Can I Use Your Curl Rack for Squats?
Death to the Foam Roller!
I’m on week five of my Mike Robertson approved training program and I wanted to share a few random notes:
- Front squats to a box suck my left nut. They’re horrible. I can’t use an ego-gratifying amount of weight; I feel like I’m strangling myself; my range of motion is regulated to what seems like four fucking inches; and my damn headphones keep popping out mid-set. I hate Mike Robertson.
- A few days ago I hit 405lbs for four sets of five reps on hex-bar deadlifts. That was cool; I'm getting my strength back.
- My warm-ups are taking a good 25 minutes (which is about 23 minutes longer than I usually warm up). Between foam rolling, tennis ball work, dynamic stretching, and acute corrective work, I’m doing a bunch of rolling around on the floor and weird leg-pick-up stuff while walking across the room. People look at me funny.
- I love when guys watch me warm up with a look of condescension in their eyes, because I get to flip the script on them. It’s like they’re saying “what the fuck are you doing, you pussy?!â€, and then they go curl or bench press or grunt or fornicate with the Smith machine or whatever the hell else it is that stupid young guys do in the gym. That’s when I set up for deadlifts. Or heavy close grip bench presses. Or weighted pull-ups with more weight and with better form than they could ever muster. Then they’re left looking and feeling dumb. Well, at least I hope they are, those bastards.
- Hiring Mike ranks on my top five list of best things of the year. (My other four? Writing a book, taking a job with T-Nation, emailing and connecting with Tim Ferriss, and solving world hunger. Wait…)
- My hips feel fantastic, my shoulder doesn’t bother me any more, and aside from those freakin’ front box squats I feel like a champion in the gym. I love Mike Robertson.
- Iso-hold pull-ups are tough as hell. Go grab a pull-up bar with a wide, overhand grip, pull yourself up, squeeze your shoulder-blades down and back and hold for 20 seconds. Rest sixty seconds and repeat two or three more times. Too easy? Add weight.
A final note from Mike:
Glad to hear the workouts are going well - the squats will suck for a while, but you've got to think long-term. You’re going to have a body that works at a high level for a long time. That won't suck.
Amen, Mike.
Comments for This Entry
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Great post. I train half the time at a commercial gym for time and practicallity reasons, so I know exacty what youre talking about. During my warmup, I get the "whats with this guys gut" looks and then when I throw some plates on the monolift or load the bench, They start to watch( which is the ultimate compliment.) Good luck with your training cycle!
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Good to see that training's looking up. Our powerlifting group always gets funny looks training at the university; foam rolling, scap push-ups, facepulls etc...if only the other 95% of the gym community knew what they were missing, I think the results speak for themselves.
Best of luck with getting back to and passing your previous level of strength.
Jon -
I'm not going to lie, Nate: sometimes, when we train together, I look at myself in the mirror and wonder, "What the fuck is that guy doing? Is he... humping the floor? Is that sanitary?"
I will definitely admit, though, that I feel better and seem to be performing at a higher level since I started doing dynamic warm ups, and I certainly feel like more of a bad-ass putting up weight with perfect form.
-Jason -
"If all those people in Africa are starving why don't they move to France?" doesn't count as solving world hunger.
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Nate-I feel your pain in the photo! Foam rollin' the IT Band is a BIATCH!!!! But you walk away afterwards feeling like a million bucks. Mike Robertson knows his stuff.
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xiaovibramfivefinger
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COMMENT RULES: Critical posts are fine, but if you're rude I'll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your personal name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. But most of all, have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Tim Ferriss for the inspiration.)
TraintoStandard.com 11:01pm Sep 16, 2008