On today's episode of Vital Metabolic, hosts James Wheeler and John Parker break down the "big three" in powerlifting: The benchpress, back squat, and deadlift. Learn about variations you can do to accommodate your personal strengths or injuries and the key movements you should master.
Episode Highlights:
- 1:10 - The Big Three in powerlifting are the three main lifts judged in a meet.
- 1:29 - The three main lifts are the back squat, deadlift, and benchpress.
- 3:20 - What these movements have in common is compound movements, using multiple joints.
- 4:55 - Strength training should fit the person; no one movement is good or bad.
- 5:45 - Lifting is a great way to measure how strong you are getting over time.
- 6:25 - You need to take a lot of things into consideration to make sure you have good form when bench pressing to avoid injury.
- 7:28 - Genetically, some people are going to be better at certain movements than others.
- 8:45 - Variations to help ease shoulder injuries include doing a dumbbell bench press, including a foam roller bolster to help give you better range of motion, or pressing down to a small degree.
- 10:10 - The "landline" press is an alternative if bench pressing is painful.
- 10:30 - It's important to develop the horizontal movement pattern necessary for bench pressing, and you can do this simply by training with push-ups.
- 12:10 - Another option is the cable pulley press, which gives you an integration from your toes to your fingers, with the whole central nervous system working together.
- 15:23 - These variations that change the angle of the press is important for maintaining shoulder health.
- 18:08 - The back squat is the "undisputed champion" of lower body training.
- 18:23 - The motion of a back squat is similar to jumping.
- 18:45 - The back squat is one of the most complex movements and it is overused.
- 19:45 - James would give a back squat to advanced athletes who are looking to build mass, but their end goal should be the starting point for how and why they do back squats.
- 20:12 - There are a lot of variables to how each individual does a back squat.
- 20:45 - James looks at a new client's crawling pattern for coordination, their jump for power, whether they can do a pull-up for overall strength, how long they can do a passive hang from a bar to test grip, and some squatting to test mobility.
- 23:25 - James gives a box squat to a client who's 6'6" to provide additional stability.
- 24:40 - Leverage the eccentrics in your back squat; lighten the weight you're lifting and focus on the tension in your lower body to work the muscle while keeping yourself safe.
- 26:20 - You're the strongest isometrically, second strongest eccentrically, and third strongest concentrically.
- 26:55 - The barbell front squat takes some of the load off the spine and shifts it to the quads, and builds the anterior core strength.
- 28:10 - James sometimes uses wrist straps to help in front squat deadlifts for those with limited wrist extension.
- 31:10 - Low bar back squats have become popular because of power lifting as a sport.
- 32:05 - James is more of a high bar back squatter, but John prefers low bar; it depends on whether you are more hip dominant or more quad dominant.
- 35:20 - The hip hinge is the most important movement in training because it opens up the options for you once you master it.
- 36:15 - James will start a beginner with hip bridges on a bench so they can start to feel their hamstrings and glutes work.
- 40:10 - John's main exercise for hip hinging is the single leg deadlift.
- 40:38 - The single leg deadlift allows your center of gravity to stay in line as opposed to you having to navigate around your knees, which can cause lower back issues.
- 41:57 - John took a year break from deadlifts and only did kettlebell swings.
- 42:29 - Don't be afraid to take a break, especially if you're developing overuse injuries.
- 42:55 - James suggests varying your workout with kettlebell front squats or heavy dumbbell front squats.
- 43:16 - 25 reps with half your body weight is a huge feat of strength for the average person and it's a good test.
- 43:44 - The point is to do functional movement patterns that suit your body and fitness level.
- 46:32 - A key benefit of powerlifting is learning how to lift appropriately.
3 Key Points:
- Every exercise you do should ideally be tailored to your body in order to maximize its benefit.
- Consider your end goal when determining what exercises to focus on in your training.
- Variation in your exercise routine is key for avoiding overuse injuries.
Tweetable Quotes:
- "Changing the angle of presses is vital for shoulder health." –James Wheeler
- "The back squat. I think it's kind of the undisputed champion of lower body training." –John Parker
- "As we start to get older, we need to figure out what's the endgame, what's the reward, what's the risk?" –John Parker
- "There's a difference between competing and health. If you're competing in a sport, you have to benchpress, you have to back squat, you have to deadlift, because that's a portion of your sport." –James Wheeler
Resources Mentioned:
