Help with new weight training programme

[Steve]

Re: Proper squat form

Steve,

I (for one) would like it if you were to post a video showing the correct form, with explanation. It would certainly be a help to me and perhaps to others too.

David C

Vids, there are a few, but I think an explanation does you better. Vids are good and all, but exercise form is going to vary from individual to individual based on differences in anthropometry.

I'll include some more vids when I get home. Here are a couple:





For now, here are my pointers for the squat and this is from my journal a while back:

With the squat, a lot of trainers don't know how to execute a squat correctly! There are a lot of myths out there like, "Don't squat so deep in that your thighs go below parallel with the floor." And, "Don't let your knees drift in front of your toes while going down in the squat."

A lot of trainers, even those "in the know," tell their clients to start out without weight until you get the form down. You can try this if you'd like. However, I have found personally, and with quite a bit of clients, that squatting without weight is difficult. The weight is what helps keep your center of gravity. So, if you are comfortable, start out with a very conservative weight. Maybe the bar only.

How to squat. Let's talk about the mechanics. Most people think you initiate the movement with your knees. "In order to squat down, I have to bend my knees." Right? Wrong. The initiating movement for the squat, in order to get the proper depth, starts in the hips.

How do you move your hips? The first sign of movement should be your butt moving back, so that your hips are moving posteriorly. Think, "start the movement by sticking my butt out."

So, with a bar on your shoulders, here are the cues:

1. Chest up (don't cave in)
2. Shoulder blades pulled back together, which reinforces number 1
3. Hands gripping the bar are not wide, but closer. Not so close that it becomes uncomfortable for your shoulders though.
4. Pull your elbows under the bar. Make them point to the floor. This will keep you more upright.
5. Initiate at the hips (think about sitting down) and stick your butt out.
6. Keep a nice, tight arch in your lower back.
7. Keep your abs tight.
8. Stance should be feet slightly wider than shoulder width. This will vary from person to person.
9. You should point your toes slightly outward, maybe 30 degrees.
10. As you start to flex at the knees, your knees should follow the path (line) of your toes.
11. If you leaning excessively forward, you are using too much weight or you have flexibility issues. This is not an exercise for the lower back, do not make it one.
12. Your heels should stay planted on the floor at all times. Many people have flexibility issues and the squat is the exercise that uncovers the issues. Many people, in order to get deep in the squat, feel the need to elevate their heels from the ground. In this case, at the bottom of the movement, their weight is on the balls of their feet. Instead, the entire movement, you should keep your feet flat on the floor and drive the weight pushing through your heels.
13. Remember the hips!

At the bottom of the movement, your hips should be deeper than your knees. This is a full squat.

 

[RhoRho]

Fantastic set of instructions Steve. I've tried it and the strain on my knees is not at all what I expected! I think it was your stating that the initiating movement is the hips, not knees, that did it. And then when I tried it I saw just what you meant, so I feel very hopeful about it.

I just got back from the gym. I hoped to go over the exercises everyone suggested with the PTs at the gym, but they were all too busy for me so I ended up doing swiss ball squats, inclined bench press, lat pulldown, bent over rows, dumbbell shoulder press, and leg press. I've decided I'm going to have to learn them by myself, cos I want to get going..

Originally Posted by Steve

Are you struggling with 6kg?

If so, all you need to do is focus on increasing strength at the moment. Work your way up in terms of strength until you are able to bench the bar.

Just make sure you are upping your weights, ideally every single workout.

Small jumps in weight would be ideal. They sell small, magnetic plates that would allow for smaller jumps in weight then most DB sets allow. Most DB sets in gyms go up by 5 lb increments.

If this is too much, which I'm guessing it is, I'd suggest getting something like this to aid in your quest for progressive overload

I'm not struggling with 6kg. In fact, today, I upped it to 7kg for the last set so I'm pretty confident my strength has increased. It would be ideal for me to get my own set of dumbbells, but unfortunately I'm really broke right now (until end of September) so I have to make do with those at the gym with their 1kg increments.

Orginally Posted by Steve
A trainer is not going to be able to "tell" you where to start. You have to experiment in fashion as I stated above with the unloaded bar and going up from there.

You don't have to be going as heavy as possible to start out. That would leave you no room for improvement.

Start out with a slightly heavier load and drop your reps. Once you find something that is heavy *enough* to make 5-8 reps heavy, stop for that day.

The next time you train with that exercise, start with the weight you left off with and use it for 3 sets of 5-8.

The next time you train with that exercise, up the weight a small bit to provide the overload.

It's that simple.

This isn't rocket science.... even though many people like to make it out to be, unfortunately. Don't get wrapped up in all that garbage.

Originally Posted by Trevor M
As to know how to increase the weight. Say our max rep your going for is 8 you want the weight to be light enough to finish the first 6 or so "ease" but by the 7-8 you want to it to be quite intense.

Ok, that sounds doable. It's pretty easy for the dumbbell exercises but I'll first need to learn the technique for the barbell exercises before determining what weights would be suitable. To be honest, I really like the idea of a set of 8 reps, especially with the barbell squats. It ties into my idea of a short, sharp workout. I've also noted the rest periods that you both suggested, but there appears to be an essential difference. Steve said that "Using a weight that allows for 5 reps usually fits nice with rest periods lasting 90-120 seconds", while Trevor suggested a range of rest periods (90-120s for 6-8 reps, 60-90s for 8-12 reps, 30-60s for 12-15 reps). Does that mean that the lower the reps the higher the rest period? (because low reps=high weight)


I suspect the PTs were giving the same generic info they've given hundreds (thousands) of people before me. But I have the advantage of such a wonderful forum.. Thanks for all your help guys. I can't wait to begin a proper workout after all this time.

 

[Trevor M.]

It ties into my idea of a short, sharp workout. I've also noted the rest periods that you both suggested, but there appears to be an essential difference. Steve said that "Using a weight that allows for 5 reps usually fits nice with rest periods lasting 90-120 seconds", while Trevor suggested a range of rest periods (90-120s for 6-8 reps, 60-90s for 8-12 reps, 30-60s for 12-15 reps). Does that mean that the lower the reps the higher the rest period? (because low reps=high weight)

Generally speaking, low reps/high weight equals longer rest needed. Of course, this is dependent on goals but the majority of people will find this set up preferable. Besides, there are different benefits to different lengths of rest and so on. For your goals, I believe the times I gave are sufficient. Of course, this is dependent on which "science" one pulls from to form their own opinion.

 

[TrainerEric]

Good thoughts

I believe you are definately onto something when i comes to avoiding machinary. I have been telling people to stay away from the machinery for a long time. Everyone seems to think that because it is in a gym it must be used. I believe in functional training. I dont care if you are an athlete or an average workaholic. People need to get off their butts and learne to activate their core in order to teach the body to work together as a whole. The quickest way to injury is spending alot of time on a machine. I believe they have their use but not as a main staple in a workout. Just my two cents.

 

[RhoRho]

Thanks for your explanation Trevor M - it does make sense that low reps / high weight = longer rest. I'll go with this..

TrainerEric, very good point about training the core. I personally don't like the dependence one can easily develop to machines, and, as I keep quoting an expert, 'machines lock you into an unnatural plane of movement', so I'm keen to keep away from them, especially when weight training. It might be tougher using free weights but it's so much more worth it

 

[Steve]

Rho, FYI, I recently created a thread which was stickied with pretty decent explanation of the core lifts. It's found here:

http://weight-loss.fitness.com/weight-loss-through-exercise/14264-basic-lifts.html