Road to Nationals - Week 19 and Week 20: All Aboard The Struggle Bus

This is what failure looks like... wait for it:

The worst part about this lift is that most people can't see what's really wrong with it, and a lot of it has to do with glute activation (an inconvenient truth I was, at first, reluctant to admit). All in all, the first rep looks pretty damn good. It's at 405, which is 80% of my 1RM. The goal was to pull all 5 reps without a belt...

That didn't happen. Here are the final 2 reps of the 2nd set:

They both felt really good in teh second video, but I'm sure you're seeing what I'm seeing. The back rounds slightly (or at least it appears to because of the belt).

I've always felt this way: I'm good for a single pull off of the floor. Because I struggle with glute activation, I tend to use a lot of lower back. With a belt for a single pull, I'm still pretty good for big numbers (if I can hit 525 by June, I'll be happy). However, put 455 on the bar and ask me to pull it for 3 and we're going to have a problem.

I finished the first week of the second phase of my 10 week squat cycle, and I'm pretty happy with where things are going. Thanks to a crap ton of T-Spine mobility work, my low-bar squatting has been feeling great (I was worried when I first started).

In other news, these exist:

Here's to another week-long struggle. Looking forward to what's ahead. 30 weeks out from Nationals in Atlanta, and I'm looking to total 1300# by the time it's all said and done. Let's rock and roll.

Be well,
C