Check out a great article that our Faction Powerlifting Coach Chris Moore just published in the CrossFit Journal titled:

–> Squat Heavy and Often <–

There’s even a picture of me doing cambered bar box squats just like I discussed in yesterday’s video!

Today’s video:

The safety bar is an absolute necessity.  Well… maybe not a necessity, but you should have one anyway; there’re just too awesome not to have at your gym.  Wanna know why?  It’ll make you stronger!  Here’s the breakdown.

You can use a safety bar for many of the same exercises that you would normally do with a standard Olympic bar but the stimulus is slightly different.

The safety bar puts the plate weight out in front of you a little bit, which pulls you forward.  You have to couteract this pull by pushing your hips back as well as staying very upright.  These are good things.

The pad on the bar makes it sit higher on your neck which makes your back “longer” (lever arm longer) which will also help you stay more upright (people with longer backs relative to their short legs always squat more upright vs those with a short back, long limbs).

The shape of the bar will make it try to roll forward (rounding your upper back) and you have to counteract this pull by maintaining very strong thoracic extension.

The bar also won’t fall off of your back if you aren’t holding onto it.  This is both a good and a bad thing…

Good:  If you’re doing single leg work (split squats) and you lose your balance, it’s nice to be able to let go and adjust with your hand on a rack rather than jump around on one leg with 200 lbs on your back (see video)

Bad: If you’re squatting outside of a cage and don’t have a spotter the safety bar is probably the most unsafe bar in the gym because you can’t get out…  rather you’ll get out but it’ll be ugly.

Homework:

Discuss buying a safety bar with your staff or with your gym owner, and/or if you know someone that has one see if you can borrow it for a few days.  Squats and rear foot elevated split squats are my most common exercises.  Try both.

See you tomorrow,

Doug

In Gray Cook’s book Movement he discusses the concept of reverse patterning.

Long story short he suggests that it may be easier to learn some movements by beginning at the bottom of the movement and learning from the bottom up rather than the top down.

Box squats are are great movement for this concept.  With just your bodyweight if you sit down on a box and sit up strait then you’ll notice your low back is in perfect position.  From there you can position your feet strait ahead and push your knees over your feet (shins vertical).

Now you’re in a perfect bottom position, which means you know you have the mobility to get there again.  Without moving your feet or losing your tall posture, “push the floor apart while pushing your knees back” and stand up.

Hips back, knees out and sit right back down to where you were.  Easy as that!

If you sit back down and notice you’re not where you were the first time and/or for some reason you’re out of position simply move yourself around until you’re back and stand up again.

You’ll have to play with the height of the box at first to see what height will work best for you.  If you have mats to add to the box (or the ground) that will help.

Homework:

Find someone whose squat form could use some work and try to help them improve by using suggestions above and in the video below.  Goal is 20 perfect reps without having to reposition their feet at the bottom.

See ya tomorrow,

Doug

Scott English PR Power Clean! 

If you’ve been high bar back squatting for a while, your technique is solid and you’re lookin for a way to mix it up then low bar back squats are a great option.

With the bar lower on your back your back “isn’t as long” as it would be if the bar place high on your traps.

A shorter back means a shorter lever arm, so your leverage is better meaning you can put more load on your hips.

The result is usually you can low bar back squat more than you can high bar back squat.   Time to throw on some big weight!

You’re hands and feet will be a little bit wider than you high bar squat.  For the low bar back squat the bar will rest on the back of your shoulders instead of your traps.

You’ll have to play with it to see what will be most comfortable.

If you lack ankle mobility this could be a good movement for you because it’s more hip dominant, you have very vertical shin, which means your ankle doesn’t need as much range of motion.

If you have shoulder external rotation issues then it may be hard on your shoulder of you may simply not be able to get into position.  Safety bars and cambered bars are a good option until you clear up you shoulder mobility.

Homework:

If you’re experienced, you technique is up to par on your other squat then I want you to play with the technique until you’re comfortable with it.  After you’re confident your technique is solid find your low bar max and compare it to your high bar max.

See ya tomorrow,

Doug