Tuesday, September 29, 2009

28 September 2009 - Squats

...more like lack thereof. I'm pretty sure I'm falling apart. My overall flexibility and joint mobility have been down for years now. I guess I've never really taken it as a major concern. Well, that's yet another endeavour for my "Get Healthy(er), Stay Healthy(er)" mentality.

For my second squat workout in the last 3-4 months I warmed up per usual. Everything felt normal, but I had some stiffness in the front of my right hip. I figured a little extra warm-up would do the trick. This was not the case. 135lbs on the bar and I could feel some serious tension in the front of my right hip trying to come out of the hole. No bueno. I did a few sets to see if it would loosen up, but it didn't. Here's how it all went down:

Shoulder Pre-Hab (L/R)
-Rotator Cuff Work - 5lbs
-Front/Mid/Rear Delt Work - 5lbs

Triceps/Wrist Warm-Up (L/R)
-Overhead Triceps Extensions - 45lbs
-Wrist Flexion/Extension/Adduction/Abduction - 20lbs

Neck Stretches
-All Directions

Squat Warm-Up 1
-BW Good-Mornings X 20
-BW Squats X 20
-Bar Good-Mornings X 20
-Bar Squats X 20

Squat Warm-Up 2
-Standing Hip/Groin stretches
-BW Lunges
-Leg Swings (L/R)

Squats
-135 X 10 (ouch)
-135 X 10 (ouch)
-135 X 10 (ouch)

Walking Lunges
-BW X 25
-BW X 25
-BW X 25

Foam Roller
-Hamstrings
-Quads
-Hips

Yoga-like Stretching
-35 minutes (focusing on the hips/groin/low back/hamstrings)

I felt better after the foam roller and stretching, but I can still feel the stiffness in the front of my right hip. I need to improve my joint mobility ASAP. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

BW - 232lbs.

Goody

3 comments:

Jedd Johnson, CSCS said...

Maybe more of a specific warm-up for the hip flexors using a foam roller? Also specific stretching prior to squatting?

Unknown said...

I started squatting again seriously a couple of monthes ago and found the same thing to get below parallel. I read Mark Rippetoe's book and went back to the basics on everything. I found during my warm-ups sitting in the hole with my hands clasped and elbows on the insides of my knees really helped to get my flexibility back. It took about two weeks of three times a week squatting and now I feel better than ever.

Goody said...

AWESOME! Thanks for the tips, guys!