Thanks!

yeah, you're right. I know hip issues sometime cause pain/tightness down into your ITBs. I could see calves/ankles affecting them too.

Voodoo bands are very effective.

Thanks!

5/23

I've only got three days each of heavy bench, squat and DL before the next meet, which is June 13.

squat
55x10
145x5
235x5
285x4


briefs
325x3
375x2
415x2

suit, straps loose
505x1

single ply wraps
595 meh, I felt like I got stuck in the hole. I probably got a little help from my spotters getting this up. Ridiculous. I think two things happened - I didnt sit back soon enough and I pulled my suit tight in front but left it loose in back. I talked to Priest about this and he said its normal for that to happen so soon after a meet, but I needed to get accustomed to feeling heavy weight again, so I should add some weight and shock my system. Everyone else there including myself was surprised to hear this. I assumed my two-ply wraps had been helping me a lot more than the single ply wraps were until this happened:

645x1 - fast and ez. **** yeah! I pulled the back of my suit tight and sat back sooner and better and this flew up out of the hole. Its weird that 595 was hard/impossible and 645 was ez, but I'm happy how this ended.

ssb box squats
255x3
305x3
345x3x3
Felt good, solid, ez, as it should with light weight going only down to parallel. I wasnt supposed to do much weight here - just get used to hitting parallel with some reps.

645 last night:

5/24

heavy bench
45x15
135x10x2
185x6
225x3
275x2
315x1

put on single ply shirt
405x2 off two boards - fast and ez
485xf off chest. I got a slow start command and a slow press command because I was a little unstable. The instability was probably lats or abs or legs not doing their jobs, so when I pressed it, it only went up about 3/4 of the way. The long delays for the start and press commands probably tired me a bit too. The other thing is its only been a week since the meet. Anyways, I was considering this for an opener at the next meet, but maybe I'll back that off to ~463. We'll see how the next couple weeks go.

put on two ply shirt
525x1 off one board
It wasnt the prettiest thing, but I did bring it down better than any other attempt in my two ply shirt, and I got it locked out, and its the lowest I've gone in that shirt and locked out, so its sort of a PR. Hopefully I can keep getting better at this, and maybe I'll be able to get ~550 off my chest by meet day.

raw speed work
280x3x5

cable rows
195x12
210x10
225x8
240x8

face pulls
140x15x2

jfc. maybe that 700 squat isn't so far away after all.

I obviously don't know sh*t about this kind of squatting, but that rep didn't even look like you got a good bounce. Almost like it was slightly paused.

Thanks!

I actually had some good bounce with that one. When I have the suit on tight, its hard to get down in the hole while staying back, so I have to move slow. On the one I missed, I think my knees came forward a little, so that's part of why I hit a dead spot at the bottom.

5/26

DL
245x5x3
335x5
425x2

briefs
515x1

suit
565x1
615x2 - form was solid, lifts were ez. I'll open the state meet with 612.

high block pulls with briefs only (Priest wants me to get used to feeling super heavy weight)
655x3
695x3
745x3
785x3
835x3
865x1, yeah, this is super heavy. holy ****. My lats felt like they were going to rip off the bone, so I didnt try anything heavier.

I'm happy with how easy this felt and how the video looks. Its still a struggle to grab the bar and hold good position with the suit on tight though. Lifting in a DL suit is a lot harder than it looks.

Sick pulls!

are burst eye blood vessels a common thing amongst your team? Any tips for mitigating them?

Thanks!

Its not uncommon, especially after max effort squats.

tips? lol, dont put 1000 lbs on your back and squat it I guess.

My understanding is they are harmless and they heal fairly quickly.

5/27

speed bench
45x15
135x10x2
185x6
225x3
280x3x8
Triceps were very tight and sore from Sunday. They were causing elbow pain. Not too bad, but bad enough for me to want to roll the triceps and put Biofreeze on them. That helped. ART today.

tricep pressdowns
60x30x2
I think I need to do these every time I bench until the elbow issues go away.

cable rows
195x12
210x10

face pulls
140x15x2

615x2 would you call this a touch n go? It's kind of how I do my 5 reppers and even though the weight doesn't bounce off the floor, it's not entirely from a dead stop

It's definitely easier though. Or would the lift feel the exact same if you manage to properly take all the slack out of the bar from a dead stop? Maybe I just suck

I did something between touch & go and dead stop on this set. The weight stopped, but I still had the bar bent a little bit when it was on the floor between reps. I did this on this set because letting all the slack out of the bar is hard when I'm wearing the suit.

I have done both dead stop and touch and go DLs. Both are good imo. B Magnussen is an advocate of touch and go because it keeps tension in your hamstrings, and he says that builds better speed off the floor.

I think its fine to do one or the other or both. If one seems a lot harder than the other, maybe that's the one you ought to work on with sub-maximal weights until you get better at it.

Thanks! Sounds logical. I definitely feel a whole lot more sore in my hamstrings after I've done a bunch of TnG's. When you wrote that I felt like I should keep doing them because my hamstrings need to get stronger, and I guess keeping tension there would help me achieve that as I up the weight. But then you wrote I should work on the harder lift, which would be from a dead stop. Lol

Touch n go's it is!

5/29

squat
45x10
135x5
225x5
275x3

briefs
325x3
375x2
415x1

suit
505x1

knee wraps. This is basically a mock meet from here on.
585x1


630x1

I GM'ed this just a little at the bottom. I'm surprised I recovered so easily from that.

665x1 - PR - woot!
Holding that much weight on my back feels like its crushing me. Everybody says I should squat 700+ soon, but damn, its ****ing hard just racking this much.


ssb box squats
255x3
305x3
345x3x2

jfc. 665 looked nicer in my uneducated opinion than 645 imo. Looked like better depth, better bounce. Maybe better knees. Generally tighter somehow.

That's super man!

What do you think about a really wide stance for squatting? I think I am going to switch to a wide stance even for box and goblet squats. The strategy for most people seems to be to lift the chest and shove the knees out to keep a neutral spine but I think a wider stance and more good morning (not in goblet squats) will be better for me because there is less risk of rounding and/or forgetting to shove the knees out even though you still consciously have to do both in that setup as well.
If/when I get to back squatting, I will probably also use a wide grip and pretty low bar positioning and cut out on depth right at parallel.

Thanks!

I feel pretty good about the next meet right now - at least with regards to squat and DL.

Thanks!

I love a wide stance for squatting. When you do it right, it recruits your posterior chain muscles. That's especially good for you because building glute strength will protect your back.

Doing it right is very important though. Two things you need to avoid: buttwink and knee cave. If you cant do them with no buttwink, and/or you have any knee cave, you should make your stance narrower until you correct those things. Work on keeping your knees out and back flat with very light weights and dont go heavier until you are confident about your form not breaking down.

I disagree about more GMing being better, especially for you. I think that is more risky for you & your back issues. I suggest a high bar position, because the lower the bar goes, the more you need to bend over. The high bar position keeps you more upright and that is safer for your back.

Cool, Buttwink won't be a problem with depth control and knee caving has never been an issue. I will be goblet squatting for a while and will probably post some videos of that in my log. Certainly won't be back squatting for a few months but when I do start, I think I will go with Front Squats ---> Back Squats ---> Trap Bar DL ---> Sumo DL.

Sumo stance in general is more of a power stance for me where everything seems correctly engaged.

A wide(r) stance will also heavily recruit your adductors. Do not be surprised in the least if they get enormously sore with some serious DOMS.

You'll also then end up losing your thigh gap as you build those adductors up. Careful. lol

I would put back squats at the end of that list. Those are the most risky for your low back imo. l'd plan on starting to pull off blocks or out of a rack until you feel good about dropping the weight to a lower starting point.

True - you'll feel the adductors on wide stance squats for sure.

5/31

heavy bench
45x15
135x10x2
185x6
225x3
275x2
315x1

single ply shirt
405 off 2 boards x 2
465x1

two ply shirt
555 - failed twice to touch. I am having a hard time getting my elbows out on the way down, and this shirt is a long way from being broken in. Theres no way I'll be able to use this shirt at the meet. I'm thinking my meet attempts might be 463, 491, 513.

face pulls, stability stuff and light tricep pushdowns

Ok. When I do start pulls, they will be off blocks. I will keep Back Squats as the last progression and don't know if I will ever regular DL. Still, all those things are too far in the future at the moment.

The basic progression I used rehabbing my my injury was front squats to a high box with no weight (added light weights in front, making them goblet squats for a while before going to a barbell and lowering the box), trap bar DLs off blocks (gradually lowering them as long as it felt good and easy), sumo DLs off blocks (gradually lowering them as long as it felt good and easy), back squats, then when I was basically fully healed I pulled conventional DLs from the floor.

6/2

DL
245x5x3
335x3
425x2

briefs
515x1

suit
565x1
This is basically a mock meet from here:
615x1
655x1
685xf
I'm working on not rounding my upper back with my suit on. I rounded it a little on 565 and 655, so those were harder than they should have been. 615 was good. On 685, I kept my back in good position, but when I grabbed the bar with my right hand, I grabbed it about 2-3" wider than the left hand, and that seemed to push the bar out front of me on that side, so I was pulling slightly crooked. I got it up to my knees and that was it. Priest said one good thing I do when I get in that situation is I keep everything tight so it doesnt get too far out of whack and I dont get hurt, whereas most people would get loose and wiggle around in that situation. I'm still at the point where I need to get everything right in order to pull this weight, but at least I know I can pull 650-655 anytime without getting everything perfect.

From here on out, I'll do speed bench Wed., and do my openers for squat Fri., bench Sun., and DL Tues. next week, then rest until the meet which is 6/13.