*** The 2019 Gym Rats Thread ***

[ShortWarning]

Really not sure why you have the plates under your toes, never heard of this before, its normally plates under heals to simulate lifting shoes, but you already have those.

Your feet are to close together in my opinion for a low bar squat, you want to widen your stance by maybe 2" per side.

Definitely better then before though.

I was going with the below:

- stick some 1.25/2.5kg plates under your toes and stand a 25kg plate up where your butt would hit

I guess it's to stop me from moving my weight to my toes.

I will try widening my stance more. I think flexibility may be an issue if I go wider but I will give it a go.

I just realised, I forgot to put the plate under my butt. Whoops!

 

[mrthingyx]

So, I read all the notes before squatting. I've deloaded a lot (down to 60kg). I can still see that bracing is a bit of a problem. Anymore pointers?

Spoiler

Thanks guys!

Decide on your bar position - it is quite low for "High" bar, but that isn't really too much of a problem.

Squats looked much better, but you will need to do a fair few Russian baby makers to get your knees out a bit more. ; )

On that note, try making your stance a bit wider (an inch or two)...

Really not sure why you have the plates under your toes, never heard of this before, its normally plates under heals to simulate lifting shoes, but you already have those.

Your feet are to close together in my opinion for a low bar squat, you want to widen your stance by maybe 2" per side.

Definitely better then before though.

It's a weightlifting cue to keep lifters off their toes too early... And it appears to be working here.

 

[Somnambulist]

https://yashathoughts.com/check-your-balance/

This is my preference for getting used to maintaining midfoot balance.

 

[ShortWarning]

Decide on your bar position - it is quite low for "High" bar, but that isn't really too much of a problem.

Squats looked much better, but you will need to do a fair few Russian baby makers to get your knees out a bit more. ; )

On that note, try making your stance a bit wider (an inch or two)...



It's a weightlifting cue to keep lifters off their toes too early... And it appears to be working here.

I was going for low bar in this instance.

Looked up Russian baby makers...interesting. I have really tight hamstrings so this may be a struggle.

From the video I posted previously of squats with no bar, would you say I have anterior pelvic tilt?

 

[Syla5]

It's a weightlifting cue to keep lifters off their toes too early... And it appears to be working here.

Interesting, I had heard of lifting your toes, never actually using plates to do it lol.

 

[mrthingyx]

https://yashathoughts.com/check-your-balance/

This is my preference for getting used to maintaining midfoot balance.

I deliberately didn't mention this because he's too far forward in the first place and it's much more important for him to get squatting not badly before he squats well.

From the video I posted previously of squats with no bar, would you say I have anterior pelvic tilt?

What makes you think this matters?

Interesting, I had heard of lifting your toes, never actually using plates to do it lol.

In weightlifting, to keep the weight on the heels, the trick is to get lifters to start with their toes on a board to force them to think about keeping the weight back...

 

[ShortWarning]

What makes you think this matters?

I was watching Jeff Cavileer and he said it can cause hamstring tightness and it's better to fix that before stretching them.

 

[mrthingyx]

I was watching Jeff Cavileer and he said it can cause hamstring tightness and it's better to fix that before stretching them.

There are a huge number of schools of thought around this: hamstring tightness isn't just a function of anterior pelvic tilt or whatever. If you think about the musculature of the thigh, the quads pull one way and the hamstrings pull the other, with things like psoas, quadratis lumborum, etc all pulling in different directions just to make things more complicated.

The easiest way to tell if you have an issue with APT/PPT and spine curvature whatevers is to stand with your back'n'hips against a wall: you should be able to get your hand flat between your back and the wall - no more and no less.

Practically, I wouldn't worry about it. Being a bit blunt: don't worry about things that might stop you doing something... all that will do is stop you doing it before you get to it.

 

[reiyushin]

Anyone ever tried the captains of crush grippers? A buddy of mine got a 2.5 and it's like trying to crush a rock :'(

 

[dirtychinchilla]

I'll try the advice in this thread and probably give this a go tonight:

https://startingstrength.com/training/a-new-cue-for-setting-the-lower-back

 

[mrthingyx]

I'll try the advice in this thread and probably give this a go tonight:

https://startingstrength.com/training/a-new-cue-for-setting-the-lower-back

Whatever works. I didn't respond to the normal cues for the clean so my coach had to prescribe new ones.

 

[dirtychinchilla]

Whatever works. I didn't respond to the normal cues for the clean so my coach had to prescribe new ones.

Yeah, I mean I may end up the same to be fair. I thought I had everything down before your helpful comments. I think taking the belt off for now and deloading will certainly help.

 

[Avenged7Fold]

How are those sleep aid sups treating you dudes?

Sleep is definitely where i am lacking the most and can really feel the difference if i get a rough night. I am considering trying these supplements if they have any chance of working.

 

[dirtychinchilla]

They're sort of helping. They're definitely worth trying. There's all sorts of other factors still affecting me, but I'm trying to reduce those as much as possible.

The alternative I've been thinking of is getting some of those CBD nugs, but it's obviously more convenient to have a little tablet rather than a j.

 

[Somnambulist]

Anyone ever tried the captains of crush grippers? A buddy of mine got a 2.5 and it's like trying to crush a rock :'(

Yes, they're horrible. I know a guy at my gym, Mike (Mikelifts) on Instagram and he got into grip training and started bringing them to gym like a travelling salesman to get people to have a play around with them for the lulz. He can close the 2.5 for... he got to 2 full reps and nearly a third on his dominant hand (on his IG saved stories), then he got the left-handed ones, since they're normally build in a way that suits the right hand better, then the GripGenie grippers and had closed all but their hardest level 6 gripper. He's just crazy strong.

 

[ShortWarning]

The easiest way to tell if you have an issue with APT/PPT and spine curvature whatevers is to stand with your back'n'hips against a wall: you should be able to get your hand flat between your back and the wall - no more and no less.

I can fit a good fist in there but I won't worry about it too much.

 

[mrthingyx]

I can fit a good fist in there but I won't worry about it too much.

Looking at your lifts, APT is not the problem.

Your most recent vid shows you can squat just fine, but need a stronger core and a better movement pattern.

 

[mrthingyx]

Looking at your lifts, APT is not the problem.

Your most recent vid shows you can squat just fine, but need a stronger core and a better movement pattern.

By way of update, you should try squatting with a band around your knees to get your glute med firing, because I don't think it is.

 

[dirtychinchilla]

Just got back from a terrible gym session...I slept badly last night and didn't feel great all day, but I wasn't expecting this.

I must admit I didn't goblet squat, but I tried to squat with the barbell but stood on some very small plates. I fell off when I tried to go past 100 kg, ended up getting squashed by the bar a bit. I'll try the goblet squat, but frankly I think I need someone there coaching me otherwise I'll just keep doing what I've always done.

For the deadlift, I took all the normal cues and included the one from that link I posted and pushed by belly into my thighs. It sort of worked...videos below.

Ditched the belt on more or less everything by the way.

Watching these I feel like I'm going for arms before legs. I just remembered someone at work told me hip thrusting was a good cue, but I didn't think about that whilst I was in the gym.

Did a few reps on the bench press before I left, but I really wasn't feeling it.

I might go on Saturday, but because of the operation I'm having on Monday, I will have a couple of weeks off anyway and will reassess when I can lift again.

...having a few beers now.

 

[danlightbulb]

@dirtychinchilla camera angle isnt the best, hard to see your setup and top of back from there. it looks to me like your back is a bit flatter but still not enough, more chest lift needed. Are you quite long legged for your height? Your back is quite horizontal in the starting position like mine. A coach once told me to raise the bar a couple inches if i was struggling with the starting position. You can buy blocks for this purpose or just put a plate under.

Re your squat, personally id ditch ideas like standing on plates. deload substantially so you have control over the weight and watch the videos over and over.

Here is a good video on the low bar squat showing how your back angle needs to be:

https://youtu.be/bbNA17KjBzU