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Thread: Stronger Than Yesterday

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Amy-in-PHX View Post
    SQ 30x5x2
    45x5x2
    65x3x1
    80x2, 80x5x2, 80x3
    On the 1st set @80lbs, on the 3d rep I let my torso drop forward too far, and the bar rolled toward my neck (Scary). But I recovered well enough to stand back up and rack the bar OK. That's why the 1st work set was only 2 reps. (I didn't count that ugly 3d rep.) The 2d work set went better, though a couple reps were a bit wobbly. I cranked the upper back as tight as I could get, and concentrated more on back angle, to control the bar. (I don't think I have that "shelf of muscle" formed by the deltoids, on which Rip says one is supposed to rest the bar.
    All fairly easily rectified.

    Don't let your hips rise faster than your chest and shoulders, especially off the bottom. Keeps the bar from rolling up on you. Always make sure the bar stays below 7th cervical, the one that usually protrudes more than the other, although not on everyone.

    Are you very thin? If so, rows and deadlifts will help build the muscle on your upper back to set the bar on. I trained thousands of high school kids over my life and occasionally ran across some built very lightly and thin. It was rare when a shelf couldn't be created by narrowing your grip on the bar, squeezing your shoulder blades together. This forms the cradle to set the bar.

    2-4-6-...oh, you get it!
    Last edited by Oldster; 02-22-2018 at 03:01 PM.

  2. #12
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    Go see an SS coach from time to time. He/she can correct technique problems rather quickly.

  3. #13
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    Fr 2-23-18
    Well, good news from the knee -- pain pulses were gone by noon yesterday, and the workout today went fine. I'm not as tired this afternoon as on Wed (late morning workout goes better than late afternoon). Hoping for continued no-knee-pain tomorrow morning. I kept work set weight the same as Wednesday, on the squat -- I give my form an A on the 65-lb warmup set, and at least a solid B on the work sets. On the DL, I accidentally went backward 5 lbs -- I intended to do the same weight as Wednesday, but apparently I copied the numbers from Monday into my plan for today, instead. At the gym I was feeling great about how not-hard it felt - now I know why!

    SQ
    30x5x2
    45x5x2
    55x5x1
    65x3x1
    80x5x3
    3d work set went better than 2d -- I had lengthened inter-set rest from 3 minutes to 5.
    PR
    20x5x1
    30x5x2
    40x5x1
    43x5x3 (33-lb bar + 10)
    The bar movement was pretty slow on the last couple reps of each work set, but I was a bit pre-exhausted by having to do the DL before the work sets of press, because I needed to keep possession of the platform. (The 33-lb bar is not 7 feet long, and you can't use it on the power rack.) The Y hasn't had many lifters wanting to use the rack up till now; I'm hoping it's not a trend. Anyway, the work sets were 3 lbs heavier than Monday's press work sets. Resting 5 mins between work sets.
    DL
    65x3x5
    90x5x2
    110x5
    LAT
    75x10, 75x6 with dangle-y handles, 75x8, 70x12
    Last edited by Amy-in-PHX; 03-12-2018 at 05:37 PM.

  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by carson View Post
    Go see an SS coach from time to time. He/she can correct technique problems rather quickly.
    I wish! There's only one in the Metro PHX area (5.5 million people), and he's only available on Saturdays because he's teaching and working on his PhD thesis!
    Thinking about online coaching, but have to break down and get a smartphone, first - hehehe - I've turned into one of the old codgers who lags behind modern technology.

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Oldster View Post
    All fairly easily rectified.

    Don't let your hips rise faster than your chest and shoulders, especially off the bottom. Keeps the bar from rolling up on you. Always make sure the bar stays below 7th cervical, the one that usually protrudes more than the other, although not on everyone.

    Are you very thin? If so, rows and deadlifts will help build the muscle on your upper back to set the bar on. I trained thousands of high school kids over my life and occasionally ran across some built very lightly and thin. It was rare when a shelf couldn't be created by narrowing your grip on the bar, squeezing your shoulder blades together. This forms the cradle to set the bar.

    2-4-6-...oh, you get it!
    Nah, not very thin - just very de-conditioned. But working to rectify that, obviously. I noticed a "low row" machine at the gym that claims to work the rear delts, as well as Lats and others -- I may try that Monday in place of Lat pulldowns (Sh - don't tell Uncle Rip I'm considering a machine). Bless you for training high school kids -- I'm feeling extra-fond of both teachers and school kids this week.

    I did peptalk myself today about keeping the back angle steady while coming up out of the hole. No rolling bar today. Seems like the only way it could roll is if you let your back become a "downhill" slope for it -- and that's not proper squat form! It would mean hips coming up faster than chest & head, as you said. On Wednesday, it didn't reach my C7, so couldn't have moved far from the "low-bar" position, but the idea that it might reach my neck was the scary part.

  6. #16
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    Default Stronger Than Yesterday

    Mon 2-26-18

    SQ
    30x5x2
    45x5x2
    70x5, 70x3
    85x5x2
    80x5x1 -- I meant to do three sets of 5 at 85lbs, but it was not to be, today. Maybe I've gone as far as I can with 5-lb jumps?? The weight seems to push me down too far in the hole, and I don't feel any bounce to help me get back up again. But, everything up to 70 lbs felt very good -- I feel like a badass, lifting weights I could not have imagined myself lifting back in January. Time to stop using the light/short bars for squat warmups, and go straight to the 45-lb bar and the rack.
    BN
    45x5x2
    50x5x1
    55x5x1
    57.5x5x3 - A bit slow on the work sets, but form is fine.
    DL
    65x3x5
    85x5x1
    95x5x1
    115x5x1
    A slight pain in medial area of L knee during DL warmup sets -- I tried reducing the angle at which I turn out my toes, and that seemed to fix it.
    LAT - I tried out the Precor plate-loaded, "low row" machine. Not fond of it -- very small range of motion, compared to lat pulldowns.
    75x12x3

    I did a weigh-in Saturday and found I've done 6+ weeks of training 3X/week, plus 50-60 minutes hiking 3X/week, with no discernible change in body weight or composition, while averaging under 1800 calories per day with 115g protein. So I've set new targets:
    1910 calories, 130g pro, 190g carb, 70g fat (percentages of total = 27/40/33).
    Will try that for a couple weeks and see whether I can add some lean mass.
    Last edited by Amy-in-PHX; 03-12-2018 at 05:36 PM.

  7. #17
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    Some purty good work here, Amy in Phoenix!

    Remember, don't get in a big hurry. Got all the time in the world. Add a little weight to the bar, watch your diet as much as you can.

    You'll get there.

  8. #18
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    Wed 2-28-18

    SQ
    30x5, 40x5
    45x5x2
    70x5x2
    85x5x2
    82x5x1
    Did 2 more warmup sets than planned (@30 and 40 lbs) because the rack was occupied when I got to the gym. Still could not knock out 3 work sets @85lbs, but I had some microplates with me, so I could back off by less than 5 lbs when I needed to take some weight off for the 3d work set. I give my form at least a B.
    PR
    30x5
    35x5
    40x5
    45x5x3
    Really happy to have gotten to using the "big boys' bar" for the work sets of the press. Just 2 lbs heavier than the previous press work sets, but with decent form and bar speed. Woohoo!
    DL
    65x3x5
    85x5
    100x5
    120x5
    Really close to goal on DL!
    LAT
    60x12
    65x12x2
    I'm back to the Lat pulldown machine, and I took some weight off the bar because I'm no longer using the supine grip (which allowed me to recruit biceps into the movement). Instead I'm using the grip with palms facing away. I saw my doctor yesterday, and asked him about the R thumb tendonitis. He says it can take up to 16 weeks for that pain to subside, and it's only been 2 months so far. His advice is to avoid doing the things that make it hurt -- which the "chins" grip was the main one of those. Hope that the tendon will continue to get less painful with this change, and I won't have to change anything about the other lifts!

    My neck was really sore the day after I tried that Precor low row machine -- mostly on the left side, so I'm not sure whether it was the new machine, or the position I slept in, but in either case I like this Lat pulldown exercise much better.
    Last edited by Amy-in-PHX; 03-12-2018 at 05:35 PM.

  9. #19
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    This is a link to Rip's 2017 video, clarifying elbow position and the degree of shoulder extension in the low-bar squat. Just putting the link here, in case I want to see it again -- since I had to search for a while to find it today, although I knew it existed.
    YouTube

    And in this one from 2011 he taps the lifter's posterior deltoid to show where it is. (It's not where I had thought! It's further out from the spine.) The narrowest grip you can manage bunches up the deltoid muscle mass to carry the bar.
    The Squat - Bar Position
    Last edited by Amy-in-PHX; 03-01-2018 at 01:10 PM. Reason: Added the cite to the 2011 video

  10. #20
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    starting strength coach development program
    Congrats on getting to the 'big boys bar', lady! It's sometimes the little things that make a big impact on our lifting.

    Nice work overall, too.

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