5x5

[HD Adam]

Just to join the club, OHP is also my weakest lift.

I've just started again from a fairly big layoff (personal probs you don't want to know) but when I first started it last year, i started strictly with the empty bar.

My Bench Press soon outstripped the OHP if I kept correct form.

This time around, I'm going to mix it up a bit when I plateau on OHP.

Give that a miss and try press behind the neck, Smith machine, seated presses, more tricep work, machines etc to try and build the muscle or recruit different parts of it then go back to OHP.

[chris watton]

HD Adam said:

Just to join the club, OHP is also my weakest lift.

I've just started again from a fairly big layoff (personal probs you don't want to know) but when I first started it last year, i started strictly with the empty bar.

My Bench Press soon outstripped the OHP if I kept correct form.

This time around, I'm going to mix it up a bit when I plateau on OHP.

Give that a miss and try press behind the neck, Smith machine, seated presses, more tricep work, machines etc to try and build the muscle or recruit different parts of it then go back to OHP.

Your Bench Press should be heavier than OH Press as you're using more muscles. I think I increased my weight by 5kg each time for Squats and Deadlifts, and 2.5kg for the rest, and finally 1kg for OH Press.

A couple of great triceps exercises are Close grip Bench Press and dips, as you are using more weight than triceps isolations. For relative beginner's, compounds are king and the best bang for buck.

[Desiato]

chris watton said:

I bought a set of fractal weights when I was doing the OH Press, so I could add only 1kg, instead of the normal 2.5kg at each session.

That's the problem at the gym I use, the smallest discs are 1.25 kg, so a 2.5kg increase minimum. For the OHP I will often use dumbells, the weight drops a bit overall, but is balanced by using more muscle groups to keep it all stable.

[chris watton]

Desiato said:

That's the problem at the gym I use, the smallest discs are 1.25 kg, so a 2.5kg increase minimum. For the OHP I will often use dumbells, the weight drops a bit overall, but is balanced by using more muscle groups to keep it all stable.

Buy 4x0.5kg plates and take them with you. I take my own quick-release collars..

[stargazer30]

TameRacingDriver said:

How much should I be increasing deadlifts / squats by each time? The accepted wisdom of these programs seems to be 2 or 2.5 kg each time but that seems like quite a lot to me? I'm managing OK at the moment but for how long remains to be seen.

Not really as these are big/heavy lifts. So +2.5Kg on a squat or deadlift is nothing vs 2.5kg on the OHP. Also you will know when you need to back off anyway with these lifts.

Deadlift, grip strength will probably fail first, the legs and back can't pull what the hands can't grip. Reps will get real slow and lock out will be hard. You'll start clanking the bar on the way back down etc....

Squat - assuming you do full depth, I bet your back/knees will probably give up before your legs do. Also the feeling after the last set of being utterly knackered and feeling like you got kicked in. That's usually a good sign you are at your limit weight wise.

[TameRacingDriver]

Cheers stargazer.

Just out of interest, what do you think of the alternating grip. I currently use double overhand but I know I can increase grip strength by using an alternating grip but there is a train of thought that this makes the load uneven and can cause injury?

Also do you guys do more than 1-set of DLs? I am currently only doing one as per recommended by SS and SLs.

[chris watton]

TameRacingDriver said:

Cheers stargazer.

Just out of interest, what do you think of the alternating grip. I currently use double overhand but I know I can increase grip strength by using an alternating grip but there is a train of thought that this makes the load uneven and can cause injury?

Also do you guys do more than 1-set of DLs? I am currently only doing one as per recommended by SS and SLs.

Alternating grip is fine, especially when doing Deadlifts for reps. My limit is around 170kg (small girly hands) for the alternating grip so I then use straps (for both heavy Deadlifts and heavy bent over row variations)

I think that once the Deadlift gets heavy, 1 working set of 5 or 5 working sets of 1 rep is enough for most, as the lower back does take the longest to recover. When doing a new PB, it can take even longer to fully recover. For me at least.

[ORD]

TameRacingDriver said:

Cheers stargazer.

Just out of interest, what do you think of the alternating grip. I currently use double overhand but I know I can increase grip strength by using an alternating grip but there is a train of thought that this makes the load uneven and can cause injury?

Also do you guys do more than 1-set of DLs? I am currently only doing one as per recommended by SS and SLs.

Risk/reward just is not there for the mixed grip. A substantial increase in risk of injury. Better to just get a stronger grip.

[Heathwood]

Next session tonight with the following results:

Squat - 92.5kg (getting quite tough. The lift isn't in doubt yet but I'm taking longer to recover between sets. Also conscious that I haven't got a rack, so that'll be fun in a few weeks time!)

Bench - 67.5kg (feels fine)

Row - 60kg (still easy)

I don't feel like my chest / tri's are getting enough so finished off with a couple of supersets of close grip bench using an EZ bar and dips.

[ajcj]

TameRacingDriver said:

Cheers stargazer.

Just out of interest, what do you think of the alternating grip. I currently use double overhand but I know I can increase grip strength by using an alternating grip but there is a train of thought that this makes the load uneven and can cause injury?

Also do you guys do more than 1-set of DLs? I am currently only doing one as per recommended by SS and SLs.

I don't use the mixed grip. Partly this is because of OCD, and I don't like asymmetrical moves, partly because there seems to be some opinion that injuries are more common. I've got to 130kg with double overhand grip, no straps, and will keep going that way, even though my grip is starting to fail. I do two sets of 5 when I can, although that is getting harder and harder to max out squat and DL in the same session.

[TameRacingDriver]

Thanks chaps, I think I'll stick with the double overhand. My grip needs some work anyway.

[stargazer30]

TameRacingDriver said:

Thanks chaps, I think I'll stick with the double overhand. My grip needs some work anyway.

I only use mixed grip on the heaviest sets. I never had any issues with injury using a mixed grip either, just feels a bit unatural. As you get stronger you tend to find you can use a normal grip on heavier sets anyway, just not your heaviest. I don't like using straps though.

[TameRacingDriver]

Thanks mate, I wouldn't use straps either - seems too much like cheating / ego lifting to me

[HD Adam]

TameRacingDriver said:

Thanks mate, I wouldn't use straps either - seems too much like cheating / ego lifting to me

It's not cheating.

You will be able to outlift your grip eventually.

[TameRacingDriver]

HD Adam said:

It's not cheating.

You will be able to outlift your grip eventually.

I guess - but I'm not really sure I personally see the point, each to their own I suppose though. I've got a dodgy lower back anyway so I probably shouldn't take it too far.

[chris watton]

TameRacingDriver said:

Thanks mate, I wouldn't use straps either - seems too much like cheating / ego lifting to me

I am quite sure that once you start to lift very heavy weights and your grip becomes a problem, you will change your mind. Straps help me not only for Deadlifts, but also High Pulls and heavy BOR, where I can squeeze out an extra few reps with the straps, whereas when using no straps, my grip can fail before the targeted muscle group. When trying to gain muscle, those extra reps at the end, when your mind and body are screaming for the set to end, are very important, I think.

[TameRacingDriver]

Time will tell I suppose. I think I'm a fair way from needing them yet though.

[ORD]

I see grip strength as a natural break on enthusiasm. If I haven't got my grip strength up
enough from deadlifts, I've probably not got the lower back strength up enough either.

As Chris says, there does come a point where grip cannot be expected to keep up with increases in back strength. But that is not a problem for weak folk like most of us! My grip becomes a problem towards the end of a set of deadlifts at or above 80% of my 1 RM, but I don't think it limits anything below that or any other strength exercise, and I don't want to deadlift beyond what my grip can cope with. If I cannot supply enough neural drive to hold the bar, I might also be starting to lose tension elsewhere.

Straps also make it more tempting to bounce deadlifts rather than re-setting between reps (which I think is safer for most people). I need the half second break at the dead stop to renew my grip.

[TameRacingDriver]

I think you put it better than I could, same reasons here but you said it better. I'm not aiming for silly numbers so I would rather do without "peripherals" like I said each to their own

[benaldo]

I struggled to get beyond about 110-120kg using a regular grip on DL but started using alternating grip and more importantly chalk to assist with the grip. I use the liquid chalk stuff from myprotein - cheap and you don't use much. I also don't like the idea of using straps / belt.

Just this week I managed to hit 210kg on the DL using this technique. Its definitely not my grip holding me back but my back/legs!!