Squatter's Journal-The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

[big_swede]

Sorry to hear that, hope its nothing serious and rest and recover!

[mab54]

Rest up, hope it was just one bad session. The rest week should help a lot.

[Squatter]

Originally Posted by Pull14

Tough break Jim. Rest up!

If this is the first time you got hit hard with the dizziness, take a look at your front squat rack position. Its pretty easy to get the bar in a position where it pinches the carotid artery. You won't feel it, but the experience is usually spot on with what happened to you today.

On another note, a slightly bent bar can hit the artery even if the rack is good. I had this problem. Ended up having to mark my bar with a dot, and roll it when the bar was in the hooks so that when I unrack it, the curve of the bend faces away from my neck.

May or may not be the case but...

Wow - never would have considered that. Thanks so much for the info Pull. If it happenes again, I will definitely mark my bar as well.

Originally Posted by big_swede

Sorry to hear that, hope its nothing serious and rest and recover!

Thanks Swedish!! I feel like I will be ready to SHFW Saturday!!

Originally Posted by mab54

Rest up, hope it was just one bad session. The rest week should help a lot.

Thanks Mike. It was definitely my worst session ever, but I'll get back on the saddle Saturday.

[Squatter]

Lots of happy dances today.

My squat form was off, namely getting those knees to spread, on all sets, which I think was the limited factor in only hitting parallel on the 415. I think I will now work hard to fine tune my form and get more consistency with it up until the meet.

Bench pause may not have been quite long enough, but I'm not really worried about that. I am quite confident I can pause 255 long enough at the meet. I think hearing someone say press instead of me having to worry about it myself will make a big difference. I know enough now to at least stop.

What can I say about the deadlift? This PR has been a long time coming. I have missed this weight at least 3 times in the last few months.

The plan now is to fine tune my form over the next few weeks. If I could white lightt a 415 squat, a 255 bench, and a 425 or 430 deadlift on my second lifts at the meet, I will be one super happy camper.


Squat
245 X5
265 X5
295 X5
325 X5
365 X1
385 X1
405 X1
415 X1

Bench Press
135 X3
165 X2
185 X2
205 X1
225 X1 Paused
240 X1 Paused
255 X1 Paused PR
260 X1

Deadlift
185 X2
245 X2
315 X2
355 X1
385 X1
405 X1
427.5 X1 PR

Power Shrugs
225 X5
315 X5
405 X5
495 X5

Squat Rack Curls
65 X8
85 X6
100 X4

Squatter365X1Squat - YouTube

Squatter365X1Squat - YouTube

Squatter415X1Squat - YouTube

Squatter415X1Squat - YouTube

Squatter255PausedBenchSingle - YouTube

Squatter255PausedBenchSingle - YouTube

Squatter428RawdeadliftSingle - YouTube

Squatter428RawdeadliftSingle - YouTube

Squatter100X4SquatRackCurls - YouTube

Squatter100X4SquatRackCurls - YouTube

[LtL]

Solid lifting. Bench pause looked long enough to me and pull was strong.

Watch how you lean forward on the two heaviest squats. No room to go down So you're going forward.

Lastly your weight jumps on deadlift are still too big. Re-read what I posted last time.

Overall great session. How long until the meet?

LtL

[BendtheBar]

Congrats Jim. Knew you had that deadlift PR in you. Well done!

[Squatter]

Originally Posted by LtL

Solid lifting. Bench pause looked long enough to me and pull was strong.

Watch how you lean forward on the two heaviest squats. No room to go down So you're going forward.

Lastly your weight jumps on deadlift are still too big. Re-read what I posted last time.

Overall great session. How long until the meet?

LtL

Thanks Big Al - and good to know about the bench pause.

I do not feel I am leaning forward on the squats while doing them, and then when watching the vid on the camera screen, I do not notice the issues as the screen is too small. I only noticed it when looking at the vid on the computer. However, I did feel my form was off right from the get go while doing them, namely spreading the knees. I really need to work on consistency.

Every rep matters.

I thought 20 lb jumps were OK after the 385. I will go back and re-read your post.

Edit - just re-read your post, annd you said after 385, do 415 or 420. Consider it done next time. I will do 405, then 417 and then 430.

The meet is on July 7th - 7 weeks away. Is there anything you think I should be paying extra attention to or doing as the meet draws closer?

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Congrats Jim. Knew you had that deadlift PR in you. Well done!

Thanks Steve!! You are always right. I was thinking speed right off the bat.

[BigJosh]

Huge session Jim. Congratulations on the Pr's. You are a legit beast.
I'm always impressed by how hard you push yourself. No one can ever accuse you of taking the easy route.

[markievicz]

Congrats on that PR Jim. Excellent way to bounce back.
Also bear in mind that you Wont be the first to bench at the meet , so u will be able to watch those in the first few flights and get a feel for how long the judge is leaving the pause

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by Squatter

Thanks Steve!! You are always right. I was thinking speed right off the bat.

Good good!