The first issue of the column #how did you do it turned out to be very popular. I am glad that you finally saw that working on the body is not a week of detox, not 5 weeks of cutting without carbohydrates and not an insta marathon #21 day of proper nutrition with Maria Pupkina. I am already preparing the second issue, where I will tell you about my amazing client Zhenya, and how she turned from an aunt (Zhenya, sorry) into a pretty girl, won several fitness bikini championships and became the most popular trainer in her club.

Today I want to show that fitness is first of all health, and not just aesthetics.

If you have been eating haphazardly all your life, have not paid attention to physical activity (washing the floors is not considered), and then you suddenly become preoccupied with what needs to be cleaned there, pumped up here, but it’s scary yourself, because your knees already hurt, your back hurts, your neck is pulled, then I have bad news for you. You will likely have to put aside your bikini body dreams for a while and focus on your health.

Laura is a pleasant exception. She came to me not with a desire to lose weight (although with a bonus of -4kg), but with a more serious problem. Her hip hurt for a long time, because of this she was limping on one leg, her pelvis twisted, and her back began to hurt. With that, she went to her doctor. The doctor was literate, and ordered to find a good trainer, otherwise, he says, in a year hip replacement (this is when a prosthesis is inserted into the thigh).

You can watch the video yourself: the pelvis twists, the knees fall inward, and the back rounds.

A month later, things are different.

What you see in the video is not an exercise that we did as a workout, but just a test exercise to identify basic movement patterns and then compare the results after a month, two months and three months.

Here's a little table for you:

If you watch the video carefully, you will see what exactly happens to the body.

First, the knees fall inward. Weak muscle - VMO. Exercise that is necessary for correction:

💡 Peterson step up is one of my favorite exercises. The only problem is that it must be done correctly. Here is a video from Charles Polivquin, where he tells in great detail how to do it in a long and tedious way.

💡Platform High Steps (I only included them in Laura's program in week 4, as before that her buttocks were so weak that even pelvic lifts were difficult for her).

Secondly, Laura leans forward while squatting and cannot hold her back. The knees also move forward a lot. A correspondingly weak muscle is the gluteus. It is difficult to train it, as many simply simply do not know how to activate it. In addition, for many, the problem of back pain is added, which limits the choice of exercises.

For Laura, I chose the following exercises:

💡 Hip trust - lifting the pelvis, in which the shoulders lie on the bench. I beg you, if you are a complete beginner, then you do not need to do this exercise on a fitball with weight.

💡 Glute Bridge

Fitball squat

Target Muscles: Glutes

Equipment: block pull

We need a bottom block with two cables. First, we will choose a sufficient working weight so that you do not fall back. It must be no less than your own. So the weight is set. Next, you need to sit down and with a straight back (you can’t bend over, as you can injure your spine), we skillfully take weight. Overhand grip, palms facing down. We spread the shoulders, connect the shoulder blades, get up a little back and move away to lift the weights of the simulator. Starting position: Setting the legs, slightly wider than the shoulders. The toes are slightly apart. Tilt the body back a little, the back is straight. Turning the hands so that the palms turn inward, we bend our arms and pull the handles of the simulator to the belt.
We squat with a straight back with almost motionless knees and stick out the pelvis. The deeper you sit, the more your butt muscles work. At the same time, we straighten our arms along the cables of the simulator, turning the hands so that the palms look down.
Pressing on the heels and leaning back a little, we get up, squeezing the gluteal muscles. When lifting, move your pelvis forward a little, and at the peak point, tighten your buttocks and pause for a second. Concentrate on the execution of the movement and do not lean your body forward. At the same time, we bend our arms and pull the handles of the simulator to the belt, turning the hands so that the palms turn inward.
One important point is proper breathing. When the muscles contract (when we stand up), we exhale, while stretching (when we squat) - inhale.

random exercise

random program

Why does the squat start to overtake the deadlift? This question is asked by many athletes. Let's try to figure out what's going on. Consider the factors that affect the results of athletes.

To begin with, squatting is not always more than deadlifting. It all depends on the level of training of the athlete. An example is Kalla Ivan, who holds the deadlift record in the category up to 75 kg. Ivan in October 2003 at the Russian Cup in Syktyvkar pulled first 327.5 kg, then 330 kg, breaking his own record of 325.5, set six months earlier (while his squat is "only" in the region of 270-280 kg.). As Ivan himself says, deadlift is his favorite exercise and he pays a lot of attention to it. In his training he includes different kinds pulls, such as stand pulls, deep pulls, and regular pulls (where would you go without it). One of the most important exercises Ivan considers a squat with a barbell on the chest, which practically isolates the work of the back and gluteal muscles, most of the load falls on the quadriceps, which are so important in traction. The quadriceps act throughout the entire movement. Powerful takeoff, straightening of the legs - all this is more their work. The hamstrings also work, but to a lesser extent. A significant role is also played by the fact that in addition to the fact that the weight needs to be pulled out, it also needs to be held in the hands, there is a large load on the hands and forearms.

It can be concluded that in traction a lot depends on the physical strength of the athlete. The equipment here plays a smaller role - it just does not allow the athlete to bend his back and protects him from injury, the weight gain here is insignificant. The only way to "play" on the equipment is to try to catch the moment at the beginning of the movement - to try to "sit under the bar" - a sharp movement of the pelvis down and lifting the bar off with the rise, which is actively used by athletes (I think you often heard cheering cries like "under yourself" at competitions " etc.)

If in traction everything depends on the level of physical fitness, then in the squat the opposite is true. This is where technology plays a big role. If you wish, you can search the Internet for articles in which the squat as a movement is divided into many different interesting points, starting with the place where the bar is placed on the back and ending with the distribution of the center of gravity and complex calculations of the movement itself using the laws of physics. An important role is also played by the fact that one of the largest human muscles, the biceps femoris and the quadriceps, is fully involved in the squat. These muscles, due to their area and structure, have a great power potential. I won't go too far and try to get to the bottom of it. Jumpsuit, bandages, heavy weight - all this has a very big impact on the movement itself.

So, let's figure it out. The overalls and bandages, when used correctly, give a “recoil”, with the help of which the athlete is thrown from the bottom up, and a large weight on the athlete’s back can also help him: when the athlete descends to the lowest point of the movement, the neck bends under the action of weight and springs by inertia, the athlete remains only to catch this moment, the rest is a matter of equipment and muscle work (you can also return to the support of athletes by spectators and friends - shouting “like a spring”, “hard in bandages”, “in return”, etc. - help the athlete not to get confused and catch the right moment in motion). Equipment can also be a great help in increasing your squat performance. In my memory there was a case when I first competed at major competitions on a Russian scale - at the 7th Russian Championship among boys and girls under 18, held in the summer of 2003. in the city of Priozersk (Leningrad region). Then in my category a guy (Evgeny Vasyukov, Surgut) bought a jumpsuit and put it on for the first time during the warm-up (Inzer Hardcore). The results stunned everyone. His maximum result was about 230 kg. in a squat. As a result, 250 kg easily went to the warm-up. His end result was two records in a row in the squat: in the third approach 270.5 (the last record of 270 kg lasted a little over a year and belonged to Hernandez-Ortega Alexei), which is immediately interrupted by Sholsky Vladimir (272.5). And in the fourth additional approach, Evgeny orders 280. Yes! A new record in the squat in the weight category up to 75 kg. among boys under 18. Two months ago, at the championship of the city of Surgut, Evgeny had a total of 622.5 kg. now it has become 685. And all thanks to the purchased jumpsuit!

Let's summarize. We can safely say that the result in deadlift depends only on the physical fitness of the athlete, only on his strength and endurance, but the result in the squat is largely determined by the equipment and correct technique, which is why with the release of new equipment, the results of athletes in the squat are also growing. Other factors, such as the placement of the legs in the squat, have little effect, records were set both with a wide arrangement and with a narrow one. Basically it all depends on technique and strength. We will not take into account pharmacological preparation - this is a completely different topic. Proper nutrition, sleep and routine also contribute to the growth of your results. If a person is not indifferent to himself, monitors his health, then he is capable of records at any age. So, Vyacheslav Piskunov deserves great respect, who at the age of 50 3 years ago set a record in the squat - 407.5 kg in the category up to 110 kg. But that's what records are for, to break them. So now 2 ZMS are ready for the record - Nikolay Suslov from Vladimir and Valentin Dedyulya from Khabarovsk. Both squatted this year at the Russian Cup 405kg, which is only 2.5 kg less than the record weight. We wish them good luck in our difficult task. And I can wish you successful approaches and new records.

Discussion of the topic in the Post Cycle Therapy (PCT) section on the forum site.

Described why it is dangerous to perform them.

Remember! The belt will help only the back with the same physiological curves of the spine (neutral position is maintained). In most cases, the belt creates a false sense of security, and for beginners it is generally not acceptable.

"Riding" in Smith

In the gym, you can often see how, when doing squats in the Smith machine, it is recommended to put your feet far forward from the guides of the simulator. This method removes the load from the target muscles (extensors of the hip and knee) and transfers it to the joints and ligaments. The most dangerous option is when the legs are not only carried far forward, but also put together, so not only the back is overloaded, but also the hip and knee joints. The injury will occur at the “weakest link in the chain.” The amount of pain here is not related to the severity of the injury. For example, a herniated disc may be asymptomatic and cause muscle failure in the legs.

Any exercise in the Smith machine without taking into account the range of motion
The Smith machine limits the degrees of freedom of movement, and allows the weight to move only along a straight path. Exercises in the Smith machine can only be safely performed if the range of motion is close to a straight line. This means that only partial presses are allowed (the range of motion is not full). It is also necessary to take into account the location of the guides and not rely on the design (see above). Correct execution provides for the coincidence of the direction of the force vector and the guides of the simulator. For example, with vertical guides, you can also squat with a barbell without losing balance.

Bulgarian split squat

A good way to mess up scissor squats. You are overloading the hip flexors of your back leg. The consequences of these actions, subject to a neutral position in the leg joints: tearing of the hip flexor muscles due to reflex support on the leg during execution, lower back pain from an overloaded psoas muscle is possible.

Walking lunges with weights

Lunges are not an easy exercise on their own, the addition of movement reduces stress on the target muscles, increases stress on the joints, and makes movement unnecessarily difficult to control. As a result: the target muscles are underloaded (the main mover will be the quadriceps femoris), the joints are overloaded, high fatigue due to complex coordination. The illusion of "efficiency" with a high risk of injury.

Head pull

Exercise chronically injures the shoulder joints. It has no advantage in loading any muscles over traction to the chest.

Press from behind the head presses in the frontal plane

Also, like the previous exercise, it chronically injures the shoulder joints. As a rule, it is performed with a deflection in the lower back, which overloads the facet joints and intervertebral discs. It has no advantages over the barbell bench press from the chest or the dumbbell bench press in the plane of the shoulder blade.

Narrow grip row to the chin

Chronically overloads the shoulder joints. Safe and effective alternative - traction wide grip to the chest, in which the shoulder is retracted no more than 80 degrees.

Restrictions on forward knee movement in squats

"Protecting" the knees, this technique injures the lower back. Of course, it is not necessary to allow excessive and premature movement of the knees, but it should not be limited in order to redistribute the load on the “necessary” muscles.

Too narrow or too wide stance

As mentioned above, too narrow (narrower hip width) or too wide (>2 shoulder width, another name for "sumo") stance in machines, and especially stance in squats, is overloading the joints (legs and lower back) and underloading target muscles.

Snatch, clean and jerk, clean and other weightlifting exercises

The musculoskeletal system of most adults does not allow these exercises to be performed without injury. Rare exceptions only confirm the rule: if you haven’t been involved in weightlifting since a young age, you don’t even need to start. Even with light weights, adults with medium and low flexibility should not perform these exercises.

Deadlift from the floor
In most cases, it overloads and chronically injures the lower back. For the muscles of the legs, squats are preferable, and for the muscles of the back and back of the thigh, a deadlift from the level of the knees with a slight bending of them without a significant lowering of the pelvis down (squatting).

Locked Leg Raises/Roman Chair

Exercise has little effect on the abdominal muscles, loads the hip flexors and provokes lower back pain.
For well-trained individuals, trunk flexions can be included in the training with sufficient control of the neutral position of the spine and heavy loads on the hip extensors.

Pistol squats, straight leg raises

They overload the lower back and cause an exacerbation of the condition in people with herniated discs in the lumbar spine.

Bent over and deadlifts with straight legs

Straightened legs at the knees block the forward tilt of the pelvis when the torso is tilted, which leads to flexion of the spine and loss of the neutral position of the joints. In this case, the greater the burden and the faster the slope, the higher the likelihood of acute injury.

Full squats with weights
You should not get carried away with squats in full amplitude with weights, since in this case it is impossible to maintain a neutral position of the spine and a dangerous situation is created for the knee joints.

Lunges where the hips cross

Another option for overloading the hip and knee joints, as well as the lower back. Compared to scissor squats, the load on the target muscles is less.

Exercises/activities that are relatively ineffective or not suitable for most weightlifting people.

Use simulators contrary to design
Always use the treadmill as intended. For example, the axis of rotation of the arm of the leg extension/flexion machine should coincide with the axis of rotation in the knee joint. If pain occurs during the exercise on the simulator, check the correctness of the adjustments.
The simulator is set up correctly, and you are doing the exercise that is provided for by the design, but still there is discomfort? Don't use the trainer.

Swing arms or legs for muscle development
In the vast majority of cases, they are only suitable for warming up. Swinging weights in itself is unproductive, remember this. Leg swings only tire you out and take away valuable time and energy that could be spent on squats and deadlifts.
Shoulder abductions and flexions (not swings), as well as other isolation exercises, are performed emphatically smoothly with weight control at each point of movement. There is only one "BUT" - the way most people in the gym do them, including coaches, they do not need to be done at all.

Push-ups / presses with a grip narrower than shoulders or twice the width of the shoulders
Even if you don't injure your wrists with tight supports/grips or your shoulders with wide supports/grips, you won't get any muscle benefit. The optimal width of the stops / grips is 1 - 2 shoulder widths (measured along the outer edges of the acromial processes).

Excessive width/narrow grip when pulling for the muscles of the back and shoulder girdle
Excessive grip width can overload the shoulder joints, and a narrow grip can negatively affect the elbow and wrist joints.

Push-ups with the support of the hands behind the back, feet on the bench in front
More absurd than these actions, perhaps, are attempts to develop the buttocks with swings and a “gluteal bridge”. In addition to keeping you slouched, the exercise does not have a training effect on the target muscles (they are usually considered to train the triceps of the shoulder).

Forearm extension with dumbbell, shoulder parallel to the floor
The greatest load falls on the triceps muscle in a position in which it cannot produce force. Therefore, for most of the amplitude, the muscle does not receive sufficient stimulation for adaptive changes.

"Buttock Bridge"
A failed exercise for many reasons. The main one - the buttocks can be brought to a spasm, but it will not work to stimulate their growth and increase in strength. At the top of the buttocks, where the load on the hip extensors is greatest, the buttocks are shortened and cannot produce any significant force, which means that other muscles will be the real movers. The mechanics of the movement itself do not allow transferring the increase in results in the bridge to other movements, unlike scissor squats or deadlifts on one leg. Another reason is the inconvenient location of the weights, causing discomfort or even pain during exercise. And finally, the position of the back. Perhaps the exercise will not be dangerous for the spine, but it will definitely not be possible to keep the back in a neutral position.

Hyperextension with a bent back
Suggested to increase the load on the gluteal muscles. In fact, the load is reduced, since the shoulder of the acting force is somewhat reduced. In addition, the very position of the back provokes the occurrence of pain in the lower back. In order for the load on the gluteal muscles to be higher, it is enough to use “oblique” hyperextension (in the initial position, the position of the body, relative to the floor is 45 degrees) and to observe the neutral position of the spine.

Front Squats
Suitable only for people with a short hip in relation to the length of the body. For all other people, especially those with relatively long hips and poor flexibility, it is better to limit yourself to back squats. Another small drawback of the exercise is the uncomfortable holding of weights.
The cup squat is essentially the same problem as the front squat, only holding the weight is even more uncomfortable.

Forward lunges with weights
Coordination exercise and not suitable for increasing strength and muscle mass. Relatively high speeds during movement transfer the load to the distal muscles: the triceps tibia and the quadriceps femoris.

Stepping up the hill
The effectiveness of the exercise is low, since the load on the leg is reduced due to active assistance in pushing the leg off the floor. Do you really want to tone your muscles? Then perform squats from an elevation, only touching the floor with your “non-working” leg.

"Farmer's Walk"
It is better to leave the exercise to athletes who are engaged in power extreme sports. When performing the exercise to failure, it is dangerous for the shoulder joints (dislocation is provoked).

Simultaneous bending of the legs and torso while sitting on a bench

The exercise is aimed at the hip flexors and practically does not load the abdominal muscles.

Tilts to the side with weights, including in the simulator for hyperextension

They are aimed at the extensors of the spine and the square muscle of the lower back, practically do not load the abdominal muscles.

You can do it if full-fledged equipment is not available or for the general load on the body:

• Leg raises to the bar. It is not so much the abdominal muscles that are loaded, but the hip flexors and back muscles (extensors of the shoulder).


• "rolling out" on the roller. Usually the exercise is performed to train the abdominal muscles, but the involvement of the hip flexors is also inevitable. Perhaps the biggest problem in this exercise is the load on the elbow and shoulder joints. When performed in full amplitude, their overload can be provoked, especially with a large amount of work of the muscles of the shoulder girdle and arms.