Your squat technique is fine. Knees ādiving inā under fatigue is normal in individuals with low levels of strength.
As such, you just need to train. Consistently and hard. May I suggest a program consisting of:
- 2 x 5 KB squats (single or double KB)
- 2 x 5 push-ups with hands on KB handles (knees or toes)
- 2 x 5 double-KB deadlift, single or double leg
- 2 x 10 KB swings
- 2 x 30s front plank
- 1 x 10 blackburns
Perform this 1-2 times per day every day, and do not post again until youāve completed 14 straight workouts
2 Likes
So trying to use the mirror didnāt work at all in the study. Now this one I can only do body weight, but I think I can get my entire body in shot.
This is absolutely fantastic thank you, Iād get you a copy of my NHS physio assessment 
but I have the covering letter which is 10 pages of legal leave what theyāll do with my information! And my records are actually online. I suppose I can try and print it out but Iām quite exhausted.! I needless to say his assessment was completely different! This is amazing ā and Iāll follow this suggested routine to The letter. Again, thank you so so much. Although it is a nice hard of dose of reality I am an individual of low strength. I am quite shocked as to how much strength an athletic ability Iāve actually lost because I moved into this flat a month ago and I didnāt keep anything up. So definitely, I suppose this could be called an exercise prescription.! PS a third of the way through this, I was thinking how much easier this would be if I were much stronger and I hadnāt stopped squatting and all the other things I was doing. So many many thanks, and this shows that the other parts of my lifestyle now definitely are completely rubbish because Iām very conscious that Iām very very hungry. Iām very very thirsty, I really havenāt had any protein- actually if I can go into the huge dirty secret as it were, I havenāt really had any food at all apart from a chicken sandwich and no water at all and this has been going on for awhile, ever since I moved into this new flat because I donāt get time to myself to eat or drink, which sounds absurd, but there it is. Yes, Iām in the UK and unfortunately there are underlying social issues which means I have support workers coming in at all hours of the day and apparently I have to talk to each one of them for four hours rather than eating etc. Iām sorry you didnāt want an epic and I feel slightly ashamed of this ā very and extremely ashamed but this issue is impacting my lifestyle, which is impacting my training, thereof, but this is fantastic and Iāll try to follow this routine as faithfully as possible, and hopefully I can fix my lifestyleā in eating the amount of food, even if I can get up to 1000 cals and then hopefully get up to 2000 cal, whereas now Iām not practically eating anything or drinking any water which is why other things have gone very pear shaped- Iām sure you can guess what they are. But I think this illustrates that for me, and I hope this isnāt cliche, that fitness and exercise is really holistic.
1 Like
Best of luck mate
1 Like
Thanks , and on a lighter note 
My shoulders are just hurting looking at the Blackburns though - the prone Ys but this is all very fantastic and once again many many thanksš
1 Like
So you have an eating disorder?
Iād get therapy for that before worrying about exercise
1 Like
First, youāre fantastically positive, so Iām very much looking forward to seeing how you go.
Second, what real obstacles are in the way of you eating? Do you just not have an appetite? I see there are distractions in your day; could you eat more before/ after work?
1 Like
No, itās not an eating disorder ā although it may well turn into one if I leave it too long, itās that all the support staff who supposedly try to help me, donāt give me the time to eat- for instance, if I get up at 9 am, then by 7 pm, because I will have had support staff coming in and out of my flat , I canāt eat anything because theyāre more concerned about the cleaning etc, for instance yesterday when I could have been eating between 3-7:45 pm I had to just talk to my Support Worker for four hours 45 minutes , and in their misguided way, they tried to, but they donāt know what Iām going for. If it sounds weird, itās because I think itās very weird. But I figure my way around it is waking up at 4 am, so making sure Iām in bed today at least 730 or 8 pm, and then I can wake up at 4 am, and that gives me the time to eat and exercise. When I did have a half decent routine, and things were going half decently! I was in my parents house : I know, Iām 42 years old, that hints at other social factors- when I used to go down to the conservatory at 4 am, not rigidly, even for example 8 etc , but the method that I hit upon was that I would pack a bag of all my food in Tupperware containers, and I just had the standard of chicken, rice, vegetables and I used to make noodles for additional carbs , 10 full boxes of each thing ( so approximately 250 g per box) 10 boxes of veg, 10 boxes of rice etc and after a lot of trial and error, the very particular method I hit upon which worked for me was Iād exercise, then eat, then exercise etc and Iād do this alternately, and take longer breaks, so 2 kb carries and eat , this would be instinctive, that is I do this going by my intuition or my gut and then by 7 pm Iād be done and then shower and go to bed. Itās just now, Iād have to re-create this whole system, because this is the only thing that works for me, Iāve tried using other orthodox methods and I just canāt do that; the problem here is that Iām over scheduled by the support staff and Iām under a private social worker. But now the real problem is mainly if I canāt get to sleep, then I feel far too tired to do anything the next day let alone eat and exercise- and of course, thatās a vicious cycle.
This really shows that everyone genuinely cares on these forms on this website, but Iām really ashamed by this and I kind of feel like Iām airing dirty laundry.
If only I had ā more normalā problems- like I need to lose weight, or need help bulking for example! Although I know everyone is fighting their own battles, so I donāt mean to be unintentionally minimising other peopleās problems. So from a lifestyle factor pov- if we think of four pillars- the one I need to fix first is my sleep, and then I can I can start eating properly and then drinking of water, and then trying to fix the other pillars one by one. Thanks for bearing with me with this wall of text. This is very cheering to know that thereās such a supportive community out there, and metaphorically, and literally quite overwhelmed and moved to tears by the brilliant help and support 
Thank you for the kind words of encouragement and support-Iām only positive because I was somewhat there before so I think I can get there again. But again in terms of my eating, itās the same as my reply to : unreal 24278- because that unfortunately became a wall of text, sorry about that 
in terms of the four pillars, I really need to fix my sleep first, because when Iām a zombie 
the next day from lack of sleep, Iām no good for anything. And even pre-workout doesnāt help, but Iām in not much of a sleep deficit, and in any case, I have habitual insomnia, thatās my main ādragonā if I can use Jordan Petersonās metaphor.
I do feel very embarrassed by all of this- if only my issue was: wow I want to put on 10 kg more muscle, should I put peanut butter in my shakes to bulk?
So Iām more than grateful and very very touched by this community and all the support there is a part of me which thinks I donāt really deserve this either Iām too broken and weak already, sitting on the couch and eating whotsits or Cheetos and watching TV is far easier!! Iāve never really consciously acknowledged that until now, so do you have any specific advice how to quiet that ā false seductive voiceā ( if I can try to use a flowery metaphor 
)
Are you asking how to not be lazy and just do what youāre supposed to do instead? Practice.
The way you practice is to just do it over and over. Youāve got a goal, @j4gga2 advised a routine, and you know you need to eat. My advice would be, every day, donāt think about it; just execute those things. Put an x on the calendar on days you execute, and aim to fill it up.
if getting back up off the couch is an issue, Iād also advise you not to sit in the first place. Even at this point, I know if I come home and sit Iām not going back out to the gym; just avoid the problem.
2 Likes
Fantastic, I was intuitively thinking partially like this but this is really made concrete the incoherent intuitions- and this seems very similar to Jerry Seinfeldās ā the chain motivationā - you donāt want to break the chain, and also JP Peterson in general outlook. But the other part is what happens when you know I think is it worth it? I feel banged up today, no one else gives a monkeyās about what Iām doing- obviously Iām talking about my immediate environment, not this fantastic community, and then more insidiously the thought with cascade into : whatās the point? Whatās the meaning? Maybe Iām f^^^^^^ myself more, other people make other things more immediately important- like because Iām on my own for the first time in my own flat, I have to regularly check in and phone my mum etc , but also I can see thatās an immediate fantastic point about the couch, because that literally happened yesterday! I know there are lots of fantastic t nation articles on the topic of motivation, and I also like what various other people say like Athlean x and even Ryan Humiston. But the point is, wouldnāt this be easier if I already had for example 32 kg of muscle at least and I already weighed 98 kg, and just getting a bicep pump would motivate me to continueā¦.? Here I am completely broken down and eg, day one, day two I go through my squats, kettlebell swings etc which I really actually loved doing in the past and reading Dan Johnās articles and even menās health 
would fire me up. I mean now if I start goblet squatting with 18kg, and the other exercises, Iāll feel ridiculous. I bet Schwarzenegger he was 230 lb and looking ( and feeling ! hopefully) like a brick house, and dead lifting 500. Lbs and even today, bet he had no problems with Motivation. I donāt mean to minimise what I know that others have really real problems- in fact, Iām also subscribed to Schwarzeneggerās newsletter, and ironically he talks about motivation in his most recent newsletter : but heās Schwarzenegger! This is just to illustrate that this is how my thoughts spiral. How do I get in this ā just execute mentalityā. And again I didnāt realise this until now , ( as Jordan Peterson is writing really clarify what you think and why you think it!) I think that sitting on the couch and Cheetos example is also specifically - not to be too mordant or too dark - kill yourself gradually by obesity and bad choices ie. Itās not sitting on the couch and having sushi and vegetables, and a fantastic piece of lemon Dover Sole etc
But all of your and everyoneās advice in this forum and the website generally has been fantastic I guess I just feel very very disappointed in myself.
As I sit writing this, quite absurdly, as a result of doing the demonstrations for The the physio forum member ( sorry I forgotten his handle) and this is really absurd - I met someone on Tinder , turned out to be a catfish and a TikTok scam, not before going to WhatsApp!! - but in trying to ā impress her ā , I uploaded a brief home workout video where I started with a double kb walk , I nearly died! so I warmed up by then just doing 12 kg single KB rack walk, because I only have one to 12 kg ( weirdly) thought Iād try to impress her by doing a double kb rack squat with two 18 kg , again nearly died! so I did 5 reps 18 kg Goblet sq. And posted the video, because she posted her video , starting on the treadmill ! And then instead of sleeping, because I was very fatigued and exhausted, just from that because Iām very very very unfit now- I wasted five hours, trying to talk her into a relationship, but she just wanted my mobile and got me to sign up to a TikTok account and TikTok marketplace, so that was a waste of five hours, and she wanted me to help ā earn commission for both of usā . Iām sorry this all sounds exceedingly pathetic because it is, I think; anyway, four hours too late, I finally saw sense,and we ended extremely acrimoniously, but I feel a fantastic quad pump thanks to the squats, I did ( I think) and being on WhatsApp typing while in a flex knee position on my bed, and I find my quads can pump relatively quick anyway, because I like sitting cross legged as well, so long and rather pathetic and quite sadly funny story short! I have much more fondness for my quad pump and my hamstring pump, than I do for this woman from the Netherlands 
( Ive fallen for the scams for too many times! About 20 times in the last three years 
)
So thanks to the physio member of the forum - unreal 24278 andā¦. iāll just say circumstances todayā¦ Iāve got some squatting in and Iām quite excited to continue but rather pathetically, I guess Iām back in the realm of newbie pump gains! I donāt think I ever really left because I think my training age is just one year of fairly solid training although I started training in 2019. So very haphazard and lots external circumstances. Itās weird how the mind works ā or at least how my very weird mind works: this newbie pump is getting me excited ( pumped up ) to start this all again, and to try to do this properly and this time 2025 onwards in my own flat, hopefully a much longer period of hopefully good solid training and hopefully good solid gains.
Have I just written motivation into myself now? I wasnāt feeling this before, but also seeing your comment : train for pain has really cheered me up, because it feels like thereās a cheering section here , and also reminds me of a happy gym memory from 2019: then I loved doing farmers walks with 15 kg and then 20 kg weight plates, gradually walking around a 200 meter track in the commercial gym, and this was when I had a good head of steam, so I think I was a bit too exhausted and decided to do it as a finisher, so Iād also done seated rows and other things, so I started it was a bit tough and then I felt like I was gonna collapse, but I just wanted to keep going so I did, and I was really feeling emotions while doing it, and I noticed towards the end but this big burly bodybuilder built like a tank, and his wife also built like a tank, and other people were clapping and cheering- it was all I could do not to break down in tears there and then !! This atmosphere on the forum reminds me of that, and Iām beyond grateful and Iād be really honoured to post updates, and hopefully progress ! And hopefully youāll all feel it that this is worth peoples time, and it isnāt taking away from the quality of this website and the forums. But Iām very very grateful. and just another shout out I really like Chris and Daniās articles and motivation. And I have lurked around reading lot of the training logs of the various members- and frankly speaking, Iām very much in awe 
and if I can call him coach Thib - I find his articles, and on the forums when he talks about motivation in dispensable as well, as well as Dan John . But theyāre all built like Brick houses 
and Iām sopping nothing at the moment! lol
And obviously itās a lot of body fat like itās very soft, but I donāt mind it that much, but obviously thatās not ideal !!
I think Iāll call this the start of day 0.5 , and if itās not too presumptuous and egoistic, Iāll start a training log , and switch over to the training logs if itās more appropriate there although Iām very much aware in very conscious that I havenāt got anything to show here ā specially compared to The brick houses that are on these forums every day ( you know what I mean!).
Definitely do that - fantastic tool for keeping yourself rolling and getting feedback
1 Like
Thanks so much