Questions on Steps for the Best Squats/Dead Lifts

heya Everyone,

i come here to ask a big favor from all of you enthusiastic dead lifters or squats killers :stuck_out_tongue: since its my first post ever!!!

and i know Tnation forum would be the best place to get all of your opinions on the topic mentioned

ive been researching alot about the squats and deadlifts, and there is no true answer on how do we find out if we are doing it in the correct way or not.

currently i am conducting a research on getting to know the ā€œstep by stepā€ of how a bodybuilder thinks before he attempts his squats, while doing it, and at the end. like what things that pops into your head , form ? breathing ? etcā€¦ and what things do you say to yourself to push you or to motivate you while doing it.

you might think i sound stupid for asking such question, but trust me your answers will mean ALOT for me

HOPE TO SEE LOTS OF FEEDBACK

REGARDS

MJ

339 views and no one would say a word ???

Do you actually mean a bodybuilder, as in someone who competes in the activity of bodybuilding, or are you just wanting to perspective of a competitor?

I do a lot of deadlifts between strongman and powerlifting, but I am not a bodybuilder.

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
Do you actually mean a bodybuilder, as in someone who competes in the activity of bodybuilding, or are you just wanting to perspective of a competitor?

I do a lot of deadlifts between strongman and powerlifting, but I am not a bodybuilder.[/quote]

Thanks for the reply! ā€¦ its great to hear from a powerlifterā€¦ well i understand from a powerlifter view its all about weights and getting to lift themā€¦ but the bodybuilder is more into shape and strength ā€¦ but would like to hear your side ā€¦since i dont know if there are many powerlifters around here

Ideally you should post this question on the Bigger, Stronger, Leaner forum instead. The problem though is each individual will likely talk about lifting cues that worked for HIM and youā€™ll likely end up with way too much noise. As an example, I remember an older guy told me to visualise putting my shoulder blades in my back pocket over a decade back while deadlifting, back when i had started lifting seriously and it did help me learn to contract my core/lats along with the lower back - but these days I actually pull with a rounded back sumo-style since my goals have shifted.

Out of curiosity, are you from south-east asia/india by any chance?

[quote]vipuae wrote:
Thanks for the reply! ā€¦ its great to hear from a powerlifterā€¦ well i understand from a powerlifter view its all about weights and getting to lift themā€¦ but the bodybuilder is more into shape and strength ā€¦ but would like to hear your side ā€¦since i dont know if there are many powerlifters around here[/quote]

Heya, nopes not reallyā€¦ infactā€¦ i am based in Swedenā€¦ but thats exactly what i am looking forā€¦ lifting cues, thats precisely what i am looking forā€¦ its a part of my research :slight_smile: ā€¦

[quote]Depression Boy wrote:
Ideally you should post this question on the Bigger, Stronger, Leaner forum instead. The problem though is each individual will likely talk about lifting cues that worked for HIM and youā€™ll likely end up with way too much noise. As an example, I remember an older guy told me to visualise putting my shoulder blades in my back pocket over a decade back while deadlifting, back when i had started lifting seriously and it did help me learn to contract my core/lats along with the lower back - but these days I actually pull with a rounded back sumo-style since my goals have shifted.

Out of curiosity, are you from south-east asia/india by any chance?

[quote]vipuae wrote:
Thanks for the reply! ā€¦ its great to hear from a powerlifterā€¦ well i understand from a powerlifter view its all about weights and getting to lift themā€¦ but the bodybuilder is more into shape and strength ā€¦ but would like to hear your side ā€¦since i dont know if there are many powerlifters around here[/quote][/quote]

[quote]vipuae wrote:

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
Do you actually mean a bodybuilder, as in someone who competes in the activity of bodybuilding, or are you just wanting to perspective of a competitor?

I do a lot of deadlifts between strongman and powerlifting, but I am not a bodybuilder.[/quote]

Thanks for the reply! ā€¦ its great to hear from a powerlifterā€¦ well i understand from a powerlifter view its all about weights and getting to lift themā€¦ but the bodybuilder is more into shape and strength ā€¦ but would like to hear your side ā€¦since i dont know if there are many powerlifters around here[/quote]

Iā€™d say a powerlifter/strongman is more into strength than a bodybuilderā€¦but aside from me being pedantic it would be useful if you did specify if you only want a bodybuilders view, or all iron-addicts from the various ā€˜walksā€™? And just so you know, there are a ton of powerlifters around, infact there are a lot of bodybuilders, strongmen, powerlifters, and even more who would consider themselves a combination/somewhere in between.

Just out of curiosity, although it may help to clarify what youā€™re after, what exactly is the research youā€™re doing, i.e. research aim etc

The answer is that everyone is different. There are way too many mental cues to list for either lift, and technique varies according to structure and strength.

Iā€™ll go ahead and answer for me though. My main focus, particularly in the deadlift, is aggression and speed. Taking the weight seriously without being scared of it is important. If I get nervous about a lift, thereā€™s a good chance Iā€™ll miss it. I have to block out the negative thoughts and just attack the weight. The squat is slightly different because the eccentric portion of the lift requires some control, but coming out of the bottom of the squat, those same cues are useful for me.

Heya rusty,

well thats right, i am researching lifting cues between Deadlifters and find out if there is a specific pattern or not. and how do they motivate /reminds themselves with specific keywords.

[quote]rusty92 wrote:

[quote]vipuae wrote:

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
Do you actually mean a bodybuilder, as in someone who competes in the activity of bodybuilding, or are you just wanting to perspective of a competitor?

I do a lot of deadlifts between strongman and powerlifting, but I am not a bodybuilder.[/quote]

Thanks for the reply! ā€¦ its great to hear from a powerlifterā€¦ well i understand from a powerlifter view its all about weights and getting to lift themā€¦ but the bodybuilder is more into shape and strength ā€¦ but would like to hear your side ā€¦since i dont know if there are many powerlifters around here[/quote]

Iā€™d say a powerlifter/strongman is more into strength than a bodybuilderā€¦but aside from me being pedantic it would be useful if you did specify if you only want a bodybuilders view, or all iron-addicts from the various ā€˜walksā€™? And just so you know, there are a ton of powerlifters around, infact there are a lot of bodybuilders, strongmen, powerlifters, and even more who would consider themselves a combination/somewhere in between.

Just out of curiosity, although it may help to clarify what youā€™re after, what exactly is the research youā€™re doing, i.e. research aim etc
[/quote]

Heya,

thanks for the feedback, while performing the deadlifts/squats do you tend to forget anything ā€¦ like your form ā€¦ or your breathing patternā€¦ and if there are any keywords you say to yourself to motivate you or remind you of things to be done

[quote]flipcollar wrote:
The answer is that everyone is different. There are way too many mental cues to list for either lift, and technique varies according to structure and strength.

Iā€™ll go ahead and answer for me though. My main focus, particularly in the deadlift, is aggression and speed. Taking the weight seriously without being scared of it is important. If I get nervous about a lift, thereā€™s a good chance Iā€™ll miss it. I have to block out the negative thoughts and just attack the weight. The squat is slightly different because the eccentric portion of the lift requires some control, but coming out of the bottom of the squat, those same cues are useful for me.[/quote]

I donā€™t like to get all jacked up and yell and slam shit around, I try to have mental focus and I picture myself completing the lift and imaging now everything is going to feel. When im going for a max or a very heavy lift, I donā€™t want to be focusing on a million different cues at once. I trust that my training and repetition with the lift has been adequate and that I can make it happen by sheer force of will.

Iā€™m similar with some of things cparker said.

If itā€™s a heavy lift Iā€™ll imagine myself completing the lift before I even step up to do it and have faith in the fact that I am ready to do it, and by imagine I mean Iā€™ll both see myself performing it as well as ā€˜feelā€™ it in my hands and the muscles Iā€™ll mainly be using etc. Also Iā€™m not a fan of ā€˜seeing whether I can lift somethingā€™ but more of ā€˜showing to myself that I canā€™, if that makes sense? So when I do a lift except for maybe 3rd attempt in a competition then Iā€™ll know that Iā€™m at least 90% sure Iā€™ll make it (completely made up percentage but 99 seemed too high for some of the times). If itā€™s a 1RM or close then I will get a bit angry etc on the inside but focusing it on the weights and the task at hand, so ā€˜focused angerā€™ rather than just wild Iā€™m pissed off slamming shit around angry.

As far as actual cue words etc I donā€™t really use any, if your form is fairly consistent and youā€™ve got enough repetitions in over time then IMO it should be more of an automatic process. Vipuae, Iā€™m assuming that coming from a research point of view youā€™ve done lots of reading etc but in case you missed it then thereā€™s a fair amount of research looking at experts and novices and their thought processes/motor cortex use, and basically experts seem to have far more automated processing when theyā€™re performing their particular skill, and actually I think that itā€™s possible that if you over think an action then it can actually decrease performance? (I am in no way saying that Iā€™m an expert btw, incase thatā€™s how it comes across)

Thanks rusty for the great feedback, its interesting how different people react towards such exercises and yeps i have done tons of reading but id like to hear from the public in different forums about what do they think about squats and deadliftsā€¦ infact an extra question would be greatā€¦ do you wear a weight lifting belt ? and is there a specific reason for your answer

[quote]rusty92 wrote:
Iā€™m similar with some of things cparker said.

If itā€™s a heavy lift Iā€™ll imagine myself completing the lift before I even step up to do it and have faith in the fact that I am ready to do it, and by imagine I mean Iā€™ll both see myself performing it as well as ā€˜feelā€™ it in my hands and the muscles Iā€™ll mainly be using etc. Also Iā€™m not a fan of ā€˜seeing whether I can lift somethingā€™ but more of ā€˜showing to myself that I canā€™, if that makes sense? So when I do a lift except for maybe 3rd attempt in a competition then Iā€™ll know that Iā€™m at least 90% sure Iā€™ll make it (completely made up percentage but 99 seemed too high for some of the times). If itā€™s a 1RM or close then I will get a bit angry etc on the inside but focusing it on the weights and the task at hand, so ā€˜focused angerā€™ rather than just wild Iā€™m pissed off slamming shit around angry.

As far as actual cue words etc I donā€™t really use any, if your form is fairly consistent and youā€™ve got enough repetitions in over time then IMO it should be more of an automatic process. Vipuae, Iā€™m assuming that coming from a research point of view youā€™ve done lots of reading etc but in case you missed it then thereā€™s a fair amount of research looking at experts and novices and their thought processes/motor cortex use, and basically experts seem to have far more automated processing when theyā€™re performing their particular skill, and actually I think that itā€™s possible that if you over think an action then it can actually decrease performance? (I am in no way saying that Iā€™m an expert btw, incase thatā€™s how it comes across)[/quote]