***Gym Exercise Guide, and Form Discussion/Feedback***

You want to keep your spin/head more neutral as you squat down your head is cocked back which completely throws off a strong neutral starting position.

Glutes need tightening, and tighter lumbar/thoracic bracing. You need to explode out of the hole more by engaging the glutes more - being in a stronger braced position, with your head in the right position should help you spring up more easily.

However, generally good depth, good feet position - good squatting! :)
 
Thanks both. Looks like I did wobble a bit on the 2nd rep. Not sure what happened there.

I'll work on my head position - I'm aiming to keep my head in line with my spine, is that right? I've seen Mark Rippetoe suggests looking down which might be worth a bash.

I'm a bit conscious of my form which I think is making the upward portion less explosive than it should be as I'm trying to engage the correct muscles when I drive up. I'll work on that too! :)
 
Nothing wrong with that.

Yes tuck your chin into your neck, as if you're trying to give yourself a big double chin, big chest, but rib cage down. Take a deep breath and "lock yourself in" before heading down into the squat, squeezing the glutes and keeping the spine neutral on the way down.

As you explode up, fire those glutes hard. :)
 
Hi guys, wondered if you could give me some advice / better direction.

Was out of gym for quite a while due to life / time, but have recently started back at it in the afternoon lunch hour (I get about 45 mins to train in the gym). Now for the last 4 months I have been doing StrongLifts 5x5, to get good form first, then strength and I have done quite well, got upto 130kg DL, 100kg Squat, 80kg Row, 80 kg bench.. with some other work on the arms / shoulders.

I have stalled at this weight for the last 3 weeks and was wondering if it would be beneficial to switch things up for a month or two and follow my old workout. The old workout was one muscle group per session and had a higher rep range (10 - 20). I've tried it the last couple of days and apart form having to lower my weights and really push myself it's felt good.

From your experiences is it a good idea to switch up your routine once every few months, even if it's for a month or two, and then go back to the origional ?
 
Did you try eating more when you started stalling?

Did you try taking out the added arms and shoulder work to see if that was affecting recovery?

It differs per person but the routine itself shouldn't be stopping you from progressing. Many people continue with 5x5 until hitting 225kg on deadlift for example. 10-20 reps with lower weights seems too high if you're looking for strength progression.
 
Should I be locking out elbows on chest and shoulder press. Had a rather big fella in the gym tell me I shouldn't be on Monday and it would mess up my elbows tendons "and stuff"
 
SixTwoSix said:
Should I be locking out elbows on chest and shoulder press. Had a rather big fella in the gym tell me I shouldn't be on Monday and it would mess up my elbows tendons "and stuff"
Click to expand...

If you're suitably mobile and healthy, locking out is not a problem... in fact, it is safer to do so.

How do Olympic lifters snatch/jerk as much as they do? By locking out.

Obviously, if a person is wired in a way that they have hyper-extension issues around their joints then locking out can present problems, but these people are not very common.

So don't worry about locking out, provided you're healthy.
 
BlackCoat2k10 said:
Hi guys, wondered if you could give me some advice / better direction.

Was out of gym for quite a while due to life / time, but have recently started back at it in the afternoon lunch hour (I get about 45 mins to train in the gym). Now for the last 4 months I have been doing StrongLifts 5x5, to get good form first, then strength and I have done quite well, got upto 130kg DL, 100kg Squat, 80kg Row, 80 kg bench.. with some other work on the arms / shoulders.

I have stalled at this weight for the last 3 weeks and was wondering if it would be beneficial to switch things up for a month or two and follow my old workout. The old workout was one muscle group per session and had a higher rep range (10 - 20). I've tried it the last couple of days and apart form having to lower my weights and really push myself it's felt good.

From your experiences is it a good idea to switch up your routine once every few months, even if it's for a month or two, and then go back to the origional ?
Click to expand...

531 is often stated as a good next move after Stronglifts
 
mrthingyx said:
If you're suitably mobile and healthy, locking out is not a problem... in fact, it is safer to do so.

How do Olympic lifters snatch/jerk as much as they do? By locking out.

Obviously, if a person is wired in a way that they have hyper-extension issues around their joints then locking out can present problems, but these people are not very common.

So don't worry about locking out, provided you're healthy.
Click to expand...

Cheers, it causes no pain, have no problem locking out, just wanted to be sure.
 
Okay so as a beginner, 8 weeks in and squats are starting to get tough! I'm focusing on making sure as the load goes up that form doesn't go out the window, and that I continue to learn the movement properly.

My rep range is 6-8 as thats what I have historically found suits my body best. However its largely been 2 sets of 8 reps adding 2.5kg per workout.

I find that by the time I've hit the 4th to 6th rep its pretty intense and I'm getting light headed - obviously I man up get a grip and go for it and complete the set, I'm not giving up that easily. Is this typical, everyone else go through this or should I be concerned/ take a different approach?
 
Ayahuasca said:
Did you try eating more when you started stalling?

Did you try taking out the added arms and shoulder work to see if that was affecting recovery?

It differs per person but the routine itself shouldn't be stopping you from progressing. Many people continue with 5x5 until hitting 225kg on deadlift for example. 10-20 reps with lower weights seems too high if you're looking for strength progression.
Click to expand...

I've upped my calories from 2200 to 2600, this is ofcourse sitting on my ass most of the day, 20 - 30 mins of light bike cardio and gym work of 45 mins. I am on a cut at currently as I am fat (37/38 inch waist at 6ft 2). I have found that over the last 6 weeks I feel/look fatter.

When I say arms/shoulders all I do is 2 sets of bi's, 2 sets of tris, 3 sets of side lat raises, and some mobility work followed by 20 mins of cardio on the rower. Nothing too intense.

Been 10 days doing that 10-20 rep workout and it's more like 12 reps, I feel weak as a pansy on most movements though, except squats/deads/rows/chest (ie, dips I can hardly pull 5 off, used to do 16 easily). It seems any movement that I wasn't doing on my last routine I am weak at, even been checking my form on these too. I miss 5x5 beast mode feeling haha.

Saw my friend the other night who's a PT and has been for years and he just says to do this higher rep range for a couple of months, eat more to increase your metabolism and try and get my 8 hours sleep. Problem is the more I eat the fatter I seem to be getting, I truly think my metabolism is borked in the butt.
 
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