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lol, yeah the hip capsule stretch really hits that hip hard, especially with that distraction.  Most people have femurs that come forward in the socket, because they sit all day, so that helps clear things up an reapproximate the femur.

Yeah, Frank is a cool guy, just terrible squat form.  Still strong, well, not so much anymore, because of his "get authentic" bodybuilding.

Do the sets on feel, one set is fine if you really work hard with it for a minute or 2 or 3.  Really try to spend quality time hunting around when you stretch, don't just hold it.  You should look to find tight areas, and really get uncomfortable, sometimes you might feel like vomiting a little(don't do it though), to really push your ROM.  I know this goes against what a lot of people are taught when it comes to stretching, but it's more effective, and time efficient, just make sure your not on any nerves, or feel any pinching.  If you ever feel sharp pains, or nervy pains, you should probably stop, or relocate your position.

On that static stretching pre-workout, it's fine.  Studies do show that power output decreases after static stretching, but in many of those studies, power output decreases by like 2%.  It really doesn't make a huge difference.  Besides, when you lose good position, you lose power.  You can't enter a workout broken(in terms of posture/position) and expect great power output.  In that case, you would be working against yourself, because your body is not in optimal alignment.  I've set many jump PRs on days where I static stretched pre-workout because I felt tight in my hips.  Just make sure you get a good warm up in after the stretching, and you do glute activation stuff, etc.

Nahh, I meant this stretch: @ around 3:10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE-yVP691SA&feature=related

Those other stretches he shows in that vid you showed are nice too if you don't have space, don't have a band, or if you want to change it up.  You can still do that stretch at 3:10 without a band though.

Yeah that groin stretch I like a lot, you can do that on the floor too if you don't have a nice soft bed or couch to put your leg on.  You can even use lateral distraction on that too if you can.

For calf stretching this is what I prefer: @ around 1:15  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLj_VkfQzJI

Again, you don't have to use a band, but it's always preferred.  You can use a box like he does, or you can just use a wall.  You should probably wear a shoe(make sure it's a low top) so the foot can grip on the wall.


About that Frank Yang video.  He's strong, but his squat there is just atrocious.  His knee wouldn't go in as much if he shoved his knees out first before descending to the bottom.  Even if you have straight feet, you can still get a lot of valgus knee, but shoving you knees out WITH straight feet will get you the best results in terms of knee position/safety/power in my opinion.

You also have to consider that he's stopping at parallel so there are 2 things going wrong: 1) The bottom A2G recieving position, to get some soft tissue bounce(I say soft tissue because, you don't want to bounce on your ligaments or capsule alone, you should use a combination of muscle tension, muscle capsule, AND ligaments to receive load)  2)  Stopping at parallel means the knees are at 90 degrees of flexion, which is the weakest position for the knee(the strongest being in full flexion, and full extension), so he reverses when his knee is at it's weakest point.

I'm not saying you have to use A2G when squatting for athletic performance, I'm just saying that A2G is nice when you want to squat and receive  heavy loads(when trained right, it's actually easier going A2G)

For your alternating exercises shiz, I'll post later, on that board, I don't want this to look like another wall of text.

EDIT:  Oh yeah, didn't see the stretching thing at the bottom, I'll post that hear, because it's more relevant.

Stretching for minutes is fine, as long as it's not like 10+ min. spent in one position.  You should however, go on feel.  You couldn't possibly performs all the stretches he talks about(on his mwod project he probably has a couple dozen) for a good quality 2 min.  Everyday, and after your workouts(and even before you workout if you need the extra ROM) you should spend 10-15 minutes on stretching or soft tissue work.  Pick 2-3 stretches and do them for 1-4 minutes each.  Make sure you pick body parts that need more ROM or are getting real beat up.  The rest of the time remaining can be for soft tissue work and stuff like that.  Quality stretching(spending a couple minutes on what is bad), instead of quantity(stretching every muscle in the body everyday).  Stretching should not be like exercising like you "just do it"(like a routine).  It should be based on how you feel, and where your really banged up.

1) Yeah it would be very painful at all times, most likely.

2) About having your low back stressed out, it may be due to overactive erector spinae.  That is, your erectors tighten up and are hypertonic to compensate for having a weak L2 segment.  This is only an assumption, many people go on for years with back pain and never get a good diagnosis with proper treatment.  If you want a good diagnosis you would need hands on work with someone who is very well informed, but people like that are rare.

3) You pretty much wanna hit everything around the hips first, prioritizing that, and then hit the t-spine.  When addressing mobility you don't wanna hit "muscles" really.  Just certain movements.  It gets too complicated because the hip joint has a complex system of muscles that performs multiple tasks. 

The most effective stretches I've used were taken from a guy named Kelly Starrett on Youtube.  Look up Mobility Wod, and it will pop right up.  Don't be offended that he's crossfit, he's got some decent stuff.  I can't really give you the vids without it being a complete mess, because many of his vids have more than one topic, and he addresses some issues more than once(there are 300+ videos to boot).  Just skim at the first 10-15, and he'll give you some of the basic ones for the hip.

Try these:

Hip flexor stretch w/anterior band distraction*

External rotation hip capsule stretch w/ lateral distraction

Internal rotation hip capsule stretch w/lateral distraction

Rectus Femoris stretch (split squat with foot elevated on bench/chair)


*Band distraction (by this i mean hook a band on something sturdy like a power rack, couch,etc. and load up your hip by using band tension) is optional, but really helps in the case of any impingement, and is more effective.

Yeah, make sure you do SMR/soft tissue work too(this is very important if you want healthy tissues), with a lacrosse ball(very cheap 3 for like $5), and a foam roller($20-30 after shipping usually).

Don't be afraid to hit a lot of these hard for more than 2min. if you have time/want to.

4) Yeah... dude keep doing the glute activation work, it definitely helps pre-workout.  Activation stuff + stretching + soft tissue work may seem like a lot, but it helps in the long run.  Just make sure you don't just "do" the stretches or soft tissue work.  Do that based on how you feel, and how your joints feel.

5) Toes out opens up the hips and knees a lot, allowing you to shove the knees out and for greater depth when lacking range of motion.  Toes forward will allow you to generate more torque, and more tension in the bottom position(assuming you shove your knees out here too), but is much harder to pull off because many lack proper joint range in the hips.

Think about it like this, when you squat toes out, you open up the hip naturally, because external rotation tends to follow the feet pointing out, however at the cost of the knee being unlocked medially.  Many argue that you need to point your feet out because you when the femur is externally rotated, the knees move out, so the feet out will allow the "knees to track with the toes."  Although this may be a good idea, if the hip ever loses external rotation, that means the knee will come with it as well.  This internal rotation will cause the knee to twist in, causing misalignment in the femur/tibia, and then you can possibly tear an ACL or MCL.

When you squat feet straight,  you can still externally rotate if you have proper hip range in both internal rotation and external rotation, but like I said, that is difficult for some.  The plus here is that, even if you lose external rotation during the movement, your knee is locked, meaning you cannot "twist" it in, because it will only move back to neutral because of your foot position.  This also creates more torque in the bottom position, which can be good or bad depending on how flexible you are.  If you are very flexible you can take advantage and use a more powerful "bounce" out of the bottom using the soft tissues like the adductors, instead of bouncing off passive tissues.  Many argue that "the knees do not track the toes" in this type of squat, but most people have excessive valgus(knee caving in) anyway.  The knee is in a much more stable position when the knees come out anyway, we shouldn't have to worry about excessive varus(knees out) angle for most individuals.

Wide vs narrow stance depends on how much muscle capsule length(hip capsule) you have.  Wide puts more stress on the capsule, which is not necessarily good or bad(really depends on individual's mobility).

A lot of people will argue, but both squats are fine imo, as long as the knee does not internally rotate.  You should also watch out for arches of the foot collapsing during a toes out squat too, but that isn't as important as knee position

Sorry if this is long, lol.  Let me know if there are questions you want answered or any mistakes in there, typing stuff all at once isn't my thing.

I'll answer more in depth later on what you asked.  I gotta go hit the gym.  I'll probably get to it tonight

Quote from: Daballa100 on January 26, 2012, 05:05:23 pm

About the low bar vs high bar shenanigans, like what others said, it probably doesn't matter as long as you're strong, but I would agree with TODDAY.  High bar is more specific and has a little more carry over than low bar for olympic lifts.  Olympic lifting is already so "quad dominant" and relying so much on being upright, that one might say high bar IS the p-chain exercise of choice for an olympic lifter.  It depends on your dimensions, but I know high bar gets plenty of p-chain for me.

The back angle and the starting position of the low bar squat and the classical lifts(steven brought it up) could be argued, but the first pull usually isn't a problem for a lot of people.

For regular athletes, front squat and high bar back squat might be a little redundant.

Are you an o-lifter? Where do you get the information from that o-lifting is about "being upright"? This could not be further from the truth. Also, standing up after you made the catch is not where most of the difficulty is either for the majority of lifters.

Nah, I'm not an olympic lifter.  What do you mean about by, "further from the truth?"  By upright I meant the catch position.  If you're an olympic lifter, I would like to hear your opinion.

Edit: I would like your opinion regardless, but it would be nice to know if you're an o-lifter.

About the low bar vs high bar shenanigans, like what others said, it probably doesn't matter as long as you're strong, but I would agree with TODDAY.  High bar is more specific and has a little more carry over than low bar for olympic lifts.  Olympic lifting is already so "quad dominant" and relying so much on being upright, that one might say high bar IS the p-chain exercise of choice for an olympic lifter.  It depends on your dimensions, but I know high bar gets plenty of p-chain for me.

The back angle and the starting position of the low bar squat and the classical lifts(steven brought it up) could be argued, but the first pull usually isn't a problem for a lot of people.

For regular athletes, front squat and high bar back squat might be a little redundant.

@ Steven I understand your point I guess.

@ Avishek Wow, that's crazy.  I've read all that Joe D. stuff on oly lifting, but I always thought of it as defending himself for not using oly lifts, not saying weighted jumps are better for performance.  Those studies look interesting, and I agree, most power with 0% 1RM wtf??  Wouldn't that mean that your 2 studies contradict each other?  The first study says bodyweight is better, 2nd study says that power cleans are better than heavy squats and bodyweight jumps together.  I'll take my time with these studies later.

Quote from: chrisbro1 on January 17, 2012, 11:21:09 am

Just saw this vid posted by Daniel from JumpScience.com.  Looks like a good alternative until one learns how to do a snatch properly.  Maybe even better for jumping purposes?  Has anyone ever tried these before or know what they're called (I doubt this is a new exercise)?

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb2llL7TE8M" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb2llL7TE8M</a>

It's clear that the individual in the video would be unable to perform a snatch/powersnatch with okay form. That does not mean that the same applies to you though. Just learn how, it works better than what he does and it is a scalable exercise. Therefore snatches and their variations allow training to happen. Jumping around without a clue is not training.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unIULU43XpY&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Don't know how to embed video, but Daniel's Power Snatch looks okay.  Daniel recommends Hang Snatches, and other oly lifting moves in his jump programs, but I think he uploaded this for people who didn't have equipment. like bumper plates, or for people who have strict gyms that don't allow olympic lifting or stuff like that.  I agree that the Hang Snatch is still better, and can be self taught.