Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Front Squat 1 rep max

This one was a little frustrating:

Find your 1 rep Front squat max.

On the second rep I tied my 1 rep max of 225 from almost three months ago without any problem, and then I went to 245 (which i thought I could've done last time). On the first attempt I went down way too quickly and got stuck at the bottom. On the second attempt I went down slowly enough, and then tried to drive out of the hole. What ended up happening is me going up maybe half an inch and then freezing. On the last attempt I lowered the weight to 235, and I went up from the bottom maybe two inches, but then I once again froze, and after what felt like an eternity of pushing I dumped the weight for the last time.

I take these attempts with mixed feelings because my core was strong throughout; I never caved and my elbows were up the entire time. Chriss even used my attempt as an example of keeping the core tight no matter what.

However, this means that the failure was due to a lack of strength in my legs, and that's something I'm not used to happening. ...I still feel that my legs have the strength so what's going on here is yet another mental block. Although I really, really feel my hamstrings engage when I squat, I almost never feel my glutes engage. Maybe I don't notice it because I'm focusing on the hamstrings, or maybe I just haven't figure out how to engage them yet.

Regardless, I feel like I really need to work on the front squat with regards to my approach. I need to be more violent, when I hit bottom I really need to just explode up with such great force that nothing will keep me down.

I am a little bummed that I did not get a PR, but this was a valuable learning experience and I will apply it to the next time we do this lift. I also have Oly shoes on my christmas list, so hopefully next time we do this I will have some proper lifting shoes.

Afterwards my hip started to feel a little more pain, which makes sense. Tomorrow I will meet up with a masseuse who is supposed to be well versed in Rolfing [EDIT: deep tissue massage] if not accredited in structural integration. Given that she charges about half as much as the only accredited Rolfer in the area, I'll try her out first and see what happens.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Adam, please check and see if your massage therapist is a graduate of at least an IASI approved school.
http://theiasi.org/index.php
The profession is called structural integration and only those graduates of The Rolf Institute® can call themselves Certified Rolfers. http://www.rolf.org.
Checking credentials is very important.

Adam said...

Thank you Carole,

Yeah I know credentials are important, I guess what I meant to say is there is a masseuse that does deep tissue massage. Sorry to be so flippant with the term "Rolfing".

I will try her out before shelling out the big bucks on Cosper Scafidi, who's the Rolfer I was originally going to try.

...FYI it seems that deep tissue massage is all I will need, so thankfully I won't need to spend $1,500 for ten sessions.

Unknown said...

Thanks for your response, Adam. Please understand structural integration and deep tissue massage are not the same thing. Structural integration is like getting the frame straightened out on your car after a car accident. Rolfing practitioners are the structural experts on the human body, and yes we also work deeply in the soft tissues. Cosper is excellent. I do recommend him. Have a chat. We are often happy to do non-formulistic work with clients. That means not requiring you to do the 10 series. I'm not sure how Cosper practices, but you could have a chat with him.

Good luck to you.

Adam said...

No problem Carole.

Perhaps I'm not being clear enough, but I understand the difference between structural integration and deep tissue massage. One works only on the muscles, and the other works on the muscles/fascia (which is somewhat similar to a DO's manipulation therapy)

I was thinking "deep tissue" but I typed out "Rolfing". Although I got the words confused, I am clear on the concepts behind them (damn language disabilities). Sorry if I touched a nerve by mixing up the terms, it was an honest mistake.

Cosper actually does non-formulistic work, but he does require at least 3 sessions. This is perfectly reasonable of him, but I currently don't have the resources to drop $450 over three weeks. Not to mention I do have some trepidation commiting that much money to a treatment when a cheaper alternative may be availible.

I also worry it may take the full ten sessions to get this right (it is a chronic issue so it's not likely to correct itself quickly). But there's no real way to find out without spending the initial $450. So, I took the more fiscally conservative approach and tried a deep tissue massage.

Now having had a deep tissue massage, it seems pretty clear that the muscles around my hip are extremely, extremely tight.

So my plan is to take the cheaper route and teach my muscles to relax through deep tissue massage, and then perhaps cap it off with some Rolfing by Cosper (I get a promotion late February).

Does this seem like a good idea to you? Would three sessions of Rolfing be more effective in relaxing my muscles/correcting the problem than six sessions of deep tissue massage? Thank you for the info, although I understand the difference between deep tissue and rolfing I'm unsure as to which one will be the cheaper route to ending this throbbing in my hip.

Unknown said...

Relief from throbbing hip pain is a good goal, and I understand that money is tight. Not knowing anything about the massage therapist you are working with, their experience, training, etc. I don't see how I can honestly answer your question.

Rolfing would look at any structural issues that are contributing to your problem as well as address tissue fibrosity and shortness. Cosper is an excellent practitioner. I make my decisions, if I can, based on working with the most skilled person who I personally like and trust.

You may also benefit from some self-care and understanding better how your body works. In other words education. I spend a lot of time educating my clients about their bodies so I can empower them to take charge of their own health, and not be so dependent on me. Most Rolfers try and work themselves out of a job as opposed to having you become a regular client.

Again, I wish you the best of luck in your healing process no matter which route you choose to follow. I just wanted you to better understand Rolfing structural integration.