ME Lower

"Strong as really strong"

Or How a biomechanically inefficient good morning squatter wrestles a canvas squat suit to the death and turns it into a scarecrow stuffed with straw for Halloween

Or how the uncoachable one was coached by Gritter and later shredded his suit with a butcher knife and threw in it a furnance

Wow. What a day. I met 4board and Shawn at the Powerstation in Middletown. They were doing some suit work before their next meet and Powerstation has a monolift (2 in fact). It is a pretty cool place and a great place to get strong. They have all you need and then some.

First we'll hit the high spots. 4board worked up to an easy opener then took 510 for a pr. He threw aside conventional wisdom (being about 12 days out) and hit one more; 520 or 530. Don't recall which it was but it was a nice rep. Shawn battled it out with his canvas suit. The weights all were easy but he had trouble hitting depth. Gritter, a "retired" powerlifter with a 600 lb. bench, just happened to be in the area on business and stopped in. He helped coach us a bit. He is very straightforward in his assessments of everyone's lifting.

But the quote de jour had to go to Shawn. After 4board's last squat he declared, "sheesh. you're as strong as...you're as strong as...you're as strong as really strong!"

Now for my part of the nonsense.

Warmed up with some kettlebell work and mobility work (see I told you Powerstation has everything!)
Squats: worked up to 345 x1 then 400 x1 then 345 x3 x2 sets. Used a medium stance and wore briefs and a belt.
Reverse hyper: 90x15, 180x15, 210x15
45* back extension: 3x15 w/ purple band behind neck
Pulldowns w/ H-bar: 5x15/130, 140, 150, 160, 170

This was the first time I have squatted in a while. I am sorry to say that while I have gotten stronger in my ME lifts I have neglected my squat and it showed. The 400 was not a true 100% ME lift. I feel I was good for another 20-30 pounds. It is still way off what I have done in the past (albeit at a heavier bodyweight). My groin was bothering me a bit so I used a medium width stance instead of a super side one. The briefs helped somewhat. It is a lot different squatting without a box when one has not done it in awhile. I really enjoyed the monolift though! And I always have a good time training with 4board and Shawn.

Must get strong(er),
Ed T.