Those have to be my favorite assistance lift for the back... I've been doing them for about 7-8 years and before that Romanian Deadlifts (same ROM) for 10 years before that as the best hamstring building lift there is
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
I actually have this same problem. I get it after squatting and I can't do anything for nearly a week, and even getting out of bed can cause a strain. I don't get this problem pulling sumo with a wide stance.
My guess would be that the eccentric loading in a squat is simply stretching those muscles further than they are capable of stretching without a load on your back. This is definitely a recipe for some good DOMS, but seeing the lift would also be more telling. I say this because when I started doing RDLs, I kept my knees locked and could only lower the bar past my knees with an extended spine as that was the limitation of my hamstring flexibility then. But over the course of the first 3-4 workouts, I was able to increase that to full ROM--touching the tops of my feet. The DOMS I got that first month from this hamstring stretch was as you described: where I was sore for nearly a week and in tremendous discomfort. Similarly the calves if I hammered them once in a while with a long layoff... Heavy eccentric loading through a "foreign" ROM is my first guess without video to look at. Trying to more frequently achieve this ROM would be key via both more frequent squatting--while still sore--and stretching.
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
Hi, couple of questions, not sure if asked before. Sorry if double.
Are you going to visit germany (or europe) one day (seminar, workshop)?
How does your warm-up looks like? Just warm-up sets or some specific stretching/mobility?
Do you even do any kind of stretches/mobility work? (mirin your hip movement, lol)
Greets from germany
Hi,
I've made two trips to Europe for seminars in England and Northern Ireland, but I don't have anymore planned for Europe... maybe next year
As for warmups, when I squat and deadlift I do a bit of stretching for the groin, hips and ankles and that seems to help quite a bit. I don't stretch before benching but if I did it would just be to stretch the upper spine where the arch is, but I don't need much here.
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
How do you recommend training in knee wraps to someone who is new to them, and how do you go about using them through a training cycle? I have the Titan Max RPMs as well as the (much) stiffer THPs. Should I start with the RPMs early on in the cycle, and then transition to the tougher wraps, or get even softer wraps to start with, saving the RPMs for later?
Not everyone has necessarily seen my bio, but I am a powerlifter. At a bodyweight of 220 and have squatted 760, benched 485 and deadlifted 821 in competition with a best total of 2030 without squatting in knee wraps. Despite these achievements, I am possibly most proud of the fact that I've been accused of looking like "the guy in The Program." Yes, that was an exciting compliment.
Aside from lifting for strength, I also am firmly opposed to skinniness and ILS.
Ask me anything--powerlifting technique, olympic lifting, eating, hair-growing or whatever.
I haven't used this forum in almost ten years, and I'm pretty sure it was under a different name then too. I'm not even sure if this is the correct protocol so apologies in advance.
Here's my situation - I'm 305lbs, 30 years old, about a 53" waist, and I haven't consistently exercised in almost a decade. I've had carpal tunnel surgery, been driving a desk for 3 years and gained 80lbs over a year period. I'm so out of shape now I honestly don't even know where to start. I've had a full workup, no diabetes or heart issues, but I did pull an over nighter in the hospital for heart attack symptoms, which I'm pretty sure was stress related from working as an escalated tech support agent, i.e, sorry you were just transferred 6 times, but we won't fix your wifi. Have a nice day! -_- On top of that, I have four small children under 7 up at 7am daily without fail, and I don't get to crash until 2am on a good day.
Oh and sleep apnea. Good 'ol sleep apnea and my nightly battle with teh CPAP machine.
Point is, I AM making changes, in terms of eating clean again and working out, but the fatigue is killing me, and I'm afraid that may be literal between the sleep deprivation and stress with 8 hours of inactivity (unfortunately, the way my desks are built, standing is not an option). Should I even bother lifting? Do I need to do cardio only? Boss man, what's a good starting point for me here and how do I find the energy to keep going? God bless.
I haven't used this forum in almost ten years, and I'm pretty sure it was under a different name then too. I'm not even sure if this is the correct protocol so apologies in advance.
Here's my situation - I'm 305lbs, 30 years old, about a 53" waist, and I haven't consistently exercised in almost a decade. I've had carpal tunnel surgery, been driving a desk for 3 years and gained 80lbs over a year period. I'm so out of shape now I honestly don't even know where to start. I've had a full workup, no diabetes or heart issues, but I did pull an over nighter in the hospital for heart attack symptoms, which I'm pretty sure was stress related from working as an escalated tech support agent, i.e, sorry you were just transferred 6 times, but we won't fix your wifi. Have a nice day! -_- On top of that, I have four small children under 7 up at 7am daily without fail, and I don't get to crash until 2am on a good day.
Oh and sleep apnea. Good 'ol sleep apnea and my nightly battle with teh CPAP machine.
Point is, I AM making changes, in terms of eating clean again and working out, but the fatigue is killing me, and I'm afraid that may be literal between the sleep deprivation and stress with 8 hours of inactivity (unfortunately, the way my desks are built, standing is not an option). Should I even bother lifting? Do I need to do cardio only? Boss man, what's a good starting point for me here and how do I find the energy to keep going? God bless.
It will forever change your life in the greatest of ways. I too have apnea but use a medical mouthpiece which works great; therefore, do not require a CPAP. The pillow will keep your head up and supported so your airways stay 100% open while you sleep. It can also help alleviate neck pain and other position issues most have with regular feather pillows.
You're very welcome =)
*Not meaning to hijack Dan's thread. Just wanting to help.
How do you recommend training in knee wraps to someone who is new to them, and how do you go about using them through a training cycle? I have the Titan Max RPMs as well as the (much) stiffer THPs. Should I start with the RPMs early on in the cycle, and then transition to the tougher wraps, or get even softer wraps to start with, saving the RPMs for later?
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
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
I haven't used this forum in almost ten years, and I'm pretty sure it was under a different name then too. I'm not even sure if this is the correct protocol so apologies in advance.
Here's my situation - I'm 305lbs, 30 years old, about a 53" waist, and I haven't consistently exercised in almost a decade. I've had carpal tunnel surgery, been driving a desk for 3 years and gained 80lbs over a year period. I'm so out of shape now I honestly don't even know where to start. I've had a full workup, no diabetes or heart issues, but I did pull an over nighter in the hospital for heart attack symptoms, which I'm pretty sure was stress related from working as an escalated tech support agent, i.e, sorry you were just transferred 6 times, but we won't fix your wifi. Have a nice day! -_- On top of that, I have four small children under 7 up at 7am daily without fail, and I don't get to crash until 2am on a good day.
Oh and sleep apnea. Good 'ol sleep apnea and my nightly battle with teh CPAP machine.
Point is, I AM making changes, in terms of eating clean again and working out, but the fatigue is killing me, and I'm afraid that may be literal between the sleep deprivation and stress with 8 hours of inactivity (unfortunately, the way my desks are built, standing is not an option). Should I even bother lifting? Do I need to do cardio only? Boss man, what's a good starting point for me here and how do I find the energy to keep going? God bless.
First I would see if getting extra sleep by having your wife keep the kids out of your room and you sleeping with earplugs/eyes covered is possible to grab any extra sleep--I assume she'd be the first sympathetic person if you're (literally) out killing yourself to make ends meet. If that's not why your doing this then it might not be worth it to kill yourself over this job and get a different job.
As for stress at work, what's the stress from? Somebody yelling at you? If you get paid to fix situations that you are not the cause of, just do what you are paid to do. Stress comes from expectations that are out of line with reality--two mutually exclusive results at the same time essentially. You don't get paid to make miracles, just to work on problems. Work at your speed and remember: do what you can and do not stress out of that which is out of your control--it doesn't help anything anyway. You can't work faster than the fastest speed you can work at just because someone else is having an emergency, nor is it your fault.
As for exercise, you just need to do something. The weight gain is coming from your diet--there are lots of skinny people who don't exercise at all. Fix your diet first. Lower your calories by lowering your portions and eating a balanced diet. Eat non-processed foods including a lot of vegetables as these will maximize your uptake of nutrients and allow you to feel satiated with less calories.
It sounds like the only free time you even have is first thing in the morning?? Are you working two jobs? when would you exercise anyway? Something as simple as a walk is fine--calisthenics work great for weight loss because when you are overweight then bodyweight exercise is effectively weight lifting. Again, anything will help with your heart and lungs, but first fix your diet to lose weight.
Maybe with more details I can help more. Hope this helps
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
Most of my life I've done high reps on pull-ups. But I've done them in 5x5 fashion which I like where 5 was not max reps and that was good. I've also done weighted with over 100lbs for 3-4 sets of 3-4. I don't know that those were terribly productive, but I only did them as part of a progression during a time when I had been really hammering all upper back training. So I'm not sure they made me stronger or I just did them because my back was stronger at the time from other stuff!
I still think that heavy 1 arm DB rows are the best lat exercise for strength and mass but there are a million different technique variations so you just need to do them in a good form and consistently. Not so strict that you can't move any weight, but not so heavy that you can't get a good feel for the lats and traps either. I usually start strict and finish with a little momentum... the best of both worlds
Fwiw, I was just gonna follow this up by saying that I've been doing a lot of drop sets lately for pull-ups, and its been really helpful. I couldn't deadlift for a while due to injury and was losing a lot of strength in my lats. Lately I'll start with 50 lbs added, then drop it to 25...sometimes I'll drop the 25 also and finish off with body weight reps. Feels like the best of both worlds getting the strength stimulus along with a massive pump!
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
Fwiw, I was just gonna follow this up by saying that I've been doing a lot of drop sets lately for pull-ups, and its been really helpful. I couldn't deadlift for a while due to injury and was losing a lot of strength in my lats. Lately I'll start with 50 lbs added, then drop it to 25...sometimes I'll drop the 25 also and finish off with body weight reps. Feels like the best of both worlds getting the strength stimulus along with a massive pump!
Yeah this is actually a pretty good method too
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
What are your favorite exercises for building the erectors besides movements such as Deadlift variations or Good Mornings.
You always say how important the erectors are, just curious what you personally do to strengthen them and maintain them.
I don't do anything besides deads/squats/GMs. I guess you could count rows kinda, but really that's it. The russians love hyperextensions and Pete loves the deadlift hyperextensions on the 45 degree, but I haven't even touched my GHR in like 5 years.
Stiff Leg Deads are my favorite for the low back, Deficits Conv for the low and mid back erectors
Im just basic
Dan "Boss" Green
WR 2099 raw total @220
WR 2083 raw total @242
WR 2210 raw w/wraps total @242
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??
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.
I don't do anything besides deads/squats/GMs. I guess you could count rows kinda, but really that's it. The russians love hyperextensions and Pete loves the deadlift hyperextensions on the 45 degree, but I haven't even touched my GHR in like 5 years.
Stiff Leg Deads are my favorite for the low back, Deficits Conv for the low and mid back erectors
Im just basic
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.