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Thread: Less weak than last week

  1. #11
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    Jul 2016
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    Knoxville, TN
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    Default NLP Week 10

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    TL;DR - much better day overall. Squats (light day) felt solid and didn't bother elbow; press went up; deadlift went easier than Monday

    12 February 2021
    Weight - 200
    Squat - 225 (light day)
    Press - 95
    Deadlift - 325

    Kept the hands in tight on the squat again. It was a lighter day so it was hard to tell how effective it was, but the elbow didn't complain at all afterwards. I didn't have any hint of lower back fatigue either, suggesting I may have done better with upper back tightness. I'll have to see how Monday goes when the weight goes back up.

    Press felt pretty good too, maybe in part because the elbow isn't as sore as it's been in the past. Not that my weight is much, but I'm increasingly feeling the sensitivity to how the bar travels up the groove, which will be great for consistency of form.

    Deadlift went up better than Monday. Maybe because my back was just feeling better overall, but I felt a lot more confident about it from start to finish. Hook grip held for all 5 reps, with only a slight adjustment around the pinkies between the 4th and 5th rep.

    Week overview: Deadlift crossed 3 plates, bench got its first plate, squat seems to have improved in form, and press kept moving. Power cleans went to trash so I'm backing up and going to fix my drunk monkey form. I suspect that once I really get the cleans nailed down they'll move right on up.

  2. #12
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    Feb 2021
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    Hi Hopper, I've experienced similar struggles with elbow soreness / biceps tendon complaining. I used a Kabuki Transformer bar for a few months just to keep advancing while I figured it out. While I'm sure coaching and form improvement is the long term fix, I got a pair of elbow sleeves on recommendation from another gym member. The light compression made a huge difference. I was doing low bar on light days at the time, now back to every workout.

  3. #13
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    Jul 2016
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    Thanks for the encouragement, Alex! I've been using an elbow sleeve throughout the day (its not one that is suitable for workout but is otherwise warm and tight) and I think it'd been helping out, plus a bit of ibuprofen in the morning to knock back the stiffness from sleeping. I also try to actively use it even in motions that trigger pain, but it's more just using the ROM through the pain triggers rather than actually working through them. I still have a bit of issue but it's better every day.

    I didn't really appreciate just how susceptible the elbow is in a low bar squat. I had initially moved my hands out about a half width or so because I was getting tennis elbow simply by going under the bar. That fixed the tennis elbow but seemed to make me more susceptible to catching the bar in my hands. Now that I brought my hands back in I have to be super careful about how I get under the bar.

    Glad to hear you got your elbow figured out!

  4. #14
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    Default NLP Week 11

    TL;DR - Squat and Bench went up as expected. Did form work on cleans. Couldn't video due to traffic but will have to asap and get a form check done.

    15 February 2021
    Weight - 200
    Squat - 285
    Bench - 137.5
    Power Clean - practice

    Boring stream of consciousness only I care about:

    Bodyweight has been steady for a while, which probably means I'm slowly getting bodyfat back under control. Weights are still going up but someday I'll probably have to goose the calories up. Currently I'm averaging a bit over 3500/day, keeping track every time I shove something into my piehole.

    Squat went well. Rest time is between 4 and 4.5 minutes now. The elbow seems fine so I'll see how it feels when I wake up. There are still a couple things that tweak it but it's been getting better every day.

    Bench also went well. I probably could have done 140 just fine, so I'll do 140 on Friday and see if maybe I should take a 5 lb jump next week. No need to be greedy, but also no need to avoid a bigger jump if I can take it.

    I just spent time practicing the power clean, never getting above 95 lb. One issue was that I somehow got in my head that the knees never came forward after the first pull. That's wrong, as seen in every power clean diagram and photo sequence in the blue book, as well as every video I've seen this weekend. As the bar passes the knees, they have to slide forward a bit while the hips open up, prepping for the jump. Whatever I had been trying to do was neutering the jump part. I have a lot more to fix, though. I can hang clean 95 lb no problem, but anything starting below the knees is highly inconsistent - even if it's juuuuust barely below the knees to start. Whatever I'm doing as I cross the knees is dorking everything up. I've probably added some arm pull and who knows what other trash into it at this point. Video and coaching, and maybe a 100% reset of the dang thing.

  5. #15
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    Default NLP Week 11

    TL;DR - Injured a rib on deadlifts. Need to give it a day and see how long I may be out.


    17/18 February 2021
    Weight - 200
    Squat - 235 (light day)
    Press - 97.5 5,4,3 (fail)
    Deadlift - injured on warmup set

    Comedy of errors. Went in on the 17th, got into the presses, and had to go home. My better half left some stuff in the car that she needed. NBD, I can flex the workout a bit so I finished the failed presses, did some very light work to diagnose and clean up my power clean, and went home.

    I returned on the 18th, did some slower warming up on the deadlift since squats weren't involved. Got about halfway through the warmups when I felt/heard a pop in my right side ribs. I set it down, put the weights away, and went home. It's pretty sore now and susceptible to spikes of pain depending on how I move. Valsalva is pretty comfortable, though, I so I'm tentatively optimistic it's not too bad. I suspect the belt had something to do with it. Dominion's so backordered that my 3" belt still hasn't come in (ordered it at the beginning of the year) and the only worthwhile one at the gym is a 4" leather one. The pop happened right where the top of belt was contacting my ribs.

    On the upside, I figured out that, on my power cleans, I have a hellish arm pull when I use hook grip.

    ETA: This thread about training with a broken rib seems applicable. I'll see how it goes, keep up on my presses, and try to keep the squats in it. Most likely I'll wait on the deadlifts until I have the 3" belt and get back into it as soon as I can. I can still do power cleans without a belt so maybe those can keep up while I recover. I'd very much like to fix my cleans, so maybe I just do very light form practice and start them over. At 95#, it's not like I'm losing much.
    Last edited by David Hooper; 02-18-2021 at 07:45 AM. Reason: Added link and comment about training with a rib injury.

  6. #16
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    Default NLP Week 11

    TL;DR - Took it easy but still got bench press in.

    20 February 2021
    Weight - 201
    Squat - 225
    Bench - 140
    Power Clean - did not attempt

    Rib was miserable on Friday. Valsalva was a huge help in getting daily tasks done. I felt better this morning but forced myself to stay beltless for everything, so I made a light day out of the squats to test the ROM. It went well, with focus on the tightness of the upper back and the bounce at the bottom.

    Bench press was okay. One very ugly bar path in the second set. Elbow tendonitis is much better so unracking isn't quite as unpleasant. It feels like it's going slowly, but I realized today that my first non-empty-bar warmup weight was 75 lb - the weight I stopped at on day 1. Only 10 lb to go to double my day 1 effort.

    I didn't try any pulling today. There's no way I'll do a meaningful work set and I already know how it's going to feel, so I'll take the hit on progress and be kind to the ribs. Probably do a fairly hard reset on the power clean when I get back to it.

    Next Monday I may stay with the "B" workout to keep the pulling weight low. Squat will likely repeat at 285 to make up for a week of lightness. (Wednesday's deadlift likely to stay at 325 for the same reason.)

  7. #17
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    Default NLP Week 12

    TL;DR - Rehab workout, not trying for gain but trying to minimize loss of progress and to improve technique. Broken rib doing better.

    22 February 2021
    Weight - 200
    Squat - 275
    Press - 97.5
    Power Clean - form practice up to 85

    Broken rib is still generally sore but I can mostly do workouts on it now. I found a different belt at the gym - one of those thicker-in-the-back things. The leather was well off the rib so it let me squat more. I figured 275 was enough to be hard but not quite a legitimate workset, so I could keep more focus on the injury to make sure it wasn't complaining. Big upside was that I think that was the kindest I've been to my elbows in a long time. Everything from getting under the bar to re-racking felt good so we'll see how I feel on Wednesday and decide on the work weight based on that.

    Press made it, but baaaaarely. I ended up with sewing machine legs on that final rep and had to fight through a sticking point halfway through. I'm going to have to find ways to keep the press from sticking early as it seems to want to do. I'm still rather slight in the upper body so that's a lot to do with it. Just have to gain some weight.

    Stuck with the power cleans today to keep the pull weight lower. One silver lining to the broken rib is that it's easier to force myself to really slow down and focus on the power clean form. I started at 65 lb (the lowest I can load on the bar for proper starting height), did a couple with double overhand grip, then did a couple with hook grip and really focused on making my arms feel the same between the two. That seemed to help quite a bit. I also went so slowly on the first pull (to really make sure my line and my back were correct) that it was basically a hang power clean. Got it up to 85 lb that way and everything was much better. I could feel the strain near the rib starting to build, though, so I called it off there. Likely I'll do that again Wednesday and even Friday. The deadlift is going to suffer a bit, but it's better than re-injuring myself.

  8. #18
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    Feb 2021
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    Ok, now you've got me scared a bit. What caused your rib to crack? The fact the belt was 4" instead of 3"? To tight? Or something with form? How do I keep it from happening to me? I never would've expected that with a deadlift.

  9. #19
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    Hi Dtg,

    I never would have expected it either. I wish I had been a bit more particular about remembering the details, but I'm pretty sure the metal buckle on the belt was up under the rib. That, plus it's really hard for me to get in the right position with a 4" belt meant that I was probably already putting a lot of pressure on the rib before I even started lifting. There's also the possibility that I rounded the back a bit as that would also bring the buckle up into the rib, but I actually doubt that. I do pretty good on maintaining back posture and I was only at 235 lb on the warmup (had intended 335 lb on the day).

    I'm certain it wouldn't have happened with a 3" belt, or if I had situated the buckle in a better position (e.g., behind me). There was nobody else in the room, though, so I just tightened it up the most convenient way. The fact that it's not something I've ever really heard about suggests it's not really a concern for the most part.

  10. #20
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    Jun 2020
    Location
    Maine
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    starting strength coach development program
    Being stubborn about trying to deadlift in a 4" belt was a factor in my series of back tweaks a few months ago. A 3" belt felt like a world of difference.

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