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Squat and Deadlift Questions



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  #1  
Old 11-01-2010, 12:37 PM
Bluecore Bluecore is offline
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Default Squat and Deadlift Questions

Hello,

I am a very inexperienced weight lifter and I have not been to the gym for a few years.

Towards the end of my previous stint, I was starting to get in to squatting and dead lifts. I knew their importance, however I was discouraged from doing them in the beginning because the gym I was a member of did not have a lot in the area of free weights beyond dumbbells. However, I was stuck there because I signed up for 2 years.

Anyways, like I said I have two questions.

By the way: I am 5 foot 9 and I currently weight about 165, down from about 170 a month and a half ago...when I am in better shape I weigh about 155...I am not very strong but I had been living a very sedentary lifestyle since about halfway through high school, aside from the 1 year period I was active in the gym. I intend to start playing baseball again once I feel I am in good enough shape.

#1: I have TERRIBLE balance, and often times when I would squat I would lost my balance and start to fall backwards. I tried to do some research and watch some youtube videos to study the proper form better but I could not figure out for certain what I was doing wrong. I was just wondering if this is something you folks see often and if you knew any simple ways to correct it other than practice more and with less weight? This was occurring at about a 180 pound squat. Like I said, not very strong, especially with these exercises.

#2: I was discouraged from doing dead lifts because the first few times I did them I experienced lower back pain after doing them, even after being certain I was doing them correctly. I cannot remember how much weight I was using, I think it was between 200 and 250 pounds. I really enjoyed doing the exercise but I was just scared that I would hurt my back and I wasn't doing those with a partner and/or someone who knew what they were doing so I just stopped.

Thank you in advance for your help.
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Old 11-01-2010, 12:40 PM
Bluecore Bluecore is offline
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I would just like to say one more thing about my second point...

I was reading online after experiencing this lower back pain to see if this was normal. I did see a few people say that lower back pain was normal with the dead lift when first starting out, even when executing the exercise correctly. However, I was just scared to death of losing my back so I stopped doing them.
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  #3  
Old 11-02-2010, 06:39 AM
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iron_worker iron_worker is offline
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#1 - The best way to master the squat is to read as much as you can about proper technique, read books from known weight training experts, watch videos of people squatting with correct form, and *most* importantly ... START LIGHT and work up SLOWLY. This will give your body a chance to learn the motions and engrain them in your brain *before* you get to the heavy weight where it's much harder to correct form.

Doing any exercises with poor form and heavy weight *will* result in injuries if done for any period of time.

#2 - You have to figure out the difference between muscle soreness and actual muscle pain. DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) is known to be bad for beginners or even for those who are just starting a new exercises or even just an increase in volume. If your muscles are sore, this is OK. Your muscles should not be in pain. There is a difference.

Once again, START LIGHT and progress SLOWLY! Set your ego at the door. You said it yourself you've led a sedentary life for quite a while... you can't expect your body to just jump into action right away. It takes time.

Also if it is actual lower back pain/injuries this is almost always related to allowing your back to come out of a tight naturual arch. Your low back must be "set" or "locked in place" ... If your back starts to round over while lifting this means all of the strain goes throug the low back muscles instead of being able to transmit a good deal of force through the spine. (at least that is how I understand it)


So you need to do the following in this order:

1) Research until your eyes bleed! OR get a reputable coach/trainer (which may be harder than you think) that will work with you. Preferably you would still research even if you had a coach/trainer. You don't want to just follow someone's command blindly.

2) Start Light - The first few weeks or even months at the gym should not really be straining you at all. You are simply learning the bar paths and getting the motions/feel engrained in your mind.

3) Progress slowly - The longer/slower you progress, the better you will do in the end.

Well this should be enough to get you started.

IW
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Old 11-02-2010, 04:10 PM
Bluecore Bluecore is offline
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Thank you for the information, I appreciate it.

So, as far as "getting back in to it" or being a "beginner" whatever you wanna call it, the prevalent advice on this forum seems to be to work on the "big 3" exclusively for a long while at the beginning.

What kind of work out plan as far as reps and sets should I be doing? "As much as I can do without over training" seems to be reasonable, but what would that look like as far as numbers? Should I do all three of those exercises on the same day twice or thrice a week, etc?
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Old 11-02-2010, 04:45 PM
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Don't do the big 3 exclusively but yes they are important.

Do a little searching for routines, look for starting strength, 5x5, or check out the personal journal section.

There is tons of info on this forum you just have to do a little digging sometimes.

IW
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Old 11-02-2010, 07:26 PM
Bluecore Bluecore is offline
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Cool, thanks a lot for the input.
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