Another thing you could explore rather than pulling yourself into the correct position in just 1 motion is to do that thing some lifters do (Mike T comes to mind) with compression breathing which I would think could also help one more consistently pull/tighten themselves into a more optimal position every time.

I suspect it's a very 'what works for you' type thing since the ratio of ones legs/torso/arms plays a huge role in maintaining tightness while setting up (rather than getting everything loose then trying to tighten up).

Seems like four plates is right there too. This was grind free.

I think so too, but I kind of like the idea of trolling myself. Plus another 10 weeks of doing another round of SSPT style training should hopefully help my iron out some of these form issues.

yugo is talking about this



Not sure how good it would be for you do to do that though. I think for someone who does not have great form and is not elitish it is way too many moving parts

One day I'll get to Yugo's level

I don't even setup like that. I just thought it could be worth a try.

An actual method of setting up that might be helpful could be to tighten/brace yourself while standing, then keep it as much as you can while taking relatively shallow breaths while setting your straps, then getting into position with hips lower but still trying to keep things tight, then push your butt back (and likely up) while keeping your chest up and then pulling. Or continue with what I assume is Rippetoe's setup, although it's always been very dicey for me to try and get tight when I'm hunched over, no matter how much I keep my back straight.

I like ed coans "protect your armpits" cue for lat activation

wtf that guy in the vid sounds just like Chris Pratt

Congrats on the PR!

Part of the issue is mental, especially getting your adrenaline flowing before pulling, but part is just about getting stronger and practicing good form on every DL.

cha,

For sure.

Before I pulled, I was thinking about all the reasons I would miss it instead of thinking about smoking it. I literally thought about Sensei's avatar multiple times with the bar in my hand.

Nice lift bro.

Pretty soon your deadlift is gonna get high enough that your rationale that your arms and legs are too long for all the other exercises will sound more valid.

Nice prull, Monte.

4 playtes in the bag after the next cycle.

A little late to the party, but nice deadlift.

+1 ! Nice prull, now do sumo and you can post a 440 vid in two weeks

Damn. Tall dudes getting strong 'round here.

Great pull, Monte!

Might as well log today's workout, as it's probably time for an August update anyway:

8/27

A:
Squat: 10x45, 5x95, 5x135, 3x185, 2x215, 2x5x235, 10x235
NG Chin: 4x6x+35

B:
Bench (paused, RPT): 10x45, 10x95, 5x135, 3x185, 2x215, 4x235, 5x225, 6x210
Face Pulls: 5x12x50

C:
RDLs: 4x8x135
Front Cable Raise: 4x12x10
Side Cable Raise: 4x12x10

D:
DB Hammer Curl: 4x12x35
Cable Tricep Pressdown: 4x12x80

Kind of a tough month for lifting; I've been gone at least three days every week for work, so I've had to compress my three day rotation into four days, plus I had a week long vacation thrown in at the beginning of the month. Traveling at the same clip for September, but I think I have one week off in the middle of the month, which will be nice.

--Started back up my second round of SSPT with a relatively conservative training max (400) with an eye on trying to work on being a bit more over the bar and a bit more screwed in with my lats.

--Bench is kind of meh, but RPT feels more doable than 3x5 across on my one heavy day per week, and I'm starting to like paused more than I did.

--AMRAP squat set felt better than a few weeks ago, so I think I'm going to bump up the weight by 10 pounds and try to work up to 10 again.

--Weight's holding steady at around 194-196, although it's kind of hard to tell where the true number is since my sodium intake jumps so much when I travel. Finally got smart and started buying a box of Quest Bars for each trip; having them in my bag has really helped me not go overboard with airport food. Wouldn't mind trying to get down to 190 and tighten things up, but that doesn't seem realistic given the work schedule.

AMRAP set:

8/29 - Upper Hypertrophy

A:
Bench*: 10x45, 10x95, 5x135, 3x155, 12x175, 6x3x175
DB Row*: 12x100, 12x3x100
Standing Cable Row*: 12x51, 10x3x51

B:
DB Incline Bench*: 2x8x40, 12x55, 6x3x55
Pronated Wide Pulldown*: 12x108, 10x3x108

C:
DB Arnold Press: 3x10x45
Supinated Narrow Pulldown*: 12x111, 12x3x111

D:
DB Curl: 3x8x40
Overhead Cable Tricep: 3x12x52.5

Everything with the * is using myo reps, with 20 seconds rest after the top set and all of the subsequent myo sets. Not sure if it's doing anything worthwhile, but it's a good pump and pretty fun, so why not.

Man before I saw your explanation I thought you forgot how to notate your sets since you've been away so long. I was so damn confused

Nice lifting bro

Thanks bros.

8/30

SSPT DL (Round 2, Week 2, 70% TM, 45 seconds between sets)
2x5x135, 3x185, 3x225, 1x255, 15x1x280

Front Squat (3 minutes between work sets)
10x45, 5x95, 3x115, 2x135, 1x155, 6x6x170

Single Leg Press
4x10x130

Leg Curl
3x12x125

Leg Extension
3x12x140

Wiped out.

Don't think I could survive though that leg workout. How long did that session take?

EV,

Generally it's pretty snappy, usually an hour or a shade over, nothing too serious.

Feeling a bit run down; I was in Santa Fe for the beginning part of the week and played poker at the local Indian casino for both evenings instead of doing responsible stuff like sleeping. Cleared a shade over 2k in 14 hours, so time well spent in that sense. There was only 1 table of 1/3 running both nights, but the players were so terrible it didn't really matter. Good times.

A:
Squat: 10x45, 5x95, 5x135, 3x185, 2x225, 2x5x245, 7x245
NG Chin: 4x6x+35

B:
Bench (paused, RPT): 10x45, 10x95, 5x135, 3x185, 2x215, 3x235, 4x225, 5x210
Face Pulls: 5x12x50

C:
Good mornings: 8x45, 4x8x95
Front Cable Raise: 4x12x10
Side Cable Raise: 4x12x10

D:
DB Hammer Curl: 4x12x35
Cable Tricep Pressdown: 4x12x80

I definitely had less in the tank than normal; I feel like I could have gotten an extra rep or two on my squat AMRAP set had I been rested, and I cut a rep off each of the work sets of my RPT bench because I just didn't have it. Still happy to get the session in, though. Next week is Boulder.

9/7 - Upper Hypertrophy (* = myo reps w/ 20 seconds rest)

A:
Bench*: 10x45, 10x95, 5x135, 3x155, 12x175, 6x3x175
DB Row*: 12x100, 12x3x100
Standing Cable Row*: 12x51, 12x3x51

B:
DB Incline Bench*: 2x8x40, 12x55, 7x3x55
Pronated Wide Pulldown*: 12x108, 12x3x108

C:
DB Arnold Press: 3x10x45
Supinated Narrow Pulldown*: 12x115, 12x3x115

D:
DB Curl: 4x8x40
Overhead Cable Tricep: 4x12x52.5

Upped the weight and or sets on some of the assistance work; my endurance still falls off a cliff pretty quickly with bench as I almost dropped the last rep on my face trying to lock out. Finished everything in a pretty tidy hour and fifteen minutes. DL tomorrow, then Boulder for work Wednesday-Friday.

9/8

Weight: 193 on the button, somehow, after a weekend of debauchery

SSPT DL (Round 2, Week 3, 75% TM, EMOM)
2x5x135, 3x185, 3x225, 1x275, 12x1x300

Front Squat (3 minutes between work sets)
10x45, 5x95, 3x115, 2x135, 1x160, 5x3x185

Single Leg Press
4x10x130

Leg Curl
3x12x125

Leg Extension
3x12x145

65 minutes on the dot.



Last two reps; think I still need to get over the bar a bit more. Second rep starts around :55.

easy pulls!