Adarq.org

Welcome, dude. First, some others in here and I disagree on this, but if you can learn to do below-parallel squats safely now, it'll help you a lot later on. Second, with respect to your upper body, you need a pull to balance out the press. This is a good principle to go by: If you push something with your arms, you must pull something with your arms. Push presses are a great exercise for your chest and part of your shoulders, but you need something for your back. Classic way to do this would be chin ups or pull ups. Bent over rows or seated rows are another alternative.

FWIW, I think a lot of the mocking on here comes from it being a fad, not from it being inherently stupid. People saying it's the "ULTIMATE WORKOUT" or treating it like some awesome training secret.

You wanna see some athletic huge dudes? MY friends, behold the top performers at the 2010 NFL combine: http://www.nfl.com/combine/top-performers

Some highlights:

Trent Williams with a 34.5" standing vertical at 315 lbs
Clay Harbor 40" standing vertical at 252 lbs
Bruce Campbell 4.85 40 at 315 lbs

FWIW, Cushing jumped 35" on his Pro Day at USC and at the combine.

But, bro, don't you know? All the top MMA guys use the ropes. THEY ARE SO HARDCORE!

No, same problem I've been having for months with the left toe. My avatar is an x-ray of my left foot, showing the bone spur and malformed metacarpophalangeal joints. (Fun word, isn't it?) Problem is, now the pain has spread to the right big toe, and for whatever reason -- I haven't adapted or figured out how to compensate yet, maybe -- the right one hurts a lot more. They feel normal most of the time, but anything where my toes have to be in serious extension is hard. Sprinting, for example. I cut off the sprints because the starts hurt too much.

Larger photo is somewhere back in the recesses of this journal. Let me see if I can find it.

neutral focus
SH:SP:SR:SH:SP:SR:SH:SP:SR:SH:SP:SR:
power focus
SH:SP:SP:SR:SR:SH:SP:SP:SR:SR:
speed/reactivity focus
SP:SR:SR:SR:STIM:TEST

warm up
double unders
core stretches
sprinter's warm up

work
10y sprints uphill x3 -- my toes are fuuuucked up. Time to actually make an appt with an ortho. Ugh.
DLRVJ x10 -- inconsistent but okay
ice skaters 2x10
tuck jumps 2x10

REA squat 2x3x75
jump squat 3x3x75
circuit x3
--push up x25
--leg lower x12
--chin up x8
--crunch +40x15

cool down
core stretches, slow
other stretches
rolled butt and ITB

Maybe you're doing it wrong, then? Or if not "wrong" then at least there's another way that you're not seeing? IDK, I feel like, barring some actual physical problem, you should be able to stretch everything without pain.