WOD 2.9.10

Olympic Weightlifting
Clean  2×3/65%, 3×3/70%, 2×2/80%

4 Rounds
8 RDL/75% of max clean
12 box jumps 36″

Back Ext 3×10
pullups 3×12

Met-Con
AMRAP 20 minutes (as many rounds as possible)
250 m row
10 thrusters 95#

WOD 2.8.10

Olympic Weightlifting
Muscle Snatch + Hang Power Snatch  2×3/50%, 3×3/55%
Clean Pull  2×4/100%, 2×4/105%, 2×4/110%
Push Jerk  3×2/70%, 2×2/75%
Front Squat  5×4/65%
oblique Hanging Leg Raise 4×8 (2 seconds on the way down)

Met-Con
4 Rounds AQAP (as quick as possible)
20 kettlebell swings 16kg
15 ring dips
10 burpees
after 4 rounds, run 1 mile

Squatting 101

So in class the other day the big debate was how to show our patients how to squat in the deloaded squat rack on the weight stack.  I performed a squat in the same way I do with a barbell, except I was strapped in a harness that took about 16kg off my bodyweight.  In any case, the lower body mechanics are the same.  As soon as I broke parallel it was as if I had opened the floodgates of hell and began receiving flak from left and right.

“Don’t go past your knees!”

“Turn your toes forward, not out!”

“Knees over your ankles!”

Rather than addressing each critique that I received, I decided just to post my thoughts on squatting and knees, hips, ankles, toes, backs, and all that fun stuff that you need for proper squatting.  Being that this is a blog for workouts as well as rehab/pre-hab work, I’ll say that proper technique is the best pre-hab you can have.  And in a lot of instances, correcting technique can help rehab your nagging injuries (which usually happen from poor technique).  Let me first start off by saying that I’m not a professional lifter by any means.  I’ve been lifting for years, and the first few of them my squat technique was atrocious.  One day, that terrible technique caught up to me (by terrible technique I mean: weight at the front of my feet, not keeping my chest up, not keeping my back tight, not squatting to parallel or beyond, etc.) and I threw my back out.  For 12 months it took me at least 10 minutes just to get out of bed and I couldn’t stand on my feet for more than 20 minutes without my sciatic nerve wreaking havoc on my left leg.  Since then, I have worked very hard to learn and develop proper squat technique to achieve the strongest lifts possible.  To date, my personal best is 365lbs.  Nothing stellar, but I’ll take it.

1. Set up – Step up to the bar, get focused, take a deep breath, unrack the bar on your traps and keep your hands in as close as possible.  This will keep your upper back tight and turn it into a shelf for the bar.  When you’re stable (this should be immediate), take a step back into your squatting “spot.”

2. Take a big belly breath and tighten your lumbar spine.  By belly breath, I mean, when you breathe in, let it expand your stomach.  The bigger the belly, the more stable you are.

3. Hips back, chest up, and squat.  The cue for powerlifters is “hips back!” until they look like they’re about to plop into a chair.  Sure, this works for them because they often wear squat suits that you can “load” and spring back up from the hole.  I prefer the olympic style back squat so my feet are a tad closer than the powerlifter and I don’t shove my hips as far back as they do.

4. Once you hit the hole (parallel or below – parallel is defined as the hip crease being at the same height from the ground as the apex of the knee), lead with your chest and come back up.  It’s that simple.

The reason a lot of people are afraid to squat below parallel is because their doctors tell them to.  I can understand that because doctors are the authority on all things medical right?  Wrong.  The reason doctors don’t like squatting past parallel is because they’re afraid of the forces on the knee.  Sure when you stretch your quad over your kneecap like that there’s force in the patellofemoral joint.  For the person that is recovering from a knee injury and this is painful for, don’t go to your level of pain.  But if you’re a healthy individual like me, you understand that at 90 degrees your knees are actually taking the MOST force.  Past 90, that force goes back down a tad due to the congruency of the joint.  People will still debate this till their blue in the face, but if you look at the knee in a squat, all the downward forces of the weight on your back are pushing right at your knees if you stay above parallel.  Also, when you’re above 90 degrees in the squat you’re using your quads mostly (and I’ll bet your weight is on your toes – this also means you’re using all quads).  To squat up from below 90 degrees, you have to use your glutes.  When you use your glutes, you’ll take pressure off your knees.  As much of a quad developer as the squat is, when done deeply and properly, your hamstrings and glutes are gonna get a huge benefit and this will help distribute forces around the knee joint.

People also like to argue that squatting deeply gives you osteoarthritis.  Does it?  Are you sure?  What evidence do you have?  Because some retired lifters and athletes have bad knees?  Well what about runners?  What about soccer players?  Hell, I bet there are some cyclists out there with bad knees.  And then there are those athletes in all the aforementioned sports who NEVER go through knee problems.  I’ll admit, if your knees don’t track in the same line as your feet, you’ll have some medial/lateral issues, but to say that squatting deep is bad for your knees and fall on the old OA argument is poor.  Aside from OA as an eventual result from traumatic injury to the knee and thus damaging the articular cartilage, you can’t be positive that OA is gonna happen.  And for the ones who say to keep your knees over your ankles, I dare anyone to try and control their downward phase of any sitting activity (which is essentially squatting – i don’t know any toilet that isn’t designed for handicapped people that doesn’t make me squat to 90 degrees.  Someone go tell the toilet making companies they’re giving me OA in my knees) by keeping their knees over their ankles.  If they did, they’d have to do a complete fold at the hips in order to keep their center of mass over their base of support.  I’m sure that’s good for your back.  I do agree with not letting your knees track PAST your toes.  Unless you have really disproportionate bones in your legs, this is generally not a good idea.

Lastly, I don’t know any person with relatively normal joint laxity and tissue extensibility that can squat perfectly with toes pointed straight forward while widening your feet to your hips or beyond.  I’ve tried it, it hurts like a son of a bitch.  And if it hurts me, damn right it’s going to hurt my patients.  I know I don’t have good passive range-of-motion, but I turn my toes out slightly, widen my feet just a touch, and I can squat to the floor.  I’m talking ass-to-ankles.  Plus, everyone who got on my ass about my toes being turned out tried to squat and their toes also turned out and their feet started to pronate.  Don’t tell me that’s gotta be helpful.

True, when we’re talking about patients we’re going to be more conservative.  I’m not going to treat a meniscal repair the same way I’m going to treat an athlete – at least not yet.  But let’s think about it.  Aside from pain being the limiting factor of tolerable load and range-of-motion, there isn’t/shouldn’t be anything different since the goal I’m getting at with each person is the make them stronger and injury free right?  Why would I tell a patient something different, only to one day (God-willing) turn them into an athlete and give them a completely new motor pattern to learn?  Makes no sense to me.

Squatting takes time to learn, and while I’m not perfect at it I’ve been pain free in my below parallel squat (I should also mention that my knees have started to be less sore after squats since I started approaching them this way) for years.  Trust me, I’m from what my teacher calls a “squatting culture with a low incidence of OA.” (I’m Chinese, in case you were wondering).

I’ve attached some inspirational squatting videos.  Watch their approach/mechanics.  And then go tell them that you’re positive that they’re going to get osteoarthritis.

WOD 2.6.10

Oly
Snatch 3×3/80%, 3×2/85%
Clean and Jerk 2×2/80%, 2×2/85%, 1×1/90%
Snatch Pull + Snatch High Pull  2×1/6

Met-Con
3 Rounds AQAP (as quick as possible)
800 m run
10 135# thrusters
20 burpees

WOD 2.5.10

Oly
rest

Met-Con
Deadlift 4×8 (go up in weight from last week)

“Cindy”
AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 20 minues
5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats

WOD 2.4.10

Oly
Back Squat 7×3/80%
Hanging Leg Raise  3×10

Therapy Squats 3×10
Duck Walks 2×60secs
Foam Roller 5-10 minutes

Met-Con
rest

WOD 2.3.10

Oly
Clean 3/80%, 3/85%, 2/90%, 1/90%, 1/90%
Jerk Dips 6×2

3×60 secs AMAP (as many as possible) jump squats with 45# bar

Met-Con
Bent Over Row  5×5 (go up in weight from last week)

run 5k

WOD 2.2.10

Oly
Snatch Balance 5×3/85-95%
Clean Pull + High Clean Pull  2+1/6
Seated Good Mornings 3×10/95#

Hip Flexor Stretching
Planks
Foam Roller 5-10 minutes

Met-Con
Squat 4×8 (go up in weight from last week)

21-15-9 AQAP (as quick as possible)
45# dumbbell snatch (one arm at a time, do 21 in the right, 21 in the left before you move to widowmakers, etc)
45# Renegade Row (In a pushup position do a one-arm row on one side and one on the other.  Perform 21 in each arm before going back to the snatch)

WOD 2.1.10

Oly
Snatch 3/  3/   2/   2/   1/   1/   1/  1/

6 rounds
5 Front Squat 225#
10 GHD Situps

Met-Con
Press 5×5 (go up weight from last week if you can)

“Nate”
AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 20 minutes
2 Muscle Ups (substitute 2 ring pullups and 2 ring dips per muscle up or 4 kip pullups, 4 regular dips)
4 Handstand Pushups
8 Kettlebell Swings (32 kg)

WOD 1.30.10

Oly
3 position clean + 1 jerk   4×2 ea position/80%

3 rounds AQAP (as quick as possible)
10 chinups
10 ea leg overhead stepups 75# (use as narrow of a grip as possible)

Met-Con
“Fight Gone Bad”
Perform each of the following exercises for one minute each, then rest for one minute.  Repeat for 5 rounds.  Your total score is the total number of reps performed or calories burned, depending on the exercise.

Wall Ball 20# ball, 8 foot high target (reps)
Sumo Deadlift High Pull 95# (reps)
Box Jumps 24″ box (reps)
Push Press 75# (reps)
Row (calories)