A Semi-Newbie's Training Log - HST/Stronglifts Hybrid

Bench: 2x5 70lb dumbbells

Pullups: 2x5 + 22.5lb plate hanging from chain on weight belt.

Leg Press (Quad Dominant): 2x5 270lb

1 Arm Strict OHP: 2x5 52.5lb dumbbells

Dumbbell Curls: 2x5 40b dumbbells + 1.25lb

____________________________________________

Just like how everything felt easier last workout except for one exercise, this time, the sticking point was my bench press. Gave myself 4 minutes of rest between sets and put 110% effort into getting the last rep out on the second set. Note that on my last max day, I got 72.5lbs up for 5 reps and felt I could have done at least one more rep...

Let's hope today was just a fluke. I notice that the first rep is hard as ****. I definitely need to use a spot on my next max day (75lb dbs), which is coming up in 2 sessions.

Pullups felt easy. Leg Press was kinda hard but that's to be expected when I just stalled last workout. Plus, I wasn't really into the set. I'll mention why in a bit.

OHP felt easy.

Dumbbell Curls felt easy.

Whether I SD everything (including my SS lifts) or travel to another gym during the two weeks of maintenance and start on 10s again, will be contingent on my upcoming max day and what I'll be able to do.
____________________________________

Packed the wrong set of shorts. I was wearing some tight ass shorts that someone had loaned me (and I never returned lol) during high school when I was 20lb lighter. I had them on at home and then went to pack some looser shorts into my backpack and put on some jeans, but I ended up, unbenounced to myself at the time, packing the tight shorts. Holy **** did I feel uncomfortable. I had to keep pulling the leg part down throughout and during Leg Press they looked like ****in' speedos.

Never again... :(

Plus for the second time in a row, the left ear bud on my headphone came off and went missing, so I couldn't listen to music; not to mention the shorts didn't have pockets so I had to carry all my **** around in my hands.
 
Last edited:
The wrong shorts and no music can totally ruin a workout... Especially when you are doing squats or leg press. Although, could be worse. Try wearing a squat suit some time. Haha.
 
That's definitely the case.

I also have a problem with my headphones falling out of my ears during bench press/pullups/just about everything I do in the gym. Sick of in-ear, but I work in **** neighborhoods so I'm paranoid about being robbed if I get some big ol' sexy over-ear headphones. Still I might just bite the bullet (and end up biting it, literally lol) and buy me some. Though I could wear one set for gym and one set for everything else. We'll see. :cool:

And as for a squat suit, I doubt one has ever seen my gym before. I would be amazed if anybody has squatted over 300lb, let alone worn any power-lifting gear besides a belt.
 
Last edited:
Sumo DL: 1x5 175lb

Bench: 2x5 70lb dumbbells

Pullups: 2x5 + 22.5lb plate hanging from chain on weight belt.

Leg Press (Quad Dominant): 2x5 275lb

1 Arm Strict OHP: 2x5 52.5lb dumbbells

Dumbbell Curls: 2x5 40b dumbbells + 1.25lb

_______________________________________

Everything felt alright, with the exception of deadlift, which felt hard. How could 10lb make such a difference? My groin was in pain afterwards too. Tight hip flexors? Time for foam rolling and PNF I guess. But if I'm nearing my max, it's not much higher than what I was doing with conventional. Now I did warm up with 5 reps of 135lb and then 3 reps of 155lb, but I gave 5 minutes of rest in between each set.

What gives? I've heard of tons of people whose nervous systems catch up and they go from deadlifting like 130lb to 300lb in a couple months. Why am I still stuck with what I'm guessing to be a 5 rep max of under 200lb? My upper body isn't untrained at all and my leg press shot up 60-70lb in a two month span.

Everything else felt fine, with the exception of leg press...but that was probably due to lower body fatigue from deadlift.
 
Last edited:
Your groin could have been sore due to the position of your feet when you did your deadlift set; if your feet were too far extended outward, your groin very posssibly could have been strained as a point of unintended support - especially if you at all drfited forward during the pull. Deadlifts in general are 100% about form - you'll see your pulling skyrocket once you pull straight up, completely using the stongest pieces of your musculature in the process. Don't be overly concerned about your current progress - get the form as perfect as you can and then start pushing the loads. Your shins should have streaks on 'em when you do a set - whether they're sumos, conventionals or anything in between. That's when you'll know that you're pulling straight.

Good luck, man - keep going.
 
TangoDown said:
Thanks for the advice.

Problem is, my feet don't align with my knees; they're slightly pointed outward, so when I set up for a deadlift the feet go out a lot.

And as you can see from sumo, feet go out a lot
Click to expand...

I totally get that - I used to do sumos all the time. Thing is - if your feet are too far out and you lean forward at all during the pull, your groin takes a ton of the load and it's not built for it. In the vid - while that guy was pulling a ton, his hips were rising much too quickly at the start of the pull and thus putting a ton of strain on his low back. That's a part of what I was saying before; while the deadlift is very simple as an idea (grab bar, lift bar, put bar down), to get the form completely down is not quite so easy, especially with rising loads.

Good luck with the PR attempt!
 
Wait, clarify, by feet far out, do you mean duckfooted (rotated outward), or legs were too far out, meaning the stance was too wide? I thought you meant the rotation of the foot, which is what I meant by "feet go out a lot."

______________________________

Bench: 1x3 75lb dumbbells

Pullups: 2x5 + 30lb plate hanging from chain on weight belt.

Leg Press (Quad Dominant): 3x5 280lb

1 Arm Strict OHP: 2x5 57.5lb dumbbells

Dumbbell Curls: 2x5 45b dumbbells + 1.25lb

_________________________________________

Dumbbell bench, I had someone spot me and I needed a lift off for the first rep (which I didn't count), got 3 reps. I think I could have pushed out 4 if the left dumbbell wasn't slipping out of my hand because my grip was too far inward on the handle. I'll see how much I can push next time, and if it comes out to 3 again, I guess I'll aim for 77.5lb DBs rather than 80lb as my PR for the end of the next cycle. Only did 1 set.

Pullups went better than expected. Broke that PR by 5lb instead of 2.5lb. Used my Versa grips, definitely making a difference because the bar is fat as ****. Hit 4 reps the second set, almost hit 5. Should have given more rest time.

Leg Press went well, definitely felt easier than last time I pushed 280lb, but my groin is still sore. Going to be doing some more myo and 90-90 split squat stretching over the next couple of days. If groin is still sore, I won't deadlift.

1 Arm OHP increased. Note that I only go to 90 degrees on the bottom portion of the lift. I'll go lower when I start barbell military press. Left side only got 4 reps.

Dumbbell curl was very hard but I got all the reps with a little bit of body english at the end - not enough to call it cheating IMO.

Happy 4th, people ;).
 
Last edited:
tim said:
his hips were rising much too quickly at the start of the pull and thus putting a ton of strain on his low back.
Click to expand...
That was the first thing I noticed, he’s turning most of the pull into a SLDL. Also, he’s not taking the slack up in the bar before pulling. At 405 or so and above you had better take up the slack. However, the biggest problem I see is that he’s not filling his belly with air, instead he’s filling his chest. The body needs more support down low not up in the upper back. Besides watching it happen you can tell because his belt is level around his waist when the front part should be lower around his lower abdomen.

As to the question of foot position there are two issues pulling sumo as I see it. First you want your knees to track over your feet. This gives you the best position for mechanical advantage and the least risk of injury. As to where your toes point a lot of that depends on your flexibility and frankly what allows you to pull more which you can only determine by trial and error. I’ve found that I can get more hamstring activation by keeping my toes slightly inward (i.e. not in line with my legs) and forcefully trying to rotate my toes outward.
 
That's the problem; I can't track my knees with my feet. It's physiologically impossible for me.

I will narrow my stance a bit, watch hip raise, and see what happens. I also started some hip mobility stuff which is always good.
 
Last edited:
I know that you have an issue with your glute development however there must be some leg/foot position that allows your knees to track with your feet. By tracking with your feet I don’t mean that your knees move as your toes are pointed or even stay directly above your feet. I’m talking about your knee hinging so that your shin, knee and thigh stay in the same relationship (plane of movement) to each other throughout the lift. In other words your knee should not be moving either in or out in relation to the bones above and below it. It should stay in the same relative position to them throughout the lift even it is naturally inside or outside the direct line drawn from your hip joint to your ankle.

If this means lifting with your feet together then I would suggest this is preferable than forcing yourself into a sumo stance if doing so causes your knees to cave inwards or move outwards since in both cases you are likely to get injured.

If I’m not on track with what you are experiencing then the only thing I can suggest it that you post a video of your Deadlift technique since I’m not understanding what problem you are experiencing.
 
Oh, if you mean the knee caving in during the lift, my knees don't do that. I've never had any issues while deadlifting and squatting where my knees buckled. They just simply stay not aligned with my feet regardless of what I do, but they stay in the same relative position during the lift. Think of someone who is knock-kneed. I am duck-footed (though not grotesquely). If I point my feet straight ahead, my knees point inward - at all times. Other than runners knee my knees are fine.

My problem with the lift was it's not progressing like some people claim - i.e. they go from pulling 130lb to pulling 270-300lb within a couple months due to nuero-adaptation. I went up 60-70lb on my leg press, and my upper body is not untrained. I pulled 175lb Sumo for 5 last time and it felt hard. Don't know if that was because I pulled 155lb 5 minutes beforehand as part of my warm up (for 3 reps), or because of form.

Otherwise, the issue I was discussing was that at the insertion between the leg and the pelvis at the groin, I have some irritation now. I think it may be due to the stance I'm taking, which is very wide. Reason being I see people doing sumo where their feet are almost at the plates, but I guess I didn't factor in that most of the videos have lifters that are 6 feet or more, whereas I'm 5'8 so proportionally my stance would be wider if my feet were inches from the plates versus someone who was over 6 feet doing the same thing.

Next time I can get a friend into the gym (though my gym makes me pay $15 per guest visit), I'll have them record me for reference.
 
Last edited:
A very wide stance can cause problem with your hip which it sounds like you are experiencing. You are correct in that most of the people with their feet out to the plates are tall to start with so if you’re like me and not so tall the feet must come in to keep the angles relatively the same. I’m 5’6” and have found so far that the best leg position for me is such that my shins cross the bar at the rings which puts my feet just outside the rings. However, the only way to find the best foot position for you is to try out different positions and see what works best.

Comparing your progression to that of others is a big mistake. My Deadlift has progressed mostly in fits and spurts. When I first started about a year and a half ago it took me forever to get from about 155 to 225 where I stuck for some time. Then I managed a jump to about 285 and got stuck again. Then I got up to 330 and again got stuck. So basically it’s taken me about a year and a half to go from about 155 to 385. The one thing I’ve found is that if you want to achieve maximal strength in a particular lift (vs. maximize hypertrophy) then I wouldn’t drop the weight down to low with each new cycle. In other words if you are more interested in increasing your deadlift than overall hypertrophy I wouldn’t drop below 80% or so of your 1RM when starting a new cycle. OTOH it doesn’t hurt to build a good base of muscle before focusing mainly on pure power. However, as far as being a Deadlift expert I defer to Tot who clearly has been doing something right.
 
Thanks for the tips. I'll line my shins up with the rings of the bar and see if that's more efficient for me, and if it's not I'll continue to screw around with stance width.

You say don't drop below 80% of 1 rep max. Thing is, I'm on Starting Strength for the lower body, which is specifically a 5 rep-program. Hence if my 1 rep max is about 215lb (I'm guessing, if I'm able to pull 185lb for 5 next time), then 175lb is about 80% of my 1 rep max. So unless I change up the rep range I don't have much room between 80% of my 1 rep max and my 5 rep max.

Now, 80% of my 5 rep max seems more feasible since SS has you take 10% off the bar each time you stall (you stall 2-3 times before you move onto the intermediate SS program or another program).

Wendler's 5/3/1 looks pretty enjoyable as per something I can do after I exhaust SS but I want to milk my HST protocol as much as possible and all the assistance work 5/3/1 has you do seems like volume through the roof. Too bad I haven't been able to squat yet due to a lack of dorsiflexion in my ankle from the injury I had earlier in the year. I mean, I can squat, but only if shins stay essentially only a bit more bent forward than vertical to the floor, which is doable I guess.
 
Didn't post because had a crazy weekend.

Anyway, last gym session was fail. Went in, did 72.5lb DBs for bench for 6 reps, deadlifted 185lb for 5 (hard as hell), then ****ed up and put too much weight on my pullups because I thought I grabbed a 25lb plate when I grabbed a 35lb plate. So I did 40lb off my belt (used another 5lb plate) and did 2 reps and almost got a third.

Then I just left without doing anything else. Didn't touch leg press because my hip flexors died.

I tried sumo deadlift in as best form as I could (though I obviously couldn't video tape myself). My hips are somewhat high on sumo at the bottom of the lift, but not anything like a SLDL. Still, my torso isn't extremely upright at the beginning of the lift because otherwise my hips would need to be low, but I think that if I keep my hips low I'll just raise my hips too fast on the lift, which is what I don't want. Still, I can't observe myself throughout the lift but in this case I don't think my hips were traveling up too quickly so I should be fine in that regard. I also narrowed my stance, my feet being a bit less than at the rings of the bar (I have short legs and a long torso), and my hip flexors/groin still burned as a mofo after the set.

Honestly, I don't know if it's lactic acid and then DOMs in that area or if something is wrong with the lift. Obviously at a wide stance your hip flexors are going to take a large chunk of the load.

I've got to get myself video taped.

Thinking about going in and testing my barbell OHP rep maxes. I've got to anyway or because my gym is closing soon, I'll be SDing for like 3 weeks. Obviously I don't want that. Alternatively, I could just start light weight and go up 5lb every session like how starting strength does their ****, but my shoulders aren't untrained like my legs are/were so other than some neurological boost from learning the new movement, I shouldn't see a big increase in numbers there.

We'll see.
 
Last edited:
Been a while since I updated this thread. Currently on SD. Tested my bodyweight squat for form in the mirror and my hip and ankle mobility is the best it's ever been thanks to the ankle resistance work, leg press, and 90-90 split squat. My torso is almost upright when I hit parallel (barely any forward lean), and there's no butt-wink whatsoever. This will probably change if I adopt a low bar squat.

Think I might drop the leg press and get under a naked Olympic bar when I start up again and see where that'll get me. Don't expect my numbers to be anywhere close to good at this point but I'll probably be the first guy my gym has ever seen going to parallel on the squat LOL.
 
How much stretching do you do, especially in regard to your hip? I think you may really benefit from some good, old fashioned stretching sessions that last a good 30 minutes or more. Open up your hips and stretch your hams - may do you a world of good.
 
Start of Cycle:

Squat: 3x5 115lb

Bench: 2x15 52.5lb dumbbells

Pullups: 3x5 + 15lb plate hanging from chain on weight belt.

Dumbbell Standing Strict OHP: 2x15 35lb dumbbells

Dumbbell Curls: 1x15 25b dumbbells + 1.25lb

______________________________________________

Started the new cycle today. Everything felt good. Squatted for the first time, and used low bar. I'm more coordinated now in a narrower stance than I was (used to have to squat wide as hell), so that's what I did. I think my form is pretty spot on. I started with a 45lb bar and worked up until the bar slowed a bit. Hopefully my numbers will climb.

Didn't get to deadlift because the only squat rack in the gym was being used by a couple who were taking turns 1/6th squatting like 225lb. smh.

Decided to do dumbbell standing OHP with 2 dumbbells as opposed to 1 (because the squat rack was being used so I couldn't do barbell military press), and felt my traps being used a lot more than before. Might just stick with this for a bit and see how I progress.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top