Swoz Gives it a Red Hot Go

[Adrian Nilsson]

Hey, Adrian here, formerly known as ddl

Your squats are way high, you're gonna need to take a bunch of weight off the bar to get to depth. 90kg might be good, but I wouldn't be surprised if 80kg was more appropriate.

Take a wider stance with less toes out. Film your warmups from a rear-oblique angle at hip height and make sure the crease of your hip is BELOW, not in line with, the top of your knee. You don't have to post the warmups, just film them for your own sake.

With all of your questions in mind I would seriously consider working with a coach if I were you. I have worked with an online SSC myself and it was worth every penny.

Good luck in training and keep putting in the work!

[swoz]

Thanks Adrian!

The best time to fix my squat would have been months ago. The second best time...

I found this very interesting tutorial on squat depth: Let's get to the bottom of your squat! - YouTube

I've been reviewing the few squat videos that I've made (80kg, 95kg, 110kg) and it seems to me that I need to set my knees better, stretch my adductors against them, and learn to recognize how the "bounce" feels.

On the 80kg squat I know that I hit depth because it was green-lit at a meet. I don't think my form was right then either though: I was just able to grind my way out of it at that weight. Since then I think I've been stopping myself short because of an instinct telling me I won't be able to get back up if I go lower.

Bill has been pointing out my collapsing knees/adductors and I think the Paul Horn tutorial is giving me the tools to appreciate that.

I have worked with an online SSC myself and it was worth every penny.

I wouldn't hesitate if this were in-person. I'm even tempted by the upcoming London workshop though that's about ten weeks out. I'm not very enthusiastic about trying to do it over zoom though.

Maybe it's time to ask the friendly people at the local powersports club if someone can help me out. They seem to know what they are doing, one of the young guys there even set a new Swedish record on squats the other week I believe.

[Adrian Nilsson]

Since then I think I've been stopping myself short because of an instinct telling me I won't be able to get back up if I go lower.

That is what squatting way too much weight feels like. Your body won't let you go below parallell. The 95kg set you posted about a month ago was high too.

I don't think you need to do or think about anything except for taking weight off the bar and make sure you depth for five reps in a row.

I am currently in Brussels for a week working with SSC Steve Ross at Brussels Barbell to help prepare for the starting strength certification test in Texas. I wouldn't mind having a look at you in-person once I get back home to Sweden for free if you'd like, I'm sure I could fix you up. It's easier to get to Skåne than London or Brussels for sure. But I am not an SSC ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[swoz]

OHP48 x2x1 x3x4
DL (abort)

Crap performance. Learned that I can't deadlift shortly after a meal. Have to make time for a catch-up session.

I'm experimenting with the OHP cue of "weight onto front-foot" instead of "hips out." I don't know if that's correct or not, have to check, but it feels intuitively more in the dynamic spirit.

[swoz]

That is what squatting way too much weight feels like.

This is useful information!

I believe that 92.5kg is when I started really struggling with the squat. I tried a bunch of interventions: more eating, ten minute rests, four-day split with less squatting, turning a blind eye to creeping form problems.

Like they say: Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.

I wouldn't mind having a look at you in-person once I get back home to Sweden for free if you'd like, I'm sure I could fix you up. It's easier to get to Skåne than London or Brussels for sure. But I am not an SSC ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That is very generous, thank you! I will eagerly take you up on this when you have the time.

Good luck with the SSC exam.

[swoz]

Squat
50x5
60x5
70x5
80x5 SQ80x5 - YouTube

Bench
40x5
50x5
60x5
64x5
71x4

Deadlift
60x3
80x3
100x2
110x1
125x3 DL125x3 - YouTube

Lots of risky changes:
- Squat reset to 80kg to work on depth.
- Switch back to three-day split for more squat frequency to catch up.
- Stopping early if form breaks down (bench and deadlift today.)
- Switched to Paul Horn's "RSS" variant of LP.

Just now I'm more focused on locking in good form than adding weight on the bar. I hope that the RSS program will help with this but we will see.

[swoz]

(I wish I could stop thinking about this but it's going around and around in my brain...)

Hypothesis: Deadlift has stalled at 125kg because it's limited by the squat. Squat on paper has been strong at 110kg and climbing but in reality maybe hasn't hit depth since 80-90kg.

Plan: Squat at higher frequency (3x/week) with focus on hitting depth, take it easy on the deadlift (1-2x/week) to see when it starts moving again, and keep the presses moving forward (albeit at lower frequency with the 3-day split.) Chins probably fine too if squats/deadlift don't need much recovery for a couple of weeks or so.

Maybe I should also reset my deadlift back 5-10kg. Then it can come back up with the squat. Just now I keep attempting 125kg with mixed results and I'm wrecked afterwards.

[adm]

Hey swoz, I think this require a look from the coach but let me share my three cents. Deadlift performed improperly drains energy drastically, it cost you a whole lot more than it should. Some clues have already been shared here and looking at your deadlift I have impression that majority of work is done by your back not your legs. You seem not to set up properly before you start pushing the floor with your legs. In second and third rep it is visible how your lumbar spine moves which suggests to me your core is not rigid enough during set up. My suggestion would be to reset 10% and focus on your form. You can also try 3 inch belt for deadlift since for many people it is difficult to set up properly using 4 inch belt (worth to try at least). When the bar leaves the floor your knee should extend and the rest of the body should more or less stay as during the set up once the bar. The bar should touch your legs during the whole movement, it is visible in the video it goes away from your legs once it leaves the floor. To summarize I think your DL is limited by form not lack of strength. Just keep in mind I'm not a coach. I suggest not to overthink it, simply reset, read again the deadlift chapter in the blue book or watch tutorial videos again and apply all the steps.

[Adrian Nilsson]

Hey again!

Your squat looks much MUCH better. Your stance is too narrow, the outside of the shoulders should be roughly in line with the inside of your heels with the toes pointing out roughly 30 degress. But you are hitting depth, driving your hips, and it looks fast, which is good because your squat has room to grow. Good work, truly. I know it takes a lot of humility to listen to advice and remove weight from the bar.

For your deadlift, here is what I think is going on. I can't see the whole set-up but it looks like when you place the bar an inch forward of your shins you are leaning forward, which makes your shins go back. Putting the bar an inch from your shins with non-vertical shins means that the bar will be behind midfoot. This explains your high hips and vertical shins in the start position.

The first movement off the floor the bar comes forward and moves up in a straight line, which is good. The problem is that to reach midfoot the bar pulls you loose and you lose a lot of efficiency moving the bar. The reps aren't actually slow or hard. You're just pulling with a loose spine because the bar has pulled you out of position and you need to extend it at the top to lock out the deadlift. Watch this video and let me know if you have any questions: Common Deadlift Errors ft. Austin Baraki - YouTube

I don't think you need to reset your deadlift, I think you need to do it correctly. If you do it will make the bar feel much lighter. I think the Horn program is fine, though my preference is good old starting strength.

I'm home from Brussels! Send me an email: adrian.nilsson1@gmail.com and we'll work something out!

[swoz]

Thanks for the tips guys. I have mailed you, Adrian.

I'm looking forward to having proper form. Maybe I'll even be able to return to the standard SSLP three-day split. I moved away from that originally because squats felt too stressful which I attributed to intensity/volume but might have been technique. Horn seems to have a lower burnout risk in the short term (and more squat frequency than my BBRx four-day split.)

I'm embarrassed to see that in the squat video I posted there's only 60kg on the bar. Tomorrow I'll try 82.5kg or 85kg and be more diligent in my videography workflow.