On October 03 2013 08:09 Arisen wrote: Another Squat Form Check at 145
Man, it's super frustrating. This is like 4 or something workouts with the same reduced weight squat, I just can't get my back any straighter. I'm working hard on keeping everything tight and my chest up, and I'm doing the heel/ankle mobilization exercises, and It's not getting any better, I think. My traps are beginning to hurt resting the bar there with no pad.
On an up note, my heels are definitely closer to the ground in an idea (assisted) position, so something is improving.
Still at 85 Lb Press; down from 95 2 weeks ago just faling short on the 3rd set to only being able to do 1.5 sets with less weights. Super frustrating again.
I've been really trying to work super hard on my clean form, and It's going ok at least (can finish 3/5 of 3 rep sets), with 1 plate.
Dude those first couple reps were like a thousand times better than a week or two ago. It's going ot take little bit of time for the rest of your body to catch up with your leg strength since you changed technique. Keep hitting that mobility work!! (hips and ankles)
Man, it's super frustrating. This is like 4 or something workouts with the same reduced weight squat, I just can't get my back any straighter. I'm working hard on keeping everything tight and my chest up, and I'm doing the heel/ankle mobilization exercises, and It's not getting any better, I think. My traps are beginning to hurt resting the bar there with no pad.
On an up note, my heels are definitely closer to the ground in an idea (assisted) position, so something is improving.
Still at 85 Lb Press; down from 95 2 weeks ago just faling short on the 3rd set to only being able to do 1.5 sets with less weights. Super frustrating again.
I've been really trying to work super hard on my clean form, and It's going ok at least (can finish 3/5 of 3 rep sets), with 1 plate.
Dude those first couple reps were like a thousand times better than a week or two ago. It's going ot take little bit of time for the rest of your body to catch up with your leg strength since you changed technique. Keep hitting that mobility work!! (hips and ankles)
damn... i think i have to rethink my form. also i dont get the "hip drive" thingy ... time to watch some rippetoe videos.
@ Arisen LOL, two weeks ago I was secretly thinking "Fuck, this is going to be the first person to get paralyzed due to TLHF." Way better now. Just keep in mind what decaf, infinity and Phyre suggested, but I think you can start upping the weight again.
You've had a ton of cues thrown at you in the past two weeks, and it sucks to have to think about so many things, believe me I know. I've struggled with squat form too, and a lot of times I'd over think it and shit would just fall apart on weight that I should have just crushed. My suggestion would be to try to come up with a sequence you go through every time in your head. Just pick a few cues at first, and build from there.
On October 03 2013 20:55 infinity21 wrote: -Keep your upper back tight -Narrower stance -Slower going down -Let your knees move forward at the bottom
If you thought about only those four things (and take a big deep breath) and absolutely nothing else, you'd be well on your way.
You could build off of it too. Just go through the steps, and take every rep deadly serious. Warming up with the bar should have the exact same mental sequence and concentration as loading up your max.
Here's what goes through my head as an example. Every single rep:
1) get under the bar 2) get tight 3) walk out 4) deep breath (into abdomen, not chest) and hold it 5) slight break at hips 6) knees out!!! 7) explode 8) exhale at the top 9) goto 4) or re-rack
I bolded the important parts, but you probably get the idea anyway. Your sequence doesn't have to be exactly the same, but you should have a sequence in your head, something you can go into auto-pilot on. Breathe, hips, knees, explode. Breathe, hips, knees, explode. It's like staying on top of probes and pylons. The goal is to make it simple and make it automatic.
I know it's frustrating to be down in the low weights right now but you've made solid progress dude. Slap a little more weight on there and start having fun again.
Man, it's super frustrating. This is like 4 or something workouts with the same reduced weight squat, I just can't get my back any straighter. I'm working hard on keeping everything tight and my chest up, and I'm doing the heel/ankle mobilization exercises, and It's not getting any better, I think. My traps are beginning to hurt resting the bar there with no pad.
On an up note, my heels are definitely closer to the ground in an idea (assisted) position, so something is improving.
Still at 85 Lb Press; down from 95 2 weeks ago just faling short on the 3rd set to only being able to do 1.5 sets with less weights. Super frustrating again.
I've been really trying to work super hard on my clean form, and It's going ok at least (can finish 3/5 of 3 rep sets), with 1 plate.
Dude those first couple reps were like a thousand times better than a week or two ago. It's going ot take little bit of time for the rest of your body to catch up with your leg strength since you changed technique. Keep hitting that mobility work!! (hips and ankles)
damn... i think i have to rethink my form. also i dont get the "hip drive" thingy ... time to watch some rippetoe videos.
Hip drive is basically a cue to fix beginners who don't use their posterior chain in the low-bar squat. You know how if someone is favoring one side of their body in a squat, you can tell them to exaggerate pointing their ass to the other side and they usually end up in the middle? Hip drive is the same thing for getting someone to use their hips to generate power. It's a useful lie to tell someone who is doing it wrong, but not really worth thinking about if you are already decent.
Deadlifted for the first time in 1.5 months and hit 370lb. Although my PR is 385, that was at 180 BW and now I'm down to 171 so I have a better strength to body weight ratio now
I feel like absolute shit today. Worked out with a borderline migraine (I used to get chronic migraines, haven't gotten one in a while). I'm super nauseous and have a terrible headache atm, but when I feel better I'll post a video of my squats. I would've done deadlifts today but I just feel like such crap that I really didn't want to push it too hard.
Tried to follow phyre's advice, but found the talk about hip extension to be eluding me. I tried to drive more with my hips this time and see if that was going toward the correct way or the incorrect way. Here's the result,
On October 08 2013 14:01 Arisen wrote: Tried to follow phyre's advice, but found the talk about hip extension to be eluding me. I tried to drive more with my hips this time and see if that was going toward the correct way or the incorrect way. Here's the result,
On October 08 2013 14:01 Arisen wrote: Tried to follow phyre's advice, but found the talk about hip extension to be eluding me. I tried to drive more with my hips this time and see if that was going toward the correct way or the incorrect way. Here's the result,
Some of those reps were alright, but as far as keeping your chest up they weren't as good as the last vid.
You're doing better work with your hips too which is nice. How much are you stretching?
God that foot position makes my skin crawl. I feel like they're going to fall off at the ankle.
Your toes are turned way too far out. You need your toes forward so you can create torque by driving your feet into the ground. Your arch is collapsing every time you come up from the bottom, putting a strain on your back/hips/achilles.
Perform this test: stand in neutral position with your toes straight ahead and clench your glutes as hard as possible. Next drive your feet into the ground, that is, push into the ground while trying to externally rotate your feet out, creating torque on your hip socket. You will be maintaining your arch this way which allows you to create force without bleeding torque.
Now to compare, point your toes out at 45 degree angles. Fire your glutes and hold them tight. Try to create torque by driving your foot into the ground and externally rotating them outwards to tighten up the hip socket. Your arch is going to collapse and you are going to be bleeding torque and setting yourself up for injury down the road.
On October 08 2013 14:01 Arisen wrote: Tried to follow phyre's advice, but found the talk about hip extension to be eluding me. I tried to drive more with my hips this time and see if that was going toward the correct way or the incorrect way. Here's the result,
def looking way better than the previous vid that u posted
don't know if u've seen this yet, but this vid helped me out A LOT.
On October 08 2013 14:01 Arisen wrote: Tried to follow phyre's advice, but found the talk about hip extension to be eluding me. I tried to drive more with my hips this time and see if that was going toward the correct way or the incorrect way. Here's the result,
Some of those reps were alright, but as far as keeping your chest up they weren't as good as the last vid.
You're doing better work with your hips too which is nice. How much are you stretching?
God that foot position makes my skin crawl. I feel like they're going to fall off at the ankle.
Your toes are turned way too far out. You need your toes forward so you can create torque by driving your feet into the ground. Your arch is collapsing every time you come up from the bottom, putting a strain on your back/hips/achilles.
Perform this test: stand in neutral position with your toes straight ahead and clench your glutes as hard as possible. Next drive your feet into the ground, that is, push into the ground while trying to externally rotate your feet out, creating torque on your hip socket. You will be maintaining your arch this way which allows you to create force without bleeding torque.
Now to compare, point your toes out at 45 degree angles. Fire your glutes and hold them tight. Try to create torque by driving your foot into the ground and externally rotating them outwards to tighten up the hip socket. Your arch is going to collapse and you are going to be bleeding torque and setting yourself up for injury down the road.
That's a great explanation of the thinking behind my last line.
but it's also something that's going to take a while (and a LOT of stretching) for you to get fully "right" so work on it, and understand that it's very important, but don't drive yourself crazy over it.
Got 255 bench and 305 squat today. Squat's finally making some progress after months of stalling. On track to smash 3 plates before end of year hopefully
EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/4CugFvy.jpg)
