Videos

First two minutes of this vid are worth a watch. Lu xiaojun's traps look as if they are ready to pop once the bar is "nestled" on them. :)

 
Tons of heavy pulls will do that to traps too. They look ready to burst because he is leaner than most lifters.
 
Like many, I've been watching Clarence's progress over the past few years. He's had some injuries to contend with (and an op) but is now seemingly in good shape and continuing to make good progress. This is his most recent vid.

 
Knee-wiggle on a ME front squat. This seems to help a lot of lifters coming out of the hole: hips go back, knees come in a bit, then hips come forward and knees go out again to bring torso back into upright position. This is not good to do most of the time but seems to happen almost naturally for a max lift.

 
Massive knee shift.

ME front squats don't seem like a good thing to do very often, to me at least.
I think it's likely linked to getting a bounce off the calves out of the hole. Allowing the torso to tip forward a bit means the knees can come back a bit too. But then the torso has to come back into a more upright position to keep the bar racked and to finish the lift, so the knees have to go back out so the hips can come forward.
Stronger adductor and hams would no doubt help.
 
Last edited:
I think it's likely linked to getting a bounce off the calves out of the hole. Allowing the torso to tip forward a bit means the knees can come back a bit too. But then the torso has to come back into a more upright position to keep the bar racked and to finish the lift, so the knees have to go back out so the hips can come forward.
Stronger adductor and hams would no doubt help.

Knees going back out is a must, obviously. Knees going in to begin with? A bit scary I think.
 
Knees going back out is a must, obviously. Knees going in to begin with? A bit scary I think.
Yes, I'm sure you're right. This happens to me too during ME lifts for front and back squats. Some folks seem to exhibit this and some don't. All I know is that I ought to be able to maintain the same knee and torso positions on the way up as I did on the way down. I can do this for a 90% 1RM lift but not if I go above this. So, I think it points to relative strength imbalances between quads and hams/adductors. It can't be spinal erectors because the loads are relatively light compared to deadlifting and so spine doesn't flex (noticeably) under the load. I may try introducing GHR work as this is something I've never bothered with much. Or perhaps a few cycles of SLDLs and see if that helps any.
 

Clean & strict press competition as part of Klokov's recent Power Weekend. Awesome!
 

Thought this was pretty impressive and a good demo of Good Mornings
 

I guess the take-home point here is that a stint at Hogwarts can have a definite carry-over to regular life.
 

Bear in mind that Clarence is a weightlifter and not a powerlifter so his form is a little different (plus he's effectively doing deficits as he's wearing O-lifting shoes). Solid hook grip.
 
1. Posted this on my Facebook yesterday. Harry Potter is mad strong.

2. Shoe choice is terrible, but better than a cushioned sole on balance? Still terrible regardless.

3. Grip strength is over 9000.

4. His form is perfectly fine. It's actually ideal for his leverages (absurdly long arm : short femur).
 
Re 2: Not really terrible, surely? Certainly not the most efficient shoes for deadlifting but, as a weightlifter, he practically lives in those things and he's not very likely to wear anything else when lifting.
 


Some things here that Bryan et al were saying about 1000 years ago but good advice still.
 
Back
Top