Squats, pulls, and curls

hey man,

Is that good deadlift form? I am still trying to perfect mine.

It looks like you found a way to make your range of motion very small for big lifts...but your back was a bit rounded wasn't it?

Maybe I am lowering my ass and hips too low in hopes of having a straight back..?
 
If you take a closer look at it, you'll see that the upper back is rounded, but the lower back stays straight. It's a trick I do since rounding the upper back gives me less ROM (well it doesn't really, since you have to straighten it out at the top, but that's really easy)

I'd say it's good DL technique, though if you want a look at someone who really has good technique take a look at Eric Cressey in the Mastering the deadlift series on t-nation. there is a link to it in the technique sticky.

What about finding a way to make my ROM small on the big lifts?
 
Karky said:
If you take a closer look at it, you'll see that the upper back is rounded, but the lower back stays straight. It's a trick I do since rounding the upper back gives me less ROM (well it doesn't really, since you have to straighten it out at the top, but that's really easy)

I'd say it's good DL technique, though if you want a look at someone who really has good technique take a look at Eric Cressey in the Mastering the deadlift series on t-nation. there is a link to it in the technique sticky.

What about finding a way to make my ROM small on the big lifts?
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I see, I wasn't sure if it was alright to round the upper back.

When I said you found a way to make the ROM smaller I was just talking about how power lifters have all those tricks to make the ROM smaller so they can lift bigger weights.

like you said "It's a trick I do since rounding the upper back gives me less ROM"

I'll have to give that a try next time..... I bet I could pull a lot more if I didn't dip so damn low to pick the weight up.
 
be careful! Not all people have the ability to bend the upper back but leave the lower back in a natural arch.. it must be learned.
 
Karky said:
be careful! Not all people have the ability to bend the upper back but leave the lower back in a natural arch.. it must be learned.
Click to expand...

Alright.

It's not ok to round the upper back and keep the lower back straight for all lifts is it?

Like bent over rows?
 
karky! i am really inspired by your olympic lifting man. i really want to be really explosive and have good form like u brooooo
did you have any one teach you or did you learn my yourself?
 
learned from myself. I just managed to do 3 sets of 3 with power snatches for 70kg today (after that I lowered weight). last time was like 8 sets of 3 with 65kg, I would have gotten 8 today too if it wasn't for me having been ill lately. :D so really happy about that, since my new thing with doing the oly lifts more often seems to be working (thanks G! :D)

If you learn for yourself you should really post videos and get critique and work a lot on it, it takes time. The best idea is definitely to get a coach though.
 
So today I worked on my snatch technique. The hard part is getting it to balance when I catch it in a full/half squat. I did a ton of reps at 40-55kgs the 55 sets were hard. Not hard to pull up there, but hard to catch and hold in balance.
I learned the hard way that when you drop a bar in front of you, then let go of it, don't let your hands follow it on the way down, all the power from the bounce gets transfered right into your wrists :D
 
So I'm stopping the program I've been following up until now to do this:


it has a lot of squatting and I need to have my squat go up, it also uses the full O lifts that I've been wanting to learn (specially the full snatch)
Only think I am worried about is that there is not enough sets on the full clean and snatch, and not enough snatch balance to help me stabilize the bar in the hole of the snatch. I will do it as it is written down at first, but I might make some changes later.
I will also include rows, which is not in the program.
 
Sunday 09.03.08

Week 1 day 1

A1 Snatch
2x3 99
1x2 99

B1 Power clean
3x3 220
4x3 209

C1 Jerk
1x3 176 (easy)
2x2 176 (easy)

D1 Front Squat
1x3 176
1x2 187
3x3 176
1x2 176

I will need to bring this up in order to do heavy full cleans.

E1 RDL
4x3 308

F1 PL Bench
2x3 176
1x3 187
2x3 198
2x2 198

I'm kinda happy with this, it was done after a lot of compound exercises and I still saw gains.

F2 Cable row
1x12 73.7
2x10 84.7

G1 Back extensions
3x12 44

G2 Standing ab pulldowns
1x10 88
1x07 110
1x12 99
1x10 99

PWO: The usual

This was a long workout, I'm gonna have to find a way to cut time down, which will probably involve less rest time between sets :p
 
Monday 10.03.08

Cardio day

Complexes

Karky #1
hang snatch
snatch balance
GM
Overhead squat

Karky #2
hang snatch
snatch balance
GM

Karky #3
hang snatch
GM
snatch balance

Experimented some with these, in the end I stuck with 3.
First hang snatch, I need to practice catching the bar, then GM to let my shoulders and upper back rest then snatch balance to practice catching again. The overhead squat proved too tiering for my shoulders in the long run.

K#1 60 sec rest
2x3 88 lbs

K#2 60 sec rest
1x3 88 lbs

K#3 60 sec rest
3x3 88 lbs

K#3 90 sec rest
2x3 88 lbs

K#3 60 sec rest
2x3 88 lbs

a bit messy today. I will work on getting those awful 90 sec rest periods away.
Less exercises than I had in my previous complex, but because of the full snatch and snatch balance this is actually more tiering. I think it is a good idea to be able to practice my catching on the snatch and at the same time getting some cardio time in.

SS treadmill jogging
Duration: 10 min
Distance: 1.7
Speed 10-11
AVG HR: 167
MAX HR: 179
Zone: 07:02 min

I had to stop at 10 minutes because it felt like I was having an asthma attack. I haven't completely recovered from my flu yet.
 
Tuesday 11.02.08

Week 1 Day 2

A1 Clean
2x3 165

I can powerclean more, but the front squat here limits me. My hip flexor also hurt a bit here.. it doesn't hurt with regular front squats, I think it has something to do with how you have to quickly decelerate the weight right after you catch it + the fact that I have to go pretty low.. will try to not go lower than just breaking parallel next time.

B1 Power snatch
2x3 143
3x3 132
1x2 132

Not happy with the weight here as I used 70kg for tripples last time and 65 today.. but I'll get 70 again next time.

C1 Snatch Balance
3x3 110
4x3 99

Next time I will do more warmups/ get in the groove sets before I start the work sets. Only the last sets were good where I actually ducked under to catch the bar instead of doing a behind the neck push press to overhead squat.

D1 Clean pull/power shrug
1x3 264
3x3 275
1x3 264
1x2 264

E1 Back squat
1x3 220
1x2 231
4x3 220

Felt it in my hip flexor on the last set, otherwise OK. It seems I can finally squat relatively heavy again! :D

E1 Pulldowns parallel grip
1x10 95.7
2x7 106.7

E2 Crunch with legs in air
3x20 11 lbs dropset: 10xBw

that means 3 sets of 20 reps each of which were followed by a 10 rep dropset with just BW.

PWO: The usual

I didn't have any energy to do any upper body pressing or extra ham/low back conditioning work today..
 
cool routine karks! its good to see you squatting again! cool workout man im glad to see you in full function again. il be watching the log so i expect good progression :D
 
I will. The program in itself doesn't put forth any progression though, I emailed a guy on that site and asked about it and he said to simply progress in speed. however I intend to add some weight as I see fit.
 
my PR in the DL is 407.5 lbs, however, that was pretty easy, so I think I can do maybe 10-15 lbs more now. my power clean 1rm I don't know.. I can do 220 for several sets of 3 so my max might be 240 or something..
But I don't know how related the two are. I've had periods where my DL went up but not my power clean and visa versa.
 
Thursday 13.03.08

Week 1 day 3

A1 Hang snatch
1x3 121
2x2 115.5

These are better, easier to catch

B1 Clean & jerk
number on the left is number of cleans, right is number of jerks.
example [2+1] means two cleans and one jerk. so in reality, 1 clean and 1 clean & jerk

[2+1] 165
[1+2] 165
[2+1] 165
[1+2] 165
[1+1] 165

cleans felt better than last I did cleans, not as much pain in my hip flexor. when I get my squat up I'll be able to do WAY more on cleans

C1 Snatch pull
1x3 176
3x3 187
1x3 176
1x2 176

D1 Front squat
1x3 176
1x2 187
4x3 176

These were deeper, easier, and not much sign of any pain either. Next time I'll up the weight 11 lbs

E1 Good mornings
3x3 176
2x2 176

F1 Bench press
1x5 176
3x5 187 (drop set after the last set of these: 1x8 132)

F2 Bent over BB row m. grip
4x5 176 (last 2 reps of the last set were bad ROM)

G1 Sit-ups
1x15 BW
1x13 BW

G2 Back extensions
2x12 44

PWO: The usual
 
Saturday 15.03.08

Week 2 Day 1

A1 Snatch
1x3 110
1x2 110
1x3 110

crappy facility, no platform to ditch weights on.

B1 Power clean
1x3 231
3x2 231
4x3 220

These were very heavy.. it's hard getting over 220 for tripples

C1 Jerk
At the racks the ceiling was too low to do jerks, ****ing morons designing this place. I had to power clean the weight up first at another place of the facility with a higher ceiling
1x3 176
1x2 187
1x2 176

D1 Front squat
1x3 187
1x2 209
1x2 198
3x3 187

The last set was the best one, I found the correct width for my stance. I think the other sets would have been easier had I used that width for them too.

E1 Romanian deadlifts
1x3 308
1x2 330
1x3 308
2x2 308

Could have used more weight here, the bar was so tough it almost ripped my hands apart.. I hate those bars, I like olympic standard bars better

F1 Bench press
worked up to a tripple at 90kg but the bench was so low I couldn't get proper leg drive so I ditched the benching after that

G1 Standing ab pulldown
2x15 88
1x15 103.4
1x10 103.4

PWO: The usual
 
Monday 17.03.08

A1 Clean
1x3 187
1x2 198
1x2 187

I though I was using 15kg plates on each side in addition to the smaller plates, but it turned out it was a 20kg bar, oh snap, well.. I lifted 10kgs more than I had expected I could. It was very hard, and my hipflexor hurt a bit, however, not as much as it did the first time I did cleans. so progress :D

B1 Power snatch
1x3 143
3x2 154
1x2 143
2x2 143

I want to get 154 for tripples.. I've done it before, but it won't work now.. I think it might be because I do cleans first. I don't do a lot of sets but the front squat portion does take something out of me.

C1 Snatch Balance
1x3 110
3x2 115.5
4x3 99

These turned out to be more of a push press followed by a overhead squat.. you are suppose to more just duck under the bar to catch it, however I had no platform here (there is one at this facility, but some dude was squatting 200kg + there and I wasn't about to go over and tell him to move :D)

D1 Clean Pull
1x3 264
1x2 286
1x2 275
1x2 286
1x2 275
2x3 264

I have a problem here. I have a wound on my thumb that won't heal and it gets ripped up everything I pull heavy with a hook grip. very annoying :(

E1 Back Squat
1x3 220
1x2 242
1x2 231
1x2 242
1x2 231
2x3 220

Next time I'll use more weight. it was easier than last time I back squatted, I also went lower.

F1 Bent arm frog
just played around held myself up until I fell about 3 times per "set"
Balance is the biggest issue, also with my hands flat on the floor supporting my weight my wrists start hurting afterwards :(
I'm gonna try to go from the frog (where the knees are supported on the elbows) to the thing where my knees are not supported and it is just my hands holding me up. I will do these one time a week and maybe a bit at home if I feel like it

4 sets total

F2 Underhand grip bent over BB row
3x12 143

F3 Reverse crunch with dragonpike negative
3x4 BW

PWO: The usual
 
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