Shut up and squat

Khannie

I'd like to determine what my current 1rm for squatting is but I have no access to a squat rack.

So I saw this video for a Steinborn lift (genius IMO). Is this technique reasonable to use for determining 1rm?

Remmy

genius thanks khannie I'm gonna try this tommorow.I'd say It is alot trickier than it looks though!!

rubadub

I have no idea of my 1RM squat is but there is no way I could do that with it. I tried that a while back and it was quite awkward.

http://stronglifts.com/squat-no-power-rack-steinborn-lift/

Limitations of The Steinborn Lift. Named after Henry “Milo” Steinborn who was Squatting 550lbs for reps in the 1920s. The Steinborn Lift will strengthen your abs. But it’s an advanced exercise with limitations.

Less Safe. You have to know what you’re doing when picking up the bar and returning it to the floor since you don’t have safety pins.
Less Strength. You’ll struggle increasing your Squat to more than 1x your body-weight since the Steinborn Lift pre-exhausts your Squat.
Compromised Technique. Getting the bar in proper position on your back gets even more tricky when you have to do a Steinborn Lift first.

I have no real interest in what my 1RM squat is. Seems people want it to figure out what weight they should use for X reps, so why not just increase the weight until you can only do X reps...

BossArky

You can use this formula to estimate it first of all:

(Weight)(0.0333)(reps) + Weight = 1 rep max

e.g. 60kg for 10 reps

= (60)(0.0333)(10) +60
= 79.98
= ~80kg

Maybe give a gym a ring and see if they will allow you a free trial session? Head in and use the squat rack, building up to the number from the calc above.

brianthebard

Leaving safety aside for a min I don't think it would work because you have to begin the squat from the bottom position and then squat again, which I can't imagine you being able to do with a 1rm. Are you squatting at the minute at all? Perhaps working to a 3 or 5rm would be easier?

Khannie

Mostly just lots of bodyweight squats to be honest and mostly because I have no access to a squat rack (and the guy I was going to the gym with (other than my Thai gym) has stopped going). I was thinking of giving that 5/3/1 thing a lash in the coming days / weeks / months for a variety of reasons.

Captain Furball

Khannie wrote: »

I'd like to determine what my current 1rm for squatting is but I have no access to a squat rack.

So I saw this video for a Steinborn lift (genius IMO). Is this technique reasonable to use for determining 1rm?

I think it's kinda retarded to be honest.
Are you even doing squats at the moment?

[Edit]
your not.
[/Edit]

brianthebard

Khannie wrote: »

Mostly just lots of bodyweight squats to be honest and mostly because I have no access to a squat rack (and the guy I was going to the gym with (other than my Thai gym) has stopped going). I was thinking of giving that 5/3/1 thing a lash in the coming days / weeks / months for a variety of reasons.

Have you squatted in the past? I dunno if others would agree but if you're only starting out I don't know if 5/3/1 would suit you cause you do the lifts so infrequently, I'd much prefer to squat often than once a week.

Khannie

Captain Furball wrote: »

I think it's kinda retarded to be honest.

What would you do if you'd no access to a squat rack but were interested in building your strength? Assume I can't get ongoing access to a squat rack, because I can't.

brianthebard wrote: »

Have you squatted in the past? I dunno if others would agree but if you're only starting out I don't know if 5/3/1 would suit you cause you do the lifts so infrequently, I'd much prefer to squat often than once a week.

Fair enough. I have squatted in the past, but only for crossfit workouts. I generally have a very busy week exercise-wise (at the moment I'm exercising twice a day 6 days a week).

So here's some more detail:
I have my last fight of the year coming up on the 21st (9 days away). After that we have a baby coming in mid January. There are no fights scheduled until March anyway (that I'm aware of). I'll be dropping my activity to 4 or 5 gym sessions a week. I'll probably get back to the Thai in early February-ish (assuming the baby arrives on time). So....between now and then I want to:

- minimise fat gain
- focus a bit on strength for the same bodyweight (give or take a few KG)
- maintain a reasonable fitness level (I'm currently the fittest I've ever been)

The plan is to start back Thai being reasonably strong and with reasonable aerobic fitness given the reduced activity level. I see squatting as being part of that for sure but I'm limited by access to equipment.

I'm open to suggestion.

Remmy

Are you at the upper end of your weightclass?Like do you have much of a leeway to play with?

I dunno if that steinborn lift would be realistic for squatting 1 rep max's with.I'd like to see what its like for something like 5x5 or similar.

you could front squat either and progress the weight up on that?

drdeadlift

BossArky wrote: »

You can use this formula to estimate it first of all:

(Weight)(0.0333)(reps) + Weight = 1 rep max

e.g. 60kg for 10 reps

= (60)(0.0333)(10) +60
= 79.98
= ~80kg

Maybe give a gym a ring and see if they will allow you a free trial session? Head in and use the squat rack, building up to the number from the calc above.

this is comical lol

Captain Furball

Khannie wrote: »

What would you do if you'd no access to a squat rack but were interested in building your strength? Assume I can't get ongoing access to a squat rack, because I can't.



Fair enough. I have squatted in the past, but only for crossfit workouts. I generally have a very busy week exercise-wise (at the moment I'm exercising twice a day 6 days a week).

So here's some more detail:
I have my last fight of the year coming up on the 21st (9 days away). After that we have a baby coming in mid January. There are no fights scheduled until March anyway (that I'm aware of). I'll be dropping my activity to 4 or 5 gym sessions a week. I'll probably get back to the Thai in early February-ish (assuming the baby arrives on time). So....between now and then I want to:

- minimise fat gain
- focus a bit on strength for the same bodyweight (give or take a few KG)
- maintain a reasonable fitness level (I'm currently the fittest I've ever been)

The plan is to start back Thai being reasonably strong and with reasonable aerobic fitness given the reduced activity level. I see squatting as being part of that for sure but I'm limited by access to equipment.

I'm open to suggestion.

Are you handy at all with a welding plant?
I built my own one for 100 quid.Do front squats and clean the bar up
And good-luck with your fight and congrads with the child.

gabgab

Hey Khannie,

Best of luck in the fight prep hope its going well. You are more than welcome to drop out to us up in Crossfit and try out your one rep max. I dont know if we are handy to you but we can figure something out,

The guys can give you some pointers and we'l offer some shouts of encouragement too.

Captain Furball

gabgab wrote: »

Hey Khannie,

Best of luck in the fight prep hope its going well. You are more than welcome to drop out to us up in Crossfit and try out your one rep max. I dont know if we are handy to you but we can figure something out,

The guys can give you some pointers and we'l offer some shouts of encouragement too.

Fair play.

kevpants

drdeadlift wrote: »

this is comical lol

What? It's accurate to within a whisker in my experience.

BrianD3

i trained for several years without a rack. if you are prepared to do unilateral or "weird" exercises then you can do good work without a rack. eg
1 leg deadlifts
Shovel deadlifts
Pistol squats
Weighted pistol squats
And probably lots of other stuff too. One that I have often seen recommended but have never done myself is the bulgarian split squats. Here's a nice video :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_Q8FKO7Ueg

cardio,shoot me

kevpants wrote: »

What? It's accurate to within a whisker in my experience.

i think he means the free trial thing

Khannie

Thanks for all the replies.

BrianD3: Nice one. I might end up using those alright.

Remmy wrote: »

Are you at the upper end of your weightclass?Like do you have much of a leeway to play with?

Outside of title fights, weights are to the nearest kilo. I fight at 60 and generally I'd wake up between 64 and 65. So yeah....it's pretty tight. To be honest I'm planning to overeat for a bit in the run up to Christmas...or rather, not be too concerned about overeating.

Remmy wrote: »

you could front squat either and progress the weight up on that?

I reckon that I could get more on my back with that steinborn than on my chest by cleaning. I'm guessing, but I'll test it tonight.

Captain Furball wrote: »

Are you handy at all with a welding plant?

Never used one, but I know a lad who knows how to use one. Hadn't considered that.

Captain Furball wrote: »

And good-luck with your fight and congrads with the child.

Thanks very much.

gabgab wrote: »

Hey Khannie,

Best of luck in the fight prep hope its going well. You are more than welcome to drop out to us up in Crossfit and try out your one rep max. I dont know if we are handy to you but we can figure something out,

The guys can give you some pointers and we'l offer some shouts of encouragement too.

Legend. Very decent of you. I'll seriously consider it though you're a long distance from me (> 50Km).

kevpants wrote: »

What? It's accurate to within a whisker in my experience.

Dear Kevinpants,

For real?

Sincerely,

Khannie.

g'em

Khannie if you fancy coming up to Hercs anytime just let me know - there's plenty of big lifters in there for inspiration too

d'Oracle

BrianD3 wrote: »

1 leg deadlifts
Shovel deadlifts
Pistol squats
Weighted pistol squats
And probably lots of other stuff too. One that I have often seen r

Gobelet Squats?

Khannie

g'em wrote: »

Khannie if you fancy coming up to Hercs anytime just let me know - there's plenty of big lifters in there for inspiration too

Sound. That would be really good. What's the craic with that? Can you sign in a guest?

g'em

Khannie wrote: »

Sound. That would be really good. What's the craic with that? Can you sign in a guest?

Yup, a one-off session will only cost you a fiver - mega bargain!! Just give me a shout if you're up for it. And if my coach is around we could swing a free oly session for you too

gabgab

No probs at all, and best of luck with the fight

Brian?

Khannie wrote: »

What would you do if you'd no access to a squat rack but were interested in building your strength? Assume I can't get ongoing access to a squat rack, because I can't.

Get very good at power cleans and front squat. I've been doing this for ages.

Khannie

So I'm freshly sweating from some weights there....Tried the technique that I linked in the first post. Very awkward stuff. Mostly ended up just cleaning the weight then kinda jerking it up over my head and onto my shoulders. Got to 59KG before this got dangerous / overly awkward so I stopped and did deadlifts instead.

With practice I think that steinborn could be useful, but definitely not for 1rm.

g'em wrote: »

Yup, a one-off session will only cost you a fiver - mega bargain!! Just give me a shout if you're up for it. And if my coach is around we could swing a free oly session for you too

Absolutely lovin' this idea. Definitely going to take you up on it. Probably give you a shout the week after the fight.

spiral

deadlift or do zerchers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2OKweR-N-g&feature=related

justsomebloke

Dumbell thrusters FTW!!!!!!!

that or clean and front squat

zercher squats may also be an option

ballymun gym is also pay as you go and you could head up there every so often to use racks if it is close to you

Hail 2 Da Chimp

Hi Khannie,
From my experience, I have found when I squat heavy - it absolutely murders my legs, and does have a negative impact on my flexibility.
It does however give a lot more oomph to your kicks (body level and leg level).
I found squatting heavy very counter productive to training, as one leg kick after a heavy squatting session would have me in bits!
I also ran hill sprints on my off days, so the combination of hill sprints, heavy squatting, M.T. / MMA left my knees in bits!
After a few months I found I was accumulating injuries and had to drop the squats altogether.
So basically I found, heavy squatting + hard MMA training counter productive.
I found heavy squatting and low MMA training increased power in my kicks alright but did have a negative impact on my flexibility.

What I did find was, front squatting, while training heavy MMA, didn't have as much impact on my joints / flexibility. Maybe because I was lifting for more reps / wasn't killing myself for PB's but it's something I'd incorporate again into my training.

Hope it helps & best of luck in the fight!

Roper

We have one of these at Informed Performance http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/Main/homesweathome4.html for guys with back issues, but they'd work pretty well for home users and those who squat in their back gardens/shed/living rooms (we've all been there)

You can estimate your 1RM using a variety of RMs plus a formula but the problem is that on most of them you really need to go to failure to make it accurate. You best bet is to head on to Ballymun and jump in a squat rack or find someone to sign you in like G'em

cardio,shoot me

g'em wrote: »

Yup, a one-off session will only cost you a fiver - mega bargain!! Just give me a shout if you're up for it. And if my coach is around we could swing a free oly session for you too

G'em have i ever told you how nice you are :P

(mega jealous....)