jonis "shut up and squat" routine

[JP]

emph, go for it mate! Not enough strong vegans about

I lean too far forwards, thats one thing i need to fix. The bar should be in line with your knees and i sometimes go too far over and make it too hard for myself. I'm improving though!

Been a bit hectic lately so no training to speak of (also have my forearm injury which doesn't help).

At Manchester Vegan Fair i did shut grippers once in a while, both #1 and #2 - though i wasn't able to close the #2 fully because of my sweaty hands. I also made my best attempt yet with #3 being only about 15-20mm away from closure.

Martin (the grip geezer) bent some pretty amazing bolts and nails at the fair and i tried to bend some as well - no luck. The best attempt was about 5 degree dent on it

Me, Oak and Prenna have a bit of a "competition" going on who gets 6 inch nail fully bent first... We all should have this in the bag in a month or two.

On sunday 9th i went to the gym with Oak, but couldn't go full bore because of my forearm problems. Pulled fairly comfortable 170kg deadlift, but adding even a bit to that proved too much at the moment

[JP]

Back to squatting today!!!

I am starting the second round of my routine (see previous page for the routine), so going through the same stuff again, exept with higher weights. getting serious now!

squat
6x60
6x90
6x6x115kg
Concerned about depth, so i placed the pins on the parallel level and had every rep touching or going within pubic hairs distance of the pins. Still learning the low bar placement technique, but there's no turning back now.

Then did some speed deadlifts, doubles with 115kg and then some weighted ab work.

Next squat session: saturday!

[J]

parallel level and had every rep touching
If I understand correctly, you're saying that at the bottom of the movement sometimes the bar was hitting the safety supports? If so, I think that's not good and should be strongly avoided. I think, but I could be wrong. [/b]

[JP]

cheers emph for your concern. It's not dangerous or anything at all, quite a few people who train alone use that method because it will force you to go deep enough if you have problems keeping your depth. But it is true that i should not rely on it, or use it to "bounce" back.

I do things like bottom position squats from time to time where you actually start from the pins. Very good core work!

ok, here's what i've been up to. Due to the continuing forearm problems i am cutting down my upper body work to a minimum. I did a stint of decline bench pressing, working up to 5x95kg and some rowing, but it was too much. I just have to take a break, no two ways about it.

15.5
Squat
5x20
5x60
5x105
7x5x122.5kg
Suprisingly easy (can't believe i'm saying that from 35 sets of 122.5kg!). The squatting wasn't the trouble, but the forearm was. It was very, very sore by the time i got to the last set.

Then did some weighted abs - on a machine, cound't hold on to anything.

[JP]

18.5
Squat
4x20
4x60
2x105
8x4x130kg
Extremely hard. Especially because of the forearm pain. It seems like i just don;t have the flexibility! I'm afraid i have to stop this routine - i simply cannot go on with this pain. I was in extreme agony already on 5th set, but didn't want to give up. Later i thought that i need to get this hand placement/flexibility issue sorted out before i can continue.

I'm going to:
1. Get a broomstick and train my flexibility several times/week
2. Get some powerlifting guru to check my arm placement
3. Keep squatting, but only once/week and not with the crazy volume i have been squatting lately.

Thus endth the "Shut up and Squat!" journal

[VeganEssentials]

JP -

Is the forearm pain only when squatting? Just to ask, do you grip close to shoulder width or out near the collars when squatting? I find that rather than forearm pain I get occasional shoulder pain from keeping my shoulders tight and stable to keep the bar racked tightly (not to mention I have a slight shoulder imbalance) and often the sore side will cock forward a bit and angle the bar on my back to compensate once it starts to hurt. For me, it has a lot to do with where I grip, and experimenting with different spots to hold has lessened this a bit but not totally. Add this to my sore wrist from supporting the bar slightly as well and I can tell you that sometimes my right shoulder/arm hurts more than my legs after a set of heavy squats!

Just curious as to whether this is the only thing that irritates this injury or if other lifts do as well. If nothing else, perhaps now is a good time to either invest in a safety squat bar or practice front squats with arms crossed rather than racked in a clean position. Just be sure to take care of that forearm!

Ryan

[Mary]

I get the same kind of shoulder pain, on the left side, for similar reasons. Not that I have squatted in a few weeks. When you say cross armed, how do you hold the bar? And at the moment my knees are playing silly buggers, since I have been running more. Do you get used to that, or am I doing something wrong?

Oh, by the way - I will be getting those masai trainers to run in as a reward when I am satisfied that my running is improving enough. I checked them out again on the vegan fitness board, and they definitely look like a good enough incentive!

[JP]

ryan, i think this problem actually is a combination of things: i work in IT and then also do freelance work with computers as well as doing stuff like this board and other internet use. So i think i was getting an RSI anyway. Then the inflexibility of my shoulders and arms with squatting aggrevated it (as in the carpal tunnel in myu forearms was already irritated and this added to it). And now here i am - not strictly only a training "injury", but the consequences are the same: restricted training.

I dont want ot start training with non-standard equipment or anything though. I want to fix the root of the problem, flexibility, and meanwhile just squat once in a while, perhaps every other week or something. Though same problem will arise when doing good mornings as well, but perhaps with not such a heavy weight.

Mary, the arms crossed would be for front squats, bar being in front of you on your shoulders, almost deep enough against your throat to choke you. You can hold the bar either olympic lifting style or just rest it on your shoulders. It's painful, but ok after a while

But i think i'll leave my log for a while and start a new one perhaps in july after holidays