Your elbows aren't supposed to be slightly in front of the bar when pressing? I figure it is fine as long as your elbows are not behind the bar are too far in front.

9/29/17

Bench press: 170 x 5,5,6
BB rows: 167.5 x 5,5,8
Squats: 185 x 5,5,6
Ab rollouts: 5,5,4

I have been experimenting with bar placement for squats. It seems if I do not have it on the rear delts, the bar drifts forward on the descent. It is probably the reason why I feel my quads on overdrive on the ascent. Squats today felt better, except for my wrists. I hope it is just something that requires getting used to.

All week, I have been dead ass tired by the third exercise. I figured I would have more energy working out three days a week. Meh.

10/2/17

OHP: 117.5 x 5,5,6
Neutral grip pull-ups: 8,7,7
Squats: 190 x 5,5,6
Ab rollout: 5,5,3

Danke to Montecore for mentioning pausing at the bottom for OHP. Feels so much on my lower back. Plus I felt more in control of each rep.

Squats still suck. I had to call the AMRAP set at six reps because I was starting to see colors, which is odd because I take a deep breath between reps. On Friday I will go back to putting the bar on my traps. My shoulder mobility is too terrible for LBBS.

10/4/17

Bench press: 170 x 5,5,6
BB rows: 170 x 5,5,7
Sumo DL: 250x9
Split squat: 100x5x3
EMOM for 8 minutes: 5 RDLs at 135#

I forgot to increase bench by 2.5 lbs. I thought I did 167.5 last time.

Sumo DLs felt noticeably better this week compared to last. I probably could have hit 10, but I'm too much of a wuss to push it. I may add a back off set after the AMRAP like so many others do.

Put rows after deadlifts IMO if getting your deadlift up is a higher priority. It's probably just objectively better/safer as well.

Great point, thanks! I thought the same thing after I finished rows. Not too smart to kill my grip and lower back before DLing.

Glad it worked; as with most of my good advice, it's just a retread of advice given to me by someone stronger and smarter (KC in this instance).

Agree with Renton on DL/row ordering. I'd consider rowing on a different day entirely, actually but that's just me.

Monte,

Luckily, the DL/row problem only rears its ugly head once every other week. I will try out rowing after DLs on those days and see how that goes.

10/6/17

OHP: 120 x 5,5,5
Neutral grip pull-ups: 8,7,6
Squats: 195 x 5,5,7
Superset: Ab rollouts and banded face pulls

I think I had six AMRAP reps for press, but took a crappy breath after the third rep. It made the fourth rep tougher than it should have been. I am confident I won't fail at 122.5 like the last two times.

I went back to a high bar position. Great decision. Only one crappy rep, where I let my knees come forward the last bit of the descent. Apparently if I push my knees out throughout the descent, dumb stuff like that doesn't happen.

10/9/17

Bench press: 172.5 x 5,5,5
BB rows: 172.5 x 5,5,7
Squats: 200 x 5,5,5
Ab rollout: 3,3,3

Typical subpar workout on a day off. In the future, I won’t bother increasing the weight when I don’t have work. I almost failed the first set of bench. I don’t know why, but the descent on my first rep is at least twice as slow as the rest of my reps. Based on other people’s form, that doesn’t sound normal.

For some reason I was having trouble sitting back on squats. I needed a lot more quads. Since the weight is getting as high as when I messed up my back a few weeks ago and my form wasn’t where I wanted it to be, I called it early on the AMRAP set.

When someone consistently benches 85% of his squat, we gonna need a video to verify that there aren't like 9 reps in reserve in that 200x5 amrap.

Challenge accepted! Sort of like what you are experiencing, my brain tells me to stop when the weight feels heavy while squatting or DLing. Plus, I am getting back to weights where i messed up my back. I will start uploading my squat and DL AMRAP sets to receive my deserved heckling.

10/11/17

OHP: 132.5 x 1, 122.5 x 5,5,5
Neutral grip pull-ups: 8,6,6
Sumo DL: 255x8

Burpees for five minutes: 60

The heavy OHP single took forever to put up. Even with that confidence debooster, still hit five. Only took a couple of months.

I still can’t get over the mental hurdle of fear of injury when DLing. I stopped when my legs felt a little tired (i.e. when I had to exert effort). I need to get back to the point where fatigue is my limiting factor. I’m sure I had at least two more reps.

10/13/17

Bench press: 175 x 5,5,5
BB rows: 175 x 5,5,7
Squats: 205 x 5,5,7
Ab rollouts: 4,4,3

Much better squat day. I’m glad I recorded my AMRAP set. I had no idea how far forward I lean before each rep. Apart from that and my lack of getting a decent breath between reps, the squats look okay. The AMRAP set was likely an RPE 8. I don’t plan on pushing it until form is on point.

That was comfortably a 12RM, but as a fellow sufferer of innerEVitis brought on by back issues, I get it.

On the subject of the back, you're overextending your lumbar at the top (likely because you're overemphasizing keeping your back flat); this leads to some lower back movement on the way down, and a little bit of buttwink on a few reps. Think about keeping your lower back flat instead of extended, this will involve screwing down your lats and obliques before each set, getting your butt a bit more behind you, and not pulling up quite so hard with your chest. Pull the bar down into your back, especially in the hole and on the way up; it will help keep everything solid and tight.

Looks like you have plenty of gains to make, though.

Agree with Monte. To add to that really squeeze your glutes hard when you setup at the top. This should tilt your pelvis back and let you keep a more neutral back.
Theres lots of videos on this. I found this one pretty helpful.

Also I don’t think your forward lean is excessive. The bar seems to stay over midfoot-ish throughout.

Ha! I was humorously exaggerating with the 9 reps in reserve but that might have been dead on.

Thanks for the suggestions Monte and rav. I definitely have problems with hyperextension in my low back due to APT. That video helped in suggesting squeezing the glutes and bracing at the same time. I usually flex the glutes and then brace. This may be why I think my breathing sucks between reps.

I have been having trouble with my descent lately and hitting depth comfortably. I used my oly shoes for the video above. It helped with that, but then I lean forward from head to toe. It would be fine if it was only my torso. Plus the raised heel makes it harder for me to balance the weight over my mid foot at the beginning. Instead the weight feels too far forward. I will do my best to flex the glutes, stand tall, and flex the lats before I descend and see how it looks. It it still looks bad, I will go back to my chucks.

Also, I will stop being a little ***** in my AMRAP set. No less than nine reps.

10/16/17

OHP: 125 x 4,3,3
Neutral grip pull-ups: 8,7,6
Squats: 210 x 5,5,7
Ab rollout: 3,3,3

Weird day. Didn’t have the horsepower to get through the workout I expected. OHP is a high head scratcher.

Squats felt off too. First set I used my oly shoes. I felt I was coming onto the front half of my feet on the way up so switched to my chucks. Second set was okay. Third set below was awful. My lower back was not happy. It may not look like it, but I am squeezing my glutes as hard as possible before descending. I just have an awful APT. Halfway through the set, I felt like I was breathing into my chest more than my belly. Plus it looks like the bar drifts forward a lot the last foot of the descent, likely because I am not sitting back enough. I make far fewer mistakes with oly shoes so back to that.

10/18/17

Bench press: 177.5 x 5,5,4
Sumo DL: 260x9
BB rows: 177.5 x 5,5,6

No video for DLs. Well, there is one but it looks embarrassing. The problem isn’t the weight, but feeling so winded that I fear losing sufficient core tightness. It is a weak excuse. I scheduled an appointment with my PT for a form check and see if I my fear of getting injuring my back for the umpteenth time is ridiculous.

BB rows after DLs felt more natural than normal. Definitely a good move reordering rows. Maybe back exercises should always go after squats/DLs.

10/20/17

OHP: 112.5 x 5,5,7
Squats: 215 x 5,5,6
Superset:
Neutral grip pull-ups: 8,7,6
Ab rollout: 4,3,3

10/23/17

Bench press: 160 x 5,5,8
Squats: 220 x 5,5,6
BB rows: 180 x 5,5,6

I’m going to the PT to look at my squat and ask specifics about how I can lessen lumbar hyperextension and tighten my core. Also to see if there is a way I can squat so the bar follows a vertical bar path. Lastly, see if I can push myself without fear of hurting myself. It is always a possibility, yet I have only hurt my back twice squatting. It should not be as big of a deal as I am making it.

Film so we can see your knees next time; I suspect that you have the same problem that I used to, namely that you aren't getting your knees far enough forward in an effort to stay more upright because you think it's better for your back. It's not. Getting your knees forward early and getting the correct amount of torso lean and a flatter back angle is going to help you stop tucking your pelvis and sticking your ass out like a Brazilian Carnivale dancer.

Fwiw I was convinced that a vertical bar path was just something that would always escape me, but getting my knees far enough early enough helped make it better. I'm far from perfect, but much improved.

Will do. It helps knowing there is a light at the end of the vertical bar path tunnel. The last couple of weeks I have been doing my best to break at the knees and hips at the same time. If I break at the knees first, I am more upright, but the bar path moves forward at the start. Breaking at the hips first causes the bar begin moving down vertically, but moves forward the last couple of inches because I can’t sit back. One of these days I will find a happy medium.

I need to go back to the PT Friday. The strength coach he works with wasn’t available today. He still looked at my form and pointed out a couple of odd patterns. First, I was setting up with the bar off center to the right. Second, once I untracked the bar, I would set my right foot farther back than my left foot. The two of these issues caused me to rotate on the descent. At least those two issues should be easy to fix.

10/25/17

OHP: 115 x 5,5,7
Sumo DL: 265x10
Neutral grip pull-ups: 8,7,7
100 KBS @ 24 kg: 6:03

Finally got to ten reps in a deadlift AMRAP, though I had to take a long breather afterwards. Back feels fine.

10/27/17

Bench press: 162.5 x 5,5,8
Squats: 225 x 5,5,6
Rows: 182.5 x 5,5,5

I got my form checked Friday morning. The main takeaways were to place the bar lower (to make it easier to sit back and be less upright) and pack the neck to create better upper back tightness.

Below is the AMRAP set. Disappointed in only six reps. I had at least two or three more reps, but pussied out. The bar was not staying in place on my left side. It would roll a bit when I finished the rep. The aggressive knurling was ripping up my skin. The solution sounds like keeping my upper back tight and pulling the bar into my traps. Apart from that I think the squats looked better than my previous video.

For sure better!

You look a little hesitant, but that's to be expected with new cues bouncing around in your head. It looks like the weight is bending you over a bit in the hole, which tells me (along with your issue with the knurling) that you could be getting even tighter. As you said, try and pull the bar down into your back/drive your back up into the bar aggressively, especially when you're coming out of the hole. (Don't confuse this cue with raising your chest early, though).