Willbenchforcupcakes Member

So my awesome friend Beans was there and got my last deadlift on video. 170/374 easy peasy https://instagram.com/p/BIna8U4AARP/

You are definitely an inspiration! I've got about 15kg to minimally qualify for North Americans and/or commonwealth next year. 60ish kg for the minimum Wilks for Belarus. The 15 is easy, it's about what I left on the platform. The 69 is a challenge but doable.

:blush: I'm still in disbelief over how well the reloading went. I have Mike 9 weeks to bring my squat and deads back up from 65% and we did it. Thanks! Can't wait to see what I can build up for nationals in March! There was some great lifting from a lot of first and second time lifters! I finished 3rd overall in the…

@SideSteel pretty much nailed it. When I'm running bench focused training I tend not to need deloads that frequently, but when the training is more balanced, after about every 8 weeks I definitely do.

Thanks Matt! I'm wishing I had video at least of my last dead because internal feeling on it was that it was a thing of beauty.

No videos unfortunately but my return to full power was massively successful! 9/9, hit 127.5/280 on my squat, a 7.5kg platform pr, 82.5/182 on my bench - the same weight as my last two bench only meets but a massive 20kg over my last three lift bench, and nailed a 170/274 lifetime pr deadlift on my third.

After doing a double SI joint separation last year, and prior to that dealing with instability for years, my physio diagnosed me with an underlying lower crossed syndrome. Addressing that has gotten me stronger and more stable than I ever have been in my life. No signs of muscle imbalance no instability. Life is good.

I've learnt to love my core work, and it's paying off in terms of easier activation of my core during squats and deads. Staples of mine are Turkish get ups, windmills, barbell rollouts, land mines, Pallof press, dead bug, weighted hyperextensions, planks, oblique crunches, and a few holds. Spread throughout the week it's…

I'm three days out from my 15th comp, first full power meet in 18 months. Don't get me wrong, my squat is good clean deep and fast. I will just take a weak spot and work on it until it's strong. And there is always something that I can do better

Fat mirrors/ thin mirrors are a thing. I remember my dance studio growing up the mirrors alternated. But another reason why I'm happy my gym has no mirrors.

Grip lower in your hands.

No. No. No. Bench first. So clean and precise and technical. It just feels amazing when it's working perfectly. Then deadlifts, because who doesn't love pulling 300+ pounds off the floor? Then squats. Just because it's the lift I struggle the most with technically. It's just never good enough for me.

I know. Currently my squat is moving perfectly and is begging to move up the rankings. But I will always love bench the most. So technical to get right and so rewarding when you do.

Not on bruising, but it's helped with other things. Helping stabilize after my injury last year, and currently on my ribs. Still trying to figure that one out, but apparently it's a thing to sometimes partially separate ribs squatting.

Bench. Deadlift. Squat.

Forgetting knee high socks on deadlift or oly partial days. Ouch. Had a day in my last training cycle where I went strength snatch to deads to squats. So lifters to chucks to knee sleeves and lifters. Getting my knee sleeves on while I was that sweaty was ... Interesting. Glad mine are fairly loose.

The weight of my bars. As long as I'm making weight for my higher level meets and fitting into my belt (I did get one where I was at the outer range of it on purpose), I'm good. Yes, I'm working on slowly cutting down a few kg, only so I don't have to water load going into meets. It will be nice not having that stress on…

I shove food in my mouth and then usually get ready for work. Or have a nap if it's a day off. Whatever the rest of my life requires me to do.

I don't do much, just enough to keep my hip flexors loose enough that I can hit below parallel. I do a banded hip flexor stretch plus a banded body weight squat hold after warming up, some leg swings, and then as I'm doing my warmup sets I'll do some deep squat holds with up to 50%, just pausing at the bottom for 10-20…

I adore my reebok lifters. I wear them for my squats and bench (I love the way the heel really lets me dig in for more leg drive), as well my Olympic partials. I wear chucks for deads, but only because I've been too lazy to get a pair of deadlift slippers.

Water loading sucks donkey balls. I'd pass if your only objective is to look a little better the first day or so of a holiday.

For me, hypermobility can suck the big one. What's helped the most, besides doing all my body weight correctives to first correct and now keep the imbalance at bay, is that I essentially stopped stretching. I stretch my IT band just enough that I can hit depth, my hamstrings cause they like to be crazy tight with no…

A healthy happy you gets to spend more quality time with your kids. I get it. Single mom with 50% custody. I've worked my schedule so most of my training happens while they are with their dad, or coming in September, school.

Kinda blew myself away today. So I hit my max that I've been using for my percentages the last week of April last year, and the week after that I injured myself (separated both SI joints which uncovered an underlying muscle imbalance). The percentages have been working, even with this crash reload, so I've been sticking to…

5 days a week, and what lift goes where depends on the focus for any given cycle. Currently on a squat and deadlift focus so doing both three times a week plus benching twice.

Pure and utter torture as a finisher after heavy squats. My last set is a grit your teeth how bad do you want it grind with where they are placed in my current program.

When will you get it done? That's the best time for you to do it. Plus, I work a lot of evenings and my gym closes earlier. If I trained at night after work, I'd have to find a new space which either would be an insane commute or I'd be relearning how to behave at a commercial gym

Hamstring curls. Straight and bent knee body weight glute bridges. Especially brutal as a superset.

Nope. I like the energy carbs give me.

I consult the appropriate professionals and follow their advice. Yup physio is expensive, but has gotten me back on track and is an important maintenance tool now.