It's All Happening

"It's all happening" is one of my favorite lines from my favorite movie in Almost Famous. This line also describes how I feel about my squat progress in the last week.

It really is all happening. And it's all happening the way I wanted it to happen.

Put up sets of 185lbs and 200lbs for an easy three this morning. I thought the depth looked solid, as well as the little things such as focusing on using the legs to push upwards.

The set of 185lbs came up easy; however, I did notice that my heels came off the ground on the first repetition. Just have to make sure that I sit back on each rep.

 

I was also pleased with my set of 200lbs for three. Although, I could previously do this probably 12 times, the form was terrible. The depth on these repetitions vary slightly, which is something that I do need to work on, but with time, improvements will be made!

 

 



Working On That Low-Bar

FINALLY starting to become happy with my squat form.

Really have been working on keeping my upper back tight, pushing up from the ground during the transition from the downward to upward movement, as well as using my abs during the upward phase. Thought that I saw all of this during my light leg workout yesterday.

Below is a set of 155lbs for eight reps. Let me know what you think! Can only improve from here.

The Quest for a Clean Squat

I can't say this enough lately...form over weight.

I have really been working on my form lately. Specifically, I have been working on trying to stay more upright during the movement, as well as keeping my back and abs tight through each rep.

Despite completing a set of 12 reps today at 165 (extremely light from what I have done in the past month), my form still looks UGLY!

After a conversation with one of my 50 and plus year-old friends following that set (I'm 22, but I have grandpa swag), we decided that I was still lifting too much weight. Hearing that was an ego killer, but I knew he was right. Below is a video of a 12-rep set of 135lbs. I really concentrated on pushing up with my quads, as well being controlled throughout the set. It still may look like I appear to slightly fall forward, but I actually could feel my abs contracting during the set for the first time in who knows how long. Thus, I was content with this set, but believe me, I still need work.

It's hard seeing people your age squat 400lbs+, while you're still struggling to keep proper form at 135lbs. But in the end, it's about focusing on bettering YOU, rather than being better than the people surrounding you. And through really concentrating on using my legs and abs during this movement, I plan on doing just that.