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

icecold said:
Maxeh, nice! If you can get 3-4" more depth and keep it looking like that then you'll be golden. I can't see what your knees are doing from that angle though. Delvis is kind of right in that you need to finish the rep with a strong lock out (train fast be fast), but your movement does use your glutes reasonably well.
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Can I ask what makes you say/know that please? As I'd figured by squeezing y0 ass at the top would give that strong lockout? :)
 
Yep, valid question.

It's pretty much as simple as the fact that he has a reasonably good hip hinge, and sits into posterior chain tension effectively. To know 100% I'd need to see a video from the back, as that would show his knee/glute med. control.

A strong lockout isn't just about glutes, and sometimes over doing the qlute squeeze can send things squiffy (another technical term). I've had guys in my gym fall foul of this, and it's something that I've seen Syla5 do on occasion (although his is also a very handsome man).
 
I'm feeling an interesting thing right now. Two fold, both related to knees and dead lift:
When I set up with the mob wod guide, I find that as I hinge my hips back I think I'm getting some hyper extension in my knees.
Then, I have the same issue when tensing my glutes during the lift. It feels like my end position locked out I may be hyper extending.
Any advice?

kd
 
Syla5 said:
:( dodgy lockouts my Saturday night is now incomplete.
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But you're also a handsome man!

It isn't all the time, but I think I mentioned when I saw it on a video in the last few weeks. You did seem to mostly correct it too, but it seems to be a thing that if you're prone to it you have to focus hard on not doing it when going for speed.
King Damager said:
I'm feeling an interesting thing right now. Two fold, both related to knees and dead lift:
When I set up with the mob wod guide, I find that as I hinge my hips back I think I'm getting some hyper extension in my knees.
Then, I have the same issue when tensing my glutes during the lift. It feels like my end position locked out I may be hyper extending.
Any advice?

kd
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Is that knees in both cases?

If it is, remember to keep your quads active. Also, a hip hinge should have some external rotation in the femurs and at least a slight bend in the knee.

Loaded hyperextension of the knee will not be good, so be careful bro!
 
Yeah, right knee in particular.

I had 30kg plus a lightweight Argos bar lying around, and figured I'd practice some technique and speed work. I'm pretty sure it's hyper extending, but the femur thing may explain it. On lockout it feels like my right knee is perhaps collapsing inwards or internally rotating or something odd. I guess it's something to keep an eye on for now.

I've come home for a few days, but am definitely going to take said cheap bar and weights back with me up to inbred land. Even as a lightweight weight it's giving me a great chance to work on form.

On a more positive note, it seems my Achilles/calf tendon/whatever it was has now recovered. Back to DL and squat I go.

I feel like my form come bro day is definitely going to give some rage gains.

kd
 
Need some advice please.

I'm 6ft, 13 stone (11.5 stone when I started)

So I've been going to the gym for about 4-5 months now, 4 times a week, and I seem to have hit a brick wall.

I can't seem to be lifting heavier weights, dumbbell bench is stuck at 32kg, deadlift at 130kg, shoulder press at 26kg. Should I try going for 4x5 to try and gain some strength for a while, or switch up my routine?

Routine:
Monday - Chest / Tri's
Dumbbell bench 4 x 8-12
Incline dumbbell bench 4 x 8-12
Machine flies 3 x 8-12
Cable pushdown 3 x 8-12
Standing cable extension 3 x 8-12
Cable one arm extension 3 x 8-12
Lying tricep extension 3 x 8-12
Standing one arm extension 3 x 8-12

Tuesday - Back / Bi's
Chinups / Pullups 3xF
Deadlifts 5x5
Bent over row / T-bar row 3 x 8-12
Vbar pulldown 3 x 8-12
Dumbell rows / Machine seated rows 3 x 8-12
Barbell curls 3 x 8-12
Incline dumbell curls 3 x 8-12
Hammer curls 3 x 8-12

Thursday - Shoulders
Dumbbell shoulder press 3 x 8-12
Up right rows 3 x 8-12
Face pulls 3 x 8-12
Lateral raises 3 x 8-12
Front plate raise 3 x 8-12
Shrugs 3 x 8-12

Friday - Legs and Abs
Smith machine squat 3 x 16-20
Leg press 3 x 16-20
Calf raises on leg press 3 x 16-20
Leg extensions 3 x 16-20
Cable crunches 3 x F
Crunch Machine 3 x F

- Diet -
Breakfast:
3 scrambled eggs, porridge, banana, protein shake, water

Lunch:
2 sliced chicken fillets in 2 brown pittas with salad, banana, water

Dinner:
Spaghetti bolognese or chicken + veg or baked potatoes with cheese and chicken or some other random meal, banana, water

Snacks in between meals
Either almonds, cottage cheese, greek yogurt or more porridge


P.s. Gym doesn't have any racks for barbells only a smith machine, hence no bench press or barbell squats
 
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icecold said:
But you're also a handsome man!

It isn't all the time, but I think I mentioned when I saw it on a video in the last few weeks. You did seem to mostly correct it too, but it seems to be a thing that if you're prone to it you have to focus hard on not doing it when going for speed.
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Yeap, I remember, my deadlifts rather then my squats, defo got some dodgy lockouts going on there. Ive occasionally got all kinds off squiffy (;)) going on there! That definitely comes from to much effort going into trying to get fast hip drive rather then powerful, thought about hip drive, if that makes sense.
 
Not really a very good angle.

To be honest, width will vary depending on height and stuff. Small technicalities aside, it looks like your elbows are flaring out too much, but can't really tell from that angle...

Go with whatever is comfortable and allows you to get the rest of your form right to be honest.

kd
 
Hello chaps. I think my form is improving, but even I can see that it's not perfect.


The hip mobility I've been doing seems to have worked, as when I squat my knees go over my toes with ease and don't collapse in at any point. However something still looks weird with my squat, I'm trying to prevent the lower back rounding but it looks like it's still doing so? Also the reason I seem to be stuttering when descending is because I'm trying to make sure I'm hitting parallel. The weight I lifted here was about 10kg, including the 5kg bar.


As for the OHP, I focused on keeping my palms pointed upwards so that my elbows stay in front of the bar. However, from this video I can see that I'm not exactly pushing the bar in a straight line, I think I just need to focus more on this. Also I tried keeping my glutes flexed throughout the whole lift, but when I start focusing on the other areas of form, they seem to relax naturally and I forget to keep them tight until the next rep. Also my right wrist really hurts when I do this, is this some sort of mobility issue? My left wrist has no problems at all, only my right wrist hurts. I'm lifting 25kg here.

As for the bench, I'm having a couple of different problems. When I reach my chest, I'm getting pain at the end of my left shoulder. My training partner says he thinks he can see my shoulder hyperextending for some reason. Also as you can see from the video, I keep accidentally bringing the bar down below nipple height, although this does seem to stop the shoulder from hurting. I am consciously trying to keep my glutes flexed, my back arched and my shoulder blades together. However the latter is really difficult to do and at times I don't know if I'm doing it or not. Also I pulled a hamstring while benching, this has happened a couple of times now.

Overall I think I'm improving, and always doing more mobility work. I really want my form to get sorted so I can actually start making some gainz.

Also do I have abnormally large glutes or some APT?
 
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OHP looks much better. Your wrists are probably hurting because the bar is sitting in the crease of your fingers forcing your wrist back. Place it more so that it's towards the middle of your hand if not over the wrist itself (suicide grip) but be careful not to let it slip out and crack you on the noggin.

Couldn't hear what your spot was saying on bench but you looked to be bringing the bar down almost below your ribs. I find a good general guide is to bring the bar down so it touches just below your nipples.
 
TheCenturion said:
However something still looks weird with my squat, I'm trying to prevent the lower back rounding but it looks like it's still doing so? Also the reason I seem to be stuttering when descending is because I'm trying to make sure I'm hitting parallel.
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Hi TheCenturion, disclaimer I am not a physician or professional and don't know anything.

It seems to me like you have some anterior pelvic tilt at the top, starting position of your squat, which is messing you up in the bottom. The stutter happens where you literally hit a wall, due to the pelvic tilt you started with, and the lower back rounding is trying to compensate for this mechanical limitation.





To fix, read up by googling 'anterior pelvic tilt exercises'
 
^^ is it not he is just leaning forward to hold the bar on his back? This is kindoff normal for squating. Also, it enables your ass to move out easier when you frst start to lower.
 
ice don't take this in a "what the **** do you know?" kind of way, I mean it in a "you seem to know a hell of a lot, how do you know it?" kind of way.

Is it purely from just you training for a long time and wanting to know it or is it part of your job/education etc?
 
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