I generally just used my strong wraps only and I would start about 6 weeks out. But what I did initially and what I did my final training cycle would be to start in the lighter wraps and use those for most of the training or the moderate weight sets and just use the stronger sets as needed initially and for most of the work sets down the stretch for the last 4-6 weeks before the meet but still use the others for the warm up sets
Thanks Dan! What wraps would you recommend for use as lighter wraps?
Hoping you could help me out with this Dan. I use to powerlift all through out high school then quit add havent lifted but on and off for the past 4 years. Been back in the gym now for a few months. The question is do you suggest running more of a bb program to try and build back a base or just run a pl program like i have in the past? Thanks for your time!
Hey, didn't get the answers but maybe you guys can help me with this one. How long should I stick to my accessory exercises? I usually switch the main exercise after 6 weeks. Should I do the same for acc?
Hi, what may be the cause of "good morning" squats ? I try to stay as upright as possible but it seems impossible at heavier loads, does it mean that my quads are weak or some technique errors? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D00Rf61pGFg here is my squat, maybe i need more mobility work in ankle area so i can push knees more??
The first thing that you do when you descend is move your hips back extremely far a la starting strength, but you do this too much. Your knees should bend simultaneously. If the hips move back this far then you overload the back and rely on the back more throughout the whole lift. Squat down and back not just back. Overall the squat doesn't turn into a good morning too badly as your knees stay under you, but you will only use your quads more effectively if you load them up more. A simple way to do this is to simply descend slower and pause at the bottom on some of your warm up reps to practice feeling the quads during the lift.
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
I got a Q: I know most of the time u have someone helping you in the Bench press liftoff, however i want to know if you will be all alone, what difference in your positioning , like: eyes in relation to the bar and other cues.
Thanks!!
If you do it on your own you can either move under the bench slightly more than before, or you can lift your hips off the bench by pressing with the legs while unpacking in order to retain more lat tightness. Once it's out, stay tight and reposition the butt back on the bench
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
Boss, maybe a rookie question...but..stiff leg deads for lower back? Yay or nay?
Yes you should be using these. Romanian deadlifts and traditional SLDLs, from a deficit or from the floor. I talk about them a lot in this thread if you look through, but definitely hammer away at these
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
Perfect! Just the answer I was looking for basic and to the point, thanks!
I feel ya on the GHR. Mine doesn't get much love since I hit Comp Deadlift, Rack Pulls and Belt Squats on Deadlift training days.
I train Reverse Hypers regularly on Squat days, but I could add in some 45 degree hyper work if time permits on certain days.
Just gotta pick a couple and hammer away at them. I'm having the lifters at Boss do both reverse hypers and 45 degree deadlift hypers in the hypertrophy phase we're running right now. As well as RDLs and GMs. A lot of low back assistance between DL day and squat day
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
Hoping you could help me out with this Dan. I use to powerlift all through out high school then quit add havent lifted but on and off for the past 4 years. Been back in the gym now for a few months. The question is do you suggest running more of a bb program to try and build back a base or just run a pl program like i have in the past? Thanks for your time!
The key to getting in shape or to getting mass is volume, so whatever you want to call it, I'd recommend focusing on a few basic barbell lifts and basic accessories and focus on lots of volume. For example:
Bench: 3x10
Incline: 3x10
Decline: 3x10
DB Bench: 2x12
Is that bodybuilding or Powerlifting? who cares, it's a good starting point to gain mass and to transition to heavier PL training. You can do the same for squats and DL
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
Yes you should be using these. Romanian deadlifts and traditional SLDLs, from a deficit or from the floor. I talk about them a lot in this thread if you look through, but definitely hammer away at these
Yeah ive read it before somewhere in this thread, but you being an experienced lifter and all.i just wanted to know if it was something for a rookie like me to incorporate
Thanks for answering !
Hey, didn't get the answers but maybe you guys can help me with this one. How long should I stick to my accessory exercises? I usually switch the main exercise after 6 weeks. Should I do the same for acc?
thx alot ..new here by the way ;)
This just depends. Generally, the more complex/skillful the exercise, the longer it should last. The more isolated/simple an exercise, the more variations you should cycle between. If we're talking tricep accessories, you could cycle between several: v-bar press downs, cable skull crushers, ez bar french press, JM press, DB tricep extensions, etc. For upper back I used to basically cycle each workout between t-bar chest supported rows, DB 1-arm rows, pull-ups of varying grips and weights, and bodyweight rows. Variation is key for the accessory lifts in certain cases. If it's low back, I usually would keep the same lift or two the whole training cycle because the spine is very complex (each adjacent pair of vertebrae is is a separate joint). For Delts, doing all variations of laterals is great--switch between variations every workout if you like
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
Crazy progress on bench !! How did you progress this much suddenly without leg drive, did you change something in your training or is it just because no squat/dl ?
Some see nothing more than life and death. They are dead! For they have no dreams.
BE A FUCKING SAVAGE AND LIVE YOUR LIFE THE WAY YOU WANT TO. PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD AND TRAIN LIKE A MOTHER FUCKER!!!
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Hey Dan, I just joined and am probably doing this wrong. I'm sure somewhere this has probably been discussed but here goes.
I've attended a couple of your seminars recently and took away a lot of great info. I couldn't recall though, are deficits used to strengthen your lock-out or is it for strengthening speed from the floor. Next, are block pulls used for strengthening lock-out or are they for strengthening speed from the floor?
Crazy progress on bench !! How did you progress this much suddenly without leg drive, did you change something in your training or is it just because no squat/dl ?
I had made some good progress benching before i went to Moscow, but still didn't progress enough for that meet. I've been heavily focused on touching the bar to exactly the right spot on my chest every rep and that's been the big key. Before, I was touching the bar too low and overloading the delts, as well as allowing the bar to fall too quickly and rely on leg drive to move the weight. Basically, what once was a great advantage--the leg drive--was something that I was relying on too much. What's important to realize is that while strength off the chest is hugely important, the sticking point in the bench is always a few inches above the chest, so what limits bench output is WHERE over the chest the bar is when it's at the sticking point. If you touch low and press up over the lower chest or sternum, then your delts do too much in the sticking point and the pecs too little. That's very weak. Ideally, You'd touch low on the chest, but press the bar up and slightly back toward the rack, so that in the sticking point the bar is over the mid or upper chest. This, plus flaring of the elbows, allows the chest and front delts to be in the strongest position in the sticking point--so the same muscles can move more weight. All I focused on this time around was simply forcing the bar to touch slightly higher--where it should--and to keep tension throughout every rep (no bouncing). I did a lot of incline benching, where touching high is especially important for loading the pecs and getting maximum carryover to the flat bench. Basically I just stuck to a 2x per week plan and was very strict on the techniques. One day to build the chest, one day for tris and delts.
Anyway, in the end it's a little PR but really finally a good change in my technique that'll help improve much more in the future
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
Hey Dan, I just joined and am probably doing this wrong. I'm sure somewhere this has probably been discussed but here goes.
I've attended a couple of your seminars recently and took away a lot of great info. I couldn't recall though, are deficits used to strengthen your lock-out or is it for strengthening speed from the floor. Next, are block pulls used for strengthening lock-out or are they for strengthening speed from the floor?
Yeah these are definitely important questions. What I generally use them for is deficits to build pulling power or lockout strength as they put you in a slightly rounded position and force you to finish from there. Being able to overcome spinal flexion is key to locking out. Block pulls require more isometric strength in the back in order to take advantage of the higher starting point. They are easier to lockout if you stay tight off the blocks and use the legs. This is especially true for sumo block pulls.
In any individual though you just need to determine where they are weak in the lift, and when they initiate the pull do they tend to be too rigid off the floor or are they too loose.
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
Hey Dan, if you don't mind me asking, what kind of rehab exercises are you being given for your quad tendon rehab? I ask because I suffered a patellar dislocation a while back, and both the patellar and quad tendon have been in rough shape since. I saw an ortho who did x-rays and recommended PT 2x/week for 8 weeks, but my insurance wouldn't cover the rehab sessions so I only got to go one time for an evaluation. I was told that there's no signs of ligament damage, and was told I was good to do basically whatever didn't hurt too much, but its been months since the injury occurred and I'm trying to figure out what I can do to accelerate the process...I've been doing a lot of narrow stance hack squats and walking lunges to build up VMO strength, but they didn't give me much to go on beyond that.
Hey Dan, if you don't mind me asking, what kind of rehab exercises are you being given for your quad tendon rehab? I ask because I suffered a patellar dislocation a while back, and both the patellar and quad tendon have been in rough shape since. I saw an ortho who did x-rays and recommended PT 2x/week for 8 weeks, but my insurance wouldn't cover the rehab sessions so I only got to go one time for an evaluation. I was told that there's no signs of ligament damage, and was told I was good to do basically whatever didn't hurt too much, but its been months since the injury occurred and I'm trying to figure out what I can do to accelerate the process...I've been doing a lot of narrow stance hack squats and walking lunges to build up VMO strength, but they didn't give me much to go on beyond that.
First the focus was just on achieving ROM. This meant massaging, rolling, graston, cupping, ultrasound plus stretching. Pretty straightforward here. There was also a focus on moving the kneecap around manually to try to loosen up the patellar tendon as that was also very tight.
Now for strengthening I use a supine leg press focusing on the eccentric. There are a lot of balancing exercises and focus on my foot strength and hip strength. For the hip basically resisted 4 way motions so adduction/abduction/flexion/extension as well as clam shells for external rotation. First these were done lying down, then standing with a theraband resisting the motions while standing on the other foot. I do this on both legs. For the feet just sort of scrunching up the toes to tighten up my very flat arches. Finally there are eccentric hamstring curls, terminal leg extensions and last but not least one leg squats--standing on a small step and lowering my other foot to touch the floor with the heel.
Basically you're on the right track but need to focus on the range of motion the knee is actually going through. You may be only getting about a 90 degree bend (flexion) in the exercises you mentioned, where the right leg press or setup could get more like a full 130 or more degrees (130 is my good knee's ROM)
For now my ROM is pretty much fully back, but the swelling is still there and that's more limiting than the muscle for now.
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
My adductors have become weak and they're causing inner knee pain during and after Squatting. Was curious if you knew of any exercises besides the adductor machine (I do not have one in The Dungeon) that could truly strengthen them?