Official Strength Sports Thread page 2

[zack726]

The spasm is only the right side and it is the very bottom of the trapezius, down just below the shoulder blade. I figured it might have to do with form but odd that it is only one side. I thought I was really using my legs well to get the weight moving up but maybe not.

If you haven't had someone with experience coach you in olympic lifts (especially the power clean) it is far too easy to do it with poor form, which can lead to irreversible injuries. If you have had coaching/have experience, please disregard this. If you video taped your form and posted it to this forum, I'm sure people would be able to pinpoint the issue. It's far too easy to risk damage at heavier weights.

To all:
Let's get some primal strength people maxes going! If this is the official strength sports thread, it's got to have the friendly competition going

I don't specifically train for strength events, I train for college varsity sports, but here are my maxes (sorry they aren't all 1rm, I haven't done 1rm do to the potential for injury in awhile)
Squat: 285 (8rm 225)
DL: 3x305
Flat Bench: 240
Power Clean: 3x205

[mstrudle]

I follow Pavel's Power to the People (PTTP) routine, 2 sets of deadlifts followed by 2 sets of bench press.

I just finished a cycle and I've hit 270x5 for DL and 135x5 for BP, giving me a theoretical max of 310 and 155 respectively. I have been training since January so I consider these numbers pretty good for a beginner.

[Jokaman70]

Been following Jim Wendler's 5-3-1 for more than a year now. I squat and deadlift over 600 and bench press over 400 pounds. I'm struggling to maintain these weights through my dramatic weight loss, it's rough.

[Fury22]

Just stopped by real quick and saw this thread had been updated. I haven’t been posting very frequently as of late.
Ditto on finding a coach. That’s the best way to learn the lifts. I do not recommend in being self-taught like myself. I never had access to a coach when I had the money, and had access when I didn’t have the money. Irony right? But it took forever, and I’ve hurt myself a few more times than I should have along the way.
So for Maxes:
Weight: ~ 163
Snatch 200
Clean & Jerk 245
Clean 250
Split Jerk 250
Back Squat 295 (was 300, but I discarded my old maxes, especially since I weighed about 188 then)
Front Squat 270
Overhead Squat 190 for a few doubles; I don’t max on this and rarely do it
Deadlift 360 (most I have ever done, I stopped at 360 though I felt I could maybe have done 5-10 pounds more; I don’t deadlift often at all)

These are all I can think of. I don’t max on presses or anything else. I don’t max on snatch and clean pulls either. I think it’s a waste of energy and usually results in poor form, poor speed, and tends to start resembling a deadlift when the weights get heavier than reasonable in relation the snatch and clean.

[Feanor78]

I've been doing deadlifts, power cleans, hang cleans, bench press, and military press/standing overhead press as my main workout movements... I still haven't gotten back in to squatting as it was always my least favorite lift.

From what I've seen, in my time away from serious lifting most people have drifted do doing like 3 or less work sets of 5 or less reps for most movements - is that accurate? I'm still tweaking my routine and trying to maximize my strength gains, mostly to avoid getting frustrated with how weak I am

[Feanor78]

double post

[MprDoc]

Hey, thought this would be a good place to post a question. I am planning on competing in my first powerlifting competition at the end of January. I am fairly strong, I weigh 185, deadlift over 375, squat over 345, and bench somewhere in the neighborhood of 305. I am 5'4" on a good day so I am pretty stocky but I want to compete in a 175 pound max weight class and the lighter I can be by the 28th the better; lightest weight is the tie breaker. The competition is 3 attempts at each deadlift, bench and squat for a combined max total and right now I should be close to 1100 pounds but have been lacking a spotter to really push myself, the above numbers are also max attempts after 3 or 4 working sets in the 4-5 rep range.

Any tips that people can give me for dropping the excess fat and increasing strength simultaneously would be awesome. Also, for those that have competed before, am I strong enough to compete at that weight class. I am having a hard time finding information on this on the net. Its a competition on a military base so a vast majority of the guys will be non competitive lifters.

[yodiewan]

Any tips that people can give me for dropping the excess fat and increasing strength simultaneously would be awesome.

Martin Berkhan of Leangains recommends reverse pyramid training for maintaining strength while in a caloric deficit. Basically warm-up, do your heaviest set for as many reps as you can (or want to do). Then drop the weight by 10% and do 1-2 more reps than your previous sets. Repeat this for 2-3 sets.

As for diet, if I was doing it, I would eat a large lowish fat, high carb meal post-workout and a pretty small higher fat meal afterward.

I've been doing 5/3/1 for about 8 months now. I weight about 165 and my best on DL is 405x3. I've also gotten 105x2 on weighted chins. I have been working on squats and overhead press, but my progress is slower and not as impressive.