Comments on: Learning the squat 3: How to squat

By: Mistress Krista

Mistress Krista — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 10:22:20 +0000

Mrs T: You are wise to start moderately. Give your body time to adapt — there will be plenty of time down the road to add loading. For now, make sure your form is excellent. If you squat 3x weekly (not heavy, just a few sets 3x weekly, even with no weight), you’ll get the technique down and once you add weight, you won’t be as sore. The soreness often accompanies novelty, so if you’re accustomed to doing the squat movement frequently, once you get good enough to add some weight and get serious, you won’t get stuck on the john. :) Give yourself a month or so to really get that form perfect… then take your husband’s advice. But don’t rush.

By: Mrs. T

Mrs. T — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:48:45 +0000

You know, nothing busts me up so bad at the gym as squats do. But, I’d like to know, is there a way to tell if you’re over-doing it? I have a lot of arguments with my gym buddy/husband about whether or not I’m “kicking my own ass enough” with the squats. He just got me to start doing them, but often thinks I’m wimping out on them. I’m worried about being unable to get on/off the toilet or climb the stairs after I’ve really put my back into it. Should I be feeling like a cripple for a week(-ish) or is that a sign I’m hurting more than helping?

By: Mistress Krista

Mistress Krista — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:37:20 +0000

Alan — as I wrote to another poster elsewhere with the same problem:

Find a staircase. Sit on the bottom step. Then stand up. There, you’re deep squatting.

All that did is remove the “down” part. I’ve never found anyone who couldn’t do this. You simply have to start in a different place.

Re: rounded back deadlifts: No, RBDL are not ok. The spinal musculature is what stands between you and your spinal ligaments exploding all over the back wall. The ligaments can take some abuse but eventually the freebie runs out. When the spine is flexed/rounded the spinal muscles are electrically “silent”, aka sitting on their asses doing nada. I recommend Stuart McGill’s research on this subject at backfitpro.com

By: Alan

Alan — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:13:09 +0000

1. Two bad links above: “step 4″, and “part 4″.

2. I’ve tried for YEARS to develop the kind of flexibility
that would allow squatting in the ideal form that you describe.
(Same with deadlifts). No go. Just wasn’t happening, no matter
how much I tried and practiced. So, some while back, I said
“fuck it, I’m going for it anyway, even if in ‘bad’ form”.
And the results are… so far, so good. I’ll report more later.

I read recently that there is such thing as a “squat-advantaged”
body type, and “squat-disadvantaged” type; the advantaged type
has a longer torso and shorter legs, and may have differently
placed muscle attachments. In any case the advantaged type
CAN squat in this ideal form: feet flat on floor, pushing
through heels, no drift forward. Well, I am in no way the
advantaged type! I’m the opposite of that, in spite of my
best efforts over a long time. But I’m squatting anyway —
and benefiting, so far. Again: I’ll report more later.

Same with deadlifts: rounded back! Cannot avoid it, so I’m
not trying to avoid it anymore. Results: so far, so good.
(And I’m a person with a history of low back problems, so
if I’m doing something wrong, one might expect it to show
up quickly. So far — 2 years — it hasn’t.) Interestingly,
I read recently (several places) that the “keep a flat back”
mantra actually has no basis, and that rounded-back deadlifts
are perfectly OK (?!). So now I’m really confused,
intellectually. But fine, physically, benefiting from my
rounded-back deadlifts, getting stronger all the time.

I’ll let you know if I’m suddenly rushed to the hospital with
an acute lumbar injury requiring emergency heroic surgery. ;-)