any tips on teaching powerlifts?

K

Karky

2
So this girl wants me to teach her to squat, deadlift, row and bench.
so i figured id do so:p
anyone got any tips as how to teach someone these lifts? what mistakes etc to look for. myself i got it down pretty good for myself, but its another thing teaching someone else the lifts.

also i have a question about row (bb bendt over upper body parallell to floor) form i never really got down.
Are you suppose to pull ur shoulders back, squeezing your shoulderblades together and THEN start to lift the weight up or lift it up and then on the top squeeze the shoulderblades together?
 
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One very important thing at least for myself when doing squat is to make sure that my knees never go infront of my toes. Also tell her to look up when doing this and that will allow her back to be straight. I've found for myself that on squat bar placement on my back pretty much the most impottant thing. Most people want to rest it pretty high and close to their neck, however it is much easier if you put it down some and rest it on the muscle in your back that lies right about where your shoulder blade does. This will take some getting used to and it will feel like the bar will have a tendency to fall off at first to use light weight, but once you're used to it you'll never go back to the other way again.
 
thanks for reminding me with the knee infront of fot thing:p i totally forgot that, since my form is now automatic, i dont think it over anymore :p

and anyone know about the row form?
 
The knee pass the toes is way overrated. By going pass the knee you will only strengthen the joint at that position. Now if it hurts stop. This appies to the full squat, the power squat you shouldn't be concerned with that at all.

is supposed to be a great book on the powerlifts.
 
well she cant do full squat yet, only quarter.. i think its mostly technique that she cant get parallell, but she is probobly also too stiff. any spesific stretches she should do to make the full squat?
 
She could put some plates under her heels to get lower and slowly work down to the whole squat and then remove the plates. She should also do bodyweight squats, she shouldn't have any trouble hitting parallel i would guess its a mental thing unless she has some kind of aliment.
 
yeah i think its the movement:p it looks kinda weird.. i read an article on it, so im hoping what i learned can fix it.
 
Karky, if you are doing the lifts and know the form, then you should know what to look for. It's the same for you as it is for her...you know, the checklist you started from--
ex:squat
Start with bar on shoulders. Are shoulder blades retracted (squeezed together) to create 'the shelf' to place the bar on. Are the toes pointed slightly out. Is her stance shoulder width or for a taller person-stance a bit wider.
Some things to watch for-do the heels come up, does she lose balance, does she round her back, etc...these can all be signs for what her problem might be.
You could always start her on box squats at parallel and work her way down. I only do the box squat when someone has extreme problems with squats.

Bench press is easy enough to teach.

Deadlifts-main thing is ass is down and back stays arched. She should pull back instead of straight up. She doesn't necessarily have to scrape her shins. Also play with a bit of sumo stance mixed grip deadlifts which chicks tend to like better.

Pendlay rows-yes, shoulder blades retracted as much as possible. Main thing is to pull the bar violently from the floor...explosive is key here. Back stays parallel with teh floor and bar comes from the floor each rep.

Good luck.
 
Yeah bench is pretty easy to teach, little things like where the bar goes, and visualizing is easy to teach.

Squats on the other hand, are a different story. I was training someone a couple of weeks ago, and it took 45 minutes to get it down. But once she got it down, she was good the next sessions as well.

I would start with just bodyweight, with the individuals hands around their shoulders as if holding dumbells. To get out of the stiffness, try to explain to them (still at body weight) to throw themselves down as if sitting on a bench behind them and only their butt should be touching. If it is to hard, or they fall, put a bench or some plates under them to actual touch or sit.

Once the form is down, move up in weight.
 
no offense, but its still my opinion that the knees in front of the toes is a very important aspect. If your knees are going too far forward not only does it cause ur heels to rise but also to lose balance, which is not something u want someone just starting out and maybe intimidated to do.
 
for squats have her do just the bar and put a chair behind her. Make sure she keeps her back flat and brings her butt down all the way till she is almost sitting on the chair then have her go back up. It taught me my form. For rows concentrate on her only moving her arms to her body and don't let her use her back to help by leaning back. Hope it helped!
 
yeah thanks guys! just got from the gym with her :) she got down squats pretty well, i had her do bodyweight first while she held on to something, eventually she was able to go just below parallell..

as for the rows Evo, shoulder blades retracted during the entire of the lift, or just retract them when you have pulled the bar up, like this:
pull up to stomach, retract, un-retract, lower bar. but you do it in one smooth movement, you dont stop before you retract etc.

and i was told that the bar was suppose to accelerate, like start slow then go fast up to the stomach, and not do it explosively.
and if she is unable to pick it up from the floor, could she have the bar on a platau which is just high enough for her to reach it? or can she just go as far down as she can manage?
 
the6thjakkson said:
no offense, but its still my opinion that the knees in front of the toes is a very important aspect. If your knees are going too far forward not only does it cause ur heels to rise but also to lose balance, which is not something u want someone just starting out and maybe intimidated to do.
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Except if you're doing ass-to-grass squats your knees will go over your toes. Dl'd some videos of Olympic lifters doing squats. If you're losing balance or your heels are rising then you have flexibility issues.
 
Karky said:
as for the rows Evo, shoulder blades retracted during the entire of the lift, or just retract them when you have pulled the bar up, like this:
pull up to stomach, retract, un-retract, lower bar. but you do it in one smooth movement, you dont stop before you retract etc.

and i was told that the bar was suppose to accelerate, like start slow then go fast up to the stomach, and not do it explosively.
and if she is unable to pick it up from the floor, could she have the bar on a platau which is just high enough for her to reach it? or can she just go as far down as she can manage?
Click to expand...

Word on what AJP said about it being to heavy. With Pendlay rows, the important thing is the upper body stays parallel with the ground. I don't necessarily start with the shoulder blades retracted from the start but they end up being retracted when the bar hits the belly/lower chest. Pull explosively and that's the important thing.
 
i dident mean like cant as in too heavy.. but cant as in.. cant reach it or whatever.. or nvm, she can probobly just bend her knees a wee bit more.
and you mean explosivly like not accelerate slowly, but just BANG get it up as fast as possible.. how heavy should it be though? with heavy weights she wont be able to get it up really quick, will she?

i posted the same thread on another fitness forum, and the people went nuts about me teaching her, as if i was dissing a god or something :S

http://forums.jpfitness.com/showthread.php?t=16505

you might want to read it, if you dont its fine. It kind of made me second guess myself as if i should really bother trying to teach her to lift propperly..
 
You're still associating heavy weight and slowness with...well, slowness. There's a difference between lifting slowly and lifting maximally. You should be more concerned with form deteriotation. An example I'll use is from a squat...the person going for a max attempt at 515 might look slow as they grind it up and it seems to take forever, but there is a huge difference in lifting slowly and lifting heavy for max attempts or even singles to triples.

I read through your link and most of the guys that responded I know fairly well through other forums as far as lifting is concerned and they know what they are talking about. GQArtGuy (Manny) is preparing for an Oly lifting competition and is very strong and knows how to fix imbalances, etc. Alc, while not as strong as Manny is still strong and is very smart. This is not to detour you or stop you from helping that chick. You should help her if she asks for your help if you have the time.

What they are saying is realize how to address imblances when they come. I listed some of these in a previous post. You should also know how to fix them, but you can always pose the question when it comes up if you don't know how to fix it.

She obviously saw something in you that she likes that she needs as far as lifting is concerned...so, help her. But know your limitations and know how to help her along the way.

As an aside-I actively seek out individuals who are stronger than I, more competent in the lifts than I, etc to critique my form and fix me. I also have an Oly coach that I see several times through the year and that I maintain a constant contact with with questions and whatnot to make me a better athlete/lifter etc
 
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okay thanks. about the row, i know the difference between lifting slow and fast, i just dident know thats the way you said it, when i read speed, i think get it fast up :) I read here on this site that you should always put in 100% of your power even if its a light weight, because if you put in just enough force to lift it, you wont get the same str gains as if you give it 100%
Correct?

and if they had just said it the way you said it i wouldnt have gotten all defencive. I posted that i wanted to help a girl out, then it feels like they kick me in the balls, pick me up and kick me in the balls again.
 
Yes, you're correct. With some of the guys you have to have some thick skin at times.

Ummm...what happened to my previous post?
 
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