Pushin' and Pullin' and Cleanin' and Jerkin'

Why are your rack pulls so much lower than your deads?
 
Ascendant said:
Why are your rack pulls so much lower than your deads?
Click to expand...

That's a good question...

There are two possible answers (or maybe the answer is some combination of the two);

1) It's only my second time doing rack pulls, I'm still getting a feel for it. With the speed these were going up, I could probably do a bit more weight, but I'm not quite comfortable with it yet. In particular, the first rep of every set felt really hard, but subsequent reps were really easy. I get the feeling I'm not setting up correctly for that first rep.

2) I've got the pins set on their lowest setting, which is right about where my sticking point is (I would like to set it a bit below that per your advice, but like I said, lowest setting). I pull real strong off the floor, and if I'm going to fail it's going to be right as the bar breaks the knees. If I can get it past my knees I can usually lock it out, although I can tell that increased lockout strength would still help. Right now I'm strong on deficit deads because of my strength from the floor (last time I did snatch-grip deads off a 3" platform, 315x5 was easy, only limited by grip) but my weakness is from the knees up, which is why the rack pulls aren't as strong as they should/could be.

Secret answer 3) I recently brokered a deal with the devil for improved deadlift strength, but the deal did not include rack pulls or other DL variations. Stupid fine print.

Side question: What grip do you guys like to use for snatch grip deads? Alternate grip feels kinda strange that wide, and my thumbs feel like they're going to fall off if I use hook grip for reps...should I just use straps?
 
How much weight are you using? I can hold on to like 250+ with DOH grip and my grip isn't anything special.
 
ThinkGreen said:
How much weight are you using? I can hold on to like 250+ with DOH grip and my grip isn't anything special.
Click to expand...

I can easily do 315 for 5, snatch grip off a 3" platform. The only limiting factor was, ironically, my grip. I can't seem to get as good of a grip at all on snatch grip stuff as I can conventional. Nothing feels comfortable.
 
Today was shit.

I was planning to sleep in today but I got called in to work so I've been sleep-deprived all day. I should have just crashed and done my workout early tomorrow but, against my better judgement, I decided to tough it out.

Warm up (snatches + overhead squats)

Snatch 115lbs + 6 overhead squats

Snatch 125lbs FAILED

This was the first sign of trouble. I was just going to snatch this to do overhead squats, but I lost it forward on the catch. Ugh. Already today is not looking good.

Switched to snatch grip push press to get the weight overhead

OHS 125lbsx1!

Failed the second rep, lost it forward. Double-yoo tee eff man.

Bench:

140lbs (60%)

8x3

Front Squats:

Worked up to 225lbsx1. I was planning on hitting 235 for a few sets of doubles but it wasn't going to happen tonight. I decided to give my CNS a rest and go down to 135 for a few light sets of higher reps.

Weighted Pistols:

BW + 20lbs DBs each hand 2x7 each leg

Supersetted with calf work

Amazingly, even though everything else today felt weak and slow, the Pistols actually were stronger than the previous time I did them. Hmmm. Maybe it's because I only did a light squat workout beforehand this time...I'll have to see what I can do for pistols if I come at them fresh.

I'm crashing out guys...learn from my mistakes, sleep > working out. If you need to sleep, just do it. Don't be a hero!
 
Today:

Bench:

150lbs (65%) 8x3

Pin Press:

225x4
225x5
225x4
225x4
225x4

Lots of jerks!

Worked up to a few singles of 185lbs...my jerk definitely needs work...I'll have to put in some serious time working with this lift after I'm done with this bench cycle.

DB press:

80lbs 2x7

One-arm standing DB OHP:

60lbs 2x6 each arm
 
Hmmmm...

Good news and bad news...

The good news is, I've been sleeping like 10 hours a night for the last week or so, and today I felt really strong in the gym. Definitely out of the squat funk I was in last time I trained my legs.

The bad news, I seemed to have tweaked my back a bit...ouch! I'm going to lay off any heavy spinal loading for a few weeks and see how it feels, hopefully it's nothing major.

Bench:

160lbs (70%) 8x3

Did some cleans+front squats to warm up my legs while I was waiting for a squat rack to open up (both were taken by people actually doing squats, amazingly).

Box squats:

185x5
225x5
275x3
295x3 (I'm not entirely sure but I think that's a PR for box squats)
295x3

225x9 *****!!#*&$@@#$&^

^^^ that was supposed to be a 20-repper with 225, but at rep 9 I felt a sharp pain in my lower back on the ascent... !@#* I've had a *very* minor, mild lower back pain going on for the last few months, but it wasn't nearly bad enough to set off any warning signs and it didn't bother me when I trained, so I didn't worry about it. Well, today it just made the jump from "minor irritation" to "possible injury". Great.

I tried to do a few other things like box jumps but it was clear that my back would not cooperate. I just ended up doing a few sets of calf raises and going home.

It's too bad, it was a great workout before it got cut short. I'm going to go easy on any spinal loading for a little bit and see how things progress, hopefully it's not serious as it doesn't hurt tooo bad, but I'd rather not take any chances with my back.
 
Ice, ibuprofen, sleep on your back with a pillow/bolster under your knees.
 
Today I was scheduled to do deadlift variations but I didn't want to put any unnecessary strain on my back. It's definitely not hurting as much as it was on thursday but it's still not 100%, by any stretch, and I'd rather not risk injuring it further. Overall, I took it pretty easy today.

Weighted chins:

BW 2x10 (warmup)

BW+70lbs 3x4

Wide-grip pullups:

BW+35lbs 2x5

Cable rows:

Whatever 3x8

straight barbell curlz:

95lbs 3x8

One-armed cable rows

whatever 2x8

+ lots of core work and some nice high box jumps (46-ish inches? something like that, can't bring a tape measure to the gym).

Is this what a bodybuilding routine feels like? Not very satisfying at all...I wanted to be lifting really heavy things off the floor, you just don't get the same rush from doing sets of cable rows as you do from heavy deadlifts. Hopefully my back is feeling better soon and it's nothing serious, and I can get back to the fun lifts.
 
My back is was feeling pretty good today, I think I might be able to squat this week but I don't know if I want to push it...maybe it would be smart just to play it safe and go easy this week.

Today:

Bench:

170lbs 6x3 (75%)

^ I couldn't remember if my program called for 8x3 or 4x3 today, so I split the difference and did 6x3. (it supposed to be 4x3, btw)

Pin Press:

225x5
225x4
225x5
225x5
225x5

Just missed one rep on this, it's coming along.

Rear delt flyes:

40lbs 3x8

Incline DB press:

75lbs 3x8

Skullcrushers

95lbs 3x6

I did a few oly lifts just with the bar just to keep my form sharp and see how my back felt through the motion...overall, I felt pretty good today. I feel like I'm making progress, and my back feels like it should be back to 100% in short order.
 
Tried squatting today, mainly kept it light with front squats and overhead squats so as to keep the spinal loading to a minimum.

Kind of a random workout really, I just listening to my body so as to not strain my back too much. Ended up doing a few sets of snatch + overhead squats, then clean + front squat working up to 185 for 3 reps.

I tried split squats for the first time today...man, they're a killer.

did 70lbs 3x8 each leg.

Also did some calves and hammy curls.

Overall, a pretty light day but I'd rather take it easy for a few weeks and make sure I'm fully recovered than try to go heavy too soon and re-injure myself.

Back is feeling much better, I think next week I'll be back to squatting heavy.
 
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