Strength [+2] - The Bear and Badger

Speedhaak

PB Power Snatch today, 85kg - happy with that.

hylian_elf

Fuuuuuuuuu

And here’s me happy with a 67.5kg (power) clean!

That was last Friday and I still feel smashed. I need a massage.

I hate being in 40s.

Speedhaak

Yeah I dunno where it's coming from these days. Having said that I have gone from 76kg to 82kg so that definitely helps with Oly lifting. Should have recored that lift, it felt very strong. My previous PB on a full Snatch is 86.5kg - maybe it's the old man strength kicking in?

hylian_elf

Nice. I'm hovering around 74kg in weight with a little bit of a gut. It's the longer recovery periods that are getting to me. I just want to get out there and lift, but am way to smashed and sore and fatigued sometimes. Lately not been sleeping well so that has had an effect.

Obvioulsy good technique goes a long way. I'm still trying to drill it in. The reason why my 67.5kg was a power is because I still have trouble getting under the bar quickly! Theoretically should be able to full clean much more than assuming I can get under the bar. So I am told I need to practice panda pulls and hang cleans.

Speedhaak

Aye sleep and energy levels play into it big time. Swings and roundabouts for me, good weeks and bad BAD ones. Don't think anyone who lifts is gonna tell you they're not sore after a good session, only thing I do is make sure I have something striaght after a session to keep my feeling okay; a large protein drink, nuts stuff like that. Also, don't under estimate a good warmdown routine.

Knight

Got an SBD belt. Used it once. It’s already my favourite worldly possession.

hylian_elf

Lol

I caress my weightlifting shoes. I sometimes go to bed with them. They are my bedfellows.

Speedhaak

Knight wrote:

Got an SBD belt. Used it once. It’s already my favourite worldly possession.

A good belt can make a huge difference. I mean, your back is vital. One can do with a sore arm or leg but when you goose your back it's a fucking nightmare.

Speedhaak

Strict Press for strenght today, not sure what the workout will be.

hylian_elf

I'm interested to learn why the SBD one is so much more expensive than say RDX or other brands. I have an RDX and it's rock solid for powerlifting. Still trying to find money and justify getting a velcro one from Eleiko though for thinner and better fit etc.

hylian_elf

Speedhaak wrote:

Strict Press for strenght today, not sure what the workout will be.

I've started learning snatches again. Stopped ages ago cos it was fucking with my injured shoulder but will see how I get along. Need to re-adapt the wrists and shoulders etc.

hylian_elf

Oooooh just seen classic Do-Win lifting shoes... with stacked leather sole! Gotta get a pair! Reckon they'll make a lovely sound on the platform.

Speedhaak

hylian_elf wrote:

Speedhaak wrote:

Strict Press for strenght today, not sure what the workout will be.

I've started learning snatches again. Stopped ages ago cos it was fucking with my injured shoulder but will see how I get along. Need to re-adapt the wrists and shoulders etc.

Good luck, the road is long but we walk it together!

Knight

130 low bar squats for 3x5 done. Think that’s as heavy as I’ve ever squated. Not particularly impressive - I’m very weak! But it’s making 140 look more doable and every time I’ve ever lifted for a consistent period I’ve wanted to get to a 3 plat squat for 3x5.

hylian_elf

You don't consider that impressive?! How much do you weigh?

Speedhaak

Solid numbers to me - much better than mine. 120 is my best BS in a 5x3 set/rep. 110 then for FS.

hylian_elf

110kg for me on LBBS at 3 sets of 5, when I used to do powerlifyting style of lifting years ago. At my weight, that is apparently considered intermediate, so happy with that considering to be advanced I'd probably need to go more regularly and have a proper progression program etc.

MattyJ

Knight wrote:

130 low bar squats for 3x5 done. Think that’s as heavy as I’ve ever squated. Not particularly impressive - I’m very weak! But it’s making 140 look more doable and every time I’ve ever lifted for a consistent period I’ve wanted to get to a 3 plat squat for 3x5.

Your average person wouldn't get near that so don't put yourself down!

Knight

Think I’m around 80-85kg at the moment. My legs are definitely stronger than upper body in relative terms too so I always think of myself as weak cause my press and bench isn’t great. Also I go to a proper bodybuilder, power lifter, strongman meathead gym which means people are throwing crazy weights around. Someone told me 1.5x your body weight for squad is ‘intermediate’ - dunno if that’s right. The thing is, it’s really easy to add weight on squats. Your muscles down there are massive and have loads of room to get stronger. Just squat regularly and keep adding weight to the bar and you can shoot up pretty quickly. Most people like to focus on other things though which feels understandable to me - not much vanity value to squats!

hylian_elf

I love squats and I used to squat every session. 3 days a week of squat, press/push, pull. Loved it.

I don’t think a straight 1.5xBW quite works. Strength change with body weight change is more of an allometric rather than isometric scaling relationship. The smaller/lighter you are, technically the more you can lift as a proportion of your bodyweight.

You can check your level based on data and your weight or age using something like the site below.

https://strengthlevel.com/strength-standards/male/kg

Below article by Greg Nuckols was an interesting read:

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/whos-the-most-impressive-powerlifter/

Knight

Thanks, really interesting stuff.

Knight

Broke 3 plates for a set of 5 squats yesterday. Couldn’t do 3x5. Hopefully that’ll come Monday.

DL needs reworking from ground up, I’ve been having major issues with it but going back to starting strength videos has helped.

Upper body still weak but I’m getting close to 80kg bench for 5.

hylian_elf

Yikes. Good number on squats. Does sound like bench is slightly lagging, but I’m sure it’ll come.

voices

I squat a lot less than I used to because after a while it fucks my lower back. Constantly having a pump, or a knackered back because I was squatting 3 times a week sucked. Yes, you can make massive progress, but be careful of squatting a lot - your lower back can only take so much. I also reckon you don't need to do that much volume for squats to improve.

I've worked back up to a 90kg ohp single, which I was pretty pleased about. I managed a rep record of 80 for 5, which I was even more pleased about, since I've been losing weight since I got 90kg again.

Legit think I can do a BW OHP in the next few months.

hylian_elf

I think squat is pretty much the only exercise where I haven’t hurt myself or had any problems with! Maybe I’m just built for it?

voices

Lucky!

hylian_elf

Yeah. Unfortunately I seem to injure myself easily on bench. So I don’t bench anymore. Also because it has no carry over to Oly lifts.

hylian_elf

Also BW (strict?) press is/would be mighty impressive.

voices

Yeah - strict. I'm pretty shit at push press, so I reckon I would max out a hair over 100kg, if anything.

Knight

I’m relaxed about volume on squats because of the starting strength gyms and training method and I trust them. That said, I only have a limited amount of time in the gym and I want to work on upper body a bit more which might require more focus on auxiliary work to help my bench and press out.

Oh and mighty impressive pressing! I’m now up to 54kg for 3x5 and am thinking one plate will be a huge achievement!

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