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A beautiful Squat is a beautiful thing, so improving yours should be something you are working on, or are about to start working on. The most common problem we see with people trying to improve their squat is that they treat it like a mobility game when really they haven’t determined if mobility is the problem at all.

Here is what we suggest if you can’t get yourself to or don’t want to get yourself to a competent professional local to you:

1. Work on increasing the range of motion you can control. – Basically we want you to add mobility but only in realistic situations. So rolling on a ball, or distracting with a band is fine, but then you need to get into the position that those modalities allow you to and stay there. Adding momentary range of motion is only good if you reinforce it.

2. Work on increasing your postural strength at end ranges. – You have spent all this time trying to add mobility and it only sticks around for a few minutes, your frustrated. Don’t be. You haven’t done anything wrong, you just haven’t finished the job. Just like there is a specific load and volume requirement to making adaptations in the gym, there is a specific load and volume requirement to making adaptations with your movement.

3. Work on increasing your force production strength at end ranges. – Take yourself to the very limits of your range of motion, and apply force in the appropriate direction. You have postural strength so you can maintain a position, but many of us get buried at the bottom of cleans. This is often due to the fact that when you squat your range of motion is very different than the range of motion you require to successfully complete a heavy clean.

Make sure you watch this video and give our protocol a try. We look forward to seeing your beautiful squat on Instagram soon.

Click here to get a for bulletproof assessments and more information on how to begin Bulletproofing your body.

To find out more about our programs that have performance care integrated in them check out our website to see which best fits your goals.

Typically, around 90% technique begins to break down during the Snatch or Clean and Jerk. Periodically, your training should be dedicated to technique work in which the intensity is lowered and volume is increased. Scheduling lighter weeks in your training can be very beneficial to address any technical flaws you may be experiencing. A general rule to follow is to train for roughly 3 weeks in the 80-100% range, followed by lighter week in the 60-80% range of your best snatch or clean and jerk.

In the video on the right, the athlete is performing a snatch at roughly 90% of her max snatch, and the video on the left she is at roughly 80%. If you notice during her second pull there is a slight break down occurring in her technique. At 90%, she is making contact with her hips too soon, which is causing the bar to be left out in front away from her body. At 80%, she is making contact higher into her hips which allows her to use more hip drive into the third pull and allows her to keep the bar in close with her body.

We stress all of our athletes to focus on quality movements with correct positions to build consistency in the proper pulling positions. Especially for beginners, it is very important for athletes to be aware of when a technical breakdown occurs and to use good judgement to mitigate from the scheduled program. What if you are new to the Olympic lifts and you are not aware of when a technical breakdown is occurring? There are a few key tips to follow

1) Receive Feedback – Video Analysis from trained coaches, receive technical feedback from coaches to pinpoint when the breakdown is occurring during a lift

2) Develop Awareness – This can take time to develop, but once you receive feedback from a coach indicating an ideal movement, visualize what the lift felt like and continually attempt to mimic the bar path

3) Study – identify a weightlifter with similar proportions/leverages to yourself with sound technique and study their bar path and timing

Let’s set up a training scenario, for example if you are struggling to keep proper positions with a 90% weight for a single or 95% for two singles, you could do 3 sets of 3 at 80% and focus on using correct technique. That’s nine quality reps that will lead to better adaptation and will likely make more muscular gains whereas the other athlete is reinforcing bad muscle memory and neuromuscular adaptation. With increased volume comes increased hypertrophy as well. When technique begins to break down there is no reason to continue training at that intensity and reinforcing bad technique. Never sacrifice technique for added weight, focus on quality movements performed on a consistent basis.

If you’re interested in learning more about Brute OLY and getting personal analysis on lifts check out Brute OLY. We can help you improve your lifting and assure that you are competition ready

The pistol, a mythical creature of human movement that is typically reserved for the most competitive CrossFit Athletes to perform at staggering volume and with the highest stakes. An athlete’s ability to perform pistols repetitively with ease and consistency can be a major separator when spots at the Games are on the line. Maybe you’re an athlete who aspires to making it to regionals or the games, maybe you’re not. Regardless of your competitive goals performing this super human trick is a great party trick and chicks love it (right ladies?), so make sure you check out this video after you finish reading this post to put into action some of the things we are about to discuss.

When we contribute to the Brute Strength Programming our main objective is simple in concept and very complex in delivery, it’s our job to make injury risk as low as possible so that Brute Athletes can perform at the highest level without worrying about aches and pains. The pistol squat is one of those exercises that forces athletes to move through the absolute end ranges of their joint capacity so it’s especially important to us that before you try to perform one that you are physically capable of doing so without excessive compensations.

Things we look at:

Do you have enough ankle flexibility?

Do you have enough knee flexibility?

Do you have enough hip flexibility?

Do you have enough strength in active, static hip flexion (for the leg out front)?

Do you have enough spinal stability at the bottom?

Do you have enough strength in hip extension and knee extension to drive out of the bottom of the pistol?

When an athlete has all of the factors we just discussed, ability to perform a pistol becomes a simple matter of putting it all together, it’s motor control. This is where our job ends and the coach in the gym’s job begins. We hope you enjoy this short video we put together to help you get on your way! Until next time, let’s get movin’.

Click here to get a free assessment and begin your journey to a bulletproof body and optimizing your movement at full range of motion.

To find out more about our programs that have performance care integrated in them check out our website to see which best fits your goals.

Regardless of the athletic movement being performed, it is essential to master the first step to ensure success as you graduate to each progression of a movement. It is especially common with beginners in weightlifting, to forego the fundamentals of a proper setup of their first pull.

To begin, the bar should be roughly over the distal third of the metatarsals (the long bones in the foot) and this depends on ankle flexibility and the starting position of the hips. Ideally, the bar should be kept close to the body throughout the pull. A bar placed well in front of the feet puts the lifter at a mechanical disadvantage in terms of being able to get the bar to the proper position for the next phase of the lift. Once the bar is aligned at the proper distance there are 3 key points of performance you will need to be aware of:

1. Hip Placement

2. Shoulder Placement

3. Back Position

If the hips are too high, such as the picture on the right, the shoulders are too far in front of the bar and excessive stress is placed on the lower back as increased extension will be required, from a biomechanical disadvantage, to get into position for the final pull. Starting with the hips too low inhibits the ability of the hips and lower back to contribute to the pull as the shoulders are directly over, or even behind, the bar. There are a few distances and angles that you will want to stay in range of when setting up your first pull:

1. 30-45 degree thighs – shoulders angle

2. 2 – 3 inches – shoulders over the bar

3. 10-30 degrees – back extension

You will want your hips positioned so your thighs are approximately at a 30-45 degree angle with your shoulders about two to three inches over, or in front of, the bar. Of course, it will be apparent that the snatch, because of the wider grip, will necessitate a lower starting position than the clean. The lighter weight will make it easier to rely on the legs to get the bar started off the platform. It is always a good idea to video yourself so you are aware of your starting positions, so always keep in mind your hips, shoulders, and back position, when setting up for your first pull. We always recommend our Brute athletes to film videos at a 45 degree angle, or a side angle in some cases, to give our coaches the best view of the starting position.

You love fitness, strangely enough most doctors don’t relate. Largely because of the social gap between CrossFit athletes and their selected health professionals, we as a community have moved away from traditional information sources like orthopedics, chiropractors, and physical therapists in favor of finding refuge in the advice from a knowledgeable coach, or a professional we only have the opportunity to meet digitally. While there is some great knowledge out there on the web, and there are some extremely knowledgeable coaches in gyms across the world, there is one thing that all coaches are missing in their toolbox that it is imperative you have at your disposal, and that is an extensive background in diagnostics. You could probably make the case that over 80% of the time, the mild aches and pains that you or your friends are experiencing every day are sub threshold for visiting a doctor, and you would be right most of the time. We do have the basic capacity to maintain ourselves by momentarily reducing intensity, volume, or frequency. We can modify movements to allow inflammation to reduce, and we can spend significant time focusing on increasing our quantity and quality of motion using many of the exercises demonstrated in this video as well as thousands of others. But what if you’re in the 20% this time and you try to maintain yourself when what you really need is repair from a health professional? Our rule of thumb is that if what you are experiencing is getting worse from day to day, rest is advised, 14 days is the absolute maximum amount of time that general rest should take for a problem that you would not need to see a health professional for. If after 14 days you are still feeling lousy, you do not return to the gym with modified patterning because you “just couldn’t stay away anymore.” You go see a professional who can help you figure out why you are still symptomatic. This of course only relates to musculoskeletal issues, if you are having internal issues or headaches you should be seeing a medical doctor right away.

So, what can you do to help yourself? Be vigilant and hold yourself accountable. If you are hurting and you are working out too much, rest. Remember you can only support your work load if you are eating, sleeping, recovering properly and deliberately. When you get back in the gym, make sure you are at least as focused on improving your quantity and quality of movement as you are focused on hitting a PR this month. Have measurable movement goals like “I want to touch my toes”, or “I want to get to the bottom of a squat without my back rounding”, and set ways for yourself to measure progress! The more you focus on yourself when you are not in the gym, the more likely you will be successful obtaining the goal you are seeking out in the gym.

Let’s get movin’!

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The split jerk is utilized by most weightlifters vs. the power jerk or squat jerk due to less balance being required to stabilize the weight overhead. After performing a clean, prior to dipping, it is important to adjust your elbows to a 45-degree angle so the bar is in a stable position on your chest and to allow your arms to move quicker into a locked out position. You want to focus on keeping the pressure in your hips during the dip to help control the descent of the weight prior to changing direction for the drive. The ideal depth range for the dip is between a 1/4 and 1/8 squat. The range varies depending on the individual’s ability to generate force through a quick change of direction. The elites of the sport typically have a shallower dip due to their ability to change direction quickly. Knees should be angled slightly out when dipping, because this allows for your hips to remain under the bar which means you will be in a position to utilize your legs to their fullest potential. When catching the weight in the split the front knee should be slightly over the ankle, and the back leg should have a slight bend in the back knee with the back foot on its toes. It is important to focus on an even split, if your front foot goes forward 2 feet, then your back foot should separate at the same distance. In doing so, this will allow your hips to drop straight under the bar and will keep the bar in line with your shoulders to support the weight overhead. When recovering the front foot should recover first and then the back foot. This will minimize the chance of the weight being lost forward. It is also important to recover evenly with your feet to avoid stepping out from under the bar which can occur if your first step back with your front foot covers too great of a distance.

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The phrase “you have to get lower” is probably uttered from coach to athlete on squat day in CrossFit gyms more than just about anything else, but what if getting lower in the squat is actually a bad idea for the athlete being coached? We need to start taking the guess work out of coaching if we want to be successful with our athletes. As athletes we need to know more about ourselves from a measurable perspective to make smart decisions about what our movement should look like.

The reason why Bulletproof Knees from Active Life has been such a successful program is because so many athletes are getting the same cues when they are living with completely different anatomy and physiology. Try using the tests in this video to make decisions about how deep your squat should be.

While it’s unlikely that your knee flexibility range of motion is limiting you directly to under 90 degrees of hip flexion in a squat, the collective load placed on a dysfunctional knee could very well lead to the body self-limiting squat depth before you reach terminal end range. Knowing your anatomy or the anatomy of your client is maybe the most important piece of information to be mindful of when designing programming for yourself or your clients.

If you feel competent to make modifications for yourself based on what you find in these tests, by all means go ahead and do it, keep us posted on how it goes. If however you are lacking the confidence to go at it yourself, check out the Bulletproof Knees program right here on our Active Life link and let the pros handle it for you.

Click Here to check out Performance Care RX’s Bulletproof line and for a free 10 day Bulletproof Assessment.

Also click Here to subscribe to our channel for more from the Active life and stay tuned for more frm Brute OLY and Brute Gymnastics.

Adrian Conway talks what gear you need, when you need it, and how to optimize your performance with and without it.

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