Diets and Exercise Programs That Work!

[Bagger Lance]

commitment to your objective. Ahh Shucks, I do go on . . .

Vik

Do go on Vickie

I do front squats and back squats with free weights and I've never thought about any potential damage to the shoulder girdle from back squats. Can you elaborate on the potential for problems?

Thanks,

[12 piece bucket]

i have been taking a serious risk . . . I actually started working out 5 days a week for the past 3 months. I had to augment the decore in the basement methlab . . . i was using the treadmill as a conveyor belt. I didn't know you could actually run on the thing.

I have been doing 40 minutes on the treadmill (hocked up a bunch of loogeez for the first month and came close to a dirt nap when I fell off of it). But I'm getting better at it. Plus I'm doing push up and sit ups and some lil' dumbell stuff.

BUT . . . . I GAINED WEIGHT . . . what's up with that????

[12 piece bucket]

Do go on Vickie

I do front squats and back squats with free weights and I've never thought about any potential damage to the shoulder girdle from back squats. Can you elaborate on the potential for problems?

Thanks,

Hey goofball . . . what in the world is going on in your avatar? Did you drop acid or something?

[bambam]

Do go on Vickie

I do front squats and back squats with free weights and I've never thought about any potential damage to the shoulder girdle from back squats. Can you elaborate on the potential for problems?

Thanks,

I'd also like to hear more about this when you have a chance, Vickie.

To my uneducated fitness brain, it seems similar to doing a bench press with the elbows tucked vs. wide.

[Bagger Lance]

Hey goofball . . . what in the world is going on in your avatar? Did you drop acid or something?

Nice to have you back Donkey Breath.

Let me introduce you to "TGM Man" by Nick Taggart.

How could you of all people not recognize him? You been locked up in a trunk for a while, but please tell me you have the March 2001 Golf Tips Magazine article about TGM written by Andy Brumer and Illustrated by Nick Taggart.

[Bagger Lance]

BUT . . . . I GAINED WEIGHT . . . what's up with that????

Don't worry about weight gain, worry about fat gain.

Exercise increases your appetite and muscle weighs more than fat.
Has your diet changed for the better?

Carbs and Sugar are your fat builders. Proteins will help build muscle but can also get turned into Glucose and later converted to fat if not used for energy. To lose fat you gotta burn more calories than you consume - simple as that.

Lay off the deep fried twinkies and switch to PB-Lite. You can eat as much Pig as you want as long as you keep throwing weights around the basement.

[GPStyles]

BUT . . . . I GAINED WEIGHT . . . what's up with that????

As Bagger says, don't worry about the weight gain, are your clothes looser? If yes, then you have gained lean muscle which is very welcome.

If you're clothes are still tight, try it again with the treadmill turned on.

[Vickie]

Ok, this is a little complicated because of the uniqueness of everyone's alignment. I will make a gross generalization but in my experience I have never worked with an avid golfer that didn't experience some shoulder displacement; i.e. misalignment. The ever prevalent anteriorly positioned gleno-humeral joint brings the shoulder blades (scapula) out of position and the upper thorasic vertebrae adapt with an exagerrated curve. Since the lumbar vertebrae are part of a chain of joint that correspond to the rest of the 27 joints comprising the spine, it, too, will adapt to the changes in the mechanical agreements; the cervicals adapt as well, we're just not focused on that at this moment.

Disclaimer: There will be people to whom this will not apply. There are also exceptions to everything so even if you can . . . it might not be a good idea for different reasons.

The best test to see if you are a candidate for back bar squats are as follows. If you can stand with an empty bar on your back (no weight plates), your hands around the bar about 6-12 inches from your shoulder, your elbows pointing down, directly toward the floor (not in the least pointed to the wall behind you), your head is lifted with no forward tilt, and you are relaxed completely in your body . . . you've passed the first test for the toughest exercise in fitness. You should be able to stand up straight with the bar across the trapezoid muscle above the shoulder blades not up on your neck not clipping the bones of the spine.

If you are unable to comply with all the criteria above you now have vertebrae that are no longer perfectly aligned to the vertebrae adjacent and the risk of disk compression and nerve impingement are unmeasurable present. The alignment issues that are represented by limited shoulder articulation should be addressed before you put put pressure on your spine. Front squats will actually address these issues and help to correct them. When you are standing under the bar (weightless) as above, cross your arms at shoulder level and grip the bar in front of your shoulders, your palms will face the shoulders. Now lift your elbows even with the shoulders and make three wishes. No really, let the bar sit on the meaty part of your shoulder at the top of the arm; not on your collar bone (clavicle). Since we are all different, your exact hand placement will be established when you are able to stand in this position with your chest to it's full breadth and your back is lifted and not rounded. Really, get an image of a genie granting a wish; just not the genie in the animated 'Aladdin' voiced over by Robin Williams, even 'I Dream of Jeannie' would be a better example just don't get too distracted.

If you qualify for back squats until you put weights on the bar then the muscles of your core just may not be strong enough to support that level of work. Reduce the weight to a level of challenge that doesn't also challenge the safety of your spine. Once you can do 12 reps with proper alignment at one weight level you can look at increasing the resistance. At the new weight you may find that you can only perform as few as six repetitions with perfect form and then on the seventh you begin to loose form, you are done with that set. Over the next workouts, as the rest of the muscles catche up to the work they have to provide you will see your repetitions come up and once you get to twelve it's time for more chllenge . . . that is if you want to keep increasing your fitness. If you compromise your form for emotional satisfaction of higher reps or manly weights you not only risk your spine but you strengthen the misappropriation of tensions and limit your progress. This is one of the primary reasons for plateaus; moving up in resistance so much that the stabilizers and secondary muscles cannot perform so you can never access the power of the muscle you are trying to develop.

Now there are a lot of ways the trainers, myself included, would manipulate this information based on the individual, their fitness level, training schedule, broader objectives, sport focus, and recovery capability (always driven by rest and nutrition). I use virtually the same exercises, at some point, with all of my clients but orchestration. application and delivery varies enough to make you wonder if, sometimes, it is true.

Hope that helps. Vik

[Bagger Lance]

Excellent post Vickie and very good advise.

I really don't have anything to add other than "good posture" means keeping the chest out, chin up and arms down throughout the movement. At the bottom of the movement you should be slightly past parallel. There are some who argue that this is not good for the knees but most of the material I've read counters that. At the bottom of the movement the back should retain its flat to arched position. Rounding is defined as anything less than flat. Weight should stay on the middle of the feet to the heels, never forward to the toes. Finally, remember to breath.

Squats are the king of weight bearing exercises and it could also be argued that deadlifts are equally, if not more beneficial.

My Orthopeadic Doctor just turned me loose last week and counciled me to continue doing heavy squats and deadlifts. Like your advise above, he said to make sure you limit the weight to a controllable amount and never lose good form. If necessary reduce the weight to 65% of max and do 20 reps. as this is nearly as beneficial as higher weight and lower reps.

Squats are difficult, but if you want to lose weight and build a some muscle, these are great exercises as long as you are ready and build up slowly. Its best to have some coaching up front from someone like Vickie to avoid any potential injuries.

[bambam]

Front squats will actually address these issues and help to correct them. When you are standing under the bar (weightless) as above, cross your arms at shoulder level and grip the bar in front of your shoulders, your palms will face the shoulders. Now lift your elbows even with the shoulders and make three wishes. No really, let the bar sit on the meaty part of your shoulder at the top of the arm; not on your collar bone (clavicle). Since we are all different, your exact hand placement will be established when you are able to stand in this position with your chest to it's full breadth and your back is lifted and not rounded. Really, get an image of a genie granting a wish; just not the genie in the animated 'Aladdin' voiced over by Robin Williams, even 'I Dream of Jeannie' would be a better example just don't get too distracted.

...

Hope that helps. Vik

Thanks for the great post, Vickie!

My time in the weight room has been pretty well limited to whatever I had to do as part of various team sports training. As I'm getting older, I'm finding it much easier to get injured, and my desk job keeps me in much worse shape than when I playing basketball 6 or 7 days a week!

I wasn't in terrible shape and have worked out sporadically over the past several years, but with Bagger's help and encouragement, plus your great posts here, I've been working out regularly for a few months now and am enjoying it. Being somewhat of a noob, I'd not heard of the front squat. After a couple tries (with a bout of the stomach flu in between), I don't think I like that exercise...which probably means it's really good for me Even though I passed the back squat test, it'll be a regular part of my routine from now on. Thanks!