Tuesday, November 20, 2007

I Can't Squat ATF! (...and Other Tales of Woe)

"HELP! I can't get below parallel in my squat." and "My heels always come of the floor at the bottom of my squat." seem to be the most common issues I hear about squatting on the internet. For most people, simply sitting in the hole and working out the issue is their best bet; a bottom-up approach. Dan John does this through "goblet squats". Westside does it through box squats.



I approach it by having students stand in front of a chair or a support beam of a power rack and then getting into their bottom position and then shifting their weight onto their heels. Moving the hips and straightening the lower back will help the trainee feel how stress is transfered from the knees and ankles onto the hips and hamstrings. With practice, the trainee will be able to duplicate this position with less effort and with greater stability.

6 comments:

Taikei Matsushita said...

I'm kind of like relieved ALOT, when I saw your name in the RKC instructor section of Iowa.
Congrats!

Taikei

Boris said...

THANK YOU! Actually, I don't know why it took so long... I guess it's punishment for not getting my numbers at the cert. Not trying to make excuses, but I had a horrible cold that weekend and was happy with everything.

Anyway, thanks for noticing!!! I don't know if I said so or not, but congrats to you too for the seminar you did - I was so happy to see your video! Hope all is well for you and hopefully we can meet up again soon.

Taikei Matsushita said...

I don't think you know how happy I am for this. Looked over Iowa section many times and was almost giving up on you, ready to threaten you to take the next cert.

But you know, thanks for not quitting, that's very important.
Lets open something around Fukui area. I'll drive down there with lots of kettlebells next time.

Boris said...

I appreciate that Taikei. I was looking in the Iowa section quite a bit too! On to the RKC II when I can afford it...

Thanks for checking up on things - it means a lot to me.

I don't know if I can make it to Fukui this summer, but if we can meet up, I'll make going a priority! Probably be in late June to early July.

Anonymous said...

How wide of a stance should I have them take?

Boris said...

Stance is an individual thing and hip mobility and structure is going to affect it a lot. Play with it to find the best width.