Powerlifting and Crossfit: Best Lifts

[koreez88]

Originally Posted by GirthBrooks

Yeah if you can pull 455 for a triple I have no doubt you can hit 500 on a 1RM. Starting olympic lifting was one of best things I have ever done for fitness. I did bodybuilding/personal training for years out of high school but I wish I would have started oly lifting years ago. When you front squat do you do the bodybuilder type "arms crossed" style?

I front squat oly style.

Oly lifting requires a great degree of mobility, which I'm working on.

[The Chaddening]

Originally Posted by koreez88

I front squat oly style.

Oly lifting requires a great degree of mobility, which I'm working on.

Ok good. The arms crossed crap makes me cringe . Yeah it took me a while to get a stable front rack/overhead position. I read "becoming a supple leopard" by kelly starrett, great book for understanding positioning and lifting in general. Dude knows his stuff.

[KingOfJericho]

My ball is feeling much better. Looking forward to 16.4!

[The Chaddening]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

My ball is feeling much better. Looking forward to 16.4!

Man 16.4 looks rough. How far do you think you will make it before the 13 minutes? If I make it through half the HSPU ill be psyched. On side note, hit a 255 power clean this morning!

[KingOfJericho]

That's a huge power clean!

Due to my pulled ball and subsequent recovery, I decided not to push it and did the scaled. I made it through the games scaled at exactly 13min. The only guy in my 530am class who did the Rx only barely made it through the deadlifts and got maybe 10 wall balls.

I went from going M-F every week for the last 18 months to only Fridays a Saturdays since the beginning of the year. I have to catch a 6:37a train to Manhattan every day and don't get home until 7:30p, so no times work. My body feels less sore but I can definitely feel the difference, especially with things like pushups, which I haven't done in months.

[The Chaddening]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

That's a huge power clean!

Due to my pulled ball and subsequent recovery, I decided not to push it and did the scaled. I made it through the games scaled at exactly 13min. The only guy in my 530am class who did the Rx only barely made it through the deadlifts and got maybe 10 wall balls.

I went from going M-F every week for the last 18 months to only Fridays a Saturdays since the beginning of the year. I have to catch a 6:37a train to Manhattan every day and don't get home until 7:30p, so no times work. My body feels less sore but I can definitely feel the difference, especially with things like pushups, which I haven't done in months.

Thanks man! My squat clean PR was 245 so I was pumped lol. So you made it through a whole round scaled? Man I was worried about the deadlifts. I tried out a few reps this morning at 225 to get a feel for it and it's going to be tough. That's a big change going from 5x a week to 2x a week. Do you ever think about buying a bar+plates for workouts at home? I have often dreamed about just having an oly bar around the house.

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by GirthBrooks

Thanks man! My squat clean PR was 245 so I was pumped lol. So you made it through a whole round scaled? Man I was worried about the deadlifts. I tried out a few reps this morning at 225 to get a feel for it and it's going to be tough. That's a big change going from 5x a week to 2x a week. Do you ever think about buying a bar+plates for workouts at home? I have often dreamed about just having an oly bar around the house.

I've thought about it but the ceiling in my basement is really low and the garage isn't heated. Definitely could do the garage thing but I don't see myself being as motivated. It would definitely give me an excuse to put a beastly stereo in the garage though.

[The Chaddening]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

I've thought about it but the ceiling in my basement is really low and the garage isn't heated. Definitely could do the garage thing but I don't see myself being as motivated. It would definitely give me an excuse to put a beastly stereo in the garage though.

Yeah I live in an apartment so its a dream for sure. I know exactly what you are talking about with the motivation. There are so many times mid-metcon where I think to myself "I could never get to this point of fatigue working out by myself". Plus there is a pretty competitive atmosphere at the 6am. I could push myself to do the oly lifts though, always down to lift heavy

[NYBulldog]

You guys are pushing serious weight. I will try to compile my list or PRs but they are not impressive. I'm pretty fit and solid, relatively slim. I am having trouble progressing to heavier weights. I'm eating 3300 calories a day to get a but bigger. I'm short at 5'9" and weigh somewhere around 163 is a guess. I train 6 days a week at my Crossfit box. I'm pretty good with plyometrics and calisthenics. I was in a bad car accident a few years ago so I do have pains and quirks all around. I should probably take another day off but I like living sore.

[The Chaddening]

Originally Posted by NYBulldog

You guys are pushing serious weight. I will try to compile my list or PRs but they are not impressive. I'm pretty fit and solid, relatively slim. I am having trouble progressing to heavier weights. I'm eating 3300 calories a day to get a but bigger. I'm short at 5'9" and weigh somewhere around 163 is a guess. I train 6 days a week at my Crossfit box. I'm pretty good with plyometrics and calisthenics. I was in a bad car accident a few years ago so I do have pains and quirks all around. I should probably take another day off but I like living sore.

What do you think is holding you back from progressing into heavier weights? Technique? Strength? Injuries from the wreck? You sound like an ectomorph eating that much and not being able to gain weight. My first couple years at college I could eat 4k calories a day and not gain a pound. I remember several times going to little ceasars and getting a large pizza, then adding 2 grilled chicken breasts on top of the pizza. Still didn't gain weight. 172lb was my golden number for years. 6 days a week! Wow. At first I was doing M-F at 6 am everyday. I found that after a heavy squat day doing metcons was miserable, so I have a gym membership to a local athletic club for days when I want to switch it up. They also have a full crossfit gym there so I can still do everything I need to as well as bodybuilding. Right now I do crossfit MWF and bodybuilding/powerlifting on Tuesday/Thursday. Usually do running/abs on the weekends. I love the combination!

[MaynardZed]

Training 6 days a week is too much if you want to get really strong, gain weight, and hit PRs regurlarly (naturally). Too much training means you're in a catabolic state too often. Muscles, joints, tendons, CNS system, need rest also.

Try training 3-4 times per week, but increase the intensity to a higher level for 1-2 of those sessions. Think quality over quantity. It will help to have training partners that can help push you too.

I had some of my best gains in strongman (main goal is to get stronger, right?) training just 3 times per week. Deadlift day (Coan Phillipi or magnuson ortmayer routines), Press day, and an event day. Event day was usually a crew of 3-5 guys (or girl). We'd push each other to hit PRs in a friendly competitive environment. Leading up to a competition, my last heavy deadlift or yoke day would usually be 3 weeks prior to the show. It takes that long for your CNS to recover sometimes and be primed for a PR. I always hit PRs in competitions and usually exceeded my gym lifts.

This is just food for thought. Youre obviously not going to be competing in strongman, but you can take some of this and apply it to your workout regime on occasion. Most crossfit gyms have some strongman stuff laying around, and they all have bumper plates. I had an ectomorph body builder friend of mine just train deadlifts with me for 6 months to change things up for him. He went from barely pulling 405, to pulling 515 in that time frame. The next bb show season his stage weight was 10lbs heavier and he finally started winning shows. His traps, shoulders, and thighs looked so much more developed.

[F80Dreamer]

I just left my box a few weeks ago so I could take care of some nagging lower back pain, been following the open though...16.4 looks absolutely killer. Here are my lifts, nothing great but good progress for me vs when I started cross fit 2 years ago:

Bench 225#
Back squat 265#
Front squat 225#
C&J 200#
Deadlift 345#
Snatch 145#

[Fade135is]

Bench 295
Squat 315
Deads I don't do anymore since having back surgery ,but I would be confident I could pull 315
Age 34 hieght 5'9" weight 170

[SonnyJack]

Best competitive lifts were @ age 40 w/gear:

Squat - 661 lbs. (mono-lift)
Squat - 650 lbs. (walkout)
Bench - 418 lbs.
DL - 617 lbs.

Body weight = 193 lbs. and 5'9"

Decided to celebrate turning 50 last year by competing again (w/gear):

Squat - 529 lbs.
Bench - 330 lbs.
DL - 508 lbs.

Body weight = 183 lbs. and I think I'm still 5'9"

[gthal]

I'm relatively new to strength training... decided to get in shape when I turned 42. I dropped 45 lbs of lard and now am now at 170 lbs and 8%BF as measured in a BodPod. I'm 5' 10". I've been training for about 8 months (weights 5 days a week, HIIT 2) and have been pretty happy with my progress. I've been focused on lower rep, heavy weight (for me) training and managing volume to ensure good recovery.

So, with that background in mind... no judging as it's only been 8 months

Deadlift: 330lbs
Bench: 225lbs
Back squat (high bar): 255lbs
Front squat: 190lbs

I'm pretty happy with the results. I had started a general "fitness" program about 6 months before I started seriously weight training (P90X type stuff) and used that to improve my general fitness level. I spent a lot of time on the internet studying technique, form, training, etc. It's paid off... my deadlift was 195lbs when I started 8 months ago so I've added 135lbs to it over a short period. I think "newbie" gains are very normal but, regardless, I'm really pleased. I built a dedicated gym (Rogue rack, 500lbs of plates, 5-100lbs of bumbbells, lat machine, etc) and it has really transformed my life. My wife and I use it daily

[The Chaddening]

Originally Posted by F80Dreamer

I just left my box a few weeks ago so I could take care of some nagging lower back pain, been following the open though...16.4 looks absolutely killer. Here are my lifts, nothing great but good progress for me vs when I started cross fit 2 years ago:


Bench 225#
Back squat 265#
Front squat 225#
C&J 200#
Deadlift 345#
Snatch 145#

Nice lifts! What did you do to your back? 16.4 is very tough. Completed it this morning at 166 reps prescribed. The HSPU guidelines made it super difficult because you had to push your heels way up in order to get over the line.

Originally Posted by Fade135is

Bench 295
Squat 315
Deads I don't do anymore since having back surgery ,but I would be confident I could pull 315
Age 34 hieght 5'9" weight 170

If you can squat 315 you can for sure DL at least 315! Hope you have a speedy recovery.

Originally Posted by SonnyJack

Best competitive lifts were @ age 40 w/gear:

Squat - 661 lbs. (mono-lift)
Squat - 650 lbs. (walkout)
Bench - 418 lbs.
DL - 617 lbs.

Body weight = 193 lbs. and 5'9"

Decided to celebrate turning 50 last year by competing again (w/gear):

Squat - 529 lbs.
Bench - 330 lbs.
DL - 508 lbs.

Body weight = 183 lbs. and I think I'm still 5'9"

Triple bodyweight squat/DL! Nice work my friend.

Originally Posted by gthal

I'm relatively new to strength training... decided to get in shape when I turned 42. I dropped 45 lbs of lard and now am now at 170 lbs and 8%BF as measured in a BodPod. I'm 5' 10". I've been training for about 8 months (weights 5 days a week, HIIT 2) and have been pretty happy with my progress. I've been focused on lower rep, heavy weight (for me) training and managing volume to ensure good recovery.

So, with that background in mind... no judging as it's only been 8 months

Deadlift: 330lbs
Bench: 225lbs
Back squat (high bar): 255lbs
Front squat: 190lbs

I'm pretty happy with the results. I had started a general "fitness" program about 6 months before I started seriously weight training (P90X type stuff) and used that to improve my general fitness level. I spent a lot of time on the internet studying technique, form, training, etc. It's paid off... my deadlift was 195lbs when I started 8 months ago so I've added 135lbs to it over a short period. I think "newbie" gains are very normal but, regardless, I'm really pleased. I built a dedicated gym (Rogue rack, 500lbs of plates, 5-100lbs of bumbbells, lat machine, etc) and it has really transformed my life. My wife and I use it daily

Great progress for doing serious strength training for less than a year! 8% body fat is very lean, sounds like your nutrition is dialed in as well. Keep up the good work!

[SonnyJack]

Originally Posted by GirthBrooks

Triple bodyweight squat/DL! Nice work my friend.

Thank you sir! Competed for over ten years before turning 40 and had one disaster after another. Kept falling into the overtraining trap. Finally switched to training just once per week at about age 35 (squats/deads on Saturday & upper body on Sunday). After about a year of that I finally got over the psychological hurdle of thinking I wasn't getting ENOUGH training and went undefeated for the next 7 years. One PR after another.

To this day I still lift weights just on the weekends. Seven days worth of recovery is incredibly helpful!

One day a week training might not work for everyone, but it sure worked/works for me.

[csu87]

Originally Posted by csu87

just went through and went for new maxes last week. Been a little over 1.5yrs since shoulder surgery (labrum repair) and I still dont feel comfortable with a lot of the clean/snatch movements to put any kind of real weight on them. Im almost back to my before surgery Bench and Squats, but Deadlifts still lacking about 50-60lbs.

Deadlift: 465 lb
Back Squat: 405 lb (with knee supports, about 285 without them and a lot of crying)
Front Squat: 295 lb
Bench: 315 lb
Squat Clean: -
Power Clean: 225 lb
Clean and Jerk: -
Power Snatch: -
Snatch: -

Body Weight ~190s depending on how much i drink the night before.

Wanted to share some results from a new routine ive been doing at the gym. Only lifts that have gone up are Bench and Shoulder Press due to a leg/back nagging injury, but the results are pretty good for such a short amount of time.

Bench 3-4 repping 315 now at the start of bench workout, 1rm is 340

Since ive been taking it very easy on legs and back, ive been doing chest and shoulders 3 times a week now.

Monday - Heavy Chest and Shoulders.
- Proper Warm up sets then starting at 90-95% of 1rm start knocking out sets of 3. Do as many sets as you can of 3 with a couple minutes rest. (shooting for 3-4)

Wednesday - Light Chest and Shoulders
- Proper Warm up sets then sets of 15-20 with 70% of 1rm Shoot for 3 full sets.

Friday - Moderate Chest and Shoulders
- Proper Warm up sets and then sets of 5 with 85% of 1rm. shooting for 5 sets of 5.

I am basically sore all the time now, but the results are great. Not a sustainable training plan though for long term.

[Calichase]

Just maxed for the first time in a few months after doing a lot of 5 rep max work.

163lbs, 6' (need to eat more)

Squat-315 raw
Bench-235 Raw
Deadlift-515 raw (conventional)

Going to shift things around soon and work on my bench more this summer.

[gthal]

Originally Posted by Calichase

Just maxed for the first time in a few months after doing a lot of 5 rep max work.

163lbs, 6' (need to eat more)

Squat-315 raw
Bench-235 Raw
Deadlift-515 raw (conventional)

Going to shift things around soon and work on my bench more this summer.

For weighing only 163lbs (at 6'), those are pretty big numbers. You must have like 5% body fat and everything else is pure muscle. I'm 170'ish pounds, 5'10" and around 8% body fat and I have no where near the strength to deadlift 515 lbs!

[Calichase]

Originally Posted by gthal

For weighing only 163lbs (at 6'), those are pretty big numbers. You must have like 5% body fat and everything else is pure muscle.

Ehh idk about that. I struggle big time to but on weight. Need to start shoveling proper food down. My Dl has always been abnormal higher then my squat. Never new what could explain it. I swam for years when younger but nothing else abnormal.

[The Chaddening]

Originally Posted by Calichase

Just maxed for the first time in a few months after doing a lot of 5 rep max work.

163lbs, 6' (need to eat more)

Squat-315 raw
Bench-235 Raw
Deadlift-515 raw (conventional)

Going to shift things around soon and work on my bench more this summer.

515 at 163 is solid. Shit 315 at 163 is great as well. Keep up the good work man. If you are ever looking for solid nutrition planning. Check out www.renaissanceperiodization.com. Been using their dieting templates for a while and strength is through the roof, fat mass steadily dropping.