16
Double OverHand (DOH) grip is most commonly taught to beginners for a couple reasons:
It feels more natural
It avoids the feeling of twisting inherent in mixed grip
It's more important to start deadlifting that listening to complaints about how weird it feels.
That said, there is a limit to how much you can hold that way. You can improve your grip using ...
10
Good form is for safety. Deviating from good form means that you think that the situation is so high-stakes that it warrants risking your safety. So armed with knowledge, you can choose your own adventure.
You need to be careful with taking cues from YouTube. It's possible that the people you watch have different goals than you, like hypertrophy rather than ...
10
Short of getting coached directly, the best tool for the job is taking video. There are a number of digital video recorders that have at least an hour of video available on the device. When you are training by yourself, you want a video recorder that can stable enough for you to stand up and trust that it won't fall over while you are lifting. You may ...
9
I like to add a summary of my personal experience with open-palm and knuckle push-ups. I have done at least 100 push-ups a day since 1983, even when travelling (in airports and hotels). In 1999 I developed wrist pain and changed to knuckle push-ups, first on hard surfaces (until 2003) and subsequently on a towel or on carpet as a preventive measure for ...
7
A mixed grip is stronger and allows for heavier weight to be held. This is generally the "default" grip for deadlifts and prevents grip from being the limiting factor in terms of how much weight can be lifted. (Note that it is a good idea to switch the mixed grip for even development.)
An overhand grip is weaker overall, but can be used to strengthen your ...
7
In Starting Strength, a well-known book on barbell training, Mark Rippetoe says (emphasis mine):
Grip width, within a certain range, is largely a matter of individual preference. Since you are trying to
develop general upper-body strength, your form should be generalized, without too much emphasis on any one
muscle group and with a lot of work for all ...
7
As with all squats you need flexibility in the calves, legs, hips, pelvis, back and shoulders. Other questions have addressed flexibility needed for squats in general:
What are some good stretches to help with squatting?
Is it normal when starting squats to not have flexible enough ankles?
For the Overhead Squat where the arms are overhead, tight ...
7
There can be many reasons for muscle spasms/pulls in the neck area, including (in no particular order):
Insufficient food: the muscles lack the glycogen stores required and overcompensate
Insufficient sleep: your nervous system is impacted when you are in a sleep deprived state, and I've had most of the neck spasm issues when in this state
Bad hydration: ...
6
Footage would be great. I have to re-correct this in my squat form periodically. There can be a number of issues that contribute to it:
Bar too high or too low on the back: pushes out of the optimal bar path, and can cause excessive leaning.
Knees traveling too far forward: pushes the hips up and the upper body forward.
Weak upper back or core: unable to ...
6
It's correct form.
If your elbows are too much out, you are risking injury of front shoulder and shoulder joint. By placing elbows closer to rib cage, triceps is taking more load (from shoulders).
45° or lower is considered safe zone.
If you want to try some of bench press modifications, you could try to place wrist much closer (putting load on triceps), ...
6
If your problem seems to be directly related to tight ankles, your soleus muscle is probably tight. The heel cord is made up of the gastroc and soleus muscles.
To stretch correctly, you need to stretch your calf muscles with the knee straight (to elongate the gastrocs) and with the knee bent (to elongate the soleus). You'll feel the gastroc stretch ...
6
In order to use your hips to get your legs up, they need some opposition. This means all the muscles all the way up to the bar have to be active and involved in some way. Simple check is, if you feel your entire trunk equally involved, oblique muscles working just as hard as your center line, you have enough shoulder activation. If it feels like you're ...
6
First, I don't think you have the correct notion of ATG based on this sentence:
For example, if I lay on my side with my legs in line with my torso and try to pull one foot straight back, I can't get my heel to touch my glutes.
In an ATG squat you are going down until your calves are in contact with your hamstrings. Simple physics state that two ...
6
There is a certain technique of foot strike that runners use for distance running, and that's known as midfoot striking.
Your issue, commonly known as runner's knee, seems to be likely from the biomechanical issue discussed in this article. In essence, if your footfalls are striking hard on the heel, then the entire shock of the impact is traveling ...
6
This has happened to me a lot over the years. I found it was caused by tightness of the levator scapulae and middle and upper trapezius and a weak lower trapezius and serratus. All largely sorted through fixing muscular imbalances, using a mixture of self myofascial release and targeted resistance work on the weak areas.
Release tension in pec major/minor, ...
6
The bottom line is you want your shoulder in a neutral position. That doesn't necessarily mean full scapular retraction, but it's a cue that helps a lot of people.
Considering your level of experience, and the fact you came off of injury I would advise you to use that scapular retraction, but only to the point where your shoulder is in a neutral position.
...
5
Here's a link to Ripptone explaining how much to arch the back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lBNeeeTId1M
Some people have a 'big' arch, this is the person using the legs/hips to drive the bar, usually intended to push heavy weight. So, neither is wrong, it depends on what your goal is: building strength or building ego by ...
5
I just came across this article on lateral dominance. Apparently the right leg in most people is more coordinated (this shouldn't be of surprise to most people) but the surprising bit is that the left leg is stronger for most people.
So the majority of studies support that your left leg is the side of choice for strength or balancing needs, whether it be ...
5
When I started squatting, I had trouble with balance, hip mobility, and ankle mobility. The mobility issues plus lack of proprioception in my back caused balance issues. Squatting more helped. I did third world squats throughout the day and kept squatting every workout.
I recommend warming the ankles up with lots of joint rotations (e.g. 20 in both ...
5
You can lay down flat on your stomach and then lift your feet up. You don't only lift your toes off the ground, but you also lift your feet up to the point where your knees are also leaving the ground. You then repeat this for several repetitions. This will cause you to feel a certain burning sensation in the lower back muscles. The idea is, once you feel ...
5
Everything depends on the coach; however, bad form will prevent you from lifting heavier weights. If anything, form is more important with power lifting where the goal is to have the highest total on the platform.
That said, there is a decently wide range of what constitutes good form, and it comes down to finding a coach who can help you find your optimal ...
4
Mobility & Chest UP!
Without a form check video--which is really the gold standard, putting this text-based feedback to shame--this sounds like a mobility issue combined with not keeping your chest up.
Your back and hips (and ankles, from the sound of your other question) are not flexible enough to get into a deep squat position while maintaining a ...
4
The barbell squat is primarily a quadricep exercise. Secondary muscle groups include glutes, hamstrings, lower back, and even abs.
The best way to target your quads during a barbell squat is to keep your feet at shoulder width with your toes pointing out a little bit to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on your knees.
If you want to activate your glutes ...
4
This problem is called "valgus" knee. Its is more common for females due to the anatomy - wider hip and slight larger Q angle. However, here are some very common problems for most people with valgus knee, especially during squatting and landing:
Weakness in hip abductors
Weakness in hip external rotators
Pronated feet (flat feet)
Weakness in posterior ...
4
Awareness
The first step is to discover the sensation of a flat back, of firing your lower back muscles, of arching your back, and of keeping or losing your back arch while the hips move. Practice "supermans" on the floor, lifting your legs and chest off the ground. Get into what you think is proper position, then feel with your hand or look in a mirror.
...
4
I assume you are doing this to avoid strain on your wrists rather than to toughen up your hands for bare-knuckle boxing?
One option is to use push up "bars" or "handles" instead of your knuckles. This would have the additional benefit of getting you another 4" or so off the floor and increasing your possible range of motion. You can probably get a pair ...
4
Their answers hold weight... I've noticed the pull or tear when the weight was a little heavy or a lot heavy. Also every time you actually move your head forward or look down to do the weight, it's possible to strain or tear it. Keep good posture, eyes forward and head straight. Stabilize or don't use your neck while moving the weight.
4
I'm willing to bet you don't do single leg work at all. It's not fun, but it is necessary to deal with things like this. Single leg work that supports squats include things like the following:
Split squats
Lunges
Single leg press
Bulgarian split squats (one leg elevated on a bench)
Pistols
You'll want to do as many reps as you can with the strong leg, ...
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