BruteForce: Power Overwhelming

[Squatter]

The biggest standout with your form in my view was the absence of leg drive. Perhaps keeping your heels on the ground will help with this. I can't tell tho how tight you were, but it's a good idea to reset your tightness after every 2-3 reps. (you reset while the bar is in lockout) Squeezing the bar for dear life and butt as if you are holding a big crap will help you keep tight. I also noticed you seemed to get out of your groove/bar path on some reps. I imagine resetting tightness will help. With that said, it is tough to get tight and stay tight without a spotter for a liftoff. Hopefully you can round one up sometimes.

I hope this helps.

[Hunterace]

Originally Posted by bruteforce

Finally got back under the bar today. Feel completely destroyed, and didn't really seem to lift all that much. Oh well, first day back in a while, and got some work in.

BB Bench
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 1
205 x 8
205 x 8
205 x 6
205 x 5 - vids soon

DB Row - forgot my straps, so had grip issues. I could have kept going on them, but I kept smashing my wrist with the edge of the DB, which doesn't help with the pain in them anyway.
90 x 12
90 x 8
90 x 5

Seated DB Arnold Press
40 x 8
40 x 8
40 x 6

Lying Triceps Extension
50 x 10
50 x 8
50 x 8
50 x 8

BB Curl
70 x 9
70 x 8
70 x 6

Everything felt heavy and slow, but i think things will be better in the coming weeks.

Originally Posted by bruteforce

Haha, thanks Josh. It was a decent session for the first one back after a meet. Didn't push anything too much as last time I went balls out the week after a meet I had to take nearly a month of from getting injured. And yeah, if I can bring my other lifts up to match the epicness of my dead (comparatively), my total will get a lot nicer!

Bench from today. Posting for JB and BtB and anyone else who has thoughts to critique. Will also post over in the form critique area.

Brute Bench Form Check Feb 20 - YouTube

Great work Brute! Smart way to ease back into it after your killer meet!

[EliteDreams]

Solid work big guy!

I misread "sexual db presses...

[BigJosh]

The thing that jumped out to me when watching the video was that your butt didn't seem firmly planted and neither did your feet.
Your feet didn't move around, which is good, but they also didn't seem firmly planted and driving into the the ground.
Same thing with your butt. It didn't necessarily come off the bench, but it seemed to me that it just wasn't firmly planted. Also, it seemed to be positioned in the space between the top of the bench and the bottom. With that gap, there really isn't a firm surface to plant your butt against.
It's almost seemed to me that there is an over emphasis on setting up the arch and not a enough emphasis on firmly planting your butt and your feet.
Those are just my thoughts after watching it.

[J_Byrd]

First, that bench sucks! Anything with a gap like that isnt going to yield well for a great set up.

You are trying to do things right, so you are in the right direction. I would try to move my feet farther back. I am not a "butt firm" on the bench guy. I want it where your butt is barely touching it. If you do this and force your heels down towards the ground the entire way you will cut some bar travel down. If your feet are far enough back, there is no way to bring your butt off of the bench!

Your bar path seems to be hit or miss. You really need to find that "perfect spot" and try to get there every time. You will notice how some reps drift back to the face, and others dont. You need to find your best line. You looked to be on your shoulders well, and bringing the bar down with the lats, all good things. Prob need to work on upper back flex ability, but every big guy needs to do that!

Keep posting videos and I will keep helping best I can!

[KD5NFW]

Since I'm not the world's greatest bencher either, all I had was what a POS bench!! Throw that sucker in the corner an get a solid one next time lol!!

[bruteforce]

Originally Posted by Hunterace

Great work Brute! Smart way to ease back into it after your killer meet!

Thanks Jim!

Originally Posted by EliteDreams

Solid work big guy!

I misread "sexual db presses...

Some sexual healing going on in here?

Originally Posted by BigJosh

The thing that jumped out to me when watching the video was that your butt didn't seem firmly planted and neither did your feet.
Your feet didn't move around, which is good, but they also didn't seem firmly planted and driving into the the ground.
Same thing with your butt. It didn't necessarily come off the bench, but it seemed to me that it just wasn't firmly planted. Also, it seemed to be positioned in the space between the top of the bench and the bottom. With that gap, there really isn't a firm surface to plant your butt against.
It's almost seemed to me that there is an over emphasis on setting up the arch and not a enough emphasis on firmly planting your butt and your feet.
Those are just my thoughts after watching it.

Thanks Josh. Yeah, I hate that bench. It's the only one over 14" high though. This gym sucks balls.

Originally Posted by J_Byrd

First, that bench sucks! Anything with a gap like that isnt going to yield well for a great set up.

You are trying to do things right, so you are in the right direction. I would try to move my feet farther back. I am not a "butt firm" on the bench guy. I want it where your butt is barely touching it. If you do this and force your heels down towards the ground the entire way you will cut some bar travel down. If your feet are far enough back, there is no way to bring your butt off of the bench!

Your bar path seems to be hit or miss. You really need to find that "perfect spot" and try to get there every time. You will notice how some reps drift back to the face, and others dont. You need to find your best line. You looked to be on your shoulders well, and bringing the bar down with the lats, all good things. Prob need to work on upper back flex ability, but every big guy needs to do that!

Keep posting videos and I will keep helping best I can!

Thanks JB! I'll keep that stuff in mind next time and see what I can do. I appreciate the help

Originally Posted by KD5NFW

Since I'm not the world's greatest bencher either, all I had was what a POS bench!! Throw that sucker in the corner an get a solid one next time lol!!

Thanks KD! Yeah, the equipment at Golds Social club is expensive, but completely crap.


Today's training was hell. Only way to put it. Good routine, but I'm still borked from the competition. No injuries or anything, but CNS hates me. Still, 2 good sessions this week. I may be done till next week, we'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Squat
135 x 3
225 x 3 - felt heavy
275 x 1
295 x 1
315 x 1
300 x 3
300 x 3

Rack Pull -> power shrug
135 x 10
225 x 10
315 x 10

Leg Curl - machine thingy, guessing this is right
70 x 12
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10

Cable Crunch
45 x 10 - only one set as I scraped my shin on the rack pulls and was bleeding on the floor

Decline Crunch
BW x 10
BW x 3

Calf Raise
225 x 20
225 x 13
225 x 10

[bruteforce]

Just posting this up to see if this is a good height for rack pulls.

Rack pull height check - YouTube

Rack pull height check - YouTube

[Hunterace]

Great workout Brute! Never combined rack pulls and shrugs before, looks tough! Someone smarter than me can verify, but I'm pretty sure anything below the knees is fine for rack pulls. Keep working hard big man!

[J_Byrd]

yeah, that is what I would call a low rack pull.