Did you sign up for one (or all) of our workshops yet? You should probably watch this video and then sign up:

A. Warm-Up:
As we did on Tuesday, we will use a clean to warm-up for the back squat. In case you missed the “how and why” of this specific warm-up method, here is a quick, and slightly edited for the back squats, recap:

The whole idea is that we want everything in the body to be “turned on” so to speak – muscles, joints, etc, but most importantly we want the central nervous system (CNS) to be firing on all cylinders. A full clean has a great way of doing that. So, we will be taking you all through a clean progression warm-up from 50% to about 90%. If you normally go from the hang position, same rules apply here.

First things first – each person will need to have a general idea of what their 1RM clean is – this could have been something that you did as just a clean or as a clean and jerk, doesn’t matter. Go with whichever is higher. Your performance history can be seen on the WODIFY monitors.

Here is the general template for clean warm-ups you can go off of. I must stress that these are %’s of your 1RM clean, NOT your back squat.

50% x 3

60% x 3

70% x 2

80% x 2

90% x 1 (2 sets of this)

Between each set, you should be resting about 90s. These are not supposed to be touch and go (TNG) reps. Stand up with clean, drop, and reset. Don’t worry if you miss, it’s not a big deal.

Once you hit the last 90% clean, you will strip the bar to something you can get into rack (duh), then load up for your first set of back squats. If you want to go for a double on the first set, thats fine. But from there on out – ONLY SINGLES!

This is where we will deviate from what we did on Tuesday. My aim is to give you an idea on how to set a goal weight to shoot for.

In terms of establishing a goal weight, there are really two camps here:
1) Those that front squat incredibly effectively/efficiently
2) Those that don’t

Which camp do you fall into? Well, thats easy to decipher – which picture below more closely resembles your bottom position?

If your squat looks more like the top photo, then take your 1RM Front Squat and divide it by 0.9
(So if front squatted 100lb on Tuesday, your projected 1RM Back Squat goal would be 111.11 pounds.)

If your squat looks more like the bottom photo, then that calculation becomes relatively invalid. In all actuality those individuals will probably be able to squat more weight relative to their front squat. This isn’t necessarily a good thing as it demonstrates a lack of efficiency (and most likely flexibility) in your movement. But I digress…

Because many of you don’t have a recent back squat number, there isn’t really a valid template that I can put out there that would be reliable. Just trust me when I say this:

YOU WILL BACK SQUAT MORE THAN YOU FRONT SQUAT, so be prepared for that!

Rest in between the back squat attempts is a MINIMUM of 3min.

Before you start any of your barbell work, we will take everyone through an abdominal bracing sequence during warm-ups. Most of you know this and utilize it well, but many of you don’t. This activates ALL of the muscles that make-up the midline and makes supporting weight much easier AND SAFER!

And lastly, “almost” or “it was right there” is not a new PR!!!! If you think you’ll have doubts on your depth, bust out your own smart phone and let someone video you. Then have a coach tell you if its good to go or not.

Last Test Day! 9/26/14

A NEW YOU STARTS HERE