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Strength Coach, former Little League MVP. Link below for more thoughful, longer form articles on Substack
Joined September 2017
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Achieving The Standards 1.0 - 135 press, 225 bench, 315 squat, 405 deadlift - is more important and useful than getting down to 10% bodyfat and it's not even close.
All of the comments along this line are missing something, which is clarified more in the second comment of the thread. We don’t teach a specific back angle for the deadlift or any lift, as this will vary with anthropometry. What will not vary with anthropometry is any sufficiently heavy deadlift coming off the floor only when it is roughly over the middle of the foot with the lats at approximately a 90° angle as shown here.
The guy with long arms, short femurs, and a long torso will have a more upright back angle IN THIS POSITION compared to the guy with short arms, long femurs, and a short torso - but the mid foot position and lat angle will still be the same.
The physics and mechanics are universal, the resultant diagnostic angles vary by anthropometry.
Not a very big deal but after about 7 months of solid zone 2 consistency (3 days most weeks), I’ve gone from 2.7/7.0 for 20-25 mins of a broader hour walk, to 3.0/9.5 for 30-35 mins of the same hour. Today I spent 5 mins at 3.0/10.0 which is kind of like the equivalent of The Standards 1.0 of Zone 2.
Progress comes from the same conceptual application of the Stress -> Recovery -> Adaptation cycle as we use for lifting, applied to cardio.
Generally I first increased time spent in zone 2, then either the smallest increment of speed or incline (usually 2 increments of incline -0.5%- before adding 1 increment of speed - 0.1mph) for that time.
When I could no longer do that every workout, I would increase in the same manner for five minutes at a time.
When I could no longer do that every workout, I split the three weekly sessions up into one each of an easier (60-63% HR), medium (63-66% HR), and harder (66-69% HR) session and would increase only the harder session first in the above manner and let the medium and easier drag up as the harder went up.
While it’s true that with sufficient advancement in both lifting and cardio, you reach a certain point where you can’t perfectly predict and always push a new adaptation every workout*, spur a new instance of objectively measured progressive overload, a big problem with the messaging is that you have to make things complicated and slower progressing much earlier than you actually do. This is why very few people in either domain ever get to wear some type of a simple, plan objective progress is no longer viable.
TLDR – push yourself
Upon observing that someone's hips shoot up before their chest/torso in the deadlift, it's amazing how many complicated cues supposedly good coaches will come up with, instead of just teaching and enforcing the correct starting position to begin with (left instead of middle)
We build the deadlift setup with the understanding that heavy weights are moved most efficiently in a straight, vertical line over the mid-foot balance point. People may present with slightly different back angles because of anthropometry while still conforming to the principle, but it doesn’t refute the physics. The popular lower hips position, with the shoulders back over (or even behind) the bar, puts the bar forward of the mid-foot balance point, and on a circa max pull, the lifter will eventually look like the left figure (regardless of where he tries to pull from) as the bar comes off the ground, the bar comes back to the mid-foot axis, and the system finds equilibrium. One explanation is the lats and their job during the deadlift.
From SSBBT, 3rd ed:
“This lat tension is responsible for the non-vertical angle of the arms as they hang from the shoulders under a loaded spine, as well as the position of the hips. “Shoulder extension” is the motion produced by the lats as they pull the humerus back. This force must equal the tendency of the weight to rotate the arms forward to a vertical position and the hip position facilitates the best force production length of the lat muscle belly. If the arms rotate forward, this will place the bar forward of the mid-foot and thus off-balance, unable to be pulled if it is heavy enough. When the shoulder is in front of the bar and the back angle is stable in a pull, the angle of attachment between the lat and the humerus is about 90 degrees, since this is the angle at which the least muscular force is required to produce a shoulder extension force that is equal and opposite to the weight.
Stated more succinctly, the arms are not plumb in a deadlift because the lats do not attach to the arms at 90 degrees when the arms are plumb. The arms must slant back to achieve a position of stability as they hang from the shoulders. So the body must assume a position that allows the arms to be at 90 degrees to the lats and for the bar to be pulled in a straight vertical line off the floor. If the hips are too low, the lat attachment angle will be less than 90 degrees, and the hips will rise as the back angle adjusts to the stable position.”
Absolute vindication for being against the dumb new trend of wiping equipment down after every use. It has always been a massive sweat courtesy thing, not a bacteria/safety thing.
The average gym dumbbell carries 362 times more bacteria than a toilet seat. And the wipe-down ritual everyone does after their set kills almost none of it.
Lab swabs of gym equipment found over a million colony-forming units per square inch on free weights, with 70% of the bacteria potentially harmful. Staph and MRSA both show up in studies of shared equipment. That part is gross but well known.
The part most people miss is printed on the wipe bottle itself.
Every EPA-registered disinfectant has a dwell time, the number of minutes a surface must stay visibly wet before the chemistry actually kills anything. Clorox wipes require four minutes. Plenty of commercial gym disinfectants require ten. Nobody at a gym stands there keeping a dumbbell wet for four minutes. Someone grabs it while it's still damp, and below the dwell time you're mostly redistributing sweat and skin oil with a moist towelette.
Steam skips the chemistry entirely. Heat past 212 degrees denatures the proteins bacteria are made of, so the kill happens on contact rather than over minutes. It also blasts into the knurling, all those diamond-cut grooves that give you grip and give bacteria thousands of tiny sheltered canyons a flat wipe glides right over.
The label wants four minutes of wet contact. The average gym wipe gets five seconds.
Mandatory is the right word.
This is a great post, not only for the local information and explanation of training splits, but in a broader sense, because it is the rare post in this algorithm that shows an understanding of how someone’s level of training advancement plays a role in what works best for him
Bro split vs Regular split vs Full body
Missed this discourse a few days ago -- here is my take (this is how I structure programs for clients).
First, they all work.
Any properly designed training program that utilizes repeated workouts and progressive overload will "work".
But which should YOU do?
If I have a rank beginner, I'm going with a 3 day per week full body workout.
Chest every day.
Back every day.
Shoulders every day.
Legs every day.
Arms every day.
But every body part is "touched" 3 times per week. You do not need much training stimulus to grow if you're a beginner.
And you will grow faster hitting body parts 3 times per week and spreading 10-12 sets per body part out among those 3 workouts.
Plus, you are a beginner; you will not be lifting super heavy, you will not accumulate enough CNS fatigue to warrant an upper/lower or a 4 day split, let alone a typical 5 day bro split.
If I have someone who is an intermediate - they've been lifting awhile and have a decent base and an established gym routine - I go with a 4 day split.
Sometimes upper lower, but I personally like mixing it up a bit. Chest/shoulders/tris twice per week. Legs/back/bis twice per week.
These workouts work REALLY well for people who have been doing full body, 3 day per week splits or bro-splits before they're ready for them.
They seem to hit hard, and since you're spreading your 10-12 sets per body part out over 2 workouts per week, you have ample time to recover as the CNS is being fatigued more intensely.
Now... IF you are a highly seasoned gym rat - meaning you've been religiously training 3-4 times per week for at least 4-5 years... AND you request to train 5 days per week...
Then you're getting a proper bro split or a 5 Day PPL split, most likely.
The 5 Day PPL is Push-Pull-Legs-Push-Pull. Or Pull-Legs-Push-Pull-Legs. Something like that.
The Bro Split is the typical Back/Chest/Shoulders/Hamstring Dominant/Quad Dominant type split.
But those splits - the Bro Split - are unnecessary until you're at the point where you can't recover from a full body workout AND you need a lot of recovery (over 72 hours between body parts).
So yes, there's a place for Bro Splits. And PPL Splits. And U/L Splits. And Full Body Splits.
But imo, you want to do:
Full Body Split (beginner)
4 Day UL OR 4 Day Muscle Group (next)
5-6 Day PPL or Bro Split (advanced)
... to get the best results.
And don't try to move too quickly between those options above. Milk the stage you are at thoroughly before moving to the next stage.
When a lift gets stuck, the answer is examining then fixing the fundamentals much more often than a 'hack.'
Example: your bench stalls out and hasn't budged in a while. Common hacks: this exercise for triceps, that exercise for power off the chest, this exercise for back because "big back big bench," this video about 'bending the bar' by guy who benches 600, etc...
99% of the time, these are taking the person in the wrong direction. Not because they are inherently bad or wrong, but because they don't address the problem of the person who is stuck.
They confuse the needs of advanced lifters who a) already have their basic ducks in a row, and b) are already very strong, with the needs of the 99%, who are novices and early intermediates and don't even know what the ducks are, much less have them in a row.
1. Basic programming: Is your programming suitable for your level of training advancement - does it have a reasonable combination of sets, reps, and weight/intensity and a plan for regular progress/PRs based on whether you're a novice, early intermediate, intermediate, late intermediate, or advanced lifter?
2.Basic technique - shockingly often, people don't have the basics of technique down. Triceps exercise X and power off the chest exercise Y and special bend the bar technique Z aren't needed for people who lack basic strength and technique. Just learn how to do the basic movement correctly first, then get stronger at it.
3. Little things - rest between sets, weight jumps, recovery. Heavy sets often require much more rest than people take. Not every workout for your whole life will require this, but many will. Ah but you don't have that kind of time. Fair enough, some don't. But if you're taking 3 minutes maximum between your heaviest sets on big structural lifts, you’re going to leave a lot of strength on the table.
Weight jumps - 5 lb increases on a 115 press or 185 bench are actually a pretty significant percentage increase. 1-2.5 lb jumps are often more appropriate. Microplates are now widely available. Get some and use them.
Recovery - mainly nutrition, are you eating a) enough, b) enough protein, and c) in close enough proximity to your workout? But also things like sleep and external stressors play a role.
All of these things should be evaluated and corrected before you worry about any hacks.
Almost every time I see someone post about getting stuck, the replies are full of hacks instead of evaluating and fixing the basics. Let's change that.
Saw a bumper sticker yesterday that said, "This vehicle makes frequent stops at your mom's house."
We're so back
This is a great description of close grip bench
Regular bench will be about a hand width wider and less elbow tuck (but still about 20-30 degrees of tuck from a straight flare)
Those are the approximate positions you want for generally adaptive training purposes. Hyper specialists might use a narrower close grip bench for triceps, or a wider regular bench for powerlifting, but 99% of people will do best with the generally adaptive version.
And if you wonder why some powerlifters bench so much with DYEL upper bodies, it’s usually a combo of the wide grip + big arch.
Still Fat, still pink, but getting a little less weak again. Currently doing DB incline bench third in the workout after bench press and lat pulldowns, so pretty happy with this 120x10 top set with gas in the tank.
I have coached thousands of people across probably over a million deadlift reps, almost all of whom use a mixed grip when it gets too heavy for double overhand, and not a single one has torn a bicep due to a mixed grip. Outside of truly outlandishly bad form (bent elbows), most people don't lift heavy enough for this to be a concern.
The main issue is lifting with bent elbows and having the weight forcibly straighten them out at some point in the movement when the biceps is no longer strong enough to hold the bend with that much weight. This is exacerbated by lifting with a 'grip it and rip it' style that jerks the weight off the floor.
Could this issue theoretically happen to someone who doesn't do either of these things, who uses good form? At a sufficiently heavy weight (probably 600+ but at least 500) - yes, but it's an astronomically low chance. At weights most people use, you're about as likely to win the lottery.
That said, if you as a normal person still want to use straps instead of a mixed grip, it's not the end of the world.
Just don't die on the hill of "I'll only lift what I can hold with a double overhand grip," because that will severely limit your gains. A hook grip solves the problem but isn't suitable for everyone. A mixed grip solves the problem and if you care enough to learn and use good form, will 99.999% not be a problem. If you're still worried about that 0.001%, use straps.
But let's not pretend this is a bigger issue than it is, just because social media makes us think rare events with known avoidable causes are happening left and right.
The argument I see sometimes is that all lifting is contrived in that we couldn’t do it in nature without this modern, manufactured equipment, so as long as everything is contrived anyway, no lift has a better claim on being more useful than another for general training purposes. So you should just do either what you enjoy or what’s best for your goals, and not think of any individual lift as inherently indispensable. There’s some truth to this for those who are already reasonably developed but it misses an important part of the picture that Sara articulates here.
Basic barbell lifts - squat, deadlift, press, bench press - are not just some contrived lift like any other. They are how we figured out to ergonomically load the most basic, fundamental human movement patterns that are stable enough to be heavily loadable so as to produce a high or maximal force production event, but still working within the context of the normal gravity based environment that we operate within in real life.
They have unique characteristics that do actually make them more important and useful than other lifts within a certain context. This doesn’t mean you need to become a powerlifter or that you need to work on increasing your 1 RM on these lifts forever without branching out into any other things, but it does mean that they have uniquely efficient properties that are especially good for building your base, or for being the core of a program for people who aren’t hardcore lifters and just want to get the most out of a small and simple commitment.
Training for “longevity” - to me - is staying strong & capable across the basic human movement patterns. The squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press, etc aren’t just big dumb gym bro exercises. Those are all ways that humans should be able to move naturally & if they can’t, that is when injuries occur. Cannot tell u how many conversations I’ve had with people who hurt their back bending over to pick up kids or tie shoes. My mom, for example, was driving and hurt her shoulder when she reached in the back seat to grab her idk ~5 lb purse. She ended up having to get surgery on it! Deadlifts strengthen ur back to allow u to bend, presses strengthen ur shoulders to allow u to reach, squats strengthen ur knees & legs to allow u to sit & stand & walk, etc. Basic strength training is the best longevity training there is imo
Deep Squats, Shallow Thoughts retweeted
Guys, sometimes shit hurts just because. Every ache and pain isn’t an indication of a catastrophic injury about to happen. If it feels better as you warm up, you’ll probably be fine. Cowboy tf up.
Strength tests draw a misleading, somewhat arbitrary, binary between a state of being strong and not being strong. You can be kind of strong, a little bit strong, or almost strong, or maybe strong, and still test positive for strength.
Strength tests, particularly home gym tests, capture a moment in time at which an motor unit has activated and is interfacing with the weight in some way.
“We define how we understand the beginning of strength based on this snapshot, but such a freeze-frame contains limited information,” Angus McWeak writes. Read more about the difficult task of determining when strength actually begins:
Pregnancy tests draw a misleading, somewhat arbitrary, binary between a state of being pregnant and not being pregnant. You can be kind of pregnant, a little bit pregnant, or almost pregnant, or maybe pregnant, and still test positive for pregnancy. Pregnancy tests, particularly at-home urine tests, capture a moment in time at which an embryo has implanted and is interfacing with the uterus in some way. “We define how we understand the beginning of pregnancy based on this snapshot, but such a freeze-frame contains limited information,” Apoorva Tadepalli writes. Read more about the difficult task of determining when pregnancy actually begins: newyorkermag.visitlink.me/Q9…
Sydney Sweeney didn't set women's sports back 100 years or whatever the latest stupidity is, but you will personally set men's progress back 100 years by not getting your press to 135, your bench to 225, your squat to 315, and your deadlift to 405.
Deep Squats, Shallow Thoughts retweeted
In a world of constant distraction, shooting and weightlifting are two of the rare places where you can still be completely present. And its wonderful.
To outsiders, shooting probably seems like the least serene activity imaginable. You have this loud, deadly device in your hands. It explodes inches from your face, kicks back against you, and sends a projectile screaming downrange.
But once you get over all that, shooting becomes unbelievably peaceful.
At the range, your world becomes now. You settle your breathing. You watch the sights move and learn not to fight every tiny movement. You feel your grip, your stance, the pressure of the trigger. You let the sights settle, press the shot without disturbing the gun, then stay with them through recoil and recovery.
All of it demands that you be in the present, and that is incredibly calming.
There is no past. There is no future. There is no work BS, no notifications, no argument you had yesterday, no problem waiting for you tomorrow. There is only this breath, this sight picture, this trigger press, this shot.
You are just trying to put the bullet exactly where you want it, as cleanly and efficiently as you can.
Heavy weightlifting puts you in the same place. I mean getting underneath a heavy compound lift for five or fewer heavy reps.
You put your hands on the bar and immediately the world contracts again. This is going to be heavy. And once heavy becomes normal, there is something peaceful about that too.
There is nothing abstract about a heavy weight. You feel the knurling dig into your hands, the bar across your back, the pressure through your feet. You brace. You breathe. Every bit of force and concentration becomes clean and simple because it has one purpose.
Grug do full ugga. Rock goes up.
For those few seconds, nothing else exists. You cannot really worry about some BS tomorrow in the middle of a heavy lift. The load does not allow multitasking. There is no abstraction when full ugga and rock go up. The moment demands everything you have right now.
Then you lock it out. You got it. You rack the weight.
There is this wonderful little moment afterward when you realize you gave something your complete focus and hit the target, whether that target was a weight or a spot on a paper target at the range.
Maybe that is why both activities feel so satisfying these days. Modern life constantly fractures your attention. Shooting and lifting refuse to let it.
For a little while, you are not thinking about your life, planning your life, worrying about your life, or abstracting your life.
You are just livin' it, man.