Knee position when squatting
The other day I was sharing the squat rack with this guy at the gym; he was doing front squats. I see him at the gym all the time. He's in his early 20's and he's a competitive powerlifter. Compared to the guys he lifts with, he's got good form on most of his lifts. However, there was one aspect of his front squat I thought he needed to work on: his knee position. At the bottom of his squat, his knees went about 3-4 inches over his toes. As a result, he seemed a bit awkward and unbalanced at the bottom. I didn't say anything about it to him because, well, who am I? He's a powerlifter and I'm just a Joe Schmo off the street. Had he asked me for advice, this is what I would have told him:
- Stop your knees from going over your toes!
- Sit back further into your squat (like you're sitting on a toilet).
- Stretch those hamstrings: tight hammies can keep you from sitting back far enough.
Are you injured?
I've been lucky with injuries throughout my athletic career. More than often, my biggest complaint is chronic soreness cured by a few days rest. By the end of the summer I had A LOT of low back pain. I dialed down my training and started stretching like a mad man but but it never got better.
Fast forward to mid-October, after visiting a sports chiropractor I had started to feel better (he told me I needed to stabilize and strengthen my abs--and I agree it was an area I had neglected). I should've knocked on wood after telling my chiro that I felt great. I re-injured myself doing Back Squats and thought my days of heavy lifting were over.
I looked all over the CrossFit message board for people who were dealing with the same issues. It turns out, I was not alone and I found a link to a post from Mark Rippetoe that offered a solution to my problem. I used this protocol and felt better after 10 days and was back in the gym working hard after two weeks (PR'ed Jackie by 44 seconds!) I think my injury was a result of weak abdominals, poor sitting position (have you ever seen the way lifeguards sit in their stands), overstretching, and not enough consistent strength training. I'm working on fixing these things to avoid anymore speed bumps in my training.
The stretches that fixed my migraines
After all the different treatments, I really think stretching is what eliminated my migraines. Every day, multiple times a day, I did the following:
- Standing or sitting straight up, reach straight down with your left hand as if you're driving your shoulder to the floor. At the same time, with your right hand gently pull your head sideways like you're reaching for the floor with your ear. You should feel a gentle stretch on the left side of your neck. After 10-15 seconds, do the same thing for your right side.
- From the same seated or standing position, place your left hand on the back of your head. Your elbow should be facing up and your arm should be as close to parallel to your body as you can make it. With your hand in that position, gently push your left shoulder towards the floor, while keeping your elbow in the same position. At the same time, tile your head to the right side as before. After about 10-15 seconds, do the same for your right side.
- With your back straight, from a seated position, gently pull your head down, so that your chin is tucked in to your chest. Hold gently for about 10-15 seconds. You may feel a gentle stretch throughout your entire back.