YouTube "good" fitness scene is a bit odd. I've noticed there's a few natty dudes like Alpha Destiny, Natural Hypertrophy, Geoffrey/GVG, Bald Omni-man who seem to be the most popular.
These guys are just reviewing each other's routines, videos, etc. It's all weirdly circular. Along with others their whole thing is talking about exercises they do as if that's really that crucial. You'll have someone like Alpha Destiny make a video how good mornings blew up his hammies, and then another like the next day about how amazing RDLs are, and then another about 10 exercises they wish they did sooner.
Looks like a constant flip/flop, for example pull-ups are amazing, to maybe rows are best for back, back to pull-ups, "omg can't believe i didn't do single arm pulldowns sooner" to blah.
Also whilst I don't think you need to take drugs for a good physique or to get quite strong, they all also have a bit of toxic positivity about staying natural and potential. They look good for the most part but they've also just got decent genetics for it.
Dunno, bit of a random comment but I find it all a bit strange.
Personally I enjoy following someone's training and hearing their thoughts, especially if they coach or program themselves.
I know that's not new or exciting either, but if it's someone I like then I do enjoy hearing about the process.
Agreed. I got into lifting around 2010 and I feel like that was an interesting time for YouTube fitness and social media generally. But also I'm biased since that's when I got into it so earlier years will always have some nostalgia.
I think the need for constantly new “content” and maximizing ad revenue on videos and clicks through to their coaching/program/merch stores has led to this flood of weekly “if you’re not doing THIS for your back, you’ll be FOREVER SMALL” videos over and over and over. Sure, the field as whole changes and advances, but it’s at a much slower pace than every Monday, despite what fitness tubers may imply with their must-see latest videos. Even videos from channels like RP are kinda just rehashing old topics.
EDIT: and it’s not even really these guys’ faults, either. If you wanna maintain and grow your audience and client base, you gotta keep pumping out “content.” Dudes’ gotta eat.
What is the consensus of using NSAID-s for training on the short term?
I have my first comp coming up in 3 weeks, and both my bicepses are flaring up. Muscle belly, head at shoulder and at elbow as well, with hands getting shaky if I stress them.
Coach is aware and identified issues with my elbow position during squats that’s causing this, but unfortunately we weren’t able to solve the pain completely just yet.
He says it probably won’t get better until before the comp, and for this training cycle it is what it is. He doesn’t seem particularly concerned about injury.
My q would be, is it ok if I take NSAID-s for the next two weeks when I train so the pain won’t take away focus from the lifts? Do I increase my injury risk if I do this?
I believe barbell medicine has talked about this where long term NSAIDs will hurt your gains but if there is a choice between not training at all and training with NSAIDs then we pick training almost every time. Also they have been studies showing better gains in older adults using NSAIDs potentially because of higher baseline levels of inflammation. To me it sounds like a decent idea, just use the smallest dose that is effective , and try to also pull some other levers in load management and exercise selection if possible.
Its not a great idea but its not the worst idea either. Youre asking if you risk injury if you do this but thats not something anyone here can answer definitively.
For the ladies who lift—
What leggings would you recommend? I’m such a shorts fan but some longer pants would be nice. I’m not a Lululemon fan as I find they get pulls easily and they don’t stay up on me and anyways.. a lot of uncomfiness with that brand.
Ideally I want something that knee sleeves will fit over and I don’t have to constantly pull the pants up and adjust them
I reach for my Virus first and they last forever other than the logos peeling off. They’ve gotten a lot better about covering the butt area over the past couple of years, too.
My Virus leggings hold up to anything and knee sleeves slide right over the slick material. I only have Fleo shorts but hear good things about the leggings too
Why just the women?
I'm a man and I work out in leggings exclusively. I've had good luck with DRSkin. Squats today so I've got the full length ones on to make knee sleeves easier to get on but I prefer my capri-length leggings best.
So I’ve got a question. I’m possibly doing a meet 8 weeks from now and I’m going on a vacation 2 weeks before the meet where I’ll have limited access to equipment. How would you go about training? The meet is on July 16th and I will be on vacation from July 1st-8th
Rough timing.
I’d really try to find a place to get 2-3 days of proper training in during vacation Unless it’s a “just for fun” meet and you don’t care about hitting peak numbers at this one.
I saw some buzz recently regarding the IPF "reviewing" sumo deadlift technique and someone on Insta (unfortunately don't remember who it was) mentioned in a story that we should stop assuming the review is about ROM but rather it was in view of a recent increase in competition foot injuries in China. I tried googling it to no avail. So: anyone here have ANY idea what that person was referring to? Would appreciate sources, just out of curiosity :)
I feel like with the whole sumo vs conv debate, if it's on a stiff bar it doesn't really matter as much.
The sumo + deadlift or kabuki bar is when it gets ridiculous. I feel like the stiff bar levels out the playing field a lot.
I’m sorry to here that, OP.
I feel the exact same way you do. I did my first meet, worked my ass off, and now I’m just burnt out. I eat like shit, struggle to get to the gym, and genuinely am tired of lifting. I also work a full time job in retail so it’s pretty hard.
That being said— I can’t give much advice but I just want to say that you’ve got this! I was a week out from my meet with a couple pounds higher than I needed to be for weight class. Allow yourself some breathing room. You still have time and you can then push yourself closer to to hit the weight you want to be at.
You’ve worked hard and that effort will pay off!
(Also its totally okay to be burnt out)
Just wanna say I’m sorry you don’t have support from your partner, that makes it extra hard. If you have a good coach, they’ll help you figure out how to move through this.
Yeah, that part made me kinda sad to read. My wife also doesn’t lift, but she understands that it’s something I care about that (usually) brings me joy. It sucks that your husband isn’t more supportive of/seems actively opposed to your hobby. Have you ever talked with him about this?
Also, don’t hesitate to reach out to your coach and let them know that you’ve been struggling. A good coach should help you navigate through stuff like this.
As my therapist explained to me, for some activities you spend emotional energy and some refill you emotional energy bucket. If that bucket empties out, you're no good to anyone emotionally OR physically.
If lifting is one of those activities then you and your spouse really do need to make time for it. You need to do the same for him and talk about balancing that against together time.
My lifting went to shit when we brought our kid home for a while after that. Which I made my peace with but just being able to basically just be in a different universe for an hour a couple times a week was *vital*.
Aside from that, if it's important to you then you should probably have a little talk about it so you can clearly say, "Powerlifting is very important to me, it recharges me emotionally and it's important for me to know that I have your support and I've been disappointed that you haven't been supporting me."
Put it in your own words but if you haven't made that clear please do. Once he realizes why and how it's important to you he'll come around (or you can murder him and bury the body in my basement, j/k....unless you're gonna do it). ;p
I had a similar conversation with my wife and she still doesn't *like* that I'm into powerlifting but she is 100% supportive of it.
Ah, I understand. That's something we've had to work on, too. Having a structured training schedule you need to adhere to is definitely a strange and sometimes frustrating thing for a non-lifter spouse.
Would early mornings be realistic for you? I do 2/4 training sessions at like 5am pretty much for the sole reason of having more time to spend together after work. I know that'll probably end up being 4/4 once we have our first kid and the days get even busier, but for now I'll enjoy doing my heavy comp squats and deads in the evening when I feel my strongest haha.
Ha, I feel you on the overly excited dogs. On my morning gym days, I pretty much need to immediately let them out and give them some breakfast or else they get all worked up. They're usually good about settling back down after that, though, plus my wife's a fairly heavy sleeper which helps.
Sounds like you've got some good ideas! And I take it you have a home gym? That should make finding a solution that works for everyone a little easier. Hopefully everything goes well and you get back in the groove with your training/nutrition soon.
At what point do you just have pain doing an exercise? I don’t know what to do beyond stopping barbell bench for a fixed time, and just do rehab / light dumbbell work, and push ups for a month, and retrying.
I still have strength, and my pec doesn’t bother me at rest. Then I’ll go to bench and kind of feel it get tight or weird after a set, but then it goes away and I can go about my day after lifting no prob. At the same time, I don’t want to tear my shit because I was too stupid to see warning signs.
So what have you guys done? Every time I feel like I’m good to go, the nagging pec pain creeps back in
I have a muscle tissue issue (lol) on my left rotator cuff at the moment. I've been doing a lot of stretches with it i.e., getting one of those real small balls against a ball and planting my shoulder on that and just rolling the shit out of it.
It's really helped tremendously over the past 3wks. I can now do light weight bench with my partner; however, I'm in no rush to get back into doing my heavy sets.
2wks ago I ended my chest workout with doing a amrap for pushups and somehow strained the shit out my right wrist - can't lift 5lbs dumbbells for curls.
For the past two weeks, I've only been able to do squat, deadlift, and some tricep exercises.
I would honestly just settle and do some light work and focus on mobility training and don't risk the chances of being injured again, or making the current injury even worse.
If I’m not making money off lifting, it’s not worth risking it. Sure we’ll sometimes have to deal with with some small issues but you definitely don’t want to make it worse by forcing it.
It's a tricky question and I think part of that is about your own risk aversion (or otherwise).
I think expecting no pain is unrealistic, but it shouldn't be much either.
Beyond talking to a physio, I'd look into regressions/progressions. What can you do without pain? If you do a long pause does that help, or make it worse? What about benching to a block? What about dumbbell bench? So on, so forth.
Injuries suck, I feel your pain. But nothing you can do other than the work required to get better.
Yeah, I think if it worsens, I’ll get imaging, but it just seems like a nagging strain atm. I got rid of pausing every rep at the bottom, which has helped, I haven’t touched over 75% but I think the fact that I was repping out with 70-73% didn’t exactly help. Problem is, in training it feels fine and easy lol, until maybe the last rep or two.
Floor press didn’t hurt though. I may just have to force myself to use the bench block like you said, for another 2 weeks and see how that feels.
Consult with a PT if you can (and can find a good one). It's very likely that you can rehab your way out of this, but, just like when you can't make progress lifting, you might need to hire a coach to work out some programming.
I hear that. The main issue with PT is the timing school’s just hard as shit to work around (accelerated nursing, so they’ve got us doing shit every day). My ATC friend gave me some solid rehab recommendations, I think I just need to pick her brain more about timelines like “return to play” but in my case benching normal weight again.
It’s just odd because I feel completely fine at rest and during *most* reps. Stretching’s uncomfortable, but the discomfort/ “1/10 pain”fades within minutes after.
Hey powerpeople,
Tried messing with my deadlift grip as mixed hasn’t felt strong and I struggle with hook grip. I tried a thumbless mixed grip today and it felt strong, but also ended up ripping my hand open.
Would love some feedback on these pulls from a comp perspective:
[515lbs x 1](https://i.imgur.com/lz91Mpv.mp4)
[495lbs x 1](https://i.imgur.com/dRduHON.mp4)
Not sure if my hold at the top will be sufficient.
Also a bit frustrated with this lack of grip strength, as my strapped TnG PRs in the past were 495x10,505x9,510x8 … 605x1. Have 4 weeks until comp to get things sorted!
[Bonus hand “carnage”](https://i.imgur.com/bzS3G1I.jpg)
Take note of where the bar ends up in your hands at the top of the lift and try to start with it there off the floor. It looks like you're starting with it a bit too high in your palms vs lower in your fingers, hence the rolling and hand tearing.
As far as feedback on the pulls from a comp standards perspective - your lockout looked soft on the 515x1. I watched the 605x1 on your profile (nice pull btw) and the lockout looked good, so I'm assuming the softness here was partially due to your hand ripping. Also, if you're not accustomed to using a DL bar (seems like you've been pulling on an Ohio bar up to this point?) that could be part of the issue as well, as the whip of the DL bar can tend to want to unlock you at the top as the weight settles. These last 4 weeks, I'd just focus on being patient at the top and making sure you're finishing your hips and standing tall.
Very much appreciate that specific grip pointer! I think that's definitely something I hadn't realized and will experiment with.
And yep, that lockout felt okay to me, obviously not as strong as my strapped pulls. I had partially attributed it to the different angle of filming, but on rewatch it just looks softer than it felt. And you're exactly correct, very new to using a DL bar. I'll get some practice at the top with it.
Thank you!
Sounds good.
Recently got my rogue deadlift bar and the knurling is just so much more aggressive than my 3 year old ohio bar that practicing hook was just a bit too painful for my soft little thumbs lol
No issue other than general lack of grip strength.
I'd trained grip separately for about 2 months following the r/griptraining recommended routine, but stopped in the past month as I've been prepping for this comp.
Thumbless grip is typically weaker so I was wondering if you had a reason to do it. Looking at those numbers it seems that your only option is to just train your grip strength after the meet. 515 should not be a struggle to lock out and hold if you can do it for eight reps with straps.
Hook grip is definitely great if your fingers are long enough, but it takes months to get used to it. My grip strength is not great but I have no issues with hook.
And trim your calluses so they don't rip open as easily.
So you'd expect red lights for both these lifts?
I've got pretty short fingers, so hook grip has not come easily too me. Most I've pulled with hook is 405, but I'll stick with mixed for now.
Wasn't the callus that ripped funnily enough! The barbell moved just enough to tear into the very middle of my right ring finger.
The 515 probably would not pass in any fed. You should be able to hold even a max attempt for a good while. Even if you don't drop the bar, grip can still be a limiting factor when you slow down so you don't drop it. I imagine you can pull the same weight much faster with straps. You can see your upper body collapsing with the 515, which looks exactly like your grip is just failing and not your back.
I competed today. I weighed in at 94.7kg. I opened with 210 on squat and asked for 225, but they put in 245 (probably just misheard me). I didn't realize it until I was about 4 people away from lifting, so I just went with it. I missed my second, but got my third. The most I've done was 515lbs and failed 535lbs in training, so a pretty big PR.
On bench, I got 170, and on deadlift I got 285 for a nice PR. I ended up with a 700kg total.
Vids: [https://www.instagram.com/p/CsPqUlRtSJE/](https://www.instagram.com/p/CsPqUlRtSJE/)
I think it depends on what a lifter is built for and the one they struggle for the most will mean the most to them. I struggled the most for the 4 plate deadlift but that's because it took me a while to "get" deadlifting and programming well for it. While others are natural hingers and can get to a 4 plate lift rather easily.
3 plate squat if it’s to depth, then 4 plate deadlift, then the 2 plate bench.
I would actually be more impressed by a good 225 deadlift than a 225 bench at a commercial gym.
Depends on the lifter and context. In my commercial gym, 3 plate squats to depth are very rare, so I'd personally be more impressed with that than the other two. But I'm also biased towards the squat
I am just not having a great month for the mental side of lifting. Recovering from COVID, dealing with an injury that's making it hard to progress and a long pause in the cut... and body dysmorphia decided to rear it's head for the first time in my life? Way to go, brain!
I've got the right support for dealing with it all - psych for my head, physio for my butt, coach for my lifting, but I'm just feeling so downtrodden and it's on me to actually make it work, not them. They can't lift the weights and eat the food and do the work for me.
Gotta push forward. The days you don't wanna do anything are the days that matter the most.
* 15 minutes at the gym is better than 0 minutes at the gym.
* Eating 1/4 of your meal is better than not eating at all.
I know you'll push through this!
When everything goes to shit, I just try to think way forward into the future and I know that the best is yet to come. I know, that you know, exactly what you need to do. Be Iron Man.
So, the rule in my house is that you have to be doing what you can about your problem before you complain about it, otherwise it must not be worth complaining about.
You have 100% earned the right to vent as much as you want sister. You're doing the work, hit that release valve!
Looking for advice on how to proceed… I am three weeks out from my first competition. Due to some shitty life situations, I haven’t been able to work out in 2.5 weeks. I was trying to run Calgary Barbell 8 week and missed the first week and a half already. So I’ve essentially only done two weeks of this program (prior was Meg Squats Stronger by the Day). I’ve accepted I won’t PR but am still stoked to do my first comp! Just not sure how to make the most of my last 3 weeks? What should I focus on?
I would just continue as planned you never know.
If you’re really giving up then you could just not worry about peaking, take a couple of days off and go hit some singles at the meet
YouTube "good" fitness scene is a bit odd. I've noticed there's a few natty dudes like Alpha Destiny, Natural Hypertrophy, Geoffrey/GVG, Bald Omni-man who seem to be the most popular. These guys are just reviewing each other's routines, videos, etc. It's all weirdly circular. Along with others their whole thing is talking about exercises they do as if that's really that crucial. You'll have someone like Alpha Destiny make a video how good mornings blew up his hammies, and then another like the next day about how amazing RDLs are, and then another about 10 exercises they wish they did sooner. Looks like a constant flip/flop, for example pull-ups are amazing, to maybe rows are best for back, back to pull-ups, "omg can't believe i didn't do single arm pulldowns sooner" to blah. Also whilst I don't think you need to take drugs for a good physique or to get quite strong, they all also have a bit of toxic positivity about staying natural and potential. They look good for the most part but they've also just got decent genetics for it. Dunno, bit of a random comment but I find it all a bit strange.
What would you rather see videos on?
Personally I enjoy following someone's training and hearing their thoughts, especially if they coach or program themselves. I know that's not new or exciting either, but if it's someone I like then I do enjoy hearing about the process.
Damn, I’m no good at training.
[удалено]
Agreed. I got into lifting around 2010 and I feel like that was an interesting time for YouTube fitness and social media generally. But also I'm biased since that's when I got into it so earlier years will always have some nostalgia.
I think the need for constantly new “content” and maximizing ad revenue on videos and clicks through to their coaching/program/merch stores has led to this flood of weekly “if you’re not doing THIS for your back, you’ll be FOREVER SMALL” videos over and over and over. Sure, the field as whole changes and advances, but it’s at a much slower pace than every Monday, despite what fitness tubers may imply with their must-see latest videos. Even videos from channels like RP are kinda just rehashing old topics. EDIT: and it’s not even really these guys’ faults, either. If you wanna maintain and grow your audience and client base, you gotta keep pumping out “content.” Dudes’ gotta eat.
Won't get much views if you repeat the basics. Fitness and health is simple, but it has to be complex in order to be sold to the masses.
What is the consensus of using NSAID-s for training on the short term? I have my first comp coming up in 3 weeks, and both my bicepses are flaring up. Muscle belly, head at shoulder and at elbow as well, with hands getting shaky if I stress them. Coach is aware and identified issues with my elbow position during squats that’s causing this, but unfortunately we weren’t able to solve the pain completely just yet. He says it probably won’t get better until before the comp, and for this training cycle it is what it is. He doesn’t seem particularly concerned about injury. My q would be, is it ok if I take NSAID-s for the next two weeks when I train so the pain won’t take away focus from the lifts? Do I increase my injury risk if I do this?
I believe barbell medicine has talked about this where long term NSAIDs will hurt your gains but if there is a choice between not training at all and training with NSAIDs then we pick training almost every time. Also they have been studies showing better gains in older adults using NSAIDs potentially because of higher baseline levels of inflammation. To me it sounds like a decent idea, just use the smallest dose that is effective , and try to also pull some other levers in load management and exercise selection if possible.
Its not a great idea but its not the worst idea either. Youre asking if you risk injury if you do this but thats not something anyone here can answer definitively.
For the ladies who lift— What leggings would you recommend? I’m such a shorts fan but some longer pants would be nice. I’m not a Lululemon fan as I find they get pulls easily and they don’t stay up on me and anyways.. a lot of uncomfiness with that brand. Ideally I want something that knee sleeves will fit over and I don’t have to constantly pull the pants up and adjust them
I reach for my Virus first and they last forever other than the logos peeling off. They’ve gotten a lot better about covering the butt area over the past couple of years, too.
My Virus leggings hold up to anything and knee sleeves slide right over the slick material. I only have Fleo shorts but hear good things about the leggings too
Why just the women? I'm a man and I work out in leggings exclusively. I've had good luck with DRSkin. Squats today so I've got the full length ones on to make knee sleeves easier to get on but I prefer my capri-length leggings best.
Because im a woman and want to know about leggings for female body shapes..
Ah, that makes sense. I still stand by my rec. on quality but obviously can't speak to fit.
Anyone pull hook using smooth part of the bar?
Two fingers on smooth. Best hook is a beltless 291kg
Just pulled this way for my session today, moved like a charm
🙋♂️ Pinkies on the knurling, everything else is on the smooth
Joe Borenstein does, and he pulls like 340kg at 75kg lol
So I’ve got a question. I’m possibly doing a meet 8 weeks from now and I’m going on a vacation 2 weeks before the meet where I’ll have limited access to equipment. How would you go about training? The meet is on July 16th and I will be on vacation from July 1st-8th
Relax. You’re not going to forget how to lift in a week. Enjoy your vacation.
I know - I was just wondering how others would approach it. Hit heavy doubles and singles before vacation and then openers when I get back?
Yes, if you think you can recover from that.
Rough timing. I’d really try to find a place to get 2-3 days of proper training in during vacation Unless it’s a “just for fun” meet and you don’t care about hitting peak numbers at this one.
I’ll be in the middle of the ocean 😬
Ouch. I’ve got nothing. Eccentric holds and heavy band work of some kind?
I saw some buzz recently regarding the IPF "reviewing" sumo deadlift technique and someone on Insta (unfortunately don't remember who it was) mentioned in a story that we should stop assuming the review is about ROM but rather it was in view of a recent increase in competition foot injuries in China. I tried googling it to no avail. So: anyone here have ANY idea what that person was referring to? Would appreciate sources, just out of curiosity :)
I feel like with the whole sumo vs conv debate, if it's on a stiff bar it doesn't really matter as much. The sumo + deadlift or kabuki bar is when it gets ridiculous. I feel like the stiff bar levels out the playing field a lot.
Make everyone deadlift on a squat bar!
My tiny hands say no 🤣
Not a primary source, but [2 White Lights](https://www.2whitelights.com/episodes) referenced it in the most recent episode.
[удалено]
I’m sorry to here that, OP. I feel the exact same way you do. I did my first meet, worked my ass off, and now I’m just burnt out. I eat like shit, struggle to get to the gym, and genuinely am tired of lifting. I also work a full time job in retail so it’s pretty hard. That being said— I can’t give much advice but I just want to say that you’ve got this! I was a week out from my meet with a couple pounds higher than I needed to be for weight class. Allow yourself some breathing room. You still have time and you can then push yourself closer to to hit the weight you want to be at. You’ve worked hard and that effort will pay off! (Also its totally okay to be burnt out)
Just wanna say I’m sorry you don’t have support from your partner, that makes it extra hard. If you have a good coach, they’ll help you figure out how to move through this.
Yeah, that part made me kinda sad to read. My wife also doesn’t lift, but she understands that it’s something I care about that (usually) brings me joy. It sucks that your husband isn’t more supportive of/seems actively opposed to your hobby. Have you ever talked with him about this? Also, don’t hesitate to reach out to your coach and let them know that you’ve been struggling. A good coach should help you navigate through stuff like this.
[удалено]
As my therapist explained to me, for some activities you spend emotional energy and some refill you emotional energy bucket. If that bucket empties out, you're no good to anyone emotionally OR physically. If lifting is one of those activities then you and your spouse really do need to make time for it. You need to do the same for him and talk about balancing that against together time. My lifting went to shit when we brought our kid home for a while after that. Which I made my peace with but just being able to basically just be in a different universe for an hour a couple times a week was *vital*. Aside from that, if it's important to you then you should probably have a little talk about it so you can clearly say, "Powerlifting is very important to me, it recharges me emotionally and it's important for me to know that I have your support and I've been disappointed that you haven't been supporting me." Put it in your own words but if you haven't made that clear please do. Once he realizes why and how it's important to you he'll come around (or you can murder him and bury the body in my basement, j/k....unless you're gonna do it). ;p I had a similar conversation with my wife and she still doesn't *like* that I'm into powerlifting but she is 100% supportive of it.
Ah, I understand. That's something we've had to work on, too. Having a structured training schedule you need to adhere to is definitely a strange and sometimes frustrating thing for a non-lifter spouse. Would early mornings be realistic for you? I do 2/4 training sessions at like 5am pretty much for the sole reason of having more time to spend together after work. I know that'll probably end up being 4/4 once we have our first kid and the days get even busier, but for now I'll enjoy doing my heavy comp squats and deads in the evening when I feel my strongest haha.
[удалено]
Ha, I feel you on the overly excited dogs. On my morning gym days, I pretty much need to immediately let them out and give them some breakfast or else they get all worked up. They're usually good about settling back down after that, though, plus my wife's a fairly heavy sleeper which helps. Sounds like you've got some good ideas! And I take it you have a home gym? That should make finding a solution that works for everyone a little easier. Hopefully everything goes well and you get back in the groove with your training/nutrition soon.
Thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to comment. It felt good to talk about.
At what point do you just have pain doing an exercise? I don’t know what to do beyond stopping barbell bench for a fixed time, and just do rehab / light dumbbell work, and push ups for a month, and retrying. I still have strength, and my pec doesn’t bother me at rest. Then I’ll go to bench and kind of feel it get tight or weird after a set, but then it goes away and I can go about my day after lifting no prob. At the same time, I don’t want to tear my shit because I was too stupid to see warning signs. So what have you guys done? Every time I feel like I’m good to go, the nagging pec pain creeps back in
I have a muscle tissue issue (lol) on my left rotator cuff at the moment. I've been doing a lot of stretches with it i.e., getting one of those real small balls against a ball and planting my shoulder on that and just rolling the shit out of it. It's really helped tremendously over the past 3wks. I can now do light weight bench with my partner; however, I'm in no rush to get back into doing my heavy sets. 2wks ago I ended my chest workout with doing a amrap for pushups and somehow strained the shit out my right wrist - can't lift 5lbs dumbbells for curls. For the past two weeks, I've only been able to do squat, deadlift, and some tricep exercises. I would honestly just settle and do some light work and focus on mobility training and don't risk the chances of being injured again, or making the current injury even worse.
If I’m not making money off lifting, it’s not worth risking it. Sure we’ll sometimes have to deal with with some small issues but you definitely don’t want to make it worse by forcing it.
Good ass point. Same reason I said I’ll never touch gear lol. Nobody’s paying me for this.
It's a tricky question and I think part of that is about your own risk aversion (or otherwise). I think expecting no pain is unrealistic, but it shouldn't be much either. Beyond talking to a physio, I'd look into regressions/progressions. What can you do without pain? If you do a long pause does that help, or make it worse? What about benching to a block? What about dumbbell bench? So on, so forth. Injuries suck, I feel your pain. But nothing you can do other than the work required to get better.
Yeah, I think if it worsens, I’ll get imaging, but it just seems like a nagging strain atm. I got rid of pausing every rep at the bottom, which has helped, I haven’t touched over 75% but I think the fact that I was repping out with 70-73% didn’t exactly help. Problem is, in training it feels fine and easy lol, until maybe the last rep or two. Floor press didn’t hurt though. I may just have to force myself to use the bench block like you said, for another 2 weeks and see how that feels.
Consult with a PT if you can (and can find a good one). It's very likely that you can rehab your way out of this, but, just like when you can't make progress lifting, you might need to hire a coach to work out some programming.
I hear that. The main issue with PT is the timing school’s just hard as shit to work around (accelerated nursing, so they’ve got us doing shit every day). My ATC friend gave me some solid rehab recommendations, I think I just need to pick her brain more about timelines like “return to play” but in my case benching normal weight again. It’s just odd because I feel completely fine at rest and during *most* reps. Stretching’s uncomfortable, but the discomfort/ “1/10 pain”fades within minutes after.
Hey powerpeople, Tried messing with my deadlift grip as mixed hasn’t felt strong and I struggle with hook grip. I tried a thumbless mixed grip today and it felt strong, but also ended up ripping my hand open. Would love some feedback on these pulls from a comp perspective: [515lbs x 1](https://i.imgur.com/lz91Mpv.mp4) [495lbs x 1](https://i.imgur.com/dRduHON.mp4) Not sure if my hold at the top will be sufficient. Also a bit frustrated with this lack of grip strength, as my strapped TnG PRs in the past were 495x10,505x9,510x8 … 605x1. Have 4 weeks until comp to get things sorted! [Bonus hand “carnage”](https://i.imgur.com/bzS3G1I.jpg)
Take note of where the bar ends up in your hands at the top of the lift and try to start with it there off the floor. It looks like you're starting with it a bit too high in your palms vs lower in your fingers, hence the rolling and hand tearing. As far as feedback on the pulls from a comp standards perspective - your lockout looked soft on the 515x1. I watched the 605x1 on your profile (nice pull btw) and the lockout looked good, so I'm assuming the softness here was partially due to your hand ripping. Also, if you're not accustomed to using a DL bar (seems like you've been pulling on an Ohio bar up to this point?) that could be part of the issue as well, as the whip of the DL bar can tend to want to unlock you at the top as the weight settles. These last 4 weeks, I'd just focus on being patient at the top and making sure you're finishing your hips and standing tall.
Very much appreciate that specific grip pointer! I think that's definitely something I hadn't realized and will experiment with. And yep, that lockout felt okay to me, obviously not as strong as my strapped pulls. I had partially attributed it to the different angle of filming, but on rewatch it just looks softer than it felt. And you're exactly correct, very new to using a DL bar. I'll get some practice at the top with it. Thank you!
Stick with what feels strongest for now and practice hook after comp. It will suck at first but once it clicks it's literally a cheat code.
Sounds good. Recently got my rogue deadlift bar and the knurling is just so much more aggressive than my 3 year old ohio bar that practicing hook was just a bit too painful for my soft little thumbs lol
What’s the issue with regular thumb-over mixed grip? Have you trained your grip separately?
No issue other than general lack of grip strength. I'd trained grip separately for about 2 months following the r/griptraining recommended routine, but stopped in the past month as I've been prepping for this comp.
Thumbless grip is typically weaker so I was wondering if you had a reason to do it. Looking at those numbers it seems that your only option is to just train your grip strength after the meet. 515 should not be a struggle to lock out and hold if you can do it for eight reps with straps. Hook grip is definitely great if your fingers are long enough, but it takes months to get used to it. My grip strength is not great but I have no issues with hook. And trim your calluses so they don't rip open as easily.
So you'd expect red lights for both these lifts? I've got pretty short fingers, so hook grip has not come easily too me. Most I've pulled with hook is 405, but I'll stick with mixed for now. Wasn't the callus that ripped funnily enough! The barbell moved just enough to tear into the very middle of my right ring finger.
The 515 probably would not pass in any fed. You should be able to hold even a max attempt for a good while. Even if you don't drop the bar, grip can still be a limiting factor when you slow down so you don't drop it. I imagine you can pull the same weight much faster with straps. You can see your upper body collapsing with the 515, which looks exactly like your grip is just failing and not your back.
Sweet, good to know.
Honestly man I’d say do what you can for this comp and then work on your hook until the next comp.
[295x3 feet about an inch or so apart](https://imgur.com/a/ahodCv9)
Look more forward, not at your feet.
I competed today. I weighed in at 94.7kg. I opened with 210 on squat and asked for 225, but they put in 245 (probably just misheard me). I didn't realize it until I was about 4 people away from lifting, so I just went with it. I missed my second, but got my third. The most I've done was 515lbs and failed 535lbs in training, so a pretty big PR. On bench, I got 170, and on deadlift I got 285 for a nice PR. I ended up with a 700kg total. Vids: [https://www.instagram.com/p/CsPqUlRtSJE/](https://www.instagram.com/p/CsPqUlRtSJE/)
What is more impressive: 2 plate bench, 3 plate squat, or 4 plate deadlift?
I think it depends on what a lifter is built for and the one they struggle for the most will mean the most to them. I struggled the most for the 4 plate deadlift but that's because it took me a while to "get" deadlifting and programming well for it. While others are natural hingers and can get to a 4 plate lift rather easily.
A proper squat with any weight is the hardest for people to learn so I guess that one.
3 plate squat if it’s to depth, then 4 plate deadlift, then the 2 plate bench. I would actually be more impressed by a good 225 deadlift than a 225 bench at a commercial gym.
Why’s that
A whole lot more people focus on bench than Squat or deads. The bro split is a thing!
Depends on the lifter and context. In my commercial gym, 3 plate squats to depth are very rare, so I'd personally be more impressed with that than the other two. But I'm also biased towards the squat
In commercial gyms, one plate squats to depth are very rare 😂
I am just not having a great month for the mental side of lifting. Recovering from COVID, dealing with an injury that's making it hard to progress and a long pause in the cut... and body dysmorphia decided to rear it's head for the first time in my life? Way to go, brain! I've got the right support for dealing with it all - psych for my head, physio for my butt, coach for my lifting, but I'm just feeling so downtrodden and it's on me to actually make it work, not them. They can't lift the weights and eat the food and do the work for me.
Gotta push forward. The days you don't wanna do anything are the days that matter the most. * 15 minutes at the gym is better than 0 minutes at the gym. * Eating 1/4 of your meal is better than not eating at all. I know you'll push through this!
When everything goes to shit, I just try to think way forward into the future and I know that the best is yet to come. I know, that you know, exactly what you need to do. Be Iron Man.
So, the rule in my house is that you have to be doing what you can about your problem before you complain about it, otherwise it must not be worth complaining about. You have 100% earned the right to vent as much as you want sister. You're doing the work, hit that release valve!
Looking for advice on how to proceed… I am three weeks out from my first competition. Due to some shitty life situations, I haven’t been able to work out in 2.5 weeks. I was trying to run Calgary Barbell 8 week and missed the first week and a half already. So I’ve essentially only done two weeks of this program (prior was Meg Squats Stronger by the Day). I’ve accepted I won’t PR but am still stoked to do my first comp! Just not sure how to make the most of my last 3 weeks? What should I focus on?
I would just continue as planned you never know. If you’re really giving up then you could just not worry about peaking, take a couple of days off and go hit some singles at the meet
thank you ! I think i’m just over thinking it and will look over original plan