Stupid Questions Thread

[MarkKO]

do training loads always necessitate a degree of form breakdown

Training loads should never necessitate any degree of form breakdown.

This x1000

You shouldn't really ever use a load you can't move 'correctly', ie with the required technique and control.

What technical breakdown *can* do is tell you where you're weak, although fairly often it's lack of technical proficiency rather than weakness.

A reasonably good guide I find to avoid getting to the point where technique goes to hell is work on being explosive and cutting a set short as soon as it becomes noticeable that you're not able to accelerate through the movement. The added benefit is that by constantly working on accelerating through the movement is that you maximise muscle recruitment almost regardless of load.

So for example let's say I'm doing an AMRAP at 80%. Reps one through five are all explosive, I'm definitely accelerating throughout. Reps six through eight I'm still accelerating but it's starting to feel harder to do. Rep nine I can fee that at my sticking point I'm slowing down. That's my last rep.

Nine reps at 80%? Reps six-seven are grinders for me, I may not get an eighth, and rep nine is me wriggling out from under the bar.

On a good day, sure. If I do an AMRAP it's usually going to be between 75 and 80% and I'll be looking at somewhere between eight and 10 reps depending on the day.

[alphagamma]

Can anyone recommend me a program?

I found out that I am apparently quite a fatigue resistant lifter, I could do 80% for 15-17 reps on my BP so on paper doing high volume templates such as RP's Hypertrophy/physique program should work out pretty well. Unfortunately, even with high volume (keeping with RPE 7), I regressed instead. Same story with Hanley's HVLF, etc. What am I missing? Higher frequency or something?

Have you tried using top sets with load drops for volume?

So, like
4@9,
Then drop 8% for 3 more sets of 4?

Might work

1.5 month update:

This worked for like 2 weeks then recovery wise, I just crashed. I wasn't even doing any other lifts, just SQ and BP 1x a week. Cant seem to recover week to week for some reason.

Maybe worth trying 4 @ rpe 8?

[Hanley]

Can anyone recommend me a program?

I found out that I am apparently quite a fatigue resistant lifter, I could do 80% for 15-17 reps on my BP so on paper doing high volume templates such as RP's Hypertrophy/physique program should work out pretty well. Unfortunately, even with high volume (keeping with RPE 7), I regressed instead. Same story with Hanley's HVLF, etc. What am I missing? Higher frequency or something?

Have you tried using top sets with load drops for volume?

So, like
4@9,
Then drop 8% for 3 more sets of 4?

Might work

1.5 month update:

This worked for like 2 weeks then recovery wise, I just crashed. I wasn't even doing any other lifts, just SQ and BP 1x a week. Cant seem to recover week to week for some reason.

Maybe worth trying 4 @ rpe 8?

Yeah, I'd try 4@8 instead. Is recovery stuff all dialed-in (sleep, nutrition, stress, etc?)

[alphagamma]

Can anyone recommend me a program?

I found out that I am apparently quite a fatigue resistant lifter, I could do 80% for 15-17 reps on my BP so on paper doing high volume templates such as RP's Hypertrophy/physique program should work out pretty well. Unfortunately, even with high volume (keeping with RPE 7), I regressed instead. Same story with Hanley's HVLF, etc. What am I missing? Higher frequency or something?

Have you tried using top sets with load drops for volume?

So, like
4@9,
Then drop 8% for 3 more sets of 4?

Might work

1.5 month update:

This worked for like 2 weeks then recovery wise, I just crashed. I wasn't even doing any other lifts, just SQ and BP 1x a week. Cant seem to recover week to week for some reason.

Maybe worth trying 4 @ rpe 8?

Yeah, I'd try 4@8 instead. Is recovery stuff all dialed-in (sleep, nutrition, stress, etc?)

It's about average imo. Nothing that bad. I've always had poor recovery ability even though I'm in my 20s still.

[janoycresva]

It's about average imo. Nothing that bad. I've always had poor recovery ability even though I'm in my 20s still.

Height/weight? Squat lowbar/highbar? Deadlift sumo/conventional? How are your leverages for these lifts and how long is your ROM on them (short/average/long)?

Generally (at least in my observation) taller people with worse leverages and longer ranges of motion for particular lifts will get beat up much more by those lifts, especially at higher RPEs. Might be worthwhile to do minimal volume on those lifts in an intensity range where technique is good and you aren’t grinding, and drive all the muscular adaptation with high fatigue sets of lifts that are easier to recover from and have high SFR for you.

[lehman906]

It's about average imo. Nothing that bad. I've always had poor recovery ability even though I'm in my 20s still.

Height/weight? Squat lowbar/highbar? Deadlift sumo/conventional? How are your leverages for these lifts and how long is your ROM on them (short/average/long)?

Generally (at least in my observation) taller people with worse leverages and longer ranges of motion for particular lifts will get beat up much more by those lifts, especially at higher RPEs. Might be worthwhile to do minimal volume on those lifts in an intensity range where technique is good and you aren’t grinding, and drive all the muscular adaptation with high fatigue sets of lifts that are easier to recover from and have high SFR for you.

Literally me with squats. I'm only a touch over 6', but it's all in my legs, and squats just kill me. Meanwhile, I can deadlift for days.

[alphagamma]

It's about average imo. Nothing that bad. I've always had poor recovery ability even though I'm in my 20s still.

Height/weight? Squat lowbar/highbar? Deadlift sumo/conventional? How are your leverages for these lifts and how long is your ROM on them (short/average/long)?

Generally (at least in my observation) taller people with worse leverages and longer ranges of motion for particular lifts will get beat up much more by those lifts, especially at higher RPEs. Might be worthwhile to do minimal volume on those lifts in an intensity range where technique is good and you aren’t grinding, and drive all the muscular adaptation with high fatigue sets of lifts that are easier to recover from and have high SFR for you.

Yeah leverage wise, my ROMS are higher than average, unfortunately.
6 ft 1, 220 lb, lowbar. conv DL. Long arms and I think femurs too...

[EggMcMuffin]

How do I cope with body dysmorphia? I'm nasty, brutish and short so I've always struggled with feeling comfortable in my own skin, but I never realized to the degree that gaining a bunch of weight (even "good weight") would fuck with my head. Of course I used to be freakishly skinny (135lbs at 5'9) when I was younger so I will always think I'm fat compared to that phase but Goddamn, I find myself freaking out each time my moob jiggles.

Probably a bad idea to ask this here but Barbell Medicine isn't really that open of a group anymore lol

[lehman906]

How do I cope with body dysmorphia? I'm nasty, brutish and short so I've always struggled with feeling comfortable in my own skin, but I never realized to the degree that gaining a bunch of weight (even "good weight") would fuck with my head. Of course I used to be freakishly skinny (135lbs at 5'9) when I was younger so I will always think I'm fat compared to that phase but Goddamn, I find myself freaking out each time my moob jiggles.

Probably a bad idea to ask this here but Barbell Medicine isn't really that open of a group anymore lol

I heard someone once say that we will always be who we were at 12 years old, at least a little bit. The fat kid will always be a fat kid no matter how ripped they get, and for guys like me who wrestled at 130 at almost 6' in my junior year, I will always see myself as skinny. I can't offer any perfect solutions because I still see myself as that scrawny kid who graduated from college at 145 lbs, but here are the things I do that help me cope:

1) Use Logic brain against Crazy Brain. I know that 6' and 200 lbs is not skinny. What I see is not necessarily what IS.
2) Try to focus on how you feel and what you can do. Does my body feel better and/or more capable?
3) Focus on achieving the goal that you want while still taking a realistic view of what can be done. I'm probably not putting on a lot more muscle at 48, but I can still try, and I can enjoy the journey.
4) Crave compliments from others and then upon receiving one, immediately become uncomfortable and destroy it with awkward self-deprecating humor.

....some of these approaches are healthier than others.....

[mouse]

How do I cope with body dysmorphia?

If you find out let me (and probably at least a few of us) know.

Real talk... I don't know, wish I did, and it's probably something that will stick around forever. As far back as I can remember I've never been a skinny dude, and I know how it feels to be actually fat. North of 300 at my heaviest, and around ~210 at my lowest in my adult life (I was 198 for like a day once at the height of my self diagnosed eating disorder). Currently too heavy for my own comfort (and working up the will to do something about it again), but through all of it, even when most people thought I looked somewhat jacked, I just see the same fat dude and the same gross lumpy gut.

It sucks. I really wish I was capable of the mental gymnastics that the body positivity crowd seems to be capable of.

[DCR]

How do I cope with body dysmorphia? I'm nasty, brutish and short so I've always struggled with feeling comfortable in my own skin, but I never realized to the degree that gaining a bunch of weight (even "good weight") would fuck with my head. Of course I used to be freakishly skinny (135lbs at 5'9) when I was younger so I will always think I'm fat compared to that phase but Goddamn, I find myself freaking out each time my moob jiggles.

Probably a bad idea to ask this here but Barbell Medicine isn't really that open of a group anymore lol

Fuck you for calling 5’9, which last I checked is average male height, short.

I don’t have any good advice re: the dysmorphia, since I have the opposite issue - often lying to myself that I’m not fat when in fact I am.

[ChasingCurls69]

How do I cope with body dysmorphia? I'm nasty, brutish and short so I've always struggled with feeling comfortable in my own skin, but I never realized to the degree that gaining a bunch of weight (even "good weight") would fuck with my head. Of course I used to be freakishly skinny (135lbs at 5'9) when I was younger so I will always think I'm fat compared to that phase but Goddamn, I find myself freaking out each time my moob jiggles.

Probably a bad idea to ask this here but Barbell Medicine isn't really that open of a group anymore lol

There's always that phrase "The day you started lifting is the day you became forever small," but if it's getting to the point it severely interferes with how you feel about yourself then you might have to try the logic brain and focusing on some new movements (since you also seem to have attachment to performance in things like squat/bench/deadlift.)

Also the super srs option is seeing if your health insurance covers seeing someone for something like CBT/DBT.

[OverheadDeadlifts]

How do I cope with body dysmorphia? I'm nasty, brutish and short so I've always struggled with feeling comfortable in my own skin, but I never realized to the degree that gaining a bunch of weight (even "good weight") would fuck with my head. Of course I used to be freakishly skinny (135lbs at 5'9) when I was younger so I will always think I'm fat compared to that phase but Goddamn, I find myself freaking out each time my moob jiggles.

Probably a bad idea to ask this here but Barbell Medicine isn't really that open of a group anymore lol

I’ve improved a lot with regards to this over the past few months and it started with noticing that holy fuck, I think about myself way too much.

Think about if you had to walk somewhere. Do you frequently look at reflections of yourself in windows/mirrors? When you walk past someone is your focus on yourself and how you look to them? Do you think about your posture? How you’re walking? What your face is doing? If what you’re wearing looks weird or not? Do you ever find yourself needlessly checking your phone just to look like you’re doing something?

Here’s a task: go for a 20 min walk and AGGRESSIVELY project your attention outwards. Pay attention to the people you walk past; what they’re doing, what they look like. DO NOT ONCE think about yourself or anything you’re doing. If there’s a reflection, ignore it. Walk and act as if nobody can see you. Look at things, people, architecture, think about your surroundings. If you have an interaction with someone, focus on what they said, what they sounded like, their body language. Keep your focus outwards.

Please actually do this and then report back. I’d like to know somebody else’s experience, because the first time I did this it felt incredibly weird, but in a very good way.

[DCR]

@OverheadDeadlifts, that is an excellent post.

[lehman906]

How do I cope with body dysmorphia? I'm nasty, brutish and short so I've always struggled with feeling comfortable in my own skin, but I never realized to the degree that gaining a bunch of weight (even "good weight") would fuck with my head. Of course I used to be freakishly skinny (135lbs at 5'9) when I was younger so I will always think I'm fat compared to that phase but Goddamn, I find myself freaking out each time my moob jiggles.

Probably a bad idea to ask this here but Barbell Medicine isn't really that open of a group anymore lol

I’ve improved a lot with regards to this over the past few months and it started with noticing that holy fuck, I think about myself way too much.

Think about if you had to walk somewhere. Do you frequently look at reflections of yourself in windows/mirrors? When you walk past someone is your focus on yourself and how you look to them? Do you think about your posture? How you’re walking? What your face is doing? If what you’re wearing looks weird or not? Do you ever find yourself needlessly checking your phone just to look like you’re doing something?

Here’s a task: go for a 20 min walk and AGGRESSIVELY project your attention outwards. Pay attention to the people you walk past; what they’re doing, what they look like. DO NOT ONCE think about yourself or anything you’re doing. If there’s a reflection, ignore it. Walk and act as if nobody can see you. Look at things, people, architecture, think about your surroundings. If you have an interaction with someone, focus on what they said, what they sounded like, their body language. Keep your focus outwards.

Please actually do this and then report back. I’d like to know somebody else’s experience, because the first time I did this it felt incredibly weird, but in a very good way.

I will have to try this, because that is me to the letter.

[hector]

@OverheadDeadlifts, that is an excellent post.

Agreed.

[houzi]

I think I have a suitably stupid question.....

So im mostly focusing on building my bench press recently, with squat and deadlift strength sort of on the back burner. Ive been messing around with extremely high rep deadlifts (why... dont know...) and I managed to hit 150kg x20. This was tough, but its at around 60% of my all time PR of 250kg. Does this "mean" anything? Does it imply that i should stick to higher reps, higher volumes, high intensitues, anything?
I ask because i remember @Hanley saying something about a person who could do a ton of reps at 70-80%, but wouldnt get close to projected E1RM strength. This is very much me on deadlifts, my E1RM has always been higher than what is estimated.

[MarkKO]

I think I have a suitably stupid question.....

So im mostly focusing on building my bench press recently, with squat and deadlift strength sort of on the back burner. Ive been messing around with extremely high rep deadlifts (why... dont know...) and I managed to hit 150kg x20. This was tough, but its at around 60% of my all time PR of 250kg. Does this "mean" anything? Does it imply that i should stick to higher reps, higher volumes, high intensitues, anything?
I ask because i remember @Hanley saying something about a person who could do a ton of reps at 70-80%, but wouldnt get close to projected E1RM strength. This is very much me on deadlifts, my E1RM has always been higher than what is estimated.

You'd have to see this through, keep at the high rep deadlifts for a while and then peak. If your deadlift has gone up, then it probably does mean something.

TBH, I think rep numbers *can* be useful indicators but my own experience has been that this is more true for squat and bench. I can definitely get a pretty accurate idea of my top squat and bench from hard sets of eight to 10 (a set with no technical breakdown but no reps left in reserve, somewhere between 75 and 85 per cent); I've never trained deadlift that way, so I don't know if the same happens.

I'm not sure how a set of 20 would work in that respect though. My instinct, which may well be bullshit, tells me that the load would be too light to be able to get an accurate relationship to your top end. On the other hand, if you got to the point where you could hit 70% for 20 it would be hard to see how your top end wouldn't have gone up.

[houzi]

I think I have a suitably stupid question.....

So im mostly focusing on building my bench press recently, with squat and deadlift strength sort of on the back burner. Ive been messing around with extremely high rep deadlifts (why... dont know...) and I managed to hit 150kg x20. This was tough, but its at around 60% of my all time PR of 250kg. Does this "mean" anything? Does it imply that i should stick to higher reps, higher volumes, high intensitues, anything?
I ask because i remember @Hanley saying something about a person who could do a ton of reps at 70-80%, but wouldnt get close to projected E1RM strength. This is very much me on deadlifts, my E1RM has always been higher than what is estimated.

You'd have to see this through, keep at the high rep deadlifts for a while and then peak. If your deadlift has gone up, then it probably does mean something.

TBH, I think rep numbers *can* be useful indicators but my own experience has been that this is more true for squat and bench. I can definitely get a pretty accurate idea of my top squat and bench from hard sets of eight to 10 (a set with no technical breakdown but no reps left in reserve, somewhere between 75 and 85 per cent); I've never trained deadlift that way, so I don't know if the same happens.

I'm not sure how a set of 20 would work in that respect though. My instinct, which may well be bullshit, tells me that the load would be too light to be able to get an accurate relationship to your top end. On the other hand, if you got to the point where you could hit 70% for 20 it would be hard to see how your top end wouldn't have gone up.

Im intending to stick with it for a while longer and see where it ends up.

Im the same as you about squats and bench, my high rep or low rep sets have always generally correlated with actual 1RM strength.
And i generally agree with your instinct, a 20RM should be way too light to be able to project any sort of 1RM ability. But honestly i think i was more limited by lungs/work capacity than strength. My 20th rep wasnt much slower than the last few reps before it. Ill have to see if some improvements in work capacity lead to anything. 160kg x20 is my next target i guess, so around 64%.

[MarkKO]

I think I have a suitably stupid question.....

So im mostly focusing on building my bench press recently, with squat and deadlift strength sort of on the back burner. Ive been messing around with extremely high rep deadlifts (why... dont know...) and I managed to hit 150kg x20. This was tough, but its at around 60% of my all time PR of 250kg. Does this "mean" anything? Does it imply that i should stick to higher reps, higher volumes, high intensitues, anything?
I ask because i remember @Hanley saying something about a person who could do a ton of reps at 70-80%, but wouldnt get close to projected E1RM strength. This is very much me on deadlifts, my E1RM has always been higher than what is estimated.

You'd have to see this through, keep at the high rep deadlifts for a while and then peak. If your deadlift has gone up, then it probably does mean something.

TBH, I think rep numbers *can* be useful indicators but my own experience has been that this is more true for squat and bench. I can definitely get a pretty accurate idea of my top squat and bench from hard sets of eight to 10 (a set with no technical breakdown but no reps left in reserve, somewhere between 75 and 85 per cent); I've never trained deadlift that way, so I don't know if the same happens.

I'm not sure how a set of 20 would work in that respect though. My instinct, which may well be bullshit, tells me that the load would be too light to be able to get an accurate relationship to your top end. On the other hand, if you got to the point where you could hit 70% for 20 it would be hard to see how your top end wouldn't have gone up.

Im intending to stick with it for a while longer and see where it ends up.

Im the same as you about squats and bench, my high rep or low rep sets have always generally correlated with actual 1RM strength.
And i generally agree with your instinct, a 20RM should be way too light to be able to project any sort of 1RM ability. But honestly i think i was more limited by lungs/work capacity than strength. My 20th rep wasnt much slower than the last few reps before it. Ill have to see if some improvements in work capacity lead to anything. 160kg x20 is my next target i guess, so around 64%.

That's how I'd do it if I was going to.

Work capacity is underrated in powerlifting IMO. If nothing else, better work capacity will generally mean your recovery is better and that's not nothing.