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Well, I've been sneaking up on it for weeks now, but today I finally did it. I deadlifted 200lbs. Twice. W00t! It feels good to set a goal and achieve it.
In some ways, though, I was even more exciting about the fact that we worked on back squats today. Back squats have generally been a complete train wreck for me for a variety of reasons involving poor shoulder mobility, poor core stability, excessive spinal arching, knee pain, and poor ankle mobility, among other things. Today we tried out a couple of sets of 5, maxing out at 55 lbs, and I learned the following:
* I just barely have enough shoulder mobility to hold the bar on my back in the correct position. I can get into the correct position without a problem, but my shoulders hurt by the end of the set.
* With some cueing from my trainer, I can stabilize my trunk well enough to avoid flopping forward or excessively arching my back.
* My squat depth is not great. But, a rather fascinating thing happened - I warmed up with a set of bodyweight squats, did my two sets of back squats, and then did another set of bodyweight squats. And instantly gained a couple of extra inches of depth on my bodyweight squat. It's weird - I've gotten some improvements from goblet squats, but never anything that dramatic. Must experiment more!
* I have homework, which is to stretch my calves and work on my ankle mobility.
Anyway, it's not going to be easy, and I doubt that I'm ever going to squat as well as I deadlift, but I have some hope that I might be able to learn to back squat competently. Which would be awesome.
In some ways, though, I was even more exciting about the fact that we worked on back squats today. Back squats have generally been a complete train wreck for me for a variety of reasons involving poor shoulder mobility, poor core stability, excessive spinal arching, knee pain, and poor ankle mobility, among other things. Today we tried out a couple of sets of 5, maxing out at 55 lbs, and I learned the following:
* I just barely have enough shoulder mobility to hold the bar on my back in the correct position. I can get into the correct position without a problem, but my shoulders hurt by the end of the set.
* With some cueing from my trainer, I can stabilize my trunk well enough to avoid flopping forward or excessively arching my back.
* My squat depth is not great. But, a rather fascinating thing happened - I warmed up with a set of bodyweight squats, did my two sets of back squats, and then did another set of bodyweight squats. And instantly gained a couple of extra inches of depth on my bodyweight squat. It's weird - I've gotten some improvements from goblet squats, but never anything that dramatic. Must experiment more!
* I have homework, which is to stretch my calves and work on my ankle mobility.
Anyway, it's not going to be easy, and I doubt that I'm ever going to squat as well as I deadlift, but I have some hope that I might be able to learn to back squat competently. Which would be awesome.
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