* The 2019 Gym Rats Thread *

mrthingyx · 3 Jul 2019 at 22:00

dirtychinchilla said:
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.

Mmmm. Better, but you're still pulling with your back rather than pushing your hips through.

mrthingyx · 3 Jul 2019 at 22:04

danlightbulb said:
@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

A complete deload and watching videos won't necessarily help, because his form is "not great." All he will do is practise bad form for many reps at lower loads and embed them.

He needs to learn how to avoid bad form, then what good form feels like, and then load accordingly.

But then again, watching videos is easier.

danlightbulb · 3 Jul 2019 at 22:39

If he cant get a coach then he's not gonna learn anything by balancing on small plates and falling off them, "squashing himself" as he puts it.

He needs to deload substantially so he can get the form right if its that bad. In the absense of a coach he should be able to video himself and compare it to the videos being posted on here.

mrthingyx · 4 Jul 2019 at 09:14

danlightbulb said:
If he cant get a coach then he's not gonna learn anything by balancing on small plates and falling off them, "squashing himself" as he puts it.

He needs to deload substantially so he can get the form right if its that bad. In the absense of a coach he should be able to video himself and compare it to the videos being posted on here.

I'm not sure why he's trying to squat 100kg, either, with the advice he's been given... @dirtychinchilla to be clear: you are not going to improve anything by getting anywhere near working load the moment - the most you should be lifting is 60kg. Start back at a bare bar, then add some 10kg plates and keep checking your form.

The plates under your toes are a diagnostic and show that your form is *not great* and therefore have a LOT of work to do before you go anywhere near working weight.

reiyushin · 4 Jul 2019 at 10:55

Somnambulist said:
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.

They are truly horrible

goes to show how specific strength is, I can hold whatever I need to for deadlifts but my crushing strength is poor.

They were actually fun though so I think I'll add them into a session somewhere.

reiyushin · 4 Jul 2019 at 11:16

danlightbulb said:
@dirtychinchilla
Here is a good video on the low bar squat showing how your back angle needs to be:
https://youtu.be/bbNA17KjBzU

Not a good video, torso angle isn't a constant, it's down to the individual anthropometry. Even when Alan is trying to demonstrate a good squat he can't do it properly. *edit* I like his videos in general but this one kinda stinks.
For the most part torso angle is determined by the length of the spine vs the length of the femurs. Second most comes down to ankle mobility and hip socket type.
The goal is the same though, keep the back protected and the weight centered over the mid foot.

I agree with the calls to go back to an empty bar and rebuild (something I still do to myself). I've had good success with having people rebuild with the pause squat as their guide as it tends to keep the weights honest because the bottom position is a constant.

Somnambulist · 4 Jul 2019 at 11:20

reiyushin said:
They are truly horrible goes to show how specific strength is, I can hold whatever I need to for deadlifts but my crushing strength is poor.

They were actually fun though so I think I'll add them into a session somewhere.

I get that every time I go indoor climbing/bouldering - I can do vertical pulls for days and never had any grip issues with deads, but an afternoon of that and I have finger DOMS and my back is in absolute pieces.

Somnambulist · 4 Jul 2019 at 11:29

@dirtychinchilla

With your deadlifts, I don't think I can see you engaging your lats - see no2 in the series here but watch all of them:

dirtychinchilla · 4 Jul 2019 at 11:37

Thanks for all the tips and the videos. I’ll go in over the weekend when I’m better rested and try and make some technique progress and try not to worry about halting my progress!

Just in terms of the squat, taking it down to the bare bar etc. How do you know when to increase the weight?

Somnambulist · 4 Jul 2019 at 11:56

If you can keep your form more or less consistent (which is a range, albeit not a wide one) across all reps. The goal for things to look the same whatever the weight:

danlightbulb · 4 Jul 2019 at 13:50

dirtychinchilla said:
Just in terms of the squat, taking it down to the bare bar etc. How do you know when to increase the weight?

You might find that a bit of load on the bar is needed to help it have some mass to keep the overall centre of gravity in the right place. Warm up with the bar but try to work up to 60kg as mrthingy suggested. When youve got the form nailed you increase linearly.

Your squat vid at the moment a few pages back shows a low bar position on the back but your trying to keep torso way too vertical. your depth therefore suffers and your knees slide way forward. The video I posted should help you to see what youre doing wrong.

reiyushin · 4 Jul 2019 at 14:40

danlightbulb said:
Y
Your squat vid at the moment a few pages back shows a low bar position on the back but your trying to keep torso way too vertical. your depth therefore suffers and your knees slide way forward. The video I posted should help you to see what youre doing wrong.

Video is bad as explained above. Depth issues with the 60kg squat are a combination of lazy glutes / hips and a lack of ankle mobility (in part due to the plates under his toes)
The result is every inch of depth is made by forward knee travel of which there only is so much a person can give. In a correct squat the absolute knee travel is mitigated by the knees tracking in line with the toes and when they are kept from going valgus by the abductors and glutes.
@dirtychinchilla
Repeat test without the plates under your toes but remember the lessons they were there to teach (weight stays central), try also to get a front 45 degree shot and a side shot it your camera man would oblige

Avenged7Fold · 4 Jul 2019 at 16:30

A guy at the gym told me that he can guess my dumbbell weight press weight from my barbell bench. I was like 'no way, blah blah stabilizers blah blah different muscles....' etc

He basically subtracted the bar weight of 20kg and then divided by two and nailed it - despite not having benched in ages. In fact it was spot on or 2.5kg off up or down.

Obviously the sample size of this theory is pretty small and if you did much much more of one than the other there will be a larger difference.

Was interested in peoples numbers on here?

danlightbulb · 4 Jul 2019 at 17:42

@reiyushin the youtube form vid is good and exactly fits with the poster's issues in his 110kg squat video. completely disagree its an ankle mobility issue or 'lazy' glutes whatever that is supposed to mean. He is simply trying to maintain too vertical a back / scared to lean over. If he needs to deload to train the posterior chain properly then thats what he needs to do.

dirtychinchilla · 4 Jul 2019 at 19:07

So are you guys now suggesting I lean over a bit more? One thing I know I’m doing wrong is foot/knee placement. I’ve tried to narrow my stance and there was just no reason for it. I was probably doing better when I used a wider stance.

reiyushin · 4 Jul 2019 at 20:36

danlightbulb said:
@reiyushin the youtube form vid is good and exactly fits with the poster's issues in his 110kg squat video. completely disagree its an ankle mobility issue or 'lazy' glutes whatever that is supposed to mean. He is simply trying to maintain too vertical a back / scared to lean over. If he needs to deload to train the posterior chain properly then thats what he needs to do.

No it's not and no he doesn't. Can you comment on any of my explanations rather than just repeating the same thing?

dirtychinchilla said:

The video is in soft spongy shoes and he clearly comes forward into his toes, leaning forward as you're suggesting would likely injure the guy.
Without being able to keep the weight over his midfoot and properly cue his glutes & track his toes leaning forwards would be a disaster.

@dirtychinchilla can you get a video of 60kgs from a front 45 degree angle?

neoboy · 4 Jul 2019 at 23:22

Starting to take fenugreek was a bad idea, walk around the gym smelling like a damn waffle

dirtychinchilla · 5 Jul 2019 at 08:57

reiyushin said:
The video is in soft spongy shoes and he clearly comes forward into his toes, leaning forward as you're suggesting would likely injure the guy.
Without being able to keep the weight over his midfoot and properly cue his glutes & track his toes leaning forwards would be a disaster.

@dirtychinchilla can you get a video of 60kgs from a front 45 degree angle?

Best shoes I can afford atm unfortunately. Maybe next month I'll get some proper ones. I'm definitely leaning forward, and it might be as a consequence of narrowing my stance.

I'll try and get a video this weekend.

Cheers for all your help everyone. I'm finding this pretty challenging to get my head around so your support to sort it out is very very much appreciated.

CaptainRAVE · 5 Jul 2019 at 10:02

My neck is getting too big. I now need a neck size on shirts that make the rest of the shirt huge (at least I can get the sleeves shortened). It worked for a while when I could get super fitted shirts, but they don’t make those for my neck size anymore. I guess my traps are causing the issue? So I need to slow down the exercises on those I guess? Not sure what else to do other than wear super baggy shirts???

ShortWarning · 5 Jul 2019 at 11:26

Argh and my back is messed up again. Not really sure what I can do as the last MRI came back clear. I'm hoping a weekend of rest fixes it. If it doesn't I've likely got months of pain untill it goes away again.

*** The 2019 Gym Rats Thread ***

* The 2019 Gym Rats Thread *