Deadlift Setup Fix: Set Up Vertically Over The Bar

A simple setup tip in the deadlift that can make a big difference is making sure to set up directly vertical over the bar. With both @jontsang83 and @kegs_and_kilos (CLICK HERE), in these side by sides we can see a very noticeable difference in their ability to maintain position as they wedge in. And while for both of them there were other cues involved in this improvement, the most noticeable in this visual is how they are leveraging the slack vertically on the right side videos. Whereas on the left side, they are setting up well in front of the bar. I cover this setup in detail in my slack pull Youtube video, but with that being 57 minutes long, I did want to pull this tip out of that and make a specific post, as it’s a simple change that can benefit most lifters.

The fact is at some point for the bar to break the floor and maintain its center of gravity over the midfoot, it’s going to have to receive direct vertical tension. Any horizontal tension is going to create a deviation from that optimal bar path and starting position. And while some lifters can make due with starting over the bar and self correcting that position as they wedge, I find this to be a very simple change that is low hanging fruit for many others who continue to struggle with deadlift positioning, especially on sumo. Starting with the arms vertical and shoulder blades directly over the bar allows us to create a more efficient slack pull, as we create that direct vertical tension that is needed, and then use the shoulder joint as our fulcrum to rotate and wedge around. This also tends to coincide with a lifter having more awareness of a proper hinge in their initial setup. People tend to set up over the bar because they just lean over and grab it, instead of hinging to the bar. Take your time, hinge, and let the bar come to your rather than reaching for it.

My Top 3 Favorite Bench Variations – CLICK HERE

From the first day we started lifting, we all wanted a big bench. But most of the time the way to that big bench is perfectly clear or linear. Oftentimes we introduce variations into our programs to accomplish specific tasks, whether technique or programming based, that just competition bench press cannot achieve alone. So continuing with my YouTube series on my favorite lift variations, next up is my top 3 favorite bench press variations! In my latest YouTube video, I break down my top 3 favorite bench variations and do my best to really cover all aspects of how these can benefit lifters. Most of us know the basics, but I try to look into even how some bench variations can help alleviate knee pain in the squat. For each variation I take a look at what their benefits are in regards to technique and programming. I give detailed instructions on how to do them correctly to get the most out of them. I look at who these variations would benefit, as well as who probably wouldn’t benefit from them. And lastly, I explain the how and when of programming these variations into your own programming. Click the link in my bio to view!

The 3 “Feelings” Of Training

If you read through some of my stories yesterday, or have watched in particular my YouTube video on deloads, I’ve alluded to the general feelings of fatigue and preparation that lifters should be cognizant of. These 3 general feelings (for lack of a better term) I would classify as “lagging”, “prepared”, or “fatigued”, and I’ll get into more below on exactly what each one of those means. But first, I must clarify the precedent to how we determine these and can use them to help guide training.

First, we have to understand that the feeling of fatigue isn’t always bad. We’ve all had those sessions where we feel terrible, but strength ends up amazing. For the feeling of lagging or fatigue, strength progression takes precedent. If week to week we are seeing an upward trend in performance, this concept does not apply in the same manner, but is more so for those times where we are feeling stagnant or are seeing performance downturns. The fact is on certain days the layout of your weekly structure may purposefully have days where you will feel lagging or fatigued. This is important to note as well, but the goal isn’t to feel great every day, but rather have a specific day on each lift throughout the week and block that you use as your primary day for progression.

Second, using these feelings to guide programming decisions should be separate from inconsistent recovery variables. If you come into the gym after sleeping 3 hours, not eating sufficient calories, and dehydrated, of course you aren’t going to feel the best. If this is a consistent issue, programming considerations need to be made to account for that. And if you aren’t putting the proper emphasis into your recovery and being consistent with that, tracking other trends to optimize your program is going to be extremely difficult.

So getting into these 3 “feelings”, let me clarify that I am simplifying this concept. But in reality we could look at this as a spectrum, as typically we aren’t going to be perfectly defined by one of these.

1.) Lagging: This feeling is usually defined by a lifter as feeling like they aren’t as explosive, as well as the one most people reading probably least understand and are aware of. They feel recovered, but the bar just feels heavy, they don’t feel like they have the same pop, and all of this kind of can be summed up by saying they feel detrained. Many times you may have even expected a good session due to feeling recovered, but once you got under the bar you just didn’t feel like the strength was there. This feeling would classify you as actually being overly recovered. I talk about this in my YouTube video on deloading, as if you deload too much, many times you will come back the following week and see a noticeable downturn in strength due to just feeling detrained. This can also happen within regular training though. Maybe the secondary squat day is programmed to allow adequate recovery, but you find that it is actually too much. And then when you come back around to the primary day you feel like you are “lagging”, hence being under-stimulated by that secondary day to continue to carry the adaptations over into the next session.

2.) Prepared: This is what we aim for. You feel good, you are strong, and the session goes great. It doesn’t mean you don’t carry any fatigue or that maybe you didn’t have a little extra recovery. It just means within the spectrum, you’ve been appropriately dosed to stimulate adaptations, allow adequate recover, and see strength progression. This is probably the easiest one to notice, but also maybe the hardest one to maintain. Our goal is to formulate a training structure that can elicit this feeling in a predictable and consistent manner. And as I alluded to, usually that’s on 1 given day within the training week on each lift. We have a primary day that everything else is programmed around to optimize performance on that given day each week, and then most likely even peak that day on a given week within the training block.

3.) Fatigued: Most lifters understand the concept and feeling of fatigue, but the issue is the misconception of why they are fatigued. In a perfect world, we could eat, sleep, and train, and therefore any fatigue we feel we can immediately adjust based on programming considerations. But probably no one reading this is a professional powerlifter, so therefore fatigue is this multi-variable spectrum of so many different aspects of our life feeding into this one bucket. Since perfection will be about impossible, our goal is to find consistency to the best of our ability. Within that, we can then account for a consistent level of recovery and then understand how fatigue from training is playing its role. In reality, even optimal training will elicit fatigue that eventually builds up past our recovery ability. Which is why fatigue isn’t always bad. The main issue is when we see high levels of fatigue correlating with performance downturns. If we see a continued increase week after week in fatigue, with no day of the week feeling particularly strong and performance either maintaining or diminishing, and recovery is consistent, we can presume an athlete is doing more than they can tolerate. Much like lagging is being under-stimulated, fatigued is an over-stimulation past our tolerable limits.

Bulgarian Split Squat Technique For Powerlifting – CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

 

One of my favorite accessory movements, when done correctly, is the bulgarian split squat. And big emphasis on done correctly, as I think most people who have tried and ditched this movement typically found more frustration than benefit due to improper technique. Something like a belt squat or leg press is a fantastic movement to add lower body volume, but it also takes out a large aspect of positional awareness and stability, as the machine does it for you. This has the benefit of taking away much of the thinking and just allowing a lifter to perform the movement, but I’d argue the transferable skill is a bit different. Whereas with a bulgarian split squat, much like a competition squat, it requires a very specific balance and tension distribution to perform correctly and be strong at. As well as the uni-lateral benefits of isolating each leg can be of big help for someone who may have asymmetry of strength or kinesthetic awareness between legs.

In the above videos, I break down how I teach the bulgarian split squat for powerlifting. And while this could apply really to anyone performing this movement, not just powerlifting, it’s mainly aimed towards how we can perform this movement to maximally transfer to our competition squat. I made a story post yesterday with one of my athletes repping out 120lb. dumbbells on bulgarian split squats and had numerous responses from people in awe. But the fact is I would argue most powerlifters have no idea how strong they can be at this movement. I use the example with my athletes all the time of my M4 70 year old female athletes who both can rep out 40lb.+ dumbbells. While on the other end I have some people sandbagging with 30lb. dumbbells, but competition squatting 500-600lbs. Now I am not saying to have an ego and just do a ton of weight for the sake of it. But for those athletes I’ve had who have progressed these properly through the correct mechanics, I’d argue there isn’t a better lower body accessory movement for a powerlifter.

My Top 3 Favorite Squat Variations – CLICK HERE

It’s become increasingly common to implement variations of the squat, bench press, and deadlift within training. Now revert back 20 years, and even now to an extent, conjugate reigned supreme and variation was a must. But around 2015 things started to shift towards hyper-specificity, and most people found low sustainability in that training style. Now we’ve seemed to find a happy medium between variation and specificity, in large part to an increased focus on prescribing variation with thoughtful intent and long term progression and sustainability. In my latest YouTube video, I start a 3 part series looking at my top 3 favorite variations in the squat, bench press, and deadlift, starting with squat in part 1. To set the framework for the series as a whole, I first breakdown the needs and benefits of variation, and cover the 7 primary reasons I implement any type of variation within a program. From there, I dive deep into my top 3 favorite squat variations. I look at the benefits they serve and why I like them so much. I show how to do them correctly to get their full benefit. I look at who these variations would benefit and under what scenarios I find these to be of most benefit. But also, I look at when not to program these variations and when they might not be the best fit. And then lastly for each one, I break down how and when I typically implement these within training. Click the link above to view!