simmons or ripptoe re the squat

[learntolovethehole]

head first out of the hole or hips initiating the movement upward?Both these gurus have quite opposing views.

Im curious as to what the good/great squatters here have to say.

[Dr Squat]

head first out of the hole or hips initiating the movement upward?Both these gurus have quite opposing views.

Im curious as to what the good/great squatters here have to say.

I don't claim to be a great squatter but I can hold my own. I have never really thought about it in terms of that level of detail. Possibly I'm not smart enough.

When in the hole I like to think of two keys things and they happen simultaneously.

- Driving with my hips out of the hole;

- Keeping my chest up.

The other thing to think about is being in the correct position in the hole. This is about the decent. Most squatters don't sit back far enough IMO. If you don't get this right then you will struggle regardless of what you do.

[tomsammce]

Doc, you always often confess to not being very smart... Why?. Have some belief in your experience/knowledge! stand up tall (probably hard for you) but come on mate get with the program sonny boy.

Good question too btw

[Wyldfyre]

Most squatters don't sit back far enough IMO. If you don't get this right then you will struggle regardless of what you do.

Why do you reckon raw lifters may struggle to sit back?

[Dr Squat]

Most squatters don't sit back far enough IMO. If you don't get this right then you will struggle regardless of what you do.

Why do you reckon this happens for raw lifters?

Honestly, they get scared on the decent and they semi bail and hence they sit forward too far. They don't do the hard yards to build the posterior chain.

[learntolovethehole]

thanks for the fast reply Doc and my opinion is you are a freakin awesome squatter.

Another question is why arent you dominating at international level?lol.

The classic WR is 325 kg at 105...youve done more than this... correct?

[tomsammce]

thanks for the fast reply Doc and my opinion is you are a freakin awesome squatter.

Another question is why arent you dominating at international level?lol.

The classic WR is 325 kg at 105...youve done more than this... correct?

Hi Craig.

[Dr Squat]

Doc, you always often confess to not being very smart... Why?. Have some belief in your experience/knowledge! stand up tall (probably hard for you) but come on mate get with the program sonny boy.

Good question too btw

GC.

I have complete belief in my ability bro and I am happy to share my knowledge and hopefully it is of benefit. It's not for me to say whether I am smart or not and frankly who cares. But I don't pretend to be anything but simple. And simple is best.

[Dr Squat]

thanks for the fast reply Doc and my opinion is you are a freakin awesome squatter.

Another question is why arent you dominating at international level?lol.

The classic WR is 325 kg at 105...youve done more than this... correct?

Hi Craig.

Busted. IP check lol.

[Dr Squat]

thanks for the fast reply Doc and my opinion is you are a freakin awesome squatter.

Another question is why arent you dominating at international level?lol.

The classic WR is 325 kg at 105...youve done more than this... correct?

Simple answer is that I haven't done 325 kg in a competition. Gym lifts count for nothing even if they are on video. It's been a rough couple of years with injuries but I will be back soon. I'm excited but not getting ahead of myself. I think I will be a better lifter now be a better lifter now because I have a reasonable bench press. Back to the thread...

[learntolovethehole]

sweet.

[Dr Squat]

Most squatters don't sit back far enough IMO. If you don't get this right then you will struggle regardless of what you do.

Why do you reckon raw lifters may struggle to sit back?

Raises the question about the major difference about a raw and equipped squat. SP would be the best to talk about this. The equipment is so different nowadays. I still think that sitting back is the key and that's why I like training on the box. But I know that others will never box squat. The way I box squat is if you were to move the box away I would not fall over.

[startinfromscratch]

head first out of the hole or hips initiating the movement upward?Both these gurus have quite opposing views.

Im curious as to what the good/great squatters here have to say.

LTLTH,

what is your original account name/s?

[learntolovethehole]

head first out of the hole or hips initiating the movement upward?Both these gurus have quite opposing views.

Im curious as to what the good/great squatters here have to say.

LTLTH,

what is your original account name/s?

this is my only account.i train in my shed and mostly by myself.Ive never competed and have self belief issues lol.im weaker than most here however thats why i have signed up and asking questions.Hopefully a bit of greatness will be contagious.

[Riccardo]

I don't believe a hip drive/keeping your chest up are two mutually exclusive concepts. I think a lot of people mistake Rip's comments about hip drive for meaning extending you knees/driving with your hips then doing a huge goodmorning to finish the lift and I think this is because as the weight gets heavier this is what tends to happen to a lot of lifters. I've noticed that this also happens when my glutes aren't engaged for the whole lift. If they become loose (no homo), knees tend to drift in a bit, hips go up and I end up doing a massive back extension/goodmorning to finish lol.

I think the reasoning for driving with the hips first and not the head is that leading with your head kills hammstring tension.

[Dr Squat]

head first out of the hole or hips initiating the movement upward?Both these gurus have quite opposing views.

Im curious as to what the good/great squatters here have to say.

LTLTH,

what is your original account name/s?

this is my only account.i train in my shed and mostly by myself.Ive never competed and have self belief issues lol.im weaker than most here however thats why i have signed up and asking questions.Hopefully a bit of greatness will be contagious.

Good to have you onboard bro. There is no room for egos in my world. We are all after the same result when you break it down- getting bigger and stronger.

[learntolovethehole]

LTLTH,

what is your original account name/s?

this is my only account.i train in my shed and mostly by myself.Ive never competed and have self belief issues lol.im weaker than most here however thats why i have signed up and asking questions.Hopefully a bit of greatness will be contagious.

Good to have you onboard bro. There is no room for egos in my world. We are all after the same result when you break it down- getting bigger and stronger.

Thanks and you and your crew have unreal strength. :shock:

[learntolovethehole]

I don't believe a hip drive/keeping your chest up are two mutually exclusive concepts. I think a lot of people mistake Rip's comments about hip drive for meaning extending you knees/driving with your hips then doing a huge goodmorning to finish the lift and I think this is because as the weight gets heavier this is what tends to happen to a lot of lifters. I've noticed that this also happens when my glutes aren't engaged for the whole lift. If they become loose (no homo), knees tend to drift in a bit, hips go up and I end up doing a massive back extension/goodmorning to finish lol.

I think the reasoning for driving with the hips first and not the head is that leading with your head kills hammstring tension.

I just learnt something new.Cheers.On a sort of sidenote i notice that guys who are naturally good deadlifters seem to be able to recover a good morning type squat better.

Im seriously thinking of just running the first 3 weeks of smolov then focussing more on deadlifting for however long it takes.I want a bigger back to handle the bar path.

[Dr Squat]

this is my only account.i train in my shed and mostly by myself.Ive never competed and have self belief issues lol.im weaker than most here however thats why i have signed up and asking questions.Hopefully a bit of greatness will be contagious.

Good to have you onboard bro. There is no room for egos in my world. We are all after the same result when you break it down- getting bigger and stronger.

Thanks and you and your crew have unreal strength. :shock:

What part of the country are you bro?

[Phedder]

I don't believe a hip drive/keeping your chest up are two mutually exclusive concepts. I think a lot of people mistake Rip's comments about hip drive for meaning extending you knees/driving with your hips then doing a huge goodmorning to finish the lift and I think this is because as the weight gets heavier this is what tends to happen to a lot of lifters. I've noticed that this also happens when my glutes aren't engaged for the whole lift. If they become loose (no homo), knees tend to drift in a bit, hips go up and I end up doing a massive back extension/goodmorning to finish lol.

I think the reasoning for driving with the hips first and not the head is that leading with your head kills hammstring tension.

I just learnt something new.Cheers.On a sort of sidenote i notice that guys who are naturally good deadlifters seem to be able to recover a good morning type squat better.

Im seriously thinking of just running the first 3 weeks of smolov then focussing more on deadlifting for however long it takes.I want a bigger back to handle the bar path.

I definitely fall into this category, and wouldn't recommend it. My deadlift has always been well ahead of my squat, squat is slowly catching up but at one point it was a solid 70kg behind. My final squat at nationals was a big good morning, and although I was stoked with the PB, I knew I left plenty of weight on the platform. I'm confident with better technique there's at least another 10-15kg in my squat, and that's exactly what I'm working on at the moment.

Don't rely on your back, it's great to have a strong back and be able to if you have to, but that should be a last resort and worst case scenario. Let your legs and hips do the work.

[Riccardo]

I also fall into that category, my deadlift is well ahead of my squat. I think the key is maintaining the squat as one fluid movement and trying to keep the bar path straight and efficient. As opposed to a set of individual movements.

[Dr Squat]

I also fall into that category, my deadlift is well ahead of my squat. I think the key is maintaining the squat as one fluid movement and trying to keep the bar path straight and efficient. As opposed to a set of individual movements.

For me I try to not think about too many things when I squat. Look at someone like Coan. The movement is very simple. He sits back into the hole, drives with his hips and keeps his chest high.

The goodmorning thing is common. Again I think it is also the result of not sitting back in the hole. If you get out of position then you have to rely on your back. That's okay until you hit really big weights and you can't use your back to get you out of trouble.

[Hitro]

Some good reading in this thread and I too am in a similar boat when it comes to be able to deadlift alot more than I can squat and when squats are heavy the final part of the movement looks and feels like a good morning too. I've got real conscious of it lately as well so have dropped the squat weights back a bit and try to make sure I get the movement right.

Keeping chest high is key. I think I come forward a bit much here. Making sure I take a big breath and locking in the stomach/core strong seems to help alot. Same with making sure you push the hips back rather than down.

Been doing face to wall bodyweight squats at home about 2inches from the wall and have no trouble keeping the knees from hitting the wall but find I am pretty much head butting the wall if I'm not careful.

Will follow this thread with interest.

Cheers

[Dr Squat]

Box squats boys. Vary the height of the box. These will build the posterior chain and especially the hips. Plus they teach you to sit back and you have to keep your chest high if you are going to finish the lift. Having a posterior chain of steel=massive squat and deadlift! Just my thoughts.

I wouldn't worry about having a big differential between the deadlift and squat. This will close up in time. The top raw guys will always be stronger in one or the other but they are fucken strong in both also.

[Hitro]

Thanks did box squats this morning after watching a fair few vids on them last night.

A few sets of regular squats too and then lunges so gonna be feeling it tomorrow