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The Squat!

K

Kharn

New member
Been reading on here for a few weeks now and have already learned a lot, I'd like to talk SQUATS!

(If this discussion has be brought up before can you please provide a link to the thread as I am POSITIVE I am not alone in this subject).

I couple of years ago I went through as tremendous overall body change through extensive weightlifting and personal training, one area that we didn't delve into ON MY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT the almighty SQUATS! (the personal trainer insisted on it, and after reading on here I now fully understand why....)

My main turn-off from the exercise was my overall height, I am 6'3". Now when it came time to fined out my 1 rep max on the different equipment I found I couldn't even lift the BAR!!! once in a 1/2 arsed squat.... we tried a few different things to better my stance or chances of raising the ....empty.... bar after a few (not many...) attempts I said we should move on, so we never went back to it again and now after reading I realise its one of if not the ONLY thing I should of been doing...

SO (with the wall of text out the way lol...)

How can I help myself here, I want to be able to perform ass-to-grass squats fully deep, I been practising alone no bar just the general motion of the whole movement and as soon as IM ABOUT TOO (not on parallel) hit parrallel I loose balance and control going down to the point where I just drop on my ass or need to brace my knees with my hands to help me down / up -_-

I need some serious help here as I know I must perform this exercise, I also know that I CAN'T be alone and this MUST have been discussed before.

please help!

Cheers
Dan

P.S. Time to go out back and practise some squat forms and do some wall sits :)
 
Not sure if I can help man, but a video of you squatting with no bar would be a great help to us :).
 
SQUAT -
Weight through heels
Knees out
hip drive
chest up

Learning the squat
  • stand with feet just outside hip-width apart, feet turned slightly outwards
  • squat down, and put your elbows inside your knees
  • put your hands together, and bring them in towards your body pushing your knees out
  • how it feels now is how you should feel at the bottom of a squat
  • stand up.
  • drop into that position 4 more times, hold for a few seconds.
  • now get down with elbows inside knees again, and this time when you stand up, pretend there is a heavy weight on your lower back/bum, you have to push it up with your hips. "Hip drive."
  • Do this 4 times more.
  • Now that you are squatting with knees out and hip drive, squat with your arms out to the front for balance.
  • put your weight through your heels.
  • Squat 5 times with arms forwards, knees out, hip drive, and weight through heels.
  • Lastly, do another 5 squats, this time focusing on keeping your chest up. "Chest up" keeps your back extended and straight. But you are probably doing this if you're sticking your arms forwards the whole time.
  • Begin with a total of 20 bodyweight squats. Doesn't matter if you do 20 in a row, or 10,10, or 5,5,5,5, or 10,4,3,2,1 or even 1,1,1... Just get a total of 20.
  • Tomorrow, add at least 1 to your total, eg 21. Day after, at least 1 to that total.
  • When you can do 100 squats total, you will certainly be able to do 20+ in one go. Then you are ready for a bar on your back.
  • Good luck.

Common errors,
weight through toes
knees cave in
lift done through knees
chest caves in

Thus,
Weight through heels
Knees out
hip drive
chest up

That's all there is to it.

Teaching method courtesy Mark Rippetoe. For me, it has worked with 104 out of 105 people so far, the only one it has not worked with is a cyclist who has not weight trained ever, he lacks the hamstring flexibility to even sit down without simply flomping his arse on the chair. We'll work on it.
 
Last edited:
Sticky said:
Not sure if I can help man, but a video of you squatting with no bar would be a great help to us :).
Click to expand...

+1 All I can think of is your not leaning forward with your upper body at all hence losing balance, however i'm no expert.
 
Kyle Aaron said:
SQUAT -

Thus,
Weight through heels
Knees out
hip drive
chest up

That's all there is to it.
Click to expand...

Look up too.
When standing look at something at eye level, as you squat keep looking at it. It keeps your chin and chest up.
Ive found that help.
 
I will attempt to get a video of me performing it Im not to internet savy is all -_-

I actually COPY, PASTE and PRINT ALL relative information that I deem useful (which is a F*CK TON!) that check list of what to ...check b4 you squat, i printed out a few days ago when I stumbled across it..... already filled 2x 48 page back to back clear sleeve folders with info from posters LIKE Sticky and Noobs :)
 
Sticky said:
Look up too.
When standing look at something at eye level, as you squat keep looking at it. It keeps your chin and chest up.
Ive found that help.
Click to expand...

Yet another to go down in teh pads I've not heard of it but it logically sounds good!

Cheers:D
 
And kyle/dave/fadi/ptc plus many many others.
This forum is filled with people that want nothing more than to help others :).
 
Sticky said:
Look up too.
When standing look at something at eye level, as you squat keep looking at it. It keeps your chin and chest up.
Ive found that help.
Click to expand...
It does for some, but many simply bend their necks in a funky way, especially with a high bar.

Everyone has trouble with knees out to begin with, most with weight through heels, chest up usually comes fairly naturally unless we load the person up too quickly. When doing the bodyweight squat, having the arms out to the front will usually ensure they keep their chest up, you can't stick your arms out and bend over at the same time without falling over.
 
I have a 6'8" kid who was exactly like you. The difference is he absolutely needs to squat as he is applying for a scholarship to a Div 1 school in the states for a Football scholarship.

Depending on what you need exactly, it can be done by breaking the lift down. He too could not perform a full squat with an empty bar. A few months later he has performed a full squat with 140kg.

We use box squats, bench squats, front squats and strengthening areas where he was weak. Lots of other things, but you get the idea. We also got his deadlift over 200kg which obviously helped with his PC.

Your height is not the issue, Nick is close to 6'2" and he squats 220kg.
 
A guy training at my club is 6'3", has only been training seriously for a year or so and squats 180kg at a recent competition. He squats rock bottom, arse only a few inches above ground. That boy loves squatting and never complains about his height (would be a joke if he did).
 
Look at the massive squat sticky thread I posted at the top of this section.

Almost everything you need.
 
NPR said:
Look at the massive squat sticky thread I posted at the top of this section.

Almost everything you need.
Click to expand...

You can NEVER know too much and i have printed that thread out and have it in my folders for reference :D
 
i'm definitely still a beginner so take this with a grain of salt - but i am a touch taller than you and had a similar experience...the squat stretch helped me alot in addition to those tips
 
Hi Jack,

I may have missed something. How does your height effect your squat? Are there any other factors that effect it? I too want to be able to squat better.
 
Longer levers, further to move, most big guys don't get down to the ground well mainly due to bad technique and therefore say it hurts them. Bit of an excuse unless you are 7 foot. You should not have issues between 6'3-6'6. I am 6'3 and go ATG, only time I have issues is when I get lazy for a while and get tight. A couple of weeks of squatting and I have full ROM.
 
yeah there is NO excuse but at the time I made the excuse "It dosen't feel rite / it hurts to perform it" and now after reading on here just a little bit I have found out that you MUST no matter WTF?!?!? you think you MUST do SQUATS irreguardless of the weight or no weight you use, either way the exercise MUST be performed it is such a staple exercise that I didn't realise up till recently and I am kicking myself for not knuckling down and suckin it up cause chances are if I had my results would of been even MORE impressing...
 
In my experience trunk strength plays a bigger role than levers.

I have had short lifters fold like an accordian. In fact, my next newsletter is going to be about this subject, it will be called "BABIES,FAT DAVE, GORRILAS & YOUR TRUNK"
 
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