My fitness journal

[Fuglydude]

Great work on the weighted chins/dips! All that leg work and chins will really help you deads... How's the bodyweight and body composition?

Keep it up man, doing great!

 

[Being_the_Don]

Great work on the weighted chins/dips! All that leg work and chins will really help you deads... How's the bodyweight and body composition?

Keep it up man, doing great!

Thanks, Fuglydude. I hope that it helps my dLs. At my last weigh-in my body weight was 160 pounds. I'm not checking body fat as often but waist is about 31 ". I was at the gym this morning, but was surprisingly sore from last Friday so I didn't stay very long. Hopefully I'll do better next time I get back there.

 

[Fuglydude]

You're a strong 160-pounder! keep it up! How's your stance on the deadlift? Play with your stance and find out what your "optimal form" is. Everyone is biomechanically unique and you need to discover what stance width/set up specifics will help you get the best lift. When I was training heavy I found narrowing my stance to the point where my feet were 2-3 inches apart made my deadlift shoot up around 40 lbs (from 410 to like 450 at around 165-170 lb bodyweight). I kept this up and eventually achieved a PB of around 470.

In my experience, I find leg drive is great for getting the weight off the ground, and then your back basically takes over after that. What part of the deadlift is the hardest for you?

Bodyweight clean and press is actually pretty tough, especially if you have crappy shoulders. Are you lifting explosively for the press?

 

[Being_the_Don]

You're a strong 160-pounder! keep it up! How's your stance on the deadlift? Play with your stance and find out what your "optimal form" is. Everyone is biomechanically unique and you need to discover what stance width/set up specifics will help you get the best lift. When I was training heavy I found narrowing my stance to the point where my feet were 2-3 inches apart made my deadlift shoot up around 40 lbs (from 410 to like 450 at around 165-170 lb bodyweight). I kept this up and eventually achieved a PB of around 470.

In my experience, I find leg drive is great for getting the weight off the ground, and then your back basically takes over after that. What part of the deadlift is the hardest for you?

Bodyweight clean and press is actually pretty tough, especially if you have crappy shoulders. Are you lifting explosively for the press?

My best dL was 425 pounds, I hope to get more practice in this winter. Every once in a while, I do hand grip exercises and farmer's walk. My dL problem is often with my grip. I use reverse grip with my left palm facing away from my body, I'm getting better with it, though. Also I use a shoulder width stance, push straight out with my glutes and come up. What advice do you have for improving my grip strength?

As for my clean/MP the press is an explosive movement. I follow the same movement as this lifter in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP8c812E9QU&feature=related

I do a lot of dips and pull ups and these have really developed my shoulders. And recently I've added weight plates to increase the resistance for my dips. I want to get up to a 200 pound clean/MP by early 2011.

BTW, since these exercise require a strong back I don't use straps or a belt when doing any of my exercises.

 

[Fuglydude]

Your deadlift co-efficient is around 2.65... this is around my personal best as well. I use the same grip as you. If grip is your biggest problem at this stage I have a feeling you'll be able to lift a lot more on your deads than your personal best. Do you use chalk? I've never had a problem with grip when I use chalk and a good bar. Also, prior to the lift kinda "lock yourself in" to the bar... I mean basically just chalk up, and twist your palms onto the bar until it feels like the bar is almost a part of you. Its weird to describe, but once you start doing it, you'll know what I mean.

Not all bars are created equal. Make sure you pick a good thinner bar with good grip. Powerlifting bars are fantastic. Not sure if you've ever had the chance to work with an actual powerlifting bar before.

Thats' pretty impressive that you don't rest the weight on your clavicle after your clean. For my clean and press I always rest it on my clavicles prior to going for the press.

Anyways good job man, keep it up!