We are getting there...
We stuck some weighted Overhead Squats into the warm up to see where everyone's core strength and flexibility were at. Here, John is trying to unlearn all of the bad habits he learned as a high school football player just starting out in the weightroom. I'm sure we were all taught the same things: feet close together and parallel to each other, chest up, head up and only squat about half way down. It is amazing how anatomically incorrect all of that is. You need your feet wide and your toes pointed out at about 45 degrees to give your pelvis room to sink down to below parallel so that you can effectively engage your hamstrings and glutes in the squat. Those muscles are much more powerful than your quads alone. And having your neck in hyperextension (looking up) is never a good idea with a heavy load on your back or over your head. It will compromise your C-spine and can lead to injuries.
Wait til I introduce them to the "Valsalva maneuver"...
..."but you can't hold your breath when you are lifting, you'll have a stroke..."
If anyone can find the number of strokes that have resulted from weightlifting, you are a better Googler than I am. The answer is you won't find any because that is an old wive's tale that just needs to die out, pun intended.
Jae looking good on the pull ups. Maybe he really was a prior service Navy Corpsman. Eventually we'll get him to go all the way up and all the way down on his pull ups though. You want to get stronger and more flexible through the entire range of motion on any movement. That will eventually make you stronger than if you shorted the range of motion (i.e. half-squats) and it will make you less susceptible to injury.
A good front squat starts with a good rack position. Notice the bar is lightly held in the fingertips, fully supported on the little ridge of muscle created by the shoulders and clavicle when the elbows are brought all the way up to your front. This is also the catch position for the Squat Clean and Power Clean and you can only clean as much as you can front squat so you want to be able to front squat big weight...
As we got heavier, it got harder to remember to keep the elbows up. This exemplifies some weaknesses in shoulder strength and flexibility and also core strength. Maintaining the upright squat necessary for a good front squat requires a powerful core. This power CANNOT be developed by doing sit ups and crunches. You have to start lifting heavy weights to start developing this kind of core strength. Yes you too ladies. Don't worry you won't get too big and muscle-y. If it was that easy, all of us guys wouldn't waste so much money on useless supplements and protein powders...
We are only 3 sets into our 5 sets of 5 front squats and Jae is all ready to call it a day. Not bad for 15 minutes work in the gym.
How effective is your workout...??? How much time do you waste doing stuff that doesn't really do anything for you...??? Aren't you tired of doing the same things over and over again...???
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