Monday’s are dedicated to displaying or helping female lifters and trainees. Today’s feature is a couple more regular women who are pretty damn strong. Jen Higgins of CrossFit Works sent me the e-mail but was mostly talking about how great of a lifter Liz Cameron is.
This is Liz pulling 286.5 lbs (130kg) weighing 114 (52kg weight class).
That’s pretty solid technique for a max rep, especially for a female (round backs are the norm). Jen told me how Liz is about half her age, but was a great training partner as they readied for the 100% RAW Single Lift Worlds in Las Vegas. Liz’s best competition bench is 150lbs and her best competition squat is 220 (weighing 110). Liz has won the Best Female Lifter in the two meets that she’s competed in! She also teaches salsa dancing and apparently is “frequently sighted in short dresses and high heels”. Jen conveniently didn’t send pics of this claim.
All of this is high praise from Jen Higgins as she is also pretty damn strong. Here’s a video of her pulling a really clean looking 292.1 lbs (132.5 kg) in the 123 lbs/56kg weight class.
Happy PR Friday! Post your training PRs and updates to the comments. What kind of progress have you made this year?
Don’t forget that this is Movember and we’re raising money to kick cancer in the BALLS. Don’t shave, show off your beard, or grow a mustache. Whatever, just join the team and raise funds.
bohdi asks:
I have a question that doesn’t really apply to the podcast though, but rather dead lifting.
[spoiler show=”Show the wall o’ text” hide=”Hide the wall o’ text”]A lot of what I’ve read seems to make the case for a relatively narrow stance for the conventional dead lift due to mechanical advantages and so on. Due to some mobility issues I began dead lifting with a narrower stance (roughly 6 inches in between feet) because it felt more comfortable to get down and also because my own research seemed to advocate for the narrower stance. Thanks to you, Justin, my mobility is greatly improving and I feel almost back to normal with my previous wider stance (feet approx. just outside shoulder width). I pulled an easy 445# yesterday with the wider stance and 480# is my current PR before the stance/mobility issues. I’m curious, since I seem to be going against what most consider an ideal stance, is this just a product of my specific body type leverages and I don’t need to worry, or is there something else going on that I’m doing wrong and I’m trying to counteract other inefficiencies. My short term goal is to get over 500# in the 181 class so I have a little ways to go but I want to make sure the basic efficacy of the lift is solid. The only other noteworthy aspect is that my weak point has always been off the floor, and the wider stance seems to help. Lockout has never seemed to be an issue. Thanks.[/spoiler]
TL;DR — He wants to know how a narrow stance would be more beneficial in the deadlift.
Dear bohdi,
A narrow stance on the deadlift is more efficient and important, and is usually the one thing that most people can correct to improve their deadlift. The ideal stance is best summarized as “hip width”, which is quite obviously more narrow than “shoulder width” (a typical squat stance, which is also usually too wide in most people). This will be no more than ten inches for most people. I measured my stance, and it’s nine inches from heel to heel. Don’t worry about the specific measurement; just use a hip-width stance.
First, the narrow stance can improve the set up. If the stance is more narrow, then the knees can be shoved out more compared to a wider stance. Shoving the knees out more is external rotation, and that means there is more external rotation at the hip with the narrow stance when your knees are touching the arms. More external rotation will do two things: 1) it will contract the external rotators more and subsequently use them to maintain tightness around the hip and to apply force and 2) externally rotating will bring the femur away from the ASIS, or hip bone, so that there is no, or less, hip impingement. Less hip impingment will allow you to put the lumbar spine into extension more effectively. See Mark Rippetoe’s “Active Hip” article if you’re confused. This externally rotated position with a narrow stance utilizes the muscluature of the quadriceps and hamstrings much better than a wider stance, improving the overall efficiency of the lift.
Secondly, the narrow stance will allow for a more narrow grip. The grip should be close enough so that at lockout, the hands are on each side of the legs. A more narrow grip will shorten the distance that the bar has to be pulled. If you’re confused, then consider deadlifting with a snatch grip; the bar will have to travel a greater distance due to the wide grip. Having a narrow grip will shorten this distance, yet it will also allow the chest to be squeezed up more than if there was a wider grip. If you’re confused, observe back angle changes when placing your hands on the inside of the collar of the bar compared to putting your hands on the inside rings (where the knurling starts). The back angle will be more vertical, and thus more efficient, with the narrow grip.
These are two compelling points for using a hip-width stance on the deadlift, and these are two corrections I have to make in every workshop I’ve ever done. Along with these corrections, the lifter just needs to drag the bar up their legs and they will achieve a B grade deadlift. An A is awarded to sub-maximal lifts when the back is not unlocked and the hamstrings do their job of maintaining the angle off the floor and extending the hips for the lockout.
November is a magical month. Men across the world will forgo the confusing art of shaving and develop impressive and intense facial hair. Some may call it “No Shave November”. We have called it Novemburly. Many know it as Movember. Either way, you’re participating.
Movember started in 1999 and has developed into a month-long fundraiser for men’s health, particularly cancer. Cancer is a pestilent adversary and 70’s Big is joining the fight to kick it in the BALLS. Combine fighting and facial hair, and we’re there. However, this time it’s to raise money.
There are two ways you can participate: either create a profile and join the 70’s Big Fundraising team on us.movember.com, or donate to the team or one of our members. Either way, click here and get started (the team is on the right). Edit: Even if you only donate one doll-hair, that will help. Various team members will be doing amusing things for donations, so keep an eye out.
Contest Prizes
Whoever raises the most money on the 70’s Big Movember Team will receive $50 bucks, a 70’s Big t-shirt, and their choice of one of my e-books or FIT. That’s right — raise the most money for a badass cause, grow some facial hair, AND get cash and 70’s Big gear. I’M GOING TO PAY YOU TO GROW FACIAL HAIR, SO GET STARTED.
Do I need to grow a mustache?
Movember emphasizes shaving at the beginning of the month and growing a mustache. Since Jacob Cloud and I already have sweet facial hair, we’re certainly not going to SHAVE it. Instead, grow whatever you want. If you have a beard, show it off. If you don’t, then either grow a ‘stache or don’t shave all month. Pick one, join the fundraising team, and LET’S FUCKING KILL CANCER.
And now a word from co-captain Jacob Cloud and his cat Weezer:
In this podcast I talk with Dr. Michael Hartman, a college professor, weightlifting coach, sport scientist, and new father. We also collaborated with Dr. Lon Kilgore to create a strength training, endurance, and fitness resource called FIT (I’ve been using the strength chapter to plan advanced lifting programs).
Hartman as Ditka says LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
We talk a little bit about FIT, but also talk about weightlifting in the Pan American Games last week and the upcoming weightlifting World Championships occurring next week in Paris. There’s some time spent on talking about Kendrick Farris, how he did at Pan Ams, his jerk, and when Hartman met him as a school age lifter. Then we get into various questions about weightlifting including hitting a solid rack position in the snatch, push-pressing, rack position in the push-press and jerk, and possibly doing an old-time weightlifting meet with the clean and press, snatch, and clean and jerk. This podcast flows very well and has a lot of good information in it.
Podcast-10-Hartman-Q&A
(left click for stream, right click and “save as” to download) 1:18:13 long
There’s still something goofy happening with iTunes despite my podcast submission. Will let you know when it’s working.
Feel free to ask questions about Dr. Hartman, the podcast, or weightlifting here. Good questions will be used for Friday’s Q&A, and you can ask them to Dr. Hartman too. You can find other 70’s Big podcasts (including more weightlifting material with Glenn Pendlay) HERE.
I should have made a contest or something intelligible, but here are some pics of our readers from Halloween. Debate which is the best in the comments. If you want to submit your pic, then do it on the Facebook Fan Page.
