The Strength Thread Part II

[canucksfan]

Does anyone have a problem with their hands getting really sweaty during deadlifts? I find my hands get insanely sweaty by the time I'm done my warm-up sets and wiping my hands on my clothes only makes them worse. Grip strength itself isn't a problem at the weights I'm dealing with, but gripping a bar when my hands are sweaty fountains is a problem.

Do you use chalk?

Yes definitely use chalk

 

[What the Faulk]

Many places don't allow chalk (mine isn't fond of it). Do you not bring a towel with you? I am constantly wiping my hands, pretty much before every set of every exercise.

 

[KapG]

Clean up after yourself if you're going to use chalk. We have a chalk bandit at the LA fitness I work at who shows up in the morning and leaves chalk stains everywhere!!

The staff have taken to just throwing his entire bag out if they see it. It wouldn't be a problem if he cleaned up after himself but alas, he doesn't.

 

[StronGeer]

Clean up after yourself if you're going to use chalk. We have a chalk bandit at the LA fitness I work at who shows up in the morning and leaves chalk stains everywhere!!

The staff have taken to just throwing his entire bag out if they see it. It wouldn't be a problem if he cleaned up after himself but alas, he doesn't.

Seems like the more reasonable course of action would be talking to him about it instead of throwing out his property

 

[KapG]

Seems like the more reasonable course of action would be talking to him about it instead of throwing out his property

The guys been asked numerous times and just doesn't give a ****. As a result the manager gave the nod to just throw it out.


Sorry for leaving that part out

 

[Caeldan]

Yeah, if you're a regular at your gym and clean up after yourself - you get away with a lot more.

Also, I believe there's some sort of a liquid chalk product that doesn't leave as much mess to begin with? I know a few guys have used it but not sure what it's called exactly.

 

[KapG]

Yeah, if you're a regular at your gym and clean up after yourself - you get away with a lot more.

Also, I believe there's some sort of a liquid chalk product that doesn't leave as much mess to begin with? I know a few guys have used it but not sure what it's called exactly.

Precisely! If the guy cleaned up after himself no one would care and they'd let him go about his business. You come in though and you see chalk stains all over the plates and the ground, it's disgusting.

Liquid chalk eh? Kinda just spray it on when you need it I'm guessing? Sounds pretty cool.

 

[Kitten Mittons]

Clean up after yourself if you're going to use chalk. We have a chalk bandit at the LA fitness I work at who shows up in the morning and leaves chalk stains everywhere!!

The staff have taken to just throwing his entire bag out if they see it. It wouldn't be a problem if he cleaned up after himself but alas, he doesn't.

Chalk is banned at 24 Hour Fitness for that exact reason.

 

[StronGeer]

Precisely! If the guy cleaned up after himself no one would care and they'd let him go about his business. You come in though and you see chalk stains all over the plates and the ground, it's disgusting.

Liquid chalk eh? Kinda just spray it on when you need it I'm guessing? Sounds pretty cool.

Liquid chalk is very common with climbers, and yeah it's exactly what you think it is. Just a bottle, squirt some into your hands, rub them together and BOOM! Grip for days.

The guys been asked numerous times and just doesn't give a ****. As a result the manager gave the nod to just throw it out.


Sorry for leaving that part out

I see. if that's the case then yeah, chuck it.

 

[Jeti]

Yes definitely use chalk

Thanks.

Many places don't allow chalk (mine isn't fond of it). Do you not bring a towel with you? I am constantly wiping my hands, pretty much before every set of every exercise.

I don't bring a towel with me but my gym does allow chalk. I guess I could try the towel idea first.

Liquid chalk is very common with climbers, and yeah it's exactly what you think it is. Just a bottle, squirt some into your hands, rub them together and BOOM! Grip for days.

Is liquid chalk any better or worse in terms of grip? I'm alright with paying more if it's cleaner and works at least as well. If it's worse, I won't bother.

 

[President XD]

There was a guy at my gym using chalk this morning and he is the definition of what to do when using chalk. When he was done with his deadlifts and chalk, he cleaned the bar to remove the chalk and then went on to clean the small mess of chalk on the floor. When he was done it was spotless and only took him a minute to do it too.

 

[KapG]

There was a guy at my gym using chalk this morning and he is the definition of what to do when using chalk. When he was done with his deadlifts and chalk, he cleaned the bar to remove the chalk and then went on to clean the small mess of chalk on the floor. When he was done it was spotless and only took him a minute to do it too.

See, there is someone with some respect.

The chalk bandit ****** was back at it again the other day at my gym. Go over to one of the squat racks and all the plates are just covered in chalk and there is chalk all over the floor everywhere.

 

[darko]

While it isn't banned it's kinda frowned upon at my gym. They use these carpets. It's like a hard carpet but has the carpet-like fluffy stuff on top (if that makes sense) so the chalk gets right in there and need to vacuum every night.

 

[VanillaCoke]

Chalk is absolutely essential in my gym bag.
Won't bother working out without it

 

[Jeti]

Yeah, chalk is amazing. My sweaty hands were holding me back more than I thought.

 

[Jeti]

Also, bragging time: I squatted 300 lbs the other day for 2 reps. Used a belt though.

Something that has helped a lot with squats is pausing at the bottom for a few seconds on every rep. It helps you get stronger at the weakest point of the lift, takes away the bounce from the bottom, and makes you more conscious of how low you're actually going. I'd highly recommend anyone struggling to push their squat higher to try that. Then I'd recommend that you don't do that when going for a personal record - I did it on the second rep of 300 lbs and I still made it up, but it was torture.

On the "helps you get stronger at the weakest point of the lift" bit, I never understand why people deadlift off of platforms... Only training the part that doesn't need help is so backwards.

 

[StronGeer]

You talking about rack pulls? People often do them to strengthen the lockout, and as you point out, the lift is easier. As such, most people do more weight than they can deadlift. So it's not that they're only doing that lift, but that they are overloading a specific portion of the lift.

 

[KapG]

Also, bragging time: I squatted 300 lbs the other day for 2 reps. Used a belt though.

Something that has helped a lot with squats is pausing at the bottom for a few seconds on every rep. It helps you get stronger at the weakest point of the lift, takes away the bounce from the bottom, and makes you more conscious of how low you're actually going. I'd highly recommend anyone struggling to push their squat higher to try that. Then I'd recommend that you don't do that when going for a personal record - I did it on the second rep of 300 lbs and I still made it up, but it was torture.

On the "helps you get stronger at the weakest point of the lift" bit, I never understand why people deadlift off of platforms... Only training the part that doesn't need help is so backwards.

Congrats on the 300 lb squat

 

[KapG]

So haven't been doing the bent over rows because of the lower back the last couple weeks....

Decided today to try and do some dual arm bent over DB rows and was able to pull 75s on my last set of 5. The other sets were done with 70s.

Feel pretty good about it.

 

[StronGeer]

Much appreciated, Strongeer. Will look into that one. Keep up with the reviews as it will be interesting to see your take as you go along.

Varying up routines is definitely an area of weakness for me so I am pretty open to trying new things.

Update: 5/3/1 is the ****.

Started the third cycle today and felt really great. I keep just upping the weight per the program, outdoing myself every week. The first week is always the toughest for me as it has the most volume on the main lift (3x5), but I still set a 1RM equal to or greater than anything I did the previous month. Crazy!

What I've also found effective for progressing the assistance exercises is to up the weight at the beginning of a cycle, then up the reps as the cycle continues.

Example: my squat assistance movements are front squat and walking dumbbell lunges, with squat jumps at the end to really tire me out. Last cycle I did 145 and 30 for the front squats and lunges respectively. This cycle, I'm doing 155 and 35. I do 3x8 this week at that weight, then next week is 3x9, then 3x10. If I'm successful at all of those sets for the movement this cycle, next cycle I'll bump up the weight again. If I fail one or more sets this cycle, I'll keep the weight the same next time. It's a great way to keep the assistance movements challenging while getting more volume on the days that the main lift volume is decreased.

Again, freaking love this program so far. Even with warmup before and stretching/a bit of cardio after, I'm in the gym for max. 1 hour and am tired after. Highly recommend.

 

[KapG]

Haven't done pendlays in over a month and was pleasantly surprised to end up pulling 160 for my last 3 sets during a 5 x 5

 

[RustyCat]

Update: 5/3/1 is the ****.

Started the third cycle today and felt really great. I keep just upping the weight per the program, outdoing myself every week. The first week is always the toughest for me as it has the most volume on the main lift (3x5), but I still set a 1RM equal to or greater than anything I did the previous month. Crazy!

What I've also found effective for progressing the assistance exercises is to up the weight at the beginning of a cycle, then up the reps as the cycle continues.

Example: my squat assistance movements are front squat and walking dumbbell lunges, with squat jumps at the end to really tire me out. Last cycle I did 145 and 30 for the front squats and lunges respectively. This cycle, I'm doing 155 and 35. I do 3x8 this week at that weight, then next week is 3x9, then 3x10. If I'm successful at all of those sets for the movement this cycle, next cycle I'll bump up the weight again. If I fail one or more sets this cycle, I'll keep the weight the same next time. It's a great way to keep the assistance movements challenging while getting more volume on the days that the main lift volume is decreased.

Again, freaking love this program so far. Even with warmup before and stretching/a bit of cardio after, I'm in the gym for max. 1 hour and am tired after. Highly recommend.

That is awesome to hear first hand accounts of this sort of program. Glad you are liking it and seeing those results. Now in this particular routine do you do separate core rounds as well? I can only imagine if you are doing front squats and walking lunges that a core/oblique addition would only help? Is that something you already have in it?

Happy for you man. Keep these updates coming

 

[StronGeer]

That is awesome to hear first hand accounts of this sort of program. Glad you are liking it and seeing those results. Now in this particular routine do you do separate core rounds as well? I can only imagine if you are doing front squats and walking lunges that a core/oblique addition would only help? Is that something you already have in it?

Happy for you man. Keep these updates coming

For abs, I don't really do anything consistently. Like you said, front squats, lunges, deadlifts, and all that do a lot, and I'm kind of too short on time right now to add a bunch of core stuff. Sometimes on my OHP day I'll add some in between sets but that's just more out of boredom than anything else, since I find OHP day pretty easy.

 

[Jeti]

I tried front squats today for the first time, just 3x5 w/ 135lbs. Took it easy because I had done back squats before.

It felt insanely awkward though, like I had no idea what to do with my hands. If my shoulder/bicep/forearm/whatever flexibility isn't there yet to have all my fingers under the bar with it in close, is it bad if I ended up with just my index and middle fingers under the bar? Any tips?

 

[StronGeer]

I tried front squats today for the first time, just 3x5 w/ 135lbs. Took it easy because I had done back squats before.

It felt insanely awkward though, like I had no idea what to do with my hands. If my shoulder/bicep/forearm/whatever flexibility isn't there yet to have all my fingers under the bar with it in close, is it bad if I ended up with just my index and middle fingers under the bar? Any tips?

Working on forearm flexibility will help that. I also don't have my pinky under the bar when I do them for flexibility reasons. You could also supinate your hand and hold the bar between your index finger and thumb.