Optimal strength training for runners

Just missed 275 on my squats Friday. I have more or less decided on my squat form--grip, bar position, stance--and everything felt fine at 225, which was my target for the day, so I decided, what the hay, let's see what I can do. My previous 1RM PR is 265, and it felt, as I failed, that probably with 10-20 pounds less I probably could've ascended. Next time I'll pyramid up in 10- or 20-pound increments from 225.

So I guess now I'm working on my squats as well as my deadlifts. Will try to get it up to 315 I guess. I think the key now will be hip drive. I've been trying to hard to keep my torso in a fixed position coming out of the bottom, but looks like it's OK to lead with the butt a bit:

On Wednesday my bench started to feel comfortable with the shoulder-width grip at 185, so I'll probably start working on getting that back up to 225 again too.

So four 45-pound plates on each end of the 45-pound barbell for the DL (405), three plates for the Squat (315), two plates for the Bench Press, Power Clean, and BB row (225), and then one plate for the OH Press (135). Then throw in 10 bodyweight chinups/pullups for good measure, and those are my ST goals for the time being. After that, will probably work more on the plyometrics/mobility/agility stuff. For running, still wanting a two-hour half-marathon and a 24-minute 5K. Or maybe a 50-minute 10K.

If I want to work on the bench, then I should probably do that twice a week too, so I could make Monday and Wednesday my heavy days, and then Friday run through everything quickly at lighter weights, something like this (set/rep schemes are just approximations, warm-up sets for the big lifts not included):

Monday
Deadlift 1RM to back-off sets
BB OH Press 3x5, DB OH Press 2x5, Raises 1x8, Swing 2x5
Hyperextensions, Pike, Hanging Leg Raises
Pullup--wide prone grip 3x5, Pullup--neutral grip 3x5, Ab Rollout 2x5, Straight Arm Pulldown 2x8, Face Pull 2x8

Wednesday
Squat 1RM to back-off sets, OH Squat 2x5
BB Bench Press 3x5, Dips 3x5, Cable Flyes 2x5, Reverse Flyes 2x5. Lawnmower 1x8
BB/Inverted Row 3x5, DB Row 3x3, Russian Twist 2x5, GolfSwing 1x8

Friday
Lite Deadlift 2x5, High Pull 3x3, Power Clean 3x3, Lite Squat 2x5
Lite BB Bench Press 2x5, Lite BB OH Press 2x5, Lite DB Row 2x5, Pullover 2x5,
Hyperextensions, Pike, Hanging Leg Raises
Chinups 3x5
Curls 2x5, Pushdown 2x5, Cable Rows 2x5,

Now I need to think a little bit more about ordering, so that I can get back to minimizing equipment changes.

This morning my shoulders are pretty sore from the high pulls and power cleans yesterday. Going on a run down by the river later. Didn't have the motivation to go on my run first thing this morning.
 
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Added 10lbs to my walking load, by attaching some ankle weights to the front waist strap. Up to 33lbs, now. This should be enough until my vest arrives. Noticed increased adaptation and strengthening in the feet again.

My left knee is adjusting also. I think that my bunion and weak foot was causing me to put less weight on the left, so that whole side is now adapting.

Taking a cue from Lee, I've been mixing up some extra protein powder for my morning walk and afternoon workout. It's pure protein, so really only about 200 extra cals a day. Shouldn't slow down the weight loss, and might help spare muscle. Maybe...
 
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Added 10lbs to my walking load, by attaching some ankle weights to the front waist strap. Up to 33lbs, now. This should be enough until my vest arrives. Noticed increased adaptation and strengthening in the feet again.

My left knee is adjusting also. I think that my bunion and weak foot was causing me to put less weight on the left, so that whole side is now adapting.

Taking a cue from Lee, I've been mixing up some extra protein powder for my morning walk and afternoon workout. It's pure protein, so really only about 200 extra cals a day. Shouldn't slow down the weight loss, and might help spare muscle. Maybe...

Keep us updated I am interested to hear your experience. It's definitely something I would consider doing more of if there is a good benefit. Even if it would only toughen up to the planear surface.
 
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Did a build up to see how heavy I could lift with the trap bar and got up to 175kgs! I went to 180 and think I could have pulled it but I didn't want the struggle that much. Now I have to see if it translates to a regular DL.
 
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Just missed 275 on my squats Friday. I have more or less decided on my squat form--grip, bar position, stance--and everything felt fine at 225, which was my target for the day, so I decided, what the hay, let's see what I can do. My previous 1RM PR is 265, and it felt, as I failed, that probably with 10-20 pounds less I probably could've ascended. Next time I'll pyramid up in 10- or 20-pound increments from 225.

So I guess now I'm working on my squats as well as my deadlifts. Will try to get it up to 315 I guess. I think the key now will be hip drive. I've been trying to hard to keep my torso in a fixed position coming out of the bottom, but looks like it's OK to lead with the butt a bit:

On Wednesday my bench started to feel comfortable with the shoulder-width grip at 185, so I'll probably start working on getting that back up to 225 again too.

So four 45-pound plates on each end of the 45-pound barbell for the DL (405), three plates for the Squat (315), two plates for the Bench Press, Power Clean, and BB row (225), and then one plate for the OH Press (135). Then throw in 10 bodyweight chinups/pullups for good measure, and those are my ST goals for the time being. After that, will probably work more on the plyometrics/mobility/agility stuff. For running, still wanting a two-hour half-marathon and a 24-minute 5K. Or maybe a 50-minute 10K.

If I want to work on the bench, then I should probably do that twice a week too, so I could make Monday and Wednesday my heavy days, and then Friday run through everything quickly at lighter weights, something like this (set/rep schemes are just approximations, warm-up sets for the big lifts not included):
ing.

Hip drive has always been difficult for me it might be why I prefer a higher squat. Rip teaches basically a good morning squat in a way?


I tend to squat more like this if you forward to 2 :40 it's what I would consider an ass to grass squat.

I think a body weight press is something I'm gonna shoot for? I'll see how the squats go up 315 has always bee banging out there in my mind.

I' ve also been thinking more about back tension in the bench and it's making me think I am using g too much of my traps and not enough lats? I'm going to try to find a good list of cues.
 
Hip drive has always been difficult for me it might be why I prefer a higher squat. Rip teaches basically a good morning squat in a way?


I tend to squat more like this if you forward to 2 :40 it's what I would consider an ass to grass squat.

I think a body weight press is something I'm gonna shoot for? I'll see how the squats go up 315 has always bee banging out there in my mind.

I' ve also been thinking more about back tension in the bench and it's making me think I am using g too much of my traps and not enough lats? I'm going to try to find a good list of cues.
Yah, that looks like true AtG. He has hip drive coming up though, same as I see in the three videos I posted. It's not one fluid movement but rather two phases, the first of which leads with the hips, and then the second following as he straightens up--the "good morning" movement as you say. I think if I can master this subtlety, I'll be able to add 20-40 pounds to my squat. Still, I don't want to get too caught up in numbers with the squat. I want to do them with the form that most benefits me in overall strength gains. AtG seems like the way to go, even if it means lifting a little less weight than just breaking parallel. Or alternatively, I could do my singles to just below parallel and then AtG for my worksets, or vice versa, I dunno.

Body weight press would be great. Probably not realistic for me though. Still, progress could speed up now that I'm doing overhead presses twice a week. I like the twice-a-week idea quite a bit. Maybe I'll move my dips over to Friday's workout so that I work the chest a bit more twice a week too. In any case, after years of favoring the bench press over the overhead press, I'm going to really focus on getting stronger in the (seated) overhead press until I get up to at least 135.

Not sure how to approach the deadlifts today. I'm thinking after the 345 single last week, it might be best to do 3x5x315 today. In general, the plan might be to do 1-2RM just every other week, we'll see.

A lot of people claim that getting their rows up to par with the bench has really helped their bench, so yeah, figuring out how to engage the lats properly must be a key to a big bench. Lemme know what you find as far as cues go.

Did a build up to see how heavy I could lift with the trap bar and got up to 175kgs! I went to 180 and think I could have pulled it but I didn't want the struggle that much. Now I have to see if it translates to a regular DL.

Haha, like I said, the contest is yours to lose. Congrats! Let us know how the regular DL goes. Sounds like you're pretty close to 405.

This makes me think, maybe instead of doing lite deadlifts and squats on Friday, maybe I could do trap bar deadlifts at maybe medium weight, since trap bar DLs are kind of in-between a BB DL and a Squat. Something like this:

Monday
Lift: Deadlift 1RM to back-off
Push: BB OH Press 3x5, DB OH Press 2x5, Raises 1x8, Swing 2x5
Pull: Pullup-wide 3x5, Pullup Neut 3x5, Ab Rollout 2x5, Straight Arm Pulldown 2x8, Face Pull 2x8

Wednesday
Lift: Squat 1RM to back-off, OH Squat 2x5
Push: BB Bench Press 3x5, Cable Flyes 2x5, Reverse Flyes 2x5. GolfSwing 1x8
Pull: BB/Inverted Row 3x5, DB Row 3x3, Russian Twist 2x5, Cable Row 2x8, Lawnmower 1x8

Friday
Lifts: Power Clean 3x3, High Pull 3x3, Hex-bar Deadlift 2x5, Hex-bar Jump 3x3
Push: DB Bench 2x5, Dips, OH Press 2x5, Pullover 2x5
Pull: Chinups 3x5, Cable Rows 2x5
Arm: Curls 2x5, Pushdown 2x5
 
Keep us updated I am interested to hear your experience. It's definitely something I would consider doing more of if there is a good benefit. Even if it would only toughen up to the planear surface.
I am definitely seeing some plantar development, as well as strengthening of the big toe and foot overall, maybe calves. I feel most of the effects from the knees down.

I think that it's helping to develop a more efficient gait pattern, as I'm trying to move this weight around using the least amount of energy. I can tell that my gait is changing as the callus pattern is changing. The plantar development I am certain of, as my soles are a bit tingly and sore. Even if one if is lightedfooted, one can only step so lightly while carrying weight.

I can't say that it's helped my lifts, but walking around unhindered does seem speedier and more effortless.
 
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Everything felt heavy yesterday, musta been the humidity, which was pretty thick. So 3x1x315, then back-off sets of 3x3x275 for the deadlift. 405 felt a long ways away, but at least 315/three plates is comfortable enough that I can slog through it on a bad day.

Had to reduce the seated OH Press to 85 lbs in order to maintain decent form. 95lbs did not want to go up. I'm wondering if twice a week for the presses is going to work out. Will keep at it until my shoulder complains I guess. Did dumbbell OH Presses too, at just 35 pounds, and then tried front raises with 25-pound dumbbells but the top of my delts didn't seem to like that.

Assisted pullups, wide prone grip and neutral grip, then straight-arm pulldowns and face-pulls to finish the festivities. I haven't done any pulldowns since I got my new rack, but I think they're good assistance exercises. The straight-arm pulldown is a good antagonistic match for front raises, and the face-pull helps develop the posterior deltoid, a point of emphasis for me as I try to correct imbalances between it and my anterior delt.

In general, gotta find a way to work in about 10 minutes of assistance exercises at the end of my workouts. I think I'm at a point with the main exercises that a few well-chosen assistance exercises will really help keep moving things along. On the pulldowns, I liked how the new custom cable with the accurate/real load felt.

Over the weekend I picked up 18 10-pound plates, 16" dumbbell handles, two 25-pound plates, and four 5-pound plates for 90 dollars. So now, together with the 14" and 18" dumbbell handles and 10-pound plates I already had, I have (single) dumbbells of 80, 100, 120, and 140, with the option of 90, 110, and 130 if I put on the 5-pound plates. So I'll really be able to hit the bentover rows tomorrow, and pyramid down as I blast away at my lats.

With all the 5-pound plates I have laying around, I'm thinking of having a dedicated OH press barbell that I can use standing up. As Abide has suggested, it can be useful having a bunch of different bars around. The 5-pound plates just barely touch the ceiling at full extension, so with a little knee-bend, I can manage it. Seated OH presses are great though, for enforcing strict form and making the targeted muscles do all the work.

Daydreaming about getting a heavy bag again . . .
 
Wednesday afternoon, felt tired, and still sore in my legs from the Tuesday run, so decided to hit the bench press right away and put off the squats until Thursday. Did two sets of five reps at 185 after warm-up sets. The first set felt a bit stiff, but then I started to loosen up on the second set. When I got to the third set of my 3x5 routine, the first rep felt really good so I re-racked it and decided to try it with another 20 pounds. That also felt pretty good, so I put on another 20, to get it up to 225, my old 1-2 RM with the wider grip. That went up, but it was a bit of a struggle with good form. Then I pyramided down in 10-pound increments, 1-2 reps, back to 185.

Hmmn, so I guess I've adjusted to the narrower grip. I don't know how standard Olympic bars are, but I place my hands just inside the line within the knurled area.
knurl line.jpg
That's 30 inches, which is also the maximum width within the posts of my rack. Anything wider and I have to place my hands outside of the posts. I wonder if all the recent back work has helped improve my narrower-grip bench as well.

Then onto the rows. I did the bentover BB rows Pendley-style. 185 felt a little too heavy for maintaining strict form, which is crucial in BB rows, so I brought it down to 165 and did 3x5. Then the DB rows. I did 3x3x120, then 2x5x100. By then I was nice and warmed up. I liked how the hips came into play with 120-pound dumbbells. Terrible form in a traditional sense, but it's a really great full-back workout to just yank that mother up. Finally, I freaking smashed the Russian Twists, it almost felt like a fight. I think I like doing those in the 5-8 rep range, rather than my usual 3-5 rep range.

I still had a little time left, I was good and warmed up and my legs no longer felt so sore, so I thought I would be good to work on my squats at low weight, and really try to get a feel for true ass-to-grass squatting. The image of Klokov in Abide's posted video, calmly pausing in deep squat before bringing it back up effortlessly, had been haunting me for the last day or two.

At first I just used the bar. I noticed in the videos I posted the other day, and also in Abide's video of Klokov, that nobody uses Rippetoe's thumbless grip. A week or two ago I consulted with my former-gym-owner friend about this, the Zubaz guy, and he confirmed that unless you're doing really heavy weights, you're not going to stress out your elbows or biceps with a full grip. So I just grabbed the bar with the same grip I use with the bench press, placed the bar between my traps and shoulder muscles, and unracked it. Hmnn, everything felt solid and stable.

Then down I went. I got into the same low squat as Klokov and held it for several seconds to get a feel for it. Did several reps, pausing slightly at the bottom each time, then added 50 pounds, to make it 95 pounds. Did that for a few sets and everything felt pretty good and effortless, so I brought the weight up to 135. I experimented a little with hip drive, but that seemed to stress out my knees a bit. So I kept coming straight up, after pausing a bit at the bottom still. Really felt good.

So maybe I've figured out my squat form. I think I'll do one more day at 135 and then begin adding more weight again, maybe coming up in 10-20-pound increments, sort of rebuilding my squat. After a while I'll eliminate the pause at the bottom and begin incorporating the stretch reflex. At the moment, however, I think the pause is a good technique to make sure I'm doing the full squat. This will be a long-term project, but it would be really cool to do 315 or more AtG. Maybe forget about the power cleans/high pulls for a while and do more squats until they're up to par?

Anyway, there you have it, a full hour to do five exercises.

Edit: Today I'm extremely sore. Now that I'm pushing the bench press again, I don't think doing heavy bench and rows in the same day is going to work. In fact, I'm wondering about the twice-a-week plan. Probably just once-a-week if you're going heavy, and just two heavy exercises per workout. So back to something like, with only pullups/chinups done twice in a week:

Lift: Deadlift
Push: BB Bench Press
Pull: Pullups

Lift: Squat
Push: Dips
Pull: Rows & Russian Twist

Lift: Power Clean
Push: BB OH Press
Pull: Chinups

Along with whatever assistance exercises or variations of the main ones I can manage to work in.

Hip drive has always been difficult for me it might be why I prefer a higher squat. Rip teaches basically a good morning squat in a way?

I tend to squat more like this if you forward to 2 :40 it's what I would consider an ass to grass squat.
Looking at the videos again, and I have to agree with you. The woman in the Rip video is really doing a good morning squat. The way Klokov does it feels much more natural to me.
 
I think Rippetoe is exaggerating a bit to teach hip drive and if you put your feet out pretty far it does kind of look like a good morning with bent knees. But it'd good you are finding what works best for you. It's really an individual thing for sure.

Pause squats are a great tool for teaching power out of the hole. I do my ware up sets almost exclusively as pause squats to warm up and open up. They take a ton out of you though when you go heavy. So probably better staying on the lighter side.

It's funny you are doing the rows as a semi compound lift. I have never thought of them like that but it makes sense. How often in life would you isolate the lats? That's a incredible amount of weight you have now. Stand alone dumbbells haha.

Yeah I think hands inside that ring is a good point of reference. I usually place my first joint of my thumbs in the smooth part in the middle but it think that is almost identical to your way. I used to put my ring finger on that marking you indicated so it's significantly more narrow.

I finally got in a god workout today. I have been out of commission for a few days expanding the family. It felt good to do squats. Oddly enough I am starting to like them again maybe taking a break was good. I am going to jump to 225 next week since 205 was going up real easy today. I like the EMOM and 2 reps I got in 12 sets so that is pretty decent volume. I had to cancel the triathalon Sunday a little bummed but I'll find another soon enough. I also went to a tri group training and they were doing sprints on the track brings back memories of track in high school. At least now I will have a little more time to practice swimming.
 
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Oh yeah my seated press is about 75% of my standing press. They are radically different exercises. The seated version is primarily a shoulder lift and the standing press only seems to hit the shoulders closer to the top.
 
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Weight vest is nice. Took a bit of trial and error to get it adjusted properly. Put 44lbs in it and everything felt okay.

Balance was better than the backpack. It was also nice, not to have those ankle weights clipped on to the waist strap on the backpack, as they were putting pressure on my bladder. (Makes for a quicker walk.) In the Florida heat, it's a fine line between dehydration and overhydration.

Problem is that all 44lbs end up putting pressure on about 6 sq inches on my shoulders and collarbones despite using a rolled up hand towel for cushioning. Going to try a bigger towel tomorrow.

I also must be scrunching up my shoulders at work, as I could feel my muscles getting stretched out by the weight vest. Was causing a bit of a headache at first.
 
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I just came to the realization that -I AM- the weirdo in my neighborhood who goes around barefoot, wearing long sleeves and slacks (to prevent the mosquitoes from eating me alive), who has the big dogs, was wearing a bright orange backpack, who is now wearing weight vest that looks like a tactical vest. :D

Better than sitting on the couch watching the tube like everyone else!
 
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I just came to the realization that -I AM- the weirdo in my neighborhood who goes around barefoot, wearing long sleeves and slacks (to prevent the mosquitoes from eating me alive), who has the big dogs, was wearing a bright orange backpack, who is now wearing weight vest that looks like a tactical vest. :D

Better than sitting on the couch watching the tube like everyone else!

You should buy a high altitude simulation mask too. I think you go from being the weirdo to neighborhood goof ball pretty quickly it's like a begrudging acceptance in my experience.
 
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I think Rippetoe is exaggerating a bit to teach hip drive and if you put your feet out pretty far it does kind of look like a good morning with bent knees. But it'd good you are finding what works best for you. It's really an individual thing for sure.

Pause squats are a great tool for teaching power out of the hole. I do my ware up sets almost exclusively as pause squats to warm up and open up. They take a ton out of you though when you go heavy. So probably better staying on the lighter side.

It's funny you are doing the rows as a semi compound lift. I have never thought of them like that but it makes sense. How often in life would you isolate the lats? That's a incredible amount of weight you have now. Stand alone dumbbells haha.

Yeah I think hands inside that ring is a good point of reference. I usually place my first joint of my thumbs in the smooth part in the middle but it think that is almost identical to your way. I used to put my ring finger on that marking you indicated so it's significantly more narrow.

I finally got in a god workout today. I have been out of commission for a few days expanding the family. It felt good to do squats. Oddly enough I am starting to like them again maybe taking a break was good. I am going to jump to 225 next week since 205 was going up real easy today. I like the EMOM and 2 reps I got in 12 sets so that is pretty decent volume. I had to cancel the triathalon Sunday a little bummed but I'll find another soon enough. I also went to a tri group training and they were doing sprints on the track brings back memories of track in high school. At least now I will have a little more time to practice swimming.
Thanks for the tips.

Yah, I'm using the pause squats for learning technique, so I'll start using the stretch reflex again once I go heavier and my form starts to feel automatic.

For BB rows, I still maintain strict form so as not to strain my lower back, but with the DB rows and the support of the opposite arm and knee, it seems OK to make it more of a compound lift, as you say. As we've discussed, the back is a complicated set of muscles, so it seems best to do several different versions of rows. I can virtually feel my back growing these days. I've decided to take my hyper bench home in order to do hyperextensions, maybe even barbell hyperextensions (barbell on shoulders as in a squat), as part of my ST routine. Same with the adjustable box for box jumps. I rarely get around to using them in my office, and anyway, I think it's good to get in 48 hours of recovery, so best to load up the ST a bit more and then have a true day-off the following day, just doing running and, in my office, mobility, agility, and lite 'core' stuff, but no plyometrics.

Cool that EMOM is working out for you. I like your ability to vary protocols. I'm stuck in my usual approach, but it's getting results still. Just seems best for me to lift as heavy as possible and then take somewhat leisurely rest periods, slowly upping the tempo of the workout as I get to lighter exercises and higher reps, finishing with quasi plyometric stuff and really short rest periods. I guess it allows me to ease into things, kinda like running the first mile of a run relatively slow and then doing faster fartleks towards the end, for the last mile or so. In any case, I'm enjoying getting away from steady-paced running. It was getting to be too much of a habit.

Yeah, starting to find my marks with the new Olympic bar and rack posts, where to put my hands for each lift, and what hole height to use in the rack. For the bar, I basically have two positions, the one just inside that smooth ring, and then in the middle of the knurled area, to the inside of the smooth ring, for deadlifts, BB rows, and maybe a few other things.

Wow, congratulations! It's a little ambiguous about which phases of 'expanding the family' was involved, but I assume it was the last one. So you're up to three now? That's a good number. Lately there's been talk of a third here as well but I don't think I want to go through all that again. My toddling son is just starting to get easy. Still, three is the perfect size, with a spare and more interesting group dynamics--shifting alliances and whatnot--instead of the simple, stable dyadic relationship.

Going to try hex/trap-bar deadlifts later today. I'll probably keep it light though. I've also been meaning to try hex-bar jumps. We'll see.

I didn't know you ran high school track. What events do you do?
I just came to the realization that -I AM- the weirdo in my neighborhood who goes around barefoot, wearing long sleeves and slacks (to prevent the mosquitoes from eating me alive), who has the big dogs, was wearing a bright orange backpack, who is now wearing weight vest that looks like a tactical vest. :D

Better than sitting on the couch watching the tube like everyone else!

Ha Sid, that's the great thing about this site and its forums -- we get to meet other neighborhood weirdos/eccentrics/goofballs and not feel so alone.
 
Using a full bath towel rolled up around my neck. Way better now. Mostly hidden under my oversized shirt.

Weight feels pretty manageable. Going to go up to full 60 in a few days. If that's good, then I think I've exhausted the benefits from this exercise, and I plan to get back into running with my new and improved gait and stronger feet!
 
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j
Using a full bath towel rolled up around my neck. Way better now. Mostly hidden under my oversized shirt.

Weight feels pretty manageable. Going to go up to full 60 in a few days. If that's good, then I think I've exhausted the benefits from this exercise, and I plan to get back into running with my new and improved gait and stronger feet!

Which vest did you end up buying?

Thanks for the tips.

Yah, I'm using the pause squats for learning technique, so I'll start using the stretch reflex again once I go heavier and my form starts to feel automatic.

For BB rows, I still maintain strict form so as not to strain my lower back, but with the DB rows and the support of the opposite arm and knee, it seems OK to make it more of a compound lift, as you say. As we've discussed, the back is a complicated set of muscles, so it seems best to do several different versions of rows. I can virtually feel my back growing these days. I've decided to take my hyper bench home in order to do hyperextensions, maybe even barbell hyperextensions (barbell on shoulders as in a squat), as part of my ST routine. Same with the adjustable box for box jumps. I rarely get around to using them in my office, and anyway, I think it's good to get in 48 hours of recovery, so best to load up the ST a bit more and then have a true day-off the following day, just doing running and, in my office, mobility, agility, and lite 'core' stuff, but no plyometrics.

Cool that EMOM is working out for you. I like your ability to vary protocols. I'm stuck in my usual approach, but it's getting results still. Just seems best for me to lift as heavy as possible and then take somewhat leisurely rest periods, slowly upping the tempo of the workout as I get to lighter exercises and higher reps, finishing with quasi plyometric stuff and really short rest periods. I guess it allows me to ease into things, kinda like running the first mile of a run relatively slow and then doing faster fartleks towards the end, for the last mile or so. In any case, I'm enjoying getting away from steady-paced running. It was getting to be too much of a habit.

Yeah, starting to find my marks with the new Olympic bar and rack posts, where to put my hands for each lift, and what hole height to use in the rack. For the bar, I basically have two positions, the one just inside that smooth ring, and then in the middle of the knurled area, to the inside of the smooth ring, for deadlifts, BB rows, and maybe a few other things.

Wow, congratulations! It's a little ambiguous about which phases of 'expanding the family' was involved, but I assume it was the last one. So you're up to three now? That's a good number. Lately there's been talk of a third here as well but I don't think I want to go through all that again. My toddling son is just starting to get easy. Still, three is the perfect size, with a spare and more interesting group dynamics--shifting alliances and whatnot--instead of the simple, stable dyadic relationship.

Going to try hex/trap-bar deadlifts later today. I'll probably keep it light though. I've also been meaning to try hex-bar jumps. We'll see.

I didn't know you ran high school track. What events do you do?.

He's the fourth not sure how I got coerced into this one. But once you have 2 what's a couple more? Now we are done though as Roger Murtaugh once said "I'm too old for this..."

Yeah I kept busy back in high school I did an odd mix of events pole vault, triple jump, hurdles and 400m.

That's a good point about only doing it with chest supported rows. I can imagine the BB rows may cause some lower back soreness without good form.
 
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