A Balding Man's Advice on Powerlifting Technique

[Big Mike]

A Balding Man's Advice on Powerlifting Technique

Rob Wagner, M.Ed., C.S.C.S.

Manager University Strength and Fitness, University of Pennsylvania

This past February I attended the C.J. Batten's Bench Press and Powerlifting Seminar in Michigan as a guest speaker. As I awaited my turn at the podium, I heard an interesting quote. One of the speakers was talking about how important it is for powerlifters to learn the lifts from people who excel at them and not from those who are mediocre performers. The adage he used to enforce his point was, ‘never ask a bald man how to grow hair.’

Initially I agreed with the statement and thoroughly understood what he was saying. However as I rubbed my own balding scalp, I realized that I knew a hell of a lot about how to grow hair even though I couldn't get it to grow. In the 80's there was biotin, polysorbate 80 and the Helsinki formula for hair growth and in the 90's came Rogaine, Folligen and Propecia. It's amazing how motivated I became to learn about growing hair when I saw my own hair clogging up the shower and the sink. Despite this cruel trick of nature and my poor hair genetics, I was still able to became an amateur hair replacement/regrowth consultant for my balding friends and myself. Although this is not an article about hair, having pondered the hair growth analogy I realize that understanding how to do the lifts and doing the lifts are two completely different things. From my years in the sport I have found that even if you are not predisposed to excel at certain lifts, you are not precluded from improving on them if you are motivated enough to pay attention and refine your technique.

This series of articles will provide information on lifting techniques for all three of the powerlifts. This advice has nothing to do with training routines or weights. The ideas I will present range from things I've had to learn through necessity to simply observing athletes lifting in my University weightroom.

From a competitive lifting total standpoint I have never been a very balanced lifter. I used to go to the meet with a big squat and feel as if I was relying on my early lead to get through the final two lifts in front of the competition. Of all the lifts, I could always depend on the squat. Recently, this method of approaching a meet encountered a tragic blow. My 6th or 7th back injury, I've lost count at this point, relinquished my favorite lift to a hated and dreaded process of compressing my vertebral disks into vertebral Ritz crackers. Over a two-year period, the movement grew awkward and often was painful to perform. After one serious back injury had healed, I felt like I had forgotten how to squat, and in a sense I had. The process of squatting that I had adhered to for years was gone.

Let me point out that I never took this lift for granted. I knew each and every mechanism of the movement. By profession I teach the squat motion a couple of hundred times per year to athletes. Add to that the daily reinforcement of coaching technique and you can be coaching the lift thousands of times per year. Unfortunately by not following the processes I preached daily, I had lost the mastery of the lift. This actually led to another back injury, when I decided it was time to fix the problem or retire. The technique information you will read is part of the process of how I regained my form in this lift.

The Squat

I find that most lifters tend to underestimate the importance of the set up in the squat. Just get it out of the rack and squat, right? Wrong! The set up can make the lift or leave it in the hole. When the set up is done properly the weight can feel "light" on your back and the movement will feel smooth. The set up can greatly affect your body control and balance during the execution of the lift.

The first step is to remember to have the rack height adjusted to a height you can safely remove and return the bar. The clearance from the racks when you stand erect with the bar should be 3 - 4 inches from the bottom of the holder. This will ensure that you will be successful in returning the bar even if it moves down your back a little during the lift. As you approach the bar you must be focused on the lift and nothing else. Indulging yourself in a conversation about the NFL draft or that evening’s date plans while approaching the bar may lead to trouble in the lift. Instead, see yourself do the lift, whether it's a single rep or a set of five, do it in your head first. Make sure you concentrate on all aspects of the lift from placing your hands on the bar to taking your belt off at the end.

When you get to the bar the first thing you will do is place your hands on it in an evenly spaced manner. Regardless of whether you false or true grip the bar, get a solid grasp on it. The hands can greatly aid in keeping the bar from rolling on your back during the movement. The distance between the hands can be determined partially by function and comfort. The function involves holding the upper back musculature in an isometric contraction through the entire movement. The comfort aspect relates to the flexibility of the shoulders and wrists. Factors that play into this are arm length and torso size. The bigger the torso is than the wider the hand placement should be. Longer arms also fit this approach. There are no absolutes here, however, because the individual's flexibility, acceptance of discomfort and anatomical make up all vary. The objective is to get the hands as close to the body with the least amount of discomfort to the shoulders and wrists. The final point is that once you've found this position you must be able to rotate your elbows upwards. If the elbows are pointing towards the floor (perpendicular) you should move the hands so the elbows can achieve a more parallel position in relation to the floor. Once your elbows get in this position the upper back will perform as a more effective shelf for placing the bar.

Once your hands are placed, you are ready to go under the bar. Prior to going under, take a deep breath and hold it (I'll get back to this in a little bit). I suggest that you place your feet in a parallel position prior to lifting the bar off the racks. Your stance under the bar should be shoulder width or wider. This will depend on the rack system and whether you have to walk the bar out or stay in place (Monolift use). If you are walking out find a position that will allow you to step the weight out in 2 - 3 steps and no more. This includes that little stutter step you take to get the left foot 4 inches wider. Remember that there is no descent until you are set and you receive the signal from the head judge. Your postural muscles are under stress as soon as you have the weight out of the racks. Time is of the essence. The quicker you are set the less energy you will exert supporting the weight. If you are using a Monolift type device in competition it is best to assume your stance in the device and save your energy in terms of walking the weight out. However, if you don't have the opportunity to train on this type of apparatus don't, change your technique on the day of the contest. By not following your normal set up ritual you can throw off your normal breathing patterns and steps that you have been taking for the past several weeks of training. This will usually lead to unpleasant consequences in the performance of the lift.

Once your feet are in this parallel position and your hips are underneath the bar, you are ready to fit the bar to your back. Fitting the bar involves placing the bar in its appropriate position on your upper back and fitting your body tightly under the bar. Avoid placing the bar on top of your cervical vertabrae. These are the bony protrusions on the back of your neck. Instead you will place it on top of your contracted trapezius muscles and rear delts. The first step in creating this fit is to rotate the elbows upwards. This will help contract the trapezius and posterior deltoids. You must contract these muscles to help you keep the bar on top of the body. My coach Phil Pelura taught this idea to me fifteen years ago. The idea is to not let the weight sink into your traps and upper back, the more it does the more you will feel it. The positioning of the bar on your back has a lot of variables involved with it. I will give you a couple examples of this, but remember that organizations have rules about how far down the back the bar can be placed. If you have a short torso in relationship to your legs you should probably place the bar higher on your traps.

The opposite of this is also true. A long torso in relationship to your legs and the bar should be placed lower on your traps and rear delts. For those of you who have perfect anatomical dimensions or you fall into another category your positioning can be determined by the need for lean. I am not talking about meat quality but rather the angle that is created by your torso at the hip joint. During the squat the bar must stay over the foot otherwise you will fall. Keeping the bar in this position becomes most difficult at the bottom of the squat because your hips are at their greatest displacement in relation to the bar and your feet. Even the most upright squatters have to lean a little to get the bar over the foot. If the bar is positioned low on your upper back and you only have to lean a little then you're in good shape. If you have the bar low and you find yourself in a good morning position to get the bar over your foot you may want to move the bar up a little to reduce this lean. Both styles are used successfully, John Kuc and Frank Schramm both carried the bar high on the traps. Low bar squatters include Kirk Karwoski and Ed Coan. Keep in mind the lower bar position has its advantages when it fits the lifters anatomical needs. This bar position reduces the length of the weight arm. From a physics standpoint this will reduce the force production required by the erectors, glutes and hamstrings to maintain an erect torso when compared to the higher bar position. The other way to look at this is if you move the bar lower you will increase the amount of weight you will be able to hold upright.

Removing the bar from the rack requires control of the bar and your body. Once you've fitted the bar into its appropriate position on your back, you should then lift your rib cage upwards to aid in tightening your lower back. Briefly recall the breath you took earlier before heading under the bar. You should still be holding it, and should continue to hold it until you finish stepping out of the racks. This is one of those little things that is easy to forget to do but that does make a difference. To remove the bar you will simply lock the knees out by driving the arch of your foot down into the floor (remember your feet are parallel and at least shoulder width apart). Once you have cleared the racks and you let the bar stabilize, you will now be ready to proceed with stepping back into your stance. The steps should be low so you do not tilt your pelvis. Tilting the pelvis to any large degree will cause the weight to tip unevenly left to right. Picking your feet up and stepping can create this situation. I often suggest that instead of stepping out think of sliding or gliding the feet out behind you. The surface you are lifting on can play a role on how low you will keep your feet. Carpeted surfaces need a little more clearance than a hard wood platform surface. As mentioned earlier you want to limit your steps to two or three. The quicker you get to your squat position the quicker you will receive a down signal. Two final notes on the set up are to make sure all body parts are still and motionless once you get in your stance. In one of my early contests I was timed out on an attempt because I was opening and closing my hand around the bar while waiting for the signal. The second is to get your eyes on the head judge as soon as possible. Getting the judge's attention with your eyes will let the judge know you are ready to squat. In next month’s article I will cover what to do from this point including; determination of your stance, foot placement and the squat movement from descent to placing the weight back on the racks.


A Balding Man's Advice on Powerlifting Technique Part II

Rob Wagner, M.Ed., C.S.C.S.

Manager University Strength and Fitness, University of Pennsylvania

In 1987 I set my first national record in the squat in the ADFPA (now USAPL). I was competing as a 165 lbs. lifter and needed a 690 lbs. squat to break the old standard. I had planned to take a shot at this record on my third attempt. I had opened around the 630 lbs. mark, took a second around the 70's and then proceeded to the record. Everything seemed fine during the set up. I brought the bar out, steadied myself and waited for the signal. The judge verbalized the signal and dropped his hand and I went into my descent. As I came out of the hole my subconscious suddenly decided that my body was going to attempt a different feat of strength. Much to my surprise I found myself suddenly attempting a world record 690 lbs. good morning. The disappointing part was not only did I miss the Squat but my Good Morning was red lighted as well. The good news was that you could take a fourth attempt on National Records in the ADFPA in 1987. During the brief interlude between attempts, my handlers were able to watch the lift on a camcorder. In reviewing the lift they noticed a flaw in my bar positioning. The bar was resting in its normal spot but with the heavier weight I was getting pulled forward. The adjustment recommended was to place the bar just slightly lower on my upper back. This change resulted in my first National Record.

As I became more active in coaching I discovered how important the interaction of bar position, stance and foot placement. In both the competitive arena and in gyms I have seen many heavy lifts missed due the inability to properly orient the factors just mentioned. Most lifters assume that missing a lift is always a strength problem. They will attempt to remedy the problem by doing more sets and reps or by adding additional exercises. Gradually the technique problem manifests itself into an overtraining problem. At this point the lifter not only has a technique problem but has also encountered a loss of strength due to too much work on the movement. In the first article of this series I proposed some technical advice on how to set up the squat. In this article the technical focus will be on positioning of your stance and foot placement and their involvement with bar placement.

First allow me to define our terminology. I believe the stance and foot placement is an integral factor in performing the squat movement in accordance with the rules of the sport. More specifically your ability to break parallel (the rule in most of the rule books) can be greatly affected by your stance and foot placement. If you look at the squat motion it involves movement in several joints simultaneously. The hip, knee and ankle all move to decrease the joint angle at the knee. The movement of these three joints allows the bar to stay over the foot while performing the lift. Impede the range of motion or flexibility of any of these joints and the ability to reach proper depth or develop maximum force is negated. Stance and foot placement greatly affect several anatomical elements which will allow the muscles involved to exert their greatest forces relative to the squat.

Before discussing the determination of your stance I need to point out some rules you should always follow. The first is to keep the shin as vertical as possible throughout the entire squat movement. The knee should never travel past the toe. If it does you are placing yourself at an injury risk. The second rule is that you always will keep the knee pointed in the same direction as the foot. Don't allow your knees to pinch in during your ascent. The information provided in this article presents general guidelines to better your performance of the lift. These are not the laws of squatting. Take the information provided here and use what works for you.

Stance is the width or distance apart you space your feet. Foot placement is the angular positioning of your feet. Stance and foot placement will effect a couple of important anatomical considerations related to squat performance. The first of these relates to your center of gravity (COG). This is a point at which the mass of the body can be considered to act. It can almost be thought of as a balance point. Action on the COG occurs in a vertical line due to the force of gravity. The barbell also has a center of gravity bCOG and due to its rigid nature the bCOG is fixed and does not move as long as plates are of equal weight and are loaded evenly. The bCOG is always at the center of the barbell. The COG of the human body is different however. It will change as the position of the body changes. When standing with no weight it is usually located internally in the vicinity of the spine and at around waist level. When your body position changes it can move up or down and even outside the body. When a lifter lifts or places a loaded bar on his body you create a combined cCOG. This cCOG will lie along the line that joins the two COG and bCOG. The important point is that the location of the cCOG lies closer to the heavier object (the body and the bar). As the object (bar) increases in weight so does the movement of the cCOG towards the heavier object. The positing of the cCOG will play a role in your balance and force production. The cCOG will need to be in close proximity (vertically) of the foot to help with this. A simple way to look at it is to keep the bar over the foot during the squat because it is almost certain that the cCOG will be in close proximity to the bar (see figure 1). Your stance will greatly affect the positioning of the cCOG and its positioning over your foot during the squat.

The other area affected by stance and foot placement is the flexibility of the hips. Flexibility is defined as the range of motion created around a joint. The greater this range the greater your flexibility. Foot placement and stance individually and combined also has an affect on the positioning of the head of the femur in the acetabulum of the pelvis. By positioning your feet at a certain angles and different widths you can create different ranges of motion around the hip joint.

If you recall in the first article I pointed out the concept of body lean and its importance during the squat. Body lean can be adjusted greatly by making changes in your stance. The farther the hips travel away from the foot (backwards) the more you will have to lean to keep the bar itself and the cCOG over the foot. Positioning the cCOG and bar over the foot will be advantageous to the lifter. An extreme example of not doing this would be the good morning type position I mentioned in the introduction. When you attain this position the area of force production (the hips) and the cCOG and bar are greatly displaced. This puts the load into the low back and glutes and diminishes the force you can generate to move the weight. In the squat, body lean is required in helping to position the bar over your feet. If you can imagine a vertical line between the feet and the bar your goal is to try keep your hips as close to this line as possible. The closer your hips are to this line the greater force you will be able to produce because you will be keeping the bar and the cCOG over the foot. The stance plays a role here since moving the feet in or out can increase or decrease the displacement between the hips and the bar foot line. When you descend into a full squat and your hips are placed at an extreme position behind the bar and foot line you lose a force advantage. Usually if you do complete this lift you will feel it in the low back. In finding stance we should try to position the hips closer to the bar and foot line in the bottom of the squat in order to take advantage of our ability to produce force.

To determine stance look at the proportionality between the upper and lower leg. If your upper leg is shorter than the lower leg your stance can stay on the narrow side (inside shoulder width to 3-5" outside shoulder width of each leg) (see photo 1). If your upper leg is longer than the lower I suggest you assume a wider stance outside the distances mentioned above (see photo 2). Having a shorter upper leg will displace the hips (behind the bar and foot) at a smaller distance relative to your body size even with a narrow stance. On the other hand if you have a longer upper leg a wider stance will decrease the displacement by decreasing the vertical distance the bar and body will travel and this will help in keeping the hips closer to the foot and bar line. The final step in finding your stance is setting your foot placement. The positioning of the feet affects the rotation of your legs. The rotation of the leg will determine the position of the head of the femur (your upper leg bone) in the acetabulum (the socket of the hip joint). The placement you are striving for is the one that allows you the greatest range of motion while you are in your stance. The specific range of motion you are looking for is a legal squat depth. You should be able to break parallel without having to force yourself down. The foot positions can range from straight ahead to a more flared 10 of 2-clock position.

Now that you have read the guidelines of this approach we can know find your stance and foot position. Determine you upper leg : lower leg ratio and start narrow or wide which ever suits you best. If you have the shorter upper thighs start narrow and work outward and for the opposite category start wide and work in. Starting with a 5 to 1 (clock position) foot placement try to squat down with your hands on your head. If you find that your hips bind, try rotating the feet out slightly. If this doesn't work you may need to work the stance out or in respectively. The goal is to achieve below parallel depth and this should be done without having to force it. It may take a little tinkering to find the optimal position. As you go through this process be aware of the amount of body lean that you need to create to get to parallel. In the last article I mentioned torso length and bar positioning. The torso length and body lean should still dictate where you place the bar on your back. Remember to apply the rules of the first article to help when the bar finally goes on your back. A lifter who has a shorter thigh and has the flexibility to achieve depth in a wide stance is the best case scenario. This lifter is taking advantage of the factors mentioned above and reduces the distance the bar will travel overall! The final issue in determining this stance is comfort. Now I look at this in two ways. The first way is to determine that the new stance and foot placement doesn't cause bodily discomfort. This is taking into consideration that a period of time of about four weeks would be allowed for adjustments of flexibility and different anatomical positioning. The other way relates to the lifter’s ability to produce effective drive or force in the new set up. Sometimes what may be a lifter’s best stance may not always be the most effective from a leverage standpoint. This situation usually requires some minor adjustments to stance and foot placement before the lifter feels that he or she can move weight in this new position.

Remember even a minor adjustments can have big impact. The key is to put yourself in the best position possible. Then it is up to you to move the weight. You could be breaking some records of your own if you give some of these guidelines a try. In the next article I will discuss the squat descent and ascent and how to control the body through the movement.


A Balding Man's Advice on Powerlifting Technique Part III

Rob Wagner, M.Ed., C.S.C.S.

Manager University Strength and Fitness, University of Pennsylvania

It has been over a year since I started my series on the balding man's advice on Powerlifting techniques. Let me review what has been covered to this point. The set up of the squat is an integral part of the lift. The methods of bar placement, foot placement and stance are all aimed at keeping the combined center of gravity of the bar and body over the foot throughout the range of motion. I also discussed the breathing and stabilization of the trunk during the set up of the lift. In this article, I hope to elaborate on the stabilization and go into detail on the descent and ascent of the squat.

If you recall, I mentioned that a series of back injuries left me in the lurch for squatting. I could set up and get ready to squat but found that as I started to descend my body had forgotten the movement. The struggle was maintaining the tightness and upright posture of my torso. This affected my drive out of the bottom of the squat. Usually I found myself completing heavier lifts in a bent over fashion resembling the Good Morning or a table lift. Do you remember about ten years ago when one of the catchers for the NY Mets lost the ability to throw the ball back to the pitcher? When it came to squatting, I felt I lost the ability to squat.

The most difficult part of this was remembering how I used to squat. Videotape was only helpful in demonstrating proper technique. However, it didn't allow me to internalize the feeling of the squat motion. Feedback from individuals was not much of a help either because I already knew what I was doing wrong, I just couldn't fix it. Instead, it took some long and expensive hypnosis sessions and experimental electric shock therapy to rattle my subconscious mind ..............just kidding! What it did involve was analyzing what was different now as compared to the past. The obvious was the back injury. It seemed my body was protecting the injured area by avoiding the movement that created the injury. This forced me to redevelop these movement patterns again which required internalizing the movement in the correct fashion with little or no weight and slowly progress toward the heavier weights. Using this approach did help me recover my old form. I have included some of the things I learned and it leads me to where I left off in the last article.

The Descent

I will assume that the information mentioned in previous articles in the series has been put to use. When the bar is taken from the racks what happens next? A lifter should always do three things before descending. These are points I teach all of my athletes because it is so important. First, find a focal point somewhere in the training facility or in the meet venue that is at or above eye level. This will help keep the head oriented in its normal position (chin parallel to floor) throughout the lift. Next, inhale deeply through the nose. Why do I suggest the nose? It provides a better vacuum effect then breathing through the mouth. Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale pointed out this vacuum effect to me last year. I had mentioned the idea of breathing through the nose during a presentation and stated that I felt it was more effective than through the mouth. Mauro, who was in attendance, pointed out that due to the narrower openings of the nasal passage it is more difficult for air to escape back out once it is inhaled. Try gulping some air in one inhale through the mouth and really fill the lungs (don't cheat by pursing the lips). Now try to take additional air by breathing through the nose. If you were able to get more air to go in you have proved my point. Now do the same thing through the nose and skip the additional inhale. The nasal inhale may take a little longer but it gives that extra bit of air that can really help in developing some thoracic and abdominal pressure. The last step before descending is to lift the rib cage. This will tighten the low back and when combined with the elbows being rotated up provides a second method of making the torso more rigid. Once you develop this tightness in the torso, strive to maintain it throughout the entire lift.

One emphasis of these articles is to get the reader to focus on the various aspects of the lift and prepare the upper body for its job in the squat. How about preparing the lower body? Where do you feel the weight when starting to squat? Many of my athletes will mention that they feel it on their traps and shoulders or in their low back. The better squatters tell me something different though, they will say that they feel the weight or tension created by the weight in their legs. I suggest that you place the tension of the weight in the quads and hips before descending. It is also important to feel the pressure of the weight in the foot as well. Let me explain the difference between the two. The tension in the quads is aimed at preparing the muscles for their activity and will allow the lifter to focus on where he or she may want to push from at the bottom of the movement. The placement of tension should be in the spot where you feel yourself pushing from at the bottom of the movement. Some recommendations, depending on stance, would be that a narrow stance squatter should focus on the upper quad more than the lower. The wide stance squatter may focus more on the adductors, glutes and outer quad. The pressure in the foot, on the other hand, is the balance point from which you will push during the entire movement. Remember the Center of Gravity ideas. The pressure in the foot will help guarantee that you maintain balance throughout the lift. I suggest that you start by centering the weight in the arch of the foot during the set up. As you descend, the weight may need to move a little towards the ball of the foot. In terms of the edges of the foot, push from the edge which complements the muscle function you desire. Pushing from the outside edge involves the glutes more and the inside edges the adductors. Using myself as an example of a close stance squatter, I prefer the inside edge a little more.

How do you descend? Now here is a debatable topic. Are the hips moved to the rear first or do the knees bend first? In my opinion, the hips should lead the knees, but this may not be as easy to observe in all lifters. It almost looks like both actions occur at the same time. The importance of moving the hips is that it allows the hip joint greater freedom of motion and this helps to keep the knees in a more perpendicular position to the floor. It also allows a more even weight distribution through the quads and hips instead of just loading one area. In my mind, the initiation of the squat motion should mimic the initial movement of sitting down onto a chair. Now that the starting movement has been explained, a lifter simply needs to go down and up with the weight and rack the bar. Well, that's fine if you're a mullet and wear a spandex bodysuit religiously on squat days. On the other hand, I am assuming you're not because I lost most of the mullets with the lifting of the rib cage idea earlier in the article. Just in case there are a couple of mullets still reading this, “stop,” you may be putting your 405 lbs. quarter squat in jeopardy.

The speed at which you descend in the squat is also an important factor to discuss. I recommend that you use a descent that leans towards being faster for the following reasons. Physiologically the muscle and their attachments (tendons) have an ability to store energy. When muscle is stretched under tension (as in lifting) the muscle and tendon structures are both stretched. The muscle is fairly stiff during this activity so the tendon actually stretches to a greater degree. As these tissues stretch, they become deformed. This deformation can be seen as the tissue storing energy. The faster the rate of descent the greater the deformation due to the increased work demands that the speed places on the tissue. When we stop stretching the tissue, it wants to snap back to its normal shape. An extreme example is a rubber band. Stretch it beyond its normal shape and what happens? Muscle and tendon tissues may not be as pliable as the rubber but the potential energy is available. In order to take advantage of this energy you have to act quickly. The faster you transition from the descent phase to the ascent phase, the more elastic energy you can use. The longer you wait after stretching the muscle the more energy you will lose. The time frame I am referring to is in the tenths and even hundredths of a second range. Every fraction of a second counts here.

Another phenomenon related to the speed of the descent are the reflexes that muscles elicit during movement. In each muscle, you have a large number of stretch receptors called muscle spindles that regulate the rate of stretch of muscle. These reflexes tell the muscle to contract with a significant force to overcome the rate of stretch that the muscle has undergone. This protective mechanism keeps your body from collapsing to the ground when your foot slips off the curb. It has been shown in research studies that this reflex response also occurs after the initiation of voluntary movement. This means that the contraction force generated by the stretch reflex provides additional muscular force to assist with the voluntary movement. My personal feeling is that the elastic energy plays a larger role than the reflexes, but both are at work here as long as the speed of descent is sufficient. Does this mean you have to free fall your squats? Of course not. The speed should only be increased to a point where the lifter can still control the weight. The area where speed comes into play during the squat is at the bottom end of the descent prior to going below parallel. If you watch most squatters they will be controlled through most of the movement then they speed up the last third of the movement. The thing you want to avoid is controlling the motion all the way down almost to a stop before the ascent. You will find that as you master this technique you can initiate the speed earlier in the movement and possibly facilitate the elastic energy even more. Also keep in mind that most of the equipment worn while squatting like suits and wraps have elastic components that will also store and exhibit elastic energy. One other point about increasing your speed of descent is that the shorter the time spent descending the less energy you will use in this portion of the lift. A final note, of course there are exceptions to the speed approach but I think that if you look at the physiological evidence increasing the speed of the descent can have a positive impact.

As you descend focus on several things, the pressure in the feet, the tension in the quads, the speed of the descent and the tension and positioning of the torso. It's tough to do all at once so here are my suggestions. As you start to descend, focus on the tension in the quads first. Then as you approach the bottom just above parallel, focus on the speed. At the bottom of the squat focus on torso position. By reinforcing the upright torso at the bottom of the movement you help avoid the hips first style squat that leads to a good morning. When training the squat always descend to legal depth as regularly as possible. Cutting depth happens, but when it becomes habitual you will be in for a rude awakening when it comes time to compete

The Ascent

The best advice I can give here is to control the movement and push like hell. Well, I guess I can be a little more descriptive. From my experiences, I can’t tell you what happens during the start of the ascent. It seems that your conscious mind shuts down in the hole and does not start again until you reach 120' joint angle. The best way to explain what to do in the ascent is based upon my observations of other lifters.

A tendency I have witnessed in many beginning lifters is that as they start to drive up from the bottom position they lose tension in the low back and torso. I also see this occurring across the spectrum of lifters from novice level to the international scene. I can only assume that lifters feel moving fast out of the hole is the best avenue to a successful lift regardless of the torso position. I also think that for some lifters loosening the low back allows them the extra flexibility they need to get depth. I can agree with the speed approach, but feel that you must inform the upper body that it has to come along for the ride as well. In the initiation of the ascent, it is more important that you pay attention to the speed at which the chest or upper torso moves not the legs and hips. If you can briefly envision what happens when the hips move too soon you might agree that it usually leads to disaster in the squat and deadlift. Shooting the hips in the squat usually leads to a missed lift or a fatigued back and neither will help your total.

Focusing on the speed of the chest or torso helps the ascent of the lift in two ways. First, it aids in keeping the COG's in line. In the last article, I mentioned that the combined Center of Gravity (cCOG) of the bar and body was closer to the bar and was located within our upper torso. By moving this point first, it helps keep the cCOG over the foot and reduce the tendency to lean forward. The second function of this approach is that if your thinking about getting the torso moving then you can't think about pushing the hips quickly. In sports psychology this is called dissociation (thinking about one thing to distract you from another). In either case, the control of the speed of the hips and maintaining an upright posture are both beneficial and integral steps in the ascent of the squat.

As you ascend the same factors that were important during the set up and descent are important here as well. Maintaining the bar placement and head position, keeping the elbows up, and torso position all come into play in the ascent. If any of these fail, so can the lift. One other factor is the breath you took before descending. You have two options to consider when it comes to breath holding as you ascend through your sticking point. You can let the air out in a controlled manner or hold the breath until you're finished the lift. Breath holding is very important during the lift. It helps maintain your torso's internal pressure throughout the lift, which can help in supporting the spine. An additional means of using this pressure is creating the val salva effect. By pushing outward with your abs into the front of the belt, you actually develop pressure and stability with the back of the belt. You can also try to leverage your stomach off the top of your thighs if you have that size of belly.

While all these other factors are at work you will need to continue to push with the legs and keep the pressure centered in your foot. As you approach the top of the lift, you may find that shifting the pressure in the foot towards the heel aids the lock out. There are a couple of ways to complete the lift in terms of your muscle usage. The first is to drive the legs, emphasizing the quads, until they are locked out. The other version is to drive the legs and then pull the hips through and forward emphasizing the glutes. Narrow stance squatters tend to benefit more from the first technique while the wider stances tend to prefer the latter. Sometimes you may find yourself stalling at the top end of locking out. This is usually due to getting out of the groove. In these situations, shifting the pressure in the foot forward and back can aid you in completing the lift as long as your torso is upright. This may only be useful on max lifts and you may never need to do this on lighter reps, unless you get way out of the groove.

Summarizing the squat articles could take a whole page but I will make it brief. The set up is a very important part of the lift. It has to be performed effectively and efficiently to ensure a successful squat. Rack heights, stepping out and bar placement are all components of this stage of the lift. Using the proper stance and foot positioning will allow you to maximize the biomechanical advantages of your body. By maximizing the biomechanics, you can be sure that you are getting the best results possible. During the squat try to increase the speed of the descent and strive to keep the torso as vertical as functionally possible. Finally, remember the most important thing push like hell. In Part IV of the series, I will be covering the bench-press.

	energy

[CoC]

Hey could you give me the long version

[Beefmaster]

Need cliff notes!

Good read, thanks