Tag Archives: squats

Top 3 Reasons You Should Be Front Squatting

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OMG

I’m back!

I’ve been on a slight hiatus…

from life.

Seriously, I was attacked by some virus monster and have been totally out of commission since last Thursday, when I first felt the slightest scratch in my throat. That scratch turned into a full blown monster Thursday night, leaving me feeling like death until, well, about 12 hours ago.

.

Now I’m on the upswing!

I haven’t stepped foot in the gym for 8 days now, which is really unfortunate because my lift last Wednesday was a total Beast. I finally hit 145 on my squats again for the first time since September, and it felt…dare I say it… fairly easy?!  I hadn’t felt that good on back squats in months, and I attribute it partially to resting more lately, but also adding in some serious reps on my front squats. As much as I used to hate them, the front squat can be an enormously helpful tool for improving your other compound lifts, most notably the back squat.

front squat

If you’re familiar with CrossFit, you’re definitely familiar with the front squat. 

I avoided them for a long time, mostly because if you’re not used to them, it’s awfully uncomfortable to have a heavy barbell situated on your clavicles/deltoids. And it gets even less comfortable as more and more weight is added to the bar. Although once I stopped being a huge baby and just sucked it up, I found that each time I did them, having the barbell in the front loaded position got much more comfortable. The body does adapt to repeated stresses, ya know.

So anyway, why are we talking about this? Because it’s an important lift, that’s why. And also because I don’t think I’m alone in avoiding them. So why might the front squat be a valuable lift to add into your training?

1. You will probably improve your back squat. If you’re like many people, you may lean forward a bit too much on your back squat. This is likely due to 2 things: tight hip flexors, as well an anterior abdominal wall that is weak as sh*t. If your core is not strong enough to hold you upright during your back squat, it’s going to hinder your form and limit your potential. Front squatting works your core like crazytown, which will increase your abdominal strength for future back squat sessions. Since I have started incorporating front squats into my program, my back squats have felt infinitely easier. Did I ever think of myself as having a “weak” core? HELL NO. I can plank for days. But apparently, that doesn’t count when you’ve got a barbell loaded with your bodyweight across your back.

2. You will improve your core strength. Ahem. Notice I said “will”, and not “can” or “maybe”. As noted above, the front squat is a beast when it comes to strengthening the core and anterior abdominal wall. I won’t get into spinal compression here, or the dangers of spinal flexion exercises like crunches. But just know that anti-flexion and anti-rotation exercises for the core are the bees knees. The front squat just happens to be king of all of those exercises, and then some. As I said above, I can plank for days. But the first time that I front squatted with an appreciable amount of weight? My abs were SORE. I’m talking serious DOMS. And I don’t think my abs have been sore since I first learned how to snowboard, which was years ago.

3. You can’t cheat. Cheating on the back squat is easy, and many people do it. Leaning too far forward is one of the main ways that people cheat, aside from going through about 30 degrees of knee flexion and calling it a day.  With the front squat, you can’t lean forward, or you’ll lose the bar. Really. And no one wants to be that guy.  While yes, you can cheat and only go through a tiny range of motion if you really want to,  I’ve actually found that my range of motion (and the ease of getting to proper depth) on my front squats is better than my back squats. Likely because of my core issues noted above.

Before we go I just want to make sure that everyone knows I am in no way bashing the back squat. It’s one of my absolute favorite lifts, and while is an extremely important lift, especially when training for absolute strength (and why else would you train), the front squat is an excellent accessory lift. It can be a little bit humbling, as you’ll never be able to lift as much with a front squat as you can with a back squat, but as far as I’m concerned, many of those who frequent the weight room could use a little humbling now and again.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the front squat, here is a video of Molly Galbraith (who is basically my weight room hero) crushing them for 210 x 3. Watch and learn, folks.

Of course, if you’ve never done this lift before, start with a weight that you know you can handle, and be sure to use proper form in order to avoid injury.

Do you use front squatting in your lifts? Or do you avoid them like the plague like I used to? Do you find that front squats improve your back squats? What’s a lift or exercise that you used to avoid but now you love it?

Fall Goals

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The past few weeks at work have been pretty hectic and crazy, but with pre-season starting up next week, I know it’s only about to get worse. For those of my readers who were/are athletes, you understand how crazy us athletic trainers get around pre-season time. And for the rest of you, well, I don’t even have words to describe it. Fall pre-season is  pretty much equivalent to getting run over by a 10-ton truck… and then getting up and getting trampled by a heard of stampeding wildabeest.

This sums it up quite nicely. Thanks Simba!

Long story short, it’s exhausting. And with exhaustion often comes lethargy, lack of motivation, negative feelings, etc. So knowing that all of that is on the very close horizon, I’m going to take a cue from Kristi over at Sweetly Fit and set myself some goals. The last thing I want to happen this fall is for me to get so busy that I forget to take care of myself, so I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen by setting a few new goals. I’m a firm believer that goals shouldn’t be set just once a year (Hello, New Years!), but should be continuously re-evaluated, revamped, and they should always be evolving. So here are my goals for the next few months:

  • Read at least 1 book per month. And this is reading for pleasure, not reading research journals for work (although that will be done as well). Reading makes me happy, so even if I can just set aside 10-20 minutes per day, that’s some great, quiet ME time. Besides, I have a couple of book reviews on the horizon for you guys,and how can I do that if I don’t make time to actually read the books?
  • Squat 160 lbs for reps. My squats have been struggle city for the past couple of months due to a back issue I have been having, but I am determined to get to 160. I have been hovering at the 145-150 range for a while now, and I need to push past this roadblock in my training, or I might actually go a little crazy.
  • Write at least 2 blog posts per week. Throughout the summer I’ve been good with about 3 per week, but I know that that’s just not realistic every week, especially for the busy fall season. However, if I keep myself on a schedule, I know I can get two good posts for you guys per week on most weeks, and if there are a few that it just doesn’t happen, well, so be it.
  • Take (and pass) my CSCS exam! This has been a goal of mine for a while, but I finally have my sights set on a specific exam date: December 1st. Now that it’s public, I’m going to have to get my butt registered and get serious about studying!

I think that’s good for now. Having just a few specific goals will hopefully help to keep me centered and focused throughout this crazy hectic time. I’m pretty optimistic that I can accomplish all of them, and then you can all congratulate me when I’m a CSCS in December :) In the meantime, don’t be surprised if I start going a little batty. Just knock some sense into me if my posts get a little too off track.

Do you set goals regularly? Do you find that it helps to keep you focused when things get a little crazy? Do you have a busy time of year at work/school or is it all pretty much the same for you?

The Best Piece of Gym Equipment You’re (Probably) Not Using

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I want to take today to talk about one of my favorite pieces of equipment in the gym, and one that I don’t think gets used enough:

The Landmine

Half home-plate half machine-gun-turret… How does this thing belong in the gym?

When my gym first got one, I probably spent a good two or three months just staring at it every time I went into the weight room. What the heck do I do with that thing? I would wonder, but of course never bothered to ask anyone (why would I ever do that?). Instead, I turned to some big names in the Strength and Conditioning world, watched some videos from Tony Gentilcore and Ben Bruno, and realized all of the potential that this little piece of equipment has. And did I mention why I think that you’re probably not using it? Because in all of the time that I stared at it wondering, and in all of the many months since then, I have never seen another person in my gym using it. I swear everyone stares at it with the same questions I had, and I get a few odd looks when I’m using it sometimes as well.

Why is it one of my favorites?

  • It’s Versatile. You can incorporate the landmine into upper body days, lower body days, it’s great for core work and just gives you a little bit of a different twist on some basic exercises. Basically, it’s a jack-of-all-trades of the weight room.
  • Anyone can use it. You don’t have to be a bodybuilder to use this, and you certainly don’t have to know any fancy techniques. Basic form cues will do here, and whether you load it up with plates or just use the weight of the bar, it can be valuable for any strength level.
  • It’s excellent for supplemental work. Supplementing your compound lifts, such as squat, deadlift, etc. is essential, and this is a great tool to do just that. Even if you don’t squat/deadlift/bench on a regular basis, this is a great tool for increasing strength and stability for those at any level.
  • It’s totally badass. What?

So, what can you do with the Landmine? As I stated above, it is so versatile. It can be used for a multitude of lifts and movement patterns, so I’ll show you a few of my favorite ones that I’ve been using lately, but just know that there are many more out there!

This one is a great movement for core stability, and you’ll also get a little shoulder/upper back work in as well:

This next one I use a lot, and you can also do it from a half kneeling position for a little bit more of a challenge.

A few shoulder press variations:

This next one is a great supplemental lift for your squats, and includes a little bit of upper body work too:

I’m really loving this last one at the moment. However, my grip strength is not great in my right hand due to an injury, so I’ve been holding the bar up on the shoulder of my forward leg:

I also tend to use this a lot for single-arm bent over rows, but I couldn’t find a good video for that one. I’m sure you can imagine, but if you have any questions about form on that please ask in the comments!

And if your gym doesn’t have a Landmine specifically, that’s ok! You can still take advantage of these types of lifts. All you need is a barbell and a corner, and you’re all set. Just place one end of the barbell in the corner (so it doesn’t roll around), and you can do just about all of the exercises listed here.  Now get after it and try something new!

Do you ever use a landmine? Does your gym have one? Do you see many people using it? What are some of your favorite lifts to do with this piece of equipment?

Turning Failure Into Success

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Last week was basically one big Fail.

I wasn’t sleeping well. I was continuously dehydrated (my own fault for not keeping up with my H2O intake when I get busy at work), I was craving sugar like Cray-Cray (Hello, symptoms of sleep deprivation!) and I had an Epic Fail in the weight room on Tuesday.

I went in for a heavy squat day, did my warm up sets, and then went ahead with my work sets. That’s when my body started to cry. I have been stuck at 145 for at least a month (probably more like 6 weeks by now?) but had been able to complete 3×5 at 145 for each of my last couple of heavy squat days. Last week, however, was a different story. I got to rep #3 on my first set and hit failure.

BOOM.

Ok, Not quite that bad, but you get the idea.

That was just the beginning. Once I realized that my squats were going to be totally craptastic for the day, I lowered the weight and proceeded with a lower weight, low volume leg day. It wasn’t scheduled to be a de-load week (this week was), but the way I was feeling, I knew I had to listen to my body and give myself some slack. I kept the rest of the week pretty very low volume, but still felt tired, sluggish, and unmotivated. Friday’s leg day was one that would normally be super light, even on a de-load week, but I ended up being sore from it through Sunday.

Not only was I tired, sluggish, and unmotivated, but my hamstring flared up again as well. It hasn’t gone back to 100% since I first started feeling it, but last week it got a little bit more angry than it had been lately.

My body was in fail mode. However, I wasn’t my usual moronic self who would just push through because I wasn’t “scheduled” for a de-load, and I actually listened to my screaming, pleading body. Looking back, I probably should have just stayed away from the gym totally, but hindsight is 20/20, isn’t it? And I can’t change that now anyway.

But you know what? My light week did WONDERS. I came into the gym this Monday, following a glorious 9 hours of sleep Sunday night, and hit 150×3 on my back squats. WOOP!

Moral of the story is: I was able to turn my failed lift one week into a new PR in the next. The combination of sleep, stress reduction, and general rest is a powerful thing, especially if you find yourself in a rut or having a generally sub-par workout.  After giving myself the time off that my body so clearly required, I have been sleeping much better this week, my workouts have felt much better, and I’m not the irritable B*tch who showed up towards the tail end of last week.

To this I say: Success!

*Note: I was reading an old issue of Shape magazine this morning, where Molly Sims was talking about working out for 30 days straight. It made me want to cry just thinking about it… Give your body a break, people!

Have you ever had to change your de-load week or rest days because of outside stress? Do you take de-load weeks or scheduled time off from working out? Do you notice how much stress or sleep deprivation can effect your workouts?

Happy Friday, Happy People!

A moment of self pity

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I’m a generally healthy person. I eat relatively well, I spend a good amount of quality time in the gym,  and I take care of my overall health pretty well. I have a great job and my life is cruising along pretty smoothly if I do say so myself.  However, there are certain days when my overactive female brain makes me feel like this:

Take this past weekend, for example. While getting dressed for work, I put on a pair of pants and realized that they were just too tight for work. Now, instead of just accepting that   my recent holiday eating habits and 2 weeks away from the gym had resulted in this minor fitting issue, I went into some sort of rage blackout.

Self Portrait.

Before I knew it, 80% of my closet was strewn across the bed and I was 100% convinced that I owned NOTHING that I could wear to work that day. Logically speaking, I am well aware that a small fluctuation in weight (probably a pound or two)  is virtually unnoticeable to others, and also very easily corrected, usually within a week or so. (I’m also aware that I own way too many clothes, and of course I have something to wear). However, in that very moment when my extreme emotional sensitivity kicked in, my brain went through something like this:

WHY DOESNT ANYTHING FIT I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR NOTHING EVER LOOKS GOOD ON ME WHY ARE MY LEGS SO BIG WHERE DID THIS ASS COME FROM F*&% S#%* I HATE EVERYTHING IN MY CLOSET THERE ARE NO PANTS IN THE WORLD THAT WILL EVER FIT ME AGAIN……… and on and on in this vicious self-loathing thought cycle.

Now, luckily I have a very supportive boyfriend who is able to talk me off of the self-pity ledge, but even then, it takes me a couple of days to break out of this sort of thinking once it starts.  And I know I’m not alone here. Why do we, as women, go through this? I am well aware of the multitude of things that can cause my weight to fluctuate a couple of pounds either way: hydration status, hormones, water retention, etc. I’m a health professional for crying out loud. My brain contains a multitude of reasons why my pants may have felt too tight and lots of sensible ways to correct this. Usually when this happens, I can just toss on another pair of pants and head out the door, but every once in a while, it’s like I get sucked into this negative-thought cycle for no good reason.

So what’s the point of this post? Honestly, I have no idea. I just wanted to let you all know that yes, even “healthy living” bloggers go through this type of S— too.  We’re all vulnerable to negative self-thoughts, and as much as I like to think that I have all of the answers, I definitely don’t. I don’t have some magical elixer that will instantly give me my confidence back when something like this happens. So the question is, What do You do? How do you correct your thinking when you’re having a Debbie-Downer, self-pitying, pants-not-fitting day? I need to come up with a game plan here. Maybe next time I’ll go the Stuart Smalley route:

Note: So what DID I do to make myself better? Come Monday morning, I went to the gym and had a killer heavy squat day. Because that is what these legs are for. And Yes, 3 days later, my pants fit just fine. I guess a rage blackout wasn’t needed after all.