super_si

How do i go about stopping veins bursting in my head/neck?

When im maxing out deadlift/squat i get terrible head aches afterwards + blood under the skin in little pockets. Over the neck, shoulder and Eye sockets.

its a build up of pressure but anyway to stop it?
ta

Si

milo

more of a medical question than a gym question.

it sounds like an exertional headache. this is due to increased pressure as you said. the reason it occurs is because you're breathing wrong while lifting. effectively you're trying to exhale WHILE holding your breath, causing the increased pressure.

so to stop it, you could stop maxing it.. but that's a ****ty idea.

better would be to lower the weights a little for a couple of weeks and make sure you're breathing properly (or not).

on westside we generally hold our breath while performing a max (a LOT of people disagree with this principal... but the weights westsiders are putting up speak for themselves). be VERY careful with this tho - you don't want to pass out while squatting. clearly when we do a 3rm, we breath... you HAVE to

in other words, you have two options - either hold your breath during the max and KEEP it held, or breath out properly during the movement - DONT try to do both, which it sounds like what you're doing.

how you doing on westside by the way?

super_si

yeah its good. Actaully getting abs hehehehe

Cant really say if im getting stronger. Just 1/3 the way though the cycle at the minute. Got a 170kg squat today, little more in me. benched 90kg, poor but 10kg better then last year!

Really hitting the hams like crazy, Ill try holding my breath all the time then. have you increased much?

S

Bonehead

What's Westside?

super_si

Bit weird mate. From what i gather its about periodization.
So you cycle the weights for 9 weeks
Max squat, bench * 3 weeks
max good mornings, floor press * 3 weeks
max deadlift, max decline press * 3 weeks. Then loads other tricep work etc + 50% days. So each week consists of 2 maxs + 2 50% days.

Si

milo

the best and most successful powerlifting club of all time. the prinicples taught by louie simmons at westside have enabled SO many lifters to push WAY past what they ever could have imagined. louie himself is a legend at over 50 years old squatting 920lbs in competition, which is an impressive weight at ANY age.

as si rightly says its about periodization - but the periodization works, unlike standard western periodization. there is a MASS of science behind it. essentially you're doing:

max effort lower - work up to 3rm, then 1rm in good mornings (70% of the time), squats (20%) or deads (10%)... then assistance work such as glute/ham raises and reverse hypers.

max effort upper - work up to 3rm, then 1rm in bench (or bench variations), then assistance work such as tricep pushdowns, lockouts, etc etc.

dynamic effort lower - speed box squats - 8 sets of 2 at 50% of your 1rm with 1 minute rest between sets, then assistance work as per ME lower.

dynamic effort upper - speed bench - 8 sets of 3 at 50% of your 1rm with 1 minute rest between sets, then assistance work as ME upper.

lifts are cycled frequently to prevent overtraining, and your hams and triceps end up being the most worked-out parts of you - these are where the REAL high numbers are for lifts. you're also working on speed - so even if you can't increase your strength any more, your lifts still go up due to your increased POWER.

Bonehead

Where can I get more info?

milo

http://www.westside-barbell.com

read the articles there written by louie.

super_si

http://musclemonthly.com/articles/00...werlifting.htm
http://www.elitefts.com/elite-articles/home/default.asp

Si