I have noticed that it may be easier to get to depth and that my squat form may improve when I force my knees out through the whole lift.
I have a lot to sort out though as this will change my foot position a bit from where it was.
It seems to me that the cue is more important on the way down, as once you are in the hole with your knees in the proper position it will be natural for you to come up without caving in.
I am going to buy some mini bands and wrap them around my knees to coach this cue a bit more, however people such as Dan Green have said that completely forced out is not optimal for strength, and that a more neutral path is going to be stronger. Still, I feel that you have to be used to holding that position through the entire rep, so the mini bands may help.
I think that my rule for now will be that, when in doubt, knees out will be better than knees caving in.
I like the rule a lot. At this point I’m just looking for safety. My squat is so weak that just being able to do it and not get hurt will be the biggest factor in moving forward. For what it’s worth, I do feel my knees cave in a bit, but am able to push them out on reps - this doesn’t feel bad on my knees. It’s when my knees cave in and finish that way that I get pain. It feels like I am just forward on my toes and have to lock out the bar with my quads and back only.
2/26/14
pullup
BW 10
+25 4x8
trap bar row
135 3x15
these killed me even though they were so light. haven’t done rows in weeks lol
trap bar shrug
225 3x20
pinwheel curl
60 3x10
db preacher
30 12, 4x9
2/27/14
limber 11
squat
135 5
185 3
225 1
275 5 PR technically but not a big deal. I was happy with how easy these felt though. High bar position
deadlift
225 3
315 2, 2
315 + chain 4x2
I bought cheap carabiners and links of chain were falling off at the lockout
3/2/14
limber 11
squat
135 5
185 3
245 5x5 gooood. high bar is about even with low bar now
deadlift
225 3
315 1
375 5 PR kinda cheap because big pause between 4th and 5th rep. I strain my esophagus sometimes. I think with my neck more neutral and me letting out a bit of air during the pull, it’ll stop being a problem. It usually is always there past 365, but was fine last week when I actually had my head neutral
I was so sore today. I think the new stance uses a new part of my butt. I took an epsom salt bath with two gallons of boiling water afterwards and almost passed out lol. I’ll hit a new PR on Thursday
squat
135 3
185 1
225 1
280 5 PR
form was ugly but I held a narrower stance because the soreness. I was almost too sore to squat 135 yesterday so I’m happy
deadlift
225 2
315 4x2
315 + pink bands 2x2
GHR
BW 3x12
thought I’ve been getting awesome at these…turns out I moved the adjustment too far lol. Still not too bad I guess
Random event - I found you on youtube because I recognised your quad next to a comment on Jon North’s video of him at the Arnold, so good work on the recognisable quads I guess
[quote]MaazerSmiit wrote:
Random event - I found you on youtube because I recognised your quad next to a comment on Jon North’s video of him at the Arnold, so good work on the recognisable quads I guess
Surprised I don’t already follow this, in.[/quote]
a. I need to change that tooly pic hahah
b. still mad someone yelled “douchebag” during any lift. It should be a golf match at that point
c. thanks! I was impressed by your squat PRs in the bro lifting thread. I’ll have to follow your log too and see what’s up
Every time I read your name I say microphone assassin I don’t know why. Brown disaster microphone assassin hmm must be similar to song lyrics embedded in my sub conscious mind.
Getting strong bro!!
trap bar row
135 6
185 10, 10
meh. I don’t like how these feel when it gets heavier. I’m going to stick with unilateral rowing work mainly, and maybe use these as a finisher. finishers usually = bullshit exercises lol
trap bar shrug
275 2x20
pinwheel curl
60 12, 12
preacher db
30 15, 10, 6
extreme fat grip rack pull
135 2x10
these felt great. I had to palm the grip completely. It’s fatter than my black widow DB handles
[quote]Jlabs wrote:
Every time I read your name I say microphone assassin I don’t know why. Brown disaster microphone assassin hmm must be similar to song lyrics embedded in my sub conscious mind.
Getting strong bro!![/quote]
thanks for the kind words
The screenname was probably my worst basketball nickname after LeBrown
progress pic attached. This is how I look walking around now, no pump or awesome lighting, which I’m happy with. I might not have good genetics for strength, but I do have them for looking aesthetic. I’m definitely going to try out bodybuilding sometime after losing my natty virginity. Staying natty and bodybuilding at this height doesn’t seem fulfilling.
Sitting at 190 lbs, so about 5-10 more lbs to go depending on how lean I want to get. Losing weight messes with my bench and already weak squat, so I’ll have to see how low I can go without having my lifts drop significantly.
[quote]MightyMouse17 wrote:
Lots of damn volume! Congrats on the squat PR![/quote]
thanks boss trying to get strong and lean like you. The Texas Method is going well so far for lower body. I think it’ll get easier as I continue to bump up the calories
missed some logging here, assume I did light cardio every day lol. I don’t even consider it cardio, I think it just makes up for my otherwise sedentary lifestyle
Life is going well. I think I’m balancing things well nicely for once. Might get a promotion or change companies, semester finished well, and finally got a gf after the fitness model fiasco of 2013 lol. My lifting is pretty boring as I’m busy/lazy/on 0 cals. Gonna change things up to do more bodybuilding style everything for the next few months. I’ll be able to pack on lean mass and strength easily once the carbs go back up again. This time I don’t want to gain any chub though. I think 200 lbs lean is within my natty reach before the meet in Sept
3/21/14-3/24/14 off. had a fever and I’ve apparently I’ve torn or strained my glute medius which made me unable to walk well. Today I had no fever and was walking decently, so I trained a bit
[quote]trivium wrote:
Great squat work man. Are your knees still caving at all?[/quote]
Yeah they definitely are. Now it seems better as I’m not pitched forward and am able to get them back out to the sides eventually. Before they would cave in and it would be a knee wrecking mess. I still suck at squatting tho
[quote]csulli wrote:
4x15 pullups?
Damn, nice[/quote]
thanks boss. The last set was pretty ugly but the rest were fine. It’s definitely just a matter of me being only 190 lbs at this point haha. I need my dips to go up like yours now
