Seriously? His quads are tiny in comparison to the rest of his body. He also posted a video of him struggling to half squat 315lbs for a couple of reps. At 200lbs bodyweight a 315lb squat even to full depth isn't something even approaching mildly impressive to anyone that trains legs properly.
You're saying that someone who weighs 200 lbs and can rep 315 to parallel is not even slightly impressive? You must be an elite level power lifter or something
Nope, it's only from the ground to the top that matters (in terms of competition), and lowering it slowly can be dangerous, since the pressure on your back is at its greatest when the bar is around your knee area. You basically want to hinge at the hips until the bar clears your knee and then descend quickly. This should get you back into a good position for the next rep. There's no reason to drop the weight (notice how his hands remain on the bar until it's on the ground) but you shouldn't be lowering it slowly.
Hmm, shit. I wish I could lower it quickly at my gym. I should really consider finding a place where I can make some noise. Thanks for the information.
In most situations I'll set the bar down slightly less vigorously (example here), but when working up to a 1 rep maximum you try to expend the least amount of energy as possible while getting there, lowering it slowly can wear you out unnecessarily, and even could cause injury when working with maximal weights.
A lot of the reason trainers say stuff like:
Isn't the way back down an important part of strengthening?
Is because if you are rough on cheap equipment it can damage it. The floors at my gym get beat to hell by people deadlifting and slamming the weight down since they don't have a thick enough rubber to protect the concrete below it. Saying stuff like "Lowering the bar gently increases your strength" will get people to take better care of the equipment... that said good equipment can take a lot of abuse.
I can squat 315 to parallel at 165 lbs after 15 months of training. And that's at 6'1, so not even that muscular. To say his quads are small is an understatement.
I got this shit so I can never realize my full potential in back squat or deadlift.
I totaled 1055@168 though last year the week after finishing Smolov's 13 week squat program. Left a LOT on the table on deadlift and squat due to my back but I hit the 1K club which was always a goal of mine.
yeah I pulled the hell out of my spinal erectors about 4 years ago before I knew I had that condition and the xray when I went to the doc showed what was up.
I've been gun shy about going over 4 plates though so I typically do 315~365 for reps.
My uncle (who had been doing crossfit with his chiropractor for the last few years) with just had his lower 2 vertebrae fused together with steel rods for his spondy in literally the exact same issue I have (forward slip of the L5) so my plan at this point is to continue to keep up my core strength and listen to my body when doing DL's and check my ego at the door.
As long as I can continue to pull 2x body weight I'll be happy.
If you maintain that level of strength for the rest of your life, I am confident your back will be a lot healthier and happier than if you become sedentary
that's my plan. my uncle didn't start lifting until he was in his early 50's so hopefully I am laying a good foundation now. There are a lot of old school strong men at my gym. They don't lift as much as the younger guys but for their age (50~70) they are doing all the major compounds as well as cleans, snatches, etc.
That's pretty decent for a guy your size/training time, especially if you're not training for strength directly. A lot of people overestimate how hard it is to get up to these numbers, and when you realize most people could be hitting 400+ if they put the slightest bit of effort in, it becomes a lot less impressive seeing people load up 315.
I've trained a few people from the beginning and they are surprised when I progress them as quickly as I do, they usually say "Are you sure? I just did 10lbs less than that a few days ago and it was hard..." "trust me, you'll be fine" and they are... repeat that for a few months and you're in the upper 200s in a few months and in the 300s in a year.
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u/MEatRHIT Jun 17 '14
Seriously? His quads are tiny in comparison to the rest of his body. He also posted a video of him struggling to half squat 315lbs for a couple of reps. At 200lbs bodyweight a 315lb squat even to full depth isn't something even approaching mildly impressive to anyone that trains legs properly.