Squat
3x5x275

Worked on locking my knees in early and pushing back with my hips, was hard

Bench
1x5x210

Can't remember if it was this or 215, but it felt easy

Deadlift
1x5x335

Really working on getting my back tight. Started with 355 but coach had me decrease it

Press
3x5x120

Worked on pushing elbows forward

2/12

Squat
3x3x285

Press
4x3x130

Floating Deadlift (basically an RDL)
3x5x270

2/14

DL
2x3x335
Focused on bracing lower back

Bench
5x5x205

Pause Squat
3x5x230

2/15
Squat
5x5x255
Looked good

Press
5x5x117.5

Rack Pulls
3x8x295

Surprisingly hard

Been doing my logging in shared google drive my coach set up and have been lazy about posting here:

2/18

Squat
3x3x280

Bench
4x3x230

Floating Deadlift
3x5x275

2/20
Deadlift
3x3x340

Press
5x5x120

Paused Squat
3x5x235

2/22
Squat
5x5x260

Bench
5x5x205

Rack Pulls
3x8x295

2/24
Squat
3x3x295

Press
4x3x135

Floating Deadlift
3x5x280

Been bad at logging, but have been good about lifting. Most recent

3/9

Squat
3x3x315

Press
4x3x140

Floating Deadlift
3x5x290

4/14

Squat
3x3x335

Press
4x3x152.5

Floating Deadlift
3x5x305

I’ve been working out just not logging. Trying to get back into that habit

Been working out 3xweek, just not logging

5/24
Deadlift
2x3x400

Press
5x5x137.5

Rack Pull
3x7x350

6/23

Squat
3x3x380

Press
3x2x162.5
1x1fx162.5

Misgrooved this, could have had it had I gotten it back earlier

Floating Deadlift
3x5x345

Damn. First time I've visited this log. You're putting up some damn good numbers, dawg.

Thanks man, I appreciate it. Hope to keep increasing them for a while.

Deadlift
2x3x425

Bench
5x5x222.5

Pause Squat
2x5x310

Gonna get some videos up in the next week. I’ve been working with a coach for a while now and I think my form has improved pretty substantially

Squat
5x5x340

Press
5x5x140

Rack Pull
3x7x370

Is there a formal program? I see some patterns but I'm still not quite sure. What's your bodyweight? Do you have any problems with back pumps doing the paused squats after DLs?

I'm 6'2 216lbs. My original goal was to cut down to 200lbs by New Years, and that might still be possible if I really focused but 210 or so seems more realistic. I've generally been overweight since I was a teenager and struggle with weight loss (not pretending it's due to reasons out of my control, it just is what it is)

The program I'm doing is a Heavy-Light-Medium program that my coach (Jordan Stanton, formerly a Starting Strength guy, now with Barbell Logic) designed for me. It is:

Day 1
Squat 3x3
Press/Bench 4x2
Floating Deadlift 3x5

Day 2
Deadlift 2x3
Bench/Press 5x5
Pause Squat 2x5

Day 3
Squat 5x5
Press/Bench 5x5
Rack Pulls 3x7

Lower body lifts go up by 5lbs per week provided I hit my triples. Upper body goes up by 2.5 lbs again provided I hit my doubles. I've been running this since early March, and I think I should be able to progress like this for a few more weeks. When I start missing triples (which has happened with my upper body lifts already, those started as 4x3) I switch to doing doubles. I'm not sure what happens after doubles stall, probably depends on what my goals are.

I joined Jordan's gym in late February, and working out under the supervision of a coach cueing me in real time has made a huge difference. Also I'm either the weakest or the second weakest of the young men who lift there, so that helps motivate me to get stronger. And even when the coaches aren't around having dudes who know what proper form looks like and will tell me when my squat looks shitty (and who will call me out when I bail on a rep without grinding hard first) helps too.

The only day I really get back pumps are day 3, with the high volume squats and then the rack pulls which are an awkward starting position for me. Regular DL's don't seem to bother my lower back too much, so day 2 usually isn't too bad.

Squat
3x3x385

WS3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTzSrifvwGA

Bench
1x9x225
2x5x225
1x4fx225

Was working out with a bro so went a little harder on the first set then I usually would, and it made the subsequeny sets a lot harder, I was programmed to do 4x2x255, which I'll do on Friday instead

Deadlift
1x4x430
1x3x430

WS1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_26cZMBAe1M

Again I was supposed to do 2x3x430 but went a little over for my friend. Probably had 5 on that first set but I was doing them hook grip and my grip was slipping. The bars at this gym (my normal gym) are smoother than the ones at my powerlifting gym so that's partly my excuse.

7/3

Pause Squats
2x5x315

WS2: https://youtu.be/r-vS5_XYyIQ

Felt nice to hit a pause squat milestone. Although for a few of these the pause may have been short

Press
5x5x135

Deadlifts
3x5x375

Forgot my straps for rack pulls. So I dropped the reps to 5 and did them from the floor

7/5

Squat
5x5x345

I hate volume squatting

Bench
4x2x255

Floating Deadlift
3x5x350

My days got a little screwed up this week due to working out with my bro Tuesday. But I’ll be back at the regular programming next week

7/7

Squat
1x3x390
1x2fx390

Press
1x2fx150
1x2fx145
2x3x135

Floating Deadlift
3x5x350

Slept poorly and worked out before work which I don’t usually do. Was a poor workout

7/9
Deadlift
2x3x435

Bench
5x5x225

Pause Squat
2x5x320

7/11

Squat
5x5x350

Press
5x5x135

Rack Pull
3x7x380

Volume day sucks

7/13

Squat
3x2x395

WS1: https://youtu.be/v0DUb6gPr_w
WS2: https://youtu.be/A2Ftq_XGiCA (best set, I think)
WS3: https://youtu.be/fhWaSplpwZU

Felt surprisingly easy. Would be receptive to form feedback on these. I know I am doing some degree of hips going back and up, I also think it might be an acceptable amount. I’m of the view that some amount of that is inevitable, and maybe even optimal, for a heavy low bar squat, it’s just a question of degree, not sure if people here share that view or not but would be interested in opinions anyway

Press
4x2x150

WS2: https://youtu.be/9xXp4jGqSUw

Floating Deadlift
3x5x350

7/15

Pause Squat
2x5x315

WS1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooi7xSzN1Nc
WS2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_mnFGzsz3M

Bench
5x5x225

Deadlift
2x3x440

WS2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzS8f71pNVQ

Was happy with pause squats, thought deadlifts looked a little loose. Usually I do deadlifts first and then pause squats, I don't think it should make a differnce physically, but it might matter a little psychologically

It looked okay IMO. Definitely solid weight for your bodyweight.

You know what to work on from watching it yourself. Yes, your hips shot up. Your knees tend to start to cave in on all the reps, but you fight back right away on all of them. It might be better if neither of those happened in the first place, but I imagine you're already on that.

It looks like you have an Inzer Forever belt (or equivalent), which is nice. I have one too. But, is I too tight? You have to have some space in there for a good valsalva maneuver, which could help keep your torso a bit more upright. It's hard to tell for sure in the video.

Good lifting.

Probably, but the first rep of the first video was probably the best rep.

Yeah, the deadlifts were strong, but there is always room for improvement on the deadlift.

When you initiate the lift, your torso loses tightness, your lower back and upper back round and, as your knees are almost straight at that point, your hamstrings and lower back take on most of the lift.

When you initiate the lift, you probably want to grab the bar, bend the knees until your shins touch the bar. Then, pull the slack out the bar while forcing your chest out. You'll probably have a tighter core, more quad involvement, and less lower back stress

I went throughs something similar. We're about the same exact strength on deadlift, so maybe it will be of some use:

Before:


Notes I made about that: "On the plus side, I think I'm leveraging the weight up just fine. On the other hand, I thought I was pushing my chest out further than I am, and my hips look very tight. My posture is worse than I thought it would be. And, I took forever to set up, obviously.

I know I should just stand 1 inch from the bar, bend over, move my shins to the bar, stick out my chest and lift the weight by imagining I'm pushing the floor from the bar. It looks less like that than I thought it would."

After:


It's not perfect by any means, especially the lockout, but the main stuff is improving IMO.

Thanks so much for the detailed feedback, I think everything you've said is right on the money. Regarding the belt, I had set it when I was 225, I'm now about 10lbs lighter and I think I needed to tighten it. I did my first session with it one slot tighter and while it pinches my sides a little I think I'm more stable. Unfortunately I did not film that squat session but I will next time.

For the deadlift I often think I'm doing exactly that set up in my head, and then when I watch it I see it's not nearly tight enough. Having my coach look at me while I deadlift helps as he holds me accountable for actually getting uncomfortable during the set-up. I'll be resuming working with him this week. And yeah for the squat the issues are the same issues I've known about or years, hips shooting back and knees caving. They're less bad than they used to be but still definitely present. I think for both this and the deadlift being watched mid-set helps a lot in terms of forcing me to work on these issues.

Anyway thanks again for reviewing my videos, I'll have to check out your log in the near future.

7/19

Squat
5x5x345

Press
5x5x130

Rack Pull
3x8x385

Glad to help. For me, pulling the slack out of the bar and forcing my chest out (and tightening my lats) was a good mental cue to keep my torso going in that direction.

Looking forward to future videos.