I read somewhere that McGill recommends keeping bar low and widening your grip to accommodate for any wrist hyperextension. Something about reducing the distance of the load from the lower back. I know, it sounds counterintuitive but I am sure the man said that himself. Lat involvement is key either way.

Also,

I was perusing my browser's bookmark section called 'Cha's Back' and have a couple of questions:

1. You used to do a TA exercise that you explained here. I wanted to know when you suck your stomach in, do you let your lower back sink into the floor? Or do you try and keep the back from moving and still try and suck your tummy in?

2. The main reason I was looking at your old stuff was because I wanted to see if doing McKenzie 1,2,3 helped you. McGill advised me to do something extremely similar to McK 1 but I had my chin on my palms as the only difference. He told me to do the same stuff with relaxing the muscles etc and the duration, but he did not mention McK by name or that there was other variations. I am just looking to do some extra stuff to see if my ROM (its not even enough to do cat camels right now) and tenderness improve faster. Were these any good for you?

That's interesting to know McGill's bar position advice. I do not remember reading that. For me personally, lower bar placement isnt going to work for heavy stuff anymore. That's probably mostly due to shoulder mobility and neck issues, and a little do do with wrist mobility and elbow issues. I used to always feel like I got run over by a truck after heavy squats. I would have neck, upper back, shoulder and arm problems for days after squatting heavy. I dont feel like that today. Today, I only feel sore and stiff in all my squatting muscles, despite having had more weight on my back than I ever have before. My joints and nerves feel great. And the bar never felt as secure before as it did last night (and last week when I did high bar, but not as heavy and without gear).

1 - I dont remember. Its been so long since I did that exercise, I cant remember those kinds of details, but whatever I was doing with that one, I think I probably did it with no low back movement.

2 - I was doing so many things, its hard to know how much the McK exercises helped. I think they did help some. My chiro, a physical therapist, and McK's book all agreed that they were good for me to do at the time. If McGill is recommending variations of those, he probably has good reasons for altering them. I would do exactly what he suggests - he knows a lot more than McKenzie.

damn, yea, sucks that all those issues plus chest caving won't let you squat with low bar. I think it's from a dvd of McGill's and he says something like 10% lower here (bar placement) means 10% more leverage here (hips)

Now that you mention that, that DVD could be part of why I decided to get the bar farther back. I cant remember where I learned most of the things I know.

I think the style I'm using now (high bar placement, wide stance) is somewhat of a newer style with some very strong powerlifters, including most of the guys I lift with. If you dial it in right, you still get a ton of hip drive. I certainly did not feel like I was getting 10% less leverage in my hips last night, but I did feel very stable and solid and my shoulders/elbows/wrists did not feel like they were going to snap. I'm happy right now with my form, but Priest (my head coach) hasnt watched me do it closely yet, so I'll see what he says next week. He is an expert at picking out little things to improve on.

If anyone is interested, Priest Burdette (my coach) lifted yesterday at the Arnold Classic XPC. He took 2nd (wilks) in the lightweight class (everyone under 220) with a total of about 2260. I know he was disappointed in his squat. He hit 905, but failed 965 twice due to depth - he had no one helping him telling him when he hit depth. I watch him crush 1000 to depth about every other week, so that really sucked. He benched 705 with his opener, then failed two 760 bench attempts due to "uneven lockout". I think he would have taken first and won an additional $1000 if he had hit either the bench or the squat. Next time, he needs to bring a team member with to yell when he hits depth.

If the guy calling your depth is typical of your gym, not totally shocking he was high.

I skimmed most of the last posts so I might have missed this but most elite geared lifters squat with a higher bar and most elite raw lifters squat with a lower bar. When using gear and supra maximal weights, it is almost impossible to squat in a low bar style cause the gear doesn't help keep your chest up, it just helps your hips and legs.

Sucks about priest getting red lighted for depth. Did you watch the stream? Was he close?

Eta: I mean multi ply. Some Single ply guys still squat low bar

RIP raw cha. RIP.

He said later that depth was marginal, but he didnt want me to die in the hole so he said up, lol.

Actually, several of our guys are USPA judges. Some have national accreditation. One of those guys had been calling my depth from the side prior to that lift, but he went home before that lift in the video. The meets I've been at with these guys judging depth have been the strictest meets I've seen - even stricter than the local USAPL. Priest himself is the toughest judge I've ever seen with regards to hitting depth. The guy calling depth for me on the lift in the video is not one of the judges, and he was side spotting, so he had a bad angle.

yeah, what you said makes sense to me.

I couldnt find a stream. I just heard about it from Priest's wife after she talked to him on the phone. No idea how close he was. I dont know if he even knows or not.

yeah, I changed my mind.

fwiw, the dude who was trying to talk me into gear for a while had no influence on my decision, and he is the worst at squeezing into gear that's super tight. He's almost the exact same size as me, and he wears a 48 squat suit (mine is 52), and I think some of his bench shirts are 44 or 46 (mine are 50 and 52). I put on one of his bench shirts last Sunday, and it was not a good time.

3/8

heavy bench
45x15
95x10
135x10x2
185x5
225x4

two boards
275x3

put on Fury shirt (loose, size 52, weak one)
315x3
365x2

put on new single ply Katana shirt (tight, size 50, great shirt)
455x2 off three boards
455x2 off two boards

put on Travis' two ply Katana (size 54)
495xf off two boards
I dumped the weight forward at the bottom. I was able to get it a little more than halfway up, but I had no chance of locking that one out because of getting the weight lower than my elbows. Apparently when you wear a two ply Katana, you need to flare your elbows halfway down on the descent to load up the collar, then tuck the elbows the rest of the way down. I start tucking right away, which throws off the groove for this shirt. I could try to change my style, but the two ply shirt I ordered is an Inzer Rage X, which suits any benching style, so I can keep my style and use that shirt effectively. I wont be using Travis' shirt anytime soon. I hope my Inzer shirt comes soon. If not, I'll keep using my single ply and maybe borrow Paul's Metal shirt the next week or two - that one suits my style better.

paused two board press for speed
275x3
295x3
315x3x3

band row/pulldowns
12x3

face pulls
140x12x3

shamrock and his gf came to the gym & lifted with us. Paul gave him some good bench advice.

3/10

DL
245x5x3
335x5
425x2

put on suit
515x1
565x1
595x2x2
My form leaves something to be desired when I use the suit because I cannot yet hold my torso tight while grabbing the bar like I can raw. This is a work in progress.

raw
435x3x5
The guy I DL with says my raw form is great.

GHR
12
added band
12x3

3/11

speed bench
45x15
95x10
135x10x2
185x5
225x4

invisible 2 board press
275x3
295x3x7

pushups
bwx15
added 1 small band, then two, then 3, then one big band & did ~12 - 15 reps each of those sets

cable rows & face pulls

3/13

squat
150x8
240x5
290x3
330x2
380x2

put on suit, used bottom only, no straps
420x1
470x1

put on straps
510x1
560x1 pr



Priest watched me squat in my suit for the first time tonight. He says I should set my new training goal at 600 for now, so next week I'll do 85% x 2 x 2 (510), which should be fine. He says at some point during the 8 week cycle, a light bulb should go on in my head and I'll be adjusting my goal weight upward. I have several things to work on in the meantime.


trap bar DL with DL suit
550x2
640x1
730x1


reverse hypers
180x15
230x10, 12

Cute wraps, nice Squat.

lolcute.

thanks

I got the full story on this the other day. Priest said the only buddies he had out there to help yell out when he hit depth were bench only guys, so they didnt really know what to do. For his 3rd attempt, Priest asked one of the side judges to nudge the buddy who was shouting to him when he hit depth. That side judge gave him a white light, but the front judge and the other side judge red lighted him for depth. Rigged imo. I've seen him squat 1000 to good depth probably 5-10 times, and every time, it goes up fast. 965 should have been easy. He said this was the first Arnold XPC he didnt win in 6 or 7 (I forgot which) years.

If the front judge gives you a red light for depth, you have to be pretty high in most cases. Almost always when it is two red 1 white for depth its side judges red and front white

how often do you lift in your home gym these days?

3/15

heavy bench
45x15
95x10
145x10x2
185x5
225x4
275x3

put on Fury shirt
315x3

put on Katana shirt
365 off 3 boards x 2
405 off two boards x 1 or 2, I forgot
455 off two boards x 1
495 off two boards x 1 x 2
Locking out 5 plates was hard, but I got them both. I like this shirt.

floor press
275x3
285x3x4

cable rows
195x12
210x10
225x8
felt good

face pulls
140x15x3

Not very often anymore. About the only lift that I can do as well at home as in the gym is DL.

3/17

DL
245x5x3
335x5
425x3

put on suit, used bottom only, no straps
515x1

put on straps
565x1
615x2x2 PR double
The first set went amazingly well. My form was better than at any time since I put on a suit, but I did not get that set on video. I got the second set, which I was a little too far forward and my core wasnt set as well as the first set. It went up, but it felt a lot harder than the first set.



My new goal weight is 683. This was 90% of that x 2 x 2 tonight. Next week, 92.5% will be 632 (630 or 635).

took off suit
465x3x5
This felt better than 465 has before. Almost all the reps were good form and fast, and I didnt feel spent after any of the sets.

GHR
20x5

Looked easy dude. Nice job!

yeah it looked easier than it felt. The first set felt easy. Thanks!

3/18

speed bench
I need to break in my single ply Katana, so I decided to wear that for my work sets.
45x15
95x10
135x10x2
185x5
225x4
275x3
315x2
put on shirt
405x3 off three boards
405x3x6 off two boards
405x3 off one board
The weight moved fast every rep, but this was hard and a lot of work for the whole body. One of the things I need to do is focus on keeping my core tight at the bottom to protect my low back. Some of the reps, I let it get a bit loose and my low back arched a little too much.

push ups
15
added thicker band each set
15x3
12

cable rows & face pulls

That was a hard workout.

Side note: I got a bunch of new Rogue mobility stuff as an early birthday present and it all arrived yesterday: battle saw, battle star, mini battle star, handles, cradle and a mini supernova. I love all this stuff, but especially the battle saw. It gets deep into my legs and triceps like nothing else I've ever used. The mini supernova is a beautiful thing for my hamstrings.

3/20

squat
45x8
150x5
240x5
290x3
330x3
380x2 or 3

put on suit, bottom only
420x2

put up straps on suit, put on knee wraps
510x2x2
This was harder than I expected. I hate doubles for heavy squats.

box squats with suit bottoms on (trying to break in suit)
240x3
290x3
330x3
380x3x2
We did these out of the monolift. The last set, I asked a guy (gym regular, but not part of Nemisis) to operate the hooks who apparently had never done it before. He got them out of the way fine when I racked the weight, then as I sat on the box for my third rep, he pulled the hooks down so when I stood up, I hit the bottom of the hooks. I sat back down. The three spotters helped me up, again to hit the bottom of the ****ing hooks that were still down. I sat back down and yelled "get the ****ing hooks out of the way!" He got the hooks out of the way and I got the bar racked. wtf. I take partial blame for not instructing the newb on how to operate the hooks, but wtf, at what point does common sense kick in? Aside from getting my back a little scraped by the knurling, I didnt get hurt, thankfully.

GHR
15
spent. I think the heavy doubles took the most out of me, but also that last set of box squats fiasco didnt help either. I'm gonna be sore later today.

Here's a picture of one of my teammates (Jay) getting wrapped before squatting 1000 lbs, with me and a couple other teammates in the background:

That's a Mastodon squat bar, which to my knowledge, is the thickest bar available. Look at the bend. Jay did two singles with this. One hit parallel and one was high because he started to black out.

Inspirational log Cha