Gear:
Inzer Max DL (as squat suit)
Metal IPF Viking DL (as deadlift suit)
VS Athletics Shoes
Belt
Titan bad-ass knee wraps
Back Squat:
blahblahblah
473 x 1, straps up w/ belt
It then occurred to us to put on Mike's Titan wraps. These are insane and make my Inzer wraps feel like a gentle caress.
495 x crash, straps up w/ belt + wraps
Analysis: I am completely un-used to squatting in a suit in general, and especially the Max DL. It was pulling me forward, causing me to tilt forward in the hole. This meant that I had to try to good-morning 495 up, which wasn't going to happen.
What this basically means is that I need to remember that wide-stance squatting for competition is pretty different than Shoulder Stance squatting for training. That means for comp:
- use chucks, not VS Athletics
- look forward at ~10' up, not down like I usually do
- sit back more
Will practice this more next week.
In any case, these are going to be my squat attempts: 473/507/518-529, depending on previous attempts
Conventional Deadlift:
385, 5 x 1 (5 singles)
Had to get used to the pull of the suit
451, 2 x 1 (2 singles)
These felt pretty good. I can rip the weight off the floor, but then it slows down above my knees. This suggest some chain/block work after contest. My technique for this had to change as well. The suit pulls me forward, so I had to do the hamstring snap trick (ie you sit back really quickly and pull) to make sure I wasn't rounding over.
Deadlift attempts: 473/507/????
6 comments:
Why are you using the Inzer DL to squat instead of the blue squat suit?
The Hardcore is size 32, the Max DL is size 34. I didn't feel like fighting to put on a suit outside of comp.
Why do you train shoulder stance squatting primarily when you compete wide stance? Doesn't it make more sense to train the lifts as you would when you compete so that you have the technique down?
Jake:
- for increasing absolute performance, yes
- for increasing overall strength/power/muscle and tendon mass, no
I should have incorporated more Wide Stance squatting in this cycle, but I was concentrating on bringing my quad/glute/hamstring strength up with the Shoulder Stance squat (this was an obvious weak point). This will benefit me more in the long run than being able to eke out maybe 20 more lbs in contest.
To put it very plainly, I am not terribly concerned with my performance in this contest.
Fair enough, but here's my main concern: strength is VERY specific and despite the fact that you want to gain overall strength (which is good) I think you should ALWAYS be incorporating some training of the exact competition lifts, even if it's only light (60-80%) to make sure your form is very good. Remember that you lose strength on a lift if you don't do it for only 2 weeks, so you should do maintenance on your primary lifts while you're training assistance lifts hard. Since you admit that technique is a problem for you technique training should be a HUGE priority. Even Louie Simmons says that his lifters don't drop technique training until they are extremely proficient and can perform the lifts well in competition without worrying about training them very much.
You're right that overall strength/power/tendon strength is greatly helped by assistance lifts, but training that in exclusion of technique/absolute strength in the main lifts will still be detrimental to progress. Ultimately the lifter with the best squat/bench/deadlift wins, not the one with the best "general strength." Besides, if you are doing the main lifts with good technique it will increase your general strength AND specific strength anyway.
What you say is true. Something I haven't explained is that the Nov. 15 contest will be the last time that I compete in gear for a long time. I am more concerned with building my overall raw strength (laying the foundation, as it were).
Post a Comment