Platus's Log

[Platus]

2/3/10

Squats: 290x3x5
Chins: 10,8

The squat reset and extra milk seems to have done its job. 290 actually felt easier than 285 did. I don't think that I've experienced that in a while. I feel like I'm on course to reaching or getting near sets of 315 in the next month - it would be great to do that without another reset.

[Platus]

You out of town? Because if you're snowed in now, stay there. Maryland west of the Chesapeake is about to get dumped on (Fri & Sat)

I'm in town and that was just an exaggeration. I got home late from work wouldn't have been able to finish my volume day of presses before the gym closed anyway. The snow was just the last straw.

[Platus]

My girlfriend was doing deadlifts tonight and I noticed an odd form problem:

She squatted 105x3x5 last week, but has trouble doing a single set of 135x5 for deadlifts. I had her do five singles with 60sec. rest. The problem is that she cannot get into proper back position with the bar over her mid-foot. She claims that she is too short - 4'11" - but I know there are shorter powerlifters out there.

It seems like the bar comes into contact with her shin when the bar is still over her toes. In order to get the bar over mid-foot she has to extend her leg so much that her back is very close to horizontal. So, in either position, the lifting mechanics seem to limit the contribution that her legs can make.

I will take some footage next time and see if my analysis is accurate at all.

[Platus]

2/6/10

Snowed in again, so I did what I could:

Squat: 125x2x5
Press: 155x5
SLDL: 165x6, 185x6, 200x6, 220x6, 245x6

Hopefully things will clear up quickly so I can get back on schedule on Monday.

[Mr.City]

My girlfriend was doing deadlifts tonight and I noticed an odd form problem:

She squatted 105x3x5 last week, but has trouble doing a single set of 135x5 for deadlifts. I had her do five singles with 60sec. rest. The problem is that she cannot get into proper back position with the bar over her mid-foot. She claims that she is too short - 4'11" - but I know there are shorter powerlifters out there.

It seems like the bar comes into contact with her shin when the bar is still over her toes. In order to get the bar over mid-foot she has to extend her leg so much that her back is very close to horizontal. So, in either position, the lifting mechanics seem to limit the contribution that her legs can make.

I will take some footage next time and see if my analysis is accurate at all.

This sounds very curious. How can the bar be in contact with her foot when it's over her toes. I can't grasp that.

[Platus]

She is very petite, and getting her knees high enough off the ground to get the bar over mid-foot means that her legs are more extended at the start of the pull than for most people. The day I made the post it was practically a SLDL.

We played around with it today and I think it has gotten better - bar over mid-foot, acceptable arching of the back. She is just going to have to pull from a more horizontal back position than others would.

[Mr.City]

What do you mean by "getting her knees high enough off the ground?" I've always got into position with stiff legs, bending down to get grab the bar, and then bending my knees until my shins touched the bar. Is this how you guys do it?

[Platus]

Yes, but when the 'bending the knees until my shins touch the bar' phase is complete, she is not far off from an SLDL stance. She has a MUCH easier time getting into position when there are 25's on the bar instead of 45's, so I think the problem is related to her height relative to the height of the bar off the ground. Which gets me to thinking that maybe she should just do them from a deficit this week and see how that goes.

[Scrofula]

I'm a short guy -- 5'6" -- and I have a similar problem. I think it has more to do with proportions than size -- long legs and short torso. Someone from these forums happened to be training at my gym, so he coached me through the standard SS-style deadlift setup. Same problem as above -- horizontal, curved back when the bar hit my shin. When I set my back, either the bar rolls forward or my scapula goes way behind the bar.

The solution I've been experimenting with is to let both of these things happen -- I set my back from almost a squatting position, bar over toes, scapula behind bar. I then intentionally shoot my hips up with the bar still on the ground, keeping my back tight, while rolling the bar back over mid foot. Looks kind of like an Olympic lifter preparing to clean. This still leaves me with the problem of having a pretty horizontal back angle, but I think that's just how it's going to be with my proportions. My deadlift is well ahead of my squat (though both are still pretty measly), and I don't tend to get a sore back, so maybe this is a reasonable workaround.

[Platus]

Thanks Scrofula, we'll give that a try.