Eh...no it doesn't. I'm sitting with the e-book right here. Upper body press is always first. Guessing you don't mean 5/3/1 since you talk about day B.

Wow, you're absolutely correct, I must have completely imagined that. I guess because I always thought the idea was to go from heavy-light more or less. Hm... so I bet PC/(press)/DL would be pretty doable... thanks for pointing that out haha.

I do (press)/PC/DL, 3x3 PCs. The biggest issue for me was grip fatigue on DLs. I switched to hook grip yesterday on the PCs, and DLs felt pretty easy. I think even though PC is comparatively lighter than DL, the grip force required is still pretty high since it's a fast pull.

The practical problem with PC/(press)/DL is you gotta set up the bar out of the rack twice.

Cool, thanks. I've always used hook grip and never had an issue with racking the bar twice (probs not using enough weight to make a difference haha), so hopefully this will go well. Thanks again all.

So I bought some EliteFTS knee sleeves since I have knee pain(and a right knee injury) and I'm wondering about the fit.

It seems everyone else's fits like a second skin. Mine are tight but not restrictive, but they do bunch up around the knee joint. Is this normal? Should I wear them a little to see if they stretch and mold to my knee or should I send them back now for a larger size?

FYI: the bunching behind the knee pinches the skin a bit but it's not painful, just a little uncomfortable.

I was going to ask a simple question but instead of being lazy I tried to find the answer and have spent the last 3 hours wandering the world wide web. Not because I kept looking for the answer but because I was exploring related aspects of my problem and found new (for me) info.

Question: how often does one do SMR/foam rolling. I assume every day but should it be done more then once a day? I checked out Mike Robertson and crew.

I just got a roller and tried it out before yesterdays workout and found no improvement in my squat depth. I know it was just one time but I thought maybe there might be some improvement. I still cannot get anywhere even close to parallel while keeping the lumbar extended. Rip says keep the knees out and anybody can get to parallel. lolololol 1/2squat anyone?

I have read and reread SS3, check other websites for advice and of course have followed the form checks here and I cannot be doing anything that bad to prevent me from getting lower. I feel incredible tightness in my hamstrings. Just a reminder I am 57.

Bonus question: With standing up being 0 degrees and back parallel to floor (with proper alignment) being 90 degrees, how much do you need to be able to flex at the hip so that you cannot get to parallel in the LBBS? Obviously 0 degrees is too tight.

I assume few here can properly touch there toes. I tried something after attempting to squat. I measured how far down my leg my hand would go while flexing at the hip and keeping proper back alignment. The tips of my fingers didn't even get to my knees. They got 2 1/2" (6.2 cm ) below where they were while standing.

After wandering the net I found a method called resistance stretching. It is a method that Olympic swimmer Dara Torres used when she made her Olympic comeback at age 33. Yes she won Gold. It gives you flexibility/mobility and it will get rid of adhesions and scar tissue.

Followup question: Has anyone heard about this?

Another one of my short posts!

Hey Waq, I cant give you a full response, but can mention that I cannot touch my toes without just bouncing down really quick, and with your straight back test, i can barely make it to my knees as well. I can squat to parallel. I couldnt when I started, but practicing the motion multiple times at home with just the body helped a lot. I could be totally wrong, but I feel like its a huge function of Hip Flexor flexibility as well, as thats where I felt the biggest pull during the motion.

waq,

one rolling session won't magically fix anything. In fact, I'd say that squatting itself is more likely to help you hit depth than foam rolling, which has other uses (e.g. not getting tons of adhesions, helping recovery etc).

Can't remember the exact passage, but I'm fairly sure Rip said some won't reach depth at first but will after a few times.

Haven't heard of resistance stretching. Even though cha usually says hamstrings won't be the cause of not going to parallel, given how insanely inflexible you are I think there's a decent chance it's at least part of the reason. I'd try PNF stretching, which is basically a form of "dynamic" static stretching (yes, that's a contradiction in terms). See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=791XXiYzNbE for a hamstring PNF stretch.

I also highly recommend getting the magnificent mobility or assess & correct DVD for dynamic mobility work.

Brag: I can almost put my hands flat on the floor with straight legs.

mine are about the same. they'll stretch some and bunch less. I have to adjust between sets here and there.

I cant get within a foot of touching my toes with my knees straight because my hamstrings are so tight. I can squat to below parallel.

waq - the problem is in your hips and glutes imo.

The first several times you use the foam roller, you probably arent doing it as well as possible. Keep using it (daily is good) and keep trying to find sharp pains and break those knots up. Really focus on your quads, IT bands and hip flexors (the rectus femoris is a quad and a hip flexor - that's an important one).

Also, use a lacrosse ball on your hips, glutes, TFL, etc. When you start getting the knots in those areas broken up, you'll be able to squat a lot deeper.

If you are having trouble getting to/below parallel, you may want to do, as part of a warmup, negative squats with the safety bars in your rack set to take the bar off your descent at a point that is below parallel.

ugh. I can't imagine the feeling of not being able to touch my toes. I've always been able to do it and have never actually thought of myself as flexible.

Flexible to me is palm on the floor and hold.

Hey everybody, passed the physical portion of the test today which brings me to another question.....I'm going to operate under the assumption that I am accepted to the March academy date. I am told it is very physically rigorous, lots of running, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, obstacle courses, etc. From now until then I would like to run a cut and try to maintain the strength that I have acquired. I understand it is not a long period of time, but right now I weigh 210 lbs and I figure if I can lose 10-15 of that it would definitely be to my benefit.

Ok, so what's the way to approach this? Assume I have never run a cut while trying to maintain strength before and have little idea what works. What I do know is to keep protein high and training intensity high/volume low.

So should I basically stick to an SS-type routine, maybe squatting twice a week 2x5?
Deadlifting once a week ok?
Should I just always aim for the same weight every time I go in the gym? For example, my current 5rm numbers as of about a week ago are approx.: squat=215, deadlift=320, bench=170, press=115. While I run the cut (assume about a 500-750 calorie deficit), should I just try to perform 2x5 (except 1x5 DL) at those numbers every workout?

I'd like to add in some conditioning as well, maybe some HIIT or running, but I'd definitely appreciate any input on that.

Thanks very much for the help, any and all input is much appreciated!

never ever been able to do it. Even at my most flexible when I played soccer in HS.

imo it's almost never an actual hamstring thing, and almost always a pelvic tilt thing. Like if I lay on the floor without thinking about it, and just hold my leg up, I'm barely getting to 45 degrees. If I tilt my pelvis, I'm ~90 degrees.

I'm thinking of copping the efts knee sleeves. Are these OK to wear for 2+ hours at a time, or are they only intended to be kept on to do skwat sets? And how are you measuring size?

I find that very easy to do, if my wrists bent more than 90 degrees I could prolly hold my wrists on the floor too.
Never really considered myself flexible though.

Is it true that if you take creatine with something like milk that it will not absorb properly? I was taking creatine with my morning shake (2 cups milk, 1 scoop whey) and my buddy said that was bad. Does it really make a difference?

I know nothing about creatine, so hopefully someone else will contribute to this answer.

With that said, some logic and common sense is telling me that that's complete broscience, your friend is incorrect, and you should enjoy your milk.

Pretty sure it doesn't make a difference.

I've had different degrees of success mixing creatine with different drinks in terms of how well it blends, I don't think there's any change in effectiveness though. A typical shake for me would be like milk + whey + caffeine + creatine and if I didn't drink it fast there would be creatine all settled at the bottom, so sometimes I'd have to just refill with water to get the leftover.

Edit: realizing you probably mean in terms of absorption into the body, I've never heard anything along those lines. But yea I'd just keep an eye out at the bottom of your glass... it's obviously not going to work if you don't ingest it.

Actually, the study on Creatine I read said it had slightly better effectiveness when taken with carbs, so milk should actually help.

It's supposedly less effective when taken with Caffeine, but whatevs. My normal shake is whey+coffee+milk+creatine+beta alanine. I use that overpriced spring shaker bottle, and it seems to suspend the Creatine well enough to gulp down.

For what it's worth, WRT creatine/caffeine:

http://www.ergo-log.com/creatinecaffeine.html

Unless he can cite scientific evidence of a chemical reaction that is breaking down the compounds or somehow encapulsating them from break down in the intestines, its as the other poster said, broscience.

Its the same line of thinking people have in persisting in thinking raw egg vs cooked egg has any difference in nutrient quantity or quality - specifically protein.

Raw food vs cooked food is actually a poor example here because generally, cooking effectively increases the calories in food (it makes them able to be processed by humans more efficiently). There was a recent study about this Martin tweeted out. I have heard that the protein in raw eggs is less bioavailable, about 50%.

Restating: I don't know if the eggs thing is broscience or not, but just wanted to say that cooking food in general CAN change the energy content.

One thing that you should be doing if you take creatine is drink lots of water. I dont know that actually taking it with or without water matters or not - just that you drink an abundance throughout the day.