[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
I was playing with a slightly wider stance (as per Snapper) but the inner edges of my feet are just outside the rings on the bar so I’m certainly nowhere near the plates.
[/quote]
I was told by my new sumo coach to move my feet in. Way too wide, she said. So the to-the-plates thingy is out for now.
I’m surprised you have knee cave with squats since you pull sumo. Seems contradictory. Have you tried squatting wide stance?
[quote]JoeGood wrote:
Who doesn’t?
Sorry, but if I didn’t say it, Git would.[/quote]
I pretty much sit on the sidelines in this thread and ponder “should I say that, nahh, better not”. Please refer to exhibit A, the recent Kimba vids above this post. No comment.
OK, fine…I love nipples. But that’s all I’m saying.
And a finely shaped ass. Attached to firm, shapely legs. Please refer to exhibit A. OK, I’m done.
Hai Kimba.
Cal, I haven’t been using chalk because usually I don’t have any grip issues. If this keeps us, which I hope it doesn’t, I’ll have to do something. Yup, I have weak glutes. I clam, monster walk, do banded hip and cable hip stuff…there is some improvement. I should re-start banded squats.
Snapper, I did try a slightly wider stance yesterday and it seemed to go well. But I couldn’t imagine keeping my balance with a wider stance. Amazingly, even with a super-wide stance I get knee cave. Its crazy. I also get knee cave on conventional deads. But its never been a problem with sumo deads. Trying to figure that one out just makes my head hurt.
giterdone, hai right back atcha. Honestly, why censor yourself? You know I find your comments entertaining and I’m really impossible to offend. Sometimes a girl just needs to hear “hey, nice ass.”
Add to today’s training a 1.5 hour evening bicycle ride. Very head clearing.
[quote]kimbakimba wrote:
Honestly, why censor yourself? You know I find your comments entertaining and I’m really impossible to offend. Sometimes a girl just needs to hear “hey, nice ass.”
[/quote]
Absolutely.
Kimba, humor me and video yourself doing wide stance squats when you get a chance. As wide as you can get and still get depth. Just use the bar if you want. I wanna see what happens with your knees etc. in this stance.
i really recommend micro-banded squats. i didn’t know i had knee cave, but turns out i am meant to be pushing them out much harder than i am, and the bands really seem to be helping me. banded side-walking, too. i don’t know how you guys pull sumo at all. i have no strength from that position and the femur rotation almost hurts my hips. i think that means i need to learn to do it. it will either break me or fix me.
interesting on the bra discussion, too. i seem to have shrunk. quite a lot. down from 34 to 32 but also down from C/D (i was largish before) to a B which is smallish. not quite sure what has happened to me. um… do people shrink with age? i’m wondering if that might be it for me…
i find it harder to get my knees out with wider stance squats than narrower stance squats. because they don’t need to go out as far with a narrower stance. would be interested to see what might be the case for you. do you think you might be able to get sumo deadlift from the front sometime? i’d be interested to see that, too.
Sorry the knee cave battles continue. keep up the fight!
Kimba, are you using chalk on your DL?
good job on the painless run.
Chalk for grip as others have mentionned??
After many discussions by Bear and Cal I’ve started going sans-underwear to the gym and I love it. Also this summer I’ve started going braless in my tank tops. I figured if someone doesn’t like what they see they can look elsewhere for all I care. Vive le freedom! I’m a small B (more back than boob)
snail pace has often been your chosen pace Kimba - it just makes you easier to catch and nomm 
Yay Frenchie for joining the Commando Crew. Must admit I’ve not worn panties in a long time - if I want to wear my trousers more than once between washes I stick a panty liner in the gusset to keep them fresh (obviously that doesn’t apply to the yoga pants I normally wear to the gym as I wash these each time). Haven’t had cystits or thrush in years and I used to be a martyr to them both.
Kimba - I do feel for you with the knee cave battle. I think I’m doing OK at keeping them pushed out now but I’m naturally slightly knock-kneed so it hasn’t been smooth sailing. Main thing, though, is that you get your lifts and without pain.
Nice work on the bench PRs! Your deadlift looks awesome too, although it looks like you could keep tighter right before you pull. Also, have you tried lowering the weight on the squats to work on form? I had a similar issue and had to do that. It sucked bc Im impatient but it might be worthwhile in the long run. My bf trained me in my squat after going to a Rippetoe seminar and it changed my squat like crazy. He gave me cues like “knees out” and “hips” and it helped a bunch.
[quote]giterdone wrote:
[quote]JoeGood wrote:
Who doesn’t?
Sorry, but if I didn’t say it, Git would.[/quote]
I pretty much sit on the sidelines in this thread and ponder “should I say that, nahh, better not”. Please refer to exhibit A, the recent Kimba vids above this post. No comment.
OK, fine…I love nipples. But that’s all I’m saying.
And a finely shaped ass. Attached to firm, shapely legs. Please refer to exhibit A. OK, I’m done.
Hai Kimba.[/quote]
This, you always want to make sure that the appreciative comments don’t seem disrespectful of the work being done.
Snapper, your wish is my command.
alexus, I agree that with a wide stance there is just more knee to keep out, as it were. If I could squat with my knees already together, I’d sure be happy!
Nadia, its not the size of the dog, but the size of the fight in the dog. ruff!
Joe, I’ve never used chalk. I haven’t had grip issues before, even when I’m holding 205#! That’s why I was so surprised to have trouble holding a measly 185.
Frenchie, I am a dedicated thong-wearer myself. I find them comfortable and I have a large and superlative collection which I love to wear. However, I completely understand the commando choice and choose it whenever I’m wearing bike shorts. Interestingly, I am far more modest about nipple show-through that almost anything else. Ergo, the padded sports bras.
Cal, I’m actually not naturally knock-kneed but I’m convinced that I have really weak hips. Despite all the work I’ve been doing. sigh.
Today’s training was a bit rushed due to me having to throw a family birthday party.
Super-wide squats (for Snapper)
Bar 1 x 5 <–knee cave
65# 1 x 5 <–continued knee cave
75# 1 x 3 <–see the knees for yourself, and this was seriously the very best I could do.
Now compare with 75# 1 x 3 with my normal stance (knee cave doesn’t usually hit until above 100 lbs.)
And 75# Banded Squats, 2 x 3 where I really am trying like heck to keep my knees out. I’m sweating bullets and breathing hard for this measly weight:
I think I have some seriously weak hips and that I’m generally not configured for this lift. That doesn’t mean that I won’t keep at it like a dog with a delicious bone.
Military Press (5’s week)
45# 1 x 5
49# 1 x 5
55# 1 x 6 <–money set, first time at this weight, I’m pleased with this
BBB 38# 5 x 10
supersetted with
BSS
12.5s 2 x 10 <–terrible balance, and much weaker when standing on left leg)
and
Cable hip ad/abductions
7.5# + plate 2 x 10 <–two exercises, L leg)
Maybe I’ll catch up with my life tomorrow…
Dani, I didn’t see your comment before now. Indeed most of my squatting is done at a weight just below the threshold of horrible knee cave. I really need to work more on banded squats, though, to address form. I notice the need to push out alot more when doing them as opposed to regular squats. Glad to hear you fixed your knee cave issue! Gives me hope.
Joe, aren’t you sweet. Neither Southern gentlemen nor Canadian gentlemen could ever come across as disrespectful of the effort involved in this game.
I think the bands are a good idea. My suspicion is that you are not getting enough band reps in.
I think you should get more aggressive with them but not by using them just with squats. Using them with squats is largely static. It’s like using isometrics to build strength.
Try using them on their own and spreading your knees against the tension. Maybe while watching TV. 100 reps in as many sets as it takes, 4 x a week for a month.
Kimba, I’m definitely following your knee cave dealy with great interest. Props to you for putting in a lot of work and trying different things in an attempt to stop the caving.
Playing off giterdone’s two cents, you could do banded shuffles/x band walks with the band around your knees.
Also, out of curiosity, does this knee caving occur in single leg movements like bulgarian split squats and lunges as well?
i wonder…
i wonder if the bad girl machine is a bad idea insofar as when you are doing seated adduction (or abduction i get confused about those terms) you can’t recruit the medial glutes??
x-band walks might be better insofar as they train the medial glutes to work in synch.
hmm. i’m trying to do them with slightly bent knees (almost a quarter squat) while, you guessed it, keeping my knees out. have been wondering whether i should put a micro-band around my knees while i do them…
I know the knee cave is frustrating for you! Maybe just wear the band ForEVAH!! no.
the 75 looked good!
Probably more abduction as Git suggested? And strengthening the VMO?
Git, thanks for the great suggestion. I’m doing them as I type. 
Hi juniormint and alexus! I have been doing “monster walks” almost every night – but doing them walking forward and back, not side-to-side. I’ll switch up to doing them side-to-side like in the video and see if I get better results.
Betty, I occasionally do TKEs but have been working more on the hips. Seriously, I could spend an hour a day on rehab…and probably should!
My hammies are still quite sore. RDLs hit me hard every damn time.
Okay. I just wanted to see it.
Interesting because when I was having my sumo lesson last Friday, the girl who was coaching me was telling me to push my knees out more. And I was struggling a bit with it. It made me wonder how you sumo fine but knee cave on squats. She had me pointing my toes almost straight to the side and rotating my hips way under. It was tres hard to get into position and keep my balance.