Yellowgiant

To combat DOMS I do 2 days of easy active recovery. That consists of 1 hr road sessions not exceeding 25/kph or 30 mins on the rollers easy spinning. Any time after day 2 and if I still am feeling the tingle, I bring out the foam roller. That usually get me over the hump, I'm feeling close to normal again and able to get back into the gym.

rensho3

+1 to Yellowgiant

Minion1

Back in the gym after a month off and tweaked the program to squat 2x a week and one of those is after cleans, so I'm kinda burned out by then and it's more of an assistance exercise. While I was away from the Gym I also watched a bunch of Chris Duffin's videos, which have been great for resolving some of the little niggling things that were bugging me before.

Banchad

Smashed my all time squats PR going from 102.5kg previous to 110kg for 5 reps. Now going to reward myself by eating everything in the fridge.

VanceMac

That's how it's done. #bulking

Jaytron

Keep forgetting to ride my bike, but my lifts have been going well?

Need to do a 1RM test on squat again, because following a 5/3/1 program has felt a bit too easy based on my old 1RM.

On the "1 week" I was able to do do the AMRAP set (last set) 4 reps. Seems like I need to recalibrate. a

Second cycle of 5/3/1 and I was using 295lbs as a max which meant "working max (90%)" was 275, which meant that the last set of 1 (95% of working max) should have been 255 x1, but try for AMRAP. Lots of math with 5/3/1.... I'd like to hit 2x body weight by the end of the year (stretch goal). Currently at 187lbs

Jaytron

Double post heh.

Olympic lifting may be my new "thing" until I feel a huge urge to get back to track cycling. Clean/Jerk are super fun movements. Form on clean is finally decent enough to add some weight on and I was able to clean 155lbs. Not too bad for a newbie. I was able to get 175 high enough, but I'm not quick enough getting under the bar yet. Wamp wamp.

carleton

I've been curious about Olympic lifting, too. I was gonna try it last winter but I simply couldn't work out the commute to the gym. I would have had to fight some of the worst of Atlanta's traffic during rush hour to get there after work. I just couldn't make it happen.

Jaytron

I'm lucky enough to have a gym right next door to my work. I LOATHE traffic. Also my gf is a certified oly coach, so it's a win/win for me.

It's really fun though. If you are primarily an explosive fast twitch guy (aka sprinter) olympic lifting will come fairly quickly.

Koogar

Hey all - new here. Great to see the track-specific depth.

I'm curious: I haven't seen any talk of single leg squats with dumbbells, no love for them? I use them as a follow up to back squats. I'm not sure that they help me squat heavier, but they do allow me to keep tabs on form and left/right strength balance.

carleton

I've seen high-level programs that have included single-leg squats as a supplemental leg exercise. You are right in that single leg squats help with supplemental muscle training.

There is a school of thought that says that since we pedal one leg at a time we shouldn't forget to train our legs to work independently as well.

Jaytron

I had single leg barbell squats in my program when I was racing. Along with single leg box jumps and other single leg stuff in the gym. The most awkward/challenging were single leg, straight leg, deadlifts (also a mouthful to say).

carleton

Overhead squats were pretty awkward for me. I haven't tried single leg, straight leg deadlifts.

taras0000

What was it about the OHS that was awkward? Is it the shoulder flexibility or the lumbar/thoracic flexibility. There's an easy way to test if it's mobility related or stability related, and both are fixable.

carleton

It could be a flexibility issue or maybe it was just a new motion in general. I guess my supporting/balance muscles had never worked together in that way before. I got comfortable after maybe 2 sessions.

Koogar

The single leg box jumps sound like a great idea - I'll get over my semi-rational fear of blowing one and ending up in a YouTube fail compilation, give them a try. Those deadlifts sound distinctly less fun....

Jaytron

For me, it's my shoulder/back flexibility. With my arms overhead, as soon as I attempt to descend i feel my back tighten up a bunch and pull me forward. :\

They're pretty awesome at targeting your glutes/hams. Also you look weird as hell doing them. Hahaha


They're really fun, I've failed them. I failed them in front of a wall holding dumb bells. So in trying to stabilize myself by putting my arms up, I slammed the weights against the wall (which was of course a hollow wall). Made a big scene. LOL The people around me were all powerlifters (we kinda took over that art of the gym when we were all in) and they just shrugged and said "well, can't make them all." The new gym I go to has the softer boxes instead of metal ones. Failing on these isn't nearly as bad.

taras0000

[QUOTE=Jaytron;17919399]For me, it's my shoulder/back flexibility. With my arms overhead, as soon as I attempt to descend i feel my back tighten up a bunch and pull me forward. :\/QUOTE]

Lie on your back, on the floor, with the bar overhead, as if you're at the top of an OHS (just lying on the floor). Then bring your knees up as if you're descending the squat movement. If you can do it and maintain a neutral spine (perfect squat form), then it's a stability issue. If form breaks before you get to depth, then it's mobility related. It might be stability, even though your shoulders/thoracic spine tighten up.

Once you lost stability, your body starts to shut down mobility to protect itself.

Jaytron

Thanks! I'll test that out.

If it is a mobility issue, rather than stability, what do you suggest to work on it? (I don't have issues with regular front or back squats)

taras0000

It depends on where the spine starts to break form. For me, it's always the "butt-wink" at the bottom because of tight hammies, and this pulls the rest of the posterior chain, therefore throwing off the thoracic spine/shoulder area. Lifting shoes will help with allowing you to keep a more upright torso, making things more stable.

If your spine doesn't break, and you have full depth, and your regular back squat has perfect form, then it might be up in the thoracic spine/shoulder stability. Tight chest muscles will also prevent the shoulders from settling back and down. This causes a "pillar-ing" effect, where your upper back/shoulder muscles are now trying to support a pillar from it's base, leading to instability, leading to the muscle/range of motion shut down that I mentioned before.

alfa111

If you're trying to work on your mobility especailly for lifting, check some of Kelly Starret's youtube videos or read his book Supple Leopard. Good Stuff.

Jaytron

Sounds like it's the pillar'ing problem for me. I have lifting shoes, and my front/back squat have really good form.

I've actually seen that book on my bookshelf (gf is a more experienced lifter than I am) she's mentioned it to me as well. I'll have to check it out. Hard to know where to start and what i need to address.

Jaytron

Anyone have experience getting a pair of lifting shoes re-soled?

The sole on my Adidas Ironworks 2 is getting worn (starting to wear into the wood) and I want to get them fixed. I'd rather not have to buy a new pair of shoes, since the newer shoes don't have a wood sole anymore.

taras0000

Any decent cobbler/shoe repair place an do this. They just peel off the old sole and add some soft crepe rubber soling. Anyone certified by Vibram will definitely be able to do this as Vibram service has to be able to resole any Vibram soled hiking boot (of the resole-able type). A lifting shoe would be fairly straightforward compared to this.

https://www.vibram.info/vibramrepair...o.php?lingua=2

There are a few in the SJ area.

Jaytron

Thanks! I found a local cobbler to take mine to. He said he did the exact same shoes for his neighbor last week.