Squat Technique: Drive The Knees Forward and STOP “Sitting Back” – CLICK HERE

Drive the knees forward for some of you may sound obvious, but the “sit back and drive the knees out” cue is still widely used today, and by many coaches universally with their athletes. In my latest Youtube video, I break down the issues with the  “sit back and drive the knees out” cue, why it does not have the same carry over to raw lifting, and what the majority of lifters should most likely be doing instead. I take a look at what is actually happening bio-mechanically in the squat and what muscles are the prime movers during different phases of the concentric. I break down why sitting back more and switching to flats isn’t going to fix your knee pain. I give a detailed analysis of the 3 main cues I recommend and how to implement those. I then take a look at the BEST raw squatters in the world and what they are doing. Hint: 85% of the 24 best male squatters in the world drive their knees forward and do not rely on the “sit back” cue. And lastly, I break down the form of 2 of my lifters, as well as highlight the lifter who I think may have one the best looking squats in all of the USAPL/USPA. Click the link above to watch!

Mobility Work Within Powerlifting – Where It’s Applicable

The post-quarantine block for Brandon was a success, and in particular was very productive in his switch from conventional to sumo deadlift. Here is just a 2-week difference (CLICK HERE), with a comparison of 451×3 to 501×3. While there was bound to be improvement from the natural progression of a new movement and not having done sumo deadlifts before, the main difference can be seen in his hip mobility and then positioning on that final rep. 451lbs. wasn’t necessarily heavy, but it became a grinder quickly on that 3rd rep due to positioning. He got stuck right at that mid thigh position, where as with 501lbs. he was able to have an easier time pulling through that, albeit heavier weight that was just naturally harder. As for why he got stuck, I break that down fully in my deadlift tutorial video on Youtube. But for how we fixed this, it came down to mobility, which as of recent times has become somewhat of a taboo word after the fad where everything was about “mobility”. But there is a time and a place for everything. While fads can get overdone, they usually have merit in some aspect, and in the case of Brandon let’s dig deeper and understand why.

When I program mobility work for an athlete, it is not to necessarily increase joint range of motion, it’s to access the range of motion they already have. Every person has a genetic capability for their joint range of motion, and for the most part we can’t change that barring long term bone remodeling from forced high exertion stretching. What we are trying to achieve is that end range that someone already has, but struggles to find access too. So for someone who is performing sumo deadlifts for the same time, there is a good chance they have higher perceived tightness in this wider stance that requires increased abduction. To Brandon, it seemed very hard to be able to open up his hips much more on the 451×3 video than he already was. And looking at the 2 videos, thats probably the striking difference. After 2 weeks of dedicated sumo mobility work, Brandon was able to achieve a much better position due to not having that same perceived tightness, allowing him to be able to get closer to the end range of his joint mobility.

My point in bringing this up is that when we start or come back to a movement such as sumo deadlift or low bar squat, we may have this new perceived tightness from a lack of accessing that end range joint movement for a certain time frame. I see this often with low bar squatting, that if we take a period of time away and come back, athletes will have increased flare ups of low bar related shoulder, bicep, and elbow pain from the demands for higher degrees of external rotation. I also see this on low bar squats at times when the load starts to build up after periods of not being as heavy.  During these instances, I’ll try to be mindful to be proactive in having an athlete increase their pre-lift mobility work. Or in the case of Brandon and never before sumo deadlifting, he needed some type of mobility work to allow him to access end range joint range of motion that he hadn’t before. And then generally after those first couple weeks it’s less about finding more, and more about maintaining. As mentioned, our goal isn’t to increase our joint range of motion per se, its just to find our genetic capability that is blocked from some form of tightness.

And one last point with low bar squats in particular that I find very important and too often neglected, is that as powerlifters we bench a lot. Benching promotes internal rotation of the shoulder, as that is one of the primary functions of the pectoral muscle. We are constantly battling this internal rotation for benching compared to external rotation for low bar squatting, so I often see athletes needing year round dedicated shoulder mobility work to combat this. This is an example of where you might need dedicated mobility work year round if this is an issue you struggle with. The previous examples are more for times of introduction or reintroduction of a movement, but there are also times mobility work may just need to be a staple within your pre-lift routine.

Fix Your Form!! – Subscriber Technique Reviews – CLICK HERE

This week I had subscribers submit their squat, bench press, or deadlift videos for review. Within these videos I break down their lifts from the side and front to show their movements faults and the adjustments they can make to improve their technique. These were great examples, as some were very nuanced with just slight fixes that can make a big difference! If you struggle with technique on the squat or bench press, hopefully one of the videos shown can have carry over to helping you improve your form as well! Click the link above to view!

Programming Series Part 2: Absolute/Relative Intensity Progression – CLICK HERE

In part 2 of the programming series, I go deep into anything and everything regarding the programming and manipulation of absolute and relative intensity! There are many ideologies and approaches to programming in powerlifting. High volume, low volume, high frequency, low frequency, high specificity, and low specificity. You could argue some approaches are more optimal than others, but in some manner people have found success with all these different approaches. But they all have one thing in common. You have to lift heavy weights to get stronger. It doesn’t matter how much you adjust and manipulate any other variable. If you aren’t increasing the load on the bar and progressing and manipulating intensity over time, you won’t succeed in powerlifting. In this video I break down the infinite number of ways to adjust intensity within each training day, each week, and each block to maximize long term success through well thought and and creative progression. I show the conceptual model of how I approach programming intensity and how to manage fatigue to optimize results within your micro and meso-cycle. I take a look at how to be creative in progressing your often neglected accessory work, and train more like a bodybuilder who actually cares about getting better at these non-barbell movements. And lastly, I take some real world examples of a couple of my athletes and how we applied these principles to optimize their progress. And within that, how intensity progression is individualized to each one of their lifts as well. Click the link above to watch!

Optimizing Your Deadlift Setup For A Strong Lockout – CLICK HERE

To finish off my series of proper setup on all 3 lifts, we come to the conventional and sumo deadlift. In my latest YouTube video, I dive into all the nuanced details of how to optimize your setup to create a strong lockout. And while your first instinct may not be that you need lockout help, the fact is that any optimally positioned deadlift is going to create more difficulty off the floor and an easier time at lockout. The setup on deadlift is maybe even more important than the other two lifts, as the setup really sets the tone of the execution for the rest of the lift. If we nail our setup, everything else tends to fall into place. Within this video, I take a look into why people struggle at lockout and the 4 common mistakes we see that leads to this improper positioning. I break down 3 examples of submitted videos where we see these faults to give a full analysis on. I give a step by step process for how to set up, starting with understanding how to hinge, where to place the bar in your stance, how to tension, how to pull in, and how to maximize all of this to create the most efficient pull. From there I finish with some programming tips to engrain these patterns and technical breakdowns of 7 of my lifters and what they do right to help create a good setup, strong positions, and efficient deadlifts. Click the link above to view!