Did football lifts today. Only big lift was
Squat:
185x8
225x6
275x4
315x3
Probably could have gone a little harder on these if it wasn't for the short rest and supersets with other stuff.
One thing I had a problem with though- knees coming in starting from about 1/4 the way from the bottom. I came out of the hole pretty good, knees came in, I pushed them back out, and did the rest of the lift. It's kind of been a recurring issue and I don't really know why or what it means...
Monday, January 25, 2010
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You might try to get someone to yell coaching cues at you. Something like, "knees out" as you're coming out of the hole. Stuff like that really helps me when my form breaks down. If you don't have someone to do this for you, you'll have to do it in your own head.
ReplyDeleteYou could also really squeeze your glutes on the way up. That may do a little to help with the knee-buckling problem.
Knee's in usually means weak adductors (the muscles that move your legs toward the center line of your body, "groin" muscles). As far as I know, the only cure is more squats.
"Knees in usually mean weak ...", yes, assuming that there are no technique problems. I won't exclude this option.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how knees coming in is a problem with the muscles that pull them in ... Should be a problem with the muslces that keep them out (glutes). I think glute strength/technique is the issue here.
ReplyDeleteI was confused when I read that at first too, but I think weak adductors does make sense as a possible explanation. When your knees cave as you're coming out of the squat, it's not because your adductors are pulling them in. It's similar to other forms of technique breakdown where the body uses the muscles groups that are already strong to compensate for weaknesses in muscle groups that should be used. In the knees-in squat, the adductors aren't being activated properly (i.e. perform a knees-in and knees-out squat and see how much you use your adductors).
ReplyDeleteAs a parallel example, consider the problem of lower-back rounding while deadlifting. You could argue that this is because of weak lower-back muscles, which might be true, but it could also be the result of insufficient glute/hamstring strength, resulting in the lower-back being used to support the weight instead of the weight being distributed throughout the entire posterior chain. Lower-back rounding:knee-buckling::Lower-back overload:quad overload::glute/hamstring weakness:adductor weakness.
That's my best explanation anyway.
Glutes are also a possible problem, of course. That's why I listed that fix.
Here's a link to Rippetoe's explanation of the adductor thing.
http://www.elitefts.com/documents/texas_bbq.htm
Not everyone agrees with him, of course, but form-breakdown can happen for a number of reasons, and I think it's hard to say which one it is without actually being there.
Perhaps I should have said "can also mean" instead of "usually means." I lose a point for hasty writing.
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