Maxlass
New Member
Did these today with 3sec pause at the bottom. My calculated 1RM is 170kg but done 5x5 at 100kg with these only just getting them out. Felt like blacking out on the last two sets. Definitely makes light weight feel heavy as hell.
MESO-Rx
Anabolic Steroids
Pause Squats
- Thread starter Maxlass
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weighted chinup
Member
If I miss the bounce / stretch reflex coming up out of the hole on front squat I will do a 1-2 second pause just for fun. The increased effort needed to complete the set feels great.
Here comes the clique ^^^^ 
It def makes lighter weighs feel heavy. Removing the stretch reflex of the hamstrings will do that. They're an excellent lift though and will definitely help with your regular back squat, especially if you're weak out the hole. I also like to do box squats and have done paused box squats about 2-3in below parallel. Talk about widow makers. You're lucky to leave with your balls afterwards lol
It def makes lighter weighs feel heavy. Removing the stretch reflex of the hamstrings will do that. They're an excellent lift though and will definitely help with your regular back squat, especially if you're weak out the hole. I also like to do box squats and have done paused box squats about 2-3in below parallel. Talk about widow makers. You're lucky to leave with your balls afterwards lol
Ozzy619
New Member
Here comes the clique ^^^^
It def makes lighter weighs feel heavy. Removing the stretch reflex of the hamstrings will do that. They're an excellent lift though and will definitely help with your regular back squat, especially if you're weak out the hole. I also like to do box squats and have done paused box squats about 2-3in below parallel. Talk about widow makers. You're lucky to leave with your balls afterwards lol
Haha anytime you or weighted comment theres nothing left to say. Sometimes I have to google the shit you guys are talking about, but damn I sound smart when Im at the gym with the bros
Haha anytime you or weighted comment theres nothing left to say. Sometimes I have to google the shit you guys are talking about, but damn I sound smart when Im at the gym with the bros
Weighted chin-up is one of the best guys in here for technical and programming advice. I really cannot think of a post where I've disagreed with him. Smart fucker that Weighted guy
A big interest of mine is programming and training. Moreso than AAS or nutrition so I just read whatever I can get my hands on. I'd be happy to give you a list of good reads if you're interested Ozzy. You're no slouch either
Ozzy619
New Member
Weighted chin-up is one of the best guys in here for technical and programming advice. I really cannot think of a post where I've disagreed with him. Smart fucker that Weighted guy
A big interest of mine is programming and training. Moreso than AAS or nutrition so I just read whatever I can get my hands on. I'd be happy to give you a list of good reads if you're interested Ozzy. You're no slouch either
I always like a good read, I get most of my info through websites and we all know those are mostly trends and broscience theories. Most of the technical info Ive leared as been from meso. But yea, give me a couple reads and I can do my homework.
I'll send you a PM tomorrow. If I do forget, I've been crazy at work with a few guys out, just remind me by saying "hey dipshit, you owe me a PM" lol
Ozzy619
New Member
I will, good looking out doc
Quick question, are you interested in the technical aspects of lifts like proper form, which muscles being used etc or actual programming and how to organize a training program for your goals? Or even both?
johnnyBALLZ
New Member
Man, no PM!! Just post it here.. Then I can remind you and call you a dipshit tomorrow..
Ozzy619
New Member
Im mainly interested in the technical aspects and proper form. For instance googled stretch reflex which is alot more technical that I had anticipated, so Ill try and wrap my head around that for tonight. I think if I grasp the technical aspect better I can better formulate a solid program.
Ozzy619
New Member
Man, no PM!! Just post it here.. Then I can remind you and call you a dipshit tomorrow..
I agree, a thread with this info can be very useful @Docd187123
Maxlass
New Member
Yeah it lost me at myotatic
Man, no PM!! Just post it here.. Then I can remind you and call you a dipshit tomorrow..
I'm calling you a pussy for not going with Brut
lol. Would've been awesome if you had lolI'll post some of the books and authors to look for here then.
johnnyBALLZ
New Member
I'm calling you a pussy for not going with Brut
Yea man.. I'm sure we'll get together at some point.. Take care of my buddy!!
Yeah it lost me at myotatic
A muscle connects to the skeleton at a minimum of two point by way of tendons. The hamstrings for example, to use our squat and stretch reflex topic, attaches at the knee and at the hips. The quadriceps open the knee or cause knee extension while the hamstrings cause knee flexion and also flex the knee medially when bent (think of turning your knee in towards the other side of your body while it's bent). Whike the hamstrings cause knee flexion on one end, at the other end they open uo the hips or cause hip extension. This is the base of hip drive. When coming out the hole from a squat you don't want to think push the floor with your feet. You want to imagine someone has a chain hooked to the small of your back, right above your ass crack, and is pulling up on the chain from above ie hip drive.
So the further down you go in a squat, the more your hamstrings get stretched to a point. Close the knee angle too much and the hamstrings get shortened like what happens in a front squat (imagine the knee angle of each: back squat has more open knee angle than front squat does). At one end knee flexion is happening and as the knee angle closes the hamstring gets stretched from one end. At the other attachment point at the hips, the hip angle closes at the bottom which stretches the hamstring. By opening up or breaking at the hips to come back up the hamstring must. so to recap the hamstring at the bottom of the squat is contracted proximally by the hips and pelvis and distally by the knee flexion.
Now when you break parallel in a squat your hamstrings are being maximally contracted or close to it from both ends. What happens whe. You stretch a rubber band and let it go? It flies off like a slingshot. Same happens to muscles. When you begin your ascent, the hamstrings are stretched then let go if like a rubber band when the ascent is began. This is the stretch reflex of the squat. It looks like a little bounce at the bottom but is part of the lift (some ppl call it cheating but this couldn't be further from the truth.
This bounce/stretch reflex/rebound/etc is an important part of a full ROM back squat. Bc of it, it allows you to squat more weight since it aids in the ascent from the toughest point of the squat leverage wise. Box squats and paused squats remove the rebound/stretch if the hamstrings. You either sit down and back onto a box or pause at the bottom of the squat in a paused squat. Which means the hams must concentrically contract (shorten aka the concentric portion of the lift) after eccentrically contracting (lengthen aka the eccentric portion) without a bounce. This stops all movement and when you begin to accelerate up you must do so from a dead stop and without this rebound effect making the lift harder bc the hamstrings cannot "bounce" back.
You're on the right track. Learning good form and how the lifts operate muscle wise can help you a lot with your training and programming. By understanding how the muscles interact with each other and operate will help in many aspects. Programming though is much more complicated than just this. For programming you need to understand periodization, single and dual factor theory, conjugated periodization, block periodization, etc to name a few and all about the stress and adaptation response (Seyle's General theory of adaptation), fitness and fatigue and how they oppose each other, muscle fiber recruitment (how different rep and set schemes affect the different types of hypertrophy, etc etc. It's a very detailed process but to be honest it's also one of the funniest to learn about.
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He will be in good hands. Taking him out on a date, wining and dining him, and hoping he puts out and I can get lucky
Maxlass
New Member
Thanks. Interesting to know the way it all works and here I was thinking it just made light shit heavy. I like trying new things but understanding the whys of how things work is interesting in itself.
One more point to add:
This is also the reason most people shouldn't be doing ass to grass squats. The hamstrings attach to the bottom of the pelvis while your low back muscles attach to the top of the pelvis. Each pulling in opposite directions. For your back and spine to remain safe your low back muscles MUST win this fight. If not you increase the risk of injury exponentially.
Follow along here, most people lack the requisite extensibility of the hamstrings to go ass to grass. When they do so one of two things will happen
1) the hamstring muscles must relax and lose their stretch so you can get ass to gras depth. By doing so you lose out on the rebound/stretch effect which effectively removes the hamstrings from their responsibility in coming up out the hole making you squat less this way and you get less hamstring activation. It makes it a more quad dominant lift in which case front squats are the better option here anyway.
Or
2) you dive bomb into the ass to grass position and retain some tightness in the hamstrings some other way which pulls downwards on the pelvis but at the same time your low back muscles must pull up on the pelvis to maintain your back angle. If back angle isn't maintained you end up missing the lift or doing a good morning to get it up. But by doing so you're still pulling in both ends of the pelvis. If the low back muscles lose their fight against the hamstrings here you can get butt wink, good morning the weight up, missing the lift, or you fuck up your back bc rigidity isn't maintained in your back and spine.
This is also the reason most people shouldn't be doing ass to grass squats. The hamstrings attach to the bottom of the pelvis while your low back muscles attach to the top of the pelvis. Each pulling in opposite directions. For your back and spine to remain safe your low back muscles MUST win this fight. If not you increase the risk of injury exponentially.
Follow along here, most people lack the requisite extensibility of the hamstrings to go ass to grass. When they do so one of two things will happen
1) the hamstring muscles must relax and lose their stretch so you can get ass to gras depth. By doing so you lose out on the rebound/stretch effect which effectively removes the hamstrings from their responsibility in coming up out the hole making you squat less this way and you get less hamstring activation. It makes it a more quad dominant lift in which case front squats are the better option here anyway.
Or
2) you dive bomb into the ass to grass position and retain some tightness in the hamstrings some other way which pulls downwards on the pelvis but at the same time your low back muscles must pull up on the pelvis to maintain your back angle. If back angle isn't maintained you end up missing the lift or doing a good morning to get it up. But by doing so you're still pulling in both ends of the pelvis. If the low back muscles lose their fight against the hamstrings here you can get butt wink, good morning the weight up, missing the lift, or you fuck up your back bc rigidity isn't maintained in your back and spine.
