Following on from last week's DE SQ/DL session, I decided to add some heavier sets to today's high rack pulls. Much better, although I suspect I could add a little more weight without sacrificing a great deal of speed. Will have to test that theory next week.

After the rack pulls came an exercise that's managed to elude me thus far, the Front Squat. After watching the clip of hands-free front squatting pointed to by Kris the other day, I was keen to give this movement a try. After a few sets I realised that the hands-free approach wasn't anywhere near happening (it took a while to get used to simply having the bar in front of the body) and decided to leave it to a dedicated front squatting session. Monday is the current target for that one.

As with the rack pulls, the Romanian Deadlifts were done using a sumo stance; which is slowly feeling more normal. A few more weeks and I might just switch the back squatting to the same stance.

Following on from last week's DE SQ/DL session, I decided to add some heavier sets to today's high rack pulls. Much better, although I suspect I could add a little more weight without sacrificing a great deal of speed. Will have to test that theory next week.

After the rack pulls came an exercise that's managed to elude me thus far, the Front Squat. After watching the clip of hands-free front squatting pointed to by Kris the other day, I was keen to give this movement a try. After a few sets I realised that the hands-free approach wasn't anywhere near happening (it took a while to get used to simply having the bar in front of the body) and decided to leave it to a dedicated front squatting session. Monday is the current target for that one.

As with the rack pulls, the Romanian Deadlifts were done using a sumo stance; which is slowly feeling more normal. A few more weeks and I might just switch the back squatting to the same stance.

A glance through my workout notes for the last few weeks shows that I'm changing exercises perhaps a little too often. Whilst variation is certainly a good thing, performing the same exercises (at least the openers for each session) for a couple of consecutive weeks also has its benefits.

With this in mind I hit the floor once again, leading in with the same sets of Floor presses as last week, washing them down with a few of the close-grip variety.

On the subject of grip, I tried a slightly wider grip for the standard Floor presses; partly as it's easier to see the alignment of forearms when you're already flat on the floor. This puts the spacing at 86cm/34" - slightly outside the allowed range.

The close-grip width remained unchanged from last week, and following a quick glance at a medical dictionary (prompted by a comment from Kris) I remeasured the distance between acromion processes at 36cm/14".

Now to go and have a few words with the elbows which were enjoying a nice bit of flaring again today.

A glance through my workout notes for the last few weeks shows that I'm changing exercises perhaps a little too often. Whilst variation is certainly a good thing, performing the same exercises (at least the openers for each session) for a couple of consecutive weeks also has its benefits.

With this in mind I hit the floor once again, leading in with the same sets of Floor presses as last week, washing them down with a few of the close-grip variety.

On the subject of grip, I tried a slightly wider grip for the standard Floor presses; partly as it's easier to see the alignment of forearms when you're already flat on the floor. This puts the spacing at 86cm/34" - slightly outside the allowed range.

The close-grip width remained unchanged from last week, and following a quick glance at a medical dictionary (prompted by a comment from Kris) I remeasured the distance between acromion processes at 36cm/14".

Now to go and have a few words with the elbows which were enjoying a nice bit of flaring again today.

Close Grip.

The standard grip I use is around 28"/71cm, which is still comfortably within the allowable maximum of 32"/81cm. The close grip was somewhere around 12"/30cm, and has been pushed out to 17"/43cm. This allows the forearms to remain vertical; assuming there's no elbow flaring as in the photograph. Something to keep an eye on next week.

There seems to be quite of range of widths that people favour when doing close-grip work. In part these are determined by the grip used for a standard bench press; a lifter with a chest-width grip may consider a narrow grip to be a mere 8-10 inches (20-25cm). Someone used to a 32" grip could well consider chest-width as narrow.

When working out the ideal width, consider this quote from Rob Wagner, writing in the June 2003 issue of USA Powerlifting :

'Let me define a narrow and wide grip. In two separate studies, researchers determined narrow grip as the distance between your acromion processes (slide your hand down your trap and the bony bump you hit is the acromion). They then applied this measurement to the hand spacing (distance between index fingers) on the bar. Wide grip was two times the narrow grip distance. Both groups of researchers found that grips that were 1.65 to 2 times their narrow grip were the most effective strength wise. The way you can determine your grip is to measure the distance between your acromion processes. Now measure the distance between your index fingers when you bench. Divide the bench distance by the acromion distance and if your number is between 1.65 and 2.00 you are in an optimal position (Clemons, J. & Aaron, C, 1997; Wagner, et. al, 1992).'

According to this advice my adjusted close-grip width of 17"/43cm is within the optimal range (9"/23cm between acromion processes, which gives 43/23=1.87). Unfortunately a few sets with a this new grip wasn't enough to really notice a difference; which I suspect had more than a little to do with the flaring elbows.

After noticing that Kris is using a somewhat wider grip than I am for close-grip bench work (or floor work as the case may be) I had another look at the grip width used in my own lifts.

The standard grip I use is around 28"/71cm, which is still comfortably within the allowable maximum of 32"/81cm. The close grip was somewhere around 12"/30cm, and has been pushed out to 17"/43cm. This allows the forearms to remain vertical; assuming there's no elbow flaring as in the photograph. Something to keep an eye on next week.

There seems to be quite of range of widths that people favour when doing close-grip work. In part these are determined by the grip used for a standard bench press; a lifter with a chest-width grip may consider a narrow grip to be a mere 8-10 inches (20-25cm). Someone used to a 32" grip could well consider chest-width as narrow.

When working out the ideal width, consider this quote from Rob Wagner, writing in the June 2003 issue of USA Powerlifting :

'Let me define a narrow and wide grip. In two separate studies, researchers determined narrow grip as the distance between your acromion processes (slide your hand down your trap and the bony bump you hit is the acromion). They then applied this measurement to the hand spacing (distance between index fingers) on the bar. Wide grip was two times the narrow grip distance. Both groups of researchers found that grips that were 1.65 to 2 times their narrow grip were the most effective strength wise. The way you can determine your grip is to measure the distance between your acromion processes. Now measure the distance between your index fingers when you bench. Divide the bench distance by the acromion distance and if your number is between 1.65 and 2.00 you are in an optimal position (Clemons, J. & Aaron, C, 1997; Wagner, et. al, 1992).'

According to this advice my adjusted close-grip width of 17"/43cm is within the optimal range (9"/23cm between acromion processes, which gives 43/23=1.87). Unfortunately a few sets with a this new grip wasn't enough to really notice a difference; which I suspect had more than a little to do with the flaring elbows.

Over the past few days the temperature has gradually fallen, and a longer-than-usual warmup was called for. Always a fine line between being ready for action and pre-exhaustion.

Today's session (actually a somewhat delayed ME SQ/DL workout) followed pretty much the same pattern as last week, with the switch from the deadlift back to box squats. These never felt quite right, and I worked up to the previous max but elected not to try and push it any further. Plenty of future opportunities for that.

With the exception of a slight weight increase on the seated good mornings, the remainder of the routine (including the weights) was left unchanged. Despite the lack of inspirational lifting, it was good to get a bit of a sweat going on a cool evening.

Following the workout I decided to sample the delights of a contrast shower, having recently been reminded of their therapeutic benefits whilst reading Barz-a-Bending. Not bad - think I may have to make that a regular thing.

Over the past few days the temperature has gradually fallen, and a longer-than-usual warmup was called for. Always a fine line between being ready for action and pre-exhaustion.

Today's session (actually a somewhat delayed ME SQ/DL workout) followed pretty much the same pattern as last week, with the switch from the deadlift back to box squats. These never felt quite right, and I worked up to the previous max but elected not to try and push it any further. Plenty of future opportunities for that.

With the exception of a slight weight increase on the seated good mornings, the remainder of the routine (including the weights) was left unchanged. Despite the lack of inspirational lifting, it was good to get a bit of a sweat going on a cool evening.

Following the workout I decided to sample the delights of a contrast shower, having recently been reminded of their therapeutic benefits whilst reading Barz-a-Bending. Not bad - think I may have to make that a regular thing.

Carlton Hugo (sometimes Hugh) le Bird (Hughe l'Oise or Lois or Layse) was born between 1010-1020 in Normandy, France. He arrived in England with William the Conqueror in 1066 to fight at the Battle of Hastings. Later he lived in Canton.

Hugh was a skilled Falconer, hence the name Bird.

Hugh married Werburger, daughter of Roger Dombue. They had at least one child, born around 1030-1040, who died in England.

Carlton Hugo (sometimes Hugh) le Bird (Hughe l'Oise or Lois or Layse) was born between 1010-1020 in Normandy, France. He arrived in England with William the Conqueror in 1066 to fight at the Battle of Hastings. Later he lived in Canton.

Hugh was a skilled Falconer, hence the name Bird.

Hugh married Werburger, daughter of Roger Dombue. They had at least one child, born around 1030-1040, who died in England.