Week 2021.05.10

The annual Testify Barbell MAYhem was a great success this weekend, and we are hugely thankful to everyone who helped out! Loaders, referees, table officials, those who helped setup and tear down - we could not have hosted this meet without you all!

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This Week’s Conditioning

Option 1
“Prowler Base”
1. Load up a manageable weight.
2. Sprint 40m at 85% intensity.
3. Rest until breathing and heart rate slow down. (45 sec – 2 min)
4. Repeat 5-15 times.

Courtesy of “Death by Prowler” (on Starting Strength).

Compare to 2021.03.08.

Option 2
Bike/row:
4 x 3 minutes

Rest 3 minutes between each round. Score = lowest distance.

Compare to 2021.02.15.

Option 3
5-10 rounds of:
30 sec ME tire flips
30 sec rest

Compare to 2021.01.18.

Option 4
1. 5 yoke carries @ 30 yd (15 yd downback) – work up to heaviest carry
2. 5 rounds of 5 reps on the axle “clean and press away” – work up to heavy set of 5

Compare to 2021.01.11.

Squatting Deeper - Don't Make These 2 Mistakes!

Julie hits depth on a correctly executed squat.

When people are endeavoring to squat deeper - whether because their coach told them too or because they’ve recorded themselves on video and seen the disheartening proof of a “too-high” squat - we often see two mistakes:

1. The lifter descends significantly faster than before without actually squatting deeper.

2. The lifter leans over too much.

With regard to mistake #1, remember that going deeper doesn’t mean descending faster. In fact, 50% of the time, going down faster doesn’t change anything except the speed of the descent (yes, duh) and the other 50% of the time, the lifter actually cuts off his squat even higher when he tries to descend more quickly.

Julie makes mistake #2 as she leans over too much in an effort to achieve the proper depth. Note that the crease of her hips have not passed below the level of the top of her kneecap and are, in fact, well above height of the kneecap.

Mistake #2 - leaning over too much - comes from a misunderstanding of how depth is achieved. Depth is achieved when the crease of the hip passes just below the height of the top of the patella. In other words, you squat deeper by taking the hips lower - not by taking the bar lower. If the hips go lower, everything else above the hips goes lower as well - including the bar - but the reverse is not necessarily true. When starting your descent, leaning over (as you shove your knees out and reach back with your hips) is important, but once you’ve set your back angle by doing so, keep it constant - don’t lean over more than you already have.

If you struggle with either of these two mistakes, try the cues “stretch deep” or “reach deep” the next time you squat. With the “stretch deep” cue, you are reminding yourself that you will experience a stretch in the hips as you descend lower into the squat, and with the “reach deep” cue, you are reminding yourself that you reach downward with your hips - not the bar.

“Stretch deep” and “reach deep” - give these cues a try, and we hope they help you out!

Week 2021.05.03

Reminder: Please note that the gym will be closed this Saturday, 05/08/21, as we are hosting the annual Testify Barbell MAYhem weightlifting meet.

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This Week’s Conditioning

Option 1
Sled
Outdoors:
10-20 x 25 yds EMOM at a weight of your choice

Every minute, push the sled 25 yards, i.e., if pushing the sled takes 20 seconds, then you have 40 seconds to rest. Perform 10-20 rounds.

Indoors:
10-20 x 100 ft EMOM at a weight of your choice

Every minute, push the sled 100 feet, i.e., if pushing the sled takes 20 seconds, then you have 40 seconds to rest. Perform 10-20 rounds.

Compare to 2021.03.01.

Option 2
Bike/row:
5 min on
4 min off
4 min on
3 min off
3 min on
2 min off
2 min on
1 min off
1 min on

Record distance for each interval and add for total distance.

Compare to 2021.02.08.

Option 3
Outdoors:
5-10 rounds:
50 yd sled push (25 yd down-back)
50 yd farmer carry (25 yd down-back)
Rest 1 min

Indoors:
5-10 rounds:
100 ft sled push (50 ft down-back)
100 ft farmer carry (50 ft down-back)
Rest 1 min

Compare to 2021.01.11.

Option 4
10 x 50 ft farmer carry
Each carry is 25 ft down and 25 ft back and is for time. Rest 1 minute between carries.

Women: 97# per handle (80# of plates)
Men: 137# per handle (120# of plates)
(Note: Each handle weighs 17#.)

Compare to 2021.01.04.

Bench Press Cue: Pull Your Fists Back!

Joy’s arms are straight, but notice the position of her fists in the picture on the left versus the position of her fists in the picture on the right (i.e., with shoulders retracted).

When we set up to bench press, we retract our shoulder blades before we start the movement. We do so as this process creates more stability (i.e., it creates a wider base of support on the bench itself) and puts us in a stronger and more efficient position from which to bench. It also has the added bonus of reducing the distance the bar has to travel throughout the lift.

However, lifters occasionally have a bit of trouble pulling their shoulders back into the proper position. Sometimes this is due to a lack of understanding of what this position looks and feels like, and sometimes it’s simply an inability to exert conscious control over something they can’t see. Either way, if you struggle to retract your shoulders blades, try cueing yourself to pull your fists back instead.

Compare the height of the barbell in the photo on the left (incorrect: fists not pulled back) with the height of the barbell in the photo on the right (correct: fists pulled back). For a reference point, look at the “Exit” sign in the background.

The cue “Pull your fists back” implies that - when you’re set up on the bench with the bar locked out overhead on straight arms - you’re going to try to pull your fists back toward you as far as possible (i.e., as close to you as possible) without bending your elbows. You can try this with or without a bar, and either way, you’ll find that you can actually pull your fists back toward you at least an inch or two, and having done so, you will have successfully retracted your shoulder blades into the correct position without having ever thought about your shoulders.

Pull your fists back the next time you set up on the bench - it will help you develop a stronger and more efficient bench press, and that’s always a good thing. If you’re interested in more tips to help your bench press, check out the video below:

Week 2021.04.26

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This Week’s Conditioning

Option 1
Sled
Outdoors:
10 rounds of:
Push sled 100 ft
Pull sled 100 ft (hand over hand)

Indoors:
20 rounds of:
Push sled 50 ft
Pull sled 50 ft (hand over hand)

Compare to 2021.02.22.

Option 2
5 rounds:
10 cal bike
1 min rest
4 sandbag-over-bars
1 min rest

Set the yoke crossmember at 35/33, and the weight is 150#/75#.

Compare to 2021.02.01.

Option 3
8 rounds:
Outdoors:
4 tire flips
50 yd sled push (25 yd down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Indoors:
4 tire flips
100 ft sled push (50 ft down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Compare to 2021.01.04.

Option 4
Sandbag-over-bars
Set yoke at #33 for women or #35 for men.
1. 1 minute AMRAP
2. 5 rounds of 2 reps every 2 minutes (speed!)
3. 1 minute AMRAP

Weights
Female under 40 years
140 lbs and under: 75 lbs
140.1 lbs – 185 lbs: 100 lbs
185.1 lbs and over: 150 lbs

Female 40 years and over
140 lbs and under: 50 lbs
185 lbs and under: 75 lbs
185.1 lbs and over: 100 lbs

Male under 40 years
185 lbs and under: 150 lbs
185.1 lbs – 235 lbs: 200 lbs
235.1 lbs and over: 250 lbs

Male 40 years and over
185 lbs and under: 100 lbs
185.1 lbs – 235 lbs: 150 lbs
235.1 lbs and over: 200 lbs

Compare to 2020.12.28.

Conditioning with the Rower

Evan gets to work with some 1-minute intervals.

The rower (AKA rowing machine, ergometer, or erg) is a great conditioning tool. It uses primarily concentric movement and thus doesn’t cause a lot of unnecessary soreness. As a result, you can get some effective conditioning from rowing, and if approached in an intelligent fashion, this conditioning should not get in the way of your strength training.

With this in mind, we’re going to take a look at a few sample rower workouts that you can implement in your training, and as you become better conditioned over time, you can modify these workouts to increase the stress.

Workout #1
5, 7, or 9 rounds of:
Row 1 minute
Rest 1 minute

For this workout, you’ll simply row for one minute, rest one minute, and then repeat this process until you’ve accumulated the desired number of rounds. You can use the rower’s timer (if it has one), you can use a continuously running stopwatch, or you can set a programmable timer to repeat one one minute intervals.

Over time, you can increase the conditioning stress by adding rounds (e.g., going from 5 rounds to 7 rounds) or increasing the distance rowed. You can record the distance for each individual round, or for ease of recording, you can simply record and score yourself on the shortest distance you rowed in any round.

Workout #2
6, 8, or 10 rounds of:
Row 30 seconds
Rest 2 minutes

For this workout, row for thirty seconds, then rest two minutes, and then repeat until you’ve completed the prescribed number of rounds. The goal is to cover the maximum distance in each round, so as with Workout #1, you can record and score yourself on each round, or you can simply record and score yourself on your slowest round (i.e., the shortest distance rowed).

Likewise, over time, the goal would be to increase the number of rounds or the distance rowed. An approach that combines these goals would be to perform six rounds one week, eight rounds the next week, and then ten rounds the third week - all while holding approximately the same pace (i.e., covering the same distance) - and then resetting back down to six rounds the following week and starting the process again but covering more distance.

Workout #3
5, 10, 15, or 20 minute time trial

This one is simple - set a timer for five, ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes, and then row as far as possible within the specified time. Over time, your goal would be to increase the distance rowed for a given time.

Have fun with these conditioning workouts, and a word to the wise - start conservatively with the first few sessions. You don’t want your conditioning to interfere with your strength training, and you’ve got plenty of time to increase the conditioning stress in later sessions.

We hope these tips and tricks help you get stronger - or at least better conditioned in this case - and live better.

-Phil

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