Spoto Press and Safety bar squat

[ake]

I am preparing for my first powerlifting meet, I was thinking about up the frequency on certain lifts but also temporarily changing them out so my body could recover faster

For back squats I typically do high bar because of some shoulder issues, I was thinking about doing most of my back squats with a safety squat bar so I could still work on my squat while I work on my shoulder mobility, also I was thinking about doing spoto presses for awhile instead of traditional pause bench because the latter is rougher on my shoulders( I think the bar tends to drift to one side a bit at the bottom of traditional pause bench). After I have done the spoto press I was thinking of doing a bunch of isolation work on shoulders and triceps since my lockout is typically weak.

Obviously not going to do this for all of my training up to the meet, I was thinking about cutting it out and returning to the basics about a month before the meet, just wanted to get somebody's opinion if that makes sense, or should I make adjustments like get back to the basics sooner, or any other advice on this subject?

[Nmowery]

I'm in a pretty similar position as far as poor shoulder mobility, and using a safety bar helps a lot...but it also loads a lot differently than a barbell. What I've been doing is alternating between safety bar and barbell each week, and also squat the day after I bench heavy. That gives my shoulders 6 days to recover from any stress that they endure during squats. My light bench day, a couple days after squats, is rarely affected, even if they're still acting up a bit.

Spoto presses can also definitely help out with the shoulder pain...also close grip, floor press, and board presses can be your friends here. I've also been struggling with lockout lately - I tend to fail about half way up, rather than just off the chest, so those all serve a dual function of working more triceps, while reducing shoulder strain thru restricted ROM.

[Reko]

Do you have access to a "buffalo" bar? That works for me for shoulder issues and I had no issues adjusting back to a straight bar on meet day.

[ake]

Do you have access to a "buffalo" bar? That works for me for shoulder issues and I had no issues adjusting back to a straight bar on meet day.

Yes, there is a couple of them I think I am going to switch that in a couple of weeks

[Reko]

I think they are a little bit tougher to get tight under since the shoudlers don't get pulled back as much compared to a straight bar, so its a little more difficult (for me at least) compared to a regular bar, just keep that in mind when doing them. Maybe you won't have that problem but it translated nicely to lighter feeling weights on the platform.

[Jay Nera]

Does't sound like a bad idea. I do the same thing sometimes. Lately I've been using the cambered bar because it is much easier on the shoulders than a back squat and I'll feet up bench press to not stress my lower back too much. It makes sense to work well within the same movement plane as the competition lift but to vary it a tiny bit to avoid the little irritations andains that come with them.

I just have to add that if the premise is soley that when you have a movement that hurts you, to change the movement slightly so that it does not hurt you is the answer ....it is a very incorrect premise to follow. You need to address what is causing the pain in the competition style lift as well. This will also make you stronger in the long run. And this is a mistake that i made for most of my powerlifting career. Not seeking help on eliminating the causes of the pains.

So please do make sure that not only are you curing the symptoms of the problem by varying the movement, but that you are also attacking the cause of the problem, whether it be something as simple as a knot somewhere that just needs dry needling, or a dysfunction or muscular imabalance that needs a little attention over time to fix.

[ake]

Just competed Saturday, wasn't surprised I didn't do well compared to the other people but its my first meet and I was trying to break past 1000 ibs while going 9 for 9
This was my best squat 374 ibs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jr1UWntYdQ
Best bench 258.5 ibs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU95InFonWA
Best deadlift 495 ibs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1S0oodIDfA
So my total was 1127 was 1127.5,
Went 9 for 9 but need to work on building my quad strength for my squat since it looked like I started to good morning it up, also kinda of annoyed at myself since I have squated more weight with a saftey squat bar, so I guess my real strength in my squat and deadlift is my back.