1x1x127.5

Rows
3x5x180

CGBP
4x8x165

First time doing close grip bench. Felt alright

You are straightening your back before the lift, but it is curving slightly again as you start.

Thank you, yeah. That's been an issue with the deadlift for most of this log, and it's especially egregious in that video. I'm deadlifting again tomorrow so hopefully I can improve it.

11/27

Squat
2x5x270
1x5x275

WS1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT8QzxD8dIg
WS2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GpmEu4fllo
WS3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaC-ySqYEmo

I think these looked pretty decent, particularly the last set. This was my first time wearing my new belt and I think I need to tighten it

Bench
1x1x207.5
4x5x187.5

Had to cut things short due to time

11/29

Squat
1x5x275
2x5x280

WS1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHASELQb5Sk
WS2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYfZzZJ3eqQ
WS3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nED5NhhVjuc

Apparently youtube no longer lets you rotate videos

CGBench
4x8x167.5

Felt harder than last time

Deadlift
1x5x375

WS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrpsrzNwhfY

I think this looks better than the previous one. Also I got all of them hook grip which is neat

It looks like your back is doing all the lifting.

I dont see the forward explosion in the hips helping
to drive that bar up.

If you are TRYING to do a more stiff legged deadlift then
forget what I wrote.

I don't know that I took the most efficient route to learning to pull with a flat back, but this is what I did.

1. Switched to block pulls as my main DL movement for several months.
2. Switched to sumo from floor as my main DL movement for several more months.
3. Hurt my back, then stopped lifting for several months.
4. Started pulling conventional from floor again with novice LP for several months, now my lower back doesn't round on RPE 10s.


I would suggest though that you fully lock out your reps for a beat. It is a good way of being sure your back is flat. Hook grip isn't great for that though because it hurts so bad you want to put the weight down ASAP.

Ok I’ll look into that, particularly the lockout suggestion as that’s something that bothered me as well when watching the videos. Thanks.

I attended a Starting Strength Squat camp in Hillsboro Oregon today. It was pretty good, I’ll write a more detailed report at some point but I’ll do some basics first.

12/01
Squat
5x5x255

Pause Squat
2x5x185

Was sick early last week, and busy/lazy the end of the week.

12/03

Squat
1x5x285
1x5x275

WS1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFfDsrHaAOk
WS2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0QO-yTqE-Q

12/10

Press
6x4x107.5

Chins
6,6,5 @bw

12/11

Squat
3x5x275

WS1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=botxWPFWUgc
WS2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIcslVdS1SE
WS3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Ns04fcfj8

These look not terrible but not good either to my eye. Still lose the bar forward a little on many reps. I watched the Barbell Medicine Podcast about injuries and asked about this at the squat camp, and I think if my form is at least a 'B-' then I'm ok in terms of acceptable (to me) injury risk. I know a decent chunk of the forum might disagree, but I think these squats are more or less there, in terms of not being dangerous, and I'm not experiencing any discomfort in my lower back or knees from doing these. To me, it's more a question of bad habits formed now will eventually hold back my squat and they will get harder to fix later. On the other hand, constant form resets are pretty demotivating and I think I'll comply better in the short term if I let myself put more weight on the bar each session. So that's where I'm at with that

Also did

CGBP
4x8x170

today

Re: your squat, I think most of the problems stem from poor overall tightness:
-Getting bent over in the hole has, for me, been an indicator that my upper back isn't tight enough. Feeling like I'm bending the bar across my back and actively pushing back into it, especially while into/out of the hole, is a useful cue to combat this. This is also a good way to cue lat tightness.

-Your abdominal breathing and bracing could be improved; note that your lumbar is rounding into/out of the hole. Really fill up your belt circumferentially, especially by your obliques and lumbar.

-I'd suggest giving more deliberate reps a try; I try to make sure I'm actively feeling my quads, hamstrings, and glutes to lower myself into the hole, whereas it looks like you're just dropping down into the hole and try to engage everything once you're there. That's pretty hard to sync up.

-There are a few more minor form issues, but the biggest one that helped turn me from an H&F Bad Squatting Meme into just weak is getting my knees forward earlier (which coincidentally came from a BBM Q&A); getting them forward through the first third of the descent, and keeping them there, has the benefit of allowing you to push through your quads out of the hole, and keeps you more upright to boot.

+1 to montecore's advice, but you could also do pepper in some of the following assistance exercises in lieu of going HAM on good morningey squats all the time:

Tempo squat - slow eccentric helps you practice lowering the weight under tension, slow concentric helps you keep your knees from kicking back and doing a good morning.

Leg press - more quad volume without smoking your back

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback. In particular the slower descent is something I intend to work on. For alternate exercises specifically the people at the squat camp really like pause squats so I tried those today

Bench
5x5x190

Pause Squat
3x5x185

WS1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn9ONW5pB1I
WS2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc0BNekDBQQ
WS3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCN6Dfsw_0c

The first set is the worst, I made some modifications after watching it that I think helped

Press
1x7x95
3x7x85

Deadlift
1x2x380
1x5x255

Try to feel like you're using your lower body to pull yourself down into the hole as opposed to just dropping into it; I agree with Renton that paused squats would probably be helpful, with a 3-0-3 tempo minimally. Maybe doing all warm-up sets up to 185 as tempo squats would help prime you to help optimize your work sets?

You mean tempo squats, right? The 0 in 3-0-3 implies no pause, or am I misunderstanding this notation?

Correct! I am dumb.

Thanks dudes. I've definitely tried to consciously slow down my descent, particularly on the warmups, although not all the way to 3 seconds. I want to stick with pause squats for a bit as my light day variant but after a while depending on how they're working (or not working) I'll try 3-0-3.

12/14

Press
6x4x110

Squat
3x5x280

WS1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFbX0Av58rA
WS2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRHubpUtjhU
WS3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3bbsDWXowQ

I think these looked pretty decent

CGBP
2x8x170
2x8x172.5

Rows
3x5x175

Rows seem to be my most skipped exercise, need to put together some consistency on those to increase them. Well really I need to be consistent with everything but you get the idea.

12/17

Bench
5x5x192.5

Squat
3x5x285

Press
1x7x87.5
3x7x90

China
3x6@bw

I think your descent is still too fast for your current ability to control the weight. I've been improving my squat a lot lately by doing a deliberate tempo down to the half squat position then allowing some acceleration into the hole to get the rebound.

I think you're right. I've noticed time seems to move slower (faster?) when I'm under the bar. A manifestation of my brain wanting to get the heavy weight off my back as fast as possible I suspect. Forgot to post this from last session

Squat (12/17) WS3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBZq5vJDgYw

Also my deadlift set from 12/12 should be 355 not 255

12/20

Deadlift
1x5x385

WS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAPqDGJQBvk

Press
6x4x112.5

Pause Squat
3x5x195

WS2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMfeMqxxieM
WS3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iz5F3e5wNs (video obstructed)

Tried to slow down the descent

Close Grip Bench
2x8x175
2x8x165

Deadlift looks like you could be working harder to present your tits to the wall in front of you.

If you're going to pause squat that light, you should descend slower.

Agreed on both counts

12/21

Squats
3x5x300

WS1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0eYY9SAYvM&t=1s
WS2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4fx5bQRnKU (sideways)
WS3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_9oqEx57ec

These were pretty ugly. Went down in weight next session

Bench
5x5x195 Not too difficult

Rows
3x5x185

Press
4x7x95

12/23

Squat
3x5x295

Went down in weight, felt better but working out in weird gym in Seattle so did not film

Press
6x4x115

Felt super heavy

Chins
3x6@bw

Also felt heavy

"felt better but working out in weird gym in Seattle so did not film"

What was weird about gym?
Ha, now I want to what this gym looks like.

Just that it wasn't the gym I usually go to, and I feel self conscious filming in crowded/unfamiliar gyms because I think the other patrons will think I'm filming them. Perhaps it is not the gym but in fact I who is weird.

Pause Squat
3x5x205

Bench
5x5x200

Deadlift
2x5x355

Squat
3x5x300

Still in Seattle so no film

Press
6x4x115

Chins
3x6@bw

CGBP
4x8x165