Strength Training – Breathing Technique for a Powerful Squat
Posted: April 8, 2012 Filed under: 01 - Squat Tips | Tags: Breathing Technique, Leg Strength, Muscle Building, Power, Powerlifting, Squat Breathing Technique, Squat Strength, Squat Technique, Squats, Strength 2 Comments »
While training the other day I was distracted by a guy attempting to give birth…or so it appeared from the sounds he was making. I paused to check out how much weight he was squatting, it surely must have been impressive, right? Alas, the squat rack was empty! On further investigation I found that instead of Lamaze, he was bicep curling mighty 25lb dumbbells.
A week later I encountered him again, and he commented that you can’t get strong if you’re not making a lot of noise. I really didn’t have the energy to correct him – that it’s the faces you make that are important, but it does bring me to my subject. Beyond annoying the lifter’s in the gym, and drawing attention to lifts that should remain hidden in obscurity, the only thing all that noise is doing for you is reducing the amount of weight you can lift. Breathing correctly during your sets will make a significant difference in the weight you lift, and quite frankly a loaded down bar speaks for itself.
Although proper breathing technique has a positive impact on most, if not all of your lifts, I’m going to discuss the squat. Proper breathing technique helps increase your core stability which:
- Transitions power from your legs doing the work to your upper body supporting the weight (see the figure below)
- Reduces your chances of injury, by stabilizing your spine
The Technique
- Take a deep breath into your lungs, allow your diaphragm to press down into your abdomen
- Brace your core, as you would if you were about to get punched in the stomach, by simultaneously tightening your abdominals and obliques
- Continue holding your breath through the eccentric portion of the lift (descent), and begin exhaling slowly as you pass the mid-point in the concentric (ascent) portion, complete exhaling as you lock the lift out
How Does this Add Weight to Your Bar
The bar rests on the supporting structure of your shoulder girdle, rib cage and back musculature. Your power is driven up from the floor through your legs, which consist of over 50% of the muscle mass in your body. The transition point between these stable structures is your core (abdominals, obliques, and erector spinae). The most well defined six-pack will likely not be as stable as these two opposing forces.
- Filling your lungs with air, and bracing your abdomen creates intra-abdominal pressure which stabilizes your spine
- A solid, stable core allows you to keep your chest up throughout the lift, preventing excessive leaning
- Screaming for attention at the bottom of your squat releases the air from your lungs in an uncontrolled manner, loosening your core, and allowing your mid-section to crumple (no, your belt does not prevent this from happening)
Safety
There are safety considerations you need to take into account when squatting heavy.
- As my spotters can tell you, holding your breath for an extended period of time deprives your body of oxygen (during a period of extreme exertion) and creates a risk of blacking out
- This technique can create a significant increase in your blood pressure
In Summary
Squatting effectively is much more than stepping under the bar, bending your knees and straightening them again. Proper breathing, for example, stabilizes your core, reducing your tendency to lean or crumple at the bottom of the lift. Screaming loudly during the lift reduces your core stability.
Try lifting with good breathing technique. The plates will stack on more quickly and you will find your lifts much more stable.
Reference:
Jesse Irizarry. “Freakish Strength With Proper Core Training.” Testosterone Nation. 3/2/12. 4/7/12 <http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/freakish_strength_with_proper_core_training>
Back workout of the week (BWOW) – Competition Training Kickoff
Posted: April 1, 2012 Filed under: 30 - Back Workout of the Week! | Tags: Back Strength, Back Training, ILS, Lats, Muscle Building, Power, Powerlifting, Strength Leave a comment »This week’s back workout captures the commencement of my training for the 2011 USA Powerlifting Masters National Championships. As I’ve stated in earlier editions a strong back is key to your big lifts, particularly those executed in a powerlifting competition – the squat, bench press, and deadlift. Because of this, week one will be a fairly intense workout, although it may not take you to the level of the last workout (smokededness).
BWOW – Week 4:
Goal: Medium Intensity and Volume/Horizontal Pulling
Barbell Row/Dumbbell Row Supersets
- Warm up to your working set with barbell rows
- 4 super sets/8 repetitions on barbell rows/rep to failure on dumbbell rows
- Superset barbell rows and dumbbell rows – perform a set of barbell rows, then supported dumbbell rows no rest period between them
- On each set, alternate which arm you start with for your dumbbell rows
- For your barbell rows, select a weight that you can perform 8 reps without cheating (ie swinging upper body to use momentum to complete the repletion); you should be within 2-3 reps of failure at the end of the set
- Select dumbbells that you can complete 8 reps with when performing dumbbell rows separately; perform your dumbbell rows to failure
- Use wrist wraps if necessary to hold the bar and dumbbells
- Rest 3-5 minutes between sets so that you are fully recovered
Cable Rows
- 3 sets/12 repetitions per set
- You should be within 1 rep of failure at the end of each set
- Minimize cheating, use little or upper body momentum to complete your reps
- Squeeze your lats hard and pause for a moment at the top of the movement
- Rest around 3 minutes between sets so that you are mostly recovered
Upright Rows
- 3 sets/10 repetitions per set
- You should be within 2-3 reps of failure at the end of each set
- If you train your shoulders in a separate workout, you may eliminate this exercise
- Rest around 3 minutes between sets so that you are mostly recovered
Pull-ups
- 3 sets/6 reps
- Perform each set to failure; use spotter assistance or an assisted pull-up machine if you cannot complete 6 reps
- If you can complete more than 8 reps, complete them with extra weight
Biceps are important to powerlifting as a stabilizer muscle. It helps you to control the weight at your chest during the bench press. For this reason, this week I have two bicep exercises.
Preacher Curls
- 3 sets/8reps per set
- Use of the preacher curl should isolate the bicep completely
- Select a weight that you are within one rep of failure at the end of each set
Standing Hammer Curls
- 3 sets/8 reps per set
- Select a weight that you are within 1 reps of failure at the end of each set
- Minimize movement of the upper body to cheat during the exercise
Coming Attraction: Next week we continue competition training for the USA Powerlifting Masters National Championships.
Free download of this workout:
Back Workout of the Week BWOW4 – Competition Training Week 1
If you want to start at the beginning, you can check out Back Workout of the Week #1 – BWOW1
Back workout of the week (BWOW) – Vertical Pulling Smokdedness
Posted: March 7, 2012 Filed under: 30 - Back Workout of the Week! | Tags: Back Strength, Back Training, Barbell Rows, ILS, Lats, Muscle Building, Power, Powerlifting, Rows, Strength 4 Comments »
I received this text from a friend last week: “Yo Ken, I was wondering if you could send me an insane back workout plan for today. I want to hit it hella hard on my back, and you’re the man to talk to about it”.
Of course I can, and did, send him an insane back workout plan. I thought that you would love to share his pain, and that it was perfect for this week’s back workout of the week. Also it is right in line with our training schedule. This week we are going to shift from a basic strength building workout that focuses on horizontal rowing, to a high intensity workout that emphasizes vertical pulling. That being said, you can blame Jordan for your smokdedness at the end of this one!
BWOW – Week 3:
Goal: High Intensity/Vertical Pulls
Pull-up / Lat Pulldown Supersets
- Warm up using lat pulldowns
- Superset Pull-ups and Lat Pulldowns – perform your pull-up set, then lat pulldowns with no break between them
- Perform at least 6 pull-ups – use spotter assistance, or an assisted pull-up machine if you cannot complete 6 unassisted pull-ups; if you can do more than 6 pullups, perform weighted pull-ups
- Select a weight that you can perform 12 reps of lat pulldowns without cheating (ie swinging backwards as you pull the weight down); be aware that these will be much more difficult after pull-ups; you should be within 1 rep of failure at the end of each set
- Rest 3-5 minutes between sets so that you are fully recovered
- 3 sets/8 repetitions per set
- You should be within 1 rep of failure at the end of each set
- Minimize cheating, use as little upper body momentum as possible; if you cannot complete the sets without cheating reduce your weight
- Use wrist straps if necessary to hold the bar
- Rest around 3 minutes between sets so that you are mostly recovered
Barbell Rows – Drop Set
- 1 drop set/3 rounds
- Select a weight you can complete about 6 reps without excessive cheating
- Complete your first round to failure, reduce the weight, and keep rowing with no rest, repeat for your third round
- Set up your bar so your drops are quick:
- If your first round is in the 185-300lb range, drop a 25lb plate from each side per round
- If your first round is under 185lbs, drop a 10lb plate from each side per round
- Use a spotter on each side to remove the plates quickly between rounds
- If you’re using wrist straps, don’t unwrap them between rounds
- Each set of dumbbell rows will be to failure, and weight should increase for each set; select the appropriate weights for the following sets:
- Set 1: 15 reps
- Set 2: 10 reps
- Set 3: 8 reps
- Minimize cheating, use of momentum to complete your reps
- Use wrist straps if necessary to hold dumbbells
- Rest around 3 minutes between sets so that you’re mostly recovered
- Note: if the dumbbells in your gym aren’t heavy enough, I have discovered that you can use chains with dumbbell rows!
Hammer Strength Rows
- 3 sets/12 reps per set
- Select a weight that you are within one rep of failure at the end of each set
- I like the way you can really squeeze the lats at the end of the rep on the hammer strength; squeeze them tightly and pause for a moment on each rep before lowering the weight
- Your lats and biceps should be burning at the end of each set
- Rest around 3 minutes per set so that you are mostly recovered
- If your gym has multiple rowing machines that function at different angles, use a different machine for each set
- If you don’t have hammer strength at your gym, you can substitute a different rowing machine
- Finally, if your back and biceps are not completely smoked at this point, perform a drop set for your last set of Hammer Strength rows – this is done just like the barbell row drop set you just did
- 3 sets/10 reps per set
- Select a weight that you are within 2-3 reps of failure at the end of each set – note that at this point in the workout, that weight should be embarrassingly small
- Minimize cheating – bicep curls are meant to isolate your biceps, don’t turn them into an entire upper body workout
- Don’t curl in the squat rack!!!
Seated Hammer Curls
- 3 sets/10 reps per set
- Select a weight that you are within 2-3 reps of failure at the end of each set
For a printable copy of this workout: Back Workout of the Week BWOW-3
Coming Attraction: Next week is my first week in training for the USA Powerlifting Masters National Championships. The next eight weeks of back training will be built around my training cycle for that competition.
Note: I do reserve the right to make up words, such as smokdedness as dictated by the situation.
If you want to start at the beginning, you can check out Back Workout of the Week #1 – BWOW1
Back Workout of the Week (BWOW): Week 2 Building Your Back Strength
Posted: February 17, 2012 Filed under: 00 - Lifting Tips, 30 - Back Workout of the Week!, 90 - Brute Force | Tags: Back Strength, Back Training, Back Workout, ILS, Lats, Power, Powerlifting, Strength Leave a comment »
Last week I introduced you briefly to why training your back is so important (training balance, support your squat, deadlift and bench press, creating the classical ‘V-shaped’ upper body). In my own experience, a heavy emphasis on rowing exercises has led to a very strong bench press (two Washington State records, one USA Powerlifting national meet record, and a gold medal at the IPF masters world championships).
Week 2 training is very similar to week 1. We are still focused on building your strength foundation. Although the overall plan is very similar, we change the exercise selection to prevent your body from adjusting to the stimulus.
BWOW – Week 2:
Goal:Building Your Strength Base
T-bar Rows:
- Warm up to your working sets
- 5 sets/4 repetitions per set
- Select a weight where you are using nearly maximum effort to complete your reps, additional reps would require cheating
- Minimize cheating – avoid using upper body momentum to complete your reps; one of the reasons to switch from barbell rows to t-bar rows this week to reduce the tendency to cheat on the lift
- Use wrist straps if necessary to hold the bar
- Rest between sets should be sufficient to fully recover (3-5 minutes); emphasis is on building strength, not conditioning
Dumbbell Rows – Unsupported:
- 3 sets/6 reps per set
- Select a weight where you are using maximum effort to complete the set, you should be unable to complete more than the specified reps
- While we switched to the t-bar to reduce cheating on your primary exercise, the dumbbell row is performed unsupported to allow slightly more cheating; you should be able to pull more weight than last week when using the bench for support – force your back and biceps to move a little more weight than you normally would during your dumbbell rows
- Use wrist straps if necessary to hold the dumbbells
- Rest between sets should be sufficient to fully recover
Hammer Strength Rows:
- 3 sets/12 reps per set
- Select a weight where you are using maximum effort to complete the set
- Pull your elbows straight back and really squeeze your lats tightly to finish each rep; you really want your muscles burning when you finish each set
- Rest between sets should be sufficient to fully recover
- 3 sets to failure; use spotter assistance or an assisted pull-up machine if you cannot complete 6 reps
- Pull-ups should be extremely challenging after hammering your back and biceps
- If you can still complete more than 8 reps, complete your pull-ups with extra weight (and add more weight to your t-bar and dumbbell rows next time you do this workout)
Hammer Curls:
I know we did hammer curls last week, but to quote Louie Simmons (West Side Barbell) hammer curls are “something that should always be done” (Dynamic Bench Press)
- 3 sets/10 reps per set
- As with pull-ups, you will have to drop the weight from your normal bicep workout, your biceps should be spent by now
- Hammer curls are meant to work your biceps – don’t use your whole body to complete the reps; if you can’t do the work with your biceps drop the weight
Back Workout of the Week BWOW2
If you want to start at the beginning, you can check out Back Workout of the Week #1 – BWOW1
Brute Force Squat Review – Ken Gack
Posted: February 14, 2012 Filed under: 00 - Lifting Tips, 01 - Squat Tips, 95 - Brute Force Lifting Reviews | Tags: Leg Strength, Power, Powerlifting, Squat Technique, Squats, Strength 1 Comment »Having had a chance to assess a couple of lifts, and overall pretty happy with my skills at identifying problems I asked me to look at one of my own lifts:
As you can tell by the five big guys catching me at the end of the video, this lift ranks a solid ‘Crappy’ on the ‘Crappy to Great’ scale. I would actually rate it below crappy if there were a lower rating, because in addition to the lift being completed by the spotters, it was a bit high. So at what point did this lift become a group effort?
Setting Up: The setup was actually very solid and well executed.
- Feet placed directly under the bar and under my hips
- Hips under the bar and leg drive used to lift the bar out of the rack
- Three quick, stable steps back into the lifting position
Gack's Fancy Foot Diagram
Referring back to what has been dubbed ‘Gack’s Fancy Foot Diagram’, it looks like my setup was perfect, doesn’t it? What you don’t see is my feet. If you watch me setup today, after the walkout you will see me pause to turn my toes outward – I did not do that in this squat.
Eccentric/Descent: The squat actually continues to look good nearly through the entire eccentric portion of the lift:
- Very good speed on the descent – weight is controlled, but descent is fast enough to hit the hole and rebound back out
- Knees stay out during the descent
- Catastrophe: As I transition from eccentric to concentric (ie stop going down, try to go up), my knees buckle inward; this forces my hips backwards which results in five very big guys assisting with the concentric portion of the lift – and three red lights from the referees
Concentric/Ascent: Assistance of the spotters in the concentric portion of the lift in competition is never a good thing.
Lessons Learned: After returning from the competition my powerlifting coach, Kevin Stewart, went to work fixing my balance problems. The fix: turn your toes out. As I’ve mentioned in other reviews, by turning your toes out, you’re better able to keep your knees out during the lift, which lets you sink into the hole more easily, and complete your squat with less people picking you up out of said hole.
The fix has worked. Since that competition in 2009, I have not lost a single squat due to issues with my balance coming out of the hole.
Back Workout of the Week (BWOW): Week 1 – Building the Strength Base
Posted: February 10, 2012 Filed under: 00 - Lifting Tips, 30 - Back Workout of the Week!, 90 - Brute Force | Tags: Back Strength, Back Training, ILS, Lats, Muscle Building, Power, Powerlifting, Strength 3 Comments »
Why is strengthening my back important? To the less educated, a big upper body means large pecs and (unfortunately) large biceps. In fact, your back consists of a larger group of muscles than your chest, and quite frankly it is a massive back that lets you blot out the sun as you step through a doorway.
But that’s not why we emphasize the back at Brute Force. If you read What Is Brute Force, you recall that rule #2 is to follow a balanced training program. Your back (pulling exercises) needs to balance out your pecs (pushing exercises). More importantly a strong back results in bigger lifts.
Bench Press: Your lats are the foundation you press from. Build strong lats and you’ll feel like you’re pressing off a granite table.
Squat: A strong back will help prevent you from crumpling when you hit the hole with a massive load on your back. Although a leg exercise, where does the bar rest during the squat? On your back!
Deadlift: Your back anchors the weight and is the transition point between the weight hanging from your arms and your power base driving down through the floor.
Brute Force approach to back training:
As with other Brute Force workouts, working your back is meant to be simple and straightforward. Focus is on the horizontal/transverse plane, and emphasis is on your basic compound lifts (again, rule #2) – lots of rows. This workout is intended to maximize the carryover to your bench press.
BWOW – Week 1:
Goal: Building a Strength Base – move as much weight as you can with good form
- Warm up to your working sets
- 5 sets/4 repetitions per set
- Select a weight where you are using nearly maximum effort to complete your reps, additional reps would require cheating
- Minimize cheating – avoid using upper body momentum to complete your reps
- Use wrist straps if necessary to hold the bar
- Rest between sets should be sufficient to fully recover (3-5 minutes); emphasis is on building strength, not conditioning
- 3 sets/6 reps per set
- Select a weight where you are using maximum effort to complete the set, you should be unable to complete more than the specified reps
- Use wrist straps if necessary to hold the dumbbells
- Rest between sets should be sufficient to fully recover
Cable Rows:
- 3 sets/6 reps per set
- Select a weight where you are using maximum effort to complete the set
- Minimize cheating – rocking back using momentum to complete the reps
- Squeeze the weight tightly with your back at the top for a moment before lowering it between reps
- Rest between sets should be sufficient to fully recover
- 3 sets to failure; use spotter assistance or an assisted pull-up machine if you cannot complete 6 reps
- Pull-ups should be extremely challenging after smoking your back and biceps with 11 sets of rows at a high intensity
- If you can still complete more than 8 reps, either you are a hero, or you didn’t push yourself hard enough on your rows; in either case do your pull-ups with extra weight
Hammer Curls:
- 3 sets/10 reps per set
- As with pull-ups, you will have to drop the weight from your normal bicep workout, your biceps should be spent by now
- Hammer curls are meant to work your biceps – don’t use your whole body to complete the reps; if you can’t do the work with your biceps drop the weight
Brute Force Strength Training Review – The Squat
Posted: February 6, 2012 Filed under: 00 - Lifting Tips, 01 - Squat Tips, 95 - Brute Force Lifting Reviews | Tags: Leg Strength, Power, Powerlifting, Squat Technique, Squat Training, Squats, Strength Leave a comment »
Last week I took a look at a friend’s deadlifts (Jamie Orr, Red Deer, Canada). This week he sent me a video of his latest squat session:
JO: Hey Ken, appreciated the pointers last time on the DL. When/if you have time could you look at my squat? This one is 405 REALLY happy with first rep. Will send another at 365lbs, I feel the form is better. I am on a bit of a high today, I was pretty happy with these last sets. As I said, due to a year of crossfit “air squats” I was pretty happy getting 405. Seriously, I have done 3 weeks of leg press to get used to heavy leg workouts and yesterday was my first real squat day in over a year.
I know I step back too far, and I think my head dips.
Thanks, Jamie
Your squats actually look better than your deadlifts. They are very sound. On the ‘Crappy to Great Scale’, they are a solid ‘Ok’. I would give you a ‘Good’, but they are slightly high, and I don’t care if everything else is perfect, I’m not giving a Good to a high squat. We’ll get to that though.
Before you step under the bar…
Let’s start with your shoes. They look like standard runners, right? When you hit about 315lbs the heels start compressing, which can really screw with your stability. If you’re not competing, you don’t need an expensive pair of squat shoes (although I absolutely love mine), but you do need to replace the runners. Some options:
- Squat without shoes – better than using runners, but you won’t have any ankle or foot support.
- Wrestling shoes or Converse ‘Chucks’ – descent stability, and flat soles that won’t compress. Chucks are probably the better choice, as wrestling shoes have a very narrow sole that will give you less stability. They’re also a bit less expensive.
- Hiking boots – I used to really like squatting in boots. Your heels are a bit higher, great ankle support, and just plain solid. When you plant your foot, it is planted. They’re not, however, legal in competition.
Setting up…
You rush your setup. As soon as the bar comes out of the rack, you’re running back to squat. A good setup positions you for a great squat.
Pointers on setting up:
- You do have proper bar placement for heavy squats. It’s resting on your delts, not your traps, which is a good position for power.
- I would prefer the rack height slightly lower. That can be difficult, depending on the type of rack you have because the next position down is likely too low. I like the rack set up where the bar comes in about halfway between the nipples and top of the pecs when you step up to the bar. You may see if the gym has any extra floor mats (solid flooring mats, not something that will compress under your weight), to bring you up another inch or so.
- Before lifting out of the rack, drive your hips forward so they are directly underneath the bar. This allows you to use all leg drive to unrack the bar, reducing lower back work, and makes the bar feel considerably lighter coming out of the rack.
- Slow your setup down, control it coming out of the rack, just as you do your reps:
- Take a deep breath into your chest, drive your hips forward and raise the bar straight up. Lock out before stepping back.
- Take one short step straight back, next foot moves back even with the first and out to the side, toes pointed out. First foot moves straight out, and toes point out (two step walkout is slightly different).
- Lock back out, and take small breaths until you’re ready to begin the first rep.
- I would recommend a slightly narrower stance – 1-2″. Although ‘’wide stance’ is commonly considered a powerlifting stance, I don’t necessarily recommend a wide stance in most cases. I think you’ll get more power out of your glutes and hams by bringing your stance in a bit. Wide stance make sense in certain situations:
- If you’re squatting in federations that allow heavy lifting duty gear and use of monolift, the shorter range of motion can lead to bigger numbers.
- If you have proportionately long thighs, a narrower stance will force your hips to shift farther backwards, and cause you to lean. A wider stance can alleviate this.
- You do point your toes out – which is good. This allows your knees to track outward, making it much easier to drop below parallel.
- You’re not completely locked out before starting your first rep. You’re leaning slightly forward, and your knees aren’t locked out.
Squatting…
Your squats doo look pretty strong, only a couple of minor things I saw:
You lean forward slightly. It’s not too bad, but this will make hitting depth harder. A couple things that may help you reduce your lean:
- Keep your head up. I didn’t notice an exaggerated head dip, but your body will follow your eyes – if you are looking down you will have a greater tendency to lean. Squatting in front of a mirror can exacerbate the problem. The motion in the mirror draws your attention, making it more difficult to keep your head up.
- Breathing – since your spotter makes the comment ‘take that breath and hold it’ I assume your breathing isn’t perfect. Breathe in deeply before starting your descent, and hold it until you’re on your way back up. I like to begin exhaling in a controlled fashion once I’ve passed the ‘sticking point’. Breath control can be very important for stability. Keeping your chest full of air and your abs tight can give you upper body stability and reduce your tendency to lean.
- When I see high squats and leaning, I watch the knees. If you allow them to cave inward, your hips shift backwards. This forces you to lean in compensation and miss depth. Your knees look like they stay out through the reps – which is good.
Squat is slightly high
- Depth isn’t too bad, but about 1-2″ above parallel. You have plenty of strength at a good weight – don’t be afraid to sink they weight. Fixing the leaning mentioned above will make hitting depth much easier.
All in all, a very OK squats at a pretty heavy weight. I looked at the 365lb squats as well. Although the lighter squats were executed more explosively, your 405lb squats were just as solid as your 365lb squats. I don’t really have additional comments on the other video.
Recommendations for next week:
- Fix all the setup issues I mentioned. You should be able to do that perfectly on every set – you have the time to think about everything you do during setup.
- Set up so you’re not looking at the mirror while you squat.
- Bring your feet in 2″. Watch your feet as you walk out, and place them just slightly wider than shoulder width.
- Control your breathing throughout each rep of each set.
- Pick a spot on the ceiling, and keep your head up, eyes on that spot throughout each rep of every set.
For more information, here is a complete walk through of (power) squatting technique.
If you have a lift you’d like reviewed, leave a comment with a link to a video of your lift.
Brute Force Strength Training Review – The Deadlift
Posted: January 27, 2012 Filed under: 00 - Lifting Tips, 03 - Deadlift Tips, 95 - Brute Force Lifting Reviews | Tags: Deadlift Strength, Deadlift Technique, Deadlifts, Leg Strength, Muscle Building, Power, Powerlifting, Strength Leave a comment »A friend of mine mentioned he’d taken a video of his deadlift, and was wondering how tight his form was. Although on a scale from CRAPPY to GREAT, the lift was between NOT BAD and OK, I passed on a few pointers that I thought might bump him up to GOOD. Since even OK is better than 90% of the deadlifters you see in the gym, I asked if I could share these insights with all of you.
JO: Nah, go ahead. Since it’s not TOTALLY bad [I did mention it was almost OK didn’t I?], I don’t mind, send me a link to blog.
JO Deadlift Video
ME: Ok, it actually doesn’t look bad [NOT BAD], your starting position is really good, your back is flat, and your hips are down right where they should be to start. I do have a few comments:
On the setup for your first rep, you camp out at the bottom before lifting. This is bad for a couple reasons. First of all the deadlift can be downright intimidating. If you take enough time to think about it, it will talk you out of the lift, particularly as the bar gets heavier. Don’t mess around with your deadlift. Get setup and pull (grip and rip). Secondly, you don’t have an eccentric component to the (first rep) of a deadlift. Use your setup as an eccentric, tightening your glutes and hams as you drop into position. To keep from loosening up once your hips drop in, start the pull as soon as you hit the bottom.
It’s somewhat hard to tell from the angle of the video, but it looks like your feet are too wide for a conventional deadlift, yet too narrow for sumo. If you’re pulling conventional, your feet should be inside hip width, and your hands at shoulder width, so your hands will never drag across your thighs. If you’re lifting sumo, go as wide as you can with your feet. I usually have my shins right at the rings on the bar (assuming it is a standard power bar). Your hands are also at shoulder width, inside your legs, they only should drag across your legs at the hip. Notice that regardless of the style, your arms should hang straight down to the bar and minimize contact with your legs. In the video it looks like your hands slide up your legs all the way from the floor to lock out – the worst possible scenario.
JO: I had a couple powerlifters taking the video and they were saying I need to get back on my heels a bit and something about using my hams more as I get past my knees.
ME: I’ve never heard it put quite like that (using my hams more as I get past my knees), but I can sort of see what they are talking about. Once the bar crosses your knees, it appears like you’re using all lower back to finish off the lift. You are starting out the lift OK to GOOD (hips don’t come up ahead of the bar), so after the bar passes the knees, try to think ‘hip thrust’. Drive the hips forward instead of pulling back with the lower back. You’ll get a lot more drive out of your hamstrings, and even more out of your glutes to finish it off.
Good mornings might be a great supplemental exercise to help you with this. When I do good mornings, it’s not just bending down at the waist and pulling back up with my lower back. I start by moving my hips straight back, and the bar descends as I do. On the way back up, I start the lift by pulling with my hamstrings and finish it by driving my hips forward powerfully – it’s a great supplemental exercise for developing a bigger pull.
JO: My hands are wide and perhaps my stance is too. But I don’t THINK my hands touch my legs at all, due to the wide grip.
ME: From the video it looked like your hands were right at your shins, albeit maybe right outside. I don’t know if you saw it, but here’s a blog post that touches on hand position during the deadlift: http://bruteforcestrength.com/2011/12/from-the-refs-chair-the-deadlift/
As far as ‘back on the heels’, what I focus more on is ‘rocking back’ as I set up until my shoulders are at or behind the bar. In this lift you are in that position, but the bar is a bit too far forward before you start, and your knees end up in front of the bar once you are set up. Try bringing the bar back to where it’s over the center of your feet (probably an inch from your shins), then sit in/rock back until your shoulders are behind the bar – then you have no choice but to be over your heels.
I have one final comment. Notice how you squat down to the bar to set up and between each rep. This is the most common way of setting up for a deadlift, but I prefer a different approach. Instead of squatting to the bar, I bend at the waist to grab the bar. Once I have the bar, I tighten my upper back and pull the slack out between my body and the bar. I’m then completely tight and rock back, bringing my hips down and chest up, keeping tension on the bar. As my hips hit depth I PULL! This approach has a couple of advantages:
- When squatting down to the bar, most lifters I watch loosen their upper back and arms. When rocking backward into the setup you keep tension on the bar and don’t loosen up your upper back
- If you deadlift as shown in the video, I will guarantee that the second and subsequent reps are much easier than the first. This goes back to the fact that your first rep has no eccentric component. As a competitive powerlifter, I only have one rep in competition, so I try to treat every rep as the first one, creating an eccentric in the setup motion.
Hope this helps!
JO: Glad to know you didn’t laugh (or weep).
And I hope this review can help all of you move farther up the CRAPPY–GREAT scale. If you have a lift you’d like me to review as well, feel free to contact me at ken.gack@bruteforcestrength.com.
For more information on deadlift technique:
Leg Training – Brute Force Style
Posted: January 21, 2012 Filed under: 01 - Squat Tips, 90 - Brute Force | Tags: Leg Strength, Leg Training, Muscle Building, Power, Powerlifting, Strength Leave a comment »
I was at the gym a while back, and a guy there was asking me questions about bench pressing. I had questions of my own – so naturally the subject of leg workouts came up. ‘I don’t squat because of my knees and back’, he says. I’m obligated to ask… ‘What’s wrong with your knees and back?’ ‘Nothing,’ he replies, ‘my uncle, who’s a powerlifting bodybuilder said squats are bad for them’.
How do you argue with a powerlifting bodybuilder uncle? Now I’m not going to tell you why you need to work your legs, which, for the record consist of over 50% of the total muscle mass in your body. If you’re happy covering your sticks up in your sweats, while casually distracting onlookers with the biceps you shower with hours of bicep curl attention, then this article is not for you.
If, however, you’d like to wear a pair of shorts occasionally, then let’s do this right!
- Balance: Too many leg workouts are actually quad workouts thinly disguised with the token leg curl exercise thrown in at the end. An effective leg training plan balances your quad training with your posterior chain work.
- Emphasize Compound Exercises: Particularly for novices, the majority of your leg training (70-80%) should consist of compound lifts*.
*A compound lift is an exercise that uses multiple muscle groups to complete the work, as opposed to isolation lifts which isolate an individual muscle (example: the squat is a compound exercise that works the entire lower body strenuously, whereas leg curls isolate the hamstrings).
- Focus on Technique: Performing your exercise with proper technique minimizes your risk of injury, and maximizes the effectiveness of the exercise.
Putting it all Together
An effective leg training program doesn’t have to be complicated. Three ‘simple’ exercises will leave you hobbling out of the gym feeling completely wasted – that is the goal, right?
- Squat: Performed properly, squats anchor an effective leg workout. A proper set of squats hammers every muscle in your lower body, taxes your core, and strains your central nervous system. To do them right, you need to take them all the way into the hole. Above parallel, the squat over-emphasizes your quads. You need to drop your hips below parallel to get maximum activation of your glutes.
Squatting at the IPF World Championships
- Leg Press: Leg presses let you push some serious weight to isolate the lower body muscles you’ve already exhausted under the squat bar. When done right, your quads will be on fire at the end of each set. If they’re not on fire, keep on repping. As with the squats, leg presses need to be completed with the full range of motion – bring that platform down until your knees are pressing into your chest.
- Stiff-Leg Deadlift: Stiff-leg deadlifts, or romanian deadlifts are, in my humble but correct opinion, the best exercise there is for your posterior chain. They will help you build powerful glutes and hamstrings. To hit the hamstrings hard, keep your knees completely straight and slowly stretch down as far as possible before snapping it back up powerfully.
If you still feel the need to hit the machines to isolate your quads or hamstrings after the big three, it’s likely you’re doing something wrong…
Exercise Technique: Here are some simple pointers to make sure you’re performing these key lifts properly:
Positioning the Bar for a Bigger Bench Press
Posted: January 16, 2012 Filed under: 00 - Lifting Tips, 02 - Bench Press Tips | Tags: Bench Press, Bench Press Technique, Chest Strength, Power, Powerlifting, Strength Leave a comment »Although it appears a very simple exercise, there is a lot more to the bench press than lowering the bar to your chest and pressing it back up. Applied correctly, small tweaks in your lifting technique can have a much greater impact on your bench than the workout routine you follow. Often overlooked during the bench press is the bar position.
Notice two problems with the bench press shown in this photo?
If you said the issues are that I couldn’t get the spotter to get his dang hands off the bar during the lift, and there is a world class powerlifter training in a flashy ‘fitness center’ (Beverly Crawford, two time high school national powerlifting champion, two time USA Powerlifting national champion and silver medalist at the International Powerlifting Federation world championships), you are correct…however not what I was going for.
Notice her right hand, circled in red. It appears that her wrist is bent sharply backwards. This is something I see done by the vast majority of bench pressers in the gym. To improve your grip on the bar, you want the bar to rest directly over your wrist and forearm. You do this by rolling your wrists forward, and letting the bar rest in the base of your palm, not up in the middle of your palm. The weight from the bar should travel directly down through your wrists and forearm, not suspended over…air.
If you use wrist wraps when you bench, use them to improve the stability of your hold on the bar. When you’re wrapping them, bring the wrap up around the base of your hand. When done right and tight, they act like a cast, and make it difficult to bend your hand backwards. This forces you to support the weight over your wrist and forearm.
If you look at Beverly’s left arm, circled in blue, look at the way her forearm is angled downward toward her feet. To get the most power, as mentioned above the bar should be positioned directly over your forearm. Now that we’ve fixed your grip on the bar, move the bar position up your chest so that your forearms are perpendicular to the floor as the bar touches the chest. You can also tuck your elbows in tighter to your body. This will allow you to bring the bar down lower on your chest and still keep the weight over your arms.
By making these two changes, you keep the weight of the bar directly over the supporting structure of your arms and chest. This should reduce strain on your wrists, elbows and shoulders, and also allow you to add lbs. to your bench press.
If you’d like more tips on bench pressing, check out my article, Powerlifting Basics: Tips to Increase Your Bench Press.