trap bar will be on wed, eventually working up to the contest weight for reps.
i'll work with triples in the front squat. I want to improve my push press strength, which i think front squats will improve it moreso than back squats. Plus, i'm getting good hamstring and glute work with the trap bar.
the front squats, i'll either work up to where i was previously, or shoot for 5lbs over, which will be dependent on how i feel workout to workout. Since it's an accessory movement, i will focus on bringing it up, but it will take secondary to the other lifts (log press, trap bar). I need to eventually get over the contest weight in the front squat to get good carryover on the leg drive. somewhere around 200x3 for multiple sets.
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How are you going to recover from cleans+heavy trap bar deads in one day?
Recover enough to front squat/clean+press.
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And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
recovery is over rated. your body will adapt to almost anything you need it to if you give it time.
back squats are not over rated and i think you are making a mistake by droping them.. even if they are not an event, whats going to bring up your trap bar pull? back squats, what is going to improve your yoke? back squats..
Front squats are alright, but at 200lbs or whatever, not the same kind of training effect. ive gotten up to somewhat heavy front squats before and because of the light weight (i think ive gotten 300 x 5? i could be wrong here) just dont provide the all out brute strength a back squat does..
i may throw back squats in to replace one of the front squat days, we'll play it by ear. But, my front squat is low compared to my back squat. Improve the weaker, improve the stronger.
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And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
ok, but my front squat is probably a good 50-60lbs lower than my back. plus, i'm going to be pressing the weight when it's on my delts, not when it's on my back
__________________ True Protein 5% off discount code: ZHS099 www.trueprotein.com
__________________
And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
Your front squat should be 50-60 lbs lower than your back squat.
Your pressing from your delts, you don't need to squat with the bar on your delts too.
That said, I disagree with Frank in that I think front squats will help your trap bar deads more than back squats would. At least they would for me, I don't know about you.
__________________
And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
ok, but my front squat is probably a good 50-60lbs lower than my back. plus, i'm going to be pressing the weight when it's on my delts, not when it's on my back
dude, my back squat is like four hundred pounds higher then my front squat
Your front squat should be 50-60 lbs lower than your back squat.
Your pressing from your delts, you don't need to squat with the bar on your delts too.
That said, I disagree with Frank in that I think front squats will help your trap bar deads more than back squats would. At least they would for me, I don't know about you.
depends how you pull. Ive actually never done trap bar deads. i can pick up 150lbs dbs easy LOL does that count?
Well with trap bar deads your hips are a lot lower (especially for me and you, since I think we both pull a straight bar with high hips) so you're using more quad than during your regular pull.
Because I always pull with high hips, I figure my quads are my weak point (especially considering my low squat numbers). So front squats would help with that, as well as with any ab weakness I may have.
I know you don't like front squats for quad strength, but I do. I think they're very effective in that respect.
For alco, it depends where his weaknesses are. Do you know where you're weak, Zach?
__________________
And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
I used to think front squats where great for the quads in a regular deadlift.. i really did.
i progressed my front squat about 100lbs (from ~200 x 5, to 300 x 5) over the course of the summer, and my pull, stayed about the same. Later, I started using high box work.. and my pull shot up big. There is a reason why not many powerlifters use front squats.
for my purposes, they proved to be worthless and that training cycle ended up not getting me much stronger at all. for alcos purposes, i have no idea anymore
I've been shying away from "weak points" for a while now, and I have to say, I am making great gains as opposed to identifying weak points specifically and addressing them.
I find it better to focus on movements rather than muscles...like, my full squat is pretty low compared to my deadlift, so I'll focus on that. I've done that with my bent-over row, and with my goodmornings. It wasn't a weak point, per se, just big lifts that were low in relation to my pull, and when I brought them up I pulled a PR.
In fact, when it comes to the deadlift and the squat, I've found one thing to be very, very true: the best accessories are usually the ones that let you use a fair amount of weight.
That is, a goodmorning or a stiff-leg pull from blocks will probably be better than a reverse hyper in terms of building a pull, even if you determine your "glutes are the weak link".
Quote:
A lot of it has to do with comparing assistance lifts to other lifters. Granted, there won't be any ratio or anythign concrete you're looking for, but, some things stick out.
My best wide-stance GCB box squat is 545 with choked light bands and 120-pounds of chain. At the same time, my best narrow (shoulder-width or slightly closer) GCB box squat was 415.
My hamstrings and glutes were strong, but my overall leg strength wasn't, namely because of the low numbers on my narrow squatting. So, I spent more time working on low, narrow box squats. End result? 40-pound PR on my deadlift in 2-3 months.
I look for relationships between movements; if my squat is stalling, I will compare it to my narrow box squat, goodmorning variations and rowing work. If I've been neglecting something, it's usually obvious. When my bench press was stuck, I looked at my overhead strength, compared it to other benchers and spent time stengthening it.
As far as working weak-points goes, I'm not against it, I just take a more general approach. I know that the bench press is a combination of full-range practice, low-end strength, upper-end strength and lat/upper back work. So I make sure I try to improve all of those instead of saying, "my bench stalls in the mid-range, so I'll do more 3-boards".
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I used to think front squats where great for the quads in a regular deadlift.. i really did.
i progressed my front squat about 100lbs (from ~200 x 5, to 300 x 5) over the course of the summer, and my pull, stayed about the same. Later, I started using high box work.. and my pull shot up big. There is a reason why not many powerlifters use front squats.
for my purposes, they proved to be worthless and that training cycle ended up not getting me much stronger at all. for alcos purposes, i have no idea anymore
ha!
well, i can tell you on 1-19-08 i missed 395 on a trap bar pull.
on 2-2-08 i hit 407x1
on 3-26-08, i pulled 421x2.
my training from 1-19 to 3-26 was a lot of squatting, the olympic lifts, mostly cleans, and push presses. I didn't do much strongman training these few months.
i honestly don't think it really matters WHAT i do specifically on the lifts. As long as i'm doing a press with a log, and progressing on that, and i'm squatting consistently, and pulling weekly, my lower body strength will move up.
i think it just comes down to press a lot, squat a lot and pull a lot.
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i think it just comes down to press a lot, squat a lot and pull a lot.
Werd. Once you get really strong, then weak points will become an issue. At this stage, its just about practicing the movements and getting more efficient at them.
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\"The strongest steel goes through the hottest fires.\"-Anonymous
\"When you begin to believe nothing is heavy, all weights become light.\" -Rossbow
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