Technique Breakdown: Improving Front Rack Position

Why I Heart the Front Squat

1. Because the bar is positioned in the front, it gives the lifter a counterbalance which allows for better position and often results in improved depth. 

2. When you have your arms up, the lats are lengthened. The lack of lat involvement then accounts for lesser loads than the back squat due to the fact the lats are needed to create greater core stability. This means, in order for you to move some big weights on the front squat you have to really strengthen your core.

3. Piggybacking off the point above, it then allows the lifter who may have a lordotic (arched) posture to squat much deeper/cleaner with the front squat.  Of course, if they have an excessive lordosis and anterior pelvic tilt, you may not want to start them off with a barbell front or back squat. 

On the opposite end of the postural spectrum, we have kyphotic posture, or a rounded back like a scared cat. Which I believe would be one of the worst positions a lifter can be in for front squatting. When your office desk worker gets to the gym and wants to front squat, they may have some issues due to the mobility demands of the front squat. 

You need to get the arms into a combination of shoulder flexion and external rotation. A lot of times we think we have immobile wrists or some wacky self diagnosis. Often times it's just some soft tissue restrictions and mobilizations needed prior to lifting. 

Step 1: Soft Tissue Work

The rhomboids also have to contract isometrically and can fatigue to the point to where these muscles can no longer maintain proper position as well. This influences bar position as well. I would roll out the entire trap/rhomboid area. 

Releasing the pecs and subclavius area goes a long way in helping to achieve a better rack position as well. Video courtesy of Eric Cressey. 

Important to keep these loose, even if you're not front squatting, your hands will thank you. 

The triceps, in particular the long head is often responsible for being short and not allowing the lats to get to full lengthening. 

Step 2: Mobilization

With a moderately heavy band around your elbow, drive it forward and down while simultaneously exhaling to maintain proper rib position. You'll want to perform this in a contract and relax manner. 

I would externally rotate (palm facing the ceiling) and then lean back and get a good pull on the lats. You can also do this internally (back of your hand facing you) too. 

A few final notes:

Elbows up is a cue that you'll hear very often. This also reinforces the most important position of the movement where the bar will want to roll down at the bottom. The goal should be to keep the elbows pointing as far upwards as possible. think a parallel line between your upper arm and the floor.

Another issue is the california style or cross armed grip which I'm not a big fan of. Under substantial load one elbow stays higher than the other and can be detrimental to proper structural alignment of the shoulders and can potentially create a chain of imbalances through your hip and knee. 

This question came over instagram, if you should have any questions use the hashtag #askghfitness and I'll create a piece of content to hopefully solve your problem!

Technique Breakdown: Inverted Rows

Learning the inverted row is the first step to performing a chin up/pull up. It teaches you how to properly engage the lats, pack the shoulders and allows you to adjust on the fly. 

The EASIEST way to teach this movement is from the finishing position first, then moving out.

  1. Pull the handles back with your elbows slightly past your body with your shoulder blades pack and your lats engaged. Making sure that your shoulders don't roll forward.
  2. From there walk yourself forward until you find a position that you're able to hold onto but is only a slight challenge to maintain. That's where you should stand to begin. 
  3. Keeping the core tight, ribs down, extending the arms and then pull yourself back up. 

As you progress, you can slowly work your way towards having the starting point underneath the anchor point of the TRX or suspension trainer. Eventually the final bodyweight progression is to elevate the feet, at that point you should be able to start performing chin ups!

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If it's Free, You Can't Complain

This is not a new article on T-Nation but they do periodically repost old popular articles that are relevant to the topic of the day. I recall reading this when it was published but they have long since moved their comments section to their Facebook fan page. And of course...

When I got to their fan page, to my amazement this was the sentiment from a majority of the comments there. 

Seriously? I made this comparison to a colleague of mine who thought it wasn't completely ridiculous that SO MANY idiot guys thought this way. If you go to restaurant X and they decide that cheeseburgers should be made from ground tilapia and blue cheese, are you going to be pissed that they want to sell burgers like that? 

No of course you wouldn't, you would just think that's disgusting and move on with your life. You wouldn't spend any money there nor would you even give it a second thought. It's their restaurant, they can technically serve whatever they want to serve. You wouldn't get high and mighty about how they're ruining burgers.

Whereas if you PAID for a burger and instead of ground beef you got that weird ground fish burger; THEN you can get pissed off. 

T-nation is a free webpage. Therefore allowed to post whatever they want. You don't have to read it or even agree with all the opinions posted.  If T-nation started charging you a fee to read their EXERCISE and NUTRITION articles but sent you the article above then I agree, get mad.

Until then shut up and enjoy all the FREE information they're giving you, if you stop liking it just go elsewhere! If you don't like it, how hard is it to simply NOT CLICK ON IT! This applies to social media as well, if you don't like something, just don't follow...what a novel idea.
(Sorry guys, the sarcasm is a bit heavy there)

Okay...deep breath before continuing

Okay...deep breath before continuing

On a completely separate note, it makes me quite sad to read many of the comments on this post, sad but not surprised. Being a better person needs to supersede improving your lifts or gainz; get it together lifting community. Lifting teaches you so much about life, it's about time you start utilizing those life lessons. 

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Is __________ healthy? How to Read a Food Label

Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash

Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/07/05/upshot/is-sushi-healthy-what-about-granola-where-americans-and-nutritionists-disagree.html

This list was recent published alongside the article "Is Sushi "Healthy"? What About Granola? Where Americans and Nutritionist Disagree by the NY Times.

Occasionally we stand in an aisle at the market and we're wondering, is this healthy? I don't see why technology can't be of some help there, but what's most alarming is that most of the list is  either a raw ingredient or a pre-packed item which usually means it has a food label. 

Of the 50 foods, assuming you aren't cooking from scratch, usually come prepackaged with a label.

  • hummus
  • popcorn
  • peanut butter
  • nutella
  • granola
  • chocolate
  • coconut milk
  • canned tuna
  • feta cheese
  • beef jerky
  • greek yogurt
  • turkey bacon
  • yogurt
  • dried fruit
  • tofu
  • cottage cheese
  • polenta (it's technically cornmeal, but if it's polenta, that means it's now been cooked and seasoned, thus should come with a food label)
  • smoked salmon
  • sparkling water
  • brown sugar
  • rye bread

I left out pizza, as it could or could not be frozen so I didn't add that. 

And of the 50, here are the raw, typically unprocessed ingredients:

  • couscous
  • quinoa
  • shrimp
  • tuna
  • rice
  • honey
  • tilapia
  • watermelon
  • pork
  • chicken
  • salmon
  • basmati rice

My two big take aways from this article:

1. Most people have an extremely vague sense of how to select food for a balanced  nutritious diet. I understand this is a small sample size, but definitely indicative of the fact that we are extremely undereducated when it comes to knowing what is a solid quality source of protein, fat and carbohydrates. Sadly this article only covers the glaring issue of not knowing WHAT to eat and not how much to eat. We should know chicken (not fried) is probably a solid choice and possibly not know the portion sizing, instead the majority of Americans don't know either!

2. We don't know how to read a food label, or interpret a food label. 
(Note: I understand that this has been a problem for years considering all the rumblings about attempting to redesign the label to make it even easier to understand. Sadly I don't think it's that difficult to understand but a'las sigh.... 'Merica.)

Starting from the top: Serving Size

Many manufacturers try to pull one over on consumers by listing 12g of sugar in one serving, not the whole package which contains 8 servings. Whatever imaginary label this comes from (I took this label off the FDA website) it contains a whopping 96g of sugar per package. 

Your daily allowance of sugar should remain below 10% of total calories.

Total Calories

Learn to use percent Daily Values (DV) to help evaluate how a particular food fits into your daily meal plan. The calories and percentages listed are based off an adult consuming 2,000 calories a day. 

A food item with 5% of DV of fat provides 5% of the total fat that this individual should consume a day. Percent daily values are for the entire day not only one meal or snack. 

YOU may need more or less than 2,000 calories per day, so for some of the nutrients you're going to need more or less than the listed 100% DV.

You should also aim for lower amounts of saturated and trans fats, cholesterol and sodium. Look for higher amounts of vitamins, minerals and fiber. Most Americans do not consume enough fiber, which should be 35g/day for all adults. 

Goes without saying but if a majority of your diet comes from fruits and vegetables without labels, you'll be better off. 

Other Nutrients

  • Protein
    A percentage Daily Value for protein is not required on the label. Eat moderate portions of lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, low-fat milk, yogurt and cheese, plus beans and peas, nut butters, seeds and soy products.
  • Carbohydrates
    There are three types of carbohydrates: sugars, starches and fiber. Eat  fruits and vegetables plus whole-grain breads, cereals, rice and pasta.
  • Sugars
    Simple carbohydrates, or sugars, occur naturally in foods such as fruit juice (fructose) or come from refined sources such as table sugar (sucrose) or corn syrup.

It stands to repeat again: Added sugars will be included on the Nutrition Facts label in 2018. The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends consuming no more than 10 percent of daily calories from added sugars.

Ingredients List
Decide what you want (and don't) in your food.

  • Hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated oils (source of trans fats)
  • High fructose corn syrup (not necessarily because it’s handled much differently than other sugars, but it usually indicates a non-nutritious food)
  • Added sugars (including hidden sources like syrups)
  • Artificial colors (example: FD&C Yellow #5)
  • Canned items not labeled BPA free
  • Atlantic or farmed salmon (instead of wild caught)
  • Products from China (which has recently been busted for many food safety violations, such as melamine in baby formula and heavy metals in various foods and herbal preparations)
  • Animal ingredients
  • Gluten
  • Non-organic
  • Nitrates/nitrites
  • High sodium

When in doubt remember the following

Prioritize Ingredients Over Calories

Tell Me Something That's True, But Nobody Agrees With

 
 
"Tell me something that's true, but nobody agrees with." Peter Thiel

If you don't know Peter Thiel, he along with Elon Musk (Tesla, SolarCity) and Max Levchin (Yelp) created this tiny payment processing company named PayPal. You may have heard of them. They since sold the company to eBay for $1.5 BILLION and all have gone on to start their own billion dollar companies. Peter has written a book "Zero to One" which I would recommend to everyone, not just entrepreneurs. 

This one question gets some context with this statement:

"What great businesses is nobody building? In business, every moment happens only once. The next Mark Zuckerberg won’t be building a social network.”

Whether you interpret this as work in the white space or zig when they zag; it boils down to creating a service or product to disrupt you industry or in other words ALWAYS try to put your competition (and yourself) out of business.