Okay, cool.

So what advice or pointers can you give me about my deadlifts?

Back angle does indeed look better, if not ideal. You're really jerking the bar off the floor with your arms/back. Try to focus on keeping tension in your hamstrings and drag the bar towards you and up the shins. That way you lift with your hams/glutes off the floor and get a much smoother bar path.

Okay, I'll try to focus on that next time. There's not too much delay between reps is there? Part of the reason for that is I want to make sure my back isn't rounded, and the stupid hexagonal plates never land right.

For the dynamic stretches, should I be doing these pre or post workout? And on off days too, or not necessary?

Also, fwiw, after deadlifting yesterday my legs/hamstrings were way more stressed/tired than usual, so that's probably a decent sign that form is improving, no?

Pause seems ok, not much you can do with those stupid hex plates. Dynamic stretches, I do them pre-workout instead of cardio for warmup. Off days too is nice for improving flexibility.

Check out this vid for hamstring stretching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=791XXiYzNbE.

I guess, re: stress

1955 cal. 231g protein 49g fat

30 minutes of HIIT on the elliptical at 11 resistance.

This time instead of 1 minute hard and 2 minutes easy, I did 20 seconds super hard and 40 seconds easier. Is that a better way to do HIIT? Soul? Thremp?

1272 cal. 177.5g protein 30g fat

booooooooooooom PSMFshot

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=HIIT

FWIW, Tabata intervals are 20s/10s for 4 minutes at which time you should just about feel like dying.

Cool, don't really understand Spenda's or Nottom's posts...headed to Average Broz now though, will post a report after finished...

Just got back from Average Broz.

It is in a quite small room, and despite the lower temperatures today, it got real hot in there real fast. John wasn't there unfortunately, but a huge dude named Pat was. He helped me with my squats, sort of. He made me go high bar way up on my traps because I said I wasn't a powerlifter when he asked if I was. Apparently low bar squats are reserved for powerlifters, so we went with high bars. He also had me looking up instead of down. So all of that just has me a little off. On top of that, all the plates are old olympic swedish plates (Eleiko?) and they're in KGs, so my math not being great it's hard for me to figure out how much I'm doing. But eventually I do 2x3 110kg and 1x2 110kg (242 in stupid American lbs.).

I do presses next. 1x3 60kg 1x2 60kg (132lbs)

I go to deadlift. And I do a set of 90kg which feels pretty light. And I ask Pat if that was good form, and he said "Yeah for a clean pull" and I say, what about a deadlift, and he said I don't know about deadlifts. He also wanted me to point my feet out more and open up my hips. So I do a set of 120kg 3x3, which does not feel light. And he tells me on the next set to point my feet out a little they were too straight forward, and to open my hips more. I do 1 rep of 120 again, and fail trying second one.

I thank Pat for his help on the way out, he doesn't say anything. Can't be a good sign.

There's an air in the place, that makes you really want to work hard. There are no frills whatsoever, and everyone seems quite strong and everyone is doing difficult lifts.

There were two other people when I got there in there, one of them a girl who was maybe 17? Almost definitely high school age I feel like, could have been college. Pretty sure she was deadlifting more than me, and with probably better form, I saw her and it looked pretty good. She was kinda attractive too. This other younger dude who could have definitely been in college or a senior in high school who was snatching a lot of weight. Then later a couple of other guys came in all of them in their early 20s or in high school sans for this guy who came in with a beard that resembled that of a hasidic jew. He could have been in his late 20s, and knew of the place because he belonged to this crossfit gym.

There are also posters of all of your favorite olympic champion powerlifters from huge chinese guys to huge russian guys.

I'm going to go again to meet John and hopefully get some guidance/advice from him. I'll certainly post about that too.

i wonder if he hates that broz is so nice and lets random people go in there. or maybe broz secretly hated the other guys and told pat about it and now yet another random dude shows up. you should also probably know who pat is before you go into that gym since he is basically the reason you know about the gym.

I don't hate Pat at all, it just seemed as if he didn't like me.

Where does it say I hate Pat?

lol reread my post.

The only thing I said was John wasn't there unfortunately, not anything against Pat whatsoever, I was just hoping to meet John and was disappointed that I didn't get to. Don't take it the wrong way...no ill feelings toward anyone there at all.

he is saying pat hates you b/c broz shared his secret hatred of randos with him.

Reread...I see.

But my name's not Rando...it's Randall.

1470 cal. 188.5g protein 35.5g fat

Plus I had some thai chicken w/ mixed vegetables. Was delicious, didn't eat too much rice either.

I'm sure Pat doesn't hate you. He probably nothings you like he nothings me and anyone else that he's not friends with.

I think that "air" you mention is an air of having to earn it. I'm on my fourth day in a row and John is pretty much the only one I talk to when I go there. But I'm there to lift and not make friends. It's kind of like a table full of regs that are friends and some random amateur shows up and starts playing.

Even when it's just the regs in there there usually isn't a lot of anything outside of lifting things.

Maybe they'll become more talkative, maybe (probably) not. Who cares?

Also, that girl and that strong guy are together. And yeah, she's strong.

And I'm not a jew.

Like I said ^^ it's not hate. But I do think you're right that the strong regs get annoyed that so many randos show up. From what I hear though, they don't last long. That's why I go in, keep my head down, keep my mouth shut and lift and leave. Maybe after a couple months I'll "earn it".

Is the girl the one you see sitting down in Rob Adell's 500 front sqat vid. Also, he doesn't get enough love.

Yeah, that's her. And Rob is a goddam beast. It's gotta be tough training in the same gym as Pat when in basically any other place, he'd be the star. I think they're within 5kg in at least one of their lifts (not sure which so I'm not going to guess).

He's the one I mentioned finished up his second session of the day the other day with a 265 back squat that looked like it took <1 sec.