:scratch: I don't get what you mean by your 1G RDX was causing knee issues.

i also wouldn't be surprised if my poor sleeping habits were effecting my lifts. I average around 5 hours of sleep. :sleep:

5 is not enough. Get one more hour if you can. Then again everyone's different but the best recovery isn't a powder or type of food, it's the ZZZZ's.

I tend to get knee pain if I have a wider stance than shoulder width. Some people squat wide because it might be easier to hit parallel but I just can't. I have my legs at shoulder width with my feet also pointed slightly outward. I also open my legs rather than having my knees in front of me.

I dunno, I've always had issues with getting at or below parallel if my legs are shoulder width apart. :dunno:
I probably need to take a video of me squatting again, it's been a while since I've done so.

i do need more sleep, but then I don't have enough time for the gym. Especially if it's busy :bored:

its either gym or sleep :bored:


and yea when i squat my knees don't go forward, I make sure they go the same direction as my feet. If they track in, which our bodies have a tendency to do when lifting heavy, I make sure to spread them apart during the lift.

Maybe you need to deload or take a break. Watch this video about overtraining. Coincidentally it came up.

I bought the 1G RDX september 2015, about a month after I bought it my knees and elbows started really hurting. I didn't know what was wrong and for months had really bad pains in all 4 joints. It wasn't till I started getting a bunch of tests and everything came back clear that I started to think about other factors and it occurred to me that the pain started after buying it. So I drove the family's other vehicle, a 2009 Hyundai Santa fe for a week and within 2-3 days the pain was gone thankfully. I tried adjusting the steering and seating position as much as possible and yet it still really hurt. I am not really that tall 5'11 but for whatever reason there was a disconnect with the steering and pedals and therefore had to sell it and still really really miss it.

ohh weird.

i just watched this, i dunno, i took off a week at the beginning of November since i was in Hawaii. Then again i was doing some intense hiking there :dunno: :shrug:

weight and BF% is the same, but my squat is up to 270, deadlift up to 275, sumo at 315 and bench at 200 :bored:

coming week, not sure if ill be squatting. knee still giving me issues :ponder:

You need to date your quotes so we can see the process. And yes bench is a BITCH to move up especially while dropping weight. If you feel your programming isn't working, you might have to switch it up but you gotta stick with it. Congrats on the progress.

Upload a couple videos and let us take a look. You'd be surprised how a small breakdown in a movement pattern can lead to pain when repeated many times under load.

Hmmm so I think my knee pains might be related to knots in my muscles.

I noticed that when I properly warm up and stretch and cool down and foam roll, little to no pain the following days

also when I was having pain, if I foam rolled the shit out of my quads and abductors, the pain would go away :dunno:

guess i cant just start squatting with minimal warm up anymore :bored: but I ain't got time for that! :bored:

anyways here's a video of me squatting last week at 245lbs. My balance may be off because I was trying on those Nike Romaleos II. :dunno:

Just watching that makes my knees feel like they are going to blow out.

Your form seems fine IMO. That last one, you're not stopping yourself with your knees right? Weight's on your heels? What's your warmup looks like including your sets?

Brah.. you're wearing $200 weightlifting shoes.. :rofl:
If your balance is off in those, return them. You should be able to feel the heel really dig and be solid.
Just get some chucks or cheapo addidas shoes with a flat and wide sole.

Form looks fine, but just some tips to avoid knee injury!

Make sure your stance isn't too wide. About shoulder width, toes neutral (squeeezzzee assimus maximus - pulls heel in a bit)
You don't want too many degrees of freedom from your hip and knee.
If your hips twist at all when coming up, the knees will adjust at an angle to compensate. Hello knee pain!

Also, locking out is fine, but don't lockout too hard.. even slight hyperextension is no bueno.
Be aware of that.. if you're having to lock out hard, lower the weight and max the reps.

One last tip.. :mizouse:

You have a high bar position. Lower the bar past your delt (couple inches) and you'll probably be able to lift more comfortably..
It may feel more uncomfortable, adjust your grip width to the most comfortable position (don't want to trade knee pain for shoulder pain)
Try with lower weight until you get comfortable, the low bar position will help your stability and you should be able to lift more since it's lower on your back.

I'm still trying to get you in jits class.. :poke:
Also, next time you post a vid.. there better be some fire babes in it. :O :mizouse:

Agreed about width. Hard to tell in that vid but wide stance for me equals immediate pain. And where them Vegas hoes.

Who said I paid $200 for those? Hell no!

my balance might be off because it was my first time wearing them, never wore weight lifting shoes. So I wasn't used to it :O
defintiely felt more stable in them thou.

anyways my issue with my knees is that I was working out cold. Never gave myself a proper warmup.

proper stretching and foam rolling out the knots in my muscles helped out 100000%

dont recall if I was. Tried keeping weight on my heels.

warm up was 8 reps of the bar.
then 4-5 at 135
then 3 at 185
then 3 at 225
then a 3x6 at 245

I think you should do 10 @ 135 and at least 5 on the rest except work sets.

I'm not sure how I missed this when I was last on this thread, but I watched it today and holy shit I owe you (and him) a HUGE thank you. Sure as hell everything he mentioned is going wrong with me! Trouble sleeping? Check! Feeling weaker/not seeing enough results? Check! Digestive issues? TRIPLE Check! Low sex drive.....unfortunately Check! (This one was starting to scare me to be honest). Weeks of bad workouts? Check!

Sorry mizouse, I don't mean to thread jack but holy shit everything mentioned in this video is literally me. Couple the shitty workouts with inability to sleep properly and digestive issues and it has become a viscous cycle and then couple that viscous cycle with a mental need to workout 6 days a week and feeling guilty for days missed adding extra stress to the mix...just a huge pool of messed up. So I think I am going to step away from the gym for a week or two, work on my sleep, and not be hard on myself for days missed and I hope to get back feeling strong again. Literally I was starting to get so mad at myself because I couldn't do shit, no strength at all and always left feeling mentally and physically like shit whereas I used to leave feeling happy when I first started.

thoughts on this video?



I tried squatting with a narrower stance, i just cant do it! :dunno:

Watched it last night. Yeah everyone's built differently. You can't cookie cut your form. I liked the video and some of the tests he did to find your optimal width.

Another great squat video I watched from Thrall

That's a good ass vid..

Also.. :chuckle: :poke:

OMG are u Alan Thrall?

Finding out the hard way about wearing heeled shoes and high bar squatting because my lower back was cooked since that elevated heel is pushing me forward. You can see it here from this set last night. Going to have to learn how to hold it low bar style.

Wow 315# for 5 is awesome!

Thanks man. For a long time that weight mentally was throwing me off. I decided this year to change the rep range each week and adjust the percentages so I get used to carrying the heavy weight. Week 1 sets of 7 reps, 2 sets of 5, sets of 3, then sets of 2 or 1 but not necessarily max testing and then reset.

Nice, my goal is to hit 315 on my squat this year.

getting closer now, I'm at 3x5 at 285

315x1 or more? You'll hit it pretty easily if you're hitting 3x5 @285

My brosef in HS squatted 405.. kept upping it from 225.. hit 8 plates and said that was enough.
Fucking Khmer breakdancing soldier.. 5'4" 150 lbs nothing.. All-American, first time squatting.
I was like.. :what:
He didn't even max out.. just like.. I'm good. wtf? I didn't squat after him.. for reasons. :chuckle:
/csb

I hate freaks man. Making us mortals look bad :D That story sounds like Unbreakable except not bench pressing.

ohh i probably could do a 315x1 right now, but I meant my working set.

Took a while but 2 weeks ago I hit my goal of 315 for 5 reps on squats . Actually it was 315x4x5 :nod:

also my conventional deadlift has gone up like crazy. (Fixed my form)

earlier this year I was struggling with 275x3x6, but last month I started conventional DLing again.

Right away I did a 300x4x5. Now I'm easily doing 315x4x5.
Tested my 1RM at 355 after doing a 315x4x5 :tomato:

tested my sumo 1RM at 390.

bench is still lagging at 215x4x5 :bored:




and i got fatter again from my trip back to Hong Kong in October. Was hovering around 19-20% BF on the reader. Im up to 23.5% :tomato:

I'm hovering around 187lbs

quit eating so much :tomato:

Congrats on your accomplishments!!!

I can't help it :whine: :drool: :facepalm:

lol your instagram feed has been quite delicious lately. :yum:

Oh shit. Very nice! Good job man. Banging out 3 plates on the squat like nothing.

Got dam... never realized how deep I squat.

me testing my 1RM on Saturday.

Was able to clear 355.

Attempted 360 after a 2 minute break (my usual for working sets)
obviously failed 360. :tomato:

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...7e7e245630.png