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Lifter_Dan

New member
Who uses smelling salts?

and for which lifts?

I tried them the first time last week on squats, I was going to go for 4-5 reps but I got so shaky on the 3rd rep that I pitched forward a bit out of my groove and had to rack it.

Is it normal to be a bit jittery after ammonia or was I just fatigued?

Is it better to only use them for singles not for reps, and maybe only for simpler lifts like deadlift??
 
Who uses smelling salts?

and for which lifts?

I tried them the first time last week on squats, I was going to go for 4-5 reps but I got so shaky on the 3rd rep that I pitched forward a bit out of my groove and had to rack it.

Is it normal to be a bit jittery after ammonia or was I just fatigued?

Is it better to only use them for singles not for reps, and maybe only for simpler lifts like deadlift??

I think Markos talks about this in his raw talk
 
Your lift issue was form, not the ammonia.

Save the ammonia for max effort lifts, PR attempts and competitions. It's not something you need for your regular gym work.
 
Your lift issue was form, not the ammonia.

Save the ammonia for max effort lifts, PR attempts and competitions. It's not something you need for your regular gym work.

Thanks mate, form is definitely in need of improvements for my squats. The pitching forward was probably my groove off from form.

Was going for a rep PR, but really the reason I used it was because I need to try it in the gym first - I've heard comp time is not a time for new experiences.. have to make sure I know what to expect before I end up competing. Wanted to know if the ammonia knock my socks off or what will happen really.. still alive :eek:
 
Pitching forward is a common problem, mostly from not keeping your chest up high enough.

Lifters, on a max lift, tend to bend forward at or near the bottom as your body tries to avoid dealing with the heavy load. That keeps your hips up, so proper depth is harder to reach, and as you bend forward, the bar will move forward a touch, so that you will feel the weight shift from heel/mid foot to your toes.

You are then stuck with using your lower back to get the weight moving up again as your legs are no longer taking the full weight.

It's all mental discipline. Force yourself to keep your chest up. Some lifters do that by looking up, but that cause other issues if done excessively.

It also helps if you have decent squat shoes. Squishy shitty "runners" are never a good squatting option. Something with a firm sole is best. A bit of a raised heel helps for raw squats. Flat soles for wide stance squats, which is what you would use if you were using a squat suit (which you prolly aren't so skip that).

No problem using ammonia in the gym. And your point about not trying something new at a comp is spot on. Never do that. Ever. Train like you compete. Compete like you train.

But as I said, it's overkill to use it on every heavy set. Keep it for max efforts. You will get far better progress by fixing your form than snorting ammonia.

Keep at it. Its better to be dead than average.

Vid below of Jezza squatting in training. Notice how he keeps his chest up. Makes it look easy.



Compare that to this phaggoty bad squat form. Notice that at the bottom of the squat (at least he kinda gets down there) the barbell is well forward of his knees and toes as he bends forward.

 
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Thanks that makes sense, my 3rd rep looked a bit like that bad squat form video :) then I pitched onto toes.

Have got the squat shoes, love them.

The cues I have are knees out, chest up, and head up (but looking straight ahead not up).
Haven't been doing low bar for very long though and have been focussed on improving the setup/unrack and bar position, arm position etc. So it's more volume more practice and regular squatting I need to master the cues and keeping the chest up.

That's a beast squat from Jezza! I noticed Ray Williams and Eric Lillebridge keeping their chest up in a similar manner at max weights.
 
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