As y'all know, I've been having a little love affair with front squats. It started rather uncomfortably, and then about two weeks ago, the front squat and I took it to the next level and celebrated a 15# increase in my PR with a set of five reps at 100#.
But hot and heavy romance can't coast on remembrances of past bliss.
Last week, Coach Crystal reminded me that I could get a little lower in my squats. Just a little lower... a tiny tuck-under with my hips at the end so my hip crease breaks that parallel plane.
First reaction: Grrrrr!
Second reaction: [sigh] OK.
My workout this morning was 5X5 front squat and 3X5 bench press, and I decided to shuck some weight from the squat bar to really focus on hanging out at the bottom for a second to ensure I got my hips past parallel. Ninety pounds for 5X5, and I got low, yo on all but two reps. I kinda cheated myself a little on #4 in two of the sets, but besides those, I was on it. I was sweating and grunting in a decidedly unglamorous way – and my collarbones are tender and red as I type this – but dang! that was fun. And felt very productive in a way that my heavy lifting workouts sometimes do not.
Which brings me to my next declaration: Now that I've got the basics, I'm going to focus on honing my lifts, making sure my form is as spot-on as I can get it on my own. "How low can you go?" is a great mantra to represent all the finer points of each lift... plus, in my head, it's got a sort of funky, island beat that implies if I do it right, I might get to kick back under a palm tree with pina colada later.
Which, of course, I won't, but still...
Bench press? Three sets of five reps at 100#, and I touched the bar to my chest on each one.
THAT was heavy. And fun. And heavy.
In case you need to brush up on your front squats, take a lookie at these:
Fixing the Squat
On Moxy-Boss's advice, I watched this video and do these drills before every squatting session. It's made a tremendous impact on the depth, stability, and quality of my squats.
Fixing the Squat from Patrick Cummings on Vimeo.
The Front Squat
Front Squats from Patrick Cummings on Vimeo.
LOVE those tips!!! I will definitely be using this info to strengthen my squat form. My problem has actually been squatting too low, especially when I get heavy...leaving me feeling locked out at the bottom of my squat. I feel like I get down, just past the parallel, and then my hips tend to sort of lock. I feel like if I work on strengthening this movement, without the weight, it will help me with this issue.
ReplyDeletejen, another tip I got from Coach Jen Cardella: Take a big breath at the top, hold it while lowering to the botton, then exhale as you push up from the floor with your heels, leading with the chest.
ReplyDelete