Deadlifting, erector spinae, and other things

[tikuane]

Hi Mark. Thanks for all the time you spend here, it is enriching. I wish there were more books like BBT. Do you have some favorites? Some training questions:

1) My left erector spinae is significantly larger than the right
- Doctor said it was natural variation. Found no scoliosis.
- Resuming training again, left erector spinae is sore after front squats and deadlifts and right one isn't.
- I call bullshit on doc's explanation now. This appears to indicate the left one is being 'favored' ?
-This is not in my head, in some close fitting shirts I can feel the left side pressing against the shirt whilst the right isn't and has been noticed by others during massage
- Squat rack is conveniently in front of the mirror resulting in making many ugly faces at myself as well as having the opportunity to examine my nuts at the bottom of front squats. This is of course the true indicator of proper form, correct? I have also observed that I pull straight when deadlifting.
- I am right handed, 5' 7", 165lbs. Best deadlift was 315x5. New gym has forced me to reduce working weight (shoes, different weights/bar, etc).

2) If I would like to load chins more aggressively in a TM style program, is it as simple as adding 5x5 chins on top of squats, bench, and 1x5 deadlift (5x3 power clean on intensity day instead)? Grip could be a problem.

Shall I do 2x5 pull-ups on recovery day? This would seem to work since chins interfere with the press, but not bench. Why is this? What muscle(s) is/are the lynch pin here?

3) For volume day, has anyone tried using 6 x 4 as follows: 2 x 4 Press, 2 x 4 Dips, and 2 x 4 Bench. Or 4 x 4 Press and 2 x 4 Bench for 2:1 press/bench training ratio as indicated for CFT improvement. Is this useful? Why or why not?

Thank you for your time.

[Mark Rippetoe]

1. Scoliosis is not necessarily the only cause of an imbalance in erector size. Even if your spine is straight unloaded, anything that might cause an asymmetry under load -- a short leg, for instance -- would produce a muscle belly asymmetry over time.

2. This looks complicated.

3. No one has ever done this because it is illegal. If you do it, be sure that you are alone; sets of 4 reps, again, are illegal.