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

[icecold]

Will have to have a look at that as answer to both of those questions is.... yes

http://www.mobilitywod.com/2012/02/daily-prog-shoulder-internal-rotation-13.html

It's not that it's a guarantee, but it increases the chances by quite a lot.

As fair as I'm aware, internally rotated shoulders/tight pecs are responsible for a huge number of shoulder problems.

I'll have a play with things ice and post up a video on Friday.

If you felt more powerful on your other set, you probably got the form right. It needs to feel basically the same as your regular squat apart from you're deloading the weight onto the box.

 

[icecold]

Morba, it might be worth doing some of the more basic stretches first. That hits one aspect of limitation VERY hard

There are others in the mobility thread.

Look at these ones too:
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2010/11/episode-89-bro-your-internal.html
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/04/episode-229365-shoulder-internal-rotation-i-has-it.html

 

[icecold]

I saw someone doing them at the gym the other day and so I was just querying whether its worth it over the normal box squats and in what circumstances.

Sorry yeh, I skipped through the video but clearly didn't see the box squats part. Had another watch and will apply it on Thurs. I'm still working on flexibility and balance via tightening my core to stop my good-morning like technique.

Had a chat to a guy slightly taller than me at the gym today (he was pretty built and 6'7) about squatting, he was impressed and said it took him a long time to get over balance issues with squats.

I meant, why are you doing box squats? They aren't really necessary for the vast majority of people. I actually stopped my American footballers doing them.

In my experience, they're an exercise that seems fancy so people think they'll help, without really knowing what they're helping or why they're doing them in general.

I'm not having a go at all, I'm just asking If you just happen to want to do them I'm not going to criticise.

I fall over backwards if I dont compensate by bringing the weight and my shoulders forward (got told it looked somewhat like a good morning).

Cant get anywhere near parallel with bodyweight squats without going over backwards

You are probably missing ankle flexibility and so aren't able to bring your knees forward and out over your toes. Take a look at the guide linked to in the OP.

 

[icecold]

From the side you look pretty awesome, I'd rather your back angle was a little more constant as you got deeper but that's pretty nit-pick-ey.

Your glutes are quite weak which is causing your lack of knee control, but luckily one of the best ways to fix this is to squat and focus on pushing them out.

If you have access to bands then you get to look ridiculous and do this:

...either as part of your warm up or at the end of your workout.

 

[icecold]

I'm sure it can be done, just carefully

 

[icecold]

Good news, they'd found the bands (red and green).
Blasted 2 sets of the glute exercises out before squats and 2 sets after as well as the mwod from the mobility thread:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gwgm3s2EQ0

After all this I was able for pretty much the first time ever to break parallel by quite some way with bodyweight squats. My upper body did come forward horrendously but normally I would fall over even with this.

Definitely going the right way

Right the reason I uploaded this was to see whether I'm positioning the bar correctly for low-bar squats. To me they feel much less natural than high bar. It also felt like it was putting more pressure on my back to hyperextend when standing up and not in the actual squat. Wondering if I'm doing something wrong.
The 2nd video I threw in at the end just to see whether the bar position was correct - I was already knackered so form's not great.

Those look like lovely squats from the side, but from the back we can see how unstable you are in your hips and knees.

Keep doing what you're doing and aim to slow things down slightly for a couple of sessions. Aim to be completely stable.

 

[icecold]

The only problem with those is your lower back rounding, which is the same problem you have with your deads (sorry I forgot to reply to your email!).

I'd actually say you shouldn't go that low, at least until you fix your bum tuck.

With the deads, make sure you are setting up with a straight back that is braced and locked in place.

 

[icecold]

I actually wouldn't change the bar position yet. Going low bar will make him lean forwards more which is going to exacerbate his back rounding. Once he has loosened up his hips, and is able to generate spinal stiffness with his core and is feel when it's moving he'll be find it much easier to move to low bar.

 

[icecold]

Weak core = poor trunk/spinal stiffness
+
Tight hips = more load transferred to back
=
Bum tuck


Stretch glutes and hams, do core work, do work on your lats and back in general. During core work, don't arch your back (the opposite of what's going on in your videos) as that's no good either, all that does is teach your core that it doesn't need to turn on fully. During ab work keep your spine neutral, with a slight bias towards doing a crunch.

 

[icecold]

I have just uploaded 2 vids of my military press

shot from different angles to try and give an idea of how much I am arching my back (not sure if I am going to far here) and also to show how far I am bringing the bar down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2qe1LLMkwY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weGzSb0FdVg

I was told to only go that low as to drop lower would over extend the shoulder and possibly cause an injury.
Obviously your post contradicts that.
Any reference material that would support your way of doing it ?

Any reference material to support your way of doing it?

If your shoulder can't move through the proper range then you have a flexibility problem that need to be addressed.

You also shouldn't be bending your back as much as that, and you shouldn't need a belt.

 

[icecold]

You've done a lot better than that mate!

- hips rise to early
- chin snaps up as you pull
- as you are about to initiate the pull, you shift your weight forward slightly which puts your shoulders in front of the bar
- lots of lower back loading

The last set was particularly bad.

Less reps, more concentration!

 

[icecold]

Look at your later reps, it's both cause and effect.

Either way, starting the movement off by moving the bar away from your shins is going to be bad for your back.

 

[icecold]

A couple of questions here.

My thoughts, it's not so easy to move a loaded bar on the floor, this makes getting tighter on the bar easier to do without moving or causing the bar to move.

I don't really know what you're saying here.

The bar moving forwards is not at issue of tightness, it's because his shoulders are in front of the bar when he starts the lift. I'm not talking about moving the bar around on the floor, if that's what you meant.

The last point on lower back loading is confusing me a little, I see a clean flat back even if slightly out of position after the early hip rise. The lift is still being executed by the legs and glute drive is good, quick and snappy bar humpping action as far as I can see. Is this a case of if there was 100kg on the bar we would be seeing a rounded lumbar region rather then the straight back in the video?

The greater the horizontal distance between the pivot point at the hips and the shoulders, the greater the loading to the back.

This is not a fundamentally bad thing; RDLs and GMs are examples of exercises that put you in this position deliberately. However, more load on the lumbar is always riskier, particularly for someone like Delvis who has problems with spinal stability. In the case of the mechanics of the deadlift, you end up deloading the hams and glutes and loading the back, as LiE says.

Even if we didn't see greater rounding at higher weights (which I would expect in this case), the further increased loading becomes an unacceptable injury risk.

Oh don't take my previous comment like I was having a go I'm taking it all on board. I didn't intentionally move the bar forward btw hehe!

Now I've watched it more I can see it moving forwards, thinking back now I don't think I was pushing through the floor, I was instead pulling the bar up which lead to the bar rolling forward a bit. It's a case of me driving through with my hips as opposed to rising up too early, that should stop the bar rolling forward for myself.

It's hard to explain, but I know what I mean

Will be on 60kg next week, so we'll see how it all goes. And thanks everyone for the comments - Should I do a set on 40kg then jump to 60KG?

I wasn't worried about you having a go, I was just politely pointing out that you were incorrect

There is nothing special about "pushing through the floor", it's just a coaching queue that helps some people organise their pull better. It's not an axiom of the lift like "maintain lumbar neutral" would be, and it won't implicitly cure your problem. The most effective way of keeping the bar as close to your body as possible is have your shoulders over the bar when you lift.

 

[icecold]

Of course it's a mental thing, that's why I'm saying to just have your shoulders over the bar and be careful not to pivot forwards when you lift

 

[icecold]

I'm thinking about new sections to add to this. Currently I'm working on:

1) Warm ups

2) Cardio (HIIT, steady state, complexes, various protocols and progressions, etc.)

Any one have any other thoughts?

 

[icecold]

Link away!

I was going to write about the basics for a few things, but links to further reading would be ideal.

 

[icecold]

My emotions when watching went like this: D: D:

Your back is kind of straight, but not straight enough. You can tell this because you are having to extend your lumbar slightly at lockout. The second rep looks like it was going to end up worse. I'm a little concerned about what your deads would look like at heavier weights.

In terms of long term spinal position reprogramming, it's not ok to bend your back like that when you bend down to pick something up. Hinge at the hip and keep your spine straight, from the base of your spine all the way up to the top of your neck.

Watch the deadlifting video in the OP.

 

[icecold]

Thanks,

So go down to pick the bar up with a straight back before going down? Don't straighten up when I'm hanging over the bar?

I assume it isn't *too* bad on the way up?

To be fair, I very rarely go above a 130 when doing rep work.

No, it wasn't terrible. It is bad enough to warrant some work fixing your flexibility problems and lack of spinal stability.

Your back being bent like that without any load isn't a bad thing in itself, but it highlights that your hip hinge motor pattern is severely broken. Your glutes are weak, your core is weak, you don't know how to engage all of those or your hamstrings, and you can't feel what your back is doing.

sigma had similar problems but he has made some good progress.

I believe he's mainly pointing at the back bend when you are setting up, you should try and bend at the hips more but keep the back straight. (correct me if I'm wrong ice) and presumably bend with your knees a bit if your hips doesn't bend that much?

Correct up until the last point!

That's what people who don't hip hinge properly do anyway, and it causes them to be very quad dominant at the expense of their glutes and hams.

Gotta love youtube. It has recommended other clips with similar titles, one of which is this bird:

- Why the hell would she put that, and many other, vid online?!

I don't even know what that is! Strange girl.

 

[icecold]

WOW, thanks a lot. I honestly wouldn't have known any of that. To ME, it looks and feels good.

Would you mind giving me tips, starter points on what I should be looking at to improve these areas?

Glad I put a video up now.

The first step is to strengthen your core and stretch your hamstrings. Also try to be conscious of keeping your back straight 24/7, it doesn't matter if you're sitting or standing, and particularly if you're bending down.

Fair game ice.

But yeah, I wouldn't bend down with my legs straight, as that would make me bend my back in ways that are not healthy...?

You should be able to get to at least 90 degrees of hip hinge without bending your back. If you can't, you haven't been stretching your hammies enough.

 

[icecold]

I'm also betting that you can't get a 90 degree bend without your back bending

Lie on your back. How high can you lift one leg?