How's the body feeling Strengthletes? Still mobilizing? Make sure you get it done, it's very important as it will improve not just the setup positions but also the entire movement.
Now I've mentioned this before but it's worth repeating - Keep the tension!! It's so important! On your warm up sets you should be practicing total body tension so when the work sets roll around they feel light.
Key points for the movements:
Press:
-Get your mind into the lift before you un-rack the bar. You brace before you lift it off the rack, take a step back then press - straight away! Don't un-rack it take 5 steps back, 10 breaths then think about whether or not you left the iron on at home, it's only going to make it feel heavier.
-Lock the legs, squeeze the glutes, abs and the sh#t out of the bar - I want white knuckles. The tension will help.
Deadlift:
-Brace at the top and pull yourself down into position so that you're tight as soon as your hands touch the bar.
-It's a hip hinge movement, so when you're lowering it the hips sit back, when you're lifting drive them forward.
-Aim to keep your back as flat as possible, easiest way to do this is to try and hold the shoulders back and down as much as possible.
Squat:
-Make sure you're upper back is just as tight as your core. Pulling the elbows down to increase tension.
-At the bottom of the squat, pull the bar down into your shoulders as you drive up. It'll keep your back and midsection tight but will also stop any rounding of the back.
-Again brace before you lift it off the rack, instead of breathing into your chest, take air into your belly, inflating it like a basketball. This will stabilize your entire midsection.
Elite Powerlifters use weight belts as it helps to maintain tension in their midsection, but I was reading an article recently on Dr Fred Hatfield, nicknamed "Dr Squat". He squatted 1014 pounds (460kg) at 100kg bodyweight when he was 45 and forgot to do his weight belt up but managed to complete the rep because he had so much tension in his body and midsection he literally didn't need it.
Alright guys have fun lifting and I'll see you when I'm back!!
"There is simply no other exercise, and certainly no machine, that produces the level of central nervous system activity, improved balance and coordination, skeletal loading and bone density enhancement, muscular stimulation and growth, connective tissue stress and strength, psychological demand and toughness, and overall systemic conditioning
than the correctly performed full squat."
- Rippetoe
