Movin on up?

[hpcast]

Recently on my last set of 5 I noticed that on 3 out of 5 I am having some form breakdown. I am still able to push the weight up, but my back angle is changing. Currently I am squatting 235lbs. Should I continue to up the weights each session or wait until I can complete all sets with "Perfect" form.

Thanks
Zach

[Tom Campitelli]

This question is terribly vague. Info on what you weigh, how much you eat, how much you sleep, what your weight increases are, and a video showing your squat would all be of help.

[hpcast]

Sorry,
189lbs 15-20% fat.
39 yrs old
2800-3300 cals per day= 0.5lbs per week on the scale. Half gallon milk/ day.
6-8 hrs sleep night.
5 lb increases

current:
235 lb squat
290lb deadlift
130 Pendlay row
My presses suck, I am working on a shoulder injury...


working on a video.

Thanks.

[Tom Campitelli]

The things I am going to say are general in nature, but they are worth repeating.

• As things get heavier, some minor form inconsistencies will make themselves known. If lots of your reps look bad, then they need to be fixed. If your last couple reps on your last sets suffer just a bit, that's usually okay.
• Sometimes it will feel like your back angle is changing more than it actually is. This is where a coach or a video will be of use.
• Make sure to approach your last set aggressively. You are far more likely to keep things together if you are moving with purpose instead of focusing on how fatigued you are.
• If you are starting to get irritated joints/tendons/etc and you suspect that form faults are the cause, then you need to correct matters.
• The first thing to correct is recovery. Eating and sleeping are important. More important than you think. 6 hours of sleep a night is not really enough to recover fully if done regularly. As you get stronger and as you lift heavier weights, you will need to eat more food just to keep up.
• Consider finding a coach if continual form breakdown becomes an issue.

Those are some thoughts for you. You are 39 and need to take recovery more seriously than someone who is 21. However, you are still plenty young to make good progress.

Lastly, while Glenn Pendlay is a well known coach, he did not invent barbell rows. We don't call our favorite exercise Rippetoe Squats even though he has arguably done a lot recently to popularize the low bar technique.

[hpcast]

Thanks for you input. It is just a few of my last reps, but the wt on the bar keeps moving up. I need to get a video camera...

Cheers

Zach