You guys see anything here worth noting?
Top of my work sets, 415 x 3
Looks fine from what I can see.
Thanks.
I sent it to my prior trainer (who wrote the programming I’m on now) and he agreed with Dana (in the vid) that I need to drive my knees out on the way down. They aren’t caving but there’s some instability in the descent.
Since pushing your knees out is your concern, I think it would be better to have a video from the front instead of from the side.
Do you have this issue with lighter weights? Some people either because of flexibility or just the way their hips are built aren’t going to be able to really push out the knees that far with that small amount of toe flare you have.
Granted, I on the other hand use a fairly wide stance with little toe flare because I do have the hip structure and flexibility for it and flaring my toes much causes me a lot of hip instability and knee wobble with heavier weights.
Of course, this could just be a thing you just need to practice more. It might also be a strength thing that directed assistance work can iron out. I’m guessing you know what cues work for you and what assistance works out for you by this point so I won’t go into depth on that unless you want me to.
OK thanks,
Your post brings up a lot of potential issues. That was a heavy set for me, and in my lighter work I don’t think I get that kind of knee wobble? for lack of a better term.
I got it here as well in my last meet, from a year ago. This was a 40 lb PR at the time, so it too was pretty darn heavy for me.
I’d describe my stance as medium and toe flare moderate. I used to go wider but cannot generate enough power out of the hole; perhaps I was trying too hard to mimic geared lifters.
Perhaps I just need to get stronger?!
For assistance work, I feel I get a lot out of GHR’s, reverse hypers, any hip-hinge exercise, hip presses. I probably need more quad work as we tend to emphasize the posterior chain exercises more.
Also, I tend to have more instability on the way down. Once loaded and tasked with getting out of the hole I always feel more solid.
Any thoughts you have on accessories would be appreciated.
It’s hard to tell exactly, but in the first video, it looks like your feet are “outside” your knees. Like your feet are so far apart your knees almost have to be inside/in between them. Like your shins aren’t vertical and parallel to eachother at the bottom. Even though they don’t “collapse” they are inward because you’re kind of knock-kneed.
I have been doing “Sumo Bar Humps” to hit my glutes, re-enforce hip drive, and really focus on spreading the floor and keeping shins vertical. Basically put the bar in the rack right below knee height, take a wide stance and drive the hips in and shoulders back while you push feet out. Like a glute thrust, or Glute bridge only standing up, in Sumo Deadlift position.
It’s been great for almost everything. Including my flat feet and knee-cave.
I just thought of something else too. That’s the concept of the tripod foot. If you look it up, you’ll find explanations better than what I can come up with.
For knee stability, I like bulgarian split squats, lunges, and wide stance box squats. Keep in mind that your glutes play a very important role for keeping those knees out.
You could also try putting a band around your knees for your warm ups to reinforce the habit.
For wide squats, I like the cues spread the floor and push the knees out.
For medium or close, I think of screwing my feet into the ground and tripod foot.
All of those are my personal preferences and certainly are not the only ways of doing it.
Today in the gym. Focused on driving knees outward and keeping everything stable This was 475 with light reverse bands that I measured to take 34 lbs out of hole. I warmed up with lots of banded lateral walks and GHRs. The extra tension I was pushing for and using a stiffer, casted wrap instead of the Inzer grippers gave me a huge bump out of the hole.
Let me know if you guys see anything weird.
