The Testify Republic - August 5, 2024
/THIS WEEK'S SUBMISSION
From our video 4 Tactics to Triage Your Bench Press FAST | Get a BIGGER Bench (click the title to watch):
Alex
A quick question, how can you make sure you will place your elbows slightly in front of the bar at the bottom? Do you bend the bar?
Phil
Here are two cues that often work well:
1. Elbows forward
2. Lead with the elbows
However, if you're coaching yourself, it's important to video yourself to evaluate whether or not you're executing the cue properly. What the lift feels like and what's actually happening are often two different things, so remember to record yourself and then compare it to what's discussed in this video.
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ARTICLES & VIDEOS
4 Tactics to Triage Your Bench Press FAST | Get a BIGGER Bench
We address four major technical aspects to focus on and evaluate when trying to improve your bench press. Click here to watch.
Your Most Important Piece of Training Gear - Part 1 (Lifting Gear Series)
What is your most important piece of gear, and why? This is the 6th article in our "Lifting Gear" series and is Part 1 of a mini-series as well. Click here to read.
Blast from the Past: Halting Deadlift for a BIGGER, Stronger Deadlift!
Want to improve your deadlift? The halting deadlift can help. We explain what a halting deadlift is, how to do it, and why you might want to utilize the halting deadlift in your training. Click here to watch.
Blast from the Past: The Deadlift: You're Doing This Wrong - Part 3
Your breathing is destroying your deadlift, and you probably don't even know it. In the 3rd article in our series on fixing the deadlift, Phil covers how to breathe correctly in the deadlift. Click here to read.
“GET STRONGER - LIVE BETTER” SHIRTS ARE AVAILABLE!
Why do you train? Because getting stronger makes everything else easier. Get stronger. Live better. “Testify” to this message and represent your favorite gym with this shirt in several color options.
Click here to head to the Testify Store.
WHAT'S COMING UP
Below are a few of our upcoming events, and you can find out what else is on the calendar by heading to our events page at www.testifysc.com/events.
Deadapalooza! The Annual Testify Deadlift Festival
August 23, 2024
Deadapalooza is a strength meet wherein the only contested lift is - you guessed it - the deadlift. There will be one bar (possibly multiple bars if numbers dictate), and the meet will be conducted in a "rising bar" format, so the weight on the bar only goes up! It's a ton of fun, so come on out!
Click here to register or for more information.
Minneapolis, MN: Starting Strength Squat & Deadlift Camp
August 31, 2024
Spend the day learning the theory and practice of the low bar back squat and the deadlift.
Participants will spend lots of time on the platform receiving coaching and instruction on the squat and deadlift in a small group setting. We will also have a lecture and discussion on programming and cover how to identify and correct common technical problems.
Click here to register or for more information.
Starting Strength Self-Sufficient Lifter Camp
September 28, 2024
Spend the day learning the Squat, Press, and Deadlift and how to self-evaluate your lifts while training in your garage or commercial gym without a coach.
Click here to register or for more information.
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 2024.06.03.
Option 2
Bike/row:
4 x 800m
Rest 3 minutes between each round. Score = slowest time.
Compare to 2024.05.13.
Option 3
Outdoors:
10 rounds:
25 yd yoke carry
Rest 1 minute
Indoors:
10 rounds:
30 yd yoke carry (15 yd down-back)
Rest 1 minute
Compare to 2024.04.15.
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 2024.04.15.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better!
Your Most Important Piece of Training Gear - Part 1 (Lifting Gear Series)
/Today, we're going to talk about your most important piece of training equipment. It’s not your belt, shoes, or wrist wraps - it’s not even the barbell or the squat rack. Your belt, shoes, and wraps can be easily replaced, and people train on different squat racks and with different barbells all the time. The one item that cannot be replaced - the one thing that is specific to you - is your training log.
In Part 1 of this mini-series, we’re discussing why the training log is important and why you should keep one, and in Part 2, we’ll cover how to set one up and correctly use it.
Be sure to check out the included videos as they also cover some additional material not included in this article.
This is the sixth article in our “Lifting Gear” series. Click below to read the previous articles in the series:
Exercise vs Training
Your training log is important since it’s specific to you, but it’s important for a number of other reasons as well. For starters, the training log separates exercise from training.
There’s nothing wrong with exercising, and it is certainly much better than doing nothing at all. However, exercising is what you do when you want to get hot, you want to get sweaty, you want to get tired, and you want to feel like you’ve accomplished something. Training, on the other hand, is what you do when you actually want to accomplish something, and that’s what we’re focused on.
Your Training History
Your training log is also important because it contains your history. As a result, it of course contains your lifts, warm-ups, work sets, etc., but it holds more than that. It tells you how training went on a given day - you can write down notes about your training sessions, and I encourage you to do precisely this. Notes such as “Today was a great day,” “Today was terrible,” or “185 for work sets felt awfully heavy!” are all examples of what you might write in your log.
Remember - someday 185 lb will just be a warm-up weight, and on that day, it will be very satisfying to look back and remember when 185 lb was a challenging work weight.
Your Training Compass
Because you train, you have a program and a plan. You have goals, and because your training log contains your history - i.e., where you’ve been - it also functions as your compass and helps guide you in the direction you want to go.
The log works as a compass in two ways - first, before you leave the gym each day, plan your next session. You want to walk into the gym for your next workout knowing what you’re going to hit for your work sets, so write all of that down before leaving the gym.
Second, the log functions as a compass because you’re going to write down your goals: “I want to squat 315 lb,” “I’m going to get my first chin-up this year,” or “I want to bench 225 lb at my next meet” are all solid examples of goals to write in your training log. These help guide you, motivate you, and make the process much more gratifying when you achieve these milestones.
Your training log is important - it separates training from merely exercising, it contains your history, and it’s your compass as you go forward. Next, it’s time to learn how to keep a log, so in Part 2, we’ll cover precisely how to go about setting up and utilizing your training log. In the meantime, 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.)
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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?
Halting Deadlift for a BIGGER, Stronger Deadlift!
/Want to improve your deadlift? The halting deadlift can help. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains what a halting deadlift is, how to do it, and why you might want to utilize the halting deadlift in your training.
(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 07/04/22)
At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Click the button below to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach and start getting stronger TODAY.
The Deadlift: You're Doing This Wrong - Part 3
/(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 07/08/22)
This is Part 3 in our series of articles on common deadlift errors and how to fix them. Today’s error is that of too much breathing and therefore too much time spent on the floor between reps.
“One breath. Ok, here I go . . . maybe another breath. Ok, got it, let’s go . . . well, one more breath will probably help . . .”
The trap of spending too much time between reps in the deadlift is an incredibly easy one to fall into - you’ve set the barbell down, you’re tired, the weight is heavy, you’ve started to question whether or not you’ll get the next rep - next, you start to question whether or not you’ll even attempt the next rep.
Spending a lot of time between reps is not productive, and in fact, it will actually tire you out - you’re in a crouched position of sorts, and it takes energy to stay in the position - so spending less time with the bar on the floor between reps will actually make for a more efficient (read: easier) set. The only truly good resting position for a deadlift is sitting down in the chair when you’ve completed the set, so let’s fix this problem.
When you’ve set down a completed rep and you’re getting ready to pull the next one, treat the breathing situation as “one-and-done” - take one breath, set your back in extension, and then go.
Here’s a very useful mantra to have running in your head between reps: Breath. Chest. Pull. Assuming that the bar is in place over the middle of the foot, your shins are touching the bar, and you’re balanced on the middle of your foot, here’s how it works:
Breath: Take one breath. Not two or three. ONE.
Chest: Squeeze your chest up to set your back in extension.
Pull: Drag the bar up your legs.
Keep it simple. Toward the end of a set, you may have to take two breaths between reps, but keep it limited. Get. The. Set. Done. Then, go sit in that chair.
As always, 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.)