Starting this week, we will be starting a low bar back squat cycle. We will be squatting low bar every week in percentages of your 3-rep max. If you can’t make it in today, you will still have an opportunity to find your 3RM on Wednesday and Friday. Please try and make one of these days. We will also be introducing more olympic lifting into the strength/skill portions of class.
Adding more low bar back squats in with the addition of more olympic lifting will decrease the stresses on the spine. Don’t freakout at the word “stresses” either. Every day we stress the body inside and outside the gym. You have to stress the body to an extent to evoke positive change. Anyway…. The low bar backsquat, where the bar sits just below the spine of the scapula, presents three main differences from the high bar back squat. 1. By placing the bar in a lower position on the back, the lever arm between the load and the pivot point (the hips) is shortened, which should allow the athlete to lift more weight. 2. The weight sits on the meaty shelf of the shoulder muscles instead of on the spine making if more comfortable for some people. 3. The more horizontal position of the back during the squat incorporates more of the posterior chain into the lift. The lower back, glute, and hamstring muscles are thus worked more.
Our goal over the next 4-6 weeks is to focus on low bar back squats, front squats, and olympic lifts (clean & jerk, snatch). There will be less deadlifting and more shorter and heavy met-cons. Operation strength building is now set in motion. 🙂
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No class on Wednesday, July 4th.
Deep Ellum Brewery tour this Saturday. We will head there sometime between 12-1pm.