Strength PR's

My best 1 RM's raw and in PL competition (squat past feractual parallel, paused bench, no-hitch deadlift) were...

Squat - ~342
Bench - ~275
Deadlift - ~452

Bodyweight was like 176 at the time, with that time being almost exactly two years ago.

However, I am probably ~5-10 lbs lighter at the moment, quite a bit leaner in the midsection, and within shooting distance of most of these besides maybe the squat, where I'd A) need my hip flexor gayness to go away and B) get re-used to a wide stance squat with flat shoes.
 
As per my sig and log, I'm up a bit. Bench is now 255, Squat 360. Unfortunately, that still doesn't allow me to overtake anyone... But just wait a couple weeks.
 
Fun thread. Yeah, my numbers are just as Tot'z said. They won't be being tested again for a few months either which is plenty of time for several of you to blast past me.
 
Just out of curiosity, what is the method for measuring the weight and what is the technique used?
The weight is the sum of the plates on both sides of the bar? Do you include the weight of the bar?
For Squat is that ATG or parallel? For bench press is that bar to chest or do you stop when the triceps is parallel to the ground? Do you stop the bench for a second before returning up or is it non-stop?
 
<div>
(electric @ Apr. 14 2008,10:42)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Just out of curiosity, what is the method for measuring the weight and what is the technique used?
The weight is the sum of the plates on both sides of the bar? Do you include the weight of the bar?
For Squat is that ATG or parallel? For bench press is that bar to chest or do you stop when the triceps is parallel to the ground? Do you stop the bench for a second before returning up or is it non-stop?</div>
The weight is the sum of the plates on both sides of the bar? Do you include the weight of the bar?  - yes/yes

For Squat is that ATG or parallel?   - has to be parallel for it to count (though I think ATG should be noted in a person' post, just so everyone knows they are a badass)

For bench press is that bar to chest or do you stop when the triceps is parallel to the ground?  - bar has to touch (note paused for additional badassness)

edit - and take videos so that we can all be properly flamed
 
FF, thanks for the answers. I'll not be posting my PRs at this moment because on Squat I am using a Smith Machine (No power rack nor cage in my gym), I just started the deadlifts two weeks ago, so I am still testing form.
For bench press, I was wondering... The employees at the gym I go to told me to do bench press until my triceps are parallel to the ground. After I read your post I started doing them until they touch the chest, and twice a employee came to &quot;correct my form&quot; to avoid hurting the shoulders. Are they just mad or there are two lines of thought as far as bench press form is concerned?
 
Electric,

These two lines of thought are one in the same. Bring the bar down until it touches your chest. At this point, your triceps should slightly past parallel or parallel to the floor. Your shoulder is a ball and socket joint. There is no need to coddle it and not allow it to be used 100%.

-Colby
 
I don't know that they're mad...everybody has a different idea of what's &quot;right&quot;.

You'll have to figure out what works for you and put in a lot of practice.  Soon, the clowns at the gym will be asking YOU for advice.

Here's a fairly low controversy article that might help you...  http://stronglifts.com/how-to-bench-press-with-proper-technique-avoid-shoulder-injuries/
 
Thanks guys... I was just wondering because in the position where my triceps are parallel to the floor the bar is still a bit distant from my chest. Maybe I am not putting my chest up enough or something. I will analyze my movement to try and understand what's going on.
 
perhaps your grip isnt wide enough.

however just be careful as going too wide can hurt your shoulders
 
FF: I didn't see anything on the difference between BB'er and PL type bench in there, so thot I'd mention it.
BB'er style is often with elbows flared wide, to isolate the pecs more. Tends to create shoulder problems. PL style is about a 45 degree angle from the body for the humerus. Pulling the els in puts more lift on the triceps, and debatably, the lats in the hole. All I know is I can lift more this way, and the shoulders don't bother me as much.
 
Aaron = 1620
Jari = 1260
Quad = 1165
Lol = 1155
Lcars = 1145 (current), 1215 (past)
Tot = 1115
MikeyNov = 1069
FF = 1010
JoeMuscle = 975
Sci = 935
Bax = 920
bobpit = 834
il_dottore = 754
Colby = 690
TR = 680
XFM = 600
 
As of May 23, 08 new 1 rep maxes are:

Deads 430

Squats 310 ATG

Bench 255 Bar touching chest

Bodyweight 174
 
Tonight I hit 270 on the bench press.
cool.gif
Weird part is that I stopped benching a few weeks ago to let my rotators recover and I have been doing an H.I.T. program one warm-up set and one work set to failure and only DB benching, no other bench movement or pec movement. So it seem the long break from barbell benching combined with strengthening my pecs with the dumbells had an overall awesome effect.
My previous PR was 255. H.I.T seems to be useful, I am hitting PRs for reps almost every workout. I am going to stick with it and se if the strength gains keep coming.
 
Also the 270 rep got stuck at mid-point, I almost let it drop on teh safety bars, but decided to keep pushing with all my might. The bar just sort of hung in mid-air for a few seconds and then excruciatingly slowly the bar started to creep upward... easily the slowest rep of my life on bench press.
Afterwards my triceps were swole like never before from the intense lockout.
 
Food for thought: the &quot;tricep parallell&quot; nonsense is just that. It assumes that a. all our chests are the same size and b. all our arms are the same length.
Nobody looks at anything but the bar. And those guys with the barrell chests and wide grip have the short-rep advantage. However, I'm trying to get the back to arch more myself; a slow process.
Faz had posted a great article in my log about keeping the shoulders pinned back and not pulling them up with the bar to isolate the pecs for better growth.
 
<div>
(quadancer @ May 30 2008,8:28)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Food for thought: the &quot;tricep parallell&quot; nonsense is just that. It assumes that a. all our chests are the same size and b. all our arms are the same length.
Nobody looks at anything but the bar. And those guys with the barrell chests and wide grip have the short-rep advantage. However, I'm trying to get the back to arch more myself; a slow process.
Faz had posted a great article in my log about keeping the shoulders pinned back and not pulling them up with the bar to isolate the pecs for better growth.</div>
Just because my OCD is running wild tonight I actually got a tape measure out and measured the distance from the bar to my chest with the tri's parallell. My form is developed from many reads of Starting Strength. Feet planted on floor, glutes clinched tight enough to turn coal into a diamond, back arched, shoulder pinned back, and the bar is still almost 5&quot; from the chest.
In fact I dont remember anything in Starting Strength about the tri's going below parallell. Seems to me the focus was more on the forearm staying vertical from all views.
 
<div>
(scientific muscle @ May 31 2008,1:19)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Tonight I hit 270 on the bench press.
cool.gif
  Weird part is that I stopped benching a few weeks ago to let my rotators recover and I have been doing an H.I.T. program one warm-up set and one work set to failure and only DB benching, no other bench movement or pec movement.  So it seem the long break from barbell benching combined with strengthening my pecs with the dumbells had an overall awesome effect.
My previous PR was 255.  H.I.T seems to be useful, I am hitting PRs for reps almost every workout.  I am going to stick with it and se if the strength gains keep coming.</div>
Hey congrats Sci. 270 is a great improvement so you must be chuffed with that. First one to 300 gets a double helping of ice-cream!

How is your form now? I'm still working on mine every session. So far my right AC joint is behaving itself. For db bench do you use db holders or do you swing them up into place? I'm not sure I could get properly set with dbs unless I used some sort of holder to start from.
 
It's technique, like Oly. I stand them on my knees (using a low bench, 17&quot; or feet on a platform block) and as I rock back I pull a hammer curl while boosting with the legs, especially anything over 100lbs. The trick after that is the stop. You want to park them right in place efficiently so you don't waste any strength - the first rep is hardest, lacking stretch reflex so this is important if you want a good set. Turning them after the stop won't use up any reserves, so you want to stay in the hammer position so you don't turn one into a face ornament.
I highly suggest a warmup for these, because of that first rep. It can fail you on max attempts.
Steve gave me his db hangers and I don't like them either. Personal preference.
 
My form is a raw powerlifters form, wide grip, arched back, arms tucked a bit to get teh front delts and triceps more involved, etc.

I have power-hooks, but I prefer the knee-hop method that quadancer described. I can't do 100s yet, but once I do I'll be using the power-hooks probably out of necessity.
 
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