https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy28eq2PjcM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEQQle9-0NA

The Squat...the most harcore excercise in our reppertoire; yet few perfom it well or at a high level. So, how can I make the claim that I can have you squatting double your body weight or more?

Read on: Do not click on the links above yet:

If you're a male who weighs 200 pounds, as you walk you are suporting 200 pounds on one leg half the time. Granted you're not bending down, but can you do lunges? Can you do lunges with 30-40 pound dumbells? Sure you can!

Then aren't you really lifting 230-240 pounds on one leg on the uplift? Yes! So why can't you do so double that in the squat? You can! If your weak you should do double body weight and if you're strong a lot more!

The reason is form! Most lifters including experienced ones stuggle with the squat. They tend to fight the weights, and its a fight you can't win!

I'll do my best to break it all down so its as easy to follow as possible. There are two useful video links at the top of this article. Both give you the basics and I'll try to take it a bit further. Please watch them now.

So, as you can see the most common mistakes bodybuilders make are opening hips, keeping knees pointing inward, and worst of all leaning forward.

Leaning forward measns you are literaslly lifting the weights with your back and not your legs. Its a great way to damage your back, or get killed. Go to far forward and kaput! I've seen it happen where I actuaslly intervened in guys workout to prevent disaster.

Leaning forward puts the pressure on your toes instead of your heels and thats a great way to break a toe or a small bone in the front of the foot!

Proper and excellent form in the squat is essential to sucessful and imppressive lifts. Leaning forward seems to be the biggest flaw in most lifters technique. It seems to be a natural trendency, but in order for you to succeed you must overcome it! Make sure your chest is out; this helps prevent leaning forward!

The best way to overcome this problem is to get in a Smith machine. Go up and down doing squats with a light weight, and make sure your chest is out and your back perfectly rigid. Your back should be very straight acting almost like a vertical support.

Also though you may be able to push up a heavy weight once you get the technique you need a strong back to support the weight and prevent injury.

One night I walked into a gym and a slight of built kid was popping set after set of Squats with 315 pounds. He had perferct form and his lifts looked effortless. We became friendly and I asked him why he was't doint 500 pounds or more, because with form like that i knew he could. He replied that he had squatted over 500 but the pressure of the weights literally crushed his right lat.

So, be sure you back is strong in the lats and traps cuz that's what must support the weight.

Assuming you get your form perfect and a have a strong back does that totally eliminate the possibility of injury. ABSOLUTELY NOT! There are so many ways to get injured in the Squat it is unreal!

While we're on thsty subject I wrote an article on the long term damages squats will do to your back regasrdless. Here's the link:

https://www.eroids.com/forum/training-nutrition-diet/workout-exercise/sq...

A lot can be done to prevent these injuries from spinal compression. I simply didn't know, but if you invest the time in decompressing your spine you may be able avoid a lot of pain.

So, how do you get injured assuming you have a strong back and great form? Well, I popped a L-5 and partially herniated it squatting 315 on the second rep. I had easily done 5 reps and sets of 550 the previous week so this doesn't make sense.

I went to the gym after having a bad fight with my ex. I was pissed! I started throwing 45 pounders on like a lunatic. I was a lunatic! So, 315 felt like “Joke weight” to me; but it isn't! On that second rep I dropped the weight too quickly and pop!

I did two more reps with the popped disc, then put the weight back on the rack. Those last two reps didn't feel right and the next day I couldn't walk and was in severe sciatic pain. So, the lesson learned here is never get careless!

You must keep your form from the beginning of each rep til the last and until the weights are safely back on the rack!

Now, heres a few tips you won't see in any of the videos above: Squatting is a psychological game. I NEVER got under a weight that I didn’t think was going up. NEVER!

It was me against the weights and they were the enemy. They were out to defeat me and I was going to win! Plain and simple!

I used to snarl at the bar literally and talk to it. I told it you're going up “Mother Phucker”; and I meant it! This kind of vicious attitude it necessary; this is no pussy task!

Another thing I did which I believe helped me a lot, but you have to be careful and understand this or you will get injured.

At the bottom of my lift where the bar is below my hips; I did not gradually try to bring the weights up. I made sure the weight was all on my he heels, and I tried to shove the bitch through the ceiling! This give you momentum and will help get you through that sticking point where the weight either goes up or goes down.

Get this right and it will explode your lifts; get it wrong and it will explode your back. It critical to understand this. At the bottom it's not bounce down and explode up. That's the injury waiting to happen. Its take it to the bottom set; BOOM!

All in all if you get all this right you can be squatting a lot more than double your body weight. By the way for those who think doing a zillions squats with light weights gets the same results are wrong! Lots of squats with light weight are great, do a lot, but they simply cannot give you the explosive power attained with heavy weight!

Simply put if you can squat 600 pounds for 5 reps God help the person who gets you angry!