Proper Squatting Form
Even though I’m an advocate of working out at home, I still go to the gym once in a while. I’ll get the occasional urge to do something a little different that I don’t want to do (or can’t do) at home, or maybe just want a change of scenery. It’s also a good opportunity for me to get a chance to see what others are doing, and see some common mistakes.
The squat rack is, sadly, one station that doesn’t get much action. And when it does, it’s often by people who could use some help. So, here are a few pointers on cleaning up your squatting technique.
- Don’t rest the bar too high on your traps. Let it sit comfortably low. Too high and it’s too close to your neck. This can hurt your neck, as well as put an awkward tilt in your upper body, which is bad form.
- Toes should be about shoulder-width apart, pointed slightly outward, and your knees should track over them.
- Bend at the hips first, sticking your butt out back. Don’t bend your knees first.
- Sit back rather than down. Imagine you’re going to sit in a chair that’s slightly too far behind you.
- Squat between your legs. As Dan John said long ago, your body doesn’t fold like an accordion. You’re not accordion-folding your hips, thighs and knees. Squat down between them. To get the idea, try to squat (bodyweight only) all the way down, sitting on your haunches. To do this, you’ll have to squat between your legs. If you “accordion-fold”, your balance will likely be off and you’ll fall backwards. Remember this “between the legs” thing.
- Keep your shins fairly vertical. If you’re doing everything else right (hips first, sitting back not down, between the legs), then your shins will automatically remain relatively vertical.
- Squat below parallel. Be honest with yourself - did your hip joint get level with your knees or lower? If you’re just dipping down a few inches, you’re kidding yourself. Take some weight off of the bar so you can go below parallel.
- Drive the weight up with your hips, glutes and thighs. Think of them as one unit to create the hip-drive necessary to lift the weight.
The above is a description of how to do a standard squat for normal trainees. There are more advanced methods that don’t exactly fit this model, which I won’t discuss here. You also may notice that the overall method is similar to the kettlebell swing. It all centers around proper body mechanics to create a powerful hip drive.
If you’ve been squatting with poor form, take some weight off the bar and start from the beginning. You’ll be better off in the long run, with better gains and an overall safer lift. Leave your ego at the door.
One issue that sometimes comes up is whether squats are bad for the knees. The answer is yes and no. If you are squatting with poor form - especially if you’re bending at the knees first - then you’re putting your knees at risk. Another indicator is your shins. If your shins are moving significantly forward of vertical, then you are likely putting undue stress on your knees.
Another potential knee problem is squatting all the way to the ground if you don’t know what you’re doing. Squatting all the way to the ground, with added weight on your back can damage your knees if you release tension. You need to hold tension in the knee in this position. Relaxing in this position (with a barbell) can put extra stress on the tendon/ligament structure of the knee because of the stretching effect caused by the leverage of your leg musculature and the weight. It takes a conscious effort to hold tension in this position, so I don’t recommend it without an experienced trainer.
Given that, most people will be fine using the guidelines listed above for proper squatting technique. The squat is an excellent exercise, and is one of the best if your goal is overall size and strength. But be sure you’re doing it right!
Tags: Barbells & Dumbells, Muscle Building, Strength TrainingPopularity: 61% [?]
The Cardio Machine that Sucks
Guest article by Craig Ballantyne.
The Cardio Machine that Sucks
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com
Recently, I was in Tampa, Florida, at a seminar. Between sessions, a physician from Georgia stopped me in the hall and said, “Hey Craig, you were right about those crosstrainer machines. I’ve had your program for a few months now and I’m getting better results with the bodyweight circuits.”
It’s always great to meet clients, and I was curious to find out how he heard of me. Turns out, he found me through Google, landing on an article I wrote about “how elliptical machines (crosstrainers) suck for fat loss”.
That’s right, I think those machines are almost a complete waste of time.
“I was using one of those machines for a long time and was wondering why I wasn’t getting any results,” the physician continued, “I’m so glad I found your program and Read more
Tags: Fat Loss, Interval Training, Turbulence TrainingPopularity: 30% [?]
Burn Fat Without Losing Muscle Mass
Millions of people today want to lose weight. However, the average person doesn’t know how to burn fat without losing muscle mass. Not only that, they don’t realize that simply burning fat isn’t enough. You also have to keep your muscle mass, or you’ll end up soft and weak.
Your body will adapt to the stimulus you give it. So, if you give your body a reason to keep or build muscle, it will. If you don’t, it won’t. Maybe oversimplified, but valid. And that’s the reason you can lose muscle mass if your main mode of exercise is traditional cardio, like walking or jogging. Low intensity exercises like these can help you lose weight, but Read more
Tags: Fat Loss, Interval Training, Turbulence TrainingPopularity: 37% [?]
Boys Are Back in Town Kettlebell Workshop DVD - Review
If you’re not aware, Mike Mahler has produced a new 3-DVD set, with over 7-1/2 hours of instruction, featuring Mike Mahler, Steve Maxwell, Steve Cotter, and Nate Morrison. I’ve been wanting to write a review of Boys Are Back in Town Kettlebell Workshop DVD since I got it a few weeks ago, but it’s just taken a while to watch the whole thing. So, you might want to grab a drink and sit back, this could be a long one.
Let me say that at first, I was a little skeptical about the quality of the video. Since it was shot at a kettlebell workshop, I was expecting poor quality video and sound. However, Read more
Tags: Bodyweight Training, Circuit Training, Conditioning & Endurance, Fat Loss, Kettlebells, Muscle Building, Product Reviews, reviews, Speed Strength, Strength TrainingPopularity: 100% [?]
More Than a Kettlebell Workshop DVD
Mike Mahler has produced a new set of DVDs. It’s over 7 hours worth of training information from some of the most respected instructors in the industry: Mike Mahler, Steve Maxwell, Steve Cotter, and Nate Morrison.
It was filmed during a workshop in Las Vegas, and is MUCH more than a kettlebell training DVD set. It ain’t cheap, but if you’re serious about your training, or are a personal trainer looking to expand your knowledge (and business), I highly recommend you check it out. You can read all about it here: Boys Are Back in Town Kettlebell Workshop DVD.
I didn’t want to write up a formal review until I’d seen it. However, since Mike currently has special pricing on it, I really wanted to tell you guys about it so you can take advantage of the discount.
I did get my copy a couple of weeks ago. I’ve only been able to watch about half of it so far, but it’s excellent - and not the same stuff you’ve heard before. New snatch and clean techniques (straight from Russia) by Steve Cotter to really raise your numbers. A different approach to pressing from Mike Mahler to improve your speed and explosiveness.
Before I ordered, I was concerned about the video and sound quality - since it was shot during a workshop. However, I have no issues at all. The workshop was indoors, and both the video and audio are great. Here’s a teaser video:
I won’t say any more about it here, you can find out for yourself at:
Boys Are Back in Town Kettlebell Workshop DVD
And remember - order now for special pricing!
Tags: Bodyweight Training, Conditioning & Endurance, Fat Loss, Kettlebells, Muscle Building, Speed Strength, Strength TrainingPopularity: 80% [?]
Deals at Tactical Athlete
Hey Guys,
Jeff Martone has recently started having monthly specials. Buy two get one free, 30% off of DVD bundles, that sort of thing.
Get the details at the home of H2H Kettlebells, H2H Circuit Training, and the innovative shotput workout, S.H.O.T. - Tactical Athlete.
Tags: Circuit Training, Conditioning & Endurance, Fat Loss, Kettlebells, Speed StrengthPopularity: 68% [?]
Ready to Purchase Kettlebells?
So you think you might be ready to purchase kettlebells. You’ve been looking around online for the best way to get into shape, and found out about them. Personally, my results from kettlebells have been better than any other type of exercise I’ve tried.
Fortunately when you’re ready to purchase kettlebells, you have a few options. Unfortunately, good kettlebells are rare in the “real world”, so you’ll probably have to get them online. I’ve found a few trustworthy options, whether you just need one or two, or a full kettlebell set.
First, you can buy kettlebells from RussianKettlebells.com. These are the kettlebells designed by Pavel Tsatsouline and offered through Dragon Door. These are the kettlebells that started the current trend in the US and are Read more
Tags: beginners, Circuit Training, Conditioning & Endurance, Fat Loss, KettlebellsPopularity: 69% [?]
The Evolution of Cardio
Guest article by Craig Ballantyne. Whether you’re interested in interval training for lean muscle gains or fat loss, Turbulence Training is one of the best ways to get started. This particular article focuses on cardio for fat loss.
The Evolution of Cardio
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com
I’ve been meaning to write this email for a long time. Today I’m
going to give you the story of how I solved the problem of getting an efficient and effective fat loss program finished in 45 minutes. Essentially, how I invented Turbulence Training.
And then I’ll end with a sample TT workout for you…
But first, let’s take a trip down memory lane to the winter of
98-99. I was but a lowly grad student, studying the effects of
androstenedione (the supplement taken by the might Mark McGwire during his record-breaking home run quest in ‘98).
In my study (which was published in the Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology for any science nerds like myself out there), we had guys use the supplement and go through a couple of weight training sessions. By February of ‘99 I was stuck in the lab Read more
Tags: Barbells & Dumbells, Bodyweight Training, Circuit Training, Fat Loss, Interval Training, Turbulence TrainingPopularity: 42% [?]
Top 5 Fat Loss Tips
Guest article by Craig Ballantyne discussing fat loss, just one of the benefits of interval training. Be sure you check out everything that’s included with Turbulence Training - lots of great bonuses!
Top 5 Fat Loss Tips
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com
Men’s Fitness magazine recently asked me for 3 of my best fat loss secrets. Since most times the magazines just don’t have enough space to run my full tips, I thought I’d give you a more detailed explanation of my secrets here (plus a few extra bonus tips that I didn’t send to the magazine).
Secret #1 - Focus on burning carbohydrate, not fat, during your
fat-loss workouts.
Sounds backwards, right? But not when you look at how I structure my workouts. Remember that Turbulence Training focuses on resistance training and interval training. Both of these use carbohydrate as the main source of energy. So it’s obvious Read more
Tags: Barbells & Dumbells, Bodyweight Training, Circuit Training, Fat Loss, Interval Training, Turbulence TrainingPopularity: 40% [?]
The 3 Best Bodyweight Exercises
A guest article by Craig Ballantyne. Be sure to check out the bonuses at the Turbulence Training site. You can get the original Turbulence Training Routine (geared toward a bodyweight workout) - which details the bodyweight exercises in the article - for FREE from this site. Just enter your name and email address in the form.
The 3 Best Bodyweight Exercises
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com
Here are 3 kick-butt bodyweight exercises you can do anytime, anywhere to burn fat, stay energized, and avoid overeating.
Bodyweight exercises help you burn fat shockingly fast, without any fancy equipment.
1) Any Single-Leg Exercise
The pistol (single-leg squat to the floor) is the most advanced
1-leg exercise. But you can also do assisted single-leg squats with a band, or onto a bench, or even with a Stability Ball between your back and the wall.
If you aren’t ready for single-leg squats, you can use Bulgarian
Split Squats, Reverse Lunges, regular split squats, or lying 1-leg
hip bridges if you are a beginner.
2) Decline Push-ups
These are harder than normal pushups, thanks to your elevated feet. And in this position, you can still use a close-grip to fatigue
your triceps, a “piked-hip position” to build your shoulders, or
even the Spiderman leg motion to work on your abs.
3) Bodyweight Inverted Rows
I choose these over chinups and pullups because bodyweight rows let your chest rest, while your back is strengthened. It’s the perfect compliment to a pushup.
Do 8-12 repetitions per exercise. Don’t rest between exercises. Go through the circuit up to 3 times, resting 1 minute after each
circuit.
For a once-per-month challenge, do each exercise to failure in your final round through the circuit.
Get in shape fast with Turbulence Training,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com.
Popularity: 35% [?]
