Introduction One common technical fault you’ll see in the squat is the knees and hips shooting back when coming out the hole. By shooting back I mean that the knee joint is opening up at a rate that isn’t proportional to how much the barbell is moving up against gravity. So the knee extension is causing horizontal movement of the body, which is a waste of energy. Typically, this also causes a change in torso Read More
As I roam around the internet and various competitions, I come across more and more raw Powerlifters who want to give equipped lifting a try but don’t know where to start. Here are some tips, in no particular order, for anyone who wants to transition into equipped lifting. Start With Loose, Basic Gear You don’t need to dive right into the deep end of equipped lifting. Most of the time, this will end badly. There Read More
If you frequent any Powerlifting forums or follow Powerlifters on social media, then you’ll often see lifters asking how to fix their deadlift lockout. They’ll ask what exercise(s) they need to do or what muscle(s) they need to build up in order to make their lockout stronger. In most of these cases, the lockout isn’t actually weak. What is weak is technique, which leads to poor positioning at the time of the lockout. Most of Read More
Ask and you shall receive! People have been asking for a Squats & Science seminar, so we’ve finally put one together. The seminar will take place at S&S Barbell in Brooklyn, NY on August 25th. The morning session (9 AM to 12 PM) will be exclusive to Squats & Science online clients and gym members and will be free. The afternoon session (1 PM to 7 PM) will be open to all and only $30. Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann I had a really good conversation with the youngest member of our team this past weekend. She had reached out asking for more work because she doesn’t feel sore or tired after training days in the gym. She also said that the weights feel really easy sometimes and feels she should be doing more. For the sake of this article we will name her Amanda. Amanda is a very coachable lifter Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann I got my hands on some of Dietmar Wolf’s programs earlier this week, and after looking them over it got me thinking a bit. These programs share many of the same principles as my coach, Boris Sheiko’s programs. The volumes and the number of lifts is very similar for one. The only difference is in the average relative intensity. Dietmar’s programs seem to be much lighter in terms of average relative Read More
Written By: Kevin Cann You know how many cues that Boris Sheiko has given me over the 140 weeks I have been training with him? Zero. Not a single cue. Instead I get feedback on my lifts and appropriate variations to help me fix the issues that he sees. It was not always like this. There were a few months before I started working with Boris that I decided to learn the lifts. I hadn’t done anything Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann I had another topic that I was actually going to write about today, but we will get to that one next week. This topic is fresh on my mind coming off of a competition and writing the training blocks for my lifters after we have competed. Every competition every lifter wants to hit the biggest personal records (PR) that they can possibly hit. Of course, they want this, and they absolutely should. Read More
A big part of Powerlifting, among coaches and athletes alike, is attacking the weakness or weaknesses in a competition lift to bring it up. Unfortunately, often the weakness isn’t being properly identified and the lifter wastes time on programming that doesn’t improve their competition lift. This blog post goes over some concepts to think about and ways to more effectively determine a weakness or weaknesses in a competition lift. First, many Powerlifters are looking for Read More
Written by: Kevin Cann This is going to be more of a rant than anything. It is not a bad rant, but something that frustrates me at this point in my career. And before I get started, let me just tell you, I was this person before. I think it is part of the process of maturing as a coach. I have performed the FMS and swore by it, I have done the “single leg is Read More