Squat Question

Quoted message said:

Dot said:

I've been progressively upping my weight for squats the past month
but I hit a snag today. I'm doing three sets of 4-6 reps after
warm-ups of course so I'm going pretty heavy (for me anyway).
Tonight I could do
the first two to three reps with great form but then the last three
or
so were just awful. It seems that my lower back is giving out? My
body sort of lunges forward as I'm coming out of the hole. I can
still complete the rep but the forward falling I just can't stop.
So, this
has to be a weak lower back problem? My back is giving out before my
legs - correct? I'm going to start doing stiff-legged deadlifts
instead of the regular deadlifts I've been doing on my leg day. I
did some
stiff legged tonight (after squats and leg press) and it really
seemed
to hit my lower back a lot. Not to mention my hams are toast. Any
input?

When you squat how far does your trunk bend forward?? If you are
bending too far forward due to lack of flexibility, you may be putting
your back in a less than ideal position.

And the way I keep that in check is being aware of how much weight is on my
heel vs. the ball of my foot. If you're leaning too far forward, you'll
know it because most of your weight will be on the balls of your feet.
--
-Larry

In article 1BzQd.403337$Xk.24665@pd7tw3no said:

I've been progressively upping my weight for squats the past month but I
hit a snag today. I'm doing three sets of 4-6 reps after warm-ups of
course so I'm going pretty heavy (for me anyway). Tonight I could do
the first two to three reps with great form but then the last three or
so were just awful. It seems that my lower back is giving out? My body
sort of lunges forward as I'm coming out of the hole. I can still
complete the rep but the forward falling I just can't stop. So, this
has to be a weak lower back problem? My back is giving out before my
legs - correct? I'm going to start doing stiff-legged deadlifts instead
of the regular deadlifts I've been doing on my leg day. I did some
stiff legged tonight (after squats and leg press) and it really seemed
to hit my lower back a lot. Not to mention my hams are toast. Any input?

I think you are finding out what a lot of powerlifters and weightlifters know.

You can't keep linearly increasing weight. And 4 weeks tends to be about
the ceiling of hard training before you have a backdown or 'deload' week.
So I would simply back off for a week or two and then start pushing up
again.

On another note - lousy form means too much weight. As soon as your form
deteriorates you have reached max. Don't hoist weights up in lousy form.
Even if you can make the lift in the short term in the long term it is
just going to reduce your progress.

Dot said:

I've been progressively upping my weight for squats the past month

but I

Quoted message said:

hit a snag today. I'm doing three sets of 4-6 reps after warm-ups of

Quoted message said:

course so I'm going pretty heavy (for me anyway). Tonight I could do

Quoted message said:

the first two to three reps with great form but then the last three

or

Quoted message said:

so were just awful. It seems that my lower back is giving out? My

body

Quoted message said:

sort of lunges forward as I'm coming out of the hole. I can still
complete the rep but the forward falling I just can't stop. So, this

Quoted message said:

has to be a weak lower back problem? My back is giving out before my
legs - correct? I'm going to start doing stiff-legged deadlifts

instead

Quoted message said:

of the regular deadlifts I've been doing on my leg day. I did some
stiff legged tonight (after squats and leg press) and it really

seemed

Quoted message said:

to hit my lower back a lot. Not to mention my hams are toast. Any

input?

Could be several issues:
1. form and execution: center of weight is too far forward, shooting of
the hips causing the upper body to lean forward (and more use of back)
2. inflexibility of hams, calves, achilles which tends to contribute
No. 1.

Suggest you have a competent person evaluate your overall form and
execution, as well as flexibility. A simple test for flexibility is to
squat down without weight as far as you can go down. If your heels come
off the floor, the lower 'chain' is too thight (hams, calves,
achilles). Did this the other day with a big PLer who was having
problems. We squatted down in front of each other and at the lowest
position, his heels were ~3 inches off the floor. After further
assessment, his hams and achilles were so tight I thought they might
snap. Showed him some stretches and how to dynamically stretch at the
bottom of the squat position. It helped reduce his forward lean and
solved his low back pain.

If you shoot with the hips, there are several attacks to remedy this.
One that works well is properly executed box squats or pause squats.

Reduce your weight and practice the new form with stretching if needed
until these changes are well ingrained (e.g. don't resort to old bad
form habits).

Hope that helps.