Science on Squat Cues – Is on your heels or evenly spread weight better? A Simple Experiment

Kat Dalecki doing 55kg squats for peak EMG measurements

Science on the Squat… controversial (for some) – It would seem that weight all on the heels is WEAKER and results in less activation of your hamstrings and quads!!!

For a while now, I have been wondering about the cue to remain on your heel, wriggle your toes etc etc. Apparently this is to increase the “posterior chain” activation…but pulling you toes up activates your anterior muscles…

So, to end the speculation, I thought I would try a preliminary experiment to see if it was worthy of further study – don’t be rough on me – I acknowledge that this is not a high quality study but it was an interesting one to see if it was worthy of further study.

Method:

I did the following twice – once for biceps femoris and once for quads (I only had a single channel surface EMG unit)…

1. 55kg squat is just below body weight for Kathryn Dalecki
2. 5 reps to warm up
3. 5 reps with weight on heels, toes up
4. 5 reps with weight evenly through the foot with ball of foot and big toe definitely down, weight through the centre of the logo on the tongue of Kat’s Reebok Nanos

Biceps femoris and quads (VMO/rectus femoris bias) were measured for peak EMG during the concentric (drive up) phase.

My theory was that evenly distributed weight would activate the posterior chain more…which would also increase the quads activation…plantarflexion of the 1st ray is a key component of the foot stability mechanism and activates and stiffens the posterior chain via the plantar fascia into the Achilles tendon.

Results:
1. Hamstrings peaked between 192 and 212 with toes up, between 232 and 250 with even foot
2. Quads peaked at around 280 with toes up and around 340 with even foot

Conclusions:
1. It is likely that an even foot distribution leads to better recruitment of hamstring and quadriceps muscles during a bodyweight squat
2. Toes up cue results in less activation of hamstrings and quads
3. Gluts would be interesting to assess with EMG – next time!
4. Further study on this is warranted
5. One subject does not make a solid conclusion and the study design can be improved etc etc etc – don’t hate on me, it was just to see what happened – I understand the limitations!
6. Try it for yourself!!!

Guess what Darren Coughlan, CrossFit Football and I have been independently teaching for years?? 

So, place your feet on the ground. Keep the weight even throughout the whole foot ensuring that the big toe pad and ball of the foot (aka first ray), the ball of the outside of your foot and heel is in contact with the ground the whole time. If you do this, the centre of mass should be on the front of your ankle crease. I am looking forward to seeing if this makes a difference in activation in the sedentary, amateur, athletic and professional populations

Any comments, questions or discussion is welcome

Push Ups – How to do them properly

Everyone knows what a good push up should look like. To be honest, Kat’s first 2 reps in this video are a bit sketchy but she had already done the GCS workout of the day (1hr) and a whole bunch of strict exercises for video so push ups were last and so not quite as good as she could do them.

Now I know you are going “yeah, yeah, I know what I have to do…”

But do you?

Video yourself and compare it to this video…

I got Kat Dalecki, CrossFit Australian Regionals Competitor for Reebok CrossFit GCS to demonstrate how to do push ups.

Points to note in this video.
1. The movement only occurs at the toes (MTP joints) and the upper limbs. Being able to do this is very rare…
2. The neck is set in place and is neutral throughout. A good way to tell if the head is in the right position is to tilt your head or the screen to see if it looks like Kat is standing “normally” – you will find that in every frame, she is essentially in a good posture, no matter where in the push up she is.
3. The spinal angle stays the same throughout except for a small wobble in the first 1-2 reps (in fairness to Kat, she had just done the whole GCS program (1hr), strict CTB pullups, 2 sets of strict Muscle ups, 2 sets of strict Toes to bar before this video!)
4. Her shoulders move normally throughout without her chest dropping through or protracting excessively
5. Her hip angle remains the same throughout as does her knees and ankles

If you have video links of other good examples of push ups, link them in the comments below.

Many thanks to Kat Delecki for being a great model, and Darren Coughlan and Brendon Walsh from Reebok CrossFit GCS for being great coaches and willing to work with me.

To follow the Give’m Cold Steel exercise programs, please visit www.givemcoldsteel.com

How I solved my math problems – from failure to 94% in less than one year

Why is a physio writing a blog post on maths?

1. Because I can! It is my blog
2. I tell this story so many times that it is time-efficient to write it down
3. I was inspired by this article to write it
4. I get asked by a lot of high school students about what they need to do to get into Physiotherapy at uni

What follows actually happened to the best of my memory

Read more of this post

CrossFit Open WOD 13.5 – Preparation, Injury Prevention and General Advice

Sweat Angels – there will be lots of them!

Open Workout 13.5

Dave Castro promised blood, sweat and tears and he was right…the elite athletes will be doing it tough while most of us will have a nice 4mins AMRAP to complete…rewarded for your awesomeness by having more time to show how awesome you are!

This article will look at how to prepare for this workout to maximize your potential in this workout.

13.5 looks like this…

4 minute AMRAP of:
15 Thrusters (100 / 65 lbs)
15 Chest to bar Pull-ups
*4 minute bonus for every 90 reps (3 rounds) completed.

General comments:

• For the good to elite Crossfitters, the thrusters aren’t the major issue…getting the work done in the time allocated will be about how fast you can do Chest-To-Bar (CTB) pullups.
• The key to higher scores will be in how tight you can keep your technique under fatigue. Both Sam Briggs and Jason Khalipa had their form break down before Camille Leblanc-Bazinet and Rich Froning’s did.
• Camille’s form in her thrusters and CTB pullups was the most impressive of the lot. She had maximum efficiency and did not waste a lot of energy or time with aberrant movements.
• Your hands will probably tear – make sure they are taped up as best you can for this one.
• Discuss your strategy with your coach…I think a planned approach would be better than a go-as-fast-as-you-can approach but that is a personal opinion. I think small time goals and planned rests will help.

Thrusters:

+ The basis for a good thruster is a great front squat – so good, mobile hips and ankles and then shoulders that can carry the load in the press portion.

+ Mobilize your hips – this really is where most CrossFitters are too restricted – use a Lacrosse/Massage Ball in your hips – the key point here is to have your knees bent up, knees together and feet apart. This will stretch out your hip rotators and hip capsule better. (See Brandon and Ev demonstrate this in the pictures below)

+ Mobilize your ankles – the easiest way is to lunge and have a resistance band pulling your ankle behind you (See Ev demonstrate this in the pictures below)

+ Maintain good form – see the pictures below for a nice example.

+ Use a foam roller to release your lats (behind), your serratus (side) and your obliques (front) (See Brandon demonstrate this on the roller below)

+ Keep your elbows UP – if they crash into your knees, you can sprain or even fracture your wrist! You have been warned!

Massage ball in posterior hip

Keep your knees together and your feet apart!

Resistance band lunge – get that knee past the toes

Nice Thruster (Front Squat) – note the straight back and high elbows

Chest to Bar Pull Ups

Chest To Bar Pull Ups:

+ Stretch your pecs out – pulling into your chest will need shoulders that can roll back

+ Use a spikey ball to release the back of your shoulders – this will give you room to press as well as pull strongly

+ Stretch your forearms, wrists and fingers

+ Tape your hands up well

Spikey ball into the posterior capsule/muscles

Conclusions:

• For most of us “enthusiasts”, this will be a 4 minute AMRAP with some number below 90
• For regional level athletes, I expect them to be getting at least 90 reps in 4mins – probably 135 reps in total
• For games level athletes, I expect them to get 170+
• Warm up well, be consistent in your technique and a good score will be possible

Good luck, stay safe and go hard!

You comments on the workout, this blog or any questions you have are more than welcome