She just needs a better coach. Take her to Carl Raghavan.
I posted many months ago that my wife wasn’t achieving depth during the squat. Tried doing dumbbell squats onto box and using the incline leg press, but she still hasn’t been able to hit depth. So, finally I got her to hold onto some straps for balance and she began to hit depth. She can only do so when holding the straps or she just falls over backwards.
So I had her just do reps to depth until she got bored. When she stood up she mentioned that the muscles around her knees ached-that was something new. Several years ago she had visited a sports physician because she felt something ‘pop’ in the inner left knee when she was dancing. The physician said she had ‘muscle weakness’ in that knee and prescribed exercises to strengthen them-it was so long ago that after the pain went, she thought no more about it, but this is the same knee that was aching after a few air squats. I suspect that the box squats just gave her something to bounce off of and the incline leg press isn’t developing the strength in that area ?
I’m thinking that she needs to progressively load that knee whilst hitting depth and using straps to help the balance. The only way I can think of doing that is to use a stretchy band looped around the frame and across her shoulders. Can’t think of much else. Any thoughts ?
She just needs a better coach. Take her to Carl Raghavan.
Probably, but that isn’t going to happen. So, I’m stuck with the task ‘for better or for worse’. Have you ever come across someone that cannot squat and just toppled over backwards as soon as they get anywhere near parallel ?
I don't understand the technicalities of coaching the squat form, but a very important lesson that I have learnt the hard way is that one should never attempt to correct ANYTHING that his wife does.
Yea, so please let somebody else correct her technique as Coach Rip says.
Morgan has a clue.
No she hasn’t Will.
She is fine with me coaching her and isn’t interested in going to the lengths of getting a coach. To be fair, it’s me that’s bothered by her not hitting depth as I worry it’s going to damage her knees. I reckon it would have Rip scratching his head. I’ve shown a lot of people how to squat, even my 83 year old Mum, so it talks me that I can’t figure out why she just tips over backwards like that.
A good husband would buy her a big pair of New boobs to Shift her balance forward
Mechanically, that might work.
I did suggest her bum was too heavy :-) that didn’t go down so well.
Seriously though, that’s how she uses the bar. Effectively she ‘good mornings’ every rep thinking she is going to depth. Her upper body is fine, in fact at the beginning of the rep it all looks so perfect.
Yesterday I had her doing air squats using the bar on the pins as support-she is trying to use as little as possible. She did 5x5 and literally couldn’t walk after each set. This is a lady that can 3/4 squat 50Kg for 5x3 and has been pushing 70Kg on the incline press with the stops set right to the very bottom.
I think we are now getting somewhere as she is managing proper depth and keeping her knees out. Still a long way to go. I suspect this is going to take several months. Once she gets sufficient strength to get depth and hold herself, then we can add some weight.
It wouldn’t. The weak point is her legs. My crappy coaching seems to be getting results though.