The_dog_mom wrote:
The one that you touch your toes then squat with arms up I can’t do unless I am on my tippy toes not heels. I noticed over the weekend if I squat down to do anything I have a very hard time getting up without assistance. Some hesitation may be due to anticipating groin pain. Someone even made the comment to me "I thought you worked out". did not even have a reply because I am rather week getting up from a squat position.
That's ok. Put some small weight discs under your heels and go from there. Get good at it from there, really "pull" yourself onto your heels and pull the chest up/back. When you get better at it like this, take away the discs (or whatever you use to elevate the heels), and start over. You'll be amazed at how quickly you improve if you do it frequently.
The movement issues you describe are quite common. It's really just that - "movement quality". I would be looking at a good dynamic warm up for you. This is where you address your movement issues. I basically write 2 concurrent programs for people I train - Their warm up, and their training sessions. The warm up is where we address movement quality and the training session is primarily to create a training effect. Of course, they do tie into each other as movement quality, for me, dictates exercise selection. So, as movement improves, the options for exercises I can use increase. The actual training session helps build the stability you may lack in movement, too, so they both feed off each other, really.
I use it to introduce new lifts, too. For example I think single leg deadlifts are invaluable. However, they have a BIG learning curve for most people (try one and you'll see what I mean). So, i'll have people master things like reaching single leg deadlifts or "bowler squats" before I introduce a single leg DL movement into the actual session. I make it sound a lot more complicated than it is. Basically what I'm saying is "master movements with just bodyweight first, THEN add load".
The_dog_mom wrote:
KPG: I think you may be right. I have added unilateral leg work for the last two workouts. I am very unstable unless I have both feet on the ground. Here is what I am doing for my uni work. I have a low bench and put one foot on the bench (top of foot) so my butt is facing the bench. then I hold the pole and do some single leg squats. I try to decrease my reliance on the pole as I squat. I also added step ups.
Good! However what I would suggest is just using step ups for now. Make sure you're doing them strictly - Drive off the heel, keep your chest up, don't let your torso shoot forward, keep it upright. Also, don't free fall on the way down, control it. No need to be super slow just "controlled" - think about trying not to make any noise at all on the way down. You may need to start with quite a low box in order to do it the way I just described, which is fine. Look towards increasing the height of the box vs adding weight. If you can't increase the height of the box (due to form) then stay at that height and by all means, add weight however, strive to get to a higher box. Ideally you will get to a level where you're doing them with your knee in line with your hip or a little higher, but this may take some time.
In the meantime, a long with squat to stand as part of your warm up, add the Static Lunge (also called Split Squats). Get them perfect in your warm up before adding them to your workout. Weight on heel, torso upright - think about a door being right in front of your face when you do them i.e. if you lean forward you will get a sore nose. Squeeze the glute of the rear leg.
So, step ups in work out, master static lunges in warm up. Once you master the static lunge you can look at more dynamic lunge variations (the "reverse lunge", "Dynamic lunge", "Bulgarian Split Squats", etc). From there you go to single leg DL variations and lunge variations from a deficit. This will take time, too, but I just wanted to explain how you progress through the movements - this is basically how you get more "athletic".
The_dog_mom wrote:
One thing i noticed over the last couple of workouts is when I do my box squat I feel my hamstring working much harder than my quad in both legs. I think that is a bit odd considering I have been keeping my feet closer together. My quads are probably weaker than they should be because I have a hard time with wall sits. I hate doing things I am not good at:-(
This is a GOOD thing. When you can't sit "back" it's really just hamstring and glute weakness in that movement. A Box Squat is kind of like a giant leg curl. You need to dig the heels in and "curl" your legs whilst driving the chest up to get off the box. You may have the hamstring strength their already (I say this because your DL is better), your just not putting it to good use when you squat. Box Squats will teach you how to do this.
Embrace the things you're not "good" at because these are generally the things you need to do to achieve your goals. Don't think of it as things you're "not good" at, though. They are things that should be even better than they are already. Just because something could be improved doesn't mean it's not good. Strive to better yourself but don't put yourself down. Sounds silly but it makes a difference.
Finally - Well done on the Squat PR!! Keep moving forward
KPj
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