Learning to Squat

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/learning-to-squat?mbid=social_twitter

by jseliger • 9 years ago

109 58 9 years ago

I started doing squatting and deadlifts - very carefully and with very light weight - about five years ago. There seemed to be many potential upsides, and doing it with much care about my form and going too heavy, I found it's helped me in many ways.

In the last year, I've been doing Bodypump classes at my local gym. There's a good amount of squatting and lunges in this, and with good music and fun instructors. If you're looking to try it out and have this at your local gym, try it out; it's a good hour-long class that will get you sweating, and you can set your difficulty level to whatever you want, light to heavy weights.

The music is pretty catchy, too! Here's the latest playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8gGCsYhXV4RSJ_kJft_cs...

P.S. The author of the piece said start squatting at the beginning and you'll be hurting by the time you finish reading. Thanks to my squats on my own and in classes, I was in a squat for the whole article and for the minutes it took to tap out this message on my phone. Squatting is good and can be learned!

krishicks2• 9 years ago

I like Rippetoe's book (mentioned in the article), but I also think anyone just getting into it should get a personal trainer that knows what they're doing to teach them how to squat.

Squatting correctly is hard. It's a complex movement that involves the entire body and requires you to do things you probably are not used to doing, and mobility you probably do not have.

alexpw• 9 years ago

+1 "mobility you probably do not have"

Poor posture, tight hamstrings, weak ankles, knee joints, tendons, etc. You can't take those things for granted.

The more complex the movement, the more likely you are to involve a part of the body that is not capable of handling it. Other parts will compensate, but if you go to failure or use imperfect form, you'll quickly discover a weak link.

Complex movements are the best for maximizing strength gains, but even without weights, they can more easily break you.

jghn2• 9 years ago

Also many personal trainers don't know now to squat either, so just grabbing the nearest or most fit looking one one won't help. If one goes down this path and the trainer tells you things like to not go down all the way, find another trainer. Ideally your butt is touching your calves at the bottom of your movement.

parthdesai• 9 years ago

uggghh, it's not necessarily true. At the least, your butt has to be parallel to the floor and at the most you can go all the way down. You can stop anywhere between that and it is still a perfectly proper squat.

stinkytaco• 9 years ago

Thighs parallel to the ground is a competition squat. Indeed, your but touching your calves often means you are curling slightly to make that contact and that can lead to injury.

brooklyn_ashey• 9 years ago

I agree, squats and deadlifts. Do you have any resources you would recommend to check out beyond these? Thanks!

krishicks2• 9 years ago

Rippetoe has done some "how to" videos for The Art of Manliness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhVC_AnZYYM&list=PLLIasrSrFG...

Alan Thrall runs a Sacramento gym and has a number of videos on technique: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLibo-Z1-9Z6jPVfvHhy0v...

x0x02• 9 years ago

1 - Find a good powerlifting gym. Nothing will beat in person technique feedback from a 800+ lb squatter.

2 - Failing (1), find one on the internet that does online coaching. Film yourself and pay for feedback. I have no experience with him, but George Leeman is strong as hell and knows his technique. You could start here. https://www.muscle-massochist.com/services/

3 - If you're in sf, I have a strong recommendation. (Your username may be old.)

sn9• 9 years ago

There are actually Starting Strength coaches that are trained and certified by Rippetoe. His site has a page to find coaches near you who can train you in the movements and help with programming.

cholantesh• 9 years ago

Only in the US unfortunately.

travmatt• 9 years ago

requires you to do things you probably are not used to doing, and mobility you probably do not have

Learned this the hard way. I'd encourage anyone tempted to try out his program to take a week or two and work on your mobility first. You won't really notice your imperfect movements until the weight is sufficiently heavy enough to start hurting you.

vwoolf• 9 years ago

Learned this the hard way. I'd encourage anyone tempted to try out his program to take a week or two and work on your mobility first

Interesting; do you have any links for advice or guidance on how to work on mobility?

ethan_g• 9 years ago

If I could go back in time to my teenage self and give one piece of advice, it would be to do heavy squats. They're that good.

Though I'm not athletic by any competitive standards, being physically active has always been important to my health and well-being. I've tried a pretty good variety of sports and activities, and of everything I've tried, strength training--squats in particular--have had the best cost/benefit. Doesn't bother my joints and very few (if any) injuries. Doesn't take much time to get an intense workout done. Good for maintaining flexibility, especially after programming at a desk all day long. Fills my body with youthful hormones.

YMMV, but for me, squats are the best thing I've ever discovered for exercise.

joncrocks• 9 years ago

Me too (not just squats, but getting getting strong).

Only started in my very late twenties, and it solved all sorts of niggles I had (occasional aches in one of my knees and ankle). It's improved my balance and I also noticed I no longer roll my ankles.

I'm now a few years in, in my mid-thirties and in the best shape of my life.

I also found the continual improvement aspect of training leaked into the rest of my life. Made me think hard about the other aspects of my life, what I was working towards and what I was doing to get there.

Start with Ripptoe's novice program and you'll see yourself do more than you thought possible.

brogrammernot2• 9 years ago

Agreed but you gotta get the form down. I'd say start with air squats, kettle bell squats, then work your way up. Plenty of ways to build up your stamina without putting heavy weight on your shoulders.

0xbear2• 9 years ago

Air squats and kettle bells won't really prepare you for low back squat, as they do not develop tight upper back. Squat with an empty bar instead.

0xbear2• 9 years ago

One thing I would advise to those starting out from a completely untrained state, is take it slow, your muscles get stronger much faster than your tendons. And tendons also heal much slower than muscles, and if you screw them up bad, they may not actually recover at all on their own. Be aware that the quick initial progress will slow down. Take it slow and steady from there on out. Let your body deal with the load on its own timeline.

jghn2• 9 years ago

I've had chronic knee problems since high school, I'm now in my early 40s. I'm an on again off again exerciser, but in those 25ish years the only time my knees aren't constantly grouchy are when I'm doing heavy squats ass-to-grass over a period of time. It's amazing how supposedly the "don't do that you'll hurt yourself" exercise is the one which fixes me.

beagle3• 9 years ago

If you haven't tried a couple of weeks of barefoot (Vibram Five Fingers, Vivo Barefoot or any of that kind), I highly recommend it.

With regular cushioned shoes, you get in the habit of putting all your weight on your heel in one strike, which -- even with the cushioning -- sends the impact through your knees.

The first couple of days with my Vibrams felt very weird and impactful on the knee (I went all in, you might want to ease in at a couple hours/day first if you do) - but then your body gets used to walking on the balls of your feet, using the heel joint as a spring, and basically saving all impact from your knees -- it makes a huge difference, even if you don't do it all the time; I find I lose the spring action after a few months without them, but then a couple of days are enough to jog the muscle memory.

euroclydon• 9 years ago

I started StrongLifts a couple months ago. Can't recommend it enough. Starting each exercise with an empty bar helps me to hear my body. As I go down for those first couple empty squats, I can feel which muscles are tight, then take a couple minutes to loosen them up before adding weight.

I wasted years of time in the gym doing leg extensions and leg curls -- single joint exercises and seeing no results before I embraced squats.

Before StrongLifts (which eased me into squats with the +5lbs ever lift day, of which there are three per week) I was squatting on the Smith machine. That was bad for my jointsbesause it restricted my range of motion. Also, I through I needed the bar pad, but it turns out I can bear a lot of weight with the bar across my shoulders.

Because I have poor join flexibility, I only squat to horizontal thighs, not deep squats like some people can do. Maybe the biggest difference I can tell from the squats (plus the other four exercise) is that the ROI on my metabolism is huge! I used to have to run to keep the weight off, but that was bad for my knees.

I'm about to level off at my first set of eight goals, and start incorporating the rowing machine for cardio into my weekly workout. StrongLifts recommends to eat a lot of protein, and not to do any other exercise while on the program, so you can keep progressing through the weight increases by giving your body all the rest it can get between workout days.

CalChris2• 9 years ago

I like StrongLifts a lot. Mehdi has a ton of great form beta. However, you will plateau. You can't do +5 everyday for ever. And that's ok! Then you need to study Greg Nuckols [1] and people like that. I do wish his iPhone app was a little more flexible and could handle different programs than 5x5.

The one thing that StrongLifts beat into my tiny brain is that nothing worked before squats and everything got better after squats.

[1] https://www.strongerbyscience.com/

z3t43• 9 years ago

To learn good form, have a long stick and hold it against your upper and lower spine, standing up. Now bend your knees and hips, but without the stick ever leaving your spine. Go as low as you can to increase flexibility. When you go go down, breathe in and trigger your abdomen muscles. Try different stances, like wide or narrow between your feet, to something that feels natural to you. When you start using the bar, don't use any protection, just find a position that feels nice, usually on the shoulder blades. You'll get used to it!

NautilusWave• 9 years ago

I know from personal experience that more than just "people with vaginas" squat for sex. Reads like a bad attempt at trans-inclusivity.

peterwwillis4• 9 years ago

Squatting is great if you need to lift a felled tree, but not to escape a big cat chasing you. Learn to squat, but please also learn to jump.

toasterlovin4• 9 years ago

FYI, vertical jump more or less cannot be trained. It is almost entirely genetic. Either you can jump high or you can't.

Also, I think many people underestimate how useful strength is in most aspects of life. From picking up groceries, to home improvement projects, to wrangling kids, to getting yourself up off the toilet (a serious problem for older people). Strength makes all of these easier.

peterwwillis4• 9 years ago

Actually, most people can jump higher, because they don't know how to jump properly. Most people don't know how to stretch properly, or how to engage momentum properly, or how to break past basic mental blocks in movement. Training can teach anyone that. You can go past that and also train precision jumping, or skills that build on jumping like wall-running, or something more simple like jump-rope skills, or something difficult like flips.

In addition to the skill of jumping, jumping with weight will gain muscle and endurance. It also improves the fast neurologic response that is required for the complex series of movements when changing direction. It also trains specific muscle fibers in ways that aren't in strength training.

Much like squatting, all you have to do to start is to jump a lot. Trainers can point out how to optimize your jump. But a lot of the potential to get high air, land on top of something, or reach something high, is mental.

reckoner2• 9 years ago

How is this possibly true? I've increased my vertical jump by nearly two entire feet through years of training in volleyball. Everyone can increase their vertical just like they can increase their squat. It's a full body compound movement.

ovao• 9 years ago

The need for the former is likely to be encountered more often than need for the latter, at least by most people.

peterwwillis4• 9 years ago

Depends on the need. For attracting mates (or warding off challengers) it's the former. For survival, it's the latter.

esaym• 9 years ago

Ok, but how do I do it??

didibus• 9 years ago

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https:/...

olivermarks• 9 years ago

Mark Ripttoe's DVD is very good, he illustrates form with a wide variety of body types, pointing out issues different people have

bluedino2• 9 years ago

> Three times a week, for five sets of five reps

I would recommend doing 8 sets or 6 or 8, increasing the weight each set. 5 sets of 5 isn't enough to do more than get warmed up.

huac• 9 years ago

The point of StrongLifts is that you increase weight every time. Doing too many reps makes that harder, which in turns make building the habit of lifting consistently harder.

bluedino2• 9 years ago

You also don't stay on StrongLifts forever.

z3t43• 9 years ago

building strength = 1-3 rep @1-3RM building muscles = 4-16 rep @6RM ;)

booleandilemma• 9 years ago

"People with vaginas squat for sex or when peeing outdoors."

You mean, "women"?

borne0• 9 years ago

tangentially related, but this reminded me of The Iron by Henry Rollins

http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/strength-articles/iron-henry...

gumby• 9 years ago

In parts of the world where squat toilets are common, the pose is used for resting or waiting, a regular sight on train platforms or at bus stops.

My mother didn't like us squatting because she associated it with Japanese occupation. The soldiers would squat like that to eat a meal or have a meeting, and in the latter case it was generally a sign you should make yourself scarce.

I find this interesting because, being almost 30 years younger than she, and having heard this a few times (like when my sister and I would try to "sit squat" I just cannot adopt the same opinion. Thank goodness!

mrbonner• 9 years ago

I feel that if I do weight training that involved the squats or dead lifts I would crave for food insanely. I don't have that crave after a run or rowing. That's the reason I'm staying away from weight training. Does anybody experience the same?

wheresvic1• 9 years ago

I've been squatting and deadlifting for around 12 years now and can't recommend them enough. Most of my gains cam from these compound exercises.

When I hit the gym I pretty much just organise my routine around the squat rack. It is barely used (everyone is busy doing bicep curls in front of the mirror) so it works out for me :)

PS: shameless plug - I recently created a workout tracker in react/redux. If you're looking for a simple app to track your progress check out https://ewolo.fitness !

maaksool3• 9 years ago

I develop the Official Starting Strength app.

Happy to answer any questions about the app or starting strength in general (although I'm not an SSC, I have done the seminar and been strength training for about 5 years).

Here's a bunch of free resources to help people get started:

Starting Strength youtube channel, check out the DVD section which has Rip coaching people through each lift. https://www.youtube.com/user/AasgaardCo

Get your form checked by a starting strength coach - http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/forum171/ (read the sticky first about how to a useful video)

Starting Strength sub-reddit - Scott Hambrick (a starting strength coach) is active on there and will do form checks and give advice on general questions. https://www.reddit.com/r/StartingStrength/

Learning to Squat

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