Meso Powerlifting Corner

[Dw725]

Ya I'm younger then you are man, I understand the want for a blast and cruise as this has been my lifestyle for a long time and now that I'm playing high level sports again I really want to but I've told myself that's something I'm not doing until I've had 2 kids.

I hear ya. It does sound good in theory but I'm nowhere even close to considering it. Lifting is just a hobby for me no matter how big a part of my life it's been for ten years now. I don't even really plan on competing in PL anymore, it's just fun to me and competing with friends is enough. Don't run me out of here for saying that haha

 

[RodgerThat]

I hear ya. It does sound good in theory but I'm nowhere even close to considering it. Lifting is just a hobby for me no matter how big a part of my life it's been for ten years now. I don't even really plan on competing in PL anymore, it's just fun to me and competing with friends is enough. Don't run me out of here for saying that haha

hey man everyone has their thing it doesn't matter why you do it that's for you, just matters that you do.

 

[NovaFlex]

My current gym is like that nobody I've seen has pulled more then 2 plates and I'm using 4 and a quarter for reps everybody stairs but I make sure I wear a hat and huge headphones so no one talks to me

I do the same thing. There's a few guys bigger than me, but they're all upper body gym Bros. .. When I'm squatting / DLing 4 plates, people always pay attention.


That said, I should give context... I workout in a small town YMCA. So it's mostly guys that have no idea wtf they're doing, and old people... Saw a dude yesterday (my ageish) squatting with a bench under him so he could sit?? Wtf.

 

[RodgerThat]

I do the same thing. There's a few guys bigger than me, but they're all upper body gym Bros. .. When I'm squatting / DLing 4 plates, people always pay attention.


That said, I should give context... I workout in a small town YMCA. So it's mostly guys that have no idea wtf they're doing, and old people... Saw a dude yesterday (my ageish) squatting with a bench under him so he could sit?? Wtf.

Actually bench squats are a thing to take the stretch reflex away so you start from an absolute dead stop. I don't like them but it is a thing

 

[Dw725]

Actually bench squats are a thing to take the stretch reflex away so you start from an absolute dead stop. I don't like them but it is a thing

Yea I use that dead stop technique , but instead of a bench its usually a dead stop from pausing after my nuts kiss the ground haha

 

[Eman]

Thought I'd post this up here for any Mark Bell fans, I am subscribed to good channel and I thought this was a fun video:

 

[NovaFlex]

Actually bench squats are a thing to take the stretch reflex away so you start from an absolute dead stop. I don't like them but it is a thing

Didn't know that was a thing. Sounds lazy to me lol

 

[Happycamper]

My current gym is like that nobody I've seen has pulled more then 2 plates and I'm using 4 and a quarter for reps everybody stairs but I make sure I wear a hat and huge headphones so no one talks to me

I may be an outlier, but deadlift is the easiest to conquer out of the three for me. There is no fear and if it feels tough you just drop it. Not trivializing it because it's definitely a beastly lift.

Squat...now that's weight on your back. It's so badass to see people squat big. Even failing a squat is technical.

Pushes are tougher for me than pulls tho, personally. Deadlift and row always outdo my squat and bench.

Edit: that wasn't the post I was quoting, gosh darn it! Lol.

 

[devildog93]

I see what you are saying about deadlift being the easiest as in you can quit whenever, but that cuts both ways. It is also the one lift that gets in my head. I can fail a squat set at 500+ because of bad bar placement/not having my feet right/time of the month/full moon and i can bail on it reload the bar and continue right on trucking. Same with bench. Deadlift, no such luck. If i fail a deadlift i have to drop 50 pounds or more and try to get some work in. Me and my partner call this a "punching your timecard day". Totally demoralizing and makes me feel like shit. If i jack up a squat day i am about 90% sure i am going to kill it the next Monday.

 

[Dw725]

I may be an outlier, but deadlift is the easiest to conquer out of the three for me. There is no fear and if it feels tough you just drop it. Not trivializing it because it's definitely a beastly lift.

Squat...now that's weight on your back. It's so badass to see people squat big. Even failing a squat is technical.

Pushes are tougher for me than pulls tho, personally. Deadlift and row always outdo my squat and bench.

Edit: that wasn't the post I was quoting, gosh darn it! Lol.

I agree. At my gym the power rack is set up in a way that I have to walk out of it BC I squat too deep and I'll hit the safety bars. There's a level of commitment to taking big weight out there, it's either come up or it's in my spotters hands after that if I'm pushing that hard. Luckily I don't remember the last time I had to bail on a squat or have a spotter assist me.

 

[Dw725]

I see what you are saying about deadlift being the easiest as in you can quit whenever, but that cuts both ways. It is also the one lift that gets in my head. I can fail a squat set at 500+ because of bad bar placement/not having my feet right/time of the month/full moon and i can bail on it reload the bar and continue right on trucking. Same with bench. Deadlift, no such luck. If i fail a deadlift i have to drop 50 pounds or more and try to get some work in. Me and my partner call this a "punching your timecard day". Totally demoralizing and makes me feel like shit. If i jack up a squat day i am about 90% sure i am going to kill it the next Monday.

We call that the straw that broke the camel's back. Once I miss a pull it's done for me. I don't often train in a way that makes that happen so when it does I know I may as well just call it quits on deads for that day.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

I just posted this in my log, but I'm posting it here to get some more opinions. A little background on what I'm asking is this I was dealing with a lot of knee trouble around the end on last year and beginning of this year that had me completely out of commission on squats. I believe it was to quad tightness as since I've been using voodoo floss regularly I've been all good. Anyway, here's my question:

So, all the front squat fever around here is kind of making me want to give them another shot. I'm worried about my knee though, it's been good for awhile now and I'm not sure if I should push it right now. My current quad builder is the high bar box squat. I haven't gone heavy yet, but from past experience I should be doing sets of 10 around 405 and more soon. What's everyone's opinion on them versus front squats as a quad builder and also squat/deadlift accessory? The high bar box squat I'll literally be doing twice the weight, while the front squats will be much lighter while isolating the quads more. Another reason I chose the box squats was to feel heavy weight on my back, work the abs in the process and possible carryover to wrapped squats.

Should I stick with the box squats or run front squats the next six weeks and then switch to box squats? I'll be eighteen weeks out from my meet next week. If I swap in front squats I'll run them this week and the next six weeks and then switch to low bar box squats. If I leave it high bar box squats I'll do the same thing with those. Opinions?

 

[bhog]

This makes me realize how shitty my wraps must be, or how shitty my wrapping is.

Kinda makes me realize how shitty my lifts are right now. [emoji3]. I got 3 weeks left on the cut.

 

[D-max]

Kinda makes me realize how shitty my lifts are right now. [emoji3]. I got 3 weeks left on the cut.

Wanna feel like Hercules, just look at what mine are. You'll feel better instantly. Mine are steadily improving, but still embarrassing.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

Wanna feel like Hercules, just look at what mine are. You'll feel better instantly. Mine are steadily improving, but still embarrassing.

Brother, we all started somewhere and we're all works in progress. I don't know exactly where you're at, but I read you're going for a 405 deadlift soon. I pulled my first 405 in December of 2013 and have come further than I'd thought possible since then and still have a long way towards my goals. Welcome aboard.

 

[Dw725]

I just posted this in my log, but I'm posting it here to get some more opinions. A little background on what I'm asking is this I was dealing with a lot of knee trouble around the end on last year and beginning of this year that had me completely out of commission on squats. I believe it was to quad tightness as since I've been using voodoo floss regularly I've been all good. Anyway, here's my question:

So, all the front squat fever around here is kind of making me want to give them another shot. I'm worried about my knee though, it's been good for awhile now and I'm not sure if I should push it right now. My current quad builder is the high bar box squat. I haven't gone heavy yet, but from past experience I should be doing sets of 10 around 405 and more soon. What's everyone's opinion on them versus front squats as a quad builder and also squat/deadlift accessory? The high bar box squat I'll literally be doing twice the weight, while the front squats will be much lighter while isolating the quads more. Another reason I chose the box squats was to feel heavy weight on my back, work the abs in the process and possible carryover to wrapped squats.

Should I stick with the box squats or run front squats the next six weeks and then switch to box squats? I'll be eighteen weeks out from my meet next week. If I swap in front squats I'll run them this week and the next six weeks and then switch to low bar box squats. If I leave it high bar box squats I'll do the same thing with those. Opinions?

This is all i can contribute. Give the front squats a conservative go for a few weeks I say. Test your knee out and if u like em run with it for a few weeks. For me personally I like to take a few weeks every know and then and only front squat. From late November to February I was only doing front squats and incline bench. No flat bench and no back squats, period. The reduced stress on my posterior chain for that amount of time is what I think let me improve deadlift leaps and bounds before I started my last cycle, and primed me right up to go back into flat bench and back squats after close to 12 weeks without. I was surprised at the carry over. My bench was flat out stronger, and my back squats just looked better even low bar. As always tho, your mileage may vary.

 

[D-max]

Brother, we all started somewhere and we're all works in progress. I don't know exactly where you're at, but I read you're going for a 405 deadlift soon. I pulled my first 405 in December of 2013 and have come further than I'd thought possible since then and still have a long way towards my goals. Welcome aboard.

I know I have to be patient, I only started working out about 3 months ago, after not setting foot in a gym for 15 yrs, and only really got my workouts nailed down a couple weeks ago.

My chest and push work is what I hate the numbers on the most. Flat bench, last set I tried 175 and mustered almost 3. My squats I haven't tried very heavy as I have a knee that has been nagging me, but I'm tired of babying it and going to stack some on and see what breaks first.

I'll be putting up some good numbers eventually, seeing the work you guys do is inspiring, and makes me want to go pick stuff up just reading your workout logs and PR's.

 

[copper13]

I just posted this in my log, but I'm posting it here to get some more opinions. A little background on what I'm asking is this I was dealing with a lot of knee trouble around the end on last year and beginning of this year that had me completely out of commission on squats. I believe it was to quad tightness as since I've been using voodoo floss regularly I've been all good. Anyway, here's my question:

So, all the front squat fever around here is kind of making me want to give them another shot. I'm worried about my knee though, it's been good for awhile now and I'm not sure if I should push it right now. My current quad builder is the high bar box squat. I haven't gone heavy yet, but from past experience I should be doing sets of 10 around 405 and more soon. What's everyone's opinion on them versus front squats as a quad builder and also squat/deadlift accessory? The high bar box squat I'll literally be doing twice the weight, while the front squats will be much lighter while isolating the quads more. Another reason I chose the box squats was to feel heavy weight on my back, work the abs in the process and possible carryover to wrapped squats.

Should I stick with the box squats or run front squats the next six weeks and then switch to box squats? I'll be eighteen weeks out from my meet next week. If I swap in front squats I'll run them this week and the next six weeks and then switch to low bar box squats. If I leave it high bar box squats I'll do the same thing with those. Opinions?

I would stick with the heavier high bar box squats. The weight you use for front squat is limited based on your core/upper back strength. I would rather push more weight, which in turn would equal more volume. If you want to back off the weight a bit, you could always do a beltless high bar squat. Just stay as upright as possible and of course ATG. Doing that will be much closer to your competition squat and would have more carry over.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

I would stick with the heavier high bar box squats. The weight you use for front squat is limited based on your core/upper back strength. I would rather push more weight, which in turn would equal more volume. If you want to back off the weight a bit, you could always do a beltless high bar squat. Just stay as upright as possible and of course ATG. Doing that will be much closer to your competition squat and would have more carry over.

I'm currently doing beltless high bar on the box squats. My plan was to run those eight weeks and then switch over to low bar with a belt. I'll still be doing regular low bar on other days of the week as well.

My normal low bar is well past parallel, the box squats I've been doing right at and slightly above to kind of mimic squatting with wraps. My thinking on it may be flawed, but it seemed a little above parallel with very heavy weight would carry over to wrapped squats, plus get the feel for very heavy weight on my back. Easier on my knee, too.

I might combine your suggestion with what @Dw725 was saying and run both for a few weeks at least. Mix things up a little and spark some new progress. I'm eighteen weeks out next week, still have six more weeks of hypertrophy oriented training before getting more comp specific. I'll still do comp lifts once a week during this hypertrophy phase.



Maybe like this for the next six weeks. Day 4 is going to be my strongman day plus some accessories. There's some guys at my gym that compete and bring all their equipment on Sundays and I'm going to get in with them on that day for the next six weeks as well. I'm not sure what all that will look like yet. I know some heavy carries and log press.

My later weeks will be a lot more specific, I'm just trying some new things out at this time.

 

[Dw725]

I'm currently doing beltless high bar on the box squats. My plan was to run those eight weeks and then switch over to low bar with a belt. I'll still be doing regular low bar on other days of the week as well.

My normal low bar is well past parallel, the box squats I've been doing right at and slightly above to kind of mimic squatting with wraps. My thinking on it may be flawed, but it seemed a little above parallel with very heavy weight would carry over to wrapped squats, plus get the feel for very heavy weight on my back. Easier on my knee, too.

I might combine your suggestion with what @Dw725 was saying and run both for a few weeks at least. Mix things up a little and spark some new progress. I'm eighteen weeks out next week, still have six more weeks of hypertrophy oriented training before getting more comp specific. I'll still do comp lifts once a week during this hypertrophy phase.

View attachment 42156

Maybe like this for the next six weeks. Day 4 is going to be my strongman day plus some accessories. There's some guys at my gym that compete and bring all their equipment on Sundays and I'm going to get in with them on that day for the next six weeks as well. I'm not sure what all that will look like yet. I know some heavy carries and log press.

My later weeks will be a lot more specific, I'm just trying some new things out at this time.

View attachment 42157
View attachment 42158

You guys are some programming experts. I'm taking notes don't worry. Had a much better workout today too. Didn't miss any pulls and everything was just right in the world haha.