How can I get more out of my knee wraps? Recently I completed and squatted 270kg. This doesn't feel far off my sleeved squat, of which I did 240x3 @ ~8.5 in training 2 months ago. So I'm getting maybe 10kg extra from the wraps over sleeves which isn't really that much
Control your descent more and push your knees forward into the wraps the entire lift.
You’re divebombing the hole and losing a bit of weight off of the lack of tightness alone. If you slow it down, you’ll likely be in a better position to keep your knees forward (and load into the wraps & quads) and get more carryover.
Like the other commenter said, getting the wraps tighter as well will help a ton. Getting a training partner to wrap you will be crucial.
Wrap tighter or try different wraps. Stance width also plays a role. You're not super wide but the wider you are the more the wraps just provide support vs rebound.
Any tips for dealing with knee pain when squatting?
I’m half way through a new programme and my left knee is killing me. Getting a dull, achey kind pain at the top of the kneecap, I’d guess it’s patellar tendonitis.
Get the knees nice and warm first, wear knee sleeves, and reduce the squat intensity / RPE, but maintain or increase the frequency. Do things that keep the pain at a tolerable level, like 3/10 max.
Yeah I do wear sleeves already, although today I’ve dusted off my romaleos and was able to squat mostly pain free. I think the extra heel is allowing me to sit back more into the squat and put less strain on the tendon.
Always found these mf’s so uncomfortable but they do seem to help
I’m curious as well. I’ve stopped squatting because of the pain. Deadlifts feel great at the same time.
I’m waiting for the appointment to see a physio - I think I’ll need to strengthen something else before I can squat pain free. Because it doesn’t feel right
To me personally, it looks like you're leaning/falling forward on the up. Usually mobility and core work can help with that. I don't think it's great for the back and I usually go down in weight when I notice myself doing that
Edit: it's more noticeable on the second rep and not horrible, but just something to be conscious of imo. Everything else I thought looked good.
The other weekend I did a supertotal meet (Oly + power lifting) where I managed to pull 66kg in excess of my best squat, even though I don't make any particularly special effort to train my pulling strength. I do have long limbs (201cm armspan vs 189cm heigh) that perhaps favor the pull over the squat, but my ratios are getting ridiculous.
How would you set up training in my situation where I have a severely underdeveloped pull relative to my squat?
I have similar leverages as you, and my answers are: don't go too crazy with squat volume because it's more fatiguing for us, consider exposure timing between squat and deadlift carefully because they'll tend to interfere with each other due to the demands on the posterior chain, consider training high bar squat on your secondary day but competing low bar, and do separate accessories for quads.
How would you set up training in my situation where I have a severely underdeveloped pull relative to my squat?
What exactly in your mind is a ratio? That’s kind of a nebulous idea, as like you said:
I do have long limbs that perhaps favor the pull over the squat
Have you ever considered just leaning into it and allowing your pull to be very strong? There’s nothing wrong with that. If I were you, I’d be fine with whatever gets me the total I want at the end of the day.
You may not ever have a good squat to deadlift ratio based on your leverages so you could be chasing a pipe dream, too.
Not sure if you specialize in Olympic weightlifting or powerlifting so that might change my answer.
Thanks for the response! Yes having a strong pull is not a problem by any stretch of the imagination, its just that I feel like I should be able to get a lot more out of my squat given my back strength (at least in theory), but somehow I'm struggling to realise that.
I specialise more in Olympic lifting, but still train the power lifts and usually do one meet a year where the power lifts are contested as well.
A video of your squat & your programming would help determine what could be done. Beyond that, if I had to make a general recommendation, I think squatting more frequently would be the best and easiest solution.
I recently hit a 180kg single at an RPE of 8, which puts my 1RM at somewhere between 190kg (Brzycki) and 205kg (Mayhew). All it took was running a novice linear progression for 8-9 months or so, and bulking up from 90kg to 110kg. I imagine that’s decent progress?
How can I get more out of my knee wraps? Recently I completed and squatted 270kg. This doesn't feel far off my sleeved squat, of which I did 240x3 @ ~8.5 in training 2 months ago. So I'm getting maybe 10kg extra from the wraps over sleeves which isn't really that much
Control your descent more and push your knees forward into the wraps the entire lift.
You’re divebombing the hole and losing a bit of weight off of the lack of tightness alone. If you slow it down, you’ll likely be in a better position to keep your knees forward (and load into the wraps & quads) and get more carryover.
Like the other commenter said, getting the wraps tighter as well will help a ton. Getting a training partner to wrap you will be crucial.
Wrap tighter or try different wraps. Stance width also plays a role. You're not super wide but the wider you are the more the wraps just provide support vs rebound.
Any tips for dealing with knee pain when squatting?
I’m half way through a new programme and my left knee is killing me. Getting a dull, achey kind pain at the top of the kneecap, I’d guess it’s patellar tendonitis.
90% of the time it's a question of workload management. Cutting volume, intensity and/or frequency.
If that doesn't help then you gotta start looking at variations that are less painful.
Get the knees nice and warm first, wear knee sleeves, and reduce the squat intensity / RPE, but maintain or increase the frequency. Do things that keep the pain at a tolerable level, like 3/10 max.
Yeah I do wear sleeves already, although today I’ve dusted off my romaleos and was able to squat mostly pain free. I think the extra heel is allowing me to sit back more into the squat and put less strain on the tendon.
Always found these mf’s so uncomfortable but they do seem to help
I’m curious as well. I’ve stopped squatting because of the pain. Deadlifts feel great at the same time.
I’m waiting for the appointment to see a physio - I think I’ll need to strengthen something else before I can squat pain free. Because it doesn’t feel right
Got knee sleeves and a belt for Christmas, can’t wait to see how my squat reacts to the new stuff.
Hi, can you check my form please? 172,5 kg / 380 lbs x2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1495tB1MBJoqxp2p_FN1hUWzrUXhLHA_6/view?usp=drivesdk
Really solid form. Maybe some weak quads causing your hips to shift back half way up.
To me personally, it looks like you're leaning/falling forward on the up. Usually mobility and core work can help with that. I don't think it's great for the back and I usually go down in weight when I notice myself doing that
Edit: it's more noticeable on the second rep and not horrible, but just something to be conscious of imo. Everything else I thought looked good.
The other weekend I did a supertotal meet (Oly + power lifting) where I managed to pull 66kg in excess of my best squat, even though I don't make any particularly special effort to train my pulling strength. I do have long limbs (201cm armspan vs 189cm heigh) that perhaps favor the pull over the squat, but my ratios are getting ridiculous.
How would you set up training in my situation where I have a severely underdeveloped pull relative to my squat?
I have similar leverages as you, and my answers are: don't go too crazy with squat volume because it's more fatiguing for us, consider exposure timing between squat and deadlift carefully because they'll tend to interfere with each other due to the demands on the posterior chain, consider training high bar squat on your secondary day but competing low bar, and do separate accessories for quads.
What exactly in your mind is a ratio? That’s kind of a nebulous idea, as like you said:
Have you ever considered just leaning into it and allowing your pull to be very strong? There’s nothing wrong with that. If I were you, I’d be fine with whatever gets me the total I want at the end of the day.
You may not ever have a good squat to deadlift ratio based on your leverages so you could be chasing a pipe dream, too.
Not sure if you specialize in Olympic weightlifting or powerlifting so that might change my answer.
Thanks for the response! Yes having a strong pull is not a problem by any stretch of the imagination, its just that I feel like I should be able to get a lot more out of my squat given my back strength (at least in theory), but somehow I'm struggling to realise that.
I specialise more in Olympic lifting, but still train the power lifts and usually do one meet a year where the power lifts are contested as well.
A video of your squat & your programming would help determine what could be done. Beyond that, if I had to make a general recommendation, I think squatting more frequently would be the best and easiest solution.
Oly + PL in one day??? Or just the same weekend? Either way, that must have beaten you up
Yes same day, basically a 5h stretch of maxing out. First the Oly lifts, then the power lifts. It was very tiring.
I recently hit a 180kg single at an RPE of 8, which puts my 1RM at somewhere between 190kg (Brzycki) and 205kg (Mayhew). All it took was running a novice linear progression for 8-9 months or so, and bulking up from 90kg to 110kg. I imagine that’s decent progress?