In search of the mythical power gut

[Casey Trop]

Just think of tight armpits. The way to get tight armpits is a solid tightening of the lats, which is part of setting your back. It's easy to drift from that as the pulls get heavy and as the set progresses, but tight armpits will keep you focused on that.

ETA: an article on just that, The Lats In The Deadlift.



The first rep is a lie.

The universal truth.

That's a great article, thanks Bill. So many cues to remember hah! I've also been considering using a smaller/thinner belt for deadlifts after reading another article (The Belt and the Deadlift | Mark Rippetoe) I've noticed I have a much more difficult time keeping my lower back set properly when I add the belt, even during warmups.

I know what you mean about the first rep being a lie. I'm getting to the point where every single set of squats and deadlifts is as much of a mental battle as a physical challenge. As soon as I unrack the bar for squats, all I can think is "holy god this is heavy as hell!" But it's amazing that most of the time, I can finish the set if I just grind it out.

[Casey Trop]

Training 12/8/22
SS NLP week 11 day 1

Had a mediocre workout today. Was forced to wake up early and workout before work instead of my normal time around 11am. Didn't even feel like I was fully awake until after I finished my squats Morning workouts are the worst.

Squats 250x2,1,1
12/8/22 squats 250x1 boooo - YouTube
Yeah, you read that right. I finished 245x5x3 two days ago and this morning I could barely get two reps on my first set with 250. I'm trying not to beat myself up about it since I know it was because of the schedule issue.

Press 102.5x5x3
12/8/22 press 102.5x5 - YouTube
By the time I go to these, I was awake and ready to go lol. I moved my grip in just a smidge to where the border of the smooth and knurl was in between my index and middle fingers, and it felt "right".

Power cleans 95x3x5 (slow practice progression)
12/8/22 power cleans 95x3 slow practice - YouTube
God I hate power cleans. One day I feel like I'm doing them somewhat correctly and the next they'll look like dog crap. I'm still following Rip's guidelines in the book for doing them slowly from the floor and exploding (or trying to in my case!) at the jump position

[Casey Trop]

Training 12/10/22
SS NLP week 11 day 2

Squats 250x5,3,1 (failed)
12/10/22 squats 250x5 first set - YouTube
12/10/22 squats 250x1 last set - YouTube
Today I just did the same weight from Thursday since I didn't complete all the reps that day. Felt okay starting out today, but after the first set I was wiped out.

Bench press 165x5x3
12/10/22 bench press 165x5 - YouTube
I was VERY shaky on that last rep.

Deadlifts 315x2+1 (failed)
12/10/22 deadlifts 315x3 - YouTube
I tried using a smaller, thinner belt today and it didn't go so well haha. Felt like I wasn't wearing a belt at all. After the first two reps I switched back to my normal belt but could only manage one more rep by that point.

[Casey Trop]

Training 12/12/22
SS NLP week 11 day 3

Really frustrating day today. Squats sucked and for the first time in the NLP so far, I didn't get all my press reps. I've been strongly considering online coaching. I'm sure I could keep beating my head against the wall trying to figure it out myself, but it seems like a waste of time when I could be making better progress.

Squats 250x0, 0 (bailed the bar twice)
12/12/22 squats 250 fail (set 1) - YouTube
12/12/22 squats 250 fail (set 2) - YouTube
195x5x3
12/12/22 squats 195x5 - YouTube
My god these sucked today. I couldn't get 250 for a single rep over two attempts. In the first attempt the bar moved forward too much at the bottom and I instantly rolled over. The second attempt was a little better, but I was still way too off-balance coming up. Instead of continuing, I dropped the weight to 80% of 245 (my last successful workout) and did 3x5 since I missed the light squat day this week.

Press 105x4,2,2
12/12/22 press 105x4 (fail) - YouTube
To my untrained eye, it looks like a combo of both the bar moving too far forward and me not throwing my body under the bar fast/forceful enough.

Power cleans 95x3x5 (slow practice progression)
12/12/22 power clean 95x3 practice - YouTube
Surprisingly, these felt really good. Most solid I've felt doing power cleans so far. The only saving grace for the entire workout today.

[Bill Anders]

Press 105x4,2,2
12/12/22 press 105x4 (fail) - YouTube
To my untrained eye, it looks like a combo of both the bar moving too far forward and me not throwing my body under the bar fast/forceful enough.

A few things -

- You're starting with too much extension in your lower back. Compare where your hips are before you start your press to the straight line that is your legs, hips, and back when you lock out your press. But be careful, don't start to wind up your hips by pushing them back behind that line before starting your hip bounce. Basically, you're robbing yourself of about half of the potential energy of your hip bounce. You'll feel the right spot for your hips as you stand upright with the weighted bar and it feels like that if you pass that point with your hips that you'll fall forward. Initiate your hip drive from that spot, forcefully.
- Elbows forward a bit more. Remember, your bar will follow the line that your forearms are describing at the beginning of the press. Notice that as the reps progress, your elbow drifts further back, which means that the bar is going to go almost straight up (too far forward).
- Don't give up on it so quickly. There will be many times that if you just give that press a few more seconds, it will start to rise to lockout. This may have just been that time, but we'll never know.

[Casey Trop]

A few things -

- You're starting with too much extension in your lower back. Compare where your hips are before you start your press to the straight line that is your legs, hips, and back when you lock out your press. But be careful, don't start to wind up your hips by pushing them back behind that line before starting your hip bounce. Basically, you're robbing yourself of about half of the potential energy of your hip bounce. You'll feel the right spot for your hips as you stand upright with the weighted bar and it feels like that if you pass that point with your hips that you'll fall forward. Initiate your hip drive from that spot, forcefully.
- Elbows forward a bit more. Remember, your bar will follow the line that your forearms are describing at the beginning of the press. Notice that as the reps progress, your elbow drifts further back, which means that the bar is going to go almost straight up (too far forward).
- Don't give up on it so quickly. There will be many times that if you just give that press a few more seconds, it will start to rise to lockout. This may have just been that time, but we'll never know.

When you say I'm starting with too much lower back extension, are you talking about before I start the rep (i.e. when I'm just standing there with the bar racked) or after I've thrown my hips forward and am starting the press up? I feel like I'm throwing my hips forward pretty forcefully, but in my mind they should be returning backward a little further/harder.

Yep I can definitely see my elbow drifting back, especially before starting the last rep. I remember consciously thinking "tight armpits, elbows up" during the set. I think it's mainly just weakness and fatigue from trying to hold that rack position.

It's funny, while grinding through a rep, it feels like you've been pushing for 15 seconds, but looking back at the video, it's really only 2-3. I've had shoulder injuries and a surgery in the past and I think subconsciously I'm terrified of the press and bench press and blowing out my shoulder again

[Bill Anders]

When you say I'm starting with too much lower back extension, are you talking about before I start the rep (i.e. when I'm just standing there with the bar racked) or after I've thrown my hips forward and am starting the press up? I feel like I'm throwing my hips forward pretty forcefully, but in my mind they should be returning backward a little further/harder.

Before you start the rep. It's a normal move once the bar is racked to shift your hips forward to where you think the center of gravity is balanced. It is, but you've already used up half of the range of motion available to you during the hip thrust. That's where you've robbed yourself of half of your potential energy.

You can even experiment with it without a bar, just standing there. Tight armpits, hands in the correct position, try it first with your lower back extended as you have been doing. Hip thrust, and notice how much your hands drop. Now do it again, instead standing more upright, with your hips where you think you'll need to end up with the bar over your head. Hip thrust again, and notice how much the bar drops into your tight lats. That's the potential energy that you can use to accelerate the bar over your head. Now try it with an empty bar. Start upright, end upright.

At this point, you aren't thinking about accelerating your hips backwards further/harder. They just are doing that, since the bounce at the front is more forceful.

Yep I can definitely see my elbow drifting back, especially before starting the last rep. I remember consciously thinking "tight armpits, elbows up" during the set. I think it's mainly just weakness and fatigue from trying to hold that rack position.

That's exactly it, you're getting tired and just trying to maintain control of the bar before you press again. That's the time to focus on elbows forward and hips stacked, then...

It's funny, while grinding through a rep, it feels like you've been pushing for 15 seconds, but looking back at the video, it's really only 2-3. I've had shoulder injuries and a surgery in the past and I think subconsciously I'm terrified of the press and bench press and blowing out my shoulder again

I hear ya. My whole life, my left shoulder has been loose, easily dislocating if I let it get weak. Then this summer I had a nap accident, where I woke up and it felt like I had dislocated it during my nap, although I know that I hadn't. Granted, I had pressed heavy that morning, so that might have contributed, but this discomfort, then pain, set in some 12 hours after the press workout. Instead of doing the normal thing and running to the doc or taking a layoff, I just did a 15-20% reset, and kept at it. A few months later, I'm back to where I was, and just set some new single PRs yesterday. I did have your post in mind when I was under my last attempt and I just kept pushing and pushing and pushing for what felt like forever, but then the right side started dropping. Looking at the video, it was about 5 seconds. That's just the way it is. Keep pressing, get stronger, and you'll soon put all of that concern about your shoulder out of your mind.

[Casey Trop]

Before you start the rep. It's a normal move once the bar is racked to shift your hips forward to where you think the center of gravity is balanced. It is, but you've already used up half of the range of motion available to you during the hip thrust. That's where you've robbed yourself of half of your potential energy.

You can even experiment with it without a bar, just standing there. Tight armpits, hands in the correct position, try it first with your lower back extended as you have been doing. Hip thrust, and notice how much your hands drop. Now do it again, instead standing more upright, with your hips where you think you'll need to end up with the bar over your head. Hip thrust again, and notice how much the bar drops into your tight lats. That's the potential energy that you can use to accelerate the bar over your head. Now try it with an empty bar. Start upright, end upright.

At this point, you aren't thinking about accelerating your hips backwards further/harder. They just are doing that, since the bounce at the front is more forceful.

Oh dang, yeah I can feel that. I think my problem also is that I'm trying to "proud chest" a little too much, causing me to inadvertently lean back. And I think I'm also trying to somewhat rest the bar on my chest/delts, further contributing to the lean back.

I hear ya. My whole life, my left shoulder has been loose, easily dislocating if I let it get weak. Then this summer I had a nap accident, where I woke up and it felt like I had dislocated it during my nap, although I know that I hadn't. Granted, I had pressed heavy that morning, so that might have contributed, but this discomfort, then pain, set in some 12 hours after the press workout. Instead of doing the normal thing and running to the doc or taking a layoff, I just did a 15-20% reset, and kept at it. A few months later, I'm back to where I was, and just set some new single PRs yesterday. I did have your post in mind when I was under my last attempt and I just kept pushing and pushing and pushing for what felt like forever, but then the right side started dropping. Looking at the video, it was about 5 seconds. That's just the way it is. Keep pressing, get stronger, and you'll soon put all of that concern about your shoulder out of your mind.

Seems like half the struggle of lifting is the mental battle....

[Casey Trop]

Training 12/15/22
SS NLP week 12 day 1

Another shitty workout. First time I've failed to complete all three lifts in a session. Seems like things have steadily gone downhill for the past 3-4 workouts. Sleep, stress, etc has all been fine, leading me to believe I need to eat more. Hard to believe since I've been getting 4500 calories for the past two months, but so be it. My bodyweight gain rate has just about halved over the past 2-3 weeks. Further evidence?

I also just listened to a Weights and Plates episode where they talk about not relying on the scale as a measure of progress, but rather using the weight on the bar and your body's physical measurements instead. Seems to agree with my line of thinking here...

Squats 250x5,3,1
12/15/22 squats 250x5 set 1 - YouTube
12/15/22 squats 250x3 set 2 - YouTube
12/15/22 squats 250x1 set 3 - YouTube
The last rep of the first set was a ball-buster and I was completely spent after the set. That was the first time I was genuinely worried I would pass out in the middle of the set.

On the second set, I should've kept grinding, but I remember a little blip of a thought popped into my head during that last rep "there's no way I'll finish this set" and just like that, I bailed. I thought about it after the set and it was honestly a bit enlightening. There was no conscious thought involved, it was just like "oh the thought's in my head now, might as well quit". Needless to say, I was pretty pissed at myself.

On the last set, reviewing the video I can see I started to lift my chest on the way up rather than continuing to drive with my hips. Probably could've gotten more reps if I had been able to fix that.

Also still experimenting with different grips. Today I tried the narrowest I could possibly go. Felt okay on my elbows but I feel like my elbows need to be DOWN more.

Bench press 167.5x5,4,3
12/15/22 bench 167.5x3 - YouTube
First time I've missed reps on the bench. On the second set, I had to bail the bar onto the pins on the last rep. Didn't see any obvious form errors, just shaky and weak.

Deadlift 315x3
12/15/22 deadlift 315x3 - YouTube
I think I waited a bit too long after the third rep before starting the fourth, and the fatigue from the set got to me and I pussed out. These definitely felt better than the last session though.

After re-reading the deadlift chapter of the blue book, I also experimented with narrowing my stance in order to narrow my grip. With my previous grip width, my hands were probably about one hand-width outside my shoulders. I'm a pretty small guy so I had to put the edge of the knurling in between my index and middle fingers in order to get my hands under my shoulders.

[Casey Trop]

Training 12/17/22
SS NLP week 12 day 2

Much better workout today. I've eaten slightly more the past couple days, but more importantly, it was a light squat day. 3x5 heavy squats are starting to crush me. I've noticed on the days I do them, the rest of the workout suffers. On light squat days, I have much more energy for the remaining lifts. Might be time to switch to 3x3 or 1x5 + 2x5 backoffs...

Light squats @ 80% 195x5x3
12/17/22 squats 195x5 - YouTube
Felt good. Planning to keep doing the light squats beltless.

Press 105x5x3
12/17/22 press 105x5 - YouTube
Failed these horribly last time, so much better job today. Again, I think it's mainly from not having done heavy squats beforehand. I was able to *really* squeeze my glutes and quads today and get much less flexing/wiggling. Also tried to not extend my lower back so much at the beginning of each rep.

Power clean slow practice 95x3x5
12/17/22 power cleans 95x3 practice - YouTube
These felt pretty solid. Still struggling with arm pull, some reps worse than others. Just gonna take a while for my uncoordinated self lol.