Before you read the blog and watch the video InTouch Rugby would like to pay tribute to Jamie on an amazing result yesterday. His total was one of the highest ever recorded anywhere for 100KG body weight. We wish every rugby club in Ulster could get him into their club to work with the guys in the off season from around April / May to benefit from some serious explosions in their strength levels – This is one of Ulster’s top athletes and we could all benefit from being trained by him in strength and conditioning.
NOW FOR THE BLOG AND VIDEO: YOU ARE ABOUT TO BE TAUGHT BY THE BEST – THE Following information is of the most important advice from one of the best powerlifters in the World who happens to be an Ulster man
If you don’t know SQUAT…. here’s HOW!
“To improve athletic power, one option is to increase the force muscles can
generate around the joints. In this respect, the (parallel) squat must be the
athletes first choice for a full body strength lift.” – Pat O’Shea, professor of physical
education, Oregon State University
“The basis for life on earth as we know it” was the way junior world record holder Vic Schreiner described the full squat! Ok so maybe that is a little extreme, but squatting will be necessary- vital- in order to maximise your athletic potential. It is one of the best lifts you can do for overall strength and power in the legs, hips and back. In addition, when trained correctly, it can promote tremendous core strength and bowel health. It is also one of the best lower body conditioners there is, if you want to have toned legs and ‘buns of steel’ !
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BUT ISN’T SQUATTING BAD FOR MY KNEES?
No. Put simply, when performed correctly it improves the strength and stability of the knee joint-
“….I must re-emphasize the fact that deep (parallel) Squats work more muscles
than any form of partial Squats since they involve a full-range of motion. Since
the full Squats work more muscles, they enable the trainee to become stronger
faster than through partial movements. Research has shown that full Squats
actually helps to stabilize and secure the knee joint.” – Bill Starr, author of the Strongest
Shall Survive – Strength Training for American Football.
BUT WON’T IT HURT MY KNEES IF I GO ALL THE WAY DOWN?
How is this possible? It isn’t! without going into medical terminology, in a full squat (parallel), the soft muscles of the legs slow the speed of the bar, and help the joints recover. In the half Squat (partial) you have to stop for a very short time when the bar is going down – and at the same time, shift the bar in the upward direction. That moment is very sharp stop, it’s like a knife, especially over the knee joints. So the danger of injury during the half squat is much greater than during the full movement.
BUT DOESN’T SQUATTING STUNT YOUR GROWTH?
No, when performed correctly in the formative years, the squat is actually a very beneficial exercise for growth. But don’t take my word for it! I’m only a 8x British, european, commonwealth and world title holder, listen to a professor-
“For almost every young athlete, the intrinsic value derived from long term
squatting is that it stimulates optimal growth and development.” – Pat O’Shea,
professor of physical education, Oregon State University.
STILL HAVING TROUBLE GETTING UNDER THE SQUAT BAR?
PAY your dues in the squat rack and reap the massive dividends…or reasses your athletic options!
“In my experience athletes who are incapable of squatting don’t make good
athletes, from either the injury or performance standpoint.” – Dan Wathen, Head Athletic
Trainer and Strength and Conditioning Coach, Youngtown State University.
HOW TO SQUAT
– Put your hands around the bar BEFORE you duck your head under the bar to place it on your shoulders. Position the bar on the ‘soft’ part of the shoulders, not at the top of the vertebrae near the neck. There is a vertebrae that protrudes at the base of the neck here and if the bar sits across this area it can irritate and bruise. Move it a little lower, onto the trapezius, or ‘traps’. If you do not find a comfortable position, you can move your hands further out or closer together. If you bring your hands closer together, you can tend to ‘bunch’ the traps and shoulders together, providing a muscle cushion for the bar to rest on. If you are restricted in the back and or shoulders, you can stretch the hands wider to allow you in under the bar.
– Place both feet directly under the bar, walking stance. Not one foot under and one foot behind, we’re not going to lunge the weight from the rack. Take a deep breath and keeping the whole core and body tense, stand up with the bar.
– Walk back to take your stance in no more than 3 steps.. Everyone should try a slightly wider than shoulder width stance, toes pointed out at 45 degrees. You can open out your stance as you walk back. Take another breath and your ready to descend.
– Begin your descent by pushing your hips back, then begin sitting down. Keep your head and gaze slightly up, knees ‘flared’ open over your toes and you will notice that as you move down your upper torso will incline forward- this is normal and allows you to keep your balance. When you reach the parallel position (when the crease of the hip at the bottom postion is parallel to the top of the knee joint) you are ready to begin the ascent.
– Imagine you are simply pushing through the shoulders in order to stand up and rise until you are in the finished position. Keep your breath in until you are very near the top, focus on keeping the head and gaze up, the knees open and all the muscles tight.
– Once your set has been completed, walk the bar back into the rack, set it in and you are all done.
POINTS OF SAFETY
If you can squat in a safety rack with slide in adjustable safety bars, then do so. Ensure the bars are set at just below the bottom position of your squat, so that should you lose the bar you can sit down to the bottom position and climb out uninjured. It is always ideal to have a training partner who can assist or ‘spot’ you. For squatting, this would involve keeping the hands under the armpits and remaining very close to the lifter, so that if they cannot complete the lift, you can simply help them back up to the top position. In addition, should you find you lose balance or cannot complete the lift, attempt at all times to stay ‘with the bar’ i.e. keep tension on it and allow the combined effort of you and your spotter to return the bar safely to the rack. Don’t leave it all to your spotter.
HOW MANY REPS?
For strength and conditioning training, i would rotate between 2 work sets of 5 reps, 2 work sets of three reps and 2work sets of one rep, then repeat. eg 50×5 60×3 70×1 over three weeks, then 55×5, 65×3, 75×1 the three weeks after that, and so on. This is a very rough guide, we will be looking at training scheduling at a later date.
Any questions on squatting? ASK AWAY!
