Question For Eric Cressey and Other Coaches

What do you think of the views of some who believe squatting or deadlifting with a stance wide than sholder width apart or with externally rotated feet while cause all sorts of problems in the kinetic chain?

[quote]couture205 wrote:
What do you think of the views of some who believe squatting or deadlifting with a stance wide than sholder width apart or with externally rotated feet while cause all sorts of problems in the kinetic chain?[/quote]

Yea I’m curious too, mostly because I have no idea what the fuck this kid is talking about.

Step out of your car and note the position of your feet…it’s a sumo stance.

Take a look at a center when he lines up to snap the ball.

Think of the width of your stance when you sit down on the toilet.

This is a functional position; who says you can’t train it?

I went to a NASM work shop this weekend.The instructor said that squatting more than hip or shoulder width puts the glutes in a shortened position,you are not strengthening them effectively.He was saying like stated in your neanderthal series that those who have externally rotated feet have short calves but he said that you should never do anything with externally rotated feet.He also stated that depth of a leg exercise has no effect on glue strengthening.
I am in no way saying that I agree I just wanted others opinions.

I sometimes hate saying this, but it’s true in this case:

How much could this guy squat? Anything respectable?

Stay strong
MR

[quote]couture205 wrote:
I went to a NASM work shop this weekend.The instructor said that squatting more than hip or shoulder width puts the glutes in a shortened position,you are not strengthening them effectively.He was saying like stated in your neanderthal series that those who have externally rotated feet have short calves but he said that you should never do anything with externally rotated feet.He also stated that depth of a leg exercise has no effect on glue strengthening.
I am in no way saying that I agree I just wanted others opinions. [/quote]

Hi eric,

I like deadlifting alot but I only do deadlifts once per week because i find them hard to recover from. My strength is going up but slowly, and I would like to know what rep schemes you recommend to increase strength quickly while also gaining some mass.

I usually do low reps. I like doing 10x3 or 12x2. The weight i use is almost to failure, near the end of the sets i need to take some long rest times to do the next set.

[quote]couture205 wrote:
I went to a NASM work shop this weekend.The instructor said that squatting more than hip or shoulder width puts the glutes in a shortened position,you are not strengthening them effectively.He was saying like stated in your neanderthal series that those who have externally rotated feet have short calves but he said that you should never do anything with externally rotated feet.He also stated that depth of a leg exercise has no effect on glue strengthening.
I am in no way saying that I agree I just wanted others opinions. [/quote]

I made a bad business decision once and mandated that my training company use the OPT model exclusively. We all went to the CPT workshop where the instructor stated “the reality is, most of your clients will never make it out of IST.” How right she was. Therefore, the majority of our clients made VIRTUALLY ZERO progress toward losing fat and increasing LBM.

Even with NASM-like flexibility, it is virtually impossible to squat (at least FULL squat) like an accordian as they suggest. The only type of squat that comes close is a front squat, and sometimes an overhead squat. Forget it on the back squat. The feet need to be just outside shoulder width to allow the hips to pass through the legs. As far as this putting the glutes in a shortened position, this is only true if the feet are externally rotated. If the feet point straight ahead in a full squat, as you ascend, the knees will pull in toward the center of the body (naturally) and actually STRETCH the glutes to store and then use elastic energy from the stretch to aid in keeping the torso upright. But that’s a whole 'nother discussion.

Hope that encourages you.

Geoff Neupert

[quote]cap’nsalty wrote:
couture205 wrote:
What do you think of the views of some who believe squatting or deadlifting with a stance wide than sholder width apart or with externally rotated feet while cause all sorts of problems in the kinetic chain?

Yea I’m curious too, mostly because I have no idea what the fuck this kid is talking about.[/quote]

That is fucking funny.

EC and MR - don’t heaps of guys with monster squats train this way? Wide stance, feet pointing out a bit?

To put it lightly, yes.

I’d dare anyone to ask the Westside-boys if a wide-stance works :wink:

Stay strong
MR

[quote]Massif wrote:

EC and MR - don’t heaps of guys with monster squats train this way? Wide stance, feet pointing out a bit?[/quote]

THey never said it would make you strong they said it would cause all sorts of probems.I cause you guys don’t agree.
REmember I never said I agreed.