Scout255

Looks good to me, definately seems like a light weight for you. In the front front perspective video you seem to be looking at your toes (hard to tell) , how far infront of you are you looking? Personally I found looking just above parralel helped me keep my chest up better and keep the weight over mid foot than looking down. I know rip prefers looking 5-6 feet or so infront of you, while others (such as the Elite FTS fellow who did the "so you think you can squat series") recomend that you look up. You may want to try both to see which you prefer and go from there.

I just got a black rumble roller personally, totally digging it. Its not soft / spongy like most other rullers i've used, though it sure hurts like a *censored* when your getting used to it. Helps me get deeper in squats and relieves back pain rather good. My wife loves it too and uses it regularily now, has really helped her back pain.

If you need an alternative to a power rack, i've read about this before: http://www.shermworks.com/ (Never used it though....). Seems like it would take getting used to though.... You would need to have floor joists or something suitably strong to anchor it to. Alternatively try to save some money and use craigslist to find a used powerrack, you could grab one for a could hundred bucks.

Ah, I think I misunderstood what was meant by rebound then, I had pictured a rebound as being more like what he does in the video at the end of the rep prior to him racking it, where he bounces down and then back up. I bring the bar down and keep my muscles contracted until it stops and push back up identical to what is done in the video. I do not rest the bar on my shoulders and relax my arms, so I guess I do use rebound.

I go from a dead stop. I believe by rebounding you are turning the OHP into more of a push press which is a different excersize (and in which you can use much heavier weights).

Just don't get discouraged and keep at it! I find for me a lot of times it's a lack of confidence rather than strength that causes me to miss a set (i.e. get psyced out and can't concentrate, think i'm going to fail before I start, etc.). I have to work rather hard to always keep the right mindset. Conclusion: Don't let some condescending bugger at the gym ruin your confidence.

That is one strange thing in the gym, everyone seems to think the world has ended and paramedics need to be called if you fail in a squat rack. I failed to keep proper form and got stuck at the bottom recently and dumped the weight forward onto the pins (about ~2" drop or so) afterwhich I stood up. Everyone in the gym stopped what they were doing and looked over all shocked, with a few people running over in a panic to ensure I didnt kill myself. The damage to my ego was way more than the damage to my body... hehe. Now if I failed outside of the rack, that would be another story.....

A lot of people in the Gym give really bad advice, though they are always just trying to help. Had someone come up to me once and say that: 1: Squats are bad for your knees and back, so I shouldn't do them, the leg press is much better than squatting, 2: If I do do them, I need to use the smith machine 3: If I ignore 1 and 2 the bar has to be on the top of my traps instead of lower down on my back (i.e. low bar position) 4: I shouldn't be going below parallel (because of #1) I kindly thanked him for his advice and proceeded to continue doing low bar ATG back squats..... At the end of the day what matters is that you constantly work on your technique and proper form. A lot of people at the gym know neither of these but think that they do. If someone comments on your form, think about what they are saying and see if it makes sense to you. Sometimes they can be helpful and point out issues you don't notice (rounding back during DL, moving bar over toes on squat, etc.) while others they give you advice that is not usefull at best, and harmful/dangerous at worst.

Wow, I barely have energy at the end of Squat 3X5, OHP 3X5, and DL 1X5. You are doing 5X5 and adding on rows and benches to that... You may find it easier to split your workout into an A and a B day, as most popular programs do (like Shiggles was saying) and balance the lifts between them. How long does it take you to do all of those excersizes?

Oh, forgot about McMasterCarr (you americans have allt he good webstores....) Anyhoot: http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-flat-washers/=jdr4nq Just pick the cheapest one per weight and go with that. I think you can order online from them

Instead of Home Depot, look up under yellow pages for "fasteners". Depending on where you live there is likely a fastenal close. These are what you want: http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/detail.ex?sku=1133122 5 bucks for 10, for .9 lbs. If you spend 15 bucks, you'll have enouph to microload to your hearts content. Autoparts stores can also sometimes carry them (specifically ones that work with heavy machinery, but even Napa or autozone may have them).

Just as a question, but what increments were you increasing your lifts by when you were stalling with SS? For quite a few people, 5 lbs jumps are too much on some excersizes, so you need to back it up to 2 lbs or so in progression. Unfortunately most gyms do not have these availible, so you have to buy your own set (or just buy a bunch of 2" washers). This way you can still constantly increase your loads while not overdoing it. I think Rogue has a nice set availible if you want a microloading kit. I bought a set of change plates from muscle driver myself, which go down to 0.5 kg / plate (~2.2 lbs). For myself I can not for the life of me increase my bench by 5 lbs on SS per workout, so instead I increase it by 1 KG (~2.2 lbs) per workout and have been able to keep at that for quite a while. Helps keep you motivated knowing your still setting PR's every workout rather than constantly stalling.

One thing I found helped was to lift in sweat pants. That way you do not need long socks, plus it kept my legs warmed up inbetween sets. Depending on what other activities you are doing, this may not be an option though. Shin guards for soccer would be good too, on most you can remove the thick padding leaving only the sock material. They also have a band that goes under your heel which will prevent the deadlift from pulling them up on you which may be an issue with leg warmers.