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

[DanH84]

Hey,

Is 'Becoming a Supple Leopard' a good guide? I've been out with a herniated disc for a while now and although I finished my physio course I noticed on squats I've got butt wink and issues with my knees. I want to get stable before I start loading weight again and I've heard fairly good reviews.

Worth £35?

 

[wozza2k]

It's a good book. Got it on iBooks for about £20 maybe less tbh.

 

[EH75]

So started on Stronglifts 5x5 a few weeks ago, although this is the first time I have videoed myself. Getting quite a lot of lower back pain recently so I am obviously doing something wrong. Watched quite a lot of youtube videos etc on the various exercises but having difficulty remembering everything when I am actually in the gym and putting it into practice.

Dropped the weight on the deadlift to 40kg because I'm worried I'm worried about the effect its having on my lower back. Trying to push through my heels from the floor but still ending up with a sore lower back so not sure if this is mostly down to technique (probably), poor lower back strength or a mixture of the two. I actually thought my overheard press was ok until I watched the video back, think I'm putting my head way too far forward and my arms too far back. I did try to correct this over the following few sets but still seemed to be unconsciously doing it. Anyway, critique away.

For reference I weigh about 66kg and in the videos I'm doing squat 67.5kg, OHP 32.5kg and the Deadlift is 40kg

Squat:

OHP:

Deadlift:

 

[icecold]

Squats: Knees out and brace your core

OHP: Don't extend your spine line that, keep your ribcage down.

Deads: Hips too low on set up, head not neutral to spine.


Please read the OP.

 

[Delvis]

I swear I've heard keep your chest up on OHP? OR is that different. And what are you referring to on the spine part?

 

[EH75]

Squats: Knees out and brace your core

OHP: Don't extend your spine line that, keep your ribcage down.

Deads: Hips too low on set up, head not neutral to spine.


Please read the OP.

Cheers will read over everything again and try and get this right.

 

[Delvis]

I need to read the squat guide again, my squats are terrible. Lumbar issues, rounding, tight everything.

Awesome.

 

[Zefan]

Delvis, chest out != chest up! From what I gather, "chest up" when referring to deads and squats is to actively stop people flopping forwards (i.e, chest coming down while hips continue to rise). "Chest up" on OHP isn't the right thing to be thinking, as what will tend to happen is extension of the spine to raise the chest by leaning back and using the chest to push while receiving a ticket to snap city. "Chest out" is a better cue, similar to what you'd go through with bench press - really should be thinking "scaps together". This should prevents your chest collapsing and your shoulders coming forward in to a compromised position.

I find the best way of stopping dat der OHP spine extension is to squeeze glutes hard. It's OHP 101 really and can't see any glute action going on in that vid.

 

[BennyC]

Tense glutes & tighten/brace core (which you should be already!) to stop any lean backwards. You'll feel a big ROM on the shoulders.

Edit: This actually helps with 'moving under the bar'.

It's like people using incline benches and then completely lifting their hips.

 

[Delvis]

Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaa my lovely's <3

May brave the gym this evening, it's manic in the evenings sadly

 

[BennyC]

Come 5:30PM my gym is dead, I mean literally dead. 2 other guys in there when I left yesterday. More plates, chains and bars to myself than I could shake a DYEL phaggot at!

 

[Delvis]

This place is crazily busy, one of the reasons I go in the morning.

 

[FrenchTart]

Deadlifting - I suck at it

I've been following strong lifts 5x5 since around the end of January. I've had the odd break and the odd minor injury but I've made reasonable progress (considering my utter lack of any strength before starting).

However...I keep on messing up my deadlifts. I can't post a video right now (especially after tweaking my back today) but if anyone could throw in a few tips I'd really appreciate it.

I've watched a lot of videos on form and read quite a few guides/posts on here and for the most part I'm not too bad I think. The thing I seem to struggle with is putting everything back down. I reach the point where I have to move the bar past my knees and then I seem to lose the plot.

Any tips?

edit: Worth mentioning but I use uv on here's equipment for this and usually have uv and one other person lifting with me. We attempt to critique each other's form but deadlifts seem to be the most difficult exercise to do correctly.

 

[Zefan]

Moved it to this thread... so much info in here it's unreal bro

My advice is - RDL the bar to below the knees by hinging at the hip (something you might need to work on in itself) then bend at the knees to return it to the floor. This should stop the "Ruh roh, knees in the way " moment you're having.

 

[FrenchTart]

Cheers for the move and the tip.

That's something I've been trying a bit more recently but I'm not sure I've really got the hang of it. Do you basically 'swing' your hips back/up a little once the bar gets towards the knee level? I'm trying to emulate the squat movement relatively closely. Perhaps that's something I shouldn't be doing.

edit: just googled RDL form and found a few videos. I'll watch them tomorrow whilst I'm avoiding work

 

[Zefan]

It's not really swinging... more pushing them back so that you can lower the bar while your legs stay straight. It's the hinging of the hips that brings the bar to knee level. When fully locked out at the top of the rep, you need to hip hinge to lower it to below your knees, then you can properly bend at the knees to drop it further. If you bend at the knees before the bar is clear of them like you do at the moment you end up having to go around them and the result is one of the problems you're having. Hip hinging is a fundamental aspect of squat and deadlift technique. Chris1712 put it perfectly on here when he said "Imagine trying to take a wee with a raging hardon", but be sure your keep your spine neutral throughout and don't put put your spine into extension. Some people on here have it totally down - off the top of my head Delvis, icecold and djdom have recently posted videos showing pretty sexy hip hinging. Take a look at their logs.

 

[FrenchTart]

Cheers. I'll check out their logs and track down some more videos. I think I'm fairly aware of the theory now but it's putting it into practice that I seem to be struggling with :s

 

[BennyC]

I'm trying to emulate the squat movement relatively closely. Perhaps that's something I shouldn't be doing.

Don't do this. It is a deadlift, not a squat. Read the OP.

Cheers. I'll check out their logs and track down some more videos. I think I'm fairly aware of the theory now but it's putting it into practice that I seem to be struggling with :s

There's a few in my log too, should show a pretty 'ping'.

 

[icecold]

Try to keep your weight on your heels and your knees back, that usually fixes lowering the bar.

To fine tune it we'll need a video.

Also, if you're getting back twinges I'd suggest that there is something going on with your squat that you aren't aware of.

 

[FrenchTart]

Don't do this. It is a deadlift, not a squat. Read the OP.

There's a few in my log too, should show a pretty 'ping'.

Thanks. I'll check it out.

Try to keep your weight on your heels and your knees back, that usually fixes lowering the bar.

To fine tune it we'll need a video.

Also, if you're getting back twinges I'd suggest that there is something going on with your squat that you aren't aware of.

One thing I'm pretty sure I've got down is keeping the weight on my heels..though perhaps I'm over-exaggerating that. Knees back I'll keep in mind.

I'll go and re-examine my squat form too. I kind of feel like I'm going round in circles. I seem to constantly cycle de-loading a little to work on form, getting it right (or so I think at the time), increasing weight a few steps and then having to go and re-do my form.