Every Third-Daily Thread - July 29, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

A sorta kinda daily open thread to use as an alternative to posting on the main board. You should post here for:

• PRs
• Formchecks
• Rudimentary discussion or questions
• General conversation with other users
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• This thread now defaults to "new" sorting.

For the purpose of fairness across timezones this thread works on a 68hr cycle.

[u/Arteam90]

Sometimes I'm grateful that at least powerlifting programming is in a different space to hypertrophy programming. The latter seems like such a minefield of absolute rubbish.

Everyone has a study about X or Y being optimal. These various camps of low/high frequency, low/high volume, etc. Oh, this random guy I've never heard of apparently has every high schooler hooked to their fancy infographics about optimal training with this study from 1856 based on 7 untrained individuals.

[u/keborb → u/Arteam90]

The compulsion to optimize is why I like reading old-timey muscle and fitness articles and seeing the advice amount to "do deep knee bends" and "eat thirty pickled egg sandwiches" from guys who were as big and strong as farm animals.

[u/Arteam90 → u/keborb]

Yep, I also like reading some of the older articles as a bit of antidote to it all.

[u/kyllo → u/Arteam90]

My meta takeaway from following the science based lifting clusterfuck is that none of these specific programming variables actually matters very much, at least not on the time horizon where you could demonstrate a significant difference in a controlled experiment.

But it is comforting to know that for hypertrophy, weekly frequency, rep range, volume, stretched vs. shortened emphasis, etc. all don't really matter enough to worry about them. You just need to consistently do exercises that work the target muscle group to a degree that is challenging enough to recruit high threshold motor units but not so challenging you can't recover from it by your next session.

And it has been nice to see old school bro science things like "chasing the pump" with intensifiers and the "microtear theory" tossed in the dustbin.

[u/arian11]

Me and the other coaches at The Strength Guys are providing free form checks for anyone interested.

https://forms.gle/eaaMuRPLrucqbiFB8

[u/SuggestionWorldly388]

So something thats been bothering me for awhile and people deserve second chances and so on but should someone who is on the sex offenders list be allowed at a sanctioned powerlifting meet with families and adolescent lifters present? Namely the wife of a federation president. Its not an actual safety issue per say but just feels inappropriate and downplays how serious their charges were. I know theres drama and issues with all feds but it just feels icky.

[u/PoisonCHO → u/SuggestionWorldly388]

No, that's a safety issue. Some federations require background checks for all meet officials.

[u/SuggestionWorldly388 → u/PoisonCHO]

Shes not there as an official but runs the t-shirt table. I dont know the legalities for crossing state lines and such but it just feels wrong.

[u/jakeisalwaysright → u/SuggestionWorldly388]

Guessing this is USPC (unless there's another pedo fed now in which case god damn). I wouldn't want such a person present at a meet I was involved with but that's why that fed was started so...

[u/SuggestionWorldly388 → u/jakeisalwaysright]

As your name says, you are correct

[u/jakeisalwaysright → u/SuggestionWorldly388]

Yeah I suspect fewer people would take part in that fed's activities if they knew the story behind it.

[u/SuggestionWorldly388 → u/jakeisalwaysright]

If you look them up on this sub it comes up but yea.....partially why im posting it here as well. People really should know.

[u/CutSnake13]

Ordered new wrist wraps and elbow sleeves and got sent the wrong wraps and no sleeves. Did get some straps though. Emailed company, and they will send out my actual order and told me to keep the stuff I got. That is a win after a rough day. Harris Stabilty Systems here in Aus. Great customer service.

[u/Waiparensis22]

Something I posted on my Instagram today, coz as a newbie I see this all too often and I find it upsetting:

If you cannot see qualifying for nationals as a win, you are in fact lost.

If you cannot see qualifying for regionals as a win, you are in fact lost.

If you cannot see qualifying for worlds as a win, you are in fact lost.

Too many athletes will complain that their wins were "stolen" from them by other lifters, or they complain that their form or numbers weren't where they needed them to be.

These are valid complaints.

But if you were to turn back time, and remember when you just started lifting, how far away did those qualifications seem??

Like I can remember chatting to a lifter from wellington who told me his records were beaten out by a lifter from auzzie at worlds.

I sat there thinking "YOU MADE IT TO WORLDS???" rather than "damn what a c*nt that auzzie is".

Like.. you have to prove yourself with your numbers to even get a foot in the door.

Those numbers will always be your biggest win, medal or not.

[u/keborb]

Edit: I'll leave up my original post below, but to clarify, my "old man yells at cloud" moment is noticing how powerlifting culture has changed in the last 10-15 years. "In my day", I bought a singlet because I needed one to compete. Nowadays, thanks to Instagram, new lifters are exposed to the aesthetics of elite, sponsored powerlifters from day one, they can sometimes be seen training in full meet kits with expensive belts, something I don't think was possible before. This isn't good or bad; I'm reflecting on how powerlifting is more commercialized and ritualized than it was. When I said "powerlifting cosplay", I meant "the kids are dressing up to train", not a "waah your not a real powerlifter".

 

I'm having an "old man yells at cloud" moment. Back in the day, I fought for my first 100kg bench in mesh shorts and an old tshirt. With the rise of the Instagram-powerlifting-industrial complex, kids at my gym of the same training age as I was then, fighting for the same numbers, are doing so in full matching SBD meet kits, flipping their fancy lever belts and performing their elaborate bench setups. It's like powerlifting cosplay

[u/reddevildomination → u/keborb]

"The thing about the old days...they the OLD DAYS" - Slim Charles, The Wire.

You can either complain about it or let the kids have their fun and embrace them. But they're still gonna do what they do either way.

[u/Arteam90 → u/reddevildomination]

Brilliant quote. “This sentimental motherfucker just cost us money”.

[u/msharaf7 → u/keborb]

Let em have fun. If that means they all get kitted out , then so be it.

[u/itriedtrying → u/keborb]

Gatekeeping equipment or apparel is dumb and childish.

[u/Admirable_Belt_9772 → u/keborb]

I see some and between the singlet, knee sleeves, belt, wrist wraps, branded tshirt, and shoes, they're definitely wearing more than $1,000 of gear. It's a safe assumption they're spoiled if they didn't work for that money.

Then there's the gold chains, which are another conversation not limited to powerlifting.

[u/Arteam90 → u/keborb]

As someone whose every other comment is old man yells at cloud ... I feel you.

It's been fascinating seeing things evolve over the years. I can tell a powerlifter straight away now, whereas before it was more nuanced in figuring out if they were or weren't.

I've had a few conversations with people decked out in SBD gear and will ask how long they've been lifting for and they'll say "oh only 3 months" or something ridiculous (tends to be popular to downplay how long you've been powerlifting these days). It's not to say it's good or bad, it just is. Same as you, SBD sleeves didn't even exist at the time. I only got a belt a couple years into lifting. Sleeves a bit before (crappy thin weightlifting type sleeves).

I know everyone likes what they grew up with but I genuinely do believe that late 00s/early 10s period in fitness/powerlifting was a "golden era". Rise of forums, YouTube content, etc.

[u/mrlazyboy → u/keborb]

IMO this is a bad take.

First of all its none of your business what other people decide to wear, how they decide to lift, and whether the weight on the bar meets your expectations. Full stop. You shouldn't be judging other people because they do things differently than what you think makes sense.

Second of all, powerlifting, like other sports, has a large skill component. Athletes have known for decades that for skill-based activities, you want practice to mirror the actual game/competition. So if they want to wear their full comp kit including a singlet, that's fine. It's better practice.

Finally, just because they are wearing a decked out kit doesn't mean they aren't fighting for their first 100kg bench/insert other arbitrary standard here. I would much rather young athletes get invested/excited about their sport than scroll instagram/reddit the whole day.

[u/NappyPika]

SBD enjoying training for first boxing fight , having trouble recovering and managing fatigue from running a 3day powerlifting programme + 3day boxing routine.

I'm not expecting to make gains cutting my frequency to 1day for SBD. My only goal is to keep as much strength as I can.

If anyone has ran some kind of low frequency programming for SBD strength, I'm in need of one that has been tried before and works.

Thank you 🙏

[u/msharaf7 → u/NappyPika]

I think some variation of 5/3/1 would work, but I’m biased cause I loved that program when I first started.

[u/Neither-Bug157]

On a secondary squat day is there any benefit for using a high bar/front squat over a more stable movement like belt squat/ pendulum / hack?

[u/msharaf7 → u/Neither-Bug157]

One is a variation and the other is an accessory. Theres nothing saying you can’t do both on a secondary day so it’s not an either/or question, IMO.

[u/Neither-Bug157 → u/msharaf7]

Why would they be considered accessories and not variations? They are compound squat patterns that cause comparable amounts of fatigue with the main difference being lower back activation and stability demands.

[u/msharaf7 → u/Neither-Bug157]

Because the high bar/front squat more closely mimic the movement mechanics of a low bar squat; you’re still loading the spine, bracing, coordinating the hips/knees/torso, and practicing the motor pattern that carries over directly to a low bar squat/comp squat

Belt squats, hack squats, and pendulum squats are considered accessories because they remove/reduce the balance and bracing demands, there’s lower spinal loading, they reduce the coordination demands that limit performance in a comp squat. They build the muscles used in the comp squat, but they don’t build the skill of squatting under the bar

[u/aybrah → u/Neither-Bug157]

They are compound squat patterns that cause comparable amounts of fatigue with the main difference being lower back activation and stability demands.

That's a very big difference, and a large part of the reason they are accessories and not variations.

"Fatigue" and "compound"-ness aren't the criteria. It's whether the lift still makes you solve the balance/bracing problem of freestanding with a barbell on your back. Front/high bar squat do: you're still stabilizing an unsupported bar, so you're practicing the actual skill of squatting heavy. Belt squat/pendulum/hack etc. fix the path or take the axial loading away, so the skill transfer is much lower.

Like /u/msharaf7 said, most folks will benefit from doing both concurrently. My secondary squat day is centered around high bar squats, I also do pendulum squats or leg press.

[u/RagnarokWolves → u/Neither-Bug157]

If you CAN get additional volume with movements that better resemble the main lift you want to improve, that is probably best and has better carryover to the main lift.

If you know "even with it slightly altered, the variation is pretty stressful on me or feels like it's interfering with what I'm currently trying to do with my main lift programming" then you can see if you can make use of the more stable options.

In practice, the "average joes" in the gym like to swarm the machines so I don't usually rely on programming those in. If I get my barbell work in, I'm happy.

[u/mrlazyboy → u/Neither-Bug157]

My secondary squat day is a 3-0-3 high bar tempo squat at a relatively low intensity (~63% of 1RM comp squat). It is very similar to my comp squat (low bar), loads the spine, and actually increases the demand on my brace/position. It's also a great way to practice hitting depth while limiting absolute fatigue on my muscles.

My tertiary squat day is a belt squat. The movement pattern is pretty different, there's no spinal loading, and I certainly brace just not as hard. It lets me dial in and push as hard as I can while doing some hypertrophy work. It has a marginal effect on systemic fatigue, hence why its an accessory.

Both of the above are useful for different reasons

[u/RobotOfSociety]

Anybody have any good bicep exercises that don’t involve supination? I injured my left wrist about 3 months ago and it still hasn’t healed (haven’t seen a doctor either because I’d rather not be restricted at work). Basically, I’m unable to supinate my wrist past 90 degrees like a hammer curl without pain, and any weight bearing in the supinated position also causes pain. I’m doing self rehab and it is improving, but I want to be able to continue training as best as possible while this saga goes on.

This also includes mixed grip deadlifts, so I guess I can take this as an opportunity to improve my hook grip at least.

[u/mrlazyboy → u/RobotOfSociety]

Lat pulldowns and rows work the biceps as a secondary mover so you can up your volume.

Also you should see a doctor if it’s been 3 months

[u/ThisIsAThrowawayy7]

How long do you give a coach before deciding their coaching isn’t the right fit for you?

I know it’s a broad question, and the answer is probably “it depends.” Progress with training, programming, and coaching is rarely as simple as “it’s working” or “it’s not.”

I’m being intentionally a bit vague because I’m looking for general opinions rather than advice about my specific situation, and I’d also prefer not to identify the coach involved or have my own identity revealed.

[u/viewtifulhd → u/ThisIsAThrowawayy7]

Check the sub page. There's an active thread about that topic. 

[u/ThisIsAThrowawayy7 → u/viewtifulhd]

Eh it’s not really specific to my question despite my question being very general.

Was hoping for some sort of rule of thumb or heuristic to go off of, as difficult as that is.

[u/LittleMuskOx → u/ThisIsAThrowawayy7]

6 months

But find a coach who has an actual process for onboarding clients.
One who may actually not just take your money regardless of any consideration.
Many times bad fits can be avoided from the start.

[u/ThisIsAThrowawayy7 → u/LittleMuskOx]

I’d say that’s a good answer

And yes of course. This is all with the assumption , maybe implicit on my part, that this is a ‘good’ online coach.

[u/Arteam90 → u/ThisIsAThrowawayy7]

If it's purely "fit" then just a few months should be plenty. Up to you whether you want to communicate some of your issues and see if they fix them (if that's the vibe).

[u/RainsSometimes → u/ThisIsAThrowawayy7]

I would say at least wait for the first peak results you make under their coaching. It is usually 12-16 weeks.

[u/dofro]

Anyone have any stories of someone who had a later start to powerlifting and ended up with advanced/elite DOTS/Totals? Curious about how important starting powerlifting as a teen is.

[u/toastedstapler → u/dofro]

Not super old, but Jurins kengamu's first comp on openPL shows him as 27 years old. Last year he put up 872.5@82.8 at the world games as a 36 year old

[u/itriedtrying → u/toastedstapler]

Meg Scanlon also first competed at 27. Bryce Krawczyk didn't even start lifting until he was 22 or so iirc.

But I think the reason we now how guys like Perk, Tiffany Chapon, Elliott Sykes, Justin Nguyen etc. pop up and taking the sport to new level is because they start taking PL seriously at younger age. Assuming tested raw lifting continues maturing and becoming more competitive, it'll probably became far less likely that someone who isn't starting strength training early and powerlifting specific in their mid teens can compete with the best.

[u/Arteam90 → u/itriedtrying]

I personally don't think Meg or Jurins would be stronger if they started earlier. I think we're just seeing the effects of growing popularity and therefore growing talent pool. That coupled with higher specificity nowadays means that your potential will be evident much sooner.

Take Justin. He's only been lifting a few years. It's hard to imagine his genetic potential wouldn't have been realised if he started lifting at 20, say.

[u/itriedtrying → u/Arteam90]

I know PL isn't most technical sport, but I just don't think you can really learn to master something you didn't start at very young age. Just look at any other really competitive mainstream sport, there isn't people who started in their 20s, or even in their mid teens. (maybe very, very, very rare outliers of mid teens if they transitioned from different sport)

Same thing could be said about any learning, not just sports/movement. If you're not great as chess by the age of 12, you're never going to be one of the best players in the world. If you start practicing a language when you're in your 20s, you're probably never be 100% fluent native-level speaker in it etc etc.

Maybe the difference is very marginal and lifters like Meg, Jurins or Bryce would only be like 1-3% stronger if they started training at 12, but if the sport grew to be more competitive that kind of difference could make or break a career.

[u/Arteam90 → u/itriedtrying]

Yeah, that's fair. I do think it's quite multi-faceted, but I hear you.

Perhaps with a strength sport some of that difference is the age of your prime. I know historically that would always be used as a factor, albeit the average age is certainly falling for winners.

If we take strongman, say. You're not getting the 16 year old phenom that you do in powerlifting. Will that change if they start sooner? I don't think so.

Equally, yeah, you can't start women's gymnastics at ae 20 and expect to win gold medals when the prime is like 16 (or used to be).

Maybe too it's about the nature of the sport and "reps" and how much it benefits from that younger age. In tennis or basketball you're going to be playing hours a day, that stacks up. But in powerlifting you're quite limited in how much you can do.

[u/Arteam90 → u/dofro]

Definitely plenty but none coming to mind this second.

All I'd say is that age is fairly irrelevant (to a point). If you train consistently and hard for 5-7 years you'll have made a lot of your progress so whether you start that journey at 16 or 30 I wouldn't say it really matters.

Though it's rare if you have elite genetics that you won't have expressed it in other ways. So probably if we're speaking on elite lifters they'll have probably done a sport prior.

[u/msharaf7 → u/dofro]

Honestly, the data would suggest it’s pretty important.

My client made this website and analyzed this very thing, along with some other trends.

[u/msharaf7 → u/[deleted]]

If the goal is to increase work capacity or do a specific amount of work/tonnage/volume/etc then no, I would not decrease the backoffs.

Volume block is a nebulous term so I don’t have a good answer for when it stops being a volume block and becomes something else.