Man of Honour
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Pathetic deadlift session this afternoon. At least I had a strong chest session yesterday. Will drop the weights and build back up. Legs and chest going well at least.
*** The 2019 Gym Rats Thread ***
- Thread starter spluff
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You have an undiagnosed back problem... and you're squatting?
Whilst I commend your enthusiasm (and I have done similar), I would strongly suggest rethinking your training program!
Squatting WITH a belt is not protective in this instance and - if you do compromise your form - will potentially lead to a bigger blowout. Get rid of it.
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Man of Honour
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What he said. Squatting puts a huge demand on your back. I won’t squat without a fully recovered lower back - if I don’t I really feel it and just won’t do it anymore. Leg presses (with good form) might be a better alternative for now.
Soldato
Do any kind of pre-squat warmups? I still do this before I head off to gym for my squat/deadlift session: Kelly Starret - Squat hip opener I do do something else, but cant remember where I saw it, basically to get my hips activated before I squat.
That's interesting. I do a pretty long warm up starting with the bar as recommended by stronglifts but that does look good for mobility.
How long did most people who started with stronglifts stick with it before moving on to other programmes? I have now had to deload 10 percent and work back up on pretty much everything as had 3 failures at a given weight. I don't mind that and think my form is improving for it. I feel I can still make progress with it but not sure when and what I should be moving on to. Any thoughts?
How long did most people who started with stronglifts stick with it before moving on to other programmes? I have now had to deload 10 percent and work back up on pretty much everything as had 3 failures at a given weight. I don't mind that and think my form is improving for it. I feel I can still make progress with it but not sure when and what I should be moving on to. Any thoughts?
Man of Honour
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I still follow this https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/posts/29878006/ - still gain, occasionally hold the weight for another cycle or drop down and build back up. I typically add 2.5kg to the max lift after each cycle. It is tough, but it works. The only part I don't follow are for chest and I have also cut out front squats and now only squat once a week - twice a week was destroying my hip flexors.
Thanks, looks interesting. What should I take as a signal to move on from stonglifts? My squat and deadlift are ranked intermediate for my age and weight but my bench is still low (80kg) and I OHP like my 8 year old daughter.
Man of Honour
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Personally if I stop progressing and a deload/change in volume/increase in calories doesn't work then I will change the programme. Someone else might suggest otherwise.
Just some general stretches including the hips but I'll give this a go.
Soldato
You have an undiagnosed back problem... and you're squatting?
Whilst I commend your enthusiasm (and I have done similar), I would strongly suggest rethinking your training program!
Squatting WITH a belt is not protective in this instance and - if you do compromise your form - will potentially lead to a bigger blowout. Get rid of it.
Yea, I hear what you're saying. I don't squat or deadlift if my back is hurting. I'll take the belt off.
Soldato
For pure progress reasons (rather than enjoyment or doing a program more aligned with your goals), the main signal would be - if you're going in circles stalling, back-cycling and working back up to the same point over and over. This obviously works for a while with linear progression but isn't a long-term solution: at some point you have to do what all intermediate-onward programs do, which is
1) employ some form of periodisation. For intermediates this doesn't have to be super complicated, but the program should take into account progress will tend to be at best weekly, rather than session to session. Madcow and the Texas Method are the next progression from Starting Strength for instance, but there are obviously lots of more powerlifting-specific templates out there or smart bodybuilding ones that are based around big compounds (like the ones from The Muscle & Strength Pyramid books you can find online).
2) increase training volume (and work capacity in order to be able to handle more volume); a lot of beginner programs are low volume as that's all that's needed (no point doing more when you could get the same results with less work) but eventually you have to start putting more work in to keep progress going. This is tangled with point 1, since more work = more fatigue and why on an intermediate program you might work with %'s of your max or within an RPE range rather than grinding away like you tend to do when things start getting hard on the beginner programs.
Thanks, that's really useful
Associate
Hi all I've been doing stronglifts for a while now my squat is progressing finally! Although 3 times a week my legs are still struggling to recover before the next session.
Wondered if it's worth upgrading my squat rack which is currently a bodymax cf415 and buying a power rack? Something like this https://www.mirafit.co.uk/mirafit-250kg-power-rack-with-cable-system.html
Wondered if it's worth upgrading my squat rack which is currently a bodymax cf415 and buying a power rack? Something like this https://www.mirafit.co.uk/mirafit-250kg-power-rack-with-cable-system.html
Today's squat and deadlift session was interesting, bought that EatLean cheese from Tesco on sale and ended up eating half of the 350g pack. I started to get very gassy just before the workout and bad to go to the toilets a few times to "let some steam out"
There's no problem with upgrading your rack because you want to, but don't pretend for a minute it is because you need to.
I have lifting in my home gym for five years with just a lifting platform and a squat rack and have - injuries aside - never struggled for variety.
Today's squat and deadlift session was interesting, bought that EatLean cheese from Tesco on sale and ended up eating half of the 350g pack. I started to get very gassy just before the workout and bad to go to the toilets a few times to "let some steam out"
My experience of visiting India is that the trots certainly makes you leaner, so may be the cheese works!
You'll probably enjoy having the pull up bar if you switch to a rack
Going to put the time aside today to FINALLY come up with a consistent routine. As fantastic as my new gym is what with all these cool machines I've not seen before, it's definitely encouraged me to go off schedule checking them all out. I have compound specific days at the moment but a lot of the side stuff I do after is just picking pieces of equipment at random and seeing what I can comfortably max at 5x5.
MUST BE CONSISTENT.
MUST BE CONSISTENT.
Soldato
In the gym yesterday doing deadlifts and one of the guys who works there said we're not allowed to take our shoes off....That puts a spanner in the works.