Mark Brown
July 7, 2022
The adjustment to my summer lifting plan has been in place for a weeks now. It’s gone fairly well. The addition of different lifts into the second back/legs and chest/shoulder day have made for a different feel and challenge to the session. Some of the lifts are here to stay for sure, while others will cycle through. Today’s entry is about some observations about the additions to the program.
I’ll write about the back/leg portion first because there’s far more variance of lifts than upper/front body. I have written glowingly about leg press before but I haven’t been in a mood lately to do them. Part of it has to do with how my feet feel after doing them and the other part has to do with the last time I did them I ended up with lower back pain. They will get back into the program for certain but I have moved away from them as a main or 1st supplemental lift.
The first lift that has moved into my program that wasn’t there 4-5 weeks ago is either cleans or clean and press. It’s a lift I am very familiar with but haven’t done them consistently before. I superset them with a light straight leg deadlift to get the legs stretched and going. As one can tell from my training logs from the last couple weeks, my cleans weight isn’t impressive. Objectively, the clean is my worst lift that I do. My front rack position is far too wide to be efficient with this movement. Some weeks I will do just a clean and others I will do a clean and push press or a clean and jerk. The latter is iffy. My jerk is terrible. I just don’t move fast enough. They are the main movement on either Friday or Saturday. I’ve felt some benefit from them. I’ve noticed faster, more explosive movement in log press and squat. I can really feel my glutei and hamstrings firing when I do cleans. The pull really is a light weight but movement from the pop off the hips to the catch in the front rack position is what really holds back a higher clean and push press back.
The second is hip thrusts. The addition of this lift is directly related to my removing 1 heavy deadlift and back squat a week from my program. When a lifter removes a deadlift from their session plan they have to replace it with various other lifts that hit all the areas the deadlift would have. Same goes for back squats. Removing a barbell deadlift from the plan isn’t as straight forward as it sounds. Hip thrusts are a major supplemental lift that can be done very heavy. The goal is to strengthen the glutei and hamstrings so they can move more explosively. It is very, very effective when done even partially. I position the bar in the rack about 2-3 inches above the level of a flat bench, rest my upper back on the bench, unrack the bar then stabilize it on my hips. Once the bar is only supported by my hips I lower my hips as much as I can without pain developing then thrust back up to starting position. I’ve seen the same people utilize the lift at the gym for the last couple years but never made it part of my regular plan. In the last few weeks, I have felt an increase in some explosive movements in clean, pulls and squats. I have noticed some bad back pain during a couple Saturday sessions involving hip thrusts but I think have isolated the problem so I don’t think deep hip thrusts are to blame.
The third is a goblet squat. On my training logs, it has been called a dumbbell squat because heavy dumbbells is what I have been using to do them. This lift’s effectiveness has surprised me the most of the new lifts in my program. The dominant reason for the addition of the goblet squat is to work in a squat exercise into my session without more heavy spinal loading. A lesser reason is that I can’t find a hand/body/bar position that is both effective and comfortable when front squatting with a barbell. As I stated above, my front rack position is far too wide to be effective and my wrist mobility is atrocious for performing front squats in either the CrossFit or Weightlifting fashion. What I have noticed the most when doing the movement is how much easier it is to hit parallel or below it, especially since I have heeled shoes on normally. My shins and back stay more vertical when I do them and how much stress is placed on all the front side muscles. The dumbbell is a fixed weight so this is more about muscular development than strength or power.
The last of the new additions to the leg/back sessions is a single arm dumbbell pull from the floor. I typically do this one after doing the goblet squat and from a box that starts my thighs parallel to the ground or close. I have thought about doing this lift in the past as an accessory or late supplemental but have never implemented it till now. The fact that I am using a dumbbell caps how difficult the lift can be from a weight perspective so this is more about training the lockout, grip and hip mobility. I feel full quad engagement at the lockout when I complete the pull. Like the goblet squat, this is more about muscular development. Without a barbell deadlift or back squat, hips have become the main muscle group targeted on the second leg/back day. So far the concentration on hips, which I wasn’t doing before, has been having a positive effect on my training. I have felt it on the first leg/back day when I do heavy squats and pulls.
There’s nothing really new coming into the chest/shoulder sessions that hasn’t been parts of them in the past. It’s more about cycling lifts through to keep them progressing at a good clip. Bands come back on the bench press to help increase explosive power on the movement so I can work past my current sticking point a couple inches above my chest. I haven’t used my Viking Press in about 6 months so that’s taken a bit to get used to. At the gym for the first chest/shoulder session of the week I have been using the isometric wide chest press machine as a supplemental lift. I go as heavy as I can for 3-6 reps, which is typically 90-135 pounds per hand. The goal for that day is to work on raw strength. The skill based movements are saved for the second chest/shoulder day Sunday. The only other consistent addition to midweek chest day has been working on the negative part of the press. The Genesis at Merle Hay has a selectorized seated chest press machine that is perfect for this exercise. I push the weight out to the “top” position of the press with my feet using max weight (285 pounds) then let it come back to the “bottom” position after at least 5 seconds has passed. I do usually do it for 4 sets of 6. The lift really tests the stabilizers in the triceps. I do much the same lift as a supplemental when pressing with my cambered bar. I have felt more stable the last couples weeks. Very helpful lift.
I’m sure there will be more lifts I will work through in the coming months to work on specific parts of lifts or muscular development. When I do, I will write about them when enough time has passed to vet them. The lifts I have shared today are ones that have had tangible positive effects on my main movements. Just 2 weeks after I started concentrating on hip development I did normal block pull routine of 345-365-385-405 for 2 sets of 3 at each weight without my powerlifting belt. They’ve given a benefit, there’s a chance it will benefit anyone reading this post.
Life Through Lifting 