I'm loving the Strength Training Book....

kmab1985
kmab1985 Posts: 295 Member
edited November 17 in Fitness and Exercise
After many recommendations I purchased the Mark Ripptoe Strength Training book and it's such a good read and soooo useful/interesting!

I've already read to the end of the "Squats" chapter.

I did some practising last night as per the instructions in the book and it really does show how incorrect (without the knowledge) workouts can be done! i.e. in bodypump I tend to do the "half squat" and my Quads always get sore/achey but from reading the book, its interesting to now know the deeper you sit, the more muscles get worked and also the way your supposed to come "up" from a squat i.e. bring the but/hips up first, whereas before I would always bring my chest up first.... I love it! can't wait to continue reading it tonight.

Tonight I am going to purchase my own barbell/weights so I can practise at home with ease, I do go to the gym but sometimes I feel conscious of time, people around me but at least having my own at home I can practise good form in the comfort of my own home and at my own pace!

Thanks all who recommended it!!!!

Replies

  • bloodsy
    bloodsy Posts: 34 Member
    edited May 2015
    You are not supposed to come up with the hips before your chest, The idea is to generate power from the hips and have the upper body act as a static stabilizer. Otherwise you end up performing "good mornings"

    Also this is more advice for a low bar squat as with a High bar or Olympic Style(Pretty much vertical upper body) you won't have to think much about your chest as it's already straight.
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
    Yes, you generate the power from the hips, but your chest should already be upright. You might want to check your hip and ankle mobility if your torso is leaning forward. Try to do a squat with your hands extended over your head, Can you keep your hands over you or do you lean forward?
  • kmab1985
    kmab1985 Posts: 295 Member
    Yeah thats what I meant, I just meant I didnt know you used your Hips to power up from the squat as I've never done that!

    Yeah the chapter is talking about low bar squats
  • kmab1985
    kmab1985 Posts: 295 Member
    Great tip AllanMisner, I will try this now and get back to you....
  • kmab1985
    kmab1985 Posts: 295 Member
    OK, so I lowered myself into a squat and extended my arms/hands over my head and this is the position I was in….I felt my arms were leaning more forward than my middle and when I tried to put them back over my head I lost my balance!

    How can I correct this, I can't post pictures to my discussion for some reason!
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
    You need to work on hip and ankle mobility. Self-myofascial release and stretching. Don’t load much on the bar for back squats until you can do an overhead squat with at least the bar.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    edited May 2015
    @kmab1985:

    wall squats are a great way to groove a squat pattern, engaging the legs whilst staying tight in your posterior chain. I know it's t-nipple (so there's going to be some NSFW photos), but check out this article on wall squatting and getting a good position:

    https://www.t-nation.com/training/3-keys-to-a-big-raw-squat

    just scroll down to section 1 and read about using wall squats as a skill-practice. Video yourself doing them and see what depth you're hitting and holding. Do them several times a day and see how you progress. It's also useful to do them before squatting a barbell to let your body "feel" the pattern and try to reproduce it with the bar.
  • kmab1985
    kmab1985 Posts: 295 Member
    Thanks "Jimmmer" for the link, I've read through the article and will definately start trying the wall squats.

    I just went to the gym at lunch time and tried my newly found squat with a 10kg bar but it just didn't feel right at all....moreso on the knees, I feel like my legs are twisting away from my knees, I didn't enjoy it anyway!
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    kmab1985 wrote: »
    Thanks "Jimmmer" for the link, I've read through the article and will definately start trying the wall squats.

    I just went to the gym at lunch time and tried my newly found squat with a 10kg bar but it just didn't feel right at all....moreso on the knees, I feel like my legs are twisting away from my knees, I didn't enjoy it anyway!

    The wall squat will teach you how it should feel when everything is aligned correctly and your stabilisers are firing.

    Like it says in the article - it's self-correcting. You can't pitch forward cause your face will hit the wall. Your chest has to be up, your t-spine and lumbar braced and your knees have to track out over your toes (or else they hit the wall too). Coming up out of the hole, you'll power up without collapsing forward (this corrects the common fault of hips shooting up first) - again thanks to the wall.

    Just do a few sets of them several times a day for a week or two and you'll have an ace squat pattern from the get-go. Then it's just a case of keeping in that nice squat groove you're developing whilst sensibly adding load to the bar over time. Squatting is a skill - approach it this way and you'll learn a beautiful grooved movement that will keep you healthy and allow you to develop your strength dramatically.

  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
    kmab1985 wrote: »
    Thanks "Jimmmer" for the link, I've read through the article and will definately start trying the wall squats.

    I just went to the gym at lunch time and tried my newly found squat with a 10kg bar but it just didn't feel right at all....moreso on the knees, I feel like my legs are twisting away from my knees, I didn't enjoy it anyway!

    The knees should track out over your third toe. There are two ways to que on this:
    1) The most popular, try to screw your feet into the ground (left foot clockwise, right foot counter-clockwise); or
    2) My favorite, squeeze the glutes throughout the eccentric portion of the lift. If you really squeeze hard, it naturally aligns your knees, and if you lose your knees, you can’t hold tension.


  • rushfive
    rushfive Posts: 603 Member
    wow, thanks all on the info on the wall squats...
    I have been trying these just now.... I feel strain in my knees while keeping form. is this typical for a first timer? should my feet be pointing a certain way.?
    trying the tips from Allan also...
  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
    clnrush wrote: »
    wow, thanks all on the info on the wall squats...
    I have been trying these just now.... I feel strain in my knees while keeping form. is this typical for a first timer? should my feet be pointing a certain way.?
    trying the tips from Allan also...

    It depends on your stance. If you have a wide stance your feet can be more parallel. If you have a narrower stance like shoulder width you'll need to point your toes out some to keep your knees out.
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
    clnrush wrote: »
    wow, thanks all on the info on the wall squats...
    I have been trying these just now.... I feel strain in my knees while keeping form. is this typical for a first timer? should my feet be pointing a certain way.?
    trying the tips from Allan also...

    It sounds like you might not be pushing your hips back enough and instead are relying on your quads to control your eccentric portion.
  • rushfive
    rushfive Posts: 603 Member
    ok thanks gal... and allan.
    check my stance and feet placement, push hips back more.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    clnrush wrote: »
    wow, thanks all on the info on the wall squats...
    I have been trying these just now.... I feel strain in my knees while keeping form. is this typical for a first timer? should my feet be pointing a certain way.?
    trying the tips from Allan also...

    We're all built a little differently.

    My advice? Try a few stance widths and various feet angles. Generally, don't let your foot angle drift out wider than 45 degrees. Some people are more parallel with their foot alignment, some flare out slightly, some are a closer to 45.

    You can also experiment with "screwing your feet into the ground" or "engaging your glutes" and then driving your knees out when you squat down.

    Squats are a movement that are easy to do incorrectly. But learning to do them correctly is an exercise in learning what "correctly" is for your proportions/anthropomorphy and working on improving your mobility and motor firing patterns.

  • kmab1985
    kmab1985 Posts: 295 Member
    Sorry to sound a bit dim but how do you screw your feet?
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    kmab1985 wrote: »
    Sorry to sound a bit dim but how do you screw your feet?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5zrloYWwxw

    the whole video's worth a watch, but skip to about 18:10 for a visual explanation of screwing the feet/screwing the hips/twisting the floor/creating hip torque...
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