Petesmithings Log

[petesmithing]

Got some deadlift videos uploaded. First two videos are from 1 Feb, last one is from most recent workout on 8 Feb. I did my natural form in the first video, wasnt trying to correct anything. Second video was trying to make some corrections the same day. I'm not really sure if Im doing anything better or even trying to correct the right things, but I figured I would throw what I have out there for comments. And for some reason I cant figure out how to get the embeded links to work, so I'm adding manual ones.

Deadlift 1 - YouTube

Deadlift 2 - YouTube

8 FEB deadlift 225x5 - YouTube

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GDs3wYB-_fw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JkepphmF3d4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KG2riOaVayc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Quit Tomorrow]

Got some deadlift videos uploaded. First two videos are from 1 Feb, last one is from most recent workout on 8 Feb. I did my natural form in the first video, wasnt trying to correct anything. Second video was trying to make some corrections the same day. I'm not really sure if Im doing anything better or even trying to correct the right things, but I figured I would throw what I have out there for comments. And for some reason I cant figure out how to get the embeded links to work, so I'm adding manual ones.

Deadlift 1 - YouTube

Deadlift 2 - YouTube

8 FEB deadlift 225x5 - YouTube

The way you are performing deadlits right now is going to lead to back pain / disc herniation. Too much lumbar flexion and an inability to maintain neutral when starting your deadlift. The last day you did deadlifts were a touch better but if you plan on lifting for the rest of your life you're gonna wan to address this ASAP for the sake of your health.

A few pointers that may help

1. Post your videos here --> http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/forum155/ This is he technique forum. There will be a lot of people who will be happy to also give you feedback. If you only post your videos on your log you may need get immediate feedback.

Safety

2. Don't let your breath out on the way down while holding a heavy load. That breath is what's keeping pressure around your spine. That is a mechanism for injury.

3. If you can lower the deadlift fast - you don't need the eccentric stress to get stronger and your spine is very compromised already. If you need examples you can check out my log I post videos often.

Set up

3. Read read the deadlift section of Starting Strength again in conjunction to watching videos of other people deadlift or better yet from their youtube for visual examples. Here is a great one --> The Deadlift in 5 Steps | On the Platform - YouTube

4. Watch the video form #3 - you need to focus on the cue of Squeezing your chest up/Lifting your chest. You need to do this at least 100% times more than you are doing right now.

5. Here is another video that may be helpful --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo803cjyyLU

6. You may be starting too close to the bar. Make sure the bar is position at your mid foot.

Good luck.

[petesmithing]

Thanks for the tips Quit Tommorow. I've watched both those videos 3 or 4 times before as well as the deadlift chapter, but I think I might finally be getting somewhere. I had been practicing the back extension exercise from the squat chapter as a starting point after I discovered the back rounding, and that kind of threw me off. I started working on the back position from the butt rather than the chest. I had read the "squeeze the chest up" cue plenty of times but it never got through to me. I had to watch the videos again and develop my own cue of "puff the chest out". Squeeze the chest makes me think of a dumbell fly. Still not there yet, but I have a direction to go with improvement.

10 FEB
Squat 180x3x5
Bench 135x3x5
Deadlift 235x1x5

Session Notes:
Terrible day for work set form, but great day for progress and learning. Squat fell terrible all through warmups and work sets. Back felt like I was doing my squats on a balance ball, and elbows didnt feel comfortable either. I wasn't using a belt and was setting up by swinging under the bar in front of me. Decided to drop down to 135 and try the belt after work sets. I had never really felt comfortable with a belt before. Somehow in the process I forgot and set up with the bar behind me like I always have prior to starting this program. Backed up to the bar, reached my hand back, did the usual shimmying for position. Managed to find the right low bar shelf position. Everything just clicked in and squats were strong. Did a couple low rep sets and worked my way back up to 180. Felt incredibly strong and form felt remarkably better. I feel like I could have squatted 300 without problems. Im going to be using the belt and setting up with the bar behind me from now on. Bench didnt really feel good, had plenty of strength just felt unstable with form problems. I'm going to blame this on irritating my elbows on bad squats before and move on. Did some work on deadlift, felt good enough with progress to move on to 235. I need to read again about foot angle and shoving my knees out as well as figuring out if I'm dropping my hips too much in setting my back. Remember to find the right head position so I'm not cranking my neck and I have enough setup room to stare off into the distance. I should probably slow down on my work set like I did with warmups, got excited and let the bar fall out of position by not resetting properly after every rep. Also, heres a progress report video. I know theres only 4 reps, I did one before that got edited out.

10 FEB 235 deadlift - YouTube

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RY-UzuFnkC4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Quit Tomorrow]

Much better my friend.

Hips a touch low but that will get better with practice. At least you're safer than before. Slow down your progression going forward.

You don't have a good command of your upper back so you'll likely wrench your neck up while learning. That should get better as well but don't make it your long term strategy.

Good job.

[petesmithing]

13 FEB
Squat- Warmup: 45x2x5, 80x1x5, 115x1x3, 150x1x2
Workset: 185x3x5
Press: 105x3x5
Deadlift: 240x1x5

Session Notes:
Was in a bit of a rush for this session, let it affect my focus. I might need to change my workout time to when I wont have life invading my sacred space under the bar. Did my first 3 warmup sets of squats with the bar in front and trying some stretching to get into position. By the second set my elbows and wrists were already hurting. Last two warmups I backed into the bar and then set my hands. Couldnt find low bar position on warmups or worksets. Terrible form on everything. I just cant get form together if I cant get bar position right from the start. I'm beginning to think that I'm not doing enough warmup volume or a heavy enough warmup, and I also need to work on flexiblity. I'm doing to do some shoulder dislocates during the week and as part of warmups with a resistance band. I might also look into finding a long enough wooden stick or piece of pvc pipe. Not sure I'm really progressing with form. Had to rush too fast to troubleshoot and critical think. Only had time for deadlift video. Thought I made some progress from last session, but after reviewing the day after I'm noticing I'm letting the bar roll forward out of position in setup and the bar path isnt as vertical as I'd like.

13 FEB 240lb deadlift - YouTube

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qPr3SWog0AQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[petesmithing]

15 FEB
Squat: 190
Bench: 145
Deadlift:245

17 FEB
Squat: 195
Press: 110
Deadlift: 250

Session Notes:
Did some extra warmup sets with the bar for squat. I need to add in some no bar squats to the warmup too. Decided to force myself to lift outside the rack so I would have to work on form better until I was properly warmed up, also so I could get a squat video from behind for once. I guess I've been taking MORE HIP DRAAAVE! as stick my ass out and round my back. I'm going to quit reading the book to solve problems. I always find some cue that isnt actually a problem and bastardize it into something that seriously fucks up my form. Less book, more listening to my body. It makes sense why I could only feel the squat in my back now. And I think my inability to get into a good low bar position has a lot to do with shoulder mobility. At this point this really shouldnt be a fucking surprise to me considering that shoulder mobility has been the primary root cause of just about everything I fuck up for the last couple years. Press was ok I guess. I think I'm getting my shit together with deadlift now.

[petesmithing]

20 FEB
Squat: 200
Bench: 155
Deadlift: 255

Session Notes:
Today was both a good day and a bad day. Still havent fixed my squat, but the good thing is I know where the root of the problem is. Bad thing is its not going to be a quick or easy fix like a simple form correction. My shoulder mobility sucks. Did a couple air squats and about 6 empty bar sets. I cant get into low bar position. I can maybe start there and it wants to roll up on top of the spine of the scapula. I'm keeping my hands as wide as I can in the rack. Having 3" wide rack uprights sucks. I can feel it click in ok into low bar on the right shoulder, left shoulder doesnt want to stay there. I tried a shoulder mobility test and my left shoulder failed miserably. The test is something like this: You should be able to place your arm behind your back so that your forearm is roughly parallel to the ground (and your forearm/humerus is at roughly a 90 degree angle) and also be able to flip your hand over from the back of the hand flat against the back to the palm of the hand flat against the back. I can do ok, but not great on the right side, but left side is terrible. I cant get my forearm to about parallel or rotate my hand to where the palm is anywhere near flat against the back. I'm going to have to figure out what mobility work I need to do to become more flexible. My lower back hurts while squatting as soon as I get up to a moderately heavy weight in the warmups. I think the unequal/poor mobility in my shoulders is creating an unstable platform for the bar and my spinal erectors are working overtime to keep the load somewhat balanced. I'm going to have to drop down weight for however long it takes me to fix mobility and avoid the risk of injury to my lower back. Bench felt good, going to keep with another 10lb jump next session. Deadlift was a little tiring because my back was worn out. I'm going to have to consider working power cleans in to give me a break from heavy pulls. I'm a little intimidated by them because its such a technical lift, and I know I will fuck up form on just about everything I try. I think I'm going to break the movement down into pieces to learn like the video shows and only focus on one step each power clean day. While I wont be doing the full movement with weight, I think I will work on some box jumps. YNDTP, I know, but I'd rather take it slow to build correct form and I think box jumps are an good movement for a short period while I'm not worried about scaling difficulty.

[petesmithing]

22 FEB
Squat: No workset, worked my way up to a couple doubles and triples at 165
Press: 112.5
Deadlift: 260

Session Notes:
Worked on mobility troubleshooting. Quickly remembered that I have knotted up pec minor (maybe major or both) insertion near the front deltoid on the left side. Got something knotted up on the anterior right shoulder too. Maybe some trap problems too. Havent solved everything, but did identify the most pressing issues. Did some snow angels flat on my stomach with a lacrosse ball on the posterior knot on my left side. Also decided to break out my buffer to get some deep tissue work in. It seemed to make a noticeable improvement in mobility. Still nowhere near full mobility but an improvement anyway. Felt motivated before getting to my gym. Lost a lot of physical and mental energy about halfway through the squat. Focused on light weights and form, trying to get into a stable bar position. Got to heavier weights and didnt feel stable on the shelf. Quit at first sign of lower back stress. Mobility improvement didnt seem to let me get into a better bar position. Got to presses and my left shoulder felt tired already in warmup weights. But it did feel a little beat up and bruised before I even got to the gym. Buffer work wasnt such a good idea. Got the work sets in at a smaller jump, might try to repeat it. Was working on form, havent been really doing the hip bounce up until this point. I was tired and the sets and form didnt go well. Didnt have time for power clean work, decided to deadlift. Went pretty well, workset form wasnt great though. Took too much of a break between my last warmup and workset, lost my focus. Weight did go up pretty easy though.

[petesmithing]

24 FEB
Squat: 205
Bench: 165
Deadlift: 265

Session Notes:
Great day for learning. Have somewhere to go with improving form again. For squat I remembered that I'm trying to take the bar out the rack with a good morning movement in order to attempt low bar position, causing a lot of lower back stress. Focused on keeping my back upright when unracking. This means I cant get into low bar at all for now, so I have some work to do. Read the section in the book about shoulder tightness and unequal grip widths and gave that I try. I remembered that I always re-rack the bar off center, so I thought this gave me a clue that my tight left shoulder is pulling my grip. Set my right hand with thumb touching the outside of the grip mark, and left hand about 3.5 inches wide of the mark. This seemed to help alot. Relieved elbow and wrist tension, and I think my wrists were cocked back a lot less. Felt good enough to do my work sets with 205. Positioning the bar just above the spine of the scapula in high bar, which is making my form a little difficult. I need to stay more vertical in the high bar position, so I'm doing a bit of a good morning with my squat. I want to change my hip angle to what I'm thinking is about right for low bar, but I can only get into high bar position due to lack of shoulder flexibility. Going to continue to work on getting to low bar, but I'm going to have to be mindful of the hip angle difference. Bench felt great, another easy 10lb jump. I think I'm really doing well on shoulder and back tightness, might need a little work on bar path though. First set I unracked and did all 5 reps in one breath. Tried to breathe after 2nd rep on 2nd set, lost my back arch and couldnt figure out how to get it back, but didnt have much difficulty in getting the last 3 reps. Did all 5 reps on one breath for last set. I need to work on breathing and maintaining tightness. Deadlift went well. On the 4th rep I could feel myself shifting the weight to my toes, tried to correct for it and just rounded my back instead. Tweaked my back and had to roll it out. Wanted to try power clean , but shitty internet in my gym meant I couldnt find the video. I really dont want to do it without the instructional video coaching to walk me through it.

[carson]

Keep the bar on your shins.