A Balding Man's Advice on Powerlifting
Technique: Part I
Rob Wagner, M.Ed., C.S.C.S.
This is a first in a series of outstanding articles by Dr. Rob Wagner, multinational powerlifting champion and strength coach.
Years
ago I attended the C.J. Batten's Bench Press and Powerlifting Seminar in
Michigan as a guest speaker. As I
awaited my turn at the podium, I heard an interesting quote. One of the speakers was talking about how
important it is for powerlifters to learn the lifts from people who excel at
them and not from those who are mediocre performers. The adage he used to enforce his point was,
‘never ask a bald man how to grow hair.
Initially
I agreed with the statement and thoroughly understood what he was saying. However as I rubbed my own balding
scalp, I realized that I knew a hell of
a lot about how to grow hair even though I couldn't get it to grow. In the 80's there was biotin, polysorbate 80
and the Helsinki formula for hair growth and in the 90's came Rogaine, Folligen
and Propecia. It's amazing how motivated
I became to learn about growing hair when I saw my own hair clogging up the
shower and the sink. Despite this cruel
trick of nature and my poor hair genetics, I was still able to became an
amateur hair replacement/regrowth consultant for my balding friends and
myself. Although this is not an article
about hair, having pondered the hair growth analogy I realize that understanding how to do the
lifts and doing the lifts are two completely different things. From my years in the sport I have found that
even if you are not predisposed to excel at certain lifts, you are not
precluded from improving on them if you are motivated enough to pay attention
and refine your technique.
This
series of articles will provide information on lifting techniques for all three
of the powerlifts. This advice has
nothing to do with training routines or weights. The ideas I will present range from things
I've had to learn through necessity to simply observing athletes lifting in the
weight room.
From
a competitive lifting total standpoint I have never been a very balanced
lifter. I used to go to the meet with a
big squat and feel as if I was relying on my early lead to get through the
final two lifts in front of the competition.
Of all the lifts, I could always depend on the squat. Recently, this method of approaching a meet
encountered a tragic blow. My 6th or 7th
back injury, I've lost count at this point, relinquished my favorite lift to a
hated and dreaded process of compressing my vertebral disks into vertebral Ritz
crackers. Over a two-year period, the
movement grew awkward and often was painful to perform. After one serious back injury had healed, I
felt like I had forgotten how to squat, and in a sense I had. The process of squatting that I had adhered
to for years was gone.
Let
me point out that I never took this lift for granted. I knew each and every mechanism of the
movement. By profession I teach the
squat motion a couple of hundred times per year to athletes. Add to that the daily reinforcement of
coaching technique and you can be coaching the lift thousands of times per
year. Unfortunately by not following the
processes I preached daily, I had lost the mastery of the lift. This actually led to another back injury,
when I decided it was time to fix the problem or retire. The technique information you will read is
part of the process of how I regained my form in this lift.
The
Squat
I
find that most lifters tend to underestimate the importance of the set up in
the squat. Just get it out of the rack
and squat, right? Wrong! The set up can make the lift or leave it in
the hole. When the set up is done
properly the weight can feel "light" on your back and the movement
will feel smooth. The set up can greatly
affect your body control and balance during the execution of the lift.
The
first step is to remember to have the rack height adjusted to a height you can
safely remove and return the bar. The
clearance from the racks when you stand erect with the bar should be 3 - 4
inches from the bottom of the holder.
This will ensure that you will be successful in returning the bar even
if it moves down your back a little during the lift. As you approach the bar you must be focused
on the lift and nothing else. Indulging
yourself in a conversation about the NFL draft or that evening’s date plans
while approaching the bar may lead to trouble in the lift. Instead, see yourself do the lift, whether
it's a single rep or a set of five, do it in your head first. Make sure you concentrate on all aspects of
the lift from placing your hands on the bar to taking your belt off at the
end.
When
you get to the bar the first thing you will do is place your hands on it in an
evenly spaced manner. Regardless of
whether you false or true grip the bar, get a solid grasp on it. The hands can greatly aid in keeping the bar
from rolling on your back during the movement.
The distance between the hands can be determined partially by function
and comfort. The function involves
holding the upper back musculature in an isometric contraction through the
entire movement. The comfort aspect
relates to the flexibility of the shoulders and wrists. Factors that play into this are arm length
and torso size. The bigger the torso is
than the wider the hand placement should be.
Longer arms also fit this approach.
There are no absolutes here, however, because the individual's
flexibility, acceptance of discomfort and anatomical make up all vary. The objective is to get the hands as close to
the body with the least amount of discomfort to the shoulders and wrists. The final point is that once you've found
this position you must be able to rotate your elbows upwards. If the elbows are pointing towards the floor
(perpendicular) you should move the hands so the elbows can achieve a more
parallel position in relation to the floor.
Once your elbows get in this position the upper back will perform as a
more effective shelf for placing the bar.
Once
your hands are placed, you are ready to go under the bar. Prior to going under, take a deep breath and
hold it (I'll get back to this in a little bit). I suggest that you place your feet in a
parallel position prior to lifting the bar off the racks. Your stance under the bar should be shoulder
width or wider. This will depend on the
rack system and whether you have to walk the bar out or stay in place (Monolift
use). If you are walking out find a
position that will allow you to step the weight out in 2 - 3 steps and no
more. This includes that little stutter
step you take to get the left foot 4 inches wider. Remember that there is no descent until you
are set and you receive the signal from the head judge. Your postural muscles are under stress as
soon as you have the weight out of the racks.
Time is of the essence. The
quicker you are set the less energy you will exert supporting the weight. If you are using a Monolift type device in
competition it is best to assume your stance in the device and save your energy
in terms of walking the weight out.
However, if you don't have the opportunity to train on this type of
apparatus don't, change your technique on the day of the contest. By not following your normal set up ritual
you can throw off your normal breathing patterns and steps that you have been
taking for the past several weeks of training.
This will usually lead to unpleasant consequences in the performance of
the lift.
Once
your feet are in this parallel position and your hips are underneath the bar,
you are ready to fit the bar to your back.
Fitting the bar involves placing the bar in its appropriate position on
your upper back and fitting your body tightly under the bar. Avoid placing the bar on top of your cervical
vertabrae. These are the bony
protrusions on the back of your neck.
Instead you will place it on top of your contracted trapezius muscles
and rear delts. The first step in
creating this fit is to rotate the elbows upwards. This will help contract the
trapezius and posterior deltoids. You
must contract these muscles to help you keep the bar on top of the body. My coach Phil Pelura taught this idea to me
fifteen years ago. The idea is to not
let the weight sink into your traps and upper back, the more it does the more
you will feel it. The positioning of the
bar on your back has a lot of variables involved with it. I will give you a couple examples of this,
but remember that organizations have rules about how far down the back the bar
can be placed. If you have a short torso
in relationship to your legs you should probably place the bar higher on your
traps.
The
opposite of this is also true. A long
torso in relationship to your legs and the bar should be placed lower on your
traps and rear delts. For those of you
who have perfect anatomical dimensions or you fall into another category your
positioning can be determined by the need for lean. I am not talking about meat quality but
rather the angle that is created by your torso at the hip joint. During the squat the bar must stay over the
foot otherwise you will fall. Keeping
the bar in this position becomes most difficult at the bottom of the squat
because your hips are at their greatest displacement in relation to the bar and
your feet. Even the most upright
squatters have to lean a little to get the bar over the foot. If the bar is positioned low on your upper back
and you only have to lean a little then you're in good shape. If you have the bar low and you find yourself
in a good morning position to get the bar over your foot you may want to move
the bar up a little to reduce this lean.
Both styles are used successfully, John Kuc and Frank Schramm both
carried the bar high on the traps. Low
bar squatters include Kirk Karwoski and Ed Coan. Keep in mind the lower bar position has its
advantages when it fits the lifters anatomical needs. This bar position reduces the length of the
weight arm. From a physics standpoint
this will reduce the force production required by the erectors, glutes and
hamstrings to maintain an erect torso when compared to the higher bar position. The other way to look at this is if you move
the bar lower you will increase the amount of weight you will be able to hold
upright.
Removing
the bar from the rack requires control of the bar and your body. Once you've fitted the bar into its
appropriate position on your back, you should then lift your rib cage upwards
to aid in tightening your lower back.
Briefly recall the breath you took earlier before heading under the
bar. You should still be holding it, and
should continue to hold it until you finish stepping out of the racks. This is one of those little things that is
easy to forget to do but that does make a difference. To remove the bar you will simply lock the
knees out by driving the arch of your foot down into the floor (remember your
feet are parallel and at least shoulder width apart). Once you have cleared the racks and you let
the bar stabilize, you will now be ready to proceed with stepping back into
your stance. The steps should be low so
you do not tilt your pelvis. Tilting the
pelvis to any large degree will cause the weight to tip unevenly left to
right. Picking your feet up and stepping
can create this situation. I often
suggest that instead of stepping out think of sliding or gliding the feet out
behind you. The surface you are lifting
on can play a role on how low you will keep your feet. Carpeted surfaces need a little more
clearance than a hard wood platform surface.
As mentioned earlier you want to limit your steps to two or three. The quicker you get to your squat position
the quicker you will receive a down signal.
Two final notes on the set up are to make sure all body parts are still
and motionless once you get in your stance.
In one of my early contests I was timed out on an attempt because I was
opening and closing my hand around the bar while waiting for the signal. The second is to get your eyes on the head
judge as soon as possible. Getting the
judge's attention with your eyes will let the judge know you are ready to
squat. In next month’s article I will
cover what to do from this point including; determination of your stance, foot
placement and the squat movement from descent to placing the weight back on the
racks.
