JamesFazz

Looking for some feedback on my high bar squat. This was set 3 of 5 at 130kg (285 pounds): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk5fyA9czBQ

It appears to me the hips are rising a little faster than the chest but if you identify any other issues please let me know.

So we don't derail the thread, I squat High Bar because its more sport-specific (I compete in wrestling). Please lets not make the thread about this choice.

Thanks in advance, James

Mark Rippetoe

Explain how squatting with lighter weight and an incorrect back angle is specific to wrestling.

JamesFazz

The position with the knee very far over the toes is achieved in some single leg or fireman’s carry takedown entries.

The front squat is even more specific with the weight in front of you and I do train those on occasion too.

I acknowledge you squat less high bar than low bar, that was never in dispute.

Mark Rippetoe

So, you think the position with which the joint is trained is more relevant to the sport than the strength obtained from the training?

JamesFazz

No, I agree the strength is very important. I don’t have a view on which is more important but I would say with confidence been particularly strong at specific joint angles is very important to success in the sport; if you can’t finish the takedown after expending the energy to get there you won’t get very far. Most of these fights to finish the movement start in positions with joint angles more closely resembling the high bar squat than the low bar squat.

I really don’t won’t to be in an argument with you Rip, you obviously know much more than I do. I just wanted some feedback on my squat and this wasn’t an attempt to undermine the program.

Sorry if it came across that way.

Mark Rippetoe

The low bar squat is optimized for strength. The reason you cannot assume this exact position in wrestling movements are because of the limitations imposed by the necessities of the double leg, the fireman's carry, or whatever.

When I was a wrestler in high school, we ran stairs and wind sprints for conditioning, but we didn't try to run them in a wrestling stance. Why would developing strength be any different?

Specificity belongs in practice; generality belongs in training. Make sure you're not cross-wiring the two.

aweight

Dear Mark, I’m 6’1”, 150 lbs, in my forties and just six months into weight training. Until not too long back, my weight used to be in the high 130s, which I inexplicably never felt was too skinny because it never seemed to come in the way of anything athletic I wanted to do.

Goal: to get to deadlifting 2x body weight and 1.5x squats for at least 5 reps, so if my weight continues to be 150 lbs, my 5RM goals would be 300 lbs and 225 lbs respectively. A few weeks back, I had worked up to 245 lbs and 182.5 lbs respectively before I got injured and have been forced to back off a bit, so I’m questioning my caloric intake.

Caloric intake: I was aggressively eating “hard” for my first 4 months making close to 2500 C, but for the last 2 months have switched back to eating just by hunger, but still close to 1gm/pound protein. Eating just by hunger usually makes me eat closer to 2000 C. Eating at least 2500 C every day makes me very full and is not easy for me.

Given my modest goal above, can I stay around 150 lbs eating just by hunger — which means around 2200 C — and accomplish it? I don’t mind getting bigger but am not looking necessarily to get big, just strong enough to lift 2x and squat 1.5x body weight a few times. Or is it folly to expect to work my way up to even that goal at not-even-2500 C while staying injury free?

Thank you in advance for your kindness and advice.

Mark Rippetoe

If you're not a troll, you're posting on the wrong board. Either way, NO.