Dan,
A while ago I started the OLAD workout. I read the original article and started into it straight away without asking any questions, without reading the threads and without delving too much into it. From your comments on this website, it seemed to me more important to do the workout than actually spend time getting it “right”.
Last night I was doing overhead squats. For the first time, I added sufficient weight so that I would not be able to compensate if I was off-centre. It wasn’t much, but enough to force form. I got down to about 5" above parallel (yes, above) and consequently was rather miffed. During the next two sets, I made up my mind I’d work more on flexibility, and switch to front squats to increase my ROM. I also had a few questions to ask, like whether it was better to keep the weight heavy or light to increase ROM, stretches for hamstrings, what the twinge in my lower back could mean, angle of knees, blah blah blah blah.
The reason for this (long) post is that I was doing OLAD, and what I most understand as the core of OLAD is that you have one lift per day and you must do it. So I continued doing the exercise. I had to finish what I started, I couldn’t “save” the workout by doing something else.
I don’t know why or how, but this attitude permeated down through my body. For set 4, for whatever reason, my body kind of went “Oh, I didn’t realise you actually wanted to do this”. And without further ado, my body did it. Ass to grass with the overhead squat - full ROM. Now, it wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t a lot of weight and most of all, it wasn’t easy. But it was a full ROM overhead squat. I was so surprised, I almost forgot to grin.
Therein I think lies the success of OLAD - when you’ve nothing else to do, you do what you’re supposed to. Not just attempt it but actually do it.
Heh, I realise I’ve taken up more of your time to ask nothing than if I’d just originally posted all the dumb questions I had but I wanted to say thanks for the above.