I just got off the phone with one of the the people who run the only olympic weightlifting facility near me and talked to them about predicament, mobility issues etc and my current gym contrat. How I am losing weight at the moment etc.
They basically said why don’t you just focus on losing bodyfat and sorting your mobility issues out now while under contract with your gym and then come and see us and go from there. I am thinking of just doing that and leaving the weights for now.
I am just going to do something along the lines of daily cardio, calisthenics, stretching etc and keep on losing weight. By the time I am lean and have sorted my inflexibility and lack of mobility out I will then be able to get one on one coaching with a professional lifter and have access to the equipment I would need if I decided to do powerlifting or olympic lifting.
[quote]James Brown wrote:
In my opinion, and from recent experience, to achieve a quality high-bar, olympic style squat, you need to assess (and improve where necessary) the following:
Hip and ankle mobility
Thoracic extension
Core strength
Glute strength and the ability to actually recruit them in the lift
Spine angle, particularly one’s ability to eliminate tail-tuck (butt-wink) at the bottom position. Typically related to…
Flexibility of the hamstrings, adductors, hip flexors, chest muscles, shoulders
I’m still a work-in-progress, but my squat technique (and the way I move in general) continues to improve with each session, the more time I dedicate to improving mobility. My workouts are about three hours long, now that I have added almost an hour dedicated solely to warming up (30-45 mins at the start, 15 mins at the end). I don’t start lifting until I feel “right”, so to speak.
Also, I squat at the beginning of every workout (~5 days a week), regardless of what other movements I plan on doing. I have some knee issues, so I will occasionally skip squats if a thorough warm-up does not eliminate any discomfort. However, for the most part, regular squatting all but cured my knee pain.
Being unable to do a high bar squat with an empty bar is never ever due to a weakness - it is due to a lack of mobility in the ankles, hips, and/or thoracic spine. I encourage you to read the article an raw squatting that tnation published last week. try the wall squat drill. You don’t have to squat high bar but not being able to do it is bad.
[quote]YamatoDamashii92 wrote:
I just tried a low bar squat and it felt really good. Brought my stance in, elbows up. Only problem was that even with the thumbless grip it kinda hurt my wrists.[/quote]
Then do the low bar squat and use the leg press for additional quad work.
Rationale:
No matter which route you wish to take in the future, building a base of muscle will be the most important thing right now.
If you do get coaching at an actual olympic lifting facility, you will find that their mobility drills differ greatly from what you read on the internet.