Squat
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Why??
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The the smith moves on a fixed linear path that is completely wrong for something like squats with all the muscle groups involved. There's just no good reason to use it for squats.
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Correct. This applies to the bench press too. A free weight barbell bench press travels in an arc, not linear like the Smith would force you to do.
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I'm not familiar with him. Not trying to start a s**tstorm at all, (I think this is a great thread), but - assuming that I'm understanding this quote correctly - why would someone advocate training for a competition one way, but then actually compete another? It seems like you'd want to train the same way you compete.
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OP and everyone else interested - There's lots of good advice in this thread and no bad advice. You have to figure out what works best for you. At least your squatting, which is awesome. There are no better exercises than squats and deadlifts for building total body strength.
Experiment with high bar and low bar placement. Go as low as you can. If parallel is all, that's fine. Play with your stance width. Stay off of your toes and on your heels. Work on your flexibility. A strong back and abdomen will help with your squat, so train those too. Don't worry about how many plates are on the bar. I respect the lifter who squats 135 properly more than the guy who does 495 half - assed. Everyone starts somewhere. What concerns me the most is that you say you don't feel it in your legs. They should be screaming after your set is done. Keep at it. They're tough and physically taxing but very beneficial.
Experiment with high bar and low bar placement. Go as low as you can. If parallel is all, that's fine. Play with your stance width. Stay off of your toes and on your heels. Work on your flexibility. A strong back and abdomen will help with your squat, so train those too. Don't worry about how many plates are on the bar. I respect the lifter who squats 135 properly more than the guy who does 495 half - assed. Everyone starts somewhere. What concerns me the most is that you say you don't feel it in your legs. They should be screaming after your set is done. Keep at it. They're tough and physically taxing but very beneficial.
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Agreed with everyone else saying go as deep as you can - correctly.
Here's a video of Eric Lilliebridge setting a raw WR total at 2353lbs. Look how fast all three of his squat attempts are!
[ame]http://youtu.be/CvlQxciP3VM[/ame]
Here's a video of Eric Lilliebridge setting a raw WR total at 2353lbs. Look how fast all three of his squat attempts are!
[ame]http://youtu.be/CvlQxciP3VM[/ame]
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He was the first person to officially squat over 1000 lb in a PLing meet. I'm not familiar with his opinions on low vs high bar squats.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs4AZsBkUgM"]Fred Hatfield 1008lb / 457.5kg squat - YouTube[/ame]
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As a beginner, will it force me into the right form for squating OR force me into the wrong position?
Because high bar builds more strength and hits the leg muscles better, and low bar lets you handle more weight.
Kinda like Ed Coan trained deadlifts conventional, but then pulled sumo in competition. Conv deads build those muscles better, but sumo let him handle more weight.
Training for strength is not the same as training to handle max weight.
We go way back Brad and I have mucho respect for you. :wavey:
But I must correct you. :tongueout:
Dave Waddington was the 1st guy to squat over 1000 in a meet. But it was a smaller meet and didnt get a lot of press. (he squatted 1003 when they weighed it out). But it was official.
And Lee Moran was the 2nd guy to squat 1000 lbs.
Fred was shortly after these guys.
GREAT vid though. And he squatted that without tightening his belt. He forgot in the heat of the moment!
It will put even more uneeded stress on your knees. No good.
Berto knows his stuff.
Shout out to Berto. Hope you are doing well. :wavey:
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It will force the bar to travel on an unnatural path that could easily lead to you being in incorrect positions, yes.
Read here:
http://stronglifts.com/smith-machine-squats-power-rack-free-weights/
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Do yourself a favor. Buy the Starting Strength Training video. You won't regret it.
It will show you the 4 basic movements in detail. Great video.
It will show you the 4 basic movements in detail. Great video.
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