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

Syla5 said:
IMO if you want to do something to help improve your mobility and can only make room for one then front squats > high bar. If your just looking for something a little different then high bar will get you moving through a greater rom then low bar, and will hit things differently. I have really started to enjoy fronties especially once getting the grip right.
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I simultaneously disagree and don't understand :D

A complex movement actually helping someone's mobility is highly dependent on how they are set up and what their limitations are. Both high bar and front squats can be paused at the bottom to help mobilise into a good position, along with the benefits of greater knee and hip flexion. Typically, front squats require more ankle ROM than high bar squats.

We have to be careful not to decide something is the be all and end all just because we've tried it and like it ;)
Syla5 said:
From my workout this morning


Bit of review

The 40's felt great, the 60's felt mediocore at best and by half way through the 2nd set and the whole of the 3rd i couldnt feel anything in my back as my hamstrings were on fire!
This might be a case of lighter is better while i bring my hammies up to speed so that they can cope and i can feel whats going on with my back.


Feed back please, I have a feeling my odd proportions don't help :(
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I thought I'd already replied to this.

Aside from your head position (checking the mirror?), there really isn't much to fix. It might be worth playing with pulling to lower down your torso, but I like to mix up the angle on different rowing variations anyway.

You say that your hammies were burning, but how active were your glutes?
 
Syla5 said:
Any feedback on my BOR's from the previous page anyone?
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No.


I jest of course :D. They look fine to me although I would deadlift and then set up from the top, even when I am doing something more like pendlays I prefer to set up from the top.


LiE, looks good. My two pennies: ankle, adductors and quads/hip flexors. Adductors are just as important as ankles because keeping your knees out shortens the length of your femurs in the sagittal plane allowing you to keep more upright. Gains.
 
icecold said:
I simultaneously disagree and don't understand :D

We have to be careful not to decide something is the be all and end all just because we've tried it and like it ;)
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Oh i wasnt saying front squats only and always. Merely that if he wants to focus on ankle mobility/rom and can only make time for 1 squat variation then front squats generally are better for that area.

I think there would have been less confusion if i was more specific with ym post..."IMO if you want to do something to help improve your ankle mobility"

If I had time for everything i would make sure that i had low/front/high in my weekly routine, with equal time allocated to all. I dont have time so low bar is a prio for me, and at the moment my alternative squat of choice is fronties because the benefits i am getting from them are crossing over nicely to a number of other areas.
I plan to bring in high bars once i have really opened up my ankles, and do high bars for a couple of cycles as my squat variation.



icecold said:
I thought I'd already replied to this.

Aside from your head position (checking the mirror?), there really isn't much to fix. It might be worth playing with pulling to lower down your torso, but I like to mix up the angle on different rowing variations anyway.

You say that your hammies were burning, but how active were your glutes?
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I didnt see these replies before todays session. I actually pulled to lower down my torso today and it felt better, but still not great.

Again today my hammies were clearly "on". I didnt specifically notice how active my glutes were, which is probably a sign of them doing f-all. Today the feeling was all lower back and hams again.

Here is set 3 from today
 
I find really emphasising pulling backwards helps, back and from the elbows.

Have you tried playing with elbow positioning as well as hand width? I find a simple few degrees difference with my elbows (from my sides) makes the world of difference.
 
Yeah always pull from the elbows, also try and get as similar motion to a db row as possible as far as a angle and movement are concerned, I think I need to pull lower as ice is saying.
 
Here's my pb squat (well every session is a pb for me :p). How is looking guys?


Deadlifts. I just can't get the hang of the movement. I've watched the video in the OP about 10 times and I understand everything that needs to be done but when it comes to doing it... I can't seem to. Are rack pulls a sensible way for me to go?

 
Squat is looking much better compared to a few weeks ago. Your back angle is changing slightly throughout the lift though so there's a little 'good morning' element in there you need to eliminate. Great progress though.
 
Not sure if I should ask in here or the rats thread. I have some exercises to do at home that will help work in my apt. Like bridges, hip flexor stretches and planks which I do at the gym anyway. Going to cut out some of my quad based exercises in legs day to focus more on my glutes and hammies. But I could do with a routine I know some things to do but what about reps and sets, do I go heavy or lighter and more reps as I assume these muscles and under developed and don't get used as often as they should.

Squats
Lunges
No lying curl machine but I do Swiss ball curls (single leg)
Sldl?
Romania deadlifts I believe someone mentioned in pic thread, never done those before.
Kb swings?

The bridge/flexor quad stretches/foam roller I will do every day. Is once a week enough for legs day or should I add in maybe curls or lunges at the end of every session? I go Monday /Wednesday /Friday's.

With regards to something like the bridges how many should be done? I see people mention doing them elsewhere but not always a rep /set length.
 
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could anyone comment on how I can improve my deadlift form above? Would really appreciate it, as I'm 99% sure it's causing my lumber verterbral pain.

FeFiDoh said:
Not sure if I should ask in here or the rats thread.
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Probably better in the gym rats thread. Having said that, are you a beginner? Have you considered stronglifts/starting strength?
 
That would be a result of your lumbar spine not being straight when you initiate the lift. :)

As the weight increases you will also note upper back pain because of upper back rounding, too.

I am not an expert in anything other than hip orthopaedics, but as you set up, really stick your bum out and chest right up! :)
 
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