Pre-juice 5x5: Darkness on the Horizon

[Jim Ouini]

I think your form looks great, definitely low enough and I'm impressed with how high you keep your chest. Although from that angle I couldn't tell if it was 225 or 325 like you claim

I see the slight rounding but I personally wouldn't get my panties in a bunch about it. I agree with BW you could push your hips back a tad, that might give you a little more of a forward lean - now that I think of it, it might help with the rounding. Just thinking out loud since I'm still tweaking my form here and there.

 

[blut wump]

I just took a look at Max's attempt. He doesn't even make parallel. It's almost a half squat. I'd expect more weight from him.

I just took a look at the vid from uwlax. He doesn't have the rump curl but he does have a much bigger rump for ballast.

Do you do hamstring stretches?

 

[Guinness5.0]

Week 6 -- TUESDAY

OK day. Nothing special really.

Front squat: warmup to 265x4x6(PR I guess - mostly 'cause they're still new)
-Set 3: http://media.putfile.com/FSquat265x4

-I thought I went deeper. I dunno - I feel like a complete newb asking so many form q's but do these look good? It feels like I'm a lot deeper than it looks on video.

Push press: warmup, 155x4x2, 175x4x2, 195x4, 205x4(PR)
-Didn't have the same 'snap' as last week. Couldn't hold the lockout on my last set. I imagine yesterday's bench session had something to do with this, so I'm not too upset.

Pullups: BWx6x5
-Hey, it's finally more than 5x5

CGBP: 225x8, 265x8, 275x8
-last rep of last set was tough

Do you do hamstring stretches?

I'm off and on with 'em. One odd thing - when I stretch one ham at a time (like when one leg is out straight and the other bent, so that one foot is at the the knee of the straight leg) I'm pretty flexible. But when I try both legs straight out, I can barely even lean forward - i don't quite know what to make of that. Same thing when I stand and stretch - legs wide, stretching to a side is fine, but down the middle is very limited

 

[anotherbutters]

Wow, you're nearly breaking parallel Looks good to me.

I thought about getting a camera for when I start the new journal. It's seems to be proving useful for you.

I've had a really tight right hamstring for a long while. Like it used to hurt just standing up and walking. I've no idea how it got that bad. Anyway, I've been doing lots of stretching by lying on my back, cradling my hands round my calf, keeping my knee straight and pulling towards me. Then I push hard with my hammies against my hands, relax, then pull my leg even closer to me - repeat about 3 times. I've been doing that several times a day for a few days and the results are incredible. And I can now touch the floor with my palms

EDIT: It looks a bit high.

 

[blut wump]

I'm not sure whether AB is being sarcastic. It looks a little high to me too.

I do most of my hamstring stretches by resting my heel or ankle on something around waist height and leaning forward. If you ease off after a few seconds you can usually put even more tension on the hammy. I hold it for around 30s.

 

[Jim Ouini]

I think you go lower on your backsquat than your front squat.

I like to pause and really settle into the hole on my fronts. Not sure they do a whole lot but for some reason it feels natural (although as I get close to my max the pause is more of a bounce )

Otherwise they look great to me, totally solid. Seriously G5.0 you're making it look too easy, like 135.

 

[Guinness5.0]

I think you go lower on your backsquat than your front squat.

I like to pause and really settle into the hole on my fronts. Not sure they do a whole lot but for some reason it feels natural (although as I get close to my max the pause is more of a bounce )

Otherwise they look great to me, totally solid. Seriously G5.0 you're making it look too easy, like 135.

Like I said, I really thought I was going deep as hell. It felt deep. What can I say - the camera is paying off. I'll play with my form on saturday with some light fronts and see if it's realistic to go deeper.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Like I said, I really thought I was going deep as hell. It felt deep

I hear quarter squatters say that all the time

Kidding aside, I think it's deep enough, personally. I was just surprised since you were ATF on your backsquat. It's just the opposite for me, I can get lower on my front than I can on my backsquat.

Again, I wouldn't go a' changing just for that extra inch or two (or 6 )

 

[JL_204]

When I first started from squats I couldnt get right in the hole because of a weak core. It was hard to keep balance and it felt like i was gonna tip over when I went lower than parrellel. Im not saying you have a week core or anything, its just something to consider.

Nice lifts BTW, Im kinda jealous.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Week 6 -- THURSDAY

Frustrating day, but I think I learned something....

Deadlifts warmups, 325x3, 375x2, 415x2, 445x1 (technically a PR but I've tripled w/ 435, so this isn't something to get excited about), 465xfail, 465xfail, 425xfail
-I think I'm going about this the wrong way - my thinking was that since I'm 'training' myself to DL differently than before, I should work in a 'nueral' rep range. But it's not as though the CNS takes a vacation during sets of 5 . For the first attempt with 465 I tried to be fast/explosive but all I did was stick, then shoot my hips up. Next attempt was better but I'm just not strong/coordinated enough yet. Next time I'm gonna back the weights down for a reasonable 5x5 session and drill in the new form that way. Once it's second nature and I can pull fast/hard and not break form, I'll get heavier with 'em.

Bench 5x5 warmups, 295(PR)
-I was hoping to hit 3 plates today, but when I got to 275 on warmups, I knew that 295 was about all I'd have. I did 6 reps on the last set

Pendlay rows 5x5 warmups, 275(PR)
-Brutal. Form was tight for the most part but only b/c I rest-paused the last rep on my last three sets.

Hammer curls 55'sx8, 60'sx6x2

Grip work CoC #1: five closes per hand, 3 sets
-these are getting frustrating. No discernable progress whatsoever.