Squat thoughts

[Pete]

That was a good article JP & your right to point out head position as being important (probably one of many things I left out )

[wannalift]

okay, i think i'm ready to squat again. but i'm starting with the very basics and with a broomstick. I was doing rock bottoms yesterday, but i felt like my knees were going too far over my ankles. of course when I tried to adjust, i curved my back. then when i adjusted that i almost fell over. I think I need to make a video of me doing it and let you decided.
train harder,
David

[Pete]

Try just going to the point your knees feel over your feet & not in front, & your back is still not rounded, if you're designed to go further, doing stretches regularly & practice with a broom regularly will let you know, as you'll naturally go down further without forcing it over time.
I'd hasten to add that this is my strategy for squatting & you may not be designed to work exactly the same. I know one guy who due to various problems will never squat below parallel (& shouldn't), so each case is indivdual, your aim should be to become your own expert trainer, learn your own limitations & defects & learn how to overcome them (for example I cannot do the flye or many "locked arm" movements without elbow problems, so I avoid them & my joints are fine, but for you they are most likely ok, so we've al got things we shouldn't do due to our design, we just have to learn what they are)

[wannalift]

pete,
okay, this is my self-examination of my squatting yesterday. I used and empty bar, 45 lbs. I used a low bar, wider than hip width stance and I played around with stance width throughout. At first I thought my knees were going too far over my feet. Adjusting to this put more stress on my hips and back. I had a lot of forward lean, but I tried to ignore it as any adjustments other than that were taking me off balance. During the squats I held a lot of the rock bottom positions. Felt the most stress on my the front of my hips (especially going up to parallel). They're probably very weak. In the end, my lower back felt a little worked over and I was breathing a little harder than I expected. I'm going to try and get a video of me real soon. Cheers.
train hard,
David

[Pete]

The balance issue is one everyone who tries squatting real low suffers, that usually gets easier.
Increased stress on various parts of the posterial chain is normal as you haven't directly exercised these though this kind iof range before, you are a newbie again
The lower back has work a lot more to keep the back from rounding, than when you go to parallel.
If your getting a video try to get a view from the side filmed from about knee height, then from the front at about the same height (if you can get it from both that's better, but if only one, then the side is best).

Remember not just to take into account my views on squatting as others have just as valid methods that have worked for them. I think Ryan had some problems sorting out a squat that worked for him & Joni had to go real wide stance to get a squat that's comfortable. I'm sure there are others out there that have various methods of proforming squats that work for them too.
Final point remember its not the weight on the bar that matters to you, it's the intensity, if it's real tough going rock-bottom with an empty bar, for 10, then only adding 1Kg, so you can just make it again next week is fine that's still going to be a a good weight on your back if you keep it up for a few years, & that's what we're looking at, aim at long term squatting health, if you can keep squatting, adding weight when you can for a decade, how much do you think you'll be holding on your back I've recently started a double progression system for squatting. I've been starting at 20 reps, then adding 2 reps a week until I get to 30 reps, add on 5K & start again. At the moment that's working for me, when it stops I'll change it, but it's a useful method for keeping you going up slowly.

[wannalift]

thanks for sticking with me pete. todays session was about 99% better than last squatting session. squat rack was occupied so i did them "no no". went up 5 lbs to a 50lb total. took a slightly narrower stance than last time. really helped cut out the bobbling at the first thrust from the bottom position. hips felt no disomfort at all. stress went straight to the quads. no lower back pain. i was a whole new squatter.
train hard,
David

[JP]

i was a whole new squatter.

welcome back brother ***secret squatters club handshake***

[Pete]

That's great news David
Now the form is sussed you can start building up slowly, if you don't rush it you should be getting a whole new pair of quads for christmas

[wannalift]

the latest:
alright, i'm up to 75 right now. yesterday i did 75 and it was the first time i felt like i was carrying some weight on my back. i have been keeping the low bar position, but this time my lower back was feeling it a lot more. i noticed at the top of my squat, while i'm taking my breaths in between my 17th or so rep, i had too much forward lean. i know i can't keep this up at any higher weight for my back will give out before my legs and you know the rest of that story. so, should i start carrying at a higher position? i'm not sure i can stay vertical with a low carry. cheers.
train hard,
david

[JP]

the latest:
i have been keeping the low bar position, but this time my lower back was feeling it a lot more. i noticed at the top of my squat, while i'm taking my breaths in between my 17th or so rep, i had too much forward lean. i know i can't keep this up at any higher weight for my back will give out before my legs and you know the rest of that story. so, should i start carrying at a higher position? i'm not sure i can stay vertical with a low carry.

keep at it bro! The forward lean is ok unless it is exessive, just make sure your back is neutral. It's much more difficult to re-learn the low bar placement later on.

[Pete]

Yea, JP's right as long as the back isn't rounding the bar placement is whatever's best for you. Try the lower placement & give it a few weeks, if it works, then stick with that, if not you'll have to use the higher placement, but go up more slowly, with your lower back determining when you can increase weight on the bar.

[Pete]

Hey david,

here's something I stumbled across & I thought of you, as it would give you all the squat practice you need & it was set by Steve Reeves many moons ago.
The Steve Reeves 100 rep @ half bodyweight challenge

Maybe it's not your thing, if not, no problems, just pop into my head it's a crazy thing that you might just want to go for?

I've got a few ideas of how you'd work towards it, (maybe working up to 10x10, then moving to 1x20 & the rest x10's, then maybe x30, x20 & then 10's etc until you finally went for the full 100 reps? Infact even 10x10 squatting wouls be murder I suspect (never having reach that kind of rep range???

It would ceratinly have you squat perfect by the end of that marathon

[JP]

steve reeves, the strongman? That sounds like a mad challenge! I probably end up trying it at some point

[Pete]

This Steve Reeves http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/4847/sreeves.html
You're just waiting to lose a heap more bodyweight then give it a go when your 50K
I'm seriously thinking of trying it. Theoretically I "should" be able to get it, maybe, if I was feeling hardcore, full-on, "no f***ing weights going to crush me" kind of day.
Of course my half bodyweight is a tad less than your's JP (even with abs showing )

[funfetus]

I don't know if I could get 100 squats with not added weight.

If I could, though, I'd probably just get bored before I finished.