Lula Part II
I'm also practising doing a full squat with a barbell, but with just the bar and no weights, by looking in the mirror to see if it looks right (I got one of the trainers to watch me too to make sure) after having read a few articles and pages in books at Borders on how to do it right. When I feel comfortable enough, I'll start adding a bit of weight.
Grrr!
Books at borders aren't worth crap IMO in terms of training information. You want book recommendations, come to me.
For now, here are my pointers for the squat:
With the squat, a lot of trainers don't know how to execute a squat correctly! There are a lot of myths out there like, "Don't squat so deep in that your thighs go below parallel with the floor." And, "Don't let your knees drift in front of your toes while going down in the squat."
A lot of trainers, even those "in the know," tell their clients to start out without weight until you get the form down. You can try this if you'd like. However, I have found personally, and with quite a bit of clients, that squatting without weight is difficult. The weight is what helps keep your center of gravity. So, if you are comfortable, start out with a very conservative weight.
How to squat. I posted the video above which allows you to see a perfect squat execution. Let's talk about the mechanics. Most people think you initiate the movement with your knees. "In order to squat down, I have to bend my knees." Right? Wrong. The initiating movement for the squat, in order to get the proper depth, starts in the hips.
How do you move your hips? The first sign of movement should be your butt moving back, so that your hips are moving posteriorly. Think, "start the movement by sticking my butt out."
So, with a bar on your shoulders, here are the cues:
1. Chest up (don't cave in)
2. Shoulder blades pulled back together, which reinforces number 1
3. Hands gripping the bar are not wide, but closer. Not so close that it becomes uncomfortable for your shoulders though.
4. Pull your elbows under the bar. Make them point to the floor. This will keep you more upright.
5. Initiate at the hips (think about sitting down) and stick your butt out.
6. Keep a nice, tight arch in your lower back.
7. Keep your abs tight.
8. Stance should be feet slightly wider than shoulder width.
9. You should point your toes slightly outward, maybe 30 degrees.
10. As you start to flex at the knees, your knees should follow the path (line) of your toes.
11. If you leaning excessively forward, you are using too much weight or you have flexibility issues. This is not an exercise for the lower back, do not make it one.
12. Your heels should stay planted on the floor at all times. Many people have flexibility issues and the squat is the exercise that uncovers the issues. Many people, in order to get deep in the squat, feel the need to elevate their heels from the ground. In this case, at the bottom of the movement, their weight is on the balls of their feet. Instead, the entire movement, you should keep your feet flat on the floor and drive the weight pushing through your heels.
13. Remember the hips!
At the bottom of the movement, your hips should be deeper than your knees. This is a full squat.
So there is hope
They have this dubious looking machine called an assisted pullup - would that be of any use?
I've had clients use this. Anything that builds up a base of strength is fine. The idea is to progressively make the vertical pulling motion harder which will force your body to get stronger in that plane of motion.
I prefer lat pulldowns for starters.
Or you can use lat pulldowns one day and assisted pullups the next.
No it's the stupid machine thingy. Any alternative would be great, as long as it's ok on my back.
Barbell bench press.
Usually I do 2-3 sessions a week of all the stuff I mentionned in one go.
That answers my question above.
I do my abs first as I find it easier that aferwards, however I sometimes do them on cardio days if I lack time.
You really don't need such a large focus on abs.
I certainly wouldn't be doing them first in a program. It goes like this: Work from hardest to easiest. So abs should be the last thing you are training. You don't want to use up energy doing an exercise that doesn't carry a lot of bang for the buck.... which abdominal exercises don't.
I usually do 2-3 days of cardio in between, where I aim to do 30-45 minutes of high intensity, but I find it hard.
What do you mean by high intensity?
My cardio fitness was rubbish and I couldn't jog for more than 5 minutes in February, but now I can do about 30 at 9km/h on incline 3 quite easily, or outside in the cold, wind and rain (much harder!), and doing intervals has helped a lot, and quite fast too. Stopping smoking obviously was the best thing I did.
I'm very glad to hear you stopped smoking.
So you do intervals. HIIT or just plain old intervals? Is every cardio session interval training?
Basically a typical good week looks like:
day 1: whole body strength
2: cardio
3: whole body strength
4: cardio
5: whole body strength
6: cardio
7: rest
I really don't have a problem with this split.... but I'd really switch some things around with your strength training program if I were going to follow this split. That's a lot of "banging" on the legs. Especially when you start doing squats. Squats 3 times per week and high intensity cardio.
I read somewhere that to put on muscle, you shouldnt do that much cardio.
It's a heavily disputed topic. I try and always do some cardio, even while bulking. It isn't best in terms of creating the "anabolic atmosphere." However, I'm in this for health before muscle. What's the point of looking good if your heart is weak, ya know?
So when bulking, I usually only do maybe 2 low intensity sessions per week. And if I miss, I miss. I certainly don't make cardio a primary concern. Follow me?
And I forgot you were going to start bulking. I'd def. modify your current cardio routine.
I have no clueif this is bullshit or not. Ideally I'd like to gain muscle, but for it to show (esp my abs) I need to trim down. I'm guessing I cannot do both at the same time.
You guessed right generally speaking.
I've seen some crazy things happen though, especially when someone starts "really" strength training for the first time coupled with a proper diet. Even a "surplus diet."
Do I need to concentrate on building muscle, then getting leaner?
This is really your call. If I remember, you looked very thin in your pics from what I could see. Personally, I would try and build some. Remember, you are not signing a contract. If you find that the "bulk" is not going the way you wanted and too much fat is being gained, you can always cut back or cycle back into a cut.
It's a touch and feel process with no concrete answers.
EDIT: forgot to ask - what do i do with my obliques? I seem to have put muscle on there very fast- I don't want them to bulk up as they seem to make my waist look thicker. Should I just leave them for a while/do lots of reps in one go?
Stop doing so much ab work. I don't do any ab work, majority of the time.
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I'm sure you will have more questions. We are working towards some precise answers for you.
That's what I'm here for.
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