Texas, week 11, recovery
Warm-up:
front squat (doubles to 155#)
3x3 front squat (190)
3x3 bench press (135)
3x3 clean pull (135)
3x30 s L-sit (15,10,5 seconds in actual L-sit, made up the rest of the 30 seconds in a tuck position)
Narrowed the stance a bit (~2 inches) and dropped lower, which made the squats noticeably harder. Bench press form finally settling in, comfortable with the arch and keeping the shoulders planted in the bench. L-sits were really tough; how is it that I suck so hard at these?
Diesel Crew on bench pressing:
Had a really weird experience on the way home from the gym. Crossed the street in front of this guy with a really large, strange looking dog. Turned out the dog was taking a dump, and as I crossed in front of it, it looked up and made eye contact with me. And I gotta say, I was freaked out; it looked like that guy was walking a person who was wearing a dog suit. Had a pleading look in its eyes, like it was saying, 'Please, get me out of this suit.' No joke. Some fucked up shit right there. Maybe I'm just light-headed from lack of food, but I was having a Planet of the Apes or Twilight Zone moment there. Gonna eat dinner now.
4 comments:
Maybe he was actually pleading for some laxatives?
And how do you know it wasn't a man in a dog suit?
Interesting video, brian - it seems to be a rather different technique from the one Rip describes in Starting Strength, if I recall correctly - do you find that the back arch and lower bar path make it more difficult?
As for the dog...maybe he just wanted some privacy?
Hey Daniel, I don't own Starting Strength, so I'm going off of the videos here for Rip's technique. The techniques seem pretty similar to me with respect to the arch: Rip advocates one, and seems to suggest that it be as extreme as possible while keeping shoulder and butt on the bench:
"You want to produce a lordotic curve ... Raise the chest [by arching the back], to the extent that we can, without raising the butt up in the air [off the bench]"
Comparing videos, it does seem that the bar path may be lower. However, that's gonna be a function of the degree to which your back is arched since this the arch dictates the degree to which your shoulders are rotated, and thereby where the bar ends up when you lower it (more arch = lower, a big enough arch and you are basically doing a decline bench).
So I tried to create a good arch, which took some practice since it is easy to push up too much and raise your butt. This just naturally put the bar below my nipples (almost to my sternum) when lowered. This made the weight I was using feel *very* easy compared to the last time I lifted the same weight, although the isometric contraction across my whole body was pretty tiring.
Sounds alot like trying to squat weight without keeping your core tight. A tight core is technically more taxing, but that weight sure flies up there!
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