First Timer at 46 / Never Been “Strong”

[RichK]

The Romaleos were great. Bar height is correct. But my squat form seems to go more upright with weight above 145. I completed the sets across at 175 today but reviewing and comparing to 145 warmup, I’m gonna drop the working weight back down.

Coach actually said to get the form correct at 45 then 55 then 65 and so on. I didn’t do that (dumb mistake), I just went through the warmups and felt/saw I had the right back angle. I got it right all through warm ups and then at 175 it looks like I became more upright again.

I had my daughter video me during warm up, no spotter arms, looked all good and then I’m like ok I got it, you can go now, put the spotter arms in, set my phone to the side to video and then can’t get as clear of a picture because the spotter arms are in.

Pffffft. Pretty frustrating but it’s my own fault - should’ve just did what I was told to do by a professional! So on Monday, I’m going to actually fully follow coach’s instructions, see what weight my form fails at exactly. Then I can determine the proper working weight. I’m pretty sure that’s the point of going up in the increments he stated.

[RichK]

Woke up thinking about squats. Reflected on yesterday’s workout. Also knees are a little sore, not even sore, I can just feel them if that makes sense. Looking at the videos frame by frame, I can see my body weight shift to my toes, no doubt this is where the knees are coming into play with too much force on them. Definitely tomorrow for my squat workout I’m going to actually do what the coach told me. Start at 45 and increase by 10, keeping form the entire way, so that I can really drill in the proper movement and balance. It’s gotta get drilled in more. I kinda thought I had it yesterday, but looking back and being honest, I really only sorta had it but I just wanted to do the weight; my ego getting in the way. But that’s dumb and a 20 year olds kinda mistake. I love the discipline and humility this takes!!! Frickin love it!

[Bill Anders]

Coach actually said to get the form correct at 45 then 55 then 65 and so on. I didn’t do that (dumb mistake), I just went through the warmups and felt/saw I had the right back angle. I got it right all through warm ups and then at 175 it looks like I became more upright again.

Woke up thinking about squats. Reflected on yesterday’s workout. Also knees are a little sore, not even sore, I can just feel them if that makes sense. Looking at the videos frame by frame, I can see my body weight shift to my toes, no doubt this is where the knees are coming into play with too much force on them. Definitely tomorrow for my squat workout I’m going to actually do what the coach told me. Start at 45 and increase by 10, keeping form the entire way, so that I can really drill in the proper movement and balance. It’s gotta get drilled in more. I kinda thought I had it yesterday, but looking back and being honest, I really only sorta had it but I just wanted to do the weight; my ego getting in the way. But that’s dumb and a 20 year olds kinda mistake. I love the discipline and humility this takes!!! Frickin love it!

Yep, drill those movements in now and remember that every single warmup rep from here on out, forever, is practice for the worksets. Too many folks rush through the warmups, not thinking that they are ingraining movement patterns that will impact the worksets.

But don't get sucked into the mindset that every rep at your working weight needs to be textbook perfect. Since they are close to your limit, there will be variations from that ideal. That's just the nature of the beast. Your observed back angle at 175 will correct itself as you add weight and mindfully practice each rep during your warmup. Soon your 175 will be a perfect warmup and you might notice a back angle variation at 225. Then that 225 will be a perfect warmup and you'll notice a back angle variation at 275. And so on.

Of course, follow the coach's guidance, but don't let yourself get sucked into the mindset that the worksets must be perfectly executed and a reset is required otherwise. There's a great article here called, simply enough, The Reset: Why and How by Dr Rori Alter, SSC. You'll find your situation there.

Keep at it!

[RichK]

Exactly what I was thinking! Literally saying to myself “now don’t go overthinking and be so self critical it paralyzes you Rich, get the form, follow the coaches instructions to the tee, be honest with yourself and put the work in”.

I’ve been doin yard work all day and I’ve been thinking about squats. The posterior activation specifically at the bottom and how I lost that somewhere. All good. Gonna keep it simple and think these few things:

- Keep the bar in a slot going straight down and straight up from my shoulders to my mid foot and back to my shoulders.

- Think posterior chain and that feeling at the bottom to drive the hips up.

- Squats are a back exercise.

Man I’m tellin ya although I wish I was going for 185 tomorrow, I’m almost equally excited for the challenge of the discipline / concentration / awareness required to really drill it in.

[Bill Anders]

Gonna keep it simple and think these few things:

- Keep the bar in a slot going straight down and straight up from my shoulders to my mid foot and back to my shoulders.

- Think posterior chain and that feeling at the bottom to drive the hips up.

Exactly. Once unracked, stop and make sure that you are balanced between the ball of your feet and the heels, then try to keep the bar over that spot all the way down and back up. Rip wrote an article called Understanding The Master Cue covering exactly this. Practicing that through every single warmup with be the make or break for heavy weights.

- Squats are a back exercise.

It's so much more than that. Once it gets heavy and you take a break (vacation, business trip, etc.), you'll feel exactly where when you return to the heavy squats, and it's rarely the back.

You'll get 185 soon enough, and pretty soon it will be a warmup weight that you never think of again.

Keep at it!

[RichK]

Thanks! And yep, I read Master Cue and I read this also.

Squat Mechanics | Mark Rippetoe

That’s where the “it’s a back exercise” comes from. I think this is a good cue for me as well.

Btw, yard work is more brutal on the back than any exercise I’ve ever done lol

[RichK]

Workout sucked tonight. Absolutely wretched. Worked on squat form. The more I worked on it the less confident I felt. Finally, at the very end kinda sorta got it right where it felt balanced and the bar was moving in a straight line up and down and my knees weren’t shifting forward. I still don’t think I was deep enough looking at the video replay though. And when I felt the balance, I felt as though I was hunched forward - my back was still straight, it just “felt” like I was hunched. But no stinging pain in the interior of my knees when I moved the bar in a straight path. Idk. Last lift before this was 175 but the slow mo replay showed my knees moving forward when initially moving up from the bottom. Must’ve did at least 65 reps at 115, not including the lighter weights I started with. Should’ve stopped the workout there and chalked it up to a form practice. Nope. Still went on to bench press. That went great cause I was so angry at the squats. Then tried to deadlift. Failed after 3 reps of the working set most likely from fatiguing myself with all the damn squats. Also was rushing to get done cause I was downstairs for 2 hours. So frustrated.

But at the very least I got a decent taste of what it feels like to be balanced and move the bar straight up and down. So smooth. I’ll be back for more on Thursday. No idea what weight I should use. I’m thinking if 115 is where I can successfully complete the reps in balance, I should start there. Deadlift I’ll give another go at 185.

[RichK]

Made a video to submit for another form review. Squats, 4 sets, 2 different workout days. First 3 I thought I was doing it correctly but like I said, really felt it in my knees afterward and even during the lifts. 4th set I was in balance 4 out of 5 reps, zero pain and just felt really smooth and in control. Totally different feeling compare to what I’ve been doing. It was a frustrating workout last night to say the least but at least I got a taste of being in balance.

[Bill Anders]

Last lift before this was 175 but the slow mo replay showed my knees moving forward when initially moving up from the bottom.

That's what they are supposed to do. They will slide forward a bit as you drive your hips up off the bottom.

The concern with knee slide is on the way down, since it signifies that you are not reaching back with your hips sufficiently. You'll end up bleeding off the tension through your adductors and hamstrings that enable a good bounce and hip drive. That knee slide is what will get you into your knees too much and cause pains like you've experienced.

If you've locked your knees in place during the descent and have got to depth to take advantage of that bounce and initiate the hip drive, the knees have to shift forward a hair for that drive to happen. By then, you're taking advantage of all of the tightness in your legs and hips to drive the bar back to lockout.

[RichK]

I may be describing it incorrectly and insufficiently. The weight shifts towards my toes, my knees move forward (probably not just my knees), I don’t go on my toes but I’m definitely using the front of my foot to counterbalance the forward momentum and then I feel it in my knees. Lighter weights didn’t bother me so much or cause any discomfort. When I was properly balanced, there was none of this counterbalancing taking place.