squats

J

jetjaguar

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i recently tried squating for the first time .. i used to play lots of tennis so my legs constantly got worked .. but i havent played in like a year now and i mainly did upper body .. only thing i did was body weight squats with my back on a plyo ball .. split squats and lunges .. with just body weight ..

well last wensday i did 155x5x5 .. and i didnt seem to go that low and my legs were burning for the next 4 days .. so i started my new program today ..

and warmed up with just the bar .. then i went with 135x5 and i concentrated on going parallel or a little past .. but what was happening was my heels were lifting and it was like i was on my toes when i went that low ..
i workout by myself and its hard to see how low u are going .. i didnt think parallel was that low ..
 
Lower the weight and get the form correct.
Brace your midsection as if you're bracing yourself for a punch.
Try to point your chest to the sky. This will help to retract your scapulae and maintain a proper curve to your back.
 
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jetjaguar,

Great advice from Cynic... I would like to add a few points.

As squats are my favorite of all "primal patterns" there are several things that I would like to bring to your attention:

1. Squats are essential - one of my mentors had once told me that "if you can't, you must!" and nowhere is this more true than with the squat. Not only is the squat essential for strengthening the ENTIRE body, it is essential to squat for organ (inparticular colon) health. We are designed, by Momma Nature, to sh*t in the squat position... but since the advent of the toilet (by a guy named John Crapper - i swear) many of us have lost the ability to squat properly.

2. Maintain your center of gravity over your base of support - no matter what you do stay away from swiss ball squats and smith machines... they will destroy your form and cause you to create several faulty recruitment patterns (as you have already done)

3. Use corrective stretching - THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO... and I promise you that your squat will improve when this is done. NOTE- as i have not done a musculoskeletal assessment on you the following suggestions are based on the info that you provided above:

a) your calves, in particular your soleus is crazy tight you must stretch them prior to and inbetween squatting sets.

b) your quads and posas are probably very tight as well... stretch then prior to and between sets as well.

c) I have a feeling your scapular adductors are week also (as mentioned by cynic)... an exercise like prone cobras or supermans will work wonders.

d) theres more.... but try this first!

Regards,
Elliott "The Primal Guy"


PS- check out these awesome squat resources:
 
what stretches would u recommend ? i dont know if my lower back is that weak .. my deadlift .. doesnt seem bad for starting out .. + 200 .. havent really tried maxing ..
 
Again, as I havent done an asessment.. I would be guessing:
-Gastrocnemius (calves)
-Solus (achillies tendon)
-Quads
-Psoas
 
k thanks .. i have no problem just squating with body weight .. its just when i add weight and i have really never done weighted squats before .. this is my first time basically .. so i guess while i keep doing it .. staying light with the weight and doing some stretching every morning .. i should be ok ..
 
if yer coming up on your toes, i think you're leaning a bit too far forward.

then again, I'm pretty much incapable of squatting parallel with a normal stance without my knees going way past my toes. doesn't bother my knees, and I have short legs and a long trunk, so I suspect this throws off my plane of gravity. if I lean back at all, I feel like i'm gonna tip backwards.

I agree your back doesn't sound weak. squats use a lot of hip flexor, which could be a little behind.
Just keep at it, work on form, and above all else maintain that arch in the back to prevent injury.
 
thanks .. thats wut im gonna do .. i think i just need to get used to the form .. once ive done it for a couple weeks i should be good
 
jetjaguar said:
what stretches would u recommend ? i dont know if my lower back is that weak .. my deadlift .. doesnt seem bad for starting out .. + 200 .. havent really tried maxing ..
Click to expand...

If you can swing about $50, I'd recommend "Magnificent Mobility" by Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson.
 
well i got my bf assessed today .. and then they try and sell u on some PT sessions .. anyways i said soemthing that squat form sucks or im having difficulty dropping parallel or below parallel .. so he is like why do u need to go parallel ? i was like huh ?

anyways he told me to do a squat with bodyweight in front of him and i did .. and he said my one heel seems to go inward .. and he said its most likely my glutes that are extremely weak .. and my hammys and calfs are making up for it .. and he did a few things like standing on one leg with the other leg barely touching the floor .. keeping my brack straight lean forward to touch this chair .. and to do it 9 times .. after i did it .. i said my glutes dont bother me .. my hamstring was burning .. he said its cuz my glutes are so weak my hammy is doing the work ..

he said that my glutes are obviously the weakest link on my whatever chain ?

so should i not be squatting ? should i just move to leg press and other machines ?
 
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Well Im not sure about the weakest link thing, but I wouldn't go leg press if you already are interrested in doing squats.

As for the heels coming up/sliding, you just don't have your center of gravity going through your heels. One quick way to help this with newer people to squats is too actually raise your heels slightly. Put something under both your heels to raise them up slightly(Slightly is the key, like half an inch or so). Some gyms, have rubber slabs for this purpose or you can use those wooden teaching plates used for teaching Olympic lifts.

I find it helps to keep people in the right plane of motion and helps to stop bending too far forward. Also, chekc to see if you start the motion by bending forward slightly. Again a lot of people do this without realizing causing them to have too much weight on their toes.

Hope this helps.
 
do squats with light weight. Most people cant do squats because they have weak glutes and hammies, its pretty normal. once you start doing squats they will strenghten.

and i used to put something under my heels, it helped me get further down, but when i took it away i was as handicapped as always. i dident get better until i started doing squats with nothing under my heels, feet flat on floor and squatted as far down as i could every time, and i started stretching propperly.
 
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so just squatting with light weight .. like the 45lb bar or 80-100 pounds .. just keep doing it and practice on centering my gravity .. and eventually my glutes should strengthen
 
jetjaguar said:
so just squatting with light weight .. like the 45lb bar or 80-100 pounds .. just keep doing it and practice on centering my gravity .. and eventually my glutes should strengthen
Click to expand...

yeah for the first couple times you do it, focus on form. The weight should come later. Once you feel you got the form down, increase the weight to a point where you feel the resistance, but not to a point where you cant finish.

Especially with squats, you should never train to failure. Form usually suffers when training to failure, and squats are about the last exercise you want to have bad form with.
 
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