Easy Fix for a Slanted Lifting Platform (cheap & fast)

If you’ve got a slightly sloped platform, and if it causes the barbell to roll a bit when setting up for pulls from the floor (e.g., deadlifts, rows, snatches, cleans, etc.), this problem needs to be addressed. There are a few ways to fix the issue, so let’s cover them quickly.

Solution #1: Shim the Platform
If the slope is significant, the best solution is to shim your platform. My wife and I often train in our garage gym, and the garage floor has a pretty decent slope to it (as most garage floors do for drainage reasons). We shimmed our platform when we built it, and as a result, the platform is level and works wonderfully for training.

Although very effective, shimming a platform is a pretty involved project and a topic for another article or video as we’re talking about a relatively small slope today. With this in mind, let’s move on to . . .

figure 1: got a bar that rolls away from you? just stand on the other side of the bar.

Solution #2: Lift From the Other Side of the Barbell
If the barbell wants to roll away from you when you set up to deadlift, simply step over the barbell, turn around, and set up facing the opposite direction (Figure 1). The bar will still want to roll, but now it will roll toward you, and your shins will serve as a good barrier for the bar’s unruly behavior.

The drawback here is small but worth noting - we want to set up with the bar over the middle of the foot, and since the bar will roll toward your shins, you’ll need to actually roll the bar forward just a bit when setting up. In summary, it’s not ideal, but it works. Better yet, go with . . .

Solution #3: Use Your Wrist Wraps
The easiest way to solve the problem is to take your wrist wraps, lay one of them flat on the ground immediately in front of the plate(s) on the right side of the barbell, and lay the other wrap flat on the ground immediately in front of the plate(s) on the left side of the barbell (Figure 2). Of course, you can use socks, sponges, lifting straps, etc. - the key is to use something soft and relatively thin (i.e., just thick enough to keep the bar from rolling)

figure 2: Phil & Loren have put wrist wraps on the ground in front of the plates, and this solution stops the bar from rolling.

This solution will arrest the bar’s roll, so you can set up according to a stationary barbell, which is what you’d have if you were lifting on a level platform.

I do not recommend using a small metal weight plate (e.g., a 2.5 lb plate) for two reasons. The first reason is that if you set the bar down slightly forward of where you picked it up - thus landing on the edge of the plate - the bar may come careening back toward your shins, and shins and rolling barbells do not get along well (hint: the barbell wins every time). The wrist wrap solution is much better in this regard since you can set the bar down directly on the wrist wrap with no adverse effects - it has enough “squish” not to pose a problem.

The second reason to avoid using a small plate is that - again - if you set the bar down slightly forward of its original position, you may chip either the small plate or the larger plates on the barbell. Since you obviously don’t want to damage your equipment, just grab your wrist wraps, and you’ll be good to go.

Finally, if a wrist wrap won’t stop the barbell from rolling, your platform probably has enough of a slope that you need to shim it. More on that another day.

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

-Phil

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FIX Your Bench Press in Under 2 Minutes: Shoulder Position

Are your terrible shoulders ruining your bench press? In this video - our third in a series of Saturday Shorts on fixing the bench - Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers quickly discusses and demonstrates how to correct your shoulder positioning.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 10/08/22)

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Fix Your Press - Part 1: The Awful Timing of Your Hips

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 01/27/23)

Today’s article is the first in a series of articles designed to help you improve various aspects of your press. Today’s topic - the timing of the hips movement.

The problem of incorrectly timing the hips movement shows up quite a bit with lifters as they’re learning the press. You’ve read the book, you’ve watched the videos, you’ve even done a couple of reps pretty decently, and then something suddenly gets off with the timing of your lift. What gives?

When we initiate the press, the hips should go forward first, and then they simply bounce back into place, i.e., we reach forward with our hips and then stand back up again. As we stand back up again (as the hips come back into place), we want to then use that upward momentum to start driving the barbell upward as well.

In other words, the hips should bounce first, and then we press, but the mistake we often see is that of reaching with the hips and trying to press upward at the same time (watch the video above for an example of this as well as how to do it correctly). When this happens, it will usually feel extremely weird, but it can be difficult to figure out what’s actually happened unless you have a coach watching, so this is where recording yourself on video can be a useful approach.

To solve this timing problem, simply cue yourself, “Hips then press,” or if that doesn’t work, you can remind yourself that the bar needs to go down first (not up) as you start the movement. In other words, we want the bar to dip downward a few inches as the hips reach forward, and the mistake you’ve made is that of trying to press it upward as the hips reach forward, so simply cue yourself “The bar goes down first.”

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

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

  • Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

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The FOUR Most Dangerous Deadlift Mistakes Lifters Make

These four errors ruin deadlifts all the time. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers covers each one as well as how to quickly fix it.

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

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The Testify Union - January 27, 2025

THIS WEEK'S SUBMISSION

From our video How NOT to Spot the Bench Press (and how to correctly spot!) (click the title to watch):

T S
Today someone did a bicep curl when I was doing bench press,. Now I can tell everybody I did 75 kg and it felt like 20 kg 😂😂😂 but I won't tell them that someone else was basically lifting the weight😂😂😂

Phil
Ha! Yep, it’s always a bummer when the spotter forgets that lifting is not supposed to be a team sport.


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ARTICLES & VIDEOS

4 Reasons Why Every Senior Should Squat & How to Do It (Plus Bad Squat Advice & Myths to Ignore)
Phil covers 4 reasons older adults should be squatting as well as how to correctly do it. He also addresses 8 pieces of bad squat advice and myths to flat out ignore. Click here to watch.

 

This Mistake Will Ruin All Your Lifts...
“…at a disadvantage by not having one. With this in mind, let’s cover the two forms of this error…” Click here to read.

 

Blast from the Past: Use This Grip for a Bigger Deadlift! (Tension Grip)
What is a tension grip, and why should you use it for pulling movements like the deadlift, row, and clean? Phil explains in the second video in our series on the correct grip for each lift. Click here to watch.

 

Blast from the Past: Improve All of Your Lifts with This Cue?!
We cover how to improve every single one of your lifts with only one cue. Click here to read.


TESTIFY BEANIES ARE AVAILABLE!

Represent your favorite gym - even when it's cold outside!

And, it gets better - you can choose your beanie from EIGHT different colors!

Click here to head to the Testify Store.


WHAT'S COMING UP

Below is one 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 Strengthlifting Challenge

  • April 12, 2025

  • The annual Testify Strengthlifting Challenge 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.


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 2024.11.25.

Option 2
Bike/row:
4 x 3 minutes

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

Compare to 2024.11.04.

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 2024.10.07.

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 2024.10.07.


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

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

  • Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

  • Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

  • Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

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This Mistake Will Ruin All Your Lifts...

The topic of today’s discussion is the mistake of not having a focal point, which can show up in two different ways.

Balance plays a pivotal role in your ability to move a challenging load. If you’ve squatted long enough, you’ve accidentally gotten forward onto the balls of your feet (and you remember how terrible that rep was), if the barbell drifts away from you slightly when deadlifting, it makes for a much harder rep than it should have been, and the press is exceptionally susceptible to bar path and balance issues.

figure 1: the wandering focal point

A focal point helps greatly with balance, so you don’t want to put your balance at a disadvantage by not having one. With this in mind, let’s cover the two forms of this error.

Error #1: The Wandering Focal Point
With this version of not having a focal point (Figure 1), your eyes wander when performing the lift. You might be looking forward at the start of the press, you might look up while pressing upward, and then you might look downward slightly as you lock out the press overhead.

Error #2: Closing Your Eyes
While this error (Figure 2) prevents you from committing error #1, it’s no better as closing your eyes prevents you from focusing your gaze on a single point. Your eyesight contributes mightily to your ability to balance, so you want to keep your eyes open.

figure 2: ladon demonstrates the error of closing the eyes when lifting.

The Solution
As is so often the case, you want to think about what you should do and not dwell on what you shouldn’t do. For example, if you tend to close your eyes when driving a heavy squat up out of the hole, don’t bother telling yourself, “Don’t close my eyes, don’t close my eyes!”

Instead, give yourself something to do. The moment you take your stance, tell yourself, “I’m going to look at this point and keep staring there during every rep and between every rep.” In other words, give you eyes a job to perform.

For the press, tape an X on the wall in front of you at eye-height, for the squat and the deadlift, put something on the floor out in front of you (such as a 2.5 lb plate or your water bottle), and if you’re benching, pick some point on the ceiling to stare at.

Stare at that point and remind yourself that you’re going to keep starting at it until you are completely done with the last rep. Give your eyes a job to do, and commit to it. If you keep doing this, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you can fix this problem.

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

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

  • Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

  • Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

  • Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

  • Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

  • Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

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


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?