Centurion's 2014

90kg deadlift, you know it was horrible so don't bother :)

85kg deads looked way easy! Good work, not sure on the quad thing though if I'm honest...

Front squats, lead with the knees more and get them forward. Have you also played with feet width? Try and open the hips up also (pull heels apart)
 
Ooooh - ankle mobility got you good on the squats! :D

Another joint to add to your mobility list! :)

Secondly, get some plates under your heels in the mean time - it will make a big difference. This ankle stuff is also shafting the squat as a whole, because you tilt your shoulders forward to balance out at the bottom (because your knees don't come forward enough), killing your core bracing.

Also, see how you draw a circle with your hips in the hole (ooh-err!)? As you tilt forward, you're pushing your knees back, too, which puts the strain onto your back and posterior chain. It's not necessarily a bad thing (unless your back is hurting, and you want to work your legs...), but it won't help your leg strength as your erectors are doing all the work.

Solutions? Pause them at parallel with just the bar. Find your stable point where your squat feels awesome (!), and sit there for a five count, and drive back up with the weight on your heels. Next time, find that point and try and force your hips apart to sink lower... ever so slightly each time.

Finally, one thing it's taken me a loooooooooooooong time to realise, is not to concentrate on holding the bar up on your shoulders (rack position looks much better, btw!), but on keeping the base of your neck jammed back as hard as it will go (to keep your upper back straight throughout the squat).

Deadlifts? It looks like the weight isn't over your heels, so you're pushing the weight back (using your quads) before kicking your posterior chain into gear. Instead of doing this (I do it! :D), sit back into the lift and hump the bar.
 
Thanks guys, knees forward just makes me cautious about toppling over :p

Delvis: As for stance width, I was advised by some bros not to go too wide with my stance because of my mobility levels and femur length.

Interesting that you point to ankle mobility. I thought my ankle mobility is the best that it's ever been. My feet are almost perfectly straight when I front squat, absolutely no duck feet involved.

What would you recommend I do? One thing that I do sometimes is to wrap my ankle in a bike inner tire tube and grab a pole and go into a deep squat.

Regarding deadlifts, other than sitting back more, do they look good?
 
Feet straight ahead is not what I was talking about. ;)

Your ankle needs to dorsiflex to the point you can get your knee well n front of your toes. If you can do that, then we can play with your form... Which is why I am suggesting heels on plates. :)
 
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Oh I see, I get it. Which mobilisation should I use to target that?

Can I do the deep squat like I said above, and then push myself into dorsiflexion that way?
 
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TheCenturion said:
Oh I see, I get it. Which mobilisation should I use to target that?

Can I do the deep squat like I said above, and then push myself into dorsiflexion that way?
Click to expand...

Deep squatting is actually a 'fun' way to do it... Similar to using RDLs to stretch your hamstrings.

Another is to face a wall, put your toes around an inch from the wall and try and touch your knee to it with your heel firmly on the floor. Then two inches... Then three, etc. How much does one need? How deep do you want the squat to be? ;)

Do this with a load of rack floss wrapped round the ankle, too...
 
Mobilising dorsiflexion is tasty :D

Noticed today that with pallof press, it's only my left shoulder that gets fatigued/worked by the movement. My right shoulder is absolutely fine.
 
I would hate to think what he'd do to it...

07/07/2014

Front Squat
20kg x 5
30kg x 5 x 5
First time with plates under heels, so I kept it light. Will post vids

Deadlift
60kg x 5
80kg x 5 x 2
Tried 'sitting back' more, and although I felt less quad use, there was a LOT of hip rise.

Pallof Press
15kg x 10
20kg x 10 x 2
Still not sure on these :confused:

Conclusions: I enjoyed the front squats, I felt more comfortable going deeper.

I have DOMS in my RIGHT pec minor today. Absolutely no idea where they came from, but I don't like it.
 
TheCenturion said:
I felt more comfortable going deeper.
Click to expand...

In keeping with my dubious and mildly inappropriate responses to GSRVBagpuss, I knew you'd prefer it. ;) :D

TheCenturion said:
I have DOMS in my RIGHT pec minor today. Absolutely no idea where they came from, but I don't like it.
Click to expand...

[MORPHEUS]That's because you've never used them before...[/MORPHEUS]

Based on the fact that you're deadlifting 1.5*BW, I'd hazard a guess that your upper body/core is probably a weak link here. :)
 
But I did the same thing I normally do, why would my pec minor only now start switching on?

09/07/2014

Front Squat
20kg x 10
30kg x 5
40kg x 5 x 4

Deadlift
60kg x 5 x 2
80kg x 5

Conlusions: Getting some sharp lumbar pain/spasms at the moment.

Dorsiflexion is a wonderful thing.



And here's deads

 
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Pec minor strain? Not sure, really - it could be a number of different things, but I'm guessing it's just an output of tight pecs struggling with that sort of tension... tight spots are pretty mean and unpredictable in their effects (from my experience), so... apologies for not being of much help here.

Front squats: much better. I can see a combination of mobility and plates coming in to help that depth. :D

Regarding the lumbar pain, if you look, the forward tilt you're getting coming out the hole of the squat is transferring a lot of the shear stress onto your lumbar, which - depending on the rep I'm looking at in the video - either stabilises or starts to flex.

Because you're going deeper into the squat, this stress will exist for longer, too, so it's something you should be mindful of. Regarding fixing it, as I outlined above, concentrate on holding your back tight as opposed to keeping the bar on your shoulders, as the two cues elicit very different effects - the latter will help you stay more upright as you come out the squat and take more of the stress back off the lumbar.

Deads? Looking better. Much smoother and less push off the floor. The hip rise doesn't seem present, so...? :)
 
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Yes to core stability.

Regarding disc slippage, this is unlikely in this instance as you will probably get warning shots fired by your ligaments down there. In addition, your erectors and potentially quad lumborum will start to spasm.

In other words: it looks like you're straining your soft tissue... so tighten up. As regards depth on your squats, make sure you hit parallel and stop there for now, so you get less 'tip' in the squat.

From there, look at pausing the reps where your lumbar is stable so you get a feel for the 'correct' motor pattern before sinking deeper.
 
Fail of a session

12/07/2014

Front Squat
20kg x 5 x 2
30kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 5 - these pretty much turned into Good Mornings



Deadlift
60kg x 5
Had to stop because I felt my lumbar seizing up from front squats.

Conclusion: Massive waste of time. I tried low bar squats to see if they're any better now and they're just as bad as ever. Videos to follow.
 
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