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

scott212 said:
When I bench press I always tense the **** out of my core, I just don't know why it's letting me down with my squats.

The stiffness thing... so it's core, upper back, chest and glutes?

If I stay squatting light for now and focus purely on technique I will not find it that physically taxing. Would it be a good idea to throw in 2-3 sets on the leg press too?
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I think you'll find that - if you squat properly and engage everything correctly - they'll be more taxing than you think. Also, if you concentrate, it won't take that long to build back up and surpass your previous best, so I wouldn't worry too much.

If you're really struggling to get some stimulation, do some deficit Bulgarian split squats. Or dumbell lunges or whatever...

Leg press is also not an atrocious thing
 
I always thought leg press was a waste of time but I'm reading Beyond Brawn and the guy is a huge fan of it for people who can't naturally squat well due to poor mechanics for it.

Do you think 50-60kg is a good starting point for me then? Or even lower?
 
scott212 said:
I always thought leg press was a waste of time but I'm reading Beyond Brawn and the guy is a huge fan of it for people who can't naturally squat well due to poor mechanics for it.

Do you think 50-60kg is a good starting point for me then? Or even lower?
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Leg press is not a waste of time if there is some genuine reason a person can't squat. Most of the time, people make up excuses as to why they can't squat and just leg press, because fixing their issues is "too much like hard work." When really, they're just lazy.

What is your current 1RM? A reasonable starting point (for my remedial work, for instance) is around 40% 1RM (i.e. I can front squat 120kg for 1, so I will do my remedial work at around 50-60kg, depending on what I think will work best).

The important thing is make sure you get it right, so start with just 40kg total if you need, take a video, look for breaks and other weird stuff. And then at another 10kg, etc.
 
scott212 said:
I wasn't bricking it about my Squat session tomorrow I am now!

Firstly thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.

One important point to make to put the questions below in context. At the moment I'm attempting to cut. I'm very much adhering to the minimalist approach and doing 2-3 sessions a week of compound movements. That's it, I'm only on a R/T 1800kcal/2800kcal cycle so overtraining is not going to be made an issue. I have omitted deadlifts for now as I want to focus on sorting out my squats first. My squats usually involve a few sets of low-rep warm ups on very low weight before the first working set.

Just a few initial questions and then I'm going to read it all through again:

1) Do I need to stop squatting completely and work on mobility/core or am I OK to lower the weight down to say 60kg or 140lbs and concentrate on form?

2) Should I scrap trying to get lean for now and go back to slow bulking. Surely it will be difficult to strengthen various muscles when my body is catabolic mode? Again this could just be a correction issue like Icecold said.

3) When you say do mobility work, is this supposed to be done as a warmup in terms of stretches or this something I need to dedicate a session to on a different day to when I squat? As for strengthening my core, I've always been told things like crunches are a complete waste of time (or is this only in the context of 18 year olds thinking it will lead to rock hard abs) and squatting is more than enough for doing the job. What exactly should I be doing to strengthen my core?

4) I'm just confused about what my priorities should be in the gym right now and need someone to punch me in the face and tell me what to do!

Main notes for tomorrow from what you've all written:

- Warm up prior with stretches (will look at Icecold's 'better squatting' post for this)
- Knees out!
- Engage core.
- More stiffness all round.
- I'm going to read tonight up on the mechanics of squats and see if I can gain a greater understanding of things like spine neutrality as currently I don't feel I know what I'm really doing.

Many thanks again.
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I'm not sure that you read my post thoroughly :p

Test to see if you can squat correctly, noting any restrictions you experience. Then look into mobility.

It's possible to increase strength without increasing muscle cross section, which is what becomes difficult in a caloric deficit.

Core training is covered in the OP, but to be fair I need to expand it.

Also, you should be deadlifting too.

scott212 said:
I always thought leg press was a waste of time but I'm reading Beyond Brawn and the guy is a huge fan of it for people who can't naturally squat well due to poor mechanics for it.

Do you think 50-60kg is a good starting point for me then? Or even lower?
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There is nothing wrong with the leg press, but the benefits of being able to squat properly are huge and extend to life outside of the gym and aesthetics.
 
So when is the best time to do some of those core training exercises? Tomorrow (after) squatting or shall I save it until Friday?

I will incorporate some deadlifts into tomorrow's session - are they as potentially as destructive as squats though? It just feels too much in trying to master both at once. I'd rather really focus with my squats, get into the gym with all the stuff fresh in my mind as opposed to trying to remember too much about both. I hope that makes sense.
 
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I'm feeling so down today. I spent hours last night reading through countless things and going through the Squat in my head. I have decided to focus on the low-bar for now as opposed to the high bar.

Basically, whether this looks good or bad, it doesn't feel right. When I push back up my lower back feels like it's doing some of the driving. The bar position doesn't look right. I try to break at the hip and then let my knees naturally drive outwards but it doesn't look like this. My spine still isn't straight, I try and keep my upper back as tight as possible but it looks like there's still a curvature in those videos.

Basically I'm really annoyed with myself. I'm an optimistic person but perfecting these seems like a mountain to climb right now and I will not be the person who spends 5 years squatting with **** technique and end up with back injuries.


Please excuse the shoes, I was so excited to get in the gym this morning I completely forgot to take them off.
 
No you're right, that's one of the first things I noticed.

It's just difficult when you're trying to remember about 10 different things.
 
It is mate, I struggled terribly when I first started squatting and I still need people to shout at me sometimes :o

You will get there, ideally you need someone else with you who can train the movement. Not sure when the next meet is but you'll have to come along to one
 
Bar lower, more knees out, slightly more sit back (slightly less forward knee movement) and you've cracked it.

Don't be so harsh on yourself. This is the first session you've had trying to correct some of these finer points. Even when I'm coaching people in person it is relatively rare to see a "good enough" squat after one session.
 
scott212 said:
PMT rant
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Dude - you just need to become more familiar with the movement. You're trying to re-teach your body something it's forgotten how to do, namely work the hips and ankles rather than your knees and back. Sit back and listen to icecold sooth you... ;)

You're still doing a high-bar squat there, which is fine, but you're clearly thinking far too hard about it. :D

Your core seemed a lot more stable during that video, regardless - you just need to learn how to keep this tight whilst working eccentric glute/hamstring movements under tension. Yes, you are still getting some extension in the upper bar and some bum tuck, but it's all learning.

Low-bar won't magically make these problems go away, in fact they may some of them worse if you don't control them properly (in ways that would apply equally to high bar...). Yes, you don't need as much ankle flexibility for low bar, and you can get away with less hip flexibility with it, but core stability is possibly more important and knee control/glute med strength is too.
 
scott212 said:
I always thought leg press was a waste of time but I'm reading Beyond Brawn and the guy is a huge fan of it for people who can't naturally squat well due to poor mechanics for it.

Do you think 50-60kg is a good starting point for me then? Or even lower?
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I can squat relatively well but am still a fan of the leg press, it's a nice variation and imo can assist a strong squat nicely.

Don't be too hard on yourself with learning correct form, it takes time :)
 
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