Dead lifts look much better! You're still giving them an almighty yank, a bit more patience off the floor will help you keep a better position through the lift.

Hockey night in Canada:

Squat: 250lb 3x5
Bench: 170lb 3x5
DL: 245lb 1x5
Chin up 3x9

Squat still powering through. Also made sure I'm going deep enough with this added weight since that was my problem before hurting myself. Bench back to normal after thursday's struggle. I think it was just my carb intake. Worked on bar yanking among previous improvements for DL, will be ready to jump back to 265 then 285

Tuesday

Squat: 255lb 3x5
Bench 172.5lb 3x5
DL 275lb 1x5
Chin up 3x10
Facepull 3x15

Pretty pumped about today. Squat getting ****ing crazy hard, but still haven't failed, still getting my depth, and my last set is still always the strongest. Finally nailed 3x10 chinups, and it didn't even seem that difficult anymore. Time to start weighting myself. Any tips? Start with 5lbs and try again for 3x10? 10lbs?

Needed a bit of help on my Bench, but still managed with this new PB weight. I know Rip says any rep that requires assistance doesn't count, but considering the amount of assistance I get is somewhat constant and I'm still progressing, I think I'm good.

Here's a new DL 275lb vid - I think this is much better. Worked on patience on the way up and tried not to yank the bar. Tried to keep core tighter and manage breathing. Still get a bit of round back because the weight is still heavy, but considering I feel like I could have managed 3 plates worth of weight (albeit with bad form) I think I'm doing ok. Comments?

Add weight and try to keep your chins in the 3x5-3x6 range, imo.

DLs look a lot better, I'll let others with more valuable insight elaborate though.

What do you mean about getting assistance with your bench?

spotters; most of the time my last rep sticks and my spotter needs to give a little push

I know technically that rep doesn't count but is it really a bad thing if my bench is still improving, albeit slowly?

no other comments before tomorrow's workout?

Basically the same comments as last time.

Struck, it almost feels like lifting the bar up is removing the slack, not the setup itself, which should be the case. There is definitely some hip movement before the lift, probably related to the above observation.

Also, do you go straight to your workset weight? Post some vids of your warm ups

Also a vid of you following the rip setup to the absolute letter on something in the 185lb region.

ok, will do. Usually I start with a 135lb set and then a small set of 225lb.

So for taking out the slack is the mindset basically setting up your back and position, and pretty much starting the lift but leaving the bar on the ground? so hips rise and legs are working, arms are taught but bar is still on the ground?

and another question: these lifts are getting pretty taxing. I find myself taking more and more 2-day rests in between workout days (partly because of scheduling but mostly because of needing extra rest). Is this advisable? I'm still eating a lot, getting lots of protein and sleep but I find sometimes on that second day my muscles are just not ready to hit the gym lately. Kind of includes today. thoughts?

nvm what I said above. I'm really not that sore, my brain's just being a pussy.

I know from experience now that in this realm of huge weights for me, I only fear the stall, but haven't actually stalled yet (for Squats mainly). For months now every workout has been "next one's going to kill me", and yet I've gotten there, so I think I will just keep pushing until I do stall, then reset as Rip suggests.

Bench might need a reset soon tho. Might drop to like 160 and rock AMRAP for last sets until I build back up to over 170

Not deadlifting every workout is probably a change that needs to be made now-ish.

I had been DLing every other workout but since I'm doing less weight to fix my form I've been back to every workout till I'm back up to my workset weight

It's the squats that are really taxing on me imo

Thursday

Squat 260lb 3x5
Press 95lb 3x5
DL 255lb 1x5
Chinup 15lb 3x6

Decided to throw in some Press to give my bench a break, harder than I thought. Hopefully progressing with it will make my bench better

DL light set video



DL heavy set video



I think my light set looked pretty good wrt everything everyone's mentioned ITT and I tried to reproduce in my heavy set. comments?

Your hips are starting way too low and your shoulders are almost behind the bar. If you follow the rip set up it will be a lot easier to get in the right piston. Doesn't look like you are trying to do what rip suggests for setting up

Plus (and it's hard to tell just by looking, but I'm pretty confident I'm correct) the levels of nicotine and Bud Light Lime in your blood is dangerously low.

But mostly what Weasel said.

sigh back to square 1 i guess.
suppose i'll reread ss DLing

Have you given serious effort to setting up like this?


The Deadlift: Perfect Every Time



1. Take your stance, feet a little closer than you think it needs to be and with your toes out more than you like. Your shins should be about one inch from the bar, no more. This places the bar over the mid-foot – the whole foot, not the mid-instep.

2. Take your grip on the bar, leaving your hips up. DO NOT MOVE THE BAR.

3. Drop your knees forward and out until your shins touch the bar. DO NOT MOVE THE BAR.

4. Hard part: squeeze your chest up as hard as you can. DO NOT MOVE THE BAR. This establishes a "wave" of extension that goes all the way down to the lumbar, and sets the back angle from the top down. DO NOT LOWER YOUR HIPS – LIFT THE CHEST TO SET THE BACK ANGLE.

5. Squeeze the bar off the floor and drag it up your legs in contact with your skin/sweats until it locks out at the top. If you have done the above sequence precisely as described, the bar will come off the ground in a perfectly vertical path. All the slack will have come out of the arms and hamstrings in step 4, the bar will not jerk off the ground, and your back will be in good extension. You will perceive that your hips are too high, but if you have completed step 4 correctly, the scapulas, bar, and mid-foot will be in vertical alignment and the pull will be perfect. The pull will seem "shorter" this way.

Ok seems like I've done all of that except step 4. Now that I think of it I am aware of how low my hips and butt were during set up, so I'll try and keep it higher and really tighten my chest and push it up before the lift

You're not really doing step 2 either. Hips should be higher when just grabbing the bar in the beginning

well yea that was kind of a given since I didn't do #4, hips were never high in the first place. If I fix #4, #2 should fall into place passively

Step 4 really helped me tonight. It made so much sense, I was using the hips to rotate up, DL's tonight were so much better than others lately! Thanks!

ya I'm hoping it helps me too. I had been tightening my core and pumping my chest out as much as I could but I can see my hips were too low. Even trying it at home without the bar it feels easier keeping my hips high

Sunday

Disappointing day. Failed first set of 265 squat. had to move down to 255, then failed the last set. Good news is it was a clean fail. Used the safeties well, and wasn't dragged forward like last time I failed at 230 so I didn't injure myself. right glute a bit sore but that will go away.

Squat 255lb 2x5
Press 97.5lb 3x5
DL 225lb 1x5
Facepull 3x15

Ok tried to keep my hips up and that brought my shoulders more forward. Hopefully this is better, comments?