PVC pipe to the IT bands, it could have hurt more. Did about 20 passes per leg. Some residual soreness, external rotation with toes forward in the bottom position squat feels a bit better.
Training has kinda sucked, I benched 285lbs x 1 and could not grind the second rep out. I squat 415lbs x 3, 2, 2 and DLed 430lbs for three singles, did some weighted GHRs which seemed to have made my hamstrings sore. The only cool thing I did this week was power clean 265lbs for a +5lbs PR.
lampchop writes:
man talk more about lifting
[spoiler effect=”simple” show=”Shit no one cares about because I total less than 1500lbs.”]I’ve got a PL meet in less than two weeks and then another oly meet exactly one week after that. My PL total could have increased by more since I last competed. Assuming I take conservative attempts, which I’ll prob end up having to do, I’ll PR by like 15-20lbs and most of that is gonna come from the bench. I don’t expect to PR my dead or even match my best, I think I have a reasonable chance to match my PR squat except this time it’ll be high-bar. I should total just over 1200lbs. My best total is 1194lbs @ 180lbs bw. I went 462/275/457. I’ll be a little sad if I don’t beat that at 158lbs.
I guess I shouldn’t expect anything terribly cool. I would like to make some significant PRs at raw nationals this year, and more importantly get my fucking DL closer to 500lbs.
If I had to say what’s helped my bench the most (which is currently the lift I’ve improved the most with), it’d be mobbing. Not having to deal with my fucking shoulders or elbows hurting makes grinding out reps a lot fucking easier, and it’s given me a lot more force off the chest since I’m not creeping into position with inflamed shoulders. I feel real solid taking the bar out of the rack, and me starting from a solid position makes the rest of the lift feel a lot better. Check the comments on the 365/365 episode of mobilitywod. It’s a bunch of people thanking Kelly for changing their fucking lives. I’ve plugged mwod a bajillion times but I can’t plug it enough. Do you think you could be a better athlete? Mwod is a good place to start.
One of the things that’s always made my DL suck are my hamstrings. For a long while they’ve felt uncomfortably tight off the floor and to the knees, and it was making me skittish when I started pulling heavy again a few weeks ago – the sensation reminded me of when I strained my hamstring in August. Tacked-and-stretched whatever hurt in the hamstrings and a bunch of things got better, it was easier to squeeze into position and that scary “your hamstring is about to fucking pop bro” sensation isn’t a factor anymore, meaning I can psychologically say, all right fuck it, pull on this motherfucker until it goes.
As far as programming, I’m gonna start thinking about focusing on singles for the deadlift on a weekly basis. I’ve typically preferred 5rms and 3rms for the deadlift, which seems to have resulted in me having a 5rm that’s like 15-20lbs off from my best single (in addition to my deadlift not moving for a real long time). My 1rm doesn’t appear to increase when my 5rm or more goes up.
There was a thread a while back on the mainsite where Nolan and some other guys were talking about singles being the most productive thing for the deads, and Saul’s been pushing this training philosophy for a while as well. I’ll prob rotate heavy singles with RDLs and good mornings and try to get in some GHR shit 1-2x a week.
My squat protocol isn’t gonna change, i.e. high-bar for motherfucking life. I could start doing some more volume though. [/spoiler]
Some fucking guy writes:
You didn’t tell us the story where you crashed and burned while hitting on chicks in your gym.
There’s only one chick that I hit on at the gym (that I can remember in recent memory) but there are two stories I want to tell you guys.
I was squatting sets of 10 last spring with my roommate and they were pretty taxing, I worked up to 375lbs x 10 low-bar and my glutes could not have hurt more post-set. Anyways on this particular night I was lifting with my roommate so I was being sociable with him (nowadays when I’m training on my own I just twiddle my thumbs and listen to Radiohead’s Creep off my phone and when Thom Yorke starts screaming
SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE’S
RUNNING OUT
THE DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR
SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE’S
RUNNING OUT,
SHE RUNS,
RUNS,
RUNS,
RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNS
RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNS
I sink to unfathomable fucking depths and go take my workset) but anyways I was there with my roommate, I finish up a set of 10 with probably 355lbs and I rack the bar and turn out of the rack to make an exaggerated, high-pitched moan, the kind of moan you would probably make after having someone’s hand shoved into your anal cavity without lube. I happened to do this in some Asian chick’s face as she was walking past the squat rack and she like flinched away and made a disgusted face but didn’t stop walking to the dumbbell rack. I never said, “Hey man, I didn’t mean to moan in your face and I’m not really weird like that I was just being funny for my friend,” and she never joked about it with me, “That’s a funny noise to make,” so we can only assume she thought I was being a real fucking dickhead.
The chick I was hitting on at the gym was this hispanic chick with a little muscularity, she had broad shoulders with good thoracic extension. She did stuff like RDLs, squats, benched, push ups, pull ups, so I was all like hey this chick seems to lift kinda serious maybe I should talk to her. So I walk up to her, she’s got her earphones in so I tap her on the shoulder (I didn’t really tap her on the shoulder but if I were to film a re-enactment I would depict myself tapping this very disinterested girl on the shoulder) and I ask her if she’s training for something.
Let me just say that she couldn’t have been less interested in talking to me. If I could go back in time I’d take note of her body language, which quite frankly screamed I COULD NOT BE LESS IMPRESSED WITH WHAT I SEE and just stop mid-sentence and say “oohKAY” and turn around to go back to doing oly lifts on iron fucking plates. But she gives a bunch of three-word (or less) answers to my questions and I say “well I guess I’ll let you get back to your workout.”
So I bug her AGAIN after I’m finished with my squats or my bench or whatever, I try talking to her about what she’s doing, is she in school, what does she do for work, I mean this is all cold approach, guys, and I’ve done this like, less than three times in my entire life. I’m desperately fumbling for conversation. I’m sweating, but it’s not from the workout. She tells me she’s GOING TO SCHOOL FOR X-RAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHICH I DO SO I AM LIKE HEY MAN I AM DOING X-RAY RIGHT NOW, I TAKE X-RAYS, WHAT DO YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT?????????????? She was ex-military which prob contributed to her distant demeanor.
So I talk with her a little bit about that and I go back to my workout. She finishes hers. Leaves without saying bye (I was going to ask if she wanted to hang out sometime before she left). Next time I see her she’s with two other friends, a guy and a girl, and she ignores me.
tiny writes:
Will you please talk about American Idol Kelly Clarkson….
How do you feel about this…
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn676-fLq7I]
Describe the music video in nine words, followed by 7 more words about the singer.
Thank you for your contribution.
I could train to this, seems good for pressing.
I don’t know much about Kelly Clarkson.
Joe writes:
Bront,
Please keep the jams coming.
Thanks
I don’t think my taste in music is terribly interesting, but this one makes me want to be in a video montage of some difficult c+js:
The beginning would be some tough cleans and missing the jerks. I’d be wearing soffes, a headband, and long socks. Either topless or a real small tank top. Then I’d be the only one sitting in like a row of chairs at the gym. Justin would be standing in front of these chairs with a chalk board, lecturing me with diagrams about the jerk and the split and the dip and drive and shit. You couldn’t hear what he was saying, the audio would be muted out, then he’d stress something important and throw the chalk against the board and you could see his lips say something like, “Let’s get to work.” Let me add that throughout this montage, there’d be clips of me doing dance movements that typically would be expected from chicks. Like whipping my head back and forth, possibly in slow motion. See the video that dave linked in the comments for some idea of what I’m talking about. Then I would do some more tough cleans, make some better attempt at jerks, drill the jerk a little more, and start making successful attempts that progressively looked better and better and got heavier and heavier until I PRed with a legit split jerk.
Curt1s writes:
Hi Brent,
I like this group alot, seems like you might dig them too. It’s called Mux Mool. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTEgI-virsY]
GOod for warmups.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NALoXmPL7kU]
Those are some legit fucking beats my friend. Thanks for sharing.
Welp, see ya later! writes:
Brent when you squat (meaning high bar) do you try to stay real tight on the descent and rebound back up from just below parallel or do you just dive bomb into it and sort of bounce off of your calves out of the bottom? The low bar cues about rebounding up off of tightened hamstrings don’t seem to work so well for high bar. I find that cutting it off anywhere above ATG feels arbitrary and unnatural please respond. Also depression, unrequited love, etc.
I go to what feels like end-range, though my back squat bottom position doesn’t seem to be as low as my front squat’s. I use some kind of bounce out of the bottom, I’m pretty sure I’m not bouncing off my calves though.
Brett for president.
who’s this Brett guy you speak about?
Hey Faggots,
My name is Brett Kim, and I hate every single one of you. All of you are fat, retarded, no-lifes who spend every second of their day looking at stupid ass pictures. You are everything bad in the world. Honestly, have any of you ever gotten any pussy? I mean, I guess it’s fun making fun of people because of your own insecurities, but you all take to a whole new level. This is even worse than jerking off to pictures on facebook.
Don’t be a stranger. Just hit me with your best shot. I’m pretty much perfect. I was captain of the football team, and starter on my basketball team. What sports do you play, other than “jack off to naked drawn Japanese people”? I also get straight A’s, and have a banging hot girlfriend (She just blew me; Shit was SO cash). You are all faggots who should just kill yourselves. Thanks for listening.
i loled
>My-fucking-face-when
http://www.myfacewhen.com/images/134.jpg
This is not the Brent Kim I troll.
Brent – how tall are you? And how did you get from 180 down to 158? Was that a goal, or did it happen over time?
Test and winstrol obv.
i got dropped to 158lbs by eating only as much i really wanted to
it was a goal to get leaner, though not necessarily go sub-160lbs
Lol @ the moaning in that girl’s face, should have just told her the mere sight of such beauty made you nut.
What Oly meet are you doing?
blackbox in ft. worth
See you there.
Brent,
We have never met, but because your blog makes me chuckle inwardly I love you and want you to be happy. So:
Have you thought about pursuing a DPT program? If not, why the FUCK not? You obviously love this stuff. What if your JOB were to help people move better? I’m sure Starrett would hook you with internship and research opportunities. I want this for you. It would be so lame of you to ignore this question.
Welp, seeya later!
Big gulps, aye?!
repped
Also here is a recent MobWod post that addresses pretty much the exact question I was asking you about the squat bottom position. You’ve prolly seen it.
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2012/02/episode-364365-dont-hang-or-bounce-on-your-tissues-or-jeans.html
Wow it’s really fucking cool that you squat in a PL meet maybe I’ll pull all my deadlifts DOH and lift beltless that would be twice as cool.
Squat HIGH BAR in a PL meet. Sorry.
maybe you weren’t aware but i pull my deads with a hook grip and haven’t used a belt since like september of last year
woa guys we got a badass over here.
http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/watch-out-we-got-a-badass-over-here-meme.png
I don’t know if you’re trying to troll me, but I’m sure you’ll be glad to know it’s working.
Do you ever use a belt? Please respnd…
A belt for what?
What the fuck is with people and belts?
They don’t do anything. Really. They don’t.
If you can’t figure out how to maintain intra-abdominal pressure then you sure as fuck shouldn’t be lifting weights.
Weight belts are for clueless morons that work at hardware stores.
Brent, I think you should download the soundtrack to Drive for all of your future training sessions. Observe – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-WzTMbAdms
The movie is pretty damn dece as well.
I heard it was the slowest fast movie ever…?
The first half is slow, the soundtrack was really all that kept me going through that part. If you liked No Country for Old Men, then you will like this movie. It has that same dark, ominous, suspenseful tone to it. Not to mention some really graphic violence. It’s certainly NOT another typical action movie with lots of car chases, guns, explosions, and cheesy lines.
Brent, can you critique my deadlift technique?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNA1QwSbmEg
I’m not Brent, but I’ll give it a shot.
Belt needs to be a LOT wider in the back – as in, covering your entire back.
You’re jerking your back pretty well, but you need to jerk it a lot harder to progress. Seriously, just walk to the bar, relax your hamstrings, and think “back jerk!” you’ll be sorted in no time.
I’ve taken your suggestions on board. Hopefully I can demonstrate some improvement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyhHDQ7X0dA
Nailed it.
Brent I know the solution to your girl problems: several vials of Test-E, Trenbolone, dbol, a split routine, some posing thongs, and a few gallons of tanning lotion.
Any links to the MWods that helped your bench? Or should i go through past entries or just search on MWod? Or should i just stay safe?
I second that. I’d love to see an MWOD “Greatest Hits” blog, with the best mobs for different lifts. That said, you can’t go wrong with the “Best Shoulder MOB Ever” http://www.mobilitywod.com/2010/11/episode-79365-best-shoulder-mob-ever.html
What problem areas do you guys have? I’ve been planning a mobbing orgy on the main site.
Fucking persistent anterior hip tendinitis. The kind you get when your knees slide forward at the bottom of the low bar squat. It is a bitch to get rid of once you’ve got it. I’ve been stalling and resetting my squat and pounding form for like two years because of it. Frustrating as shit. Just recently said screw it I’m switching to high bar. I can still feel it some though. Can mobbing help me finally resolve this?
Dips are giving me trouble – I struggle to keep my torso upright at the bottom.
At the DC workshop, I’d like to hear your thoughts on “programming” mobility work. With 365 MWOD videos, there’s almost too many options – i.e., which “goat” do I work on today; how often?, etc.
Knee. Around the distal, lateral portion of the Patella. Seems to be aggravated by squatting
Well for bench my left side is all fucked up. I was just looking for some good mwods for that. But i’d say my trouble areas are my psoas. I do the couch stretch but they still hurt. Any help would be appreciated.
beonick,
I recommend just staying safe. That is always the best plan of action. Stay safe, then teamwork, but only if team work is safe.
You stay safe as well, Tiny.
Mr. Kim,
Will you describe in 27 words your average day? Then sum that up in two more words.
Thanks for your contribution? You will go far. Stay safe.
Brent,
I missed a 500lb squat tonight after hitting my 5/3/1 sets and and smoking an additional 455 single. Really grinded it but got stuck in the quarter squat position. It was a texas power bar so technically I guess it was 510lb but whatever bro, all bars are 45. I could make some other excuses, but the fact is I just didn’t have it.
You know how much I’m going to squat at my meet in 8 weeks? 525. belee dat. Eat better, sleep better, mob better, and it will be a piece of cake. I probably won’t listen to Radiohead or Metric or anything, but that’s just me, man. I won’t list what I listen to because no one cares.
I’m just trying to add to the chill coffee shop vibe around here. please respond.
Hey Brent, log time lurker, first time poster… haha
I was curious about doing oly lifts with steel plates though. I’m at a PL gym currently where there are no rubber plates so I’m forced to learn the lifts with steel ones. I was just curious what your path was when you were learning the lifts this way compared to using rubber weights. Oh and have you ever received any coaching besides Justin’s on the Oly lifts? Thanks brah, mirin’ always. Stay Safe.
I want to know when the inspirational training montage video of you and Justin is going to be made. The bit where Justin throws the chalk at the board and says ‘let’s get to work’ would be the highlight. Maybe AC could direct.
I came here to say that my appearance in this vision completed me.
Hey Brent,
I was hanging out on 4chan and stumbled upon a nice “that feel” thread that reminded me of you. Here are some highlights:
>that feel when you manned up and told her how sexy she is.
>that feel when you proceed to spend the entire weekend sexting each other because you can’t be together due to certain circumstances
>that feel when you tell her things you only dreamed of just last week
>that feel when I’m now laying on my bed staring at the roof wondering if I should have taken it further.
>that feel when the window of opportunity has well and truly shut.
>That feel when self doubt begins to grow once again and eat at you because you are your own worst critic.
>That feel when yesterday you were filled with fire and could go 12 rounds with life, now you’re on the canvas.
>that feel when you watch Drive and you can relate to the main character before you realize that you aren’t even that cool or good at anything and that you should just kill yourself.
>that feel when you come here to hear about weight lifting and health not some faggots feelings
>that feel when your entire day is shitty
>Trains too late
>Almost killing myself on the bench press with 5kg lighter than I did last week
>Doing homework, almost certain you are going to fail the test you have in 2 days
>Even fapping feels bad
>Day isn’t even over yet
>that feel when you feel like shit all the time but put up a mask because you dont wanna seem weak, and nobody notices this
>that feel when you feel only truly happy when either partying or hanging with your close friends
>that feel when i fake confidence and girls eat that shit up
>that feel when your only current goal in life is lifting and on rest days you just wish it was lift day.
>that feel when no GF
>that feel when you don’t talk to anyone anymore.
>that feel when the seats next to you in class are empty
>that feel when the only way you can find happiness is by training
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy49-74RmMs
thanks brent!
PS have you read Dan John’s book? It’s like a ray of sunshine to me for some reason and makes me feel less inclined to fly an airplane straight into the ocean.
Is rimming weird to you, Brent?
❓
I read this as “swimming”. Don’t know if it’s better or not.
I’m actually not much of a swimmer, but it seems like a good time.
Brent –
What are the key mobs for your shoulder flexibility? You’ve been able to bench frequently while doing Oly lifts, pretty much bucking the conventional belief that you can’t do both.
I know everyone has to find their own mwod truth, but maybe what works for you can work for me…
You weren’t asking my gay-ass, but “5 way shoulder” keeps me in check for Oly and benching. Helps with my thoracic tightness too.
Mr. Laschek,
Will you describe how you have commandeered the hearts of young men in 8 words. Followed by 12 words about mobility.
Thanks for you contribution to the team.
I like how Justin has commandeered Brent’s blog, true alpha.
I love how we think we know their personalities because we read about them on the internet.
does not compute
Brent,
what do you think of this faggot blogger?
http://www.primaltoad.com/
Back before the bitch started censoring the comments I used to troll the fuck out of him.
Fuck his life.
😕
He looks like the definition of a gordon-fuck. Does he even lift?
As a matter of fact, no, he doesn’t.
He doesn’t have a job, doesn’t plan on getting one and just reposts content and links from other, better blogs.
He engages in… “primal play.”
😯
Bront,
How do you feel about this:
http://i.chzbgr.com/completestore/2012/2/9/83b7e6a8-68e9-4945-8722-6f5d2c3797ca.jpg