The Testify Ledger - December 9, 2024
/THIS WEEK'S SUBMISSION
From our video DIY Strongman Deadlift Tires! (click the title to watch):
Andrew Hoover
Would a 5 lb plate be too fragile?
Phil
That's a good question, and I don't know. We had more extra tens than fives, and to your point, it's entirely possible that a five could be questionable in terms of durability.
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ARTICLES & VIDEOS
The #1 Rule for Strength Training
What's the most important thing in strength training? It might not be what you think it is. Click here to watch.
The Pause Squat: What, How, and Why
What are pause squats, how do you perform them, and why might a lifter do them? We cover it all in this short article. Click here to read.
Blast from the Past: Gym Equipment: How to EASILY Move Stall Mats!
The classic rubber horse stall mat is extremely useful. It's also a pain to move . . . or is it? Phil shows how to easily move a stall mat with just one person and without any special tools. Click here to watch.
Blast from the Past: Stop Using Your Hands to Catch Your Cleans!
If your wrists and elbows despise you when you clean, you need to stop using your hands to rack your cleans. We cover why and how the shoulders catch the clean - not the hands. Click here to read.
TESTIFY BALL CAPS ARE AVAILABLE!
Represent your favorite gym and keep the sun out of your eyes in style with this cap.
Click here to head to the Testify Store.
WHAT'S COMING UP
Reminder: Testify members! Don't forget - the annual Testify Christmas Party is on Saturday, December 14, and it will begin immediately following the end of the Barbell Blizzard. We'll be running this year's party in an appetizer/potluck fashion, so bring an appetizer to pass around and something to drink, wear something outlandishly Christmasy, and let the festivities begin!
We're guessing a start time of around 5:00 p.m., but if you're not participating in the Barbell Blizzard, your best bet is probably to show up earlier than that, cheer on your fellow lifters at the Barbell Blizzard, and then we'll segue right into the party (tableware provided by Testify).
Below is the information for the upcoming Barbell Blizzard, and you can always find out what else is on the calendar by heading to our events page at www.testifysc.com/events.
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 2024.10.07.
Option 2
Bike/row:
12 min TT
Score = distance
Compare to 2024.09.16.
Option 3
5-10 rounds of:
30 sec ME tire flips
30 sec rest
Compare to 2024.08.19.
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 2024.08.19.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better!
The Pause Squat: What, How, and Why
/In several of our previous articles, we’ve covered the pin squat, box squat, and tempo squat. Today, let’s briefly discuss the pause squat.
What is a pause squat?
A pause squat is a squat wherein you descend, pause for a moment at the bottom of the movement, and then squat the weight back up again.
How do you perform a pause 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.
At the bottom of the squat, you’re simply going to pause in this position. A two-second pause at the bottom is very common, and make sure you’re not cheating the pause. If you’ve got a training partner to count aloud “one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two,” that’s ideal. If you don’t, be sure to remind yourself to count slowly in your head, or as some lifters do, you can simply count to three or four instead since most people count fast under a challenging load.
After the pause, drive the hips up out of the hole as you would in a normal squat and continue your ascent.
Why might you do pause squats or where might you see them in your programming?
Let’s say your coach has programmed you within a Heavy-Light-Medium structure or something similar - in this case, you might see a pause squat show up as a medium day squat or 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 at the bottom, the pause squat - like the pin squat and box squat - eliminates the stretch reflex (the “bounce”) 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 the pin squat and box squat, remember that “lighter” does not necessarily mean easy.
The pause 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 aspect of his technique. For example, if Billy is working on hitting the correct position at the bottom of the squat, this forces him to spend some quality time in that position and allows him to focus on being leaned over, having the hips back, keeping the knees out, etc.
If Billy has the highly specific medical condition known as grumpy knees, the pause squat can provide a valuable way to squat as it eliminates the stretch reflex out of the bottom. Make no mistake - the “bounce” that you normally use in the squat is very productive and makes for a more effective and efficient muscular contraction, but if you’ve got knees that are giving you some problems, you might find that the pause squat works quite well for you.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?
Gym Equipment: How to EASILY Move Stall Mats!
/The classic rubber horse stall mat is extremely useful. It's also a pain to move . . . or is it? Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers shows how to easily move a stall mat with just one person and without any special tools.
(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 09/10/22)
At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?
Stop Using Your Hands to Catch Your Cleans!
/(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 01/22/21)
The clean is racked (i.e., caught or received) on the shoulders. Not in the hands.
Figure 1: This is the correct way to rack a clean.
When you rack a clean, you do so by rapidly punching your elbows forward and up so that the barbell can sit on the shelf provided by your delts (Figure 1). This shelf is extremely strong, stable, and it can support a lot of weight - more than you can clean, in fact.
On the other hand - or rather, hands - if you receive your cleans by supporting the bar in your hands (Figure 2), your poor, tiny, bent wrists will hate you for it, and it’s possible that your collarbones will too.
Figure 2: Don’t rack your cleans like this. Your wrists will despise you.
To rack the bar properly, jam the elbows forward and up and receive the bar with a loose grip - be sure to let the thumb slip out of the hook grip as you punch the elbows forward.
Figure 3: Elbows forward and up and a loose grip on the bar
It’s possible that your pinky finger (maybe even your ring finger) will slip off the bar during the catch, and while this is not ideal (especially if you need to jerk the barbell overhead yet), it’s not the end of the world. Do whatever you need to do with your grip to permit the receiving of the bar on your shoulders.
Your wrists will not be straight when you catch a clean, and that’s perfectly fine. Whether a lifter receives the bar correctly on the shoulders or not, the wrists will be bent backwards in extension, but a bar caught on the shoulders (with elbows forward and up) is supported by the shoulders, so the wrists - although bent - do not take any of the load. A bar caught with low elbows, however, cannot be successfully supported by the shoulders and is instead supported on bent - and usually painful - wrists.
Tommy doesn’t even need hands to rack his cleans. (We do NOT recommend trying this at home, folks)
Be kind to your wrists and commit to catching your cleans on your shoulders. You’ll enjoy the lift far more when your wrists aren’t screaming at you.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
-Phil
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