Lifting to Live

[mangen]

Music The Damned, Alone Again Or

I became familiar with this song from UFO's 1977 Lights Out album. Whether it is Love, UFO or The Damned, it is a damn fine song.

[Bill Anders]

good stuff!

Thank you, sir!

I've been fighting the "sleep" issue off and on for a while now...it sucks!

It does. Luckily I kicked it over the past week while traveling. Now to maintain that when I resume training.

I became familiar with this song from UFO's 1977 Lights Out album. Whether it is Love, UFO or The Damned, it is a damn fine song.

Ha! I didn't realize that it was a cover (of a cover), although I shouldn't be surprised. Typically my listening of The Damned and UFO are widely separated, enough that no doubt I think "damn, this is a fine song" without making the connection. Now to seek out the original Love version...

[Bill Anders]

9/24/21 - Friday

SQ
45x10x2
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
265x1
295x3*
275x5x2

BP
45x5
95x3
135x1
175x1
202.5x2*
192.5x5x2

DL
135x4
185x2
225x1
275x1
275x1 + straps
305x5 + straps

Notes - Training session/Form Check with SSC Adam Lauritzen at Silverback Strength and Conditioning, Reno, NV.
- SQ - Although 295lbs should have been my work sets, right out the gate these felt about 50lbs heavier and were an absolute grind for the two reps that I did, so Adam called a back-off so we could focus on form. Form corrections included a wider stance (I thought that I was at shoulder width, but apparently not) and a re-correction on my sitting back, which I had apparently over-compensated with during my focus over the summer on keeping my knees locked in place.
- BP - Similar to the squat, I ran out of gas after just 2 reps and Adam had to save me. So with the 10lb back-off I could focus on form. Form corrections included changing my focus for the shoulder tightening (I was bringing the scapula together higher than I should have been) plus tucking my heels in a bit more, which definitely helped with the drive and tightness issues that have plagued me on this lift.
- DL - Instead of chasing my 335lb attempt (previous failures above) and the way I went into the squat and bench, we programmed 90% immediately. He had only a minor correction here to focus on the occasional very slight hip drop. The big change for me was the addition of straps, which I hadn't used before but had planned on adding in the coming months. I already had the material sitting in my online shopping basket, which made it easy to hit the button as soon as I got home.

[Bill Anders]

9/27/21 - Monday

SQ
45x10x2
95x5
135x3
185x1
225x1
280x5x3

OP
45x5
75x3
95x1
105x1
115x5x2
125x1
135x3
135x2
125x3x2

PC
65x5
65x8 - jump position
65x5 - below knee
65x5 - floor
95x5
95x5
95x3x2

Notes - Another training session/Form Check with SSC Adam Lauritzen at Silverback Strength and Conditioning, Reno, NV. This one was unplanned but by the time Sunday rolled around, I saw an opening in my schedule and luckily he had just one in his so I could get eyes on the other lifts.
- SQ - adding just 5lbs to Friday's session, this should have been fine. But the first set was an absolute grind. But then Adam pointed out that I had made a 55lb jump from my last warmup to my work sets, completely skipping my 90% warmup. No idea how that happened, other than I just didn't write it down in my log book before heading to the gym. Sets 2 & 3 were fine, with minor reminders on a few of the points from Friday. Plus, I had him measure my heel-heel distance (17") so that I could make sure that I'm getting shoulder width apart at home.
- OP - Overall, pretty good, although he made sure that I focused on getting the bar back over my shoulders faster than I was. While the cue to keep the bar close to the nose is good, brushing the forehead really helps to get that bar back and over the shoulders.
- PC - This one took the most work, basically starting from scratch as I was rushing the movements, which made me move the bar path around my knees instead of keeping the bar in contact with my legs until the jump position. That often meant that I was chasing the bar to get under it. Basically, he walked me through the same steps as Phil does with Becky in this recent video, which I had watched, but it's not the same as getting in-person direct correction for the steps to sink in.

Overall, it was well worth paying for the two sessions to get everything looked at. The real-time corrections are huge, much more effective than getting feedback on a video hours or days after the fact.

[David Hooper]

Overall, it was well worth paying for the two sessions to get everything looked at. The real-time corrections are huge, much more effective than getting feedback on a video hours or days after the fact.

Man, this speaks to my soul. Especially on the power clean. I can see things like, "your back is rounding; tighten up" working with online coaching, but online coaching of the clean has to be a Sisyphean nightmare.

Glad it worked out so well for you! I saw your comment on my log; I'll just answer here that I'm going to get the clean looked at, and try to learn the power snatch while I'm at it. Might as well do it while I have live help.

Straps really helped me get my deadlift going. The cost is that grip work goes out the window. I still don't have a great replacement for that.

[Bill Anders]

Straps really helped me get my deadlift going. The cost is that grip work goes out the window. I still don't have a great replacement for that.

I think that I'll make sure to keep doing all of my warmup lifts without, even though Adam got onto me a few times to get my belt on for my final warmup lifts, to treat that like the "dress rehearsal." I'm sure that we should treat the straps the same, but as the final warmup lift keeps creeping up, that should keep the grip doing OK.

[Bill Anders]

9/30/21 - Thursday

SQ
45x10x2
95x3
135x1
185x1
225x1
250x1
280x5x3

BP
45x5
95x3
135x1
175x1
195x5x3

DL
135x4
185x2
225x1
275x1
300x1
315x5

Music — SiriusXM's Bloody Roots of Liquid Metal, Bloody Roots of 1991, 9/18/21 - Kyuss, Isolation; Godflesh, Slavestate; Type O Negative, Xero Tolerance.

Notes — Focusing on the corrections that Adam Lauritzen coached me on over the past week (see above).
- SQ - I marked up my platform to indicate the correct heel-to-heel width, which really seemed to help, as I was a bit narrow before. All three sets cruised, which shouldn't be too much of a surprise, but considering how much 290 was a grind the week before last, the small changes might be the trick.
- BP - Tightening the lower scapula and pulling the heels in really tightened everything up, which was something that I was missing before (I was tightening my upper scapula like a shrug and the heels were out where my tibia was either just at vertical or less than 90 degress). Like the squats, all three sets at 195lbs cruised, whereas the weeks before last, I was dropping my last rep at 202.5lbs. I'll walk it back up using NLP programming, but I think I really just need to switch to Nick's Intermediate Press programming for the frequency to keep this and the press moving.
- DL - Not much to say here, as Adam had only one small correction for one rep out of my workset. This was without straps, but I got the shipping notification during the warmups that the strap material is on its way (I'll be making my own). In weeks past, the 300x1 was right at my limit for a double overhand, so I suspected that it would give me a bit of trouble. I set up with the hook grip instead, but it wasn't going to come up without more struggle than the warmup was worth, so I switched to mixed, which worked well through the work set.

[David Hooper]

I think that I'll make sure to keep doing all of my warmup lifts without, even though Adam got onto me a few times to get my belt on for my final warmup lifts, to treat that like the "dress rehearsal." I'm sure that we should treat the straps the same, but as the final warmup lift keeps creeping up, that should keep the grip doing OK.

It does help, but singles or doubles on the final warmup aren't nearly the stressor that the workset is. My grip strength is still going up - it's just glacially slow.

[Bill Anders]

It does help, but singles or doubles on the final warmup aren't nearly the stressor that the workset is. My grip strength is still going up - it's just glacially slow.

Fair enough.

One thing about this that Adam mentioned as he was picking out a pair of straps was "why would you want to keep your hips weak, limited by your grip?" Which, for me, makes sense, especially since I don't have any plans on competing.

[David Hooper]

Haha that was basically exactly the same thing I was told. :-) I have no regrets about switching. My deadlift is probably 30-50 pounds higher (and a lot less frustration) than if I had kept going strapless.