Monday, DJ Prime Time

Oh, no. Not from squatting. My knees hurt from Wide Receivers cracking back on me in high school back when it was legal to cut you in the open field. Of course, I would always get them back somehow…

So, no. I’m trying to think of when my knees bark, but it is usually after doing something stupid that I’m not used to…like dancing at a wedding.

[quote]CollinAshmore wrote:
I think you miss interpreted what I was getting at. Up until the last 6 months I was actively competing in Olypmic lifting, actually made it to Collegiate Nationals twice(as if that really means anything). So I do squat deep. I certainly don’t have any problems getting “ass to grass” as they say or with the door knob test. (I’ve read that article several times incidentally.)

Now, I tore some cartilage in my knee about 6 months ago and just got it repaired. Saturday for the first time I squatted again, and yes I squatted olympic style.

However, I asked you the question because while I have had sore knees, I have never had painful knees, and goes right up until the day I tore the cartilage. So I guess I was wondering if you as a deep squatter had ever had knee issues, and if you didn’t I thought maybe you did some sort of “prehab” for them.

Anyways, sorry I wasn’t clear in what I was asking. And thanks again,

Collin [/quote]

For the average guy, you should bench 800 the first year or so. There are some, I must note, that might take the better part of two years.

Good to hear from you. Is it hard to sit on your wise ass?

[quote]Gary John wrote:
I’ve been keeping this from you. Last week I started doing an exercise called the “bench press”. There has been a weight bench buried in my warehouse for about 20 years. We picked it up when a plant closed.

Not wanting to trouble you, I did a lot of research and video watching. Finally, I went to this website by some guy named Charles Staley. They had some good info on the basic setup.

I’m doing 5x5’s adding 5 lbs. a workout. Started really light and should be over 500 for a max by next summer. That is if I bench twice a week. If I go three times a week, it should be closer to 800.

I’ll start doing inclines in about 6 weeks. The last time I benched more than twice a year is when we lifted on the back porch.

My throwing is going well and I know I need to work on a few things.

Gary
[/quote]

DJ, I posted earlier about popping my biceps yesterday at a games.

I’ve reviewed your one-dumbbell workout that you performed while your wrist was healing. I plan on doing the same. What do you think you gained from training your good side when you finally came back to both? Anything you’d do different?

Thanks Dan John,

I’ll keep doing front squats. I don’t know if you remember Sam Segond from Rutgers university, but he was all-american this past season in the discuss.

Thanks DJ. So I guess I continue in my search for ways to maintain my knee health. Maybe I’ll try videotaping my squats now that I don’t have a coach and looking for technique flaws. Oh well, I suppose that in searching we learn most about who we are.

Thank you, and I should tell you I really like your website. The weightlifting info is very helpful.

Thanks,and have a good night
Collin

[quote]Danny John wrote:
I had an interview on crossfitlive last night and we talked about this at length. I think you go damn deep from day one. BUT, if you don’t know how to squat, it really is academic to discuss this. I spend hours…hours …of my life hearing: “Squats hurt my knees.” “Show me a squat.”

“That’s NOT a squat.” See the junk on my site concerning squatting and give the “doorknob drill” a true attempt. You will find that your knees…a miracle!..no longer hurt.

You are meant to do lots of things. It’s not my fault if you choose to do them wrong.

It’s TC’s fault.

[/quote]
Coach John,

Let me preface this by saying that I’m an avid reader of your work and you are probably my favorite contributor of the many fine contributors to this site.

Having said that, I have a confession to make. Squats make my knees hurt. I’m 6’5" and have some patellar issues. I’m no expert by any means, but I’ve tried many things. I’ve tried the progression for front squats a couple of weeks ago. Knees hurt. I’ve tried the doorknob drill. Knees may or may not hurt depending on their general state. Also, I don’t know if I’m doing the drill right, but if I’m fairly close, my femur’s are so long, there’s no way in hell I could hold that position without holding onto the doorknob. Deadlifts with a lot of knee flexion hurt (RDLs) seem okay. Wall squats hurt.

About the only things that actually doesn’t hurt (and kinda helps) are thrusters. I don’t know if it’s because there’s a weight in front to counter my levers or if I don’t have to stay so upright since the bells aren’t racked, or just because I’m goind kinda fast and not thinking so hard I’m screwing up my form.

So, I’ve decided to do thrusters in various formats for my leg (quad dom) work. But that’s okay, right? They’re a pretty good exercise.

As long as I’m confessing, when I do bench press…it’s actually a board press-4" of boards. It’s not a Westside thing. It’s just that my forearms are so long that when I bring the bar down to my chest, it’s really hard on my shoulders and elbows.

A lot of the writing on this site suggests that a lot of trainees are whiny, know-it-all pussies who are just making excuses to avoid hard work and bringing up weaknesses. I’ve honestly tried to do things the “right” way but sometimes it just doesn’t seem to work. Is it possible that the gospel doesn’t apply to everyone? I know I’m rambling but does any of this make sense? I’m just trying to reconcile the right way of doing things and the way things work for me.

Any input would be appreciated.

I hope Sam remembers me! I have “helped” coach him for about a decade. He has wisely never listened…

[quote]poper wrote:
Thanks Dan John,

I’ll keep doing front squats. I don’t know if you remember Sam Segond from Rutgers university, but he was all-american this past season in the discuss.[/quote]

Simply this…I honestly think that my bad wrist was somehow helped along by training my good side, back and legs. At some level, I think I healed faster doing this.

I’m sure of it.

Different? No…I think it was “a learning experience”…that I don’t want to repeat!

[quote]bino wrote:
DJ, I posted earlier about popping my biceps yesterday at a games.

I’ve reviewed your one-dumbbell workout that you performed while your wrist was healing. I plan on doing the same. What do you think you gained from training your good side when you finally came back to both? Anything you’d do different?
[/quote]

Roger,
Sure…not everything is going to be perfect. The fact that Thrusters DON’T hurt makes me wonder if you do it “right” when you are thinking of driving the weight up and over your head and wrong when you squat away…

And…at 6’5" things change. Lifting is and always has been a short man’s game. I am too short for hoops and too tall for lifting. So…I need to either grow or shrink.

A ‘good’ coach will help you. Where are you?

Hi Dan,

After a few weeks of doing hang squat cleans I’m moving on to doing cleans from blocks. In your experience do you know if it is typical to be able to use more weight with cleans from blocks? If so, is it usually a lot more than hang cleans?

Also, just a note on my progress with doing squat snatches. I was doing the hang version the other day and realised that the reason I felt like I was about to “miss” each rep was that I was not putting enough “oomph” into the second pull or shrug of the shoulders, simply because I was “afraid” of missing the lift!

Now I have some reason to be a bit afraid as there is no where to bail out of the lift in my gym (no lifting platform), but once I really decided to go for the lift and put that extra bit of explosion into the pull the bar snapped over head a lot more easily. It’s funny how the the thing I really needed to do to make the lift easily was the very thing I was worried about!

I’m sure everyone who’s a lot more experienced at the O-lifts knows this but I thought I would bring it up as topic of discussion for those of us starting out with these lifts.

Have you found this is a problem with people you are teaching these lifts to Dan?

Cheers,

Ben

Again…we talked about this last night! First thing…you are going to have some very odd numbers when you O lift. I might be the king of the world when I Power Snatch and you might be the master of all that is Back Squats. Yet, you might be weak here and me there. It is just part of the process. Get “close” to what you might find as norms, but keep only a clear eye on your bests.

As to missing…yep, you got it. Hard to move ahead when you have missing fear. Give it another month of practice and let’s see then…

[quote]bg100 wrote:
Hi Dan,

After a few weeks of doing hang squat cleans I’m moving on to doing cleans from blocks. In your experience do you know if it is typical to be able to use more weight with cleans from blocks? If so, is it usually a lot more than hang cleans?

Also, just a note on my progress with doing squat snatches. I was doing the hang version the other day and realised that the reason I felt like I was about to “miss” each rep was that I was not putting enough “oomph” into the second pull or shrug of the shoulders, simply because I was “afraid” of missing the lift!

Now I have some reason to be a bit afraid as there is no where to bail out of the lift in my gym (no lifting platform), but once I really decided to go for the lift and put that extra bit of explosion into the pull the bar snapped over head a lot more easily. It’s funny how the the thing I really needed to do to make the lift easily was the very thing I was worried about!

I’m sure everyone who’s a lot more experienced at the O-lifts knows this but I thought I would bring it up as topic of discussion for those of us starting out with these lifts.

Have you found this is a problem with people you are teaching these lifts to Dan?

Cheers,

Ben[/quote]

[quote]Danny John wrote:
Roger,
Sure…not everything is going to be perfect. The fact that Thrusters DON’T hurt makes me wonder if you do it “right” when you are thinking of driving the weight up and over your head and wrong when you squat away…

And…at 6’5" things change. Lifting is and always has been a short man’s game. I am too short for hoops and too tall for lifting. So…I need to either grow or shrink.

A ‘good’ coach will help you. Where are you? [/quote]

Waterloo, IA

I’m not an athlete though. Just a guy trying to look better and feel better. Bench and bar in the basement kind of thing. I don’t really like to go to gyms because I’m not very strong (Really. You’d laugh.) School and life’s keeping me busy too. LOL. More excuses I guess.

I think Iowa is near Ohio…but I don’t know. I’m in Ohio for about two weeks every summer and I would be happy to work with you. Seriously. You might hate the drive home but you would learn a bucket of stuff…

[quote]rodger1 wrote:
Danny John wrote:
Roger,
Sure…not everything is going to be perfect. The fact that Thrusters DON’T hurt makes me wonder if you do it “right” when you are thinking of driving the weight up and over your head and wrong when you squat away…

And…at 6’5" things change. Lifting is and always has been a short man’s game. I am too short for hoops and too tall for lifting. So…I need to either grow or shrink.

A ‘good’ coach will help you. Where are you?

Waterloo, IA

I’m not an athlete though. Just a guy trying to look better and feel better. Bench and bar in the basement kind of thing. I don’t really like to go to gyms because I’m not very strong (Really. You’d laugh.) School and life’s keeping me busy too. LOL. More excuses I guess.[/quote]

I don’t think we talked last night, must be someone else you are thinking of! Thanks for the advice anyway.

[quote]Danny John wrote:
Again…we talked about this last night! First thing…you are going to have some very odd numbers when you O lift. I might be the king of the world when I Power Snatch and you might be the master of all that is Back Squats. Yet, you might be weak here and me there. It is just part of the process. Get “close” to what you might find as norms, but keep only a clear eye on your bests.

As to missing…yep, you got it. Hard to move ahead when you have missing fear. Give it another month of practice and let’s see then…

bg100 wrote:
Hi Dan,

After a few weeks of doing hang squat cleans I’m moving on to doing cleans from blocks. In your experience do you know if it is typical to be able to use more weight with cleans from blocks? If so, is it usually a lot more than hang cleans?

Also, just a note on my progress with doing squat snatches. I was doing the hang version the other day and realised that the reason I felt like I was about to “miss” each rep was that I was not putting enough “oomph” into the second pull or shrug of the shoulders, simply because I was “afraid” of missing the lift!

Now I have some reason to be a bit afraid as there is no where to bail out of the lift in my gym (no lifting platform), but once I really decided to go for the lift and put that extra bit of explosion into the pull the bar snapped over head a lot more easily. It’s funny how the the thing I really needed to do to make the lift easily was the very thing I was worried about!

I’m sure everyone who’s a lot more experienced at the O-lifts knows this but I thought I would bring it up as topic of discussion for those of us starting out with these lifts.

Have you found this is a problem with people you are teaching these lifts to Dan?

Cheers,

Ben

[/quote]

[quote]Danny John wrote:
I think Iowa is near Ohio…but I don’t know. I’m in Ohio for about two weeks every summer and I would be happy to work with you. Seriously. You might hate the drive home but you would learn a bucket of stuff…

rodger1 wrote:
Danny John wrote:
Roger,
Sure…not everything is going to be perfect. The fact that Thrusters DON’T hurt makes me wonder if you do it “right” when you are thinking of driving the weight up and over your head and wrong when you squat away…

And…at 6’5" things change. Lifting is and always has been a short man’s game. I am too short for hoops and too tall for lifting. So…I need to either grow or shrink.

A ‘good’ coach will help you. Where are you?

Waterloo, IA

I’m not an athlete though. Just a guy trying to look better and feel better. Bench and bar in the basement kind of thing. I don’t really like to go to gyms because I’m not very strong (Really. You’d laugh.) School and life’s keeping me busy too. LOL. More excuses I guess.

[/quote]

Coach,

I really have to start proofreading. I meant the front squat progression you gave me a couple of weeks ago and RDLs are okay. Full deads are not. I need some more lernin’.

Ohio is two or three states away. Who knows. I might need a roadtrip by then. Also, there’s a Mormon branch of the family tree in Utah (not Salt Lake. The usual strongholds). Until then, thanks for the help.

[quote]Danny John wrote:
I think Iowa is near Ohio…but I don’t know. I’m in Ohio for about two weeks every summer and I would be happy to work with you. Seriously. You might hate the drive home but you would learn a bucket of stuff…

rodger1 wrote:
Danny John wrote:
Roger,
Sure…not everything is going to be perfect. The fact that Thrusters DON’T hurt makes me wonder if you do it “right” when you are thinking of driving the weight up and over your head and wrong when you squat away…

And…at 6’5" things change. Lifting is and always has been a short man’s game. I am too short for hoops and too tall for lifting. So…I need to either grow or shrink.

A ‘good’ coach will help you. Where are you?

Waterloo, IA

I’m not an athlete though. Just a guy trying to look better and feel better. Bench and bar in the basement kind of thing. I don’t really like to go to gyms because I’m not very strong (Really. You’d laugh.) School and life’s keeping me busy too. LOL. More excuses I guess.

[/quote]

Well, from Ames Iowa (central Iowa) to Ohio is about 10.5 hours, and I’m assuming from Waterloo (Eastern Iowa) it’ll be a little less. That’s quite a time commitment.

Now, if an Iowa T-Cell were going to carpool, and DJ was willing to see us…

[quote]Danny John wrote:
Saturday night: fire in a downstairs outlet, toliet overflows upstairts. So, I figure…the world is in balance…

The key is this: I still trained hard on Sunday. A little fire, a little plumbing, a little dog with bloody poop all over her sleeping area…well, that’s not enough to stop me!

Let’s talk training![/quote]

Dan,
Stupid question, sorry. What length of chain and thickness would you buy. Hope you were not on the toilet when it overflowed
Lonnie

I would still recommend the BFS chains for high school use. I have all of them…many sets of all of them. It is amazing to watch the athletes use them!!!

[quote]lwade wrote:
Danny John wrote:
Saturday night: fire in a downstairs outlet, toliet overflows upstairts. So, I figure…the world is in balance…

The key is this: I still trained hard on Sunday. A little fire, a little plumbing, a little dog with bloody poop all over her sleeping area…well, that’s not enough to stop me!

Let’s talk training!

Dan,
Stupid question, sorry. What length of chain and thickness would you buy. Hope you were not on the toilet when it overflowed
Lonnie[/quote]