Feedback From Meat

Bigger Stronger Leaner Over 35 Lifter
41

[quote]skidmark wrote:
maraudermeat wrote:
JoeGood wrote:
I have a qustion regarding deadlifting. I pull conventional and I have a rotten habit of stiff legging my highest weights up. Now I know this is because my hips are coming up to fast but I can’t seem to stop it.

For this reason I have considered switching to sumo but I’ve been told pulling sumo is really hard on the groin and I have had inguinal hernia Sx in the last 7 months.

So do you think pulling Sumo would help keep me from stifflegging my DL’s?

if your hip are rising first that puts the weight in front of you and leads to locking the legs out too soon. then the lift becomes a stiff legged dead. it would be nice to see a vid of a max attempt.

just guessing i would say that you need to pull from your heels more. lift your toes when you pull and this will put you back on your heels. also, pull the weight back into your shins as you initiate the lift. most people just pull up on the bar.

lastly, you probably aren’t getting your hips through to the bar either fast enough or not at all. as the weight reaches your knees you have to push your hips into the bar to complete the lift. if you don’t do this the only other option is to lean back with it.

Can that be a hamstring/glute strength issue?
[/quote]

It might be, whenever I hear someone talk about glute activation in deadlifting I was wonder exactly what the hell they are talking about.

42

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
JoeGood wrote:
I have a qustion regarding deadlifting. I pull conventional and I have a rotten habit of stiff legging my highest weights up. Now I know this is because my hips are coming up to fast but I can’t seem to stop it.

For this reason I have considered switching to sumo but I’ve been told pulling sumo is really hard on the groin and I have had inguinal hernia Sx in the last 7 months.

So do you think pulling Sumo would help keep me from stifflegging my DL’s?

if your hip are rising first that puts the weight in front of you and leads to locking the legs out too soon. then the lift becomes a stiff legged dead. it would be nice to see a vid of a max attempt.

just guessing i would say that you need to pull from your heels more. lift your toes when you pull and this will put you back on your heels. also, pull the weight back into your shins as you initiate the lift. most people just pull up on the bar.

lastly, you probably aren’t getting your hips through to the bar either fast enough or not at all. as the weight reaches your knees you have to push your hips into the bar to complete the lift. if you don’t do this the only other option is to lean back with it.

[/quote]

I’ll be able to get a video in about 4 weeks when a friend of mine is in the area until then I’ll focus the things you’ve listed and get back to you when I have the video.

Thanks again.

43

Meat you are the man-
this is awesome virtual coaching.
thanks.

I need to get a camera.
kmc

44

[quote]kmcnyc wrote:
Meat you are the man-
this is awesome virtual coaching.
thanks.

I need to get a camera.
kmc[/quote]

How can you not have a camera? Don’t you work in television? Do they know this about you?

45

[quote]kmcnyc wrote:
Meat you are the man-
this is awesome virtual coaching.
thanks.

I need to get a camera.
kmc[/quote]

Do like I did: stay at your company 10 years and they’ll give you a camera in lieu of all the bonuses they aren’t handing out.

46

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
165StateChamp wrote:
Hi, I’ve been lurking for about a month and I decided to make the jump to posting. I’m a high school powerlifter and I lift in the 165 classe. I’m 5’9". I was 3rd this year at state and I think I have a legitimate shot to win it as a senior. But I was wondering what weight class you think I would fit in best later on in my life.

I know I can’t make 165 forever, and this is probably going to be the last year, with a pretty tough cut. Also, how heavy do you think I should get for this year? I was thinking of getting up to 180 which works well for football, and then dropping weight over the winter for the state meet as well as some all-class meets. I plan on doing three meets in which I compete as a 165er, and a few USAPL meets in the summer where I compete as a 181.

Sorry, I know it’s a really long post, but I get excited.

it’s impossible for me to tell you what weight class would be best for you. i know when i was a wrestler that i didn’t feel comfortable cutting more than 10 pounds for a match. i started out in the 160’s and ended up competing in the 200’s by the time i finished in college. i liked putting on muscle mass and that can’t happen if i stayed at the same weight. I guess you have to balance your desire to be the best and your desire to be heavier. whichever weight class allows you to still be competitive but also allows some wiggle room for weight gain is probably the best choice.
[/quote]

I feel comfortable cutting anywhere up to 15 lbs but the most I’ve ever had to cut has been 8, which was really easy. All I did was eliminate water and heavy foods for a day. I think I’ll see how I do in the 181s this summer and then move on from there. But that’s cool about the wrestling. I go to a high school that’s top 20 in the nation in wrestling and we have guys cutting upwards of 10 lbs for matches routinely and barely getting college scholarships. You must have been really good technically to get away with cutting that little.

47

Skid id have to get a job-self employed yo.

OBs I have one, I just need to lug it to the gym- I guess I am headed for shorts over sweats and a huge gym bag

kmc

48

Hey Meat,

It’s great that you’re doing this. I’m just getting back into deadlifting after some recovering from some nagging glute and back issues. It’s probably been a year since I did deads from the floor. I posted these videos in my training log, but pushmepullme suggested I post them here for feedback. I’ve never really had anyone check my deadlift form, and I’d really like to avoid any re-occurrences of my prior injuries.

This was my deadlift workout yesterday.

Sumo Deadlift:
315 x 4 - http://www.youtube.com/...h?v=81sj5C-KmPM
315 x 4
315 x 4
325 x 4
325 x 4 - http://www.youtube.com/...h?v=xeyQehwrisw
335 x 4 - http://www.youtube.com/...h?v=8L6t9H7kYdk

The rest of my log is here (Not that I’m expecting you to critique my log. Just putting a link for reference.):

http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/blog_sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_log/revenge_of_the_sith_angryvaders_log?id=2511402&pageNo=0

49

Hey Meat,

I used to do wedding ring finger on the rings on the bar. Also flared elbows, I would usually have sticking point to 6" off the chest, then the “tris” could move the weight the rest of the way. My shoulders would usually end up hurting on the front edge after some time of doing these.

I have since changed my grip, hurt my shoulder so I don’t know how its going to do. Widened it out, till my pointer finger is either on or slightly outside of the rings - so I moved the grip 3" to each side.

The chest to 6" sticking point is not there anymore, there is a sticking point higher up, which the tri’s can usually get past. I’m also ensuring that my elbows are not flared but more up under the bar.

Lifting this way also seems to activate the pecs more.

While I don’t really care that much about barbell bench anymore, I still want to hit my number.

Does the wide grip sound like its going to do the job?

In hurting my shoulder - I found that Pec dec and cables do a great job of promoting actual chest pump and development.

My plan is to hit my bench number using a good form - and sticking with dumbells and cables for the most part.

Just wanted your feedback on the narrow vs wide grip, how it could move the sticking point, remove or stress the shoulder joint.

50

[quote]AngryVader wrote:
Hey Meat,

It’s great that you’re doing this. I’m just getting back into deadlifting after some recovering from some nagging glute and back issues. It’s probably been a year since I did deads from the floor. I posted these videos in my training log, but pushmepullme suggested I post them here for feedback. I’ve never really had anyone check my deadlift form, and I’d really like to avoid any re-occurrences of my prior injuries.

This was my deadlift workout yesterday.

Sumo Deadlift:
315 x 4 - http://www.youtube.com/...h?v=81sj5C-KmPM
315 x 4
315 x 4
325 x 4
325 x 4 - http://www.youtube.com/...h?v=xeyQehwrisw
335 x 4 - http://www.youtube.com/...h?v=8L6t9H7kYdk

The rest of my log is here (Not that I’m expecting you to critique my log. Just putting a link for reference.):

http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/blog_sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_log/revenge_of_the_sith_angryvaders_log?id=2511402&pageNo=0[/quote]

your deadlift style is what is commonly seen. you are lifting the weight using mostly lower back. the legs aren’t used much at all. two things will happen with this style-1. you will eventually over stress the lower back that will aggrevate the injuries you’ve had and 2. you won’t get any stronger:)

don’t feel bad because 99.9999% of people approach the deadlift wrong. they thing they have to bend over and pick the weight up. that’s fine if you have a lowerback made out of titanium with a crane built into it. if you don’t have those things you need to rethink what you are doing.

first off, the deadlift is a pull. to take full advantage of all your larger muscle groups such as your hips and quads, you have to pull the weight back to you.

i’m not going to overload you on all the things you need to do right now. i want you to start with three simple things.

  1. next time you pull, lift your toes and keep them up throughout the entire pull.

  2. i want you to pull the bar back into your shins instead of lifting the bar straight up with your lower back.

  3. as you pull back i want you to push your knees out away from you and pretend that you are squatting out of the hole using a wide stance.

do your pulls up to your knees. be sure to setup after every rep. doing the touch and go style leads to loose, messy form. get a vid when you think you have that part down.

we will then move on to the lockout.

51

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
AngryVader wrote:
Hey Meat,

It’s great that you’re doing this. I’m just getting back into deadlifting after some recovering from some nagging glute and back issues. It’s probably been a year since I did deads from the floor. I posted these videos in my training log, but pushmepullme suggested I post them here for feedback. I’ve never really had anyone check my deadlift form, and I’d really like to avoid any re-occurrences of my prior injuries.

This was my deadlift workout yesterday.

Sumo Deadlift:
315 x 4 - http://www.youtube.com/...h?v=81sj5C-KmPM
315 x 4
315 x 4
325 x 4
325 x 4 - http://www.youtube.com/...h?v=xeyQehwrisw
335 x 4 - http://www.youtube.com/...h?v=8L6t9H7kYdk

The rest of my log is here (Not that I’m expecting you to critique my log. Just putting a link for reference.):

http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/blog_sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_log/revenge_of_the_sith_angryvaders_log?id=2511402&pageNo=0

your deadlift style is what is commonly seen. you are lifting the weight using mostly lower back. the legs aren’t used much at all. two things will happen with this style-1. you will eventually over stress the lower back that will aggrevate the injuries you’ve had and 2. you won’t get any stronger:)

don’t feel bad because 99.9999% of people approach the deadlift wrong. they thing they have to bend over and pick the weight up. that’s fine if you have a lowerback made out of titanium with a crane built into it. if you don’t have those things you need to rethink what you are doing.

first off, the deadlift is a pull. to take full advantage of all your larger muscle groups such as your hips and quads, you have to pull the weight back to you.

i’m not going to overload you on all the things you need to do right now. i want you to start with three simple things.

  1. next time you pull, lift your toes and keep them up throughout the entire pull.

  2. i want you to pull the bar back into your shins instead of lifting the bar straight up with your lower back.

  3. as you pull back i want you to push your knees out away from you and pretend that you are squatting out of the hole using a wide stance.

do your pulls up to your knees. be sure to setup after every rep. doing the touch and go style leads to loose, messy form. get a vid when you think you have that part down.

we will then move on to the lockout.

[/quote]

Awesome! Thank you for the feedback. It sounds like I have a lot to work on, so I’ll get started with that. I’ll try to post more videos in my log as I’m working on this as well.

52

[quote]djrobins wrote:
Hey Meat,

I used to do wedding ring finger on the rings on the bar. Also flared elbows, I would usually have sticking point to 6" off the chest, then the “tris” could move the weight the rest of the way. My shoulders would usually end up hurting on the front edge after some time of doing these.

I have since changed my grip, hurt my shoulder so I don’t know how its going to do. Widened it out, till my pointer finger is either on or slightly outside of the rings - so I moved the grip 3" to each side.

The chest to 6" sticking point is not there anymore, there is a sticking point higher up, which the tri’s can usually get past. I’m also ensuring that my elbows are not flared but more up under the bar.

Lifting this way also seems to activate the pecs more.

While I don’t really care that much about barbell bench anymore, I still want to hit my number.

Does the wide grip sound like its going to do the job?

In hurting my shoulder - I found that Pec dec and cables do a great job of promoting actual chest pump and development.

My plan is to hit my bench number using a good form - and sticking with dumbells and cables for the most part.

Just wanted your feedback on the narrow vs wide grip, how it could move the sticking point, remove or stress the shoulder joint.[/quote]

a narrow grip brings the triceps into the movement more but, as you’ve seen, can be hard on the shoulders when going heavy. it can also be hard on the elbows and wrists since you can’t tuck the elbows. the close grip forces you to flare putting the stress directly onthe shoulder/chest tie in.

that explains the pain. also, with a narrow grip you are going to be weak off the chest because you can’t bring the bulk of the pecs into play to initiate the lift.

when you take a wide grip, you are in a more natural position to tuck the elbows and the chest and shoulders are activated so you are stronger off the chest. the draw back is that the triceps are weaker the wider you go.

if i were you, i would continue to experiment with grip. definitely stay away from that narrow grip but try different ranges out from that. with whatever grip you choose, you will have to strengthen the tricep. most benchers have triceps as their weakpoint. i usually use one of my two ME variations as a tricep dominant movement and then follow it up with two tricep accessory movements.

53

Coach Meat-

Please have at these RDL’s (or, at least what I think are RDL’s…).

54

[quote]SteelyD wrote:
Coach Meat-

Please have at these RDL’s (or, at least what I think are RDL’s…).

i like how you are sitting back much like a good morning.

the only issue that i see is that you aren’t getting the hips through fast enough. deadlift variations have some differences but they also have some similarities. you ALWAYS want to get the hips through as soon as the bar reaches the knees.

i don’t have a vid, but when you perform the RDL- do as you are doing. sit back and feel that stretch in the hams. then as the bar reaches the knees, force the hips through really fast. hump that bar. make it explosive.

awesome job.

55

MM- I made a slight modification to my deadlift setup and wanted your opinion on the resulting form. I narrowed my stance, slightly, and brought my arms in corrspondingly. It felt/looks, like it allowed me to get my shoulders closer to being over the bar and got my rear further down.

Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frijJ0Wd994

56

[quote]LittleStrick wrote:
MM- I made a slight modification to my deadlift setup and wanted your opinion on the resulting form. I narrowed my stance, slightly, and brought my arms in corrspondingly. It felt/looks, like it allowed me to get my shoulders closer to being over the bar and got my rear further down.

Thanks!

setup looks really good. you are still letting the weight get in front of you becuase you are pulling from the toes. lift your toes and keep them up the entire time. also, get your hips through hard and fast. lift the bar as fast as you can on EVERY set. slow and controlled is not how you get strong. the form has to be tight but you have to be explosive. i’ve been preaching that to steely as well.

as you crack it off the floor the weight should move faster and faster right into that forceful lockout.

train fast to be fast.

57

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
setup looks really good. you are still letting the weight get in front of you becuase you are pulling from the toes. lift your toes and keep them up the entire time. also, get your hips through hard and fast. lift the bar as fast as you can on EVERY set. slow and controlled is not how you get strong. the form has to be tight but you have to be explosive. i’ve been preaching that to steely as well.

as you crack it off the floor the weight should move faster and faster right into that forceful lockout.

train fast to be fast.
[/quote]

Get off the toes…explosiveness…hard, fast lockout…check.check.check.

Thanks Meat! More information with which to improve and something to make me look even more forward to the next workout.

58

[quote]LittleStrick wrote:
maraudermeat wrote:
setup looks really good. you are still letting the weight get in front of you becuase you are pulling from the toes. lift your toes and keep them up the entire time. also, get your hips through hard and fast. lift the bar as fast as you can on EVERY set. slow and controlled is not how you get strong. the form has to be tight but you have to be explosive. i’ve been preaching that to steely as well.

as you crack it off the floor the weight should move faster and faster right into that forceful lockout.

train fast to be fast.

Get off the toes…explosiveness…hard, fast lockout…check.check.check.

Thanks Meat! More information with which to improve and something to make me look even more forward to the next workout.

[/quote]

no problem bro. you are making excellent progress. it really gratifying to see someone taking advice and putting it to good use.

59

the thread’s been a bit quiet , so lets talk floor presses. I did them for ME work , for the first time ever , yesterday . funny thing is , I have almost no soreness in the shoulders/triceps/chest , and a little bit more right between the shoulder blades ; but a whole bunch of hurt in abs/obliques ! WTF ?

I did them flat back , legs extended , paused as you suggested .

this was the lay-out…

135x10
155x5
175x5
185x5…5 RM
195x2
205x2…2 RM
210x1
190x3

with better spacing between sets the 5RM and 2RM are both beatable , and most likely the last single at 210 also .

any idea why the core seems to have gotten the most work ?

60

Mr. MM.

This is set 4 of 5 dead lifts form Sunday. I"m trying to pull back and stay on my heels but my hips still come up fast.