*** The 2011 Gym Rats Thread ***
- Thread starter Morba
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The ankle is a complicated beast, it could be down to a number of problems. If it's the same on both sides it isn't likely to be a restriction due to injury, so a little persistence should help.Icecold, what's the deal with ankle dorsiflexion help? I still can't squat all the way down without toppling over backwards. With something to hold onto it's no problem, but without a counterweight in front of me all of my bodyweight is behind my knees/toes and I can't stay balanced. It's actually not so bad when I'm training because I've got a the bb to sort of counterweight me, but it's still not good.
I struggle to keep my knees inline with toes, let alone in front of them. It doesn't feel like my achilles is too short, rather that my 'shin' is too long! :/
Try the mobilisations here http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=19584971&postcount=68 and the ones Delvis posted.
I'm betting you're tight in your medial hamstrings too... in fact it's worth giving everything from the post I linked to a try.
My right ankle is fairly busted up. I sprained it badly 18 months ago and apparently some bones have slipped out of place. I've tried but I'm not sure how much I can treat this my self, need to see my physio again.
Soldato
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Don't worry about the numbers you're lifting dude, we all have to start somewhere!
You'd be better off having the protein shake before working out. The BCAAs in the protein are highly beneficial intra-workout (while you're working out). Keep the cereal there too if you like, though personally I'd skip it because the insulin response it causes would make me tired mid-workout.
Direct abdominal work.. don't even waste your time here. You won't gain anything from it and your time would be much better spent elsewhere. Do something like clean and jerks, pallof presses or barbell complexes if you want some extra exercises in there.
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Yea, mine was exactly the same (Was just doing it for me to see if ive improved). I will try and get a better one, for form check up sometime
Workout B today on the 15s, and my god the volume is destroying me, just about managed everything. Deadlift 85kg x 15 x 2 wasn't too bad, but it was doing 180kg x 15 x 2 on the leg press that sapped my energy. Looking forward to Friday and tackling A again. Hoping these 2 weeks of 15s will improve my conditioning a lot.
Soldato
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New deadlift max, 135kg!! LIGHT WEIGHT BABY! More in the tank aswell, i reckon i could pull 150kg. Reason is i did far too many lower weight reps because i wasn't sure how high i could go, looked like this
5x60kg
3x80kg
1x100kg
1x110kg
1x120kg
1x130kg
1x135kg
and i did 2 sets of 60kg squats beforehand!
Not to sound like a massive tool or anything but half the gym was watching my 135 and it went up pretty easy
(bear in mind this is a gym in which 5% of people deadlift and 1% of people squat
)
5x60kg
3x80kg
1x100kg
1x110kg
1x120kg
1x130kg
1x135kg
and i did 2 sets of 60kg squats beforehand!
Not to sound like a massive tool or anything but half the gym was watching my 135 and it went up pretty easy
(bear in mind this is a gym in which 5% of people deadlift and 1% of people squat
)
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Do you warm up on anything below 60kg btw?
Soldato
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On the deadlifts no. Did a set with the bar on squats to get my eye in and 5 mins on the bike beforehand as usual.
icecold, or anyone else, got a question for you please mate.
Older members may remember I had a knee issue which stopped me doing any leg work for a good while. I got back into it 6 or so months ago and got myself back up to fairly decent numbers but the knee tweaked again so I rested. I've started again but my right knee keeps coming in slightly when I'm squatting. I'm forcing them out and my foot position is ok. This isn't even really happening with heavy weights (i.e. I was squatting with 100kg at the weekend), and there is NO pain at all. The knee just buckles inwards.
Older members may remember I had a knee issue which stopped me doing any leg work for a good while. I got back into it 6 or so months ago and got myself back up to fairly decent numbers but the knee tweaked again so I rested. I've started again but my right knee keeps coming in slightly when I'm squatting. I'm forcing them out and my foot position is ok. This isn't even really happening with heavy weights (i.e. I was squatting with 100kg at the weekend), and there is NO pain at all. The knee just buckles inwards.
Great work mate!New deadlift max, 135kg!! LIGHT WEIGHT BABY! More in the tank aswell, i reckon i could pull 150kg. Reason is i did far too many lower weight reps because i wasn't sure how high i could go, looked like this
5x60kg
3x80kg
1x100kg
1x110kg
1x120kg
1x130kg
1x135kg
and i did 2 sets of 60kg squats beforehand!
Not to sound like a massive tool or anything but half the gym was watching my 135 and it went up pretty easy
(bear in mind this is a gym in which 5% of people deadlift and 1% of people squat
Pretty powerful there, front squats are a great exercise to get strong on.
How are your feet? Are you fairly flat footed?
Any lower back issues?
Without seeing it in action, I'd suggest you try and cover as many bases as possible, particularly because the problem has been around for a while.
One of the more basic causes is a weak VMO, which is the little tear drop shaped muscle near your knee. Cycling can help strengthen this, but then so can squatting provided you're able to do it properly.
You might that your hips are fairly tight in external rotation. Test this by lying on your back with your leg bent at right angles to your body and knee also at bent. Keeping your upper leg fixed around a vertical axis, see how far you can rotate your foot over your other leg (or google external rotation and try and find a video, I can't as I'm tethering through my phone atm). If this is a problem, work on stretching your glutes (use the link I posted earlier for reference).
Sticking with your glutes, your glute medials are responsible for keeping your knees out, so if they're not firing properly you'll have problems. The first thing to try is just to focus on the muscle. Next try general glute activation exercises like single leg glute bridges, focusing on power and stability. Walking lunges will always show up weak glute medials, so do them with a light weight focusing on bringing your hips through powerfully while driving through your forward heal. Strict box squatting will also help here. If you have access to them, weak therabands around the knees (pulling them together) when squatting can help mind muscle connection too.
You will probably also need to give the soft tissue around your knee some attention, as well as your quads (particularly the vastus lateralis near your knee) and anterior/posterior tibialis. Lacrosse ball/foam roll the **** out of those bits.
Also stretch out your medial hamstrings, these can directly restrict correct knee positioning, and make sure your quads and anterior hip is in good condition too.
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And my overhead press is laughable, I'm struggling with 25kg
I think I win the weakest-poster-in-this-thread award!
stick at it. you'll be surprised how quick your numbers can go up.
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Sooo you go straight in at 60kg?
I basically warm up on SLDL's (weak SLDL's at that) then start DL's on 40kg and work my way up...?
Assuming your not kidding, did you show them a few exercises to demonstrate how it's done?
Thanks for this. I'm taking a week off this week as starting a new job but will try and get a vid for you on Sunday.
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