[quote]infinite_shore wrote:
Wait, you are doing all this silly shit just to perform on OH squat? Oh my…[/quote]
No, my goal is much more general. My hip, upperback, and shoulder mobility are abysmal, and I’d like to be able to perform functional movement patterns.
OH Squat is not so much the goal, but rather an indicator that I’m where I want to be.
What are your issues with the approach?
What’s wrong with just doing OH squats with a light bar and getting better at doing that? Like, lots of sets, throughout the day, with wider and narrower grips.
And then throwing a bit of weight on it and doing the same thing, just constantly pushing beyond where you got last time, flexibility and mobility-wise, eventually where you can go rock-bottom with that? And as you get better, add more weight and repeat.
Not to say you can’t throw in some other stuff as you find specific weaknesses (like thoracic extensions over a roller, or shoulder stretches pushing the humerus against the acromial arch, or couch stretches, etc.).
I guess I would just focus on the movement itself, and a bit more work for “weaknesses” as you identify them. I just don’t understand why you’d do everything but the movement itself, without necessarily understanding what your own issues are. Doesn’t mean I’m right, but I just don’t understand the overall approach.
If you get better at actually doing overhead squats, wouldn’t all the things holding you back basically sort themselves out in the process?
I am, of course, interested in hearing IS’s take.
[quote]LoRez wrote:
I am, of course, interested in hearing IS’s take.[/quote]
ya don’t say…haha
Anyway, Lo isn’t too far off but misses one crucial element that exposes most of these “mobility experts” as frauds or at least idiots.
Proper SETUP/TECHNIQUE/CUEING will take care of almost all so called mobility issues (in healthy persons). One of the very few points I actually agree with Rippetoe.
To the point, I bet properly cued YOU could do a decent OH squat tomorrow. Maybe you need some simple warm-up routine to help you out a bit, but it is all in the right setup. OH squat is of course the most difficult one to get right, because you not only have to set up your lumbar and thoracic spine correctly, but also your scaps.
ps: not saying “mobility” stuff doesn’t help to increase passive & active ROM of a joint for a short amount of time (studies have shown that), but that will do shit if your setup is still crap and is typically only a bandaid.
[quote]infinite_shore wrote:
[quote]LoRez wrote:
I am, of course, interested in hearing IS’s take.[/quote]
ya don’t say…haha
Anyway, Lo isn’t too far off but misses one crucial element that exposes most of these “mobility experts” as frauds or at least idiots.
Proper SETUP/TECHNIQUE/CUEING will take care of almost all so called mobility issues (in healthy persons). One of the very few points I actually agree with Rippetoe.
To the point, I bet properly cued YOU could do a decent OH squat tomorrow. Maybe you need some simple warm-up routine to help you out a bit, but it is all in the right setup. OH squat is of course the most difficult one to get right, because you not only have to set up your lumbar and thoracic spine correctly, but also your scaps.
ps: not saying “mobility” stuff doesn’t help to increase passive & active ROM of a joint for a short amount of time (studies have shown that), but that will do shit if your setup is still crap and is typically only a bandaid. [/quote]
Well, the designer of this program is not an idiot lol. It’s also not a “mobility program.” That’s just something I’m really focusing on right now. It’s a reset for movement patterns basically. The mobility work is confined to the warm-ups and definitely address things that are big issues for me. Plus, I just posted a sample workout from the first phase. It’s 12 phases.
Within about 5 weeks I’ll be back to things like front squats, box squats, regular squats, deadlifts, bench press, etc. and even iso movements. Alot of the early stage exercises actually target the setup/technique/cues I believe you are referring too, i.e. core exercises that focus on breathing patterns used in squats and DLs, stuff to make it easier to set up under the bar without straining, etc. Some of the later stuff looks pretty tough. One phase even has days where Squat, Bench, and Deadlifts are trained for like 30-50 singles. If that’s not gonna hone in technique, I don’t know what would.
I’m curious how you’d recommend I progress though with your approach. Would you just have me doing partial range squats each workout and let ROM improve a little each time?
I guess I don’t understand how you can put it all on the set up. Right now I physically cannot do the splits for example. The perfect cues and set up, just wouldn’t make that happen, as my current morphology will stop me at the end of my ROM. Morever, how will set up enable me to progress beyond what’s physically possible for me right now without getting injured? I could definitely be misunderstanding your point, so I’m just looking for a little more elaboration. I don’t even passively demonstrate the necessary flexibility in some areas (like hip external rotators and hip flexors) needed to even be in the required position of a full depth squat. Hence I need to address that first.
As far as the “decent OH squat” tomorrow, I’d be willing to put bet 1,000,000 internet points saying that’s NOT true. You haven’t seen how bad my mobility is IRL.