SO's quest for an 800 total

[strkout35]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Want to see 225 SO. Keep charging

Thanks BTB, i'll get it soon

Originally Posted by nighttrain

give it hell SO!!!!!

as always NT

Originally Posted by jwood

Nice work SO, keep crushing! I am sensing some serious progression coming here.

thanks J, me too

Originally Posted by mab54

Great job keep it up!!

Originally Posted by Carl1174

Looking goos SO, progression is solid

Carl.

thanks carl, can't wait till I start setting some PR's soon

[strkout35]

7/15

Great workout today, so pumped!

Squats-
210x5/5/5

‪210x5 Squats 7/15/2011‬‏ - YouTube

‪210x5 Squats 7/15/2011‬‏ - YouTube

Standing Press-
105x5/5/5 awesome!!!! almost to my goal of 115

Cleans-
115x3/3/3/3/3 PR really focused on jumping today and being explosive, seemed to help. shot a video but it was upside down i'll get a good one next time

[mab54]

Great workout!! and you will hit your goal easy

[big_swede]

Loving the cleans SO! Keep up the good work

[Carl1174]

Love the workout buddy. Any routine with cleans in it is WIN IMO

Carl.

[strkout35]

Thanks guys, i'm loving the cleans too

7/17

Squats-
215x5/5/5

on the last rep, the bar actually went down and i thought i was gonna have to dump the weight on the safety bars, but i dug deep and pushed it out, hardest squat rep of my life for sure. I wish i taped it

Bench-
137.5x5/5/5

here's where i need help, any comments on my form would be awesome, these reps were hard and didn't feel right

‪7/17/2011 Bench 137.5x5‬‏ - YouTube

‪7/17/2011 Bench 137.5x5‬‏ - YouTube

Deadlift-
135x5 185x5 225x1 245x5

<3 Deadlifts

&#x202a;7/17/2011 Deadlift 245x5&#x202c;&rlm; - YouTube

‪7/17/2011 Deadlift 245x5‬‏ - YouTube

i hate the new plates my gym got, their octagons so they don't roll at all and after i put the bar down after a deadlift rep it shifts on me, pain in the arse

[BendtheBar]

Arm angle looks good on bench SO. A couple things I can't tell.

1) Are you using any leg drive?
2) Are you keeping your upper back tight? As in concentrating on rowing the back to your chest?

[strkout35]

I try to use leg drive but I'm not sure if I'm doing it right. Should I set up with my feet further under the bench? And yes I'm trying to keep the upper back tight but I'll focus more on pulling the bar down to my chest. Thanks BTB

[CoopDawg]

same as btb, my legs are usually way back towards my waist, arched and tight back, shoulder blades/lats dug into bench

[Fazc]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Arm angle looks good on bench SO. A couple things I can't tell.

1) Are you using any leg drive?
2) Are you keeping your upper back tight? As in concentrating on rowing the back to your chest?

A couple of minor points related to what BtB is pointing out:

1) Your arch is great when you set up however that quickly flattens out during the set. This needs to be corrected. A good spotter can help you keep an arch by providing a solid hand off. If you do not have that luxury then you'll just have to concentrate on keeping that arch throughout your set.

2) It doesn't appear that your shoulders are set correctly. They really need to be driven right into the bench as you take the bar out and maintained in that position. As you take the bar out, you shoulders should be pushed back into the bench and your lats support your arms.

Both of the above points are causing you to lose considerable tightness as you press back up. You can see how this effects your bar speed on the way up, you stall strongly in the middle. A little stall is inevitable but this can be improved on and will translate to a better press down the line.

I don't neccesarily agree with Co-Ops recommendations to have your feet that far back just yet. He is describing a relatively advanced technique which may not be neccesary yet while you're building a foundation and can actually retard progress long term. A solid foot position and arch is just fine for now and should allow balanced development rather than a short term boost in pressing power.

EDIT - Deads were fine, put some weight on the bar.