westy wrote:Not great numbers I know and it's the main part of my training that I am unhappy with.
Ha, everyone one of us on the board says that too.
Nothing to be bummed about at all. You are getting at it and looking to improve and that is what counts.westy wrote:About 5 years ago I had a grade 2 hamstring tear in my left leg which took a long time to heal, its pretty much fine now I only feel it if I don't warm up. It's also a bit tighter than my right due to the scar tissue (apparently)
This has me a little concerned. Judging by what I have read you really should not be getting such soreness on that program. I am not necessarily a fan of the program as related to your goals, it really should not be causing you such issues on a consistent basis. I could see it happening possibly on the very first workout, but after that it should not be a problem given your athletic background and the relatively low volume of the program.
While I would most definitely adhere to Cookies’ recommendations,
I would also seriously review your posture, mechanics, form, whatever you want to call it as related to these lifts especially the squat. I am thinking this could be your primary concern. Cookie touched on it briefly in his post, but I would review your hip flexibility and torso lean when squatting. Have someone film you or photograph you and then review the angles. If you have weak/injured/tight hamstrings or hips then this will dramatically affect the lift and turn it to more of a lower back/quad lift which is not what you want out of those exercises.
Not to scare you, and this may or may not be the case at all, I am just throwing out their for consideration, but I have seen numerous times where an acute injury or imbalance has caused the pelvis to tilt in a way that the quads are forced to take the brunt of all the weight, not just lifting but the majority of body weight in daily life. At times this feels like you just ran stairs despite not doing really enough to warrant such soreness. The cause of this pelvic tilt could be from an injury such as the one you had that had not properly healed and created an imbalance. It could be as simple as a slightly miss-aligned vertebrae, overly tight hips or hamstrings, an imbalance from doing an exercise imperfectly, etc and then when the added stress of squatting is added in it really shows itself. I know it sounds bad, but it is certainly fixable. Keep in mind this may not be the case at all, just a consideration. It is almost impossible to diagnose things over the internet as opposed to in person.
Have you ever done an overhead squat? This is a pretty good tool to diagnose weaknesses.
Try it with a broomstick or unloaded bar and report back.
I am thinking you need to work on the hips/hamstrings and the posture of your lift.
Once you get that straightened out your lifts as related to the squat and deadlift should improve dramatically.
Tip: The first movement of a squat should be initiated with the buttocks.
I don't suppose you are located anywhere near Samurai69's gym or Cookie's Hood
It may be worth a trip if you are and throw them a few bucks to have them review your posture on those lifts. You really have to have someone that really knows what they are doing, as opposed to the local trainer, diagnose squat form. I am confident they could and wish I was close enough to have them monitor my form every now and then for a possible imbalance that I may be missing.If your posture is perfect then it would appear to be a work threshold/nutrition issue more than likely.
westy wrote:That is a massive post to respond but hopefully I have answered all the questions.
The more info the better bro.
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