New Exercise: Everything Makes You Bigger (Page 2)

11-04-2006, 09:37 PM

kevinbacon

I know a doctor who works out in my gym who is around my dad’s age, so he’s probably late 40s. I get so aggravated watching him workout because everything he does is only half a movement with heavy weight. But it works. He’s got really good size despite his lack of technique. This just shows that something is always better than nothing as long as you don’t hurt yourself in the process.

Originally Posted by Wt282

For example: I can only squat with a wide stance. I have very high arches. This is not the form you’ll see on a cover of Muscle & Fitness, but hey- it works for me fine. What happened when I tried squatting with my feet closer together as “good form” suggests? I cracked my back and ended up unable to walk for a few days. So using “correct” form was acutally “wrong” form for me.
Another example is people who think touching your chest with the barbell during a bench press is “correct form”. It’s correct alright- correct “BS”. What if you have longer arms in relation to your body and a very flat chest? You would be unable to touch your chest with the bar- in fact touching your chest may lead to injury.

How wide is your stance? I’m not sure how close a Muscle and Fitness would tell me to keep my feet. I go slightly past shoulder width apart but I don’t really consider that close or very wide. I see some guys go a bit wider than me as well and it works for them. (By works I mean 500+)

If your arms are long you’ve just got more work to do. Bring the bar to your chest.

11-04-2006, 10:04 PM

all4show

Originally Posted by kevinbacon

I know a doctor who works out in my gym who is around my dad’s age, so he’s probably late 40s. I get so aggravated watching him workout because everything he does is only half a movement with heavy weight. But it works. He’s got really good size despite his lack of technique. This just shows that something is always better than nothing as long as you don’t hurt yourself in the process.
How wide is your stance? I’m not sure how close a Muscle and Fitness would tell me to keep my feet. I go slightly past shoulder width apart but I don’t really consider that close or very wide. I see some guys go a bit wider than me as well and it works for them. (By works I mean 500+)
If your arms are long you’ve just got more work to do. Bring the bar to your chest.

You need to ask yourself two questions:

1. Are you squatting for strength and power or squatting to look good?
2. Do you mind getting a bigger ass?

My suggestions for strength are:

Get a partner with similar goals
Wide stance.
Make sure your feet are set so that when you go down your knee goes in the same direction as your foot - ‘V’ them out a little.
Make sure that when you go down, your knee stays directly over your ankle. You shin should stay perfectly vertical. You should fall down if you do not have weight on your back.
If you are lifting with heavy weight above 500lbs or so - make sure you go all the way down or guys will get pissed at you for no reason at all - seriously.

11-05-2006, 02:35 PM

kevinbacon

All4show, I know how to squat properly. My technique for everything is pretty good, especially on squats. I was just asking him what his form was like because he mentioned his feet being close as correct and it resulted in an injury.