Adarq.org

So I went to the gym to do my "volume day" of squats and thought "OK, let me try some ATG, heel elevated narrow stance squats to hit the quads more" - also with a more upright torso.

Well guess what? 85 kg x 8 reps was HARD... this coming from a guy with a wide stance, heels not elevated, low bar squat 1RM of 160 kg. I'm also at 87.5 kg so I'm struggling to do 8 reps with a weight LOWER than 1x.

If anybody was wondering why the hell I suck at jumping off two feet and why my half squat is so bad well - there you go.

I think in the half squat I'm lifting as much as my quads allow - the same happens with the full low bar squat - I'm limited in both of these exercises by the quads, so there's no difference in between them (not such a big difference, that is).

I will continue to use narrow stance, ATG squats and 20 rep slow tempo leg presses to build my quads (as long as my right knee will allow it).

If anybody has any other ideas it'll be appreciated.

Meh... TKEs are too easy... front squats - I can't do them. My knee hurts while doing high bar back squats so... but even if that wasn't an issue, my lack of upperbody flexibility wouldn't allow me to hold the bar on the shoulders... I'd have to keep the bar on the chest using my arms. I'd also probably start to bend forward while going down etc... unless I get some O-lift shoes.

what's wrong with your knee that it hurts even on HBBS? try leg curls, maybe? BSS with front foot close to the bench, so knee flexion emphasis?

I have no idea what's up with my right knee. There's "something" moving in it and it hurts there. It happens after the first 20 degrees of flexion or so (basically 1/4 to 1/8 squat). If you push your finger in that area and keep... whatever it is out there from moving it's OK. But if you take the pressure off it moves and it hurts. Maybe it's a piece of meniscus that's loose? The doc didn't know what to make of it. He said I need an MRI but it's about 200$ or so. And I'm afraid of going into a weird, claustrophobic tube.

But that right knee is a HUGE factor in my sucky two leg jumps... I put a ton of force into the ground but before the take-off I decelerate to take pressure of it... it's pretty much automatic, like the body is trying to protect it. So I guess there's no hope in me jumping well off two feet considering all this.

Yeah, the narrow stance BSS is one of my ideas as well. I really like the slow tempo leg press though - I can put my feet in a series of ways on the platform.

Yup, I was actually thinking about what you said... I definitely need to get these shoes... hopefully I won't get the sucky powerlifting shoes.

I'm thinking of getting the Adidas ones from eastbay, even though they're expensive.

Yup, I was actually thinking about what you said... I definitely need to get these shoes... hopefully I won't get the sucky powerlifting shoes.

I'm thinking of getting the Adidas ones from eastbay, even though they're expensive.

just get rogue do-wins. they're like $80 cheaper than the adidas ones.

I got the adidas power perfect ii. Be careful NOT to confuse them with the adidas powerlift trainer, they look almost idenical but they are different shoes ( e.g. powerlifts have deformable lower heel ), hence the price difference.

Here are both on the official US Store :

http://www.adidas.com/us/product/mens-training-power-perfect-20-shoes/EV210?cid=G17563

http://www.adidas.com/us/product/mens-weightlifting-power-lift-trainer-shoes/SN823?cid=G45631

^^^
I was answering to pelham, the US store hyperlinks were to clarify they are different shoes and show which is which , US official store is the most efficient for that purpose.
Did you check the german and english ebay? There were also a few in amazon.co.uk but amazon doesn't ship shoes to Greece , check that out too, maybe they ship to Romania.

Well yeah... but no, I'm only limited to eastbay. I plan on getting these:

http://www.eastbay.com/product/model:178808/sku:24382/adidas-adi-power-weight-lift-mens/red/white/?cm=searchmenstrainingshoes

Interesting that eastbay sells these kinds of jumpsoles now:

http://www.eastbay.com/product/model:141509/sku:2009141/ati-training-shoe-mens/white/blue/?cm=GLOBAL%20SEARCH%3A%20KEYWORD%20SEARCH