What I'm Capable of - Breaking Down Barriers

[Frank.S]

near 700lbs rack pulls for 3 reps, straps not needed.. straps on a 400lbs deadlift? c'mon guys, i dont care if straps where allowed.. that not cool and a good way to make your grip a problem in the future.

If you are twisting, fix it, or use regular grip or hook grip. Straps not only will make your grip weak, but they will also effect your deadlift set-up.

[Simon C]

Originally Posted by Frank.S

near 700lbs rack pulls for 3 reps, straps not needed.. straps on a 400lbs deadlift? c'mon guys, i dont care if straps where allowed.. that not cool and a good way to make your grip a problem in the future.

If you are twisting, fix it, or use regular grip or hook grip. Straps not only will make your grip weak, but they will also effect your deadlift set-up.

+1 Frank

Although hook grip for heavy deads sounds nasty... and regular grip is weak(weaker than mixed always - see rolands post )

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

Physics, man! Physics! A straight bar with a double overhand grip is rolling toward you and down, and your grip is fighting it.

A mixed grip has one hand rolling the bar away from you and the other rolling it toward you. It balances out so it's just sliding straight down, so your grip is just holding it up, not resisting the bar's rotation.

A neutral grip (trap bar) is also only resisting the downward pull, there can be no rolling at all, AND the neutral arm position is generally the strongest position with which to hold something heavy.*

* If some physics geek points out that there can be some rotation, I'll bop him. It's very slight, as even a 45 degree rotation at the handle would require a left/right tilt that's virtually impossible with a deadlift.

+2 Roland!

I couldn't have said it better myself. Alco, I thought you'd know this, it's the exact same reason mixed grip is stronger than double overhand...

[Matthew]

Should've known I'd take heat for that.

When I get a belt I'll stop using straps, because maybe a belt will stop the twisting?
By the way, it's not that one end of the bar was closer to me than the other. It's that one shoulder was higher than the other. I don't know how to fix that, and I'd rather use straps and not severe my spine than continue using a mixed grip.

Just wait until I can put the video up, maybe you can see what I mean.

[Matthew]

Deadlift warm up

Deadlift warm up 2

Deadlift work set 1

Deadlift work set 2



Box squat warm up

Box squat warm up 2

Box squat work set



Front squat

[Matthew]

So.. I feel a lot lower in the deadlift than I look to be. Weird. On the first work set I'm pretty much stiff legging it still. Again, weird.

You can't see the twisting, I guess I didn't film the right set.

box squat - oh look at that third rep. That hurts to see.

[Simon C]

Nice post, lots of vids to watch

You're deadlift form has improved alot since that last video you posted, your back doesn't look rounded at all.

You are still pretty much stiff legging it though, and I can see that you're trying to correct this by pulling with lower hips, but the hips raise before the bar comes off the floor and you still end up stiff legging it. You have to extend the knees and hips with at the right time, and not let the legs straighten too early(hips raise to early) - think of keeping the chest up, and raising the chest, not your but.

I can't see the twisting at all yeah...

As for the box squats, your form looks pretty solid there. A bit of the GM'ing there(especially 3rd rep lol), but that can be pretty hard to stop with heavy weights, keep working on that though. Again a good cue, or something to think about is "Chest up!!!".

Front squats: you do them with a bodybuilding grip wtf lol! gay! anyway, all I can really say here is pull your elbows up as high as you can, and jam them under the bar tight, so the bar is set on your front delts. also, olympic grip = the win

Also, that must be the "good gym" right? Because that gym looks soooo fucking good, the plates look like the ones you get at an actual meet

[Matthew]

Ya dude, that's the good gym.
There's one downside to this room: the two walls that happen to face the sun all afternoon also happen to be made completely out of glass. It's tolerable now that it's winter, but in the summer that room will be like a greenhouse. They aren't sure the air conditioning unit they have is powerful enough to deal with it. This worries me.


I try using the clean grip every once in a while, but with that grip the bar sits directly on top of bone and hurts like hell. Something about rotating my arm to that position moves [I think the medial delts] out of the way and so the bar has no padding under it.

I agree that I need to extend my knees and hips at the same time, the problem is that I can't.

[Simon C]

Dude, when you get into the clean grip, properly, you raise your elbows close to horizontal, so your front delts tense up and form a really nice shelf for the bar to sit on. Now as Alco said, you must have front delts, so this must work, so you're probably doing something wierd!

[Matthew]

Ya. I can't do that. My fingers feel like they're going to rip off. I'm working on this though by stretching my forearms.

ha

[Simon C]

Stretch your forearms bit getting a bar into the "rack position" too, trying to bring your elbows up higher each time. You can do this with an unracked bar, or a heavy ass weight in the rack, just pushing up against it to stretch. You should be able to get the position nicely in a few weeks if you keep it up.

[Lost Dog]

Originally Posted by Matthew

Should've known I'd take heat for that.

When I get a belt I'll stop using straps, because maybe a belt will stop the twisting?
By the way, it's not that one end of the bar was closer to me than the other. It's that one shoulder was higher than the other. I don't know how to fix that, and I'd rather use straps and not severe my spine than continue using a mixed grip.

Is it always one shoulder higher than the other? If that's the case, you're probably weaker on one side or have an activation issue in that position.

Or, you could be subconsciously shrugging the bar in that position because it feels awkward.

[Matthew]

I'm not sure, I only noticed it the once.

It doesn't happen during rack pulls, at least not that I know of.
It could have just been a fluke thing, just during that one set. I don't know. I'll try again next week and see what happens.

[Frank.S]

the only real issue i see is your bar speed on the deadlifts, i though you where doing a 1rm single with the bar speed you where using. speed deads / just pull them faster. Good work.

[Alcoholiday]

yea, your front squat form is off. it has less to do with how the bar is sitting, and more to do with your form.

First off, ditch the shoes with a heel for deadlifting. Get some chucks. You're in new balance shoes, right?

Front squats, Your form wasn't too bad the first 3 reps, but the 4th, you GM up. Of course the weight is going to fall when your torso isn't straight. Think of lifting the weight with your legs, NOT your back. If should be mainly all legs/hips.

And learn the clean grip. I made a good post in the training forum (the old one), about learning the clean grip with pictures Jono posted from MM. They are extremely helpful. Just keep stretching and getting into the position, and you'll adapt to it. Try loading up the bar, stepping under it, and getting into a clean position (don't unrack). Then have a partner press up on your elbows to get a stretch.

Once you learn the clean grip, and you work on your form, you won't be dumping the weights.

[Alcoholiday]

Originally Posted by Matthew

Ya. I can't do that. My fingers feel like they're going to rip off. I'm working on this though by stretching my forearms.

ha

that's probably b/c your supporting the weight with your fingers, and not your delts. You should be able to only keep a few fingers on them, and be fine. Actually, you technically should be able to keep your arms straight and the weight will stay in the crook as long as your form is right.

[pjb923]

I didn't realize that you were using a crossed arm grip on the front squats. I have never felt comfortable using this grip and forced myself to adapt to using a clean grip. Keep stretching your forearms and try only using 2-3 fingers on the bar.

When I first started front squats I could only handle 1-2 sets before wrist pain would force me to stop. I just kept pushing and trying to add a little more volume at each workout. Eventually your body will adapt to the movement.

If you are interested, I have a few of my front squat videos on youtube.
YouTube - pjb923's Channel

As for strengthening my upper back, I have not done anything specific yet, but plan on adding more pulling and rowing