Weight Training/Fitness Question

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by Azure

Squats are a killer for me too.

One variation you don't see a lot of people doing is the overhead squat. I have a tough time getting 300# over my head properly let alone squatting it. Still my biggest goal though, to overhead squat 300#.

Love overhead squats! Such a great movement. I'm limited by my shoulder and core strength, but doing a body weight OHS from the ground is a goal of mine in the short term (190 lbs) Still getting my strict press up to body weight as well, which I am sure I'll be able to translate into an OHS in excess of 200 lbs, but I am just getting into olympic lifting so I don't mind feeling out my limits at the moment.

Doing the overhead press from that starting position on the back has really helped me work out fascia and muscle tightness in my neck/shoulders from sitting hunched over a GD desk all day.


You sound pretty accomplished, do you coach anywhere?

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

crappy squat form.

What do you see wrong with it?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy

What do you see wrong with it?

Initial mov't is with his knees. This brings them foward putting force through his knee caps, should lead with his ass, just like when you sit on the crapper.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy

Love overhead squats! Such a great movement. I'm limited by my shoulder and core strength, but doing a body weight OHS from the ground is a goal of mine in the short term (190 lbs) Still getting my strict press up to body weight as well, which I am sure I'll be able to translate into an OHS in excess of 200 lbs, but I am just getting into olympic lifting so I don't mind feeling out my limits at the moment.

Doing the overhead press from that starting position on the back has really helped me work out fascia and muscle tightness in my neck/shoulders from sitting hunched over a GD desk all day.

You sound pretty accomplished, do you coach anywhere?

For some reason the OH squat scares me because for some reason I think I'll drop the weight on my head or something.

Even practicing with just a barbell is amazing though, because it really exposes where you're tight, and involves more than just the hip flexor, quads, glutes and hamstrings.

What do you see wrong with it?

I would personally say he starts running into problems once he goes parallel. Doesn't try to 'sit back' far enough, which results in quad activation instead of his glutes/hamstrings coming into play. That is why it seems like he's pushing with his knees.

He also leans forward when he comes up, which is expected a bit because when your hands are that far apart, its harder than usual to stabilize the upper back. One of the easier fixes for forward lean is to try and bring your hands closer together on the bar which forces your upper back together and helps your chest stay up. You need decent flexibility in wrists, shoulders and pecs, so it takes a bit of time to get your hands where you want them.

And no I don't coach. I've been lifting for 6 some years now, and love reading everything I can find on the subject.

[GreenLantern]

Lots of great info in this thread already.. all I can say is that reps/sets do not matter for weight lifting as long as you are shocking your system. Listen to Arnold, some days he would go in and just do 2 hours of the same exercise, other days as heavy as he can lift for 1-2 reps of 20 different exercises.

Do not ever settle down in your comfort zone. I think that a good 5 exercise x 4 set x 8-12 reps is a comforting routine for many people, and it is ok to do this. But don't do it for 3 months straight, you have to shock that muscle if you want it to keep growing, otherwise it will plateau. I try to completely change my mentality about my work out every 4 weeks. It is a good habit to get into.

BB.com is a great site, there are a crap ton of resources there for everything from suppies to proper form to nutrition, I would highly suggest reading up on some of the newbie stuff if you are just starting out.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

reps/sets do not matter for weight lifting as long as you are shocking your system.

Yeah that's a pretty solid approach, don't give you muscles the chance to figure out what's coming on any given day.

[Rapidfire999]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

Lots of great info in this thread already.. all I can say is that reps/sets do not matter for weight lifting as long as you are shocking your system. Listen to Arnold, some days he would go in and just do 2 hours of the same exercise, other days as heavy as he can lift for 1-2 reps of 20 different exercises.

Do not ever settle down in your comfort zone. I think that a good 5 exercise x 4 set x 8-12 reps is a comforting routine for many people, and it is ok to do this. But don't do it for 3 months straight, you have to shock that muscle if you want it to keep growing, otherwise it will plateau. I try to completely change my mentality about my work out every 4 weeks. It is a good habit to get into.

BB.com is a great site, there are a crap ton of resources there for everything from suppies to proper form to nutrition, I would highly suggest reading up on some of the newbie stuff if you are just starting out.

Yes and no. IF you want to lift the Arnold way I would think you'd wanna be atleast an intermediate to expert at lifting. As a beginner you should choose a workout that is pretty much ABC, simple.

[Azure]

Which basically means that if you go to the gym and do 5x5xsameweight every day at some point you won't make progress anymore. You have to constantly push harder, which means more weight. Following the 5x5 program or doing Starting Strength does just this.

P90X is based on the idea of muscle confusion. Every day you do something different. Simple enough to follow as a cardio program to mix things up, but it doesn't do much for building muscle.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Initial mov't is with his knees. This brings them foward putting force through his knee caps, should lead with his ass, just like when you sit on the crapper.

Not for an overhead squat.

If you lead with your hips/ass, it increases your back angle. This would require you to reach further back with your arms, to the point of it being unsafe.

An overhead squat has, in general, a much more vertical torso than a back squat. The reason being that your arms need to stay completely upright and perpendicular to the floor.

The guy in the video suffers from slight mobility issues (better than most though), but his overall form is good.

[TheSutterDynasty]

Originally Posted by blankall

Not for an overhead squat.

If you lead with your hips/ass, it increases your back angle. This would require you to reach further back with your arms, to the point of it being unsafe.

An overhead squat has, in general, a much more vertical torso than a back squat. The reason being that your arms need to stay completely upright and perpendicular to the floor.

The guy in the video suffers from slight mobility issues (better than most though), but his overall form is good.

Problems:
#1 - Wearing a weight belt. Completely takes out any lumbar stabilization muscles.
#2 - Coming up he does a little 'lean forward' cheat, making his back vulnerable in order to try and leverage the weight.

The eccentric doesn't look too bad, because I agree - overhead squat changes the weight distribution and sticking the butt back will either accentuate his lordosis (unstable) or put him off balance.

[burnin_vernon]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Initial mov't is with his knees. This brings them foward putting force through his knee caps, should lead with his ass, just like when you sit on the crapper.

Also, he is working out shirtless in a gym

[blankall]

Originally Posted by TheSutterDynasty

Problems:
#1 - Wearing a weight belt. Completely takes out any lumbar stabilization muscles.
#2 - Coming up he does a little 'lean forward' cheat, making his back vulnerable in order to try and leverage the weight.

The eccentric doesn't look too bad, because I agree - overhead squat changes the weight distribution and sticking the butt back will either accentuate his lordosis (unstable) or put him off balance.

You're right, he definitely arches his back out the wrong way on the way up. I wouldn't call it a cheat though. It's most commonly caused by tightness in the hamstrings. If the hamstrings are too tight, it will pull the hip bones down. He also seems to have issues with shoulder mobility. Now that you've mentioned it, it becomes pretty noticeable.

As for the belt, when you get to weights in the 300lbs range for a lift like an overhead squat, it becomes a must. During his training, at lower weights, I'd agree the belt should go.