Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - 4 Proven Ways to Improve Your Squat

Episode Date: April 10, 2018

According to weightlifting purists, if you’re not squatting, you’re not doing it right.Sure, you can get a decent set of wheels without squatting (there are plenty of other exercises you can do to train your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves), but the reason the squat reigns supreme is it’s freaking hard.The squat requires just about every major muscle group in your body to work in concert to generate a tremendous amount of force, as well as near picture-perfect form if you’re going to ever put up impressive numbers.You can cheat your way through the bench press and even the deadlift and eventually move heavy loads, but not the squat.If you don’t have the whole-body strength and technique, there’s no way to wiggle or jigger the weight up. You just get stuck.A good squat is worth a lot more than bragging rights, though.It’s also one of the single best exercises for developing every major muscle group in your body, from nosehole to butthole, snout to tail.If you do it correctly, that is. Let’s get to it. Want to get my best advice on how to gain muscle and strength and lose fat faster? Sign up for my free newsletter! Click here: https://www.muscleforlife.com/signup/

This episode is brought to you by me. Seriously though, I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe in. So instead, I'm going to just quickly tell you about something of mine, specifically my one-on-one coaching service. So the long story short here is this is the personal coaching service

that I wish I had when I started in the gym many years ago. Every diet and training program that we create for clients is 100% custom. We provide daily workout logs and do weekly accountability calls. Our clients get priority email service and discounts on supplements and the list goes on and on. Furthermore, my team and I have also worked with hundreds of people

of all ages, circumstances, and needs and goals. So no matter how tricky you might think your situation is, I promise you we can figure out how to get you results. If I have piqued your interest and you want to learn more, then head on over to www.muscleforlife.com forward slash coaching and schedule your free consultation call now. I'll tell you there's usually a wait list and new slots fill up very quickly. So if you're interested at all, don't wait. Go schedule your call now. Alrighty, that is enough shameless plugging for now, at least let's get to the show.

Hey, Mike Matthews here from Muscle for Life and Legion Athletics back with another video podcast. And this time we're going to talk squatting and specifically, I'm going to share with you four ways to increase your squat that you probably haven't thought of. And that means that I'm not just going to give you some obvious tips like work on your form, increase your frequency, or increase your volume or load, eat more food, and so forth. Instead, I'm going to share with you a few things that aren't talked about as much but can make a big difference in your squat performance. So my first tip is to learn how to brace properly. Now what I mean by that is learn how to create and hold tightness in your body while you're doing the

exercise. And in weightlifting circles, just this generally refers to how well you can trap air in your torso and then hold it under heavy loads. Now, when you do this, you are creating what is known as intra-abdominal pressure, which helps stabilize your body. It helps keep your torso rigid. It helps prevent the bar from moving around off of the desired bar path when you're squatting. And the more you can do those things, the more you can stabilize your body, the more you can stiffen your torso, and the more you can get the bar under control when you're squatting, the better you are going to squat. Now, how do you stabilize properly? Well, I recommend you do something called the Valsalva Maneuver, which if you want

to read more about, you can click the link up here. But basically what you want to do is every one or two reps, you take a breath in that fills your lungs to about 80% of their maximum capacity. And you want to draw that air deep into your stomach, press your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and then you hold that until you are past the hardest part of your lift. Okay, my second tip is to use the right equipment. And the three things that I like to use when I'm squatting, especially when I'm squatting heavy, are weightlifting shoes, knee sleeves, and a weightlifting belt. So let's talk shoes first. The reason why I like to squat in weightlifting shoes is they give you a very stable base to press off of. And if you've never tried a weightlifting shoe, you will

know what I mean the first time you do put them on and squat in them. It is a very different experience. And that's why research shows that weightlifting shoes can alone improve your squat. So if you want to learn more about weightlifting shoes, why they work, how they work, how to pick the right pair for you, just click the link up here to check out an article that I wrote on them. Okay. So next is sleeves, which are not wraps, right? Wraps are like the bandages that you wrap around your knees. You've probably seen a lot of power lifters use wraps. It's pretty common in that space. And that's because it does help you increase the amount of weight that you can lift on exercises like the squat and deadlift. But research shows that it also increases the wear and tear in your joints. So I don't wrap my knees, but I do use sleeves, which look like this. And the reason

why I like to use sleeves when I'm squatting is it just makes it more comfortable. It provides a little bit of joint support because it provides a little bit of tightness, helps keep everything in place and moving the way that it should be moving. And it also helps keep my joints warm in between sets when I'm resting, keeps the ligaments and the tendons warm, which of course makes them more pliable, makes them more stretchy, which just makes for a more comfortable lift. Now, in terms of specific sleeves, I've only tried one and I liked them, so I never had a reason to try another. And the ones that I use are made by a company called Reband, R-E-H-B-A-N-D. And last, we have the weightlifting belt, which is a controversial bit of hardware because many people say that they work. Many people say that they don't do anything. Many people say that they

decrease the risk of injury. Many people say they increase the risk of injury. And the long story short is multiple studies have shown that a weightlifting belt when used properly, which I'll talk about in a second, does increase performance on exercises like the squat and deadlift, but probably does not reduce the risk of injury. In other words, a weightlifting belt can help you gain muscle and strength faster, but you cannot use it as a crutch for poor form. You can't use poor form on an exercise like a deadlift, you know, where you're rounding your lower back, for example, but you think because you're wearing a belt, you're okay. No, you're not okay. That is dramatically increasing your risk of injury, regardless of whether you are using a belt or not. And as far as using it correctly, the correct use of a weightlifting

belt is to increase the intra-abdominal pressure that we spoke about earlier. And you do that by when you take in your deep breath, you're taking it into your stomach, you're pressing your stomach out against the belt. That is what increases that intra-abdominal pressure, which makes your body more stable, makes your torso more stable, which then allows you to comfortably move more weight. So if you want to learn more about weightlifting belts, how they work, why they work, and so forth, click the link up here to check out an article I wrote. But as far as a specific recommendation goes, I like the Inzer lever belt. That's what I personally use and recommend. Hey, quickly, before we carry on, if you are liking my podcast, would you please help spread the word about it? Because no amount of marketing

or advertising gimmicks can match the power of word of mouth. So if you are enjoying this episode and you think of someone else who might enjoy it as well, please do tell them about it. It really helps me. And if you are going to post about it on social media, definitely tag me so I can say thank you. You can find me on Instagram at MuscleForLifeFitness, Twitter at MuscleForLife, and Facebook at MuscleForLifeFitness. Okay, so my third tip for improving your squat is to micro-load your weights. your weights. And this is helpful because as you probably know, your number one goal as a natural weightlifter is to increase your whole body strength over time. In other words, if you want to achieve maximum whole body muscularity, then you also want to achieve maximum whole body strength. And of course, the most effective way to do that is to add weight to the bar over time. This is why

all good weightlifting routines emphasize progressive overload. Sure, metabolic stress matters. Sure, volume matters. Sure, frequency matters. But more than anything else, progressive overload is what matters. If you are not getting stronger over time, there is a point where your muscle growth is just going to stall. Now, there are different ways of accomplishing this.

A simple way is like a linear progression model like you find in a strength training program like starting strength where you work with a given weight until you can, let's just say in this case squat, until you can squat it for three sets of five reps at which point you add 10 pounds to the bar, work with that new weight until you can squat it for three sets of five reps add weight and so on now that can work fine but sometimes you will find that you just hit a sticking point you just get stuck at a certain weight for no apparent reason and this is where micro loading can help which entails adding smaller amounts of weight to the bar using these fractional plates so instead of adding you know 10 to the bar, you add only five pounds to the bar because you are using two and a half pound plates as opposed to five pound plates. And they even make one and a half pound fractional plates. So you can add just two

and a half pounds of weight to the bar, which again, while that might not sound like much, you are moving forward. You are making progress. So if you can squat 225 for three sets of five, but when you go up to 235, you just get stuck. You haven't been able to move past it. Well, what you can do is you could add just five pounds to the bar. So you could squat 230 and you might actually find now that you can work up to three sets of five with 230, at which point then you can move on to 235 and get unstuck. Or you could increase the weight by just two and a half pounds. So you'd be squatting 227.5 pounds until you can squat it for three sets of five, and then you could move up to 230, or you could try the jump to 235 because at that point,

again, you might just be unstuck and progressing again. Now, as far as fractional plates themselves go, most gyms of course have two and a half pound plates, but don't have anything smaller. So if you want to get some fractional plates, I recommend some plates made by a company called Adder Fitness, A-D-E-R Fitness. You can get them on Amazon. They are cheap and simple, and you can just bring them with you because they don't weigh that much. Just keep them in your gym bag or just keep them at the gym and no one's going to steal them. Just hopefully they're available when you want them. Okay, my fourth and final tip for improving your squat is increasing your hip, knee, and ankle mobility. So improving how your hips, your knees, and your ankles can move. You see, it's very common for

people, especially people who have been lifting weights for a while and who haven't done much mobility work, if any at all, and who are now progressing to heavier and heavier weights to have very tight muscles in their lower body that restrict the movement of their hips, knees, and ankles. And this can hinder performance because one, it can make squatting pretty uncomfortable. Again, especially as you're progressing toward heavier weights and higher volumes. And if you want to push through the discomfort, no pain, no gain, you can to a point. But your body naturally is going to try to hold you back because it knows that you are pushing toward an injury. So if you really are stubborn and you even try to go through your body's natural internal signals to stop, you probably just end up getting hurt.

natural internal signals to stop, you probably just end up getting hurt. But if you can just address those mobility issues and resolve them, then you are simply removing those obstacles to your progress. Now, in terms of actually doing it, it's very simple. I myself do an eight-minute routine every day. That's it, just eight minutes a day. And since I've started it, it has made a tremendous difference in my squatting because again, I was running into hips in particular. My hips would get very tight, my hip flexors, my psoas, and that would manifest in, it would make my squatting uncomfortable, especially with heavyweight, deep squatting, it would just be uncomfortable. And then it would also turn into lower back tightness, lower back discomfort. Once I started doing an

eight-minute routine every day, those problems have just vanished. So to check this routine out, simply click on this link. You'll be taken to an article that is all about lower body mobility and particularly for squatting. And if I'm at my limit in terms of links per video, I don't remember how many I can put, head over to muscleforlife.com and just search for mobility and you will see it in the search results. Hey there, it is Mike again. I hope you enjoyed this episode and found it interesting and helpful. And if you did, and don't mind doing me a favor and want to help me make this the most popular health and fitness podcast on the internet, then please leave a quick review of it on iTunes or wherever you're listening from. This not only convinces people that they should check the show out, it also increases its search

visibility and thus helps more people find their way to me and learn how to build their best bodies ever too. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then just subscribe to the podcast and you won't miss out on any of the new goodies. Lastly, if you didn't like something about the show, then definitely shoot me an email at mike at muscleforlife.com and share your thoughts on how you think it could be better. I read everything myself and I'm always looking for constructive feedback, So please do reach out. All right, that's it.

Thanks again for listening to this episode. And I hope to hear from you soon. And lastly, this episode is brought to you by me. Seriously, though, I'm not big on promoting stuff that I don't personally use and believe in. So instead, I'm going to just quickly tell you about something of mine, specifically my one-on-one coaching service. So the long story short here is this is the personal coaching service that I wish I had

when I started in the gym many years ago. Every diet and training program that we create for clients is 100% custom. We provide daily workout logs and do weekly accountability calls. Our clients get priority email service and discounts on supplements, and the list goes on and on. Furthermore, my team and I have also worked with hundreds of people of all ages, circumstances, and needs and goals. So no matter how tricky you might think your situation is, I promise you we can figure out how to get you results. If I have piqued your interest and you want to learn more, then head on over to www.muscleforlife.com forward slash coaching and schedule your free consultation call now. I'll tell you there's usually a wait list and new slots fill up very quickly. So if you're interested at all, don't wait.

Go schedule your call now.