Showing posts with label Squats. Show all posts

Monday, 20 April 2020

Safety Bar Squat

One of my favourite specialty bars to use is the safety squat bar. It is a good bar to use if someone has a shoulder injury or poor mobility in the shoulders, as you hold the handles in front of you, making it more comfortable than a regular straight bar. 

I also find safety bar squats really strengthen the legs and lower back. The camber pulls you forward, so you really have to fit to stay upright throughout the squat. It really forces you to brace hard and stay tight throughout the lift.

Another thing is that you really have to drive hard out of the bottom of the squat. It improves your leg drive and you can really feel your hamstring, glutes, and lower back. 

Whilst it is a different movement and technique to performing squats with a regular straight bar, I really feel that there is great carry over from the strength you gain in the muscles used in the safety bar squat and the tension that you learn to create by using this bar.  

For each of my cycles of squats I use different specialty bars early on in my training phases and work my way back to regular bar squats at the end. It has been working well as it is helping develop strength in different muscle groups and at different parts in the range of motion. When I do return to regular squats, I feel like I am in much more control of the bar path then I would be otherwise. 

In the video above I am using our Watson Safety Squat Bar which is in my opinion the most solid on the market. I get 175kg for 5 reps, which for me is a good lift.

You can have a look at this study for more information in regards to safety bar squats compared to back squats https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30363042 and you can have a look at Greg Nuckols break down of it https://www.strongerbyscience.com/safety-bar-squats/ 

http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.sports.20180805.01.html

Monday, 18 June 2018

Back Squat Progress - Locky

June 18, 2018

Nathan Waters - Total Health Performance

Lochlann Davies back squatting 57.5kg for 8 reps @ 53kg body weight.

Now this isn't a world record lift by any means. I am not showing for that reason. I am showing it to make the point that lifting is about progress and bettering yourself. It doesn't matter what others can lift. As Ed Coan has said many times "your numbers are your numbers and you should be proud of them".

When Locky started just a few months ago he weighed 47kg and couldn't squat the bar. This wasn't due to mobility or extremely poor technique like a lot of beginners, he just wasn't strong enough at that point. After doing some general preparation work he has built up a pretty decent squat for where he is at in his lifting life. As a rugby league player it is about being healthy to perform on the field, so being in season and still progressing in strength is a bonus.

This wasn't a maximal lift but we won't try and drive weight up from here next workout. We will consolidate the technique first and then start to add more weight once every rep is solid. There are many ways to progress than simply adding more weight to the bar each week or adding reps.

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Western Suburbs Magpies

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Thursday, 16 November 2017

Benefits of weightlifting shoes

Benefits of Weightlifting Shoes

December 23, 2015

Nathan Waters

Squatting in weightlifting shoes has many advantages over squatting in joggers or runners. The main advantage is increased stability. Unlike most training shoes weightlifting shoes are very rigid which gives you a solid platform to squat from, they don’t crumble under you like runners when you have a heavy load on your back. You can think of it like this, if you had to squat on concrete or a mini-tramp which one can you lift more on? I’d pick the concrete as you can apply more force into the ground.

The biggest reason why I personally like weightlifting shoes is due to the elevated heel. Having suffered many injuries to my ankles during my sporting career ankle range of motion is pretty limited, although improving. Until I began wearing weightlifting shoes achieving full squat depth with an upright torso was very difficult. Combining my corrective based work that Gemma Smith gave me and wearing weightlifting shoes allowed me to reach full depth in about a month. The elevated heel allows you to reach maximum depth easier while staying more upright by taking ankle range of motion and tight calves out of the equation.

Weightlifting shoes also help align the ankle bones and feet which helps keep the knees in proper alignment when squatting. Reducing injuries is always a good thing. Many people trying to perform Olympic lifts in regular running shoes have rolled an ankle, weightlifting shoes help minimize this risk.

Weightlifting shoes are a great investment in my opinion. You can buy them from between $125-$250 depending on the brand and if you treat them well they will last you for years.

Sunday, 18 June 2017

Front Squat - Pain Free

June 18, 2017

Nathan Waters - Strength Coach

The above video is of Hans front squatting 122.5kg for 3 reps with heels elevated. Now it is a pretty strong lift but the impressive thing for me is that he can now squat pain free. When Hans started with us he had back pain that would restrict him from training hard in the gym, on the field, and when he competed. It is good to see that he can now perform movements that used to cause him a lot of pain and discomfort, pain free.

We were able to have him squatting and deadlifting pain free within about 4 weeks which is good going and from there we have slowly started to increase the amount of strength work we do on these lifts. For Hans a large amount of his training time is still spent on strengthening the posterior chain, particularly the hamstrings. In the first week of training Hans couldn't perform a single back extension, hamstring curls were extremely hard, and a GHR was no chance. He can now perform all these movements with solid technique for reps and is overloading the movement by adding weight and pausing in different positions of the movements.

There is still a huge amount of improvement to go. As you can see Hans is unable to rack the bar properly for the front squat so he still needs a lot of work on his shoulder mobility. The hips and ankles also need work so as we chip away at improving these limitations I am sure we will see better performances along the way.

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