Dec 19, 2014

 ** Barbell Squat **
- 45.0 lbs x 5 reps
- 95.0 lbs x 5 reps
- 135.0 lbs x 5 reps
- 185.0 lbs x 5 reps
- 225.0 lbs x 5 reps
- 255.0 lbs x 5 reps

I busted up my ribs and couldn't brace at all the past few days, so I just did a lot of high reps with 95 lbs, trying different techniques and whatnot.  Today my ribs aren't 100% yet, but my SBD knee sleeves came in so I couldn't resist giving them a try.  I gotta say, they far surpassed all my expectations.  They feel amazing and keep the knees really toasty, and they also act as a perfect indicator for me when I hit depth, because they will bunch up a bit behind my kneecap when I hit parallel.  I can actually rebound off them a bit as I come out of the hole as well.

The past few days, as mentioned, I was trying a variety of different forms of squats again with light weight.  I find that regardless, when my form breaks down, it manifests as my hips shooting up a bit fast, and with the oly shoes, it pushes me forward so the bar ends up ahead of midfoot.  Today, after slapping on the sbds, I spontaneously decided to ditch all the forms I had tried and throw on flat shoes (chuck taylors) and with the chucks, my most natural and comfortable stance seems to be wider (about 130% shoulder width).  I then initiated the squat by flexing the glutes, bracing the core, packing the neck (simultaneously squeezing the upper back as tight as possible), then screwing my feet into the floor.  This pushes my knees open and forward slightly, and then I drop straight down while staying as upright as possible.  With the SBDs, the squatting felt SO comfortable that I just kept jacking up the weight and I ended with a top set of 255 for 5 reps.  Never felt easier, to be honest.  Only thing is I think in between sets, if I rest/sit with my knees bent, over time my calves started feeling crampy.  Should take note of this and try to rest with my legs straighter to prevent this.  Anyhow, looking forward to squatting with these again asap after I get back from my NYC trip this weekend.