westside and week points

[brianmincher]

Without reading your original post I can still answer your question. Your weakpoints are as follows: On the bench, your triceps, upper back and lack of bar speed are your weak points. Work on them all, all the time. On squatting and deadlifting, your weak points are low back, hips, and hamstrings, as well as bar speed. These are your weak points. These also happen to be my weak points, and about everyone who reads this boards' weak points, because these are the muscles that do these exercises. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so strengthen every link in the chain.

If the bar stalls low, especially with a shirt, then you are not going fast enough. If it stalls just prior to lockout, then your triceps are not strong enough to keep up with your bar speed. If the bar sticks to your chest, then you have too much weight on the bar. These are truisms across the board. Good luck, you are on the right path. I wish I had began this journey at your age.

B.

 

[Deciever]

brian , how can you tell what my weak points are just from my previous post? also, i dont use a shirt, so i dont get that extra spring like most do... i can vouch for the weak hamstring, i had a severe injury which took me out of doing leg work for 4-5 months

 

[brianmincher]

Read my post again, I said that I could tell what your weak points are without reading your original posts.

The reason for that is that with some small variations, every body will have similar weak points. For a certain lift there can only be a certain number of potential weak points. What I mean is that it is not very often that your calf muscles are the weak point in your bench, or that weak forearms are holding your squat back. Why? These muscles don't perform those particular lifts.

Some people will have different lifts that they are good at and bad at, take myself and Arioch for example. I am a comparatively good bencher and poor deadlifter, while Arioch will probably tell you that he is a comparatively good deadlifter and not such a good bencher. Does this mean that Arioch and I have totally different weak points? Not at all. Although Arioch deadlifts a lot more than I do, we are still both limited in what we can deadlift by our low back, hips, and hamstrings, and grip strength. If I bring up those muscle groups, my deadlift will go up, relative to my own PR. If Arioch brings up his strength in the listed groups of muscles then his deadlift will go up.

In benching, I am only able to press as much as my triceps are able to lock out. Whether I am wearing a shirt or not, my triceps still have to lock that bar out to complete the lift. I happen to know that my bench stroke is dramatically shorter in distance than Arioch's bench stroke. Because I have a leverage advantage, and don't have to press as far, I have a relatively better bench. But we are still both limited by what we can lock out. That is just the way it is. I have never heard of a bencher who could not use stronger triceps.

I know this was a long post, but I hope it helps explain what I was getting at in my previous posts. Also, Arioch, I hope you don't mind me using you in my illustration above, and feel free to correct or clear up anything I posted that was mistaken.

B

 

[Deciever]

brian, great job on explaining where you were coming from.. all very good points. since i now know most of my week points, i know what to do with westside..thank everyone, you've all been a great help