Squating below parallel- stronglifts 5x5
Options
Replies
-
When u say parallel I mean quad parallel not hamstring. I know that this is what is required in powerlifting. I don't have balance issues at all just $%&- long legs and mobility issues0
-
Isaackgmoon, have you seen anyone do it with calorie cycling? I'm okay with slower strength gains if I'm burning fat and retaining the muscle I have. I'm getting my body composition measured this weekend, if you're interested to see how it goes friend me because I'll be posting updates. I'll be tracking composition, measurements, and photos biweekly instead of weigh ins. I might weigh in monthly out of curiosity but I'm not using it to really measure progress.
If you're ok with a longer journey, you might consider running a recomp to allow for the highest amount of food consumed during the process, but you'd need to be prepared for a much longer road.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p10 -
singingflutelady wrote: »@rabbitjb @SonyaCele @juliewatkin I don't squat atg I only go to parallel because of butt wink below that, mobility and having super long femurs. I am working on mobility and butt wink but is just to parallel squats OK? I thought parallel was as low as needed. Oh I am doing an intermediate program but did do SL before it.
i squat below parallel because thats competition requirements, In training i'll go lower than parallel, as deep as i can for the weight which is only atg for lower weights, But at a meet i go just enough below to make the lift.0 -
HamsterManV2 wrote: »Watch this video for all the squatting information you will need (as a beginner)
Seriously. Watch it and all your questions will be answered.
My quick guess without seeing a form video is lack of ankle mobility (everyone has this problem). Quick fix is to put weight plates under your heels to compensate for it until you are mobile enough.
Secondly regarding your program, Starting Strength and Strong lift are both designed give your body the maximal stimulus to grow through the correct(i.e. minimal) dosage of weights. That means there is a reason why it has you progressively climb the weights little by little - At low weights, you are fixing your form, and as you rapidly increase weights, it gets harder and harder to complete the movement. The entire time, your body is adapting and getting stronger and able to lift more weights. That is why someone who starts at a weight that they feel is too light but keeps on increasing will be stronger than someone who started off at their maximum, and never end up increasing.
The person who starts off with just the bar adds +60lbs/month to their squat, +60~90lbs to their deadlift, and +15~30lbs to their bench and OHP per month. Give yourself time and work out the kinks NOW, before the weight gets heavy (and mistakes here can mean injury). You can jump up the weight faster in the first 2 weeks, but I would recommend keeping your ego in check - the weights will get brutal in time.
Read more here.
I've been doing SL5x5 as a secondary goal since Nov (still run 6 days a week). Been happy with the strength gainz but realized I've been cheating in a few (high squat not deep, overhead press and row using body to jerk it).
Video really helped - I dropped back 40 on squat but form and depth were much better (and felt better). Plates under the heels definitely help but trying to avoid that crutch.
My biggest issue now is the bar hurts my back - even with a pad I just don't have enough fat/muscle on the back to support it.0 -
HamsterManV2 wrote: »Watch this video for all the squatting information you will need (as a beginner)
Seriously. Watch it and all your questions will be answered.
My quick guess without seeing a form video is lack of ankle mobility (everyone has this problem). Quick fix is to put weight plates under your heels to compensate for it until you are mobile enough.
Secondly regarding your program, Starting Strength and Strong lift are both designed give your body the maximal stimulus to grow through the correct(i.e. minimal) dosage of weights. That means there is a reason why it has you progressively climb the weights little by little - At low weights, you are fixing your form, and as you rapidly increase weights, it gets harder and harder to complete the movement. The entire time, your body is adapting and getting stronger and able to lift more weights. That is why someone who starts at a weight that they feel is too light but keeps on increasing will be stronger than someone who started off at their maximum, and never end up increasing.
The person who starts off with just the bar adds +60lbs/month to their squat, +60~90lbs to their deadlift, and +15~30lbs to their bench and OHP per month. Give yourself time and work out the kinks NOW, before the weight gets heavy (and mistakes here can mean injury). You can jump up the weight faster in the first 2 weeks, but I would recommend keeping your ego in check - the weights will get brutal in time.
Read more here.
I've been doing SL5x5 as a secondary goal since Nov (still run 6 days a week). Been happy with the strength gainz but realized I've been cheating in a few (high squat not deep, overhead press and row using body to jerk it).
Video really helped - I dropped back 40 on squat but form and depth were much better (and felt better). Plates under the heels definitely help but trying to avoid that crutch.
My biggest issue now is the bar hurts my back - even with a pad I just don't have enough fat/muscle on the back to support it.
Are you doing high or low bar? I used to do high but when I restarted I switched to low and find it much more comfortable (except my wrists but I now wear wrist wraps which have helped a lot,)0 -
HamsterManV2 wrote: »Watch this video for all the squatting information you will need (as a beginner)
Seriously. Watch it and all your questions will be answered.
My quick guess without seeing a form video is lack of ankle mobility (everyone has this problem). Quick fix is to put weight plates under your heels to compensate for it until you are mobile enough.
Secondly regarding your program, Starting Strength and Strong lift are both designed give your body the maximal stimulus to grow through the correct(i.e. minimal) dosage of weights. That means there is a reason why it has you progressively climb the weights little by little - At low weights, you are fixing your form, and as you rapidly increase weights, it gets harder and harder to complete the movement. The entire time, your body is adapting and getting stronger and able to lift more weights. That is why someone who starts at a weight that they feel is too light but keeps on increasing will be stronger than someone who started off at their maximum, and never end up increasing.
The person who starts off with just the bar adds +60lbs/month to their squat, +60~90lbs to their deadlift, and +15~30lbs to their bench and OHP per month. Give yourself time and work out the kinks NOW, before the weight gets heavy (and mistakes here can mean injury). You can jump up the weight faster in the first 2 weeks, but I would recommend keeping your ego in check - the weights will get brutal in time.
Read more here.
Holy nice quads he has *drools*0 -
I am 3 and a half months post pregnancy and I just started lifting again too. I used to power lift and Olympic lift pre pregnancy. Right now I am not comfortable adding weight to my squats because they just don't feel the same! My pelvic bone and hips feel all out of whack, which gives me balance issues I didn't have before. I'm hyper mobile right now. When I asked my doc about it, she reminded me that I still have a ton of relaxin in my system and that I shouldn't be doing weighted squats below parallel for at least 9 months.
Please run this strong lifts program past your doc at some point.0 -
singingflutelady wrote: »HamsterManV2 wrote: »Watch this video for all the squatting information you will need (as a beginner)
Seriously. Watch it and all your questions will be answered.
My quick guess without seeing a form video is lack of ankle mobility (everyone has this problem). Quick fix is to put weight plates under your heels to compensate for it until you are mobile enough.
Secondly regarding your program, Starting Strength and Strong lift are both designed give your body the maximal stimulus to grow through the correct(i.e. minimal) dosage of weights. That means there is a reason why it has you progressively climb the weights little by little - At low weights, you are fixing your form, and as you rapidly increase weights, it gets harder and harder to complete the movement. The entire time, your body is adapting and getting stronger and able to lift more weights. That is why someone who starts at a weight that they feel is too light but keeps on increasing will be stronger than someone who started off at their maximum, and never end up increasing.
The person who starts off with just the bar adds +60lbs/month to their squat, +60~90lbs to their deadlift, and +15~30lbs to their bench and OHP per month. Give yourself time and work out the kinks NOW, before the weight gets heavy (and mistakes here can mean injury). You can jump up the weight faster in the first 2 weeks, but I would recommend keeping your ego in check - the weights will get brutal in time.
Read more here.
Holy nice quads he has *drools*
Lol. I love his videos because he shows himself doing the exercise over and over and over while using a voice over. I found this one last year and it was so helpful. And a bit mesmerizing.0 -
HamsterManV2 wrote: »Watch this video for all the squatting information you will need (as a beginner)
Seriously. Watch it and all your questions will be answered.
My quick guess without seeing a form video is lack of ankle mobility (everyone has this problem). Quick fix is to put weight plates under your heels to compensate for it until you are mobile enough.
Secondly regarding your program, Starting Strength and Strong lift are both designed give your body the maximal stimulus to grow through the correct(i.e. minimal) dosage of weights. That means there is a reason why it has you progressively climb the weights little by little - At low weights, you are fixing your form, and as you rapidly increase weights, it gets harder and harder to complete the movement. The entire time, your body is adapting and getting stronger and able to lift more weights. That is why someone who starts at a weight that they feel is too light but keeps on increasing will be stronger than someone who started off at their maximum, and never end up increasing.
The person who starts off with just the bar adds +60lbs/month to their squat, +60~90lbs to their deadlift, and +15~30lbs to their bench and OHP per month. Give yourself time and work out the kinks NOW, before the weight gets heavy (and mistakes here can mean injury). You can jump up the weight faster in the first 2 weeks, but I would recommend keeping your ego in check - the weights will get brutal in time.
Read more here.
I've been doing SL5x5 as a secondary goal since Nov (still run 6 days a week). Been happy with the strength gainz but realized I've been cheating in a few (high squat not deep, overhead press and row using body to jerk it).
Video really helped - I dropped back 40 on squat but form and depth were much better (and felt better). Plates under the heels definitely help but trying to avoid that crutch.
My biggest issue now is the bar hurts my back - even with a pad I just don't have enough fat/muscle on the back to support it.
are you just resting the bar fully on your back? I actually hold the bar, and support as much of it as i can with my arms shoulder lats etc strength . i'm sure i'm taking off 50-75 pounds of pressure or more directly off where it rests on my back just by supporting it with my upper body. i'm not just using my arms to balance the bar, i'm supporting the bar and pressing up0 -
DON'T put plates under your heels. This can lead to keeping your weight on your toes and stress on the front of the knees. It might not seem like a big deal when you aren't really lifting enough weight to feel it, but it will create improper bio-mechanic habits if you want to lift heavier later.
This is probably the best video I've ever seen on squatting:
https://youtu.be/t2b8UdqmlFs 0 -
singingflutelady wrote: »@rabbitjb @SonyaCele @juliewatkin I don't squat atg I only go to parallel because of butt wink below that, mobility and having super long femurs. I am working on mobility and butt wink but is just to parallel squats OK? I thought parallel was as low as needed. Oh I am doing an intermediate program but did do SL before it.
I share the long femur issue. I can squat quite low without difficulty but because of the length of my femurs it feels like I travel through time zones and I also get forward lean in order to keep the bar over the centre of my body. I never thought I would envy people with short legs.0 -
juliewatkin wrote: »singingflutelady wrote: »@rabbitjb @SonyaCele @juliewatkin I don't squat atg I only go to parallel because of butt wink below that, mobility and having super long femurs. I am working on mobility and butt wink but is just to parallel squats OK? I thought parallel was as low as needed. Oh I am doing an intermediate program but did do SL before it.
I share the long femur issue. I can squat quite low without difficulty but because of the length of my femurs it feels like I travel through time zones and I also get forward lean in order to keep the bar over the centre of my body. I never thought I would envy people with short legs.
I kinda figured out that I am trying to stop the forward lean but I did a few to try it out and got more depth when I let myself lean more forward than I thought was "normal". It doesn't help I low bar that has more of a forward lean than high bar anyways. I used to do high bar but a bro corrected me one day saying I was doing low bar form while doing it so I switched. The forward lean was what he was referring to so I always thought after that that it was wrong! I also squat wider than shorties
0 -
For all the kind people who chimed in with advice, I'm extremely grateful! As an update, I'd be willing to say the weight plus my own body weight was too high by chance. A little over 24 hours after my first training session and my body is completely wrecked lol. I've spent years as an athlete and have spent many painful recovery days really stiff and sore but they've got nothing on this. My legs actually gave out on me earlier and I had to catch myself. My quads are by far the worst but my hammies, hips, glutes, and calves aren't happy either. I've been massaging them with icy hot and I'm about to go for the heating pad. Anyone have any tips for faster recovery/pain relief? Will I get this sore after every session or is this a newbie thing?0
-
julie_broadhead wrote: »I am 3 and a half months post pregnancy and I just started lifting again too. I used to power lift and Olympic lift pre pregnancy. Right now I am not comfortable adding weight to my squats because they just don't feel the same! My pelvic bone and hips feel all out of whack, which gives me balance issues I didn't have before. I'm hyper mobile right now. When I asked my doc about it, she reminded me that I still have a ton of relaxin in my system and that I shouldn't be doing weighted squats below parallel for at least 9 months.
Please run this strong lifts program past your doc at some point.
Good point about the relaxin, we can probably use it for some pretty sweet flexibility gains, but I'm not so concerned about it with lifting. I'm a week out from 5 months pp and I don't expect gains so big in the next four months that I'll be lifting weight heavy enough to move things around, and I'm also seeing a chiropractor for some back issues who can keep an eye on my hips and shoulders for me too. In all honesty I'm hoping that fat loss will reduce the body weight I'm lifting while I increase the weights, which means I wouldn't be lifting all that much more than the body weight I'm carrying around now. Honestly, besides being a little slow to get my energy levels back I feel completely back to normal except for the 40 lbs of baby weight still hanging around.0 -
I have mobility issues with hip flexors and my trainer has given me alot of stretches to improve my range of motion. I'm tall with long femers and I just can't go below parallel. His advice is to work on flexiblity and range of motion will improve and to keep weights lighter. I front squat on to a bench rather than back squat. Goblet squats have also helped.0
-
I had my first real squat workout today after incorporating some form tweaks from that video and I am very pleased! I got a few extra inches in depth on all my sets and was even able to break parallel up to 170! ( I only broke it up to 135 before and went just to parallel after that). I did my 5x5 at 170. ( I'm doing Texas method not SL but today was 5x5 at 90% of 5rm day).0
-
#1- I love Alan Thrall.
#2-I have more range and comfort once I switched to low bar.
#3-Warming up with goblet squats really help when its time to start the set.
I starting lifting at about 6.5 mo PP. Definitely needed to improve balance and stayed at the empty bar for quite a few of the first work outs.
0 -
For all the kind people who chimed in with advice, I'm extremely grateful! As an update, I'd be willing to say the weight plus my own body weight was too high by chance. A little over 24 hours after my first training session and my body is completely wrecked lol. I've spent years as an athlete and have spent many painful recovery days really stiff and sore but they've got nothing on this. My legs actually gave out on me earlier and I had to catch myself. My quads are by far the worst but my hammies, hips, glutes, and calves aren't happy either. I've been massaging them with icy hot and I'm about to go for the heating pad. Anyone have any tips for faster recovery/pain relief? Will I get this sore after every session or is this a newbie thing?
the pain is a newbie thing, just keep walking and moving around , it will get better. If you can do some assisted squats believe it or not that will help. Tie a rope around a tree or over a tree branch and hold it for assistance as you sit back into a squat and move those muscles all around. the more you move and get blood flowing to them, the better they will feel.0 -
Also, my gym doesn't have plates smaller than 2.5 and I found adding 5 lbs. with upper body lifts to be too much so I bought my own 1.25 lb. plates from Amazon, so I could increase by 2.5 lbs. instead of 5 if I felt the 5 lb. increase was too much.
A cheaper option would be to buy wrist/ankle weights. I got a pair of 2.5-lb. weights that each have two sandbags. I remove on of the sandbags from each and have 1.25-lb weights. Bought them from Amazon.0 -
For all the kind people who chimed in with advice, I'm extremely grateful! As an update, I'd be willing to say the weight plus my own body weight was too high by chance. A little over 24 hours after my first training session and my body is completely wrecked lol. I've spent years as an athlete and have spent many painful recovery days really stiff and sore but they've got nothing on this. My legs actually gave out on me earlier and I had to catch myself. My quads are by far the worst but my hammies, hips, glutes, and calves aren't happy either. I've been massaging them with icy hot and I'm about to go for the heating pad. Anyone have any tips for faster recovery/pain relief? Will I get this sore after every session or is this a newbie thing?
the pain is a newbie thing, just keep walking and moving around , it will get better. If you can do some assisted squats believe it or not that will help. Tie a rope around a tree or over a tree branch and hold it for assistance as you sit back into a squat and move those muscles all around. the more you move and get blood flowing to them, the better they will feel.
I saw one of the powerlifters do this today with a heavy resistance band around the rack but he wasn't holding on to anything. It looked like a good warm up0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 393 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.3K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 934 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions