Mattsirpeace
Level 4 Valued Member
Hi all, just posting a big thanks to Pavel for some advice he gave me three weeks ago:
"Matt, a hex bar DL can be a useful adjunct to training but no more; its leverage is too perfect to make you really strong--like a leg press...
...try medium wide sumo"
When Pavel speaks, comrades listen. I had posted a rant, whining about my long femurs and how life isn't fair. I've been able to pull four wheels or more off and on for eighteen years. It just never felt good. I have a goofy long-leg short-torso skeleton where it's geometrically impossible for be to hinge my butt back for conventional barbell pulls. I was forced to discover the roundback-legpress technique. Miserable and unnecessary for GPP needs. My solution was to just use the hex bar only and avoid the whole knees-in-the-way issue. But I'll admit I wasn't going anywhere -- stalled out at 416 lbs, high-handle.
So I took Pavel's advice and borrowed an olympic bar the very next day. I tested sumos and got a single at 381. It felt surprisingly natural. In hindsight I was prepared to revisit sumos from doing heavy swings, as well as goblet squats. For three weeks I've been "practicing" the movement, anywhere from 185 to 325, on the floor or on a 4 inch block. Sets of five, three or four times a week, easy to medium effort. Today I was testing strong so I went ahead and psyched up and got 436 at 217 -- my goal of 2 x bodyweight. Nothing to brag about on this forum, but this was barefoot, no belt, double overhand. I know 217 doesn't sound lanky, but I'm 6'2" and have a corndog build -- fake meat on a stick.
What I'm really thrilled about is how easy it was to switch to sumos. The move meshes nicely with swings, so now I have a lifetime of hip-hinging to look forward to. I was stuck before -- hex bar being ineffective, conventional being intolerable. Now suddenly I can get ambitious if I want to. What a treat to receive advice on the ultimate exercise, from the ultimate coach!
This forum is a great resource, and I promise to spread the word about StrongFirst!
"Matt, a hex bar DL can be a useful adjunct to training but no more; its leverage is too perfect to make you really strong--like a leg press...
...try medium wide sumo"
When Pavel speaks, comrades listen. I had posted a rant, whining about my long femurs and how life isn't fair. I've been able to pull four wheels or more off and on for eighteen years. It just never felt good. I have a goofy long-leg short-torso skeleton where it's geometrically impossible for be to hinge my butt back for conventional barbell pulls. I was forced to discover the roundback-legpress technique. Miserable and unnecessary for GPP needs. My solution was to just use the hex bar only and avoid the whole knees-in-the-way issue. But I'll admit I wasn't going anywhere -- stalled out at 416 lbs, high-handle.
So I took Pavel's advice and borrowed an olympic bar the very next day. I tested sumos and got a single at 381. It felt surprisingly natural. In hindsight I was prepared to revisit sumos from doing heavy swings, as well as goblet squats. For three weeks I've been "practicing" the movement, anywhere from 185 to 325, on the floor or on a 4 inch block. Sets of five, three or four times a week, easy to medium effort. Today I was testing strong so I went ahead and psyched up and got 436 at 217 -- my goal of 2 x bodyweight. Nothing to brag about on this forum, but this was barefoot, no belt, double overhand. I know 217 doesn't sound lanky, but I'm 6'2" and have a corndog build -- fake meat on a stick.
What I'm really thrilled about is how easy it was to switch to sumos. The move meshes nicely with swings, so now I have a lifetime of hip-hinging to look forward to. I was stuck before -- hex bar being ineffective, conventional being intolerable. Now suddenly I can get ambitious if I want to. What a treat to receive advice on the ultimate exercise, from the ultimate coach!
This forum is a great resource, and I promise to spread the word about StrongFirst!