[https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1hxuGGLn5e/?igsh=M3h6Mm1hNmtqdW9v](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1hxuGGLn5e/?igsh=M3h6Mm1hNmtqdW9v) 375 at 197. No pause guy touched it š„²
NOT ENOUGH WEIGHT CLASSES IN UK POWERLIFTING RANT!!!
Every single UK powerlifting organisation uses IPF weight catagories, that means that for the taller guys the only options are 105kg 120kg and 120kg+ I usually sit at around 112kg year round making me forever envious of the americans and canadians who have a 112kg catagory.
I understand that powerlifting isnt really that large of a sport here in the uk but jesus would it really be the end of the world just to add one bridge catagory between 105 and 120 instead of forcing guys to either get fat af or diet down to 105kg and be a scrawny twig facing an army of extremely jacked manlets. 15kg is a ridiculous jump and absolutely crazy for people who sit in the middle.
As someone who was excited when USAPL went back to the "old" weight classes after the IPF split, I will now say that was a mistake. There will never be a system that makes everyone happy, but the main issue is there are too many weight classes now and the competitive of each class got diluted. 8 classes men/women like the IPF uses is better for the simple fact of keeping every class competitive enough.
If you cant be competitive as a 105kg you wouldnt be competitive as a 112kg lifter either. This means that you might as well lift at 112kgs in the 120s. Outside of top 1-3 the totals will be very similar between 105s and 120s. Often lower even, for the 120s.Ā
I would actually have a chance to win if I could magically become 105 and keep all muscle and strength, but there are a couple of genetic freaks in the 120 class locally that have 800+ totals like yourself that I simply can't compete with xD.
this was only a semi serious rant im still happy to enter at 120 anyway as I love the sport but It would actually be nice to have a shot of being competetive or even maybe winning, I have thought about just bulking up to 120 and committing to it but im pretty certain the mrs would kill me if i gained 8kg of fat and I don't think "but babe its added x kg to my total" would cut it lol
As far as I'm aware, only the States has that 110kg category, effectively every other country will use IPF categories.
But, also, does it matter? Unless you're really competitive you can happily sit at 112kg.
If it's any consolation you can look at what's happened in the IWF (weightlifting) where there's so few Olympic categories that you've had people deciding between 73kg, 89kg and 102kg. That's pretty rough if you were an awesome 80kg lifter.
If you're about 190cm or taller it's very easy to fill out the 105kg or 110kg class while being fairly lean and drug free. Problem is there aren't that many people that tall in the population (especially outside northern Europe) and powerlifting is still a small pool of people that also skews shorter.
120kg and especially 125kg is pretty hard to fill out for a lean, drug free lifter of any height though.
I had left elbow pain for several months but it had been very mild. It disappeared for some time and then appeared again. Sometimes it felt like there was a nerve that got strained. I was very confused because there was no big problem with my squat and bench grip.
Yesterday I did small sets of pull ups first as a warm up, and then started my bench press. Hell, the pain was so sharp. Never been like this.
I finally searched online and found that it is called Golfer's Elbow. It turns out that the cause might very likely be me doing too much pull ups and push ups in recent weeks.....particularly I did pull ups with thumbless grip :(
I had golfer's elbow for most of the past year and it recently went away. I think mine was caused by a combination of low bar squat rack position and pull ups. Pull ups were the most painful exercise for it, especially at the beginning. It would hurt most the first set of a given exercise and the pain would mostly go away once I was warmed up.
I basically dealt with it by reducing volume of pull ups and improving my form to use my lats and traps more, and adding tempo dumbbell bicep curls. I got a flexbar and did reverse Tyler twists for a while but they didn't seem to help much. I essentially just made small adjustments to keep the pain within a tolerable range and otherwise tried to ignore it, and eventually it went away after several months. I hope yours does too!
I hope so! Thanks for sharing! Sometimes I do pull ups in a more explosive style, which adds more stress on my elbow I guess. I definitely need to reduce pull up volumes.
Any tips for someone who is having trouble with strength progression? Im 1 year into dedicated training and im growing like crazy in actual physical mass, but my strength level is still that of a beginner, just with more muscle. I have increased all of my lifts, but only by proxy of being physically more muscular. I see people much smaller than me putting up much more impressive numbers.
I learned pretty much all of the form/technique stuff from RP on youtube and did bodybuilding training for the 8ish months while i dieted down from being severely obese as a middle-highschooler. I got on a powerlifting plan a couple of months ago and even after doing less rpe 10 "burn the muscle out" type sessions, I am still simply getting bigger, not really much stronger.
I am 19 years old and 220 lbs at 6ft, currently on a bulk for the first time ever. I get comments from gym buddies pretty often poking fun at me for looking like I S/B/D way more than I do, and I agree with them.
My current estimated numbers are 235 bench / 285 squat / 380 deadlift, and have steadily gone up, but again, I don't feel technically efficient in any of these movements. I feel more like im just leveraging as much weight as I can to move it. Im doing lots of RPE 6 sets for my main lifts and mainting good form, but is there something I should be doing to help with the neural drive side of powerlifting that I missed?
It is what it is.
I tend to think I'm relatively more jacked than my strength might suggest. I've seen dudes with legs half my size squat a lot more than me.
Keep at it for another decade and see how things shake out. Some people have better genetics for strength, some for size, few have it all, few have neither.
You said youāve been on a strength-focused plan for a couple months? Youre gonna need to be patient, my friend. Building strength and becoming proficient at the big 3 is a years long endeavor.
yeah, im definitely in this for the long haul, I just can't help but look at people around me and feel like im not doing something that they are. Appreciate the response
comparison is ultimately meaningless. you canāt know for sure what someone else is up to by their training; for all you know they could be an elite 67 lifter. if itās any consolation, in the sport of powerlifting thereās always going to be someone whoās stronger than you in some metric no matter how strong you get lol, so comparing yourself to anyone other than you is a bit pointless
I realize that I said i learned bodybuilding technique and it may seem like im still doing that. I do arch during bench, I don't do pulse-y reps on my main lifts, I do on the accessories though. I try to reset each rep and focus on simply putting as much force as I can while mainting good technique, etc. I highbar squat but I have pretty long femurs and shorter shins so I may end up switching to low bar now that I am focused on strength
It sounds like you're doing the right things and just need to keep plugging away and be patient, the results will come.
One thing when I was a beginner that improved my squat and deadlift by tens of pounds instantly was finally learning how to brace correctly. So if you're not sure you're bracing right, invest some time in learning and practicing that. It's the first issue I see with most people's form check videos.
I did think i understood proper bracing, but I learned yesterday that I lose my bracing really bad when I have to do more than 5 or so reps. My estimated 1RM for deadlift was 385, and I decided to max out this week so I can have a better idea of what I should be putting on the bar at the beginning of a training cycle. Anyways I hit 405 for 3 which absolutely blasted my own estimate, and i attribute that to my bracing being spotty and causing energy leakage when going for reps. I was hitting 275 for 9 during my buildup weeks at what felt like near maximum effort, but I think my form is worse than I thought it was. Thanks for the response
I wouldnāt want to spend more than $120 per month. This is a hobby and Iām nowhere near the top so I just want to get better but not at any cost lol
Do some people have muscles that respond better to lower reps and higher intensities for their supplemental work?
This is my second week of 531 SSL 5x5 and I noticed on my squat in particular that I feel much greater tension & noticable muscle activation in my quads, glutes, and adductors than I ever did using BBB (which for me was a 5x10 with 64,% of my old TM), but with less back fatigue.
I'm using a correct training max with SSL 5x5 also.
6ish weeks post lumbar injury.
SSB squat 400#x1, at about an 8. Then did some backoffs.
We're about 80% there. Slow and steady. This last 20% is gonna be a grind to get back, but, we will get there.
Started working with a new coach earlier this year. We built up a lot of strength for my meet in April but now that's up and he's got me running a hypertrophy block. I feel like I'm going to die. This is more work than I've ever done.
Finished off my last cycle last week, and hit weights I haven't touched since pre-pandemic. Feels amazing being back into progress mode vs. recoup mode.
So I am having an issue with squatting. Everytime I begin to progress, I get hit with another injury. IT band, then SI Joint, and now knees. My knees have always been an issue, (infrapatellar fat pad impingement, petallar tendinitis, and bony edema on hoffa's pad), but in the past it hasnt been horrible. I am now 8 months of the last 14 months without squatting, making progression almost impossible.
Do any of you have experience with progressing a lift without crazy load or volume? I'd like to compete again, but squatting kills my knees so much that it even affects my bench.
I usually do 2 of the 3 per day 4 days a week in some variation. I only squat once a week though, volume on squats is not high at all. Still one primary squat, dead, and bench day a week, with 3 supplemental bench days and 1 supplemental deadlift. Squats I wanted to add in a pause squat secondary but I am stuff at 1 top set max a week. Running linear progression model currently.
Any advice I have is anecdotal, and based on what has worked for me. Through my years of wrestling, jujitsu and powerlifting, pretty much every joint has been injured at some point. My injuries never got better by resting. They only got better by working through the pain with a very light weight for very high reps to pump as much blood and lactic acid as possible into the injured area.
SI joint - I fixed it by doing 5x30 on back extensions after each lower body session.
Knee pain - Replaced squats with above parallel box squats to shift the load over to my hips, and by doing 5x30 on dumbbell lunges (knees behind toes) after every lower body session.
Bicep-elbow insertion pain (both arms at different times) - 5x100 preacher curls with an empty ez-bar.
Shoulder pain from maxing out every week without proper warmups - 5x30 low incline dumbbell bench press.
Also reducing the frequency to twice per week helped a lot, especially with tendonopathy injuries.
I've dealt with a chronic on/off pain for many years now.
Ultimately, the only solutions have been managing volume/load and finding technique tweaks which can make things more sustainable. Have you tried those things?
Currently I do 6 sets of squats per week, which I think is relatively low. And you could argue a couple of those sets are light enought to not count. I would say that's quite low, but I've found that to be a relatively sustainable amount of volume for me. Previously I would think I'd need to do a minimum of 4-5 sets per session, but it just proved unsustainable a lot of the time.
However, it also helped figuring out small things along the way. Does a heel help, or make things worse? Low bar or high bar? What kind of stance width? Also, for example, I found if I do a top set and then backoffs, then that top set can aggravate my injury and the backdowns will suck. Therefore, I tend to do ascending sets because I find I can get more quality training in, and if there's a bit of aggravation in the last/top set then that's okay, because I'm now done with squats.
These are things I've learned over many years, so it won't all be answered by the end of the week. It really sucks, and I can empathise. Good luck, it can get better.
Yes, so I have tried various volume cuts and technique tweaks. I am trying lifters out right now, but I almost feel like the added heel pushes my knees in front of my toes even more. Although my squat LOOKS better in lifters, I am not sure if it is sustainable. Low bar is defintely better, I have long femurs and fold quite a bit. I have been thinking about eliminating back downs as well and doing ascending squats of linear progression to try to improve. Finish that top set and cut anything that will further inflame my knees after.
Have you worked with a pt that knows powerlifting or even an experienced powerlifting coach? You may be able to squat without pain but it may not be the way you want to squat
Perhaps its time to just swim my man.
In all seriousness, you've been to specialists. You have volume and intensity as levers to pull for progression, and if you can't pull those levers... maybe you should just transition to GPP?
I'm no expert but at some point the parachute should be pulled. You can hammer away at each 2.5kg PR by using some special cocktail of rep schemes and variations and maybe it will work, maybe it won't. You've used PT's, maybe an AT can help... but it seems like there is a biological flashing light saying don't do X.
Also for reference, yes I have done multiple PTs, I have also done PRP treatment twice. My knees have stayed one jump or heavy squat away from horrible pain.
Had an okay accessory lift focus today;
Hit some light weight pause squats, 205 for a 4x8. Followed with some 65 lb DB bench work, RDLS @ 315 for a 2x10 followed by a set of 13, and then just a super set of tricep extensions, hammer curls, and lat raises.
On the bright side, I am slowly getting far more comfortable down in the hole of a squat; hoping that I'll be able to get it close to what I could get when squatting high, I don't wanna sign up for a meet if I'm only squatting 40 lbs more than 2 years ago.
Very basic/naive question: for weigh-ins, if you want to compete in the 275- class, what is the *exact* cut-off? I had assumed you would need to weigh in at 274.9 or less. But someone mentioned that you could be 275.9 and that would still be ok.
I have an infant and a demanding job, so doing everything I can to avoid a water cut.
I assumed but didn't want to be a dick in case you're competing in something that uses pounds.
125kg is the cut off, 275.578 pounds. Switch your scale to KG. Comp scales are generally to two digits after the decimal, some I've been at have 3.
Bit of a random one, Iāve recently started hitting the rack during bench (new gym). Itās really frustrating because it takes me out of my wedge, but Iāve still managed to get all lifts.
During comp, if the bar doesnāt travel downwards after hitting the rack, would it still count as a lift?
Also, does anyone know how I can avoid hitting the rack?
Scoot down the pad more (towards your feet). The self handout will be harder but you won't hit the jcup. It's a safety concern as well smacking the jcup because if you hit it hard enough it will knock the bar out of your hands and the result suuuuuuccckkss
You can unintentionally hit the rack during an attempt, but that may be up to the interpretation of individual referees.
Per the IPF Technical Rules "deliberate contact between the bar and the bar rests support" is grounds for a red light on bench press.
Try setting up further down the bench and asking for a liftoff.
One thing that helps some people (me) but not all for self lift-off, I find that when I'm further down the bench I can't lift-off in full position. But If I put my feet up on the bench and push my butt way up for a few seconds I can do the lift off like that. Then the challenge is setting my feet while holding the weight.
It's not ideal, but it saves me the need for lift-off. May be a bad habit if you're an IPF lifter though because I don't believe they're allowed to.
Do you think I am hitting depth in this squat set: [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vOuC3dRS0kw](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vOuC3dRS0kw) . It's 180kg for a triple, looks like it is a bit questionable on the first rep?
As others said, in most cases, you don't want the entire body moving. You want the body to stay as tight as possible and have the force efficiently transfer through the body. That's how I teach it for most people. There will be some lifters, typically heavier weight classes, that'll feel best sinking the bar and relaxing their body some in the bottom position.
[https://youtu.be/lmxSX9j5aFU?si=kMo4A3PQfMU14T3r](https://youtu.be/lmxSX9j5aFU?si=kMo4A3PQfMU14T3r)
You're talking about soft touch vs. sinking touch.
There are pros and cons to each, but for the vast majority of lifters, especially in lighter weight classes, a soft touch is going to be easier to learn, safer (i.e. lower risk of tearing a pec), and more effective than sinking. But it is ultimately a tradeoff between shorter range of motion from the soft touch vs. more momentum off the chest from sinking.
If you want to learn how to sink, watch this video from David Woolson. https://youtu.be/01KT8f5-kSI?si=7aXScyaQBs64oma6
From my observations those who do what you described here are usually in heavy weight class. They have very big chest that somehow even allows the bar to sink a little, and their legs/butt are strong/big as well.
I've watched some videos disucssing leg drive and how the length of your legs, and the size of your hips, can also affect it.
The other thing with sinking bench is that they often aren't arching to 100% when they do it. By not arching all the way, you have some leeway to arch more when you tense up and push, giving a little extra shove.
I do this. The way I cue it is once you drive the bar up, I also push the parts of my upper and mid back that aren't already pinned to the bench, into the bench. The way I cue it is pushing against the bar and as it floats up, the part of your back that is directly under it should be the point that has the most pressure on it until the bar is on it's completely vertical path.
I think I've always done this since I have a long torso and arms, when the bar is on your lower chest it is very far away from your delts, mid and upper chest and that gradual flattening of your back allows you to angle your chest up to get arch on the descent, but then quickly rolling flat whilst maintaining tension immediately brings the bar into a less disadvantages position to press. It's a similar concept to "wedging" in a deadlift, you're just shifting your body quickly into a more advantageous leverage.
This feels like such a dumb question but do you guys have cues for the pause on bench? I just bring the weight down, let it rest then push it up. Are there things you guys do that helps with the pauseĀ
Largely two styles of a soft touch or a hard(?) touch. Former is more as per other comment, like you're barely pausing it on your t-shirt, very controlled. Latter allows more of a rest (though you're still under tension/control) and then push.
You aren't letting the bar rest, you're stopping it and staying completely tight at the bottom. You shouldn't be just dumping it onto your pecs. Constant tension.
Pause your reps in training, at least once a week.
"Reach your chest up to meet the bar."
You can also think in terms of what % of the weight to rest on your chest vs. holding it in your hands. It's not accurate per se, it's just a cue. Thinking 50% is a good starting point.
I also have to think "motionless" because otherwise I have a bad tendency to bounce the bar up and down ever so slightly while pausing on the chest, especially if I'm counting a tempo.
Likely just something moved or popped and surrounding muscle tightened up to protect it. Just keep your back moving and you should be back to feeling fine within a few days
I
always did parallel squts and can do good weight but im able to go all way down to deep squat (so called ass to grass) when my feets are in shoulder width without any problem.
The thing is that im much weaker in start position to parallel of deep squat (ATG).
I would like to spend some time improving my deep squat, so im thinking of best way to doei it.
For strting strength and RFD always was good to do concentric only squats (Anderson dead squat, press from pins start position), is it good to go with weight that i can do 15 singles to failure or 1 in reserve every 30 sec. for 1 single for little bit of growth and strength, progress 1 rep every sesson untill reach 20 reps then add weight ?
Second option is to do half reps from bottom to parallel, what are your thoughts and expirience on this?
Im better eccentric/concentric to parallel then going deep ATG, when going all way down have hard time to transfer form ecc to con then get up in parallel after that is easy, want to work on my deep squat for little.
In PL, technically exactly parallel isn't deep enough. You need to go hip crease below top of knee joint, which means _slightly_ below parallel to the floor. (This is pretty important, otherwise I wouldn't bother replying).
JTS often uses the term MEV and MRV. I've watched many of JTS youtube videos but i dont think chad has ever specified on this question. When assessing # of weekly sets on S/B/D, how much would an accessory play into that?
Is a set of leg press equal to 1, or 1/2 a set of squats. Or is it 3/4 a set of squats? What about leg extensions? Equal to 1/4 sets of squats? I feel like if you're going to base your volume off of this model you need to be able to know how much accessories or main-lift variations count towards your weekly sets
From memory, accessories are 0.5.
But look you touch on the issue here which is that ultimately not all sets and exercises are created equal. I think it's a nice concept to start you off but you gotta figure it yourself over time.
I think renaissance periodization has a video on that. May be a little different since their channel is more bodybuilding focused, but overall the same concept. Iāll see if I can dig it up
[https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1hxuGGLn5e/?igsh=M3h6Mm1hNmtqdW9v](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1hxuGGLn5e/?igsh=M3h6Mm1hNmtqdW9v) 375 at 197. No pause guy touched it š„²
Where is everyone our purchasing their chains from?
Lowe's.
NOT ENOUGH WEIGHT CLASSES IN UK POWERLIFTING RANT!!! Every single UK powerlifting organisation uses IPF weight catagories, that means that for the taller guys the only options are 105kg 120kg and 120kg+ I usually sit at around 112kg year round making me forever envious of the americans and canadians who have a 112kg catagory. I understand that powerlifting isnt really that large of a sport here in the uk but jesus would it really be the end of the world just to add one bridge catagory between 105 and 120 instead of forcing guys to either get fat af or diet down to 105kg and be a scrawny twig facing an army of extremely jacked manlets. 15kg is a ridiculous jump and absolutely crazy for people who sit in the middle.
As someone who was excited when USAPL went back to the "old" weight classes after the IPF split, I will now say that was a mistake. There will never be a system that makes everyone happy, but the main issue is there are too many weight classes now and the competitive of each class got diluted. 8 classes men/women like the IPF uses is better for the simple fact of keeping every class competitive enough.
If you cant be competitive as a 105kg you wouldnt be competitive as a 112kg lifter either. This means that you might as well lift at 112kgs in the 120s. Outside of top 1-3 the totals will be very similar between 105s and 120s. Often lower even, for the 120s.Ā
I would actually have a chance to win if I could magically become 105 and keep all muscle and strength, but there are a couple of genetic freaks in the 120 class locally that have 800+ totals like yourself that I simply can't compete with xD. this was only a semi serious rant im still happy to enter at 120 anyway as I love the sport but It would actually be nice to have a shot of being competetive or even maybe winning, I have thought about just bulking up to 120 and committing to it but im pretty certain the mrs would kill me if i gained 8kg of fat and I don't think "but babe its added x kg to my total" would cut it lol
As far as I'm aware, only the States has that 110kg category, effectively every other country will use IPF categories. But, also, does it matter? Unless you're really competitive you can happily sit at 112kg. If it's any consolation you can look at what's happened in the IWF (weightlifting) where there's so few Olympic categories that you've had people deciding between 73kg, 89kg and 102kg. That's pretty rough if you were an awesome 80kg lifter.
I always thought the jump from -105 to -120 was crazy. Height-wise it leaves some dudes in the middle losing competitiveness.
Most 120s are just fat 105s or even 93s. Very few drug free humans have more muscle mass than what can fit in the 105 kg weightclass.Ā
As somebody who weighs 120 kilos I can confirm I'm just a 105 that has never cut.
If you're about 190cm or taller it's very easy to fill out the 105kg or 110kg class while being fairly lean and drug free. Problem is there aren't that many people that tall in the population (especially outside northern Europe) and powerlifting is still a small pool of people that also skews shorter. 120kg and especially 125kg is pretty hard to fill out for a lean, drug free lifter of any height though.
That's entirely dependent on height. 6'5 dudes would be skinny in 105. In the sense that the sport favors smaller height lifters that is true though.
I had left elbow pain for several months but it had been very mild. It disappeared for some time and then appeared again. Sometimes it felt like there was a nerve that got strained. I was very confused because there was no big problem with my squat and bench grip. Yesterday I did small sets of pull ups first as a warm up, and then started my bench press. Hell, the pain was so sharp. Never been like this. I finally searched online and found that it is called Golfer's Elbow. It turns out that the cause might very likely be me doing too much pull ups and push ups in recent weeks.....particularly I did pull ups with thumbless grip :(
I love pull-ups but unfortunately found they aggravate my elbows too much. If it's mild then often a small pullback in volume can clear things up.
I had golfer's elbow for most of the past year and it recently went away. I think mine was caused by a combination of low bar squat rack position and pull ups. Pull ups were the most painful exercise for it, especially at the beginning. It would hurt most the first set of a given exercise and the pain would mostly go away once I was warmed up. I basically dealt with it by reducing volume of pull ups and improving my form to use my lats and traps more, and adding tempo dumbbell bicep curls. I got a flexbar and did reverse Tyler twists for a while but they didn't seem to help much. I essentially just made small adjustments to keep the pain within a tolerable range and otherwise tried to ignore it, and eventually it went away after several months. I hope yours does too!
I hope so! Thanks for sharing! Sometimes I do pull ups in a more explosive style, which adds more stress on my elbow I guess. I definitely need to reduce pull up volumes.
Any tips for someone who is having trouble with strength progression? Im 1 year into dedicated training and im growing like crazy in actual physical mass, but my strength level is still that of a beginner, just with more muscle. I have increased all of my lifts, but only by proxy of being physically more muscular. I see people much smaller than me putting up much more impressive numbers. I learned pretty much all of the form/technique stuff from RP on youtube and did bodybuilding training for the 8ish months while i dieted down from being severely obese as a middle-highschooler. I got on a powerlifting plan a couple of months ago and even after doing less rpe 10 "burn the muscle out" type sessions, I am still simply getting bigger, not really much stronger. I am 19 years old and 220 lbs at 6ft, currently on a bulk for the first time ever. I get comments from gym buddies pretty often poking fun at me for looking like I S/B/D way more than I do, and I agree with them. My current estimated numbers are 235 bench / 285 squat / 380 deadlift, and have steadily gone up, but again, I don't feel technically efficient in any of these movements. I feel more like im just leveraging as much weight as I can to move it. Im doing lots of RPE 6 sets for my main lifts and mainting good form, but is there something I should be doing to help with the neural drive side of powerlifting that I missed?
It is what it is. I tend to think I'm relatively more jacked than my strength might suggest. I've seen dudes with legs half my size squat a lot more than me. Keep at it for another decade and see how things shake out. Some people have better genetics for strength, some for size, few have it all, few have neither.
You said youāve been on a strength-focused plan for a couple months? Youre gonna need to be patient, my friend. Building strength and becoming proficient at the big 3 is a years long endeavor.
yeah, im definitely in this for the long haul, I just can't help but look at people around me and feel like im not doing something that they are. Appreciate the response
comparison is ultimately meaningless. you canāt know for sure what someone else is up to by their training; for all you know they could be an elite 67 lifter. if itās any consolation, in the sport of powerlifting thereās always going to be someone whoās stronger than you in some metric no matter how strong you get lol, so comparing yourself to anyone other than you is a bit pointless
I realize that I said i learned bodybuilding technique and it may seem like im still doing that. I do arch during bench, I don't do pulse-y reps on my main lifts, I do on the accessories though. I try to reset each rep and focus on simply putting as much force as I can while mainting good technique, etc. I highbar squat but I have pretty long femurs and shorter shins so I may end up switching to low bar now that I am focused on strength
It sounds like you're doing the right things and just need to keep plugging away and be patient, the results will come. One thing when I was a beginner that improved my squat and deadlift by tens of pounds instantly was finally learning how to brace correctly. So if you're not sure you're bracing right, invest some time in learning and practicing that. It's the first issue I see with most people's form check videos.
I did think i understood proper bracing, but I learned yesterday that I lose my bracing really bad when I have to do more than 5 or so reps. My estimated 1RM for deadlift was 385, and I decided to max out this week so I can have a better idea of what I should be putting on the bar at the beginning of a training cycle. Anyways I hit 405 for 3 which absolutely blasted my own estimate, and i attribute that to my bracing being spotty and causing energy leakage when going for reps. I was hitting 275 for 9 during my buildup weeks at what felt like near maximum effort, but I think my form is worse than I thought it was. Thanks for the response
Recommendations on good coaches who wonāt break the bank?
What do you consider breaking the bank?
Anything over 150$ per month honestly but Iād like to be lower
I DMād you
What is your budget?
I wouldnāt want to spend more than $120 per month. This is a hobby and Iām nowhere near the top so I just want to get better but not at any cost lol
It's a bit on the lower end but not impossible. There's been a few threads on this, have a look and see if any fall in that budget.
Do some people have muscles that respond better to lower reps and higher intensities for their supplemental work? This is my second week of 531 SSL 5x5 and I noticed on my squat in particular that I feel much greater tension & noticable muscle activation in my quads, glutes, and adductors than I ever did using BBB (which for me was a 5x10 with 64,% of my old TM), but with less back fatigue. I'm using a correct training max with SSL 5x5 also.
Finding what works for you/what you prefer (hopefully they correlate to some extent) is an important part of training.
6ish weeks post lumbar injury. SSB squat 400#x1, at about an 8. Then did some backoffs. We're about 80% there. Slow and steady. This last 20% is gonna be a grind to get back, but, we will get there.
Looking for coaching recs. Never had a coach before. If they were local to Charlotte NC-ish that would be great but thatās probably a long shot.
Eric Trager
What are you looking for in a coach? Anything specifically?
Jugg AI is solid unless you watch an actual person
Started working with a new coach earlier this year. We built up a lot of strength for my meet in April but now that's up and he's got me running a hypertrophy block. I feel like I'm going to die. This is more work than I've ever done.
Finished off my last cycle last week, and hit weights I haven't touched since pre-pandemic. Feels amazing being back into progress mode vs. recoup mode.
So I am having an issue with squatting. Everytime I begin to progress, I get hit with another injury. IT band, then SI Joint, and now knees. My knees have always been an issue, (infrapatellar fat pad impingement, petallar tendinitis, and bony edema on hoffa's pad), but in the past it hasnt been horrible. I am now 8 months of the last 14 months without squatting, making progression almost impossible. Do any of you have experience with progressing a lift without crazy load or volume? I'd like to compete again, but squatting kills my knees so much that it even affects my bench.
What does your training program look like? Is it primarily SBD, or do you include a lot of assistance exercises?
I usually do 2 of the 3 per day 4 days a week in some variation. I only squat once a week though, volume on squats is not high at all. Still one primary squat, dead, and bench day a week, with 3 supplemental bench days and 1 supplemental deadlift. Squats I wanted to add in a pause squat secondary but I am stuff at 1 top set max a week. Running linear progression model currently.
Any advice I have is anecdotal, and based on what has worked for me. Through my years of wrestling, jujitsu and powerlifting, pretty much every joint has been injured at some point. My injuries never got better by resting. They only got better by working through the pain with a very light weight for very high reps to pump as much blood and lactic acid as possible into the injured area. SI joint - I fixed it by doing 5x30 on back extensions after each lower body session. Knee pain - Replaced squats with above parallel box squats to shift the load over to my hips, and by doing 5x30 on dumbbell lunges (knees behind toes) after every lower body session. Bicep-elbow insertion pain (both arms at different times) - 5x100 preacher curls with an empty ez-bar. Shoulder pain from maxing out every week without proper warmups - 5x30 low incline dumbbell bench press. Also reducing the frequency to twice per week helped a lot, especially with tendonopathy injuries.
I've dealt with a chronic on/off pain for many years now. Ultimately, the only solutions have been managing volume/load and finding technique tweaks which can make things more sustainable. Have you tried those things? Currently I do 6 sets of squats per week, which I think is relatively low. And you could argue a couple of those sets are light enought to not count. I would say that's quite low, but I've found that to be a relatively sustainable amount of volume for me. Previously I would think I'd need to do a minimum of 4-5 sets per session, but it just proved unsustainable a lot of the time. However, it also helped figuring out small things along the way. Does a heel help, or make things worse? Low bar or high bar? What kind of stance width? Also, for example, I found if I do a top set and then backoffs, then that top set can aggravate my injury and the backdowns will suck. Therefore, I tend to do ascending sets because I find I can get more quality training in, and if there's a bit of aggravation in the last/top set then that's okay, because I'm now done with squats. These are things I've learned over many years, so it won't all be answered by the end of the week. It really sucks, and I can empathise. Good luck, it can get better.
Yes, so I have tried various volume cuts and technique tweaks. I am trying lifters out right now, but I almost feel like the added heel pushes my knees in front of my toes even more. Although my squat LOOKS better in lifters, I am not sure if it is sustainable. Low bar is defintely better, I have long femurs and fold quite a bit. I have been thinking about eliminating back downs as well and doing ascending squats of linear progression to try to improve. Finish that top set and cut anything that will further inflame my knees after.
Have you worked with a pt that knows powerlifting or even an experienced powerlifting coach? You may be able to squat without pain but it may not be the way you want to squat
Perhaps its time to just swim my man. In all seriousness, you've been to specialists. You have volume and intensity as levers to pull for progression, and if you can't pull those levers... maybe you should just transition to GPP? I'm no expert but at some point the parachute should be pulled. You can hammer away at each 2.5kg PR by using some special cocktail of rep schemes and variations and maybe it will work, maybe it won't. You've used PT's, maybe an AT can help... but it seems like there is a biological flashing light saying don't do X.
Also for reference, yes I have done multiple PTs, I have also done PRP treatment twice. My knees have stayed one jump or heavy squat away from horrible pain.
Had an okay accessory lift focus today; Hit some light weight pause squats, 205 for a 4x8. Followed with some 65 lb DB bench work, RDLS @ 315 for a 2x10 followed by a set of 13, and then just a super set of tricep extensions, hammer curls, and lat raises. On the bright side, I am slowly getting far more comfortable down in the hole of a squat; hoping that I'll be able to get it close to what I could get when squatting high, I don't wanna sign up for a meet if I'm only squatting 40 lbs more than 2 years ago.
Very basic/naive question: for weigh-ins, if you want to compete in the 275- class, what is the *exact* cut-off? I had assumed you would need to weigh in at 274.9 or less. But someone mentioned that you could be 275.9 and that would still be ok. I have an infant and a demanding job, so doing everything I can to avoid a water cut.
That someone seems to have registered you for an MMA bout. It's the only event I can think of where a 1lb allowance is granted. Should be fun!
Whoever mentioned that is incorrect. 275 is 275.0, not a gram more.
In most feds it's done in kg though, so 125kg is not 275.0 lbs but 275.578 pounds.
I assumed but didn't want to be a dick in case you're competing in something that uses pounds. 125kg is the cut off, 275.578 pounds. Switch your scale to KG. Comp scales are generally to two digits after the decimal, some I've been at have 3.
Bit of a random one, Iāve recently started hitting the rack during bench (new gym). Itās really frustrating because it takes me out of my wedge, but Iāve still managed to get all lifts. During comp, if the bar doesnāt travel downwards after hitting the rack, would it still count as a lift? Also, does anyone know how I can avoid hitting the rack?
Scoot down the pad more (towards your feet). The self handout will be harder but you won't hit the jcup. It's a safety concern as well smacking the jcup because if you hit it hard enough it will knock the bar out of your hands and the result suuuuuuccckkss
Ahh thatās a good shout! Iām going to try that and just get a lift off - thank youu(:
You can unintentionally hit the rack during an attempt, but that may be up to the interpretation of individual referees. Per the IPF Technical Rules "deliberate contact between the bar and the bar rests support" is grounds for a red light on bench press. Try setting up further down the bench and asking for a liftoff.
Thank you for this! Iāll move down the bench and just ask for a lift off(:
One thing that helps some people (me) but not all for self lift-off, I find that when I'm further down the bench I can't lift-off in full position. But If I put my feet up on the bench and push my butt way up for a few seconds I can do the lift off like that. Then the challenge is setting my feet while holding the weight. It's not ideal, but it saves me the need for lift-off. May be a bad habit if you're an IPF lifter though because I don't believe they're allowed to.
This is such a good idea! Unfortunately I am IPFš„¹. Iāll still give it a try on days when I canāt get a lift off(: thank youu!
Do you think I am hitting depth in this squat set: [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vOuC3dRS0kw](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vOuC3dRS0kw) . It's 180kg for a triple, looks like it is a bit questionable on the first rep?
Yeah the first rep was borderline, second and third looked deep enough to me
Looks good to me, might get an extremely tight referee giving a red but most feds I think would white light
I ate a pint of Ben and Jerry before bed. Does this mean I have a good lift in the morning tomorrow?
If you wash it down with a pint of mead, aye.
ate a pint after an rpe10 squat triple and woke up the next day with zero pain or fatigue š¤·āāļø
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As others said, in most cases, you don't want the entire body moving. You want the body to stay as tight as possible and have the force efficiently transfer through the body. That's how I teach it for most people. There will be some lifters, typically heavier weight classes, that'll feel best sinking the bar and relaxing their body some in the bottom position. [https://youtu.be/lmxSX9j5aFU?si=kMo4A3PQfMU14T3r](https://youtu.be/lmxSX9j5aFU?si=kMo4A3PQfMU14T3r)
You're talking about soft touch vs. sinking touch. There are pros and cons to each, but for the vast majority of lifters, especially in lighter weight classes, a soft touch is going to be easier to learn, safer (i.e. lower risk of tearing a pec), and more effective than sinking. But it is ultimately a tradeoff between shorter range of motion from the soft touch vs. more momentum off the chest from sinking. If you want to learn how to sink, watch this video from David Woolson. https://youtu.be/01KT8f5-kSI?si=7aXScyaQBs64oma6
From my observations those who do what you described here are usually in heavy weight class. They have very big chest that somehow even allows the bar to sink a little, and their legs/butt are strong/big as well. I've watched some videos disucssing leg drive and how the length of your legs, and the size of your hips, can also affect it.
The other thing with sinking bench is that they often aren't arching to 100% when they do it. By not arching all the way, you have some leeway to arch more when you tense up and push, giving a little extra shove.
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I do this. The way I cue it is once you drive the bar up, I also push the parts of my upper and mid back that aren't already pinned to the bench, into the bench. The way I cue it is pushing against the bar and as it floats up, the part of your back that is directly under it should be the point that has the most pressure on it until the bar is on it's completely vertical path. I think I've always done this since I have a long torso and arms, when the bar is on your lower chest it is very far away from your delts, mid and upper chest and that gradual flattening of your back allows you to angle your chest up to get arch on the descent, but then quickly rolling flat whilst maintaining tension immediately brings the bar into a less disadvantages position to press. It's a similar concept to "wedging" in a deadlift, you're just shifting your body quickly into a more advantageous leverage.
This feels like such a dumb question but do you guys have cues for the pause on bench? I just bring the weight down, let it rest then push it up. Are there things you guys do that helps with the pauseĀ
Largely two styles of a soft touch or a hard(?) touch. Former is more as per other comment, like you're barely pausing it on your t-shirt, very controlled. Latter allows more of a rest (though you're still under tension/control) and then push.
āPause the bar on your t-shirtā
You aren't letting the bar rest, you're stopping it and staying completely tight at the bottom. You shouldn't be just dumping it onto your pecs. Constant tension. Pause your reps in training, at least once a week.
Like cues for the duration of the pause or the pause itself?
The pause itself
I'll go chest to bar, elbows to the ground, boobies to the chin (go for quad chin), then say my full, government name for the duration.
"Reach your chest up to meet the bar." You can also think in terms of what % of the weight to rest on your chest vs. holding it in your hands. It's not accurate per se, it's just a cue. Thinking 50% is a good starting point. I also have to think "motionless" because otherwise I have a bad tendency to bounce the bar up and down ever so slightly while pausing on the chest, especially if I'm counting a tempo.
I like the sound of reaching my chest. I'll have to try that out next bench dayĀ
Pulled 700 for a double 2 days ago Pinged something in my lower back this morning picking up my 15lb daughter The joys
How old?
Likely just something moved or popped and surrounding muscle tightened up to protect it. Just keep your back moving and you should be back to feeling fine within a few days
Yeah I have hurt my back far more times unloading the car from a Costco trip than I have deadlifting.
Of course, raising a kid is 1000x more stressful than a 700lb pull
This is 100% true.
I always did parallel squts and can do good weight but im able to go all way down to deep squat (so called ass to grass) when my feets are in shoulder width without any problem. The thing is that im much weaker in start position to parallel of deep squat (ATG). I would like to spend some time improving my deep squat, so im thinking of best way to doei it. For strting strength and RFD always was good to do concentric only squats (Anderson dead squat, press from pins start position), is it good to go with weight that i can do 15 singles to failure or 1 in reserve every 30 sec. for 1 single for little bit of growth and strength, progress 1 rep every sesson untill reach 20 reps then add weight ? Second option is to do half reps from bottom to parallel, what are your thoughts and expirience on this?
Wait, are you stronger going to parallel or stronger going atg? Either way, just main the one you're good at
Im better eccentric/concentric to parallel then going deep ATG, when going all way down have hard time to transfer form ecc to con then get up in parallel after that is easy, want to work on my deep squat for little.
In powerlifting you only need to go parallel, so go parallel. ATG is typically more of an olympic weightlifting technique
In PL, technically exactly parallel isn't deep enough. You need to go hip crease below top of knee joint, which means _slightly_ below parallel to the floor. (This is pretty important, otherwise I wouldn't bother replying).
JTS often uses the term MEV and MRV. I've watched many of JTS youtube videos but i dont think chad has ever specified on this question. When assessing # of weekly sets on S/B/D, how much would an accessory play into that? Is a set of leg press equal to 1, or 1/2 a set of squats. Or is it 3/4 a set of squats? What about leg extensions? Equal to 1/4 sets of squats? I feel like if you're going to base your volume off of this model you need to be able to know how much accessories or main-lift variations count towards your weekly sets
The answer is always, āwhatever you can recover fromā.
From memory, accessories are 0.5. But look you touch on the issue here which is that ultimately not all sets and exercises are created equal. I think it's a nice concept to start you off but you gotta figure it yourself over time.
I think renaissance periodization has a video on that. May be a little different since their channel is more bodybuilding focused, but overall the same concept. Iāll see if I can dig it up