juliewatkin Member

Ha. I'm the same. Part of it is age for me I think. Some days I'll get under an empty bar and it's like my body has forgotten what it's doing.

It's a good investment. I've had mine for 8 years. It's not like you wear them all the time to wear them out. I've only had to replace the laces and the rubber on the bottom. The rubber damage was a result of my bench set up though when I drag my toes to get my feet set up.

Nice. That looked really easy.

Squatting last night 212.5 for doubles. I'm still working on beltless squats for now. It was hot as blazes in the basement and also humid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8IsODiGtQg&feature=youtu.be

Kitten deadlifts would be pretty fun. You could just hold them by the scruff of the neck. They'd try to run away between sets though :)

I don't like this one because his head keeps coming up and he's on his toes. Many people bench on their toes but it impacts leg drive. Like someone else mentioned, bench is a full body lift. When I bring the bar down, I think of it like drawing the string on a bow; you're creating increased tension. Pressing the bar is…

Perhaps he means roll your shoulders forward and down. Because I use a hook grip, that's what I do. If you retract your shoulders; pull them back, you shorten your arm length. Forward and down extends it. That doesn't mean loose or soft. I've had a lot of success that way and have been pulling like that for years.

That's pretty sweet.

Tonight was an awesome training night. Unlike those days when gravity feels like it's been turned up and things feel unaccountably heavy, tonight was the opposite. My hip was feeling decent. Deadlift felt great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUDUBUWaIT0

I weigh every morning naked after I pee. Like another poster mentioned, I find it comforting to watch the trend and how my body reacts to different foods. Any soup causes a huge sodium weight gain spike but since I know that, it doesn't bother me. I also compete in a weight class and because I'm lighter, I tend to have…

That looked super easy. Nice job. Your hips stayed in pretty much the same spot for all reps.

I haven't had one in years but when I did I didn't notice an impact when I had my period. I did, however, notice decreased strength just prior to the start. On the plus side, I noticed increased strength, recovery and energy during ovulation.

Nice. Both this and the 210 looked easy.

I agree with many of the above posters. You may have an unrealistic expectation of body transformation. I've been lifting for 10 years and despite fairly low body fat, I hold onto my saddle bags and am built to have a wider, flatter backside rather than a high round bouncin' and behavin' one. I prefer to think of them as…

A cue that worked well for me was a band. I strung a light resistance band across the rack at the right height for me to hit parallel. When my butt hit it, I was deep enough. I'm not a huge fan of learning depth by squatting to a box because then you're also stopping at the bottom rather than going down and coming up. Best…

I get very winded on both squats and deadlifts if the weight is heavy regardless of the number of reps. My heart rate will also spike. I have had low blood pressure and it makes a difference. It also affects me if it's warm. I fainted once after deadlifting; just dropped like a bag of rocks. More typically though, I'll see…

An alternative to raising yourself is lowering the bar. On deficit day I load 35's as the primary plates rather than 45s. That way all other positioning is the same.

I was wondering the same thing. It's kind of irritating. I assume it's a system replacement but the first couple of times I read it I thought it was the poster trying to be cutesy.

double post

This was my meet last weekend. Deadlift second attempt at 140kg. Sadly the third at 147.5 barely left the floor. Last summer I hit 145 at a similar body weight so am a bit disappointed but have been struggling with hip issues.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gws82JX50e8

I hate them too. I never do them. Sorry I have no unilateral leg alternatives I just thought I'd let you know you aren't alone.

Damn common sense. That's looks like a lot of fun.

Nice job. That looked great. I suspect there aren't a ton of olympic lifters if only because they are far more technical lifts.

My typical warm up looks like 135 2x5, 225x2, 255x1, 285x1 (assuming 285 as top weight for the day). I weigh between 125 and 130. It just takes practice to get your body accustomed to fewer warm ups to be primed for your work sets.

These aren't PRs but we have a meet in 2 1/2 weeks so this is the heaviest I've squatted this cycle. Top sets were 200 for 2 sets of 3 and 215 for 2 sets of 2. My typical squat opener is 100kg (220lbs) so this is feeling pretty solid. This is the second set of 200https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnFbh4GB-rw&feature=youtu.be…

Interesting how different things work for different people. A friend of mine is so narrow, her heels touch. It's almost like her fee are in a ballet position. Nice job.

I'm not sure why it's silly. Most women I know don't squat 400. It's not about the weight you squat, it's about the level of support you either want or require. Best practice is to start as you mean to go on. There's a different setup to squat in a heeled shoe vs. a flat shoe.

Heeled weight lifting shoes provide more than an answer to ankle mobility. I've been using them since 2008 despite the fact that I have no mobility issues. The big attraction for me is that they provide lateral support. Chucks are fairly flimsy and your feet can rock laterally. Most weightlifting shoes have laces, buckles,…

I've been doing them for years and this is pretty much how I got going on them. Once you get the first, the rest just follow.

I've worked them back into my accessory stuff in the past couple of months. I've just been admiring my trap development :smile: