You're scraping your shins because your setting up too low and too far away. The solution is not to tape your shins or pull up your socks. The solution is to learn how to deadlift.

I've already provided you with a bunch of links and information. But here's another one (which was a link within some of the stuff already posted)

http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1588392

Yup.. Read that one..

It's not as bad as it was, but I am ripping off the scabs from when I REALLY did a number on them..

How do the split squats look?

If you scraped your shins doing deadlifts today then you should go back and re-read it.

Split Squats:

You were looking at yourself alot of the time. Don't turn to the side to look at the mirror while doing the movement, if you're going to do it stop at a specific part of the motion and look over.

Both feet need to point directly forward, the back leg/foot shouldn't be angled in any direction. Everything points directly forward.

Why not? Loss of balance?

I do it to make sure my knee doesn't go past my foot (going too far forward)..

Is the back foot angled? I plant the foot at a 45 behind me, and as far as I can tell the toes are pointed straight ahead..

The heel might be waggling a bit, but.. ?

Loss of balance is one point. You could also throw everything out of alignment (knees, hips, toes).

What does your knee going past your foot have to do with anything? If you're thinking of the myth that your knees aren't supposed to go past your toes...pay careful attention when you walk up a flight of stairs next time :)

I don't understand what you mean by 'planted the foot at a 45 behind' you. The leg should go straight back, not over and back, and the toes/feet should point forward.

From the video you provided it looks like your back leg in angled away from you (wider stance than straight back) and the foot is rotated (heel inward) and not straight back.

Old martial arts habit, I guess.. (front stance)

I'll TRY and put it straight back next time, see what happens..

I don't feel out of balance looking into the mirror, but yeah, if there's no problem putting the knee farther out than the foot, then I'll not bother..

I thought that was a big thing..

They make a point of not doing it for regular squats in the SS book, I seem to recall..

I DO notice that the farther back I lean, the less strain on my knee, and the more burn on my quads..

March 9/09

Weight: 229

SQUATS

BARx5x2
65x5x1
85x5x1
105x4x1
125x3x1
145x2x1
195x1x1
215x1x1
225x5x3

Hmm..

MIGHT have to take a break from squats and split squats again for a bit..

I probably shouldn't have done squats today, as my knees feel like crap after 3 weeks of kneeling, getting up and down again, etc. for this first aid re-cert, PLUS working out every second day..

I'll see how they feel after my day off tomorrow..

Got ice on them now, will continue for next 2 days..

But yeah, they're definitely trying to tell me to give them a rest..

BENCH PRESS

BARx5x2
65x5x1
85x5x1
105x4x1
125x3x1
145x2x1
195x5x3

These felt good..

Dunno if it was the 3 days off I had, the heavy triples I'd been doing, or me having a good pre WO nutrition day..

But it went well (controlled and swift up and downs), and if I can keep it up from this, adding 5, not 10lbs a WO I'll be laughing..

Nice to see guys looking bigger than me struggling with plate a side.. :)

PULL UPS

10lbsx8x5x5

HANGING CHAIR LIFTS

10x3

BOSU FRONT AND SIDE PLANKS

1 min, 30 sec

Diet has been ok, though I haven't always been able to count exactly the protein content and total calories for each meal..

Pretty sure my minimums have been met, though..

March 10/09

20 minutes on treadmill

(1.5 miles, alternating btw. 4 and 8mph)

Knees are feeling alot better, actually..

Hopefully they will tomorrow, as well..

Diet:

Breakfast: 1/2 cup oats, 1 cup cottage cheese, walnuts.

Lunch: 1.5 cups cottage cheese, grapes, almonds.

Post run: 70g waxy maize, 30g whey.

Post post run: can of tuna, 2 tbsp of salsa.

Dinner: Whole wheat pasta with chicken.

Snack: can of tuna, 2 tbsp of salsa.

Snack: 2 cups of cottage cheese.

2875 cals. 261g of protein. 40% carbs, 40% protein, 20% fat.

March 12/09

DEADLIFTS

135x7x4

Shoot.. Forgot to tape this session to see if the last was a fluke..

Felt ok..

I concentrated on NOT scraping my shins this time, and was successful.. Hopefully I didn't throw off the other cues by doing so..

SPLIT SQUATS

NWx5x1
30x5x1
50x5x1
60x3x1
80x2x1
100x2x1
110x1x1
130x5x3

BOSU PUSH UPS

10x4

FACE PULLS

"12"x10x3

HANGING CHAIR LIFTS

10x3

March 13/09

30 minutes on elliptical trainer.

Level 11 on Life Fitness trainer..

Tried to keep my heart rate in the 80% range, but it stayed at around 166 (90%) after the 10 minute mark..

Legs were pretty rubbery after.. LOL

I guess I COULD go to an easier level to get the HR down, but screw it, I'll just suck it up.. I'm not panting or anything..

I got my body fat index calculated today..

I'm back up to 23% (up from 22% in Sept).

Of the 20lbs I've gained since then, 14lbs was muscle..

I went up everywhere in my measurements, except the thigh, where I actually lost half an inch..

Upper Chest: 44.75
Chest: 43.5
Ribs: 41.75
Waist: 41.0
Hips: 44.0
Thigh: 25.0

Biggest gain was my gut.. :(

So yeah, I'll do cardio on my days off, elliptical mostly, to keep my knees from bugging me..

And I'll keep to my 10 minute w/u runs on my workout days..

On my 2 days off from lifting I'll do a long distance run. 3 miles to start with..

I'll stick to 2950 cals on my WO days, 2600 on my days off..

Diet:

1. Bran cereal with milk, blueberries, protein powder, and walnuts

2. 70g waxy maize, 35g protein powder

3. 1.5 cups cottage cheese, 1 cup grapes, walnuts

4. 1/2 cup oats, cup of cottage cheese, walnuts, milk.

5. 1 can of salmon, 1/4 cup of salsa.

6. 1.5 cups cottage cheese, 1 cup grapes, walnuts

Cal. 2750

Protein. 247g.

C 40% , P 36%, F 24%.