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Thread: Another attempt at heads down + other things

  1. #1
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    Jun 2009
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    Default Another attempt at heads down + other things

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    I originally posted this in my old post of head down in the squat, but it seemed like people didn't notice it so i thought i may as well start a new thread.

    So for yesterday's workout i took some vids from the back view as well.

    Here's 103kg from the side.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfeE5QbS4GE

    Hopefully i managed to hit the correct depth here, though i felt i was a bit high on the last 1. Also i only managed to hit 4 reps.

    Here is 103kg from the back.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9Sym7x_yyg

    Sorry i couldn't get the actual feet as you know i lift in my cramped lil' bed room and so my bed was in the way. I'll try and figure a way around it hopefully. I think the camera angle was tilted a bit so use the top beam of the power rack as a reference for parallel to ground. I think i was still lopsided (ass seems to be shifting to right on way up).

    I tried narrowing the stance a tad to see if it would help, and my right leg ended up caving in and so i just hit 1 rep for my last set

    To be honest i think my squats have hit a wall and i'm not sure if it's time to move on to intermediate programming for them. I've deloaded i think twice already. Ever since crossing the 100kg mark my squats have been extremely hard and i've been going by 0.5kg increases and have now been getting inconsistent sets 4/5/1 today. I'm not sure how you're meant to fail a squat, but i fail mine because my core fails to maintain my back and i can feel my back rounding under the weight. So is it time to move on to intermediate? Throw in some front squats on wednesday or what? My other lifts are still progressing albeit a bit slowly.

    And here's my bench at 60kg from the side
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9ZveDrueCQ

    and from the front
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsttvSlSnak

    Seems to be some lopsidedness with this (left side seems lower). If i could get some expert eyes on this.

    I managed to hit 118.5kg for 5 reps today for deadlift but i had a fairly rounded back so i'll try to fix it up more first before posting a vid of my deadlift.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
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    Hey So you have been squatting three times a week until now? Maybe you could try squatting heavy two times (Mon and Fri), increasing 1.5kg per workout, and doing light squats on Wednesdays. Deload & reduce frequency.

    You've heard enough of the following already, but ... how's the bodyweight changed the last two/three months? (btw, what is your height? in cm, please)

    One more thing: how much did your squat increase after your last deload?

  3. #3
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    Confuzzle, you're getting stronger man! Congrats. Now, time to think long and hard. Are you getting at least 8 hours of sleep per night? Can more calories help you?

    If you are eating a shit ton and sleeping every spare minute, then it's probably time for a small reset. Drop 10% off your squats and start working back up. This will probably help quite a bit (by the way, this is in the book...).

  4. #4
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    Your squat looks decent, but you are looking up as soon as you come out of the hole. Take a look at your first two squats in the first video. The first thing you do is look up and you stall. Then you look down and the weight moves.

    I know that when things are heavy that you want to look up. I fight the same tendency, but you need to keep that neck in line with the spine. Really focus on tightening up against that belt and keep that head and neck in line. That should help you drive the weight upwards.

    As for intermediate programming, I still think you can get more out of your novice phase. 103 kg is a good accomplishment, but that's probably well shy of where you would need intermediate programming.

    I took a look at your first post on these boards and you have put on weight. This is excellent. You probably need to put on more, but you look a hell of a lot better now. Congratulations. Keep eating. See if you can find a coach somewhere to fucking yell at you while you are training. This will make a big difference.

  5. #5
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    Sounds like light squatting on Wednesday (or whenever the middle day of your schedule) would serve you well

  6. #6
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    Thanks guys for the responses. So should i be incorporating a light back squat day on wednesday, or a light front squat day?

    Tom, do you think i can still go with 3x squatting heavy per week? I've dropped from increasing 1kg/workout to 0.5kg/workout and recently (past week) it's being really haphazard (missing reps, getting weird sets like 4/5/1)

    And to Force, last time i deloaded was i think about 80kg back to 70kg and it hasn't stalled since. And i had to back off a bit when i had my wisdom teeth out and started lifting after a 4-5 days off.

    And Sgsolberg, i've already deloaded twice i think so i was thinking maybe it was time to move on. (think i read somewhere, might have been SS FAQ, that 1 to 2 deloads is all that's necessary before moving on to intermediate) And about the sleep thing. I get at least 8 hours of sleep.

    But now the really annoying thing is this past week as you can see my lifting has been quite haphazard and today my workout was probably the worst ever. Could only do 1 rep at 103kg and had to drop it to 93kg which was still insanely hard. And for my press supposedly meant to do 40kg today it was a fail 4/4/0. (yes i couldn't get it up for some freakishly strange reason). And my hang cleans failed, only did 3x3 with lower weight than last workout sigh. I don't know what's wrong, but i'm still eating the same, getting aat least 8 hrs sleep but i just had no energy today, I felt "floppy" and couldn't tighten up, and i kept yawning. Should i cut out my last meal before bed so i just go to sleep earlier instead? I have no idea what was off but it pissed the crap out of me

  7. #7
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    I understand if you want to switch it up, but it seems like you have more in your novice progression. Maybe you should ask Rip on his board.

    Additionally, there are other things that can be varied besides squats.

    Are you alternating cleans and deads? If so, consider Chins/Pullups on the bench days and only do cleans/deads alternating times on press days.

    This will lower the intensity a bit, and will free up more energy for your recovery. Remember that squats are the bread and butter of the program.

  8. #8
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    You're describing common symptoms of overtraining. You need to deload, as prescribed in PP, and do some light squats on Wednesday. While you've already deloaded twice before, these changes will still allow linear progression. Also, solberg brings up a good point about reducing deadlift frequency.

  9. #9
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    Hmm ok. So i'll chuck in light squats on wednesday (should i do light back squats or learn front). And would you say its better to skip my small meal before bed so i can get an extra hours sleep?

  10. #10
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    starting strength coach development program
    1. I would go with light back squats since as a novice lifter needs all the practice he can get.

    2. Why not eat then sleep?

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