Stronger Will... Do.

[gymbeam]

So today was meant to reset but thought I'd have a go at focussing on low bar form. I was able to get arms in low bar position but hands spread wide as I had read around hear as a starting point. Still hurts a lot but not as much and I'm now able to get the bar in the right position on the back.
Been working on shoulder mobility for about a week now so will keep that up.

Started with the bar and worked up.

Squat 1x5 bar
1x40kg
1x5 50kg
1x5 60
1x5 65
1x5 70
1x5 75kg

Rows - 2x6 80kg
Pull ups 1x6 1x5
Chin 2x6

Low bar felt really hard for me. It's a bit shit going back to this weight after all the effort it's taken to get up to where I was but I may now start to really work on form for low bar, shoulder mobility as well and increase the loads in 2.5kg increments and see what happens. As it may serve me better in the long run?

[Ivey]

I wasn't a strong man when I did StrongLifts, but I will say that the high bar squat was easy to learn. Switching to low bar was uncomfortable enough for me that I hired a coach. That's a huge personal cost for me, but I believe in the program. If I didn't, I would be doing high bar or forking over money for a chiropractor.
This would be more impressive if I had a 1,000# total and wasn't just a random guy on the internet.
Rip talks about it here (video): High Bar VS Low Bar Squat - YouTube
He writes about it here: High vs Low Bar: So Fucking What?

[gymbeam]

I wasn't a strong man when I did StrongLifts, but I will say that the high bar squat was easy to learn. Switching to low bar was uncomfortable enough for me that I hired a coach. That's a huge personal cost for me, but I believe in the program. If I didn't, I would be doing high bar or forking over money for a chiropractor.
This would be more impressive if I had a 1,000# total and wasn't just a random guy on the internet.
Rip talks about it here (video): High Bar VS Low Bar Squat - YouTube
He writes about it here: High vs Low Bar: So Fucking What?

Thanks. I'd already seen the video but gave it another watch and the thread was an interesting read.

Were your issues mobility?

[gymbeam]

Squat 1x70
Squat 1 x60
Bench 90
Dips BW 2x10

Shit day. I thought today would be the start of LP for the low bar but the pain was too much to push through.

Worked up to a 5rm of 70 and struggled to get 4 reps so dropped the weight. Again was too painful on my shoulder even with lower weight. Shit. Not sure what to try on Monday. High bar reset or low bar and start really really light and just work it up from there giving my self about a month of form work while slowly increasing the weight.

[gymbeam]

3rd option - my gym has a safety squat bar.

[gymbeam]

4th option - low bar with straps.

[gymbeam]

Decided to go with SSB. Felt great initially then as the weights increased you start to really feel it. Was good to not have some horrible pain for once though. Even though my legs were screaming!!
I think it's really good at keeping you stable as any slight movement you feel it pull or push in a direction.

Worked up to 100kg 3x5 and maybe drop the weight 10% to give me a bit of a run up over the next few weeks.

Squat - 100kg
Deadlift - 125kg

Deadlift felt good. Had to switch grip mid way through the set but was surprised my double overhand was even able to anything at that weight so definitely some improvement in grip.

Didn't bench tonight as muscle in my hand were aching as I started to bench so will go and bench tomorrow, hopefully doesn't fuck too much with recovery.

Tonight made me realise how great a home gym is. Had to wait ages for the rack!

[gymbeam]

Bench - 92.5kg 3x5
Dips - BW 25kg

Don't wanna jinx my self but that 2 plate is getting pretty close!!!

[gymbeam]

Kinda messed up where I was at today. Worked up to 80kg did 2 work sets then thought I should have only done a 10% drop from my previous workout so jumped up to 90kg.

Squat 2x80kg
Squat 3x90kg
Rows...
Curls...

Was so beat after squats that I just did a few sets of lighter rows and some curls.

I don't think the extra 2 sets would have made me feel so tired with programs such as 5x5 flying around etc. Maybe I'm still not fully recovered from mondays session?
May just stick to 90kg and start increasing in 2.5kg to get my self in the groove of using the SSB.

Looking forward to using the bar though as it's amazing on my shoulders. Hopefully transitioning to low bar as my shoulder mobility improves. But I'm not planning on competing or anything so hopefully this isn't a major issue for the program, I've read that low bar can allow most people to lift heavier weight so hopefully that works out ok in the end...

[gymbeam]

Squat 92.5 3x5
Bench 92.5 3x5
Dips BW x 12


Felt really tired today. Squats were really difficult for some reason. And even though it looks really shit my bench and squat are the same I feel my bench is ready to stall and my squat I've just done a 10% reset with 2.5kg increases.