MAXIMUM STRENGTH by Eric Cressey

Beginning Thoughts:

Last workout of Phase 3. My body is still a bit sore from the last Lower workout. Damn that was hard....

Workout:

Began with Speed Pin Presses. Then did some heavy doubles. I used 155 lbs on the Military Pin Presses and they were hard as hell!

Moved on from there onto Dumbbell Shoulder Presses (standing) with 55's and then some Machine Rows. Finished off with some Straight Arm Pulldowns and Tricep Extensions. I know these weren't supposed to be done today but I did only 2 sets of each. I felt like doing a little more.

Overall Impression:

Phase 4 starts out tomorrow. Btw..this was yesterday's workout. As for diet, I had some Pizza today but this has been the only "cheat" meal of the whole week...Wait: does icecream count? :D

Have a good weekend everyone! :)

Anuj Squats look pretty good mate.

FWIW I think you'd be even stronger with a low bar position, but I dont think your doing anything wrong with high bar! :biglaugh:.High bars are great for strengthening your whole back cos they are waaaay harder.I would say give low bars a shot, I think you might surprise yourself, and see a big PR.

Nice job dude.

*Edit*

Yeah the ice cream counts!!! LOL

You'd see a PR at low bar squats :)

How so ?

They only time I've tried them was when my one time training partner who is 5'7 and I were doing squats and we didn't feel like unloading everytime or moving the pins. I didn't notice anything , but it was ackward to put back.

I don't think we're talking about the same thing. We're talking about squats with the bar low on the back. More like powerlifters do. Do you mean squats with the pins set low?

But really what I meant was you can't fairly try low bar squats and then call that a "squat pr". It would be a low bar squat pr :). You'd have to treat them as separate if you do both. I mean you could but it wouldn't be being honest with yourself. If ALL you ever do is low bar that would be different of course but I'm being captain obvious here.

Not that I can guarantee Anuj would see a bigger number. I was just responding to what hits said, albeit not very clearly.

Oh , haha... I thought you were talking about lowering the pins. Not the bar on the back...:biglaugh: duh!

So , how does it make a difference - bar being high or low ?

Oh it makes a big difference.

But how to answer the question can kinda depend on your school of thought. I.E. if we are going to compare the olympic back squat to the power squat (low bar, wide stance, etc) then you can talk about more in depth differences.

But if you are just going to compare the mechanics of them then the post I made a couple of posts before sums that up. So the low bar position will put more of it on the PC, will not be as deep, etc..

I think people are not starting with the basic fundamentals when they talk about this stuff. So people talk about low bar squats and they say things like "with low bar squats you need to focus on bringing the hips back more or sit back, in other words) whereas with high bar squats you shouldn't do this. But this is really getting ahead of the game.

You take light enough weights, and take basic squat tenants while you learn the movements, the body must put the weight in the proper position, that position changing depending on the person and the bar position, and the stance width. You will be limited by all that or freed by it depending on your circumstances.

Actually, I was just discussing this in a pm. If you do a front plate squat, then a goblet squat, then a front squat, than a high bar "olympic" back squat, then a low bar squat you will see first hand the changes that makes. Including how deep you can go, etc. Keep in mind that a wider stance is usually taken with a lower bar position. Try it with a narrower stance and you'll probably see why. (People also think a wider stance makes for more hamstring contribution but this is kinematic nonnsense, it just recruits the adductors a bit more).

Mike Robertson and Geoff Neuport have a good article comparing olympic squats to power squats..

http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1736931

I'm going to have to play around with these.

MAXIMUM STRENGTH by Eric Cressey

Beginning Thoughts:

I was worried about today's workout...

Workout:

Anderson Squats = 225 lbs x 1 rep x 7 sets
I actually tried to see what my 1RM was and I took 245 lbs but I lost my balance when the bar was rested and I sort of got stuck. So I discounted that and settled at working at 225 lbs. On set 5 I got stuck again and I had to take out the weights and re-do the set. I have vids of this.

Speed Deadlifts @ 60% of my 1RM (365 lbs) = 225 lbs x 1 rep x 8 sets

Barbell Reverse Lunges with Front Squat Grip = 65 lbs x 8 reps x 4 sets

Pallof Press = 27.5 lbs x 8 reps x 3 sets

Videos:

Anderson Front Squat depth check with 135 lbs:
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...heck135lbs.flv

Anderson Front Squats with 225 lbs:
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...nSquat1225.flv
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...nSquat2225.flv
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...nSquat3225.flv
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...nSquat4225.flv
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...nSquat5225.flv

Speed Deadlifts with 225 lbs:
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...t=DEDL1225.flv
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...t=DEDL2225.flv
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...t=DEDL3225.flv

Reverse Lunges:
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...tSquatGrip.flv

Anderson Front Squat with 225 lbs miss:
http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...nSquatmiss.flv

Overall Impression:

This was a very hard workout.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend! :)

Very nice.