Testify Herald - September 30, 2024

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

THIS WEEK'S SUBMISSION

From our video 3 Habits that Instantly Boost Your Deadlift (click the title to watch):

Art Barkley
Another excellent tutorial! Much appreciated. I tried your idea of “bowing to the floor and looking for my mid foot” and it really helped, particularly on the 4th and 5th reps. Thank you!

Phil
That's great to hear, and you're welcome!

TESTIFY ONLINE COACHING

Want to get stronger working remotely with one of our Starting Strength Coaches? Click here to contact us and learn more.

Get Stronger. Live Better. Start today.

ARTICLES & VIDEOS

3 Habits that Instantly Boost Your Deadlift
Phil covers 3 habits that will improve your deadlift and add weight to the bar immediately. Click here to watch.

 

What You Should NEVER Do When Pressing!
Is your bar path all sorts of terrible when you press? It's destroying your press. Here are 3 simple cues to help you fix it. Click here to read.

 

Blast from the Past: Power Jerk vs Squat Jerk vs Split Jerk: Which One is BEST?
There are 3 different types of jerk, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Phil and Becky explain and demonstrate the power jerk, squat jerk, and split jerk. Click here to watch.

 

Blast from the Past: The Box Squat: What, How, and Why
What are box squats, how do you perform them, and why might a lifter do them? Phil explains. 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.

Testify Fall Classic

  • October 26, 2024

  • The annual Testify Fall Classic is back, and we invite you to be a part of it! This is a strengthlifting meet, which means the contested lifts will be the squat, press, and deadlift.

  • Click here to register or for more information.

Benching Bonanza! The Annual Testify Bench Press Jubilee

  • November 22, 2024

  • Benching Bonanza is a strength meet wherein the only contested lift is - you guessed it - the bench press. There will be one bar, and the meet will be conducted in a "rising bar" format, so the weight on the bar only goes up! It'll be a ton of fun, so come on out!

  • Click here to register or for more information.

Barbell Blizzard! A Winter Wonderland of Weights

  • December 14, 2024

  • Barbell Blizzard is a team strength meet wherein the contested lifts will be the squat, press, bench press, and deadlift. Competitors will form teams of 2-4 lifters/team and perform all 4 lifts; each lifter will receive 3 attempts for each lift.

  • Click here to register or for more information.

THIS WEEK’S CONDITIONING

Option 1
Sled Pyramid – 4, 5, or 6 tiers
Go up and down a 4, 5, or 6 tier “sled pyramid” – rest as needed. The distance for each round is 80 m indoors (a down-back on the 40m course) or 200 ft outdoors (2 down-backs on the 50 ft course). Rest as needed.

For example, Bob does the following (4 tiers):
Round 1: Empty sled
Round 2: 25#
Round 3: 50#
Round 4: 75#
Round 5: 50#
Round 6: 25#
Round 7: Empty sled

Compare to 2024.07.29.

Option 2
Bike/Row for 9 rounds:
1 min on
1 min off

Record distance for each round.

Compare to 2024.07.08.

Option 3
Outdoors:
5-10 rounds:
10 sledgehammer strikes (5R, 5L)
50 yd farmer carry (25 yd down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Indoors:
5-10 rounds:
10 sledgehammer strikes (5R, 5L)
100 ft farmer carry (50 ft down-back)
Rest 1 minute

Compare to 2024.06.10.

Option 4
5-8 rounds:
50 ft sled push
50 ft sled pull (hand over hand)
Row 1 minute
Rest 1 minute

This can also be done in a group of three where the sledder determines how long the other two people row and rest.

Compare to 2024.06.10.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better!

What You Should NEVER Do When Pressing!

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

If you've trained the press long enough, you've had the experience wherein you push that barbell slightly forward out of that nice bar path you're aiming for, and suddenly, a press that should have been merely challenging instead becomes nearly impossible. Today, we cover three cues to fix this problem.

figure 1: Getting ready to aim for the nose

Solution 1: Target
For starters, give yourself a target at which to aim before starting each rep. Specifically, aim for your nose.

Don’t worry - your nose will be safely out of the way. There’s a natural counterbalancing movement that happens with the hips action of the press - the hips go forward, and your head moves back and out of the way.

Having a target can help significantly, so aim for your nose, or aim for where you nose was if you’re feeling pedantish (in which case “pedantish” bothers you to no end).

Solution 2: Overcue the Bar Path
If aiming for your nose doesn’t help you solve the problem, simply cue yourself to “press it backward” or “throw it back.” This is most certainly an overcue - an exaggeration of the correction needed - but overcues are often useful when trying to fix an error.

Solution 3: Elbows Forward
When you press the bar forward of the correct trajectory, you may accidentally be allowing the elbows to drift backward when you reach forward with your hips.

figure 2: the elbows have correctly dipped down but not backward.

Make no mistake, as you push the hips forward, the bar should dip slightly, which means the elbows should dip slightly as well. However, the elbows start the lift slightly in front of the bar and should stay slightly in front of the bar during this process (Figure 2). In other words, the elbows will dip down, but they should not drift backward as well.

If the elbows drift back (Figure 3), it greatly increases the chance that you will launch the bar forward. To fix this error, cue yourself to “keep the elbows forward” while you reach with your hips. The shorter version of this cue is simply “elbows forward.”

figure 3: the elbows have incorrectly drifted backward.

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.)

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?

Power Jerk vs Squat Jerk vs Split Jerk: Which One is BEST?

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

There are 3 different types of jerk, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Phil and Becky explain and demonstrate the power jerk, squat jerk, and split jerk.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 08/01/22)

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 Box Squat: What, How, and Why

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 09/16/22)

In two of our recent articles, we covered the tempo squat and the pin squat. Today, let’s briefly discuss the box squat.

What is a box squat?
A box squat is a squat wherein you descend, pause with your rear end on a box, stack of bumper plates, or something similarly sturdy, and then squat the weight back up again.

How do you perform a box squat?
You descend as you would in a normal squat - hips go back, knees go forward and out (staying in line with your toes), and your chest points down - but you’re going to heavily focus on reaching back with your hips as you descend.

The box needs to be at a height so that - when your butt is on the box - your hip crease is just below the top of your patella. In other words, the box needs to be set so that you can hit depth. This may seem obvious, but checking this on video is always a good idea if you’re coaching yourself.

At the bottom of the squat, pause a legitimate one to two seconds (“one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two”) and stay tight during this pause. The box will take a little of the weight when your rear end is on the box, but it shouldn’t take much - we’re not relaxing at the bottom, and we’re not rocking back-and-forth. You should still be supporting most of the weight of the barbell.

After the pause, drive the hips up out of the hole as you would in a normal squat and continue your ascent. It will be slower than a regular squat as we’ve taken out the stretch reflex.

Why might you do box squats or where might you see them in your programming? 
Perhaps your coach has programmed you within a Heavy-Light-Medium structure or something similar. In this case, you might see a box squat show up as a medium day squat or even a light day squat (the loading and volume need to be carefully managed - especially if it’s a light day squat).

Due to the pause on the box, the box squat eliminates the stretch reflex out of the bottom, so it’s a disadvantaged squat, and thus you’ll need to use a lighter weight than with your regular squat, so it fits the bill for a medium or light squat. However, as with our previously discussed tempo squat and pin squat, remember that “lighter” does not necessarily mean easy.

The box squat, like the tempo squat and pin squat, can also be useful for a number of other reasons - one of which is that it can help a lifter focus on a specific technical issue. For example, if Jim-Bob struggles to reach backward with his hips as he initiates his descent and therefore tends to squat with a rather vertical back angle, a box squat can help with this since it gives a target for his hips. This can help him focus on reaching his hips back for something specific and tangible and thus will help him point his chest at the floor at the same time (because the lifter has to lean over more in order to reach back farther with the hips).

Box squats can also be used to help with achieving depth. Let's suppose that Jim-Bob is just starting off and is not strong enough to get down to depth and successfully squat back up again; in this case, we can set up a box height that is higher than normal (thus creating an above parallel squat). We would choose a height at which he can squat down, touch his butt to the box lightly, and then drive back up again.

On subsequent workouts, we would lower the box slightly each time (roughly an inch) and keep lowering it until Jim-Bob is actually squatting to depth. At this point, we’d remove the box. It’s worth noting that, in this case, we’re just using the box as a marker for depth, so Jim-Bob would lightly touch his butt to the box and immediately drive back up (i.e., don’t pause on the box when using the box for this purpose).

This wraps up our short discussion of the box squat, and 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.)

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?

3 Habits that Instantly Boost Your Deadlift

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers covers 3 habits that will improve your deadlift and add weight to the bar immediately.

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.

Testify Gazette - September 23, 2024

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

THIS WEEK'S SUBMISSION

From our video "What I find horrifying, even more than death..." (click the title to watch):

JBravoRebel
I've shared this very, very important message, via this video, with others. Thank you.

Phil
That’s great to hear, and thank you as well.

TESTIFY ONLINE COACHING

Want to get stronger working remotely with one of our Starting Strength Coaches? Click here to contact us and learn more.

Get Stronger. Live Better. Start today.

ARTICLES & VIDEOS

Shorter Workouts! | More Gains in Less Time
You want to get strong, but you don't have all day to spend in the gym. What do you do? Click here to watch.

 

The ONE Thing Fitness Magazines WON'T Tell You About the Squat
There is ONE thing that fitness magazines and other "experts" will never tell you to do when squatting, and it's the one thing that will make your squat better. Click here to read.

 

Blast from the Past: Starting Strength Squat/Low Bar Squat | Fix Your AWFUL BACK!
Is your awful back wreaking havoc on your squat? In this video - our first in a series of Saturday Shorts on fixing the squat - we quickly discuss and demonstrate how to solve this problem. Click here to watch.

 

Blast from the Past: The Pin Squat: What, How, and Why
What are pin squats, how do you perform them, and why might a lifter do them? Phil explains. 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.

Kickstart Your Strength!

  • Are you interested in getting stronger? Book your "Kickstart Your Strength!" session for Friday, October 4th.

  • Talk with a coach about your fitness goals, see what getting stronger looks like at Testify, and learn to deadlift simply and safely.

  • Click here to register or for more information.

Testify Fall Classic

  • October 26, 2024

  • The annual Testify Fall Classic is back, and we invite you to be a part of it! This is a strengthlifting meet, which means the contested lifts will be the squat, press, and deadlift.

  • Click here to register or for more information.

Barbell Blizzard! A Winter Wonderland of Weights

  • December 14, 2024

  • Barbell Blizzard is a team strength meet wherein the contested lifts will be the squat, press, bench press, and deadlift. Competitors will form teams of 2-4 lifters/team and perform all 4 lifts; each lifter will receive 3 attempts for each lift.

  • 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 2024.07.22.

Option 2
Bike/row:
3 rounds of:
8 x 20 sec on/40 sec off
Rest 3 min between rounds

Score = lowest distance

Compare to 2024.07.01.

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

Compare to 2024.06.03.

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 2024.06.03.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better!