The LPP Rule: Fewer Barbell Loading Mistakes

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

The name in the following story has been changed to protect the guilty . . .

This is not 140 lb . . . and Sally knows better.

One of our lifters - Sally - needed to squat 140 lb for her work sets. However, Sally didn’t want to spend the effort necessary to put a 45 lb plate on each side of the barbell. Bear in mind that Sally squats over 200 lb and deadlifts nearly 300 lb, so it wasn’t as though lifting a 45 lb plate was very difficult for Sally - she just didn’t want to do it.

Consequently, Sally had to use far more plates to load her bar than she normally would have used had she chosen to use a 45 lb plate, and as a result, she made a barbell math mistake and ended up squatting 130 lb for a couple of sets instead of 140 lb. When I noticed this, I pointed it out to her and also pointed out that she now needed to load the correct weight and perform her work sets.

What’s the moral of this story? All lifters make math errors when loading the barbell every now and then, but you can greatly reduce your chances of loading (and lifting!) the wrong weight if you follow one simple rule:

The LPP Rule: Always put the Largest Possible Plate on the bar.

(I recommend watching the included video for a demonstration as well as explanation) 

For example, if you want to squat 140 lb (using a 45 lb bar), simply put a 45 lb plate on each side followed by a 2.5 lb plate on each side. Do NOT use some silly combination of plates such as a 25, two 10s, and a 2.5 on each side, or worse yet, a 25, a ten, two 5s, and a 2.5. The list of terrible combinations goes on and on, and this is exactly the problem.

If you always put the largest possible plate on the bar (the LPP Rule), then there is only one possible combination of plates that will produce the correct weight on the bar. If you don’t utilize this method, there are myriad combinations that will get you the correct weight, and with this greater number of possibilities comes a correspondingly greater number of ways that you can screw up the math and misload your bar.

With the LPP Rule, not only are there far fewer ways to make a mistake, but you’ll also benefit from always building your bar math around “milestone weights” such as 95 lb (one 25 on each side), 135 lb (one 45 on each side), 185 lb (one 45 and one 25 on each side), etc. These milestone weights are numbers that you’ll memorize rather quickly (whether you intend to or not) if you use the LPP Rule, and it makes the bar math for any weight above these weights simpler, quicker, and harder to mess up.

We hope this helps you get stronger and live better!

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Week 2022.01.17

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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 2021.11.15.

Option 2
Bike/row:
4 x 3 minutes

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

Compare to 2021.10.25.

Option 3
1. Work up to a heavy single on the axle clean-and-press (i.e., ground to overhead).
2. 5 x 100 ft Zercher carry (50 ft down-back). Add weight each round. Rest as needed.

Compare to 2021.09.27.

Option 4
Outdoors:
5 rounds:
15 cal row
50 yd sled push, 100#/50#

Indoors:
5 rounds:
15 cal row
100 ft sled push, 250#/125#

Push sled slow for recovery. Score is slowest row.

Compare to 2021.09.27.

Squat Tip: Hips Back AND Chest Down

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Here’s a quick squat tip: When you initiate your squat by reaching back with your hips (i.e., your butt), you need to also point your chest at the floor (i.e., lean over). The converse is also true - when you point your chest at the floor, you need to reach back with your hips. 

Note that Tyler’s hips are traveling back while he points his chest at the floor.

These two movements - hips back and chest down - go hand-in-hand with each other, and if you briefly think about it, it will seem rather obvious why this is so. On one hand, if you reach back with your hips while trying to maintain an upright torso, you’ll fall over backward, which is rather unfortunate in any circumstance and especially when squatting with a barbell on your back. On the other hand, if you lean over (i.e., point your chest at the floor) without reaching back with your hips, you’ll fall over forward. Again - preposterous.

So remember, when you initiate your squat, if you’ve got a cue like one of the following running through your head . . .

  • Hips back

  • Butt back

  • Reach backward

  • Sit back

. . . it can be useful to also tell yourself one of the following cues . . .

  • Chest down

  • Lean over

  • Point your chest at the floor 

This will help your balance, and it will also help you get into a position where you can effectively drive your hips out of the bottom of the squat.

We hope this helps you get stronger and live better!

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?

click here to start today

Week 2022.01.10

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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 2021.11.08.

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 2021.10.18.

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

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

Compare to 2021.09.20.

Option 4
5 rounds:
4 tire flips
8 sledgehammer strikes
6 pull-ups
10 push-ups

Pull-ups and push-ups can be modified – talk to the coaches for options.

Compare to 2021.09.20.

Deadlift Tip: Quit Bending Your Arms!

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Here’s a quick deadlift tip: Don’t Bend Your Arms.

Ever.

don’t be like this fool when setting up to pull.

This will seem rather obvious to many people - after all, who would voluntarily try to pull a heavy weight off the floor with bent arms? Nonetheless, this problem shows up in the setup for some lifters, and interestingly enough, it will occasionally rear its ugly head on the pull itself.

If you have this issue in your setup, remember that, when you bend your knees slightly to touch your shins to the bar, the knees go out (i.e., sideways) slightly and touch the inside of your elbows. Don’t shove the knees out so hard that you end up causing your elbows to bend. This is what we like to refer to as . . . ridiculous.

This . . . is much better.

Whether you’re setting up or pulling, remember - keep your arms straight. Bent arms are highly inefficient when pulling heavy weights off the floor . . . and they just look so silly. Don’t be silly.

We hope this helps you get stronger and live better!

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?

click here to start today

Week 2022.01.03

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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 2021.11.01.

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 2021.10.11.

Option 3
5-10 rounds:
50 ft yoke carry
50 ft yoke push
100 ft sandbag carry and S.O.B. (sandbag-over-bar)

Perform 1 round every 2-3 minutes.

Compare to 2021.09.13.

Option 4
Row/Tire 10 min ladder:
2 cal row
2 tire flips
4 cal row
4 tire flips
6 cal row
6 tire flips
…
Climb the ladder as high as possible in 10 minutes.

Compare to 2021.09.13.