finished my vastus lateralus on one leg felt like it was asleep and it still feels asleep. WTF did I do to myself?!
[spoiler]Another message from Ed:
Context: I do all my exercise in the morning before work, after work it’s dinner, kids, bedtime, cleaning, crash.
Last week on Monday I rode a 75KM ride to work. Then let work get the better of me and skipped my workouts/active recovery/mobilizing for Tues-Fri so I could go to the office early. My legs turned into a gnarly mass of stiff tissue. Saturday I ran an adventure race up and down a ski hill with obstacles thrown in on the woody stumps I call legs. Ouch. Resolved to fix the damage I’d imparted on myself I started working on getting loose and ended up with my numb quad.
Apparently nerves can get irritated when trying to work out that mass of knotted tissue I call a leg. A massage and some rolling and light activity and I’m coming back.[/spoiler]

Dear Ed,

Based on the second part that you posted, you know why this is occurring. 75KM cycling (I assume) is something that puts you in severe hip flexion for a long time. Then you went to a job that (presumably) has you in hip flexion all week. Then you went and did an adventure race which undoubtedly gunked you up, not to mention your hip flexors were already jacked up from what you did earlier in the week.

Let’s look at the hip flexors. We primarily always consider the rectus femoris — the big muscle of the quad that crosses the hip (the only quad that crosses the hip) and knee joints — but there’s more going on. The sartorius is a thin band that sits on top, but it assists in a lot of movements at the hip and knee. The adductor (groin) muscles are assisting, and so is glute medius and TFL; this means that medial or lateral tightness respectively can inhibit hip flexion, or a lack of hip flexion can inhibit these areas. In other words, it’s all interrelated. But the iliopsoas — the psoas major and iliacus — are often forgotten and neglected. This is where I think your problem originates.

The iliopsoas muscle goup’s action focuses on hip flexion, yet they also externally rotate and adduct the hip. More importantly, when you’re hunkered down on a bike or in your office chair, the muscles are shortened. They are often chronically tight in white collar workers and cause a lot of problems, including hyperlordosis (more on that in a later question). The psoas is more of the issue because it attaches along the lumbar spine (behind the stomach) and then ventures down to the inner and rear portion of the femure (the lesser trochanter).

The lumbar nerve plexus stems off of the lumbar spine and passes through or next to the psoas. If you have done something stupid to make the psoas chronically tight, then that whole area can be a big ball of mess and possibly inflamed. Inflammation or “a mess” swells and usually clamps down on nerves, and this is why people will feel radiating pain through an extremity. My guess is that when you tried positional stretching on an area that was inflamed and tight, you irritated it (possibly breaking up developed scar tissue or dense fascia, or just ripping apart a swollen, irritated area) and made it push against that nerve. The lumbar plexus stems down to the femoral nerve, which stems to the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve, the specific area where you are feeling numbness.

That’s nice. Now what can we do about it? Start at the origin — work on that psoas. Lacrosse ball to the side of your stomach, and dig in there on the muscle belly of the psoas. Look at this part of this MWOD vid. I’d work on that twice a day (morning/night) for a week straight, but only do positional stretching of joint approximation AFTER doing the soft tissue work. If it’s totally gunked, tight, and inflammed, then it won’t stretch until you actually release the tension.

Let this be a lesson to all of you: if you have severe tightness or gunkiness, use soft tissue work BEFORE doing any positional stretching or joint approximation. And Ed, I could be wrong and you have a more serious issue, but this is what I personally would work on before spending money at a doctor.

Paul Sousa asks,

I have had some upper back pain when squatting and have tried changing my grip width and bar height a bit. I always try and get my upper back very tight though. After seeing some videos however, I wonder if being super tight is necessary? I see some Oly guys look pretty relaxed under huge weights (video), as well as some WSB style guys use a super wide grip that also doesn’t seem to result in a very tight upper back (another vid). I squeeze my shoulder blades together hard when squatting, but now I am wondering if maybe that is actually causing the pain I have, and maybe I should toy around with a more relaxed style?

Dear Paul,

I agree that your upper back issue needs to be addressed. It is, without a doubt, a result of poor mobility. You need daily shoulder work in the form of 5 way shoulder to work on your internal and external rotators, lacrosse ball to thoracic spine, and releasing your spinal erectors. No matter how much you alter your grip, if you’re tight in this area, then you’ll continue having pain.

Now let’s address the examples you gave. The weightlifter in the video is doing the high bar, so that immediately throws your argument out of the window. A high bar sits on the middle traps and doesn’t require the upper back or shoulders to be tight in order to maintain a good position (I usually just refer to this as the “rear deltoid shelf”). Nevertheless, he is still keeping his thoracic spine extended, because if he didn’t, he’d flex the spine and not squat the weight. His transmission is intact, and he doesn’t need a special grip to do it properly.

The next video of our homie Mark Bell is borderline irrelevant as well because the dude weighs at least 275 pounds! You can’t really compare your body type to his; you’re not on enough juice, brah. Not only is Mark densely packed with muscle, but his squat technique facilitates the grip he’s using. He’s aiming to sit back on that box to get a good stretch on his hamstrings (as well as the suit), so if he sits back more, he leans forward more. That helps him provide a shelf for the bar to sit on, even if we didn’t even consider the fact that he’s densely muscled. His muscle mass creates that shelf, and a wide grip such as his might be equivalent to your more narrow grip because of much muscle he has in his middle trapezius and rhomboid area.

The moral of the story? It’s okay to question the way you’re doing something, but you can’t compare yourself to populations that aren’t similar to you at all — in squat style or body type. All of this discussion means that you’re reading this and NOT doing shoulder mobility, so get to working on that. Get your kid to grow up faster so you have more time in the gym too. Steroids may help, but you’re already too hairy.

Chris B. asks
Hey Justin, could you talk about correcting Hyperlordosis in your next Q&A? Or should I just google it because you’ve covered it already?
I’ve done some research on it, but I trust you, so I was hoping to get your take.

Dear Chris,

I’ve been putting off your question for several weeks because I wanted to give it the full attention it deserved. The answer will be confusing in text, so I’ll probably do a video post on it in the future to reiterate the point. Hyperlordis means that that the lumbar is severely extended because the hip is severely anteriorily rotated. I’m going to simplify this and say that it’s generally caused by tight hip flexors, ESPECIALLY the psoas. Traditionally hyperlordosis was seen a lot in dancers, but nowadays people are taught to extend the hell out of their lumbar spines when lifting and it’s becoming more common. There is a smaller percentage of females who have because of a lack of kinesthetic sense, but I think it’s cause they learned to do to hinge their ass out so it looks better. In guys, I think it develops in a similar way, but it’s because they want their chest to look big. If a guy lacks thoracic mobility (and kinesthetic sense), he’ll lift his chest by hyper extending at his thoracic/lumbar junction and sacro/liliac junction. Compound these nuances with the fact that everyone in western society is sitting down for at least 4 hours a day, and you have chronically tight hip flexors and chornic poor positioning.

The way to start working on it? Open the anterior hip. The first suggestion, as in the first question above, is to work the psoas with a lacrosse ball. Then use some positional stretching or joint approximation. The best mob for someone who is extremely tight is the first position of the couch stretch (queued up in this video). My friend Luiz, who regularly walks in hyperlordosis, can barely post his foot up to get into this position. Note that we aren’t even attempting to post up with this type of person, just hanging out with both hands on the ground.

I’d also teach them what is “proper positioning” by helping them bring their pelvis underneath their torso (which contrasts how the pelvis usually is hinged out behind the torso). It usually involves turning the lower abs “on”. I read in a good communication book that every time you walk through a doorway, you want to orient your posture. There’s more to what the book said, but I’m using this technique for hyperlordosis abusers; every time they walk through a door they need to pull their hips back under them. Over several months they will get hundreds of repetitions of reorienting themselves, and I would have them mob their hip flexors AT LEAST twice a day until further notice. Their lifting style will probably need to be altered; this usually means they need to learn how to use a solid, straight trunk. I’ll leave this part of it for another time — you can’t save the world, and you can’t do it all at once.

gumbo asks,

Justin – any thoughts on conditioning for occassional, recreational backpacking? I don’t have time for regular rucking – would running/sprints/intervals have any carryover, despite being completely different time domains? I know CrossFit claims short intense workouts will address all endurance goals, but somehow that doesn’t sound right.

Dear gumbo,

Maslow responded in kind and said:
@Gumbo I’m an avid backpacker/hunter and have never found that lifting complicates rather than interferes with my backpacking. I actually program in the backpacking days as rest days. For instance I’ll train after work on Friday night, wake up and do a longish (5-10 mile in the mountains) hike on Saturday, camp out, do the same hike back on Sunday, then train as usual on Monday without any trouble. I think strength training carries over directly to backpacking ability. The pack feels lighter, I can go longer without stopping, and it really helps that certain part of the male body.

I agree with him here. Typically in a backpacking, hiking, or camping scenario, you only carry what you need to carry. In a rucking scenario, you carry more than is necessary to adapt to it or because you have to. In the picture of the post, I have about 35 pounds of rocks in my pack (I was searching for them when I touched the cactus).

I think that hiking and backpacking is an incredibly fun and rewarding endeavor, something that people don’t do enough of. In the sense of having the capacity to do it, you’ll be fine (as Maslow says). If you were aiming to do it for performance, then you would do it different and adjust your programming to accommodate it. Doing interval work to prepare for backpacking/hiking isn’t really necessary, but it will improve your conditioning for those high elevation or high intensity moments.

During our walk, Chris had to stop a few times and catch his breath. We weren’t acclimated to the hot and incredibly dry environment (even at dusk). The elevation wasn’t really relevant (only 2,700 at the top, a gain of about 1,600ish), but Chris hasn’t been much conditioning other than pushing his truck. He certainly hasn’t been climbing any mountains or doing anything for an hour straight like we did. I talked to a girl on the plane who has hiked that mountain and she had to stop frequently; from the sound of it, Chris handled it better than her and he weighs nearly 300 pounds. His strength gave him the capacity, but his cardiovascular/respiratory adaptation was the limiting factor.

All that being said, doing intensity based conditioning will improve your backpacking, but you aren’t competing in it, so it isn’t really necessary. Just go do it. Besides, the best thing that helps improve hiking/backpacking/rucking is to do that thing.

dimitris asks,

1. I’m confused (it could be my English though). You talk about HIET. Isn’t this like barbell complexes you’ve mentioned in the past? Hiking seems to me like Low Intensity Endurance Training.

2. And what’s the relation with the 3 types you present in the e-book. If my memory serves me, interval, all-out and prolonged effort.

3. Off the topic question:
In heavy weights (but doable) I slow down exactly where Chris does in the video with the 615. I pause but in the end I manage to complete the lift. Is this something common?

Dear dimitris,

I numbered your questions to make it easier.

1. High intensity conditioning does include barbell complexes. It also includes CrossFitty met-cons, sprinting, or doing any activity with high intensity. You are correct in saying that hiking is “low intensity endurance training”. In the book we just call that “sustained effort”. Doing low intensity stuff will not be an efficient use of someone’s training time because a) it takes too much time, b) it’s adaptation isn’t as useful, and c) it would require too much recovery and therefore interfere with strength training.

2. The three main categories of “high intensity endurance training” I labeled in “FIT” are
– maximal
– interval
– sustained effort
There are sub-categories as well, and I provide a explain how stressful each one is and provide a very specific method to how you would schedule a given conditioning stress based on the lifting stress.

3. What you describe is common in people who push their butt back instead of up. If you watch carefully, this is what Chris does during the lift at 615. If the butt goes back, then the hamstrings lengthen and the knees extend slightly without actually applying force to the bar. Also, the back angle will lean over slightly — butt goes back, therefore chest goes forward. The result is a stall in the middle of the rep.

I cued Chris to bounce it sharper, and then “drive like fuck” through that ROM. The cue was shortened to “bounce then DRIVE” when I was whispering violent things into his ear before he lifted it. In a novice, I would have said, “push the butt UP, not back” and eventually would shorten it to “push the butt”, and later “push”.

73 thoughts on “Q&A – 29”

  1. No PRs yet this week, but I’m lifting at NASA nationals on sunday so I’ll be trying to change that. Thinking about going for a 589 squat (knee wraps raw).

  4. No PRs except I was in the gym more than 2 days this week for the first time since the Annandale Crossfit Total a few months back. Hopefully things are finally back on track so I can hit my 2012 goals.

  5. Hit a few PRs but my favorites were:
    -Weighted chin-ups 100×3 chest-to-bar @ bw ~175
    -Closed the harder of my two captains of crush #2.5s. I had another 2.5 I’d been crushing for triples but for some reason the second gripper was a monster in comparison. Finally edged it shut once.

  6. No PRs this week but did the Farmers Walk challenge…used a trap bar and loaded it with 3 plates a side… honestly don’t know how much the trap bar weighs but I’m assuming it’s comparable to a regular bar, so my farmers were 315ish which I carried for 15-20 yards X 6. No idea if that is respectable. Fun change of pace and didn’t really cause any recovery issues.

  7. Haven’t posted in awhile, thanks to Justin for keeping this site running with great info and humor. Probably the one site I check 20x a day.

    PRs: DL 405×1; Bench 245x3x5 and Squat 325x3x5.

    Making great progress on the 70sbig S&C. If only I did more mobility work…

    Quick question for Justin or anyone else who wants to answer: Which lifts do you wear a belt? Right now I wear my belt when squatting and deadlifting. Should I wear it when pressing, power cleaning, benching? I tried it with bench and wasn’t comfortable. Is this personal preference?

    Thanks

  8. Deadlift: 425 2×1, 375 3×3
    Bench: 250 3×5

    I started getting pretty intense sciatic pain (recurring issue) so I called it quits after this. Work has prevented me from lifting again until tonight. I plan to do farmers walks tonight.

    @diomedes in addition to those I wear my belt for heavy bench pressing (I think it helps a little bit). I have worn it for power cleaning but I don’t know if it really does much.

  9. No prs for me this week either. I switched my program back to 5-3-1 after a few months of volume/intensity trainig. I’m 35 and squating two days a week was taking it’s toll on me. I did manage to squat over 400 lbs and press 200 during that time so it was positive. I already feel reinvigorated after cutting down the volume and I’m looking forward to rep prs over the next couple of months. I made significant strength progress on 5-3-1 for about a year previously.

    Been eating more meat and cutting down on the whey and I can feel the difference. My diet has improved and so has the quality of the food I’m eating. I’m in the northeast and my wife and I went in on a farm share with the neighbors so we’ll be picking up fresh veggies weekly right off the farm until October.

  10. Addendum to my earlier comment… decided to do rack pulls instead of full deadlifts this week due to the extra farmers. I used 315 +90lbs of chains which were fully off the ground at the top for two sets of 3 and two sets of 5. Really focused on arching and using perfect form… definitely need to focus on my hamstrings as a weakness.

  11. Mobility PR: noticed last week that pronation of my right foot was causing lots of problems. So walked with my foot pointing in all week and got my first overhead squat with knees properly out and toes more forward on wendesday.

    Injury PR: dropped a 10kg bar down on my right achilles yesterday after failing at attempted squat snatch. Ouchie! Iced twice for about 30minutes yesterday. Walking hurts today so wont be able to squat, PC or do much with my legs for a while.

    Not staying weak is hard when you always injure youself doing stupid shit.

  12. This pic is priceless…Chris looks like a dad that’s coming over to aid his son.

    I did not do last week’s challenge because i’m a pos. BUUUUUUUT I did hit 1x5x325lb squat for my new PR. So I was pumped for that.

  13. I gotcha, Justin.

    Just being in the gym is a pr for me after a rough 2 weeks
    DL 365 for 5, felt good to have chalk back on my hands.

  14. Still working my way up the LP ladder again, with a bigger emphasis on food and rest. No PRs to report, but feeling great as the weights are getting heavier. Tomorrow’s WO will be Squat 275x3x5, Bench 170x3x5. Debating on whether or not to start adding heavy Slingshot sets after the Bench. We’ll see.

    Shoulder and elbows feeling better as I mob more and more, although I should definitely be more committed to it.

    Last three weeks I’ve been adding some prowler work in 2x a week, after deadlifts and powercleans. AMRAP in 10 minutes, 250 pounds x about 15 yards. Loving every minute of it.

  15. Deadlift: 270×8 (531)

    I’ve been training with the CrossFit Annandale lifting club, and getting encouragement from a group > lifting solo.

  16. Still moving up on my LP so I remain in the “Every day is a PR” mode> in my Greyskull LP I did
    Bench 180×10
    Squat 230×13
    Dead 265×11

    Lots of room to move up, but taking my time. Also had a cortisone shot in each elbow on Tuesday, so time to hit the weighted pullups next week

  17. Improved my front rack position so that it doesn’t hurt to front squat anymore. Front squat 185 3×5. Tuesday I finally taught myself how to receive a clean in the front squat position. (before all I did were power cleans) im on vacation now though and don’t know if I’ll have a gym available so I guess I’ll just do body weight shit.

  19. No all time PRs this week, but I’m settling into the 4 day TM split and really liking it. Finally getting my assistance work figured out, feeling good.
    Deadlift 445×3 last saturday- rolling along with my triple progression
    Bench: 205×4- much better yesterday.

    Realized that I’ve messed up my bar position on squats the past month after I picked them up again. I was holding it waay too low, which was throwing off my balance.

    Did farmers last session, two 90lb DBs for around 80 feet with a turn in the middle. Going back today for a run with 100s, maybe 110s. Enjoyed them.

    Did set a pansy push press PR at 195. Missed 205 twice, had the height, but both times I lost it forward. Going to push the PP weight up over the summer, currently it’s only 20 pounds above my strict press PR from a couple months back. Shooting to hit 250 before too long.

  20. PRs: I proved that making 5kg jumps on intensity day the first month of TM will lead you soon to stall. So from monday, I’ll deload the squat and take it more slowly.

    Farmer walks: Carrying the plates across the gym to the rack counts? Because it really tires me.

    @diomedes: The belt helps in all lifts you mentioned because it strengthens your abs. In bench press can be awkward the first times you try it. More or less depends(not only) from how much you arch your lower back.
    In the end, it’s all about personal preferences.

  21. Bench PR – 290×1 (+5 all time PR)

    Did trap bar carries on Tuesday, worked up to 415 for 40-50′. Will do more tonight.

    I didn’t even think to use the trap bar. Dumbbells are hard because they hit my thighs; the trap bar would eliminate that.

    –Justin

  22. I decided to try doing more of my sets without a belt to keep from developing any weak links. I went beltless on the first two sets of LB squats, having reduded the weight some. They were challenging. I put the belt back on, figuring I would be fatigued for the third set (out of three work sets). It turned out to be the easiest set (same weight and number of reps for each set). I’ll keep this approach for a while and see what I learn.

  23. pr-
    snatch balance= 95k
    c+j= 110k
    totally forgot about the farmers walks till just now. been trying to run hills or push the prowler fairly often, so maybe ill actually participate in one of these challenges before they are over.

  24. And rather than my sons growing up faster I am focusing on buying a house with space for a gym. Hopefully in the next year or two. Then you can come do a 70’s Big seminar at my house! And we can have pillow fights and camp out in the back yard!

  25. Press PR: 56 kg x 5

    Was in a friendly strongman competition last Sunday and did heavy farmers (last man standing), ended up going with 115 kg each hand for approx. 10m

    Doing more farmers tonight with 100 kg each hand for 10m, multiple trips

    Had a lecture on strength by the best shotputter (retired) in Denmark, Joachim Olsen. At 183 cm (6 ft) he weighed 315 at his best and squatted 280 kg for a triple, benched 250 kg, deadlifted 350 kg and powercleaned 195 kg with horrible technique. Was very cool, we also saw him lift.

  28. Deadlift PR 435# x1

    And, its late, but better late than never, Competed in Orange County Highland Games last weekend and PR’d in every event except the sheaf.

  29. No lifting PRs this week, on a deload, so I put the energy into enjoying some life.

    Ate 36 chicken wings. (PR) I could taste the fat in my saliva the entire next day.

    Made an over-the-shoulder Willie Mays catch in left field. Never did that before, it was awesome to hear everyone go “OOOOOO”. Our softball team won 32-9 in 5 (runs scored PR).

    Ate calimare for the first time. The feeling of the suction cups grazing my tongue as I chewed it was bizarre, man.

    Gettin’ after it again come Monday.

  30. PR squat 145kg (320) Monday night. Now I’m deloading a bit until next week in my lifts.
    I tried a farmer’s walk with 2 pood KBs in each hand. My grip strength has improved since I started weightlifting, but there’s still room for improvement.

    Justin: there’s been some chatter on Pendlay’s board this week as to whether the shoulders should be internally or externally rotated when catching the snatch. The consensus was that external rotation is optimal, but that some lifters (Jon North, Krastev, for example) have excelled while Internally rotating, while others (Salami, Ilin) externally rotate. I am hyper mobile in external and internal rotation, but am weaker in flexion and extension. I noticed when I catch the bar overhead my shoulders are internally rotated, albeit slight. I keep wondering if this has contributed to the strain in my right labrum.

  31. Deadlift 425 1×3. Was going for five, but my blister ripped off my right hand during the 3rd rep. It was raw and bloody and fucking hurt (that’s what she said). Anyway how do these look Justin? First time posting, been following the blog for awhile. Good stuff.

  33. Mobility PR: Started using a lacrosse ball on my hip flexors after couch stretching – holy crap it helps out so much. Also, added in some ankle mobility, and the bottom position on my snatch has improved significantly.

    Front Squat PR: 325 lb x 2 x 2
    Press PR: 215 lb

  34. Long time lurker, first post

    PR: Squat 125 x 5; DL 145 x 5 singles

    I know it’s not a lot of weight but everyone starts somewhere right?

  36. I hit some good PRs today. Box Squat 375lbs – Box squatting is somewhat new to me, been incorporating them into my training for the Highland Games coming up. Dead Lifted 465lbs for a 10lb PR – had more in me, but with the games coming up soon, I’m being a bit conservative (which KILLS me). This is also why I didn’t do the heavy farmer’s walks, I’ve been putting a lot of time into throwing technique on off-days and scheduled small workouts/throwing days.

    @Nixican – OC Highland Games? As in California? You doing the San Diego Games? I’ll be there Sunday for the Novice Class (first games).

  37. Thanks Justin for the answers. 2 on 2. First on fb (about halting deads), now this. It has to be the name: Dmitry (Russian)= Dimitris(Greek). Unfortunately the only in common I have with Klokov.

    I forgot before. It could be worse; Instead of leaning you could sit on it. Ouch! The best way to remove the spines is to rub the skin with oil first and then use a needle.

  39. That bit on hyperlordosis really hit home. My couch stretch is downright horrible and I need to work on that shit. I actually catch myself standing in a relaxed position and have to turn on my lower abdomen to pull my hips back under me like you talked about.

    Are there any other specific “assistance” movements you would recommend in conjunction with the mobility piece to try to “own the new range of motion” as they say?

  40. I took the heaviest dumb bells in the gym for a ride twice last week for PRs. Sadly, they were but 110s and none too taxing until I had done about 4 turns in my crappy commercial gym. I did waiters carries and suitcase carries too, which are better with the smaller weights and cramped spaces I’ve got to work with.

  41. Here’s a joke; How much does a hipster weigh? An instagram. LOLOLOL

    PRs this week? Started a using TM programming, finally… Saturday will be my first Intensity day so we’ll see how that goes. I’ll likely lift in the AM and then i have an indoor lacrosse game at 4:00, does anyone think this will cause problems?

  42. Only one PR this week: 205 lb Snatch at 199 BW. Got there without misses though, so I bet I coulda done 210. 225 here I come! My Jerks sucked this week, however. Struggled with 235 when I was making 260 fine just a few weeks ago. Oh well. Just gotta keep after it.

  44. No worthwhile PRs this week i.e. ones that aren’t PRs because of technicalities.

    I also have a few question:

    I have pain in my mid-back area when I put a bar on my back or try and deadlift heavy. The pain started during a time when I was just starting again after time off due to university work so it’s not like I pulled a silly weight with dangerous form or anything. Do you think this pain may be caused from muscle tightness/poor mobility/poor flexibility etc. or is it likely to be a spinal injury?

    Thanks.

  47. Made LW @227 for a NAS comp I will be competing in tomorrow. Huge bodyweight PR. I weighed 250 on May 1st and cleaned up the diet a shit ton, as well as following the Brooks Conway water loading article.

    Farmer’s last weekend hit some 80ft runs w/ 200/hand in 10sec, then 250/hand in about 26sec. Tomorrow I plan on running the 200/hand in 10 or less.

  48. Some pressing PR’s this week, that was fun.

    Bench – 315×1 (not a PR but it felt easy, so…PR?)
    CG Bench – 285×3 5# PR
    Press – 185x4x4 5# PR set/rep

    Missed 505 on deadlift last week because I didnt commit to it, and the Nose Tork was weak.

    Hitting yoke and farmers tomorrow, and while travelling next week I will be MOB’ing the hell out of my upper back, shoulders, and hips so I can squat again.

    Similar to a few posters above, Paul and Shaun, I’ve had a hard time getting the bar into position on my back. I got pain in the mid back area from LB squatting and I’m attacking it with the lacrosse ball.

  49. Finally decided to join the discussion instead of sitting in the back of the class —

    PRs last week:

    clean: 180#
    DL: 300#
    squat x5: 225#
    bench x5: 120#

  50. This week PR’s

    Snatch: 190 lbs
    Clean: 260 lbs

    I’m a 77 kg lifter, goal is to get 220 lb snatch and 285 lb clean and jerk by December

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