KB FSQs In Long Spine Are No Joke!
I don't know how many tons I've front squatted with a barbell over the years. I had some pretty good numbers (not real great--405/1, 385/3, 374/3 x3) but I don't recall them being as challenging on the midsection as 2x32kg KBs done in long spine--which means the opposite of Hard Style. LS is where you lenghten from crown of your head to your coccyx and allow your muscles to recruit as your body deems necessary as opposed to using tension--tensing the abs, active negatives, etc. I really felt the torso musculature kick on. This is an advanced technique. If I didn't use LS, then I would've created a flexion moment in the lumbar spine and could've produced a back injury. No excessive lumbar erector recruitment. The strange thing is that my legs were fine. No problem there--all torso work. Fun stuff.
Today's training:
A. KB Clean and Press, L then R: 40kg/5+5; 90s rest
B. KB FSQ: 2x32kg/5 x5; 2 minutes rest; Back down sets: 1x32kg, L, rest 60s then 1x32kg R.
Probably too heavy to work my new form, but I don't have 2x24's yet. May have to mix and match tomorrow.
C. Row-PUPs (rows from push-up position--I hate the name "renegade row")
2x16kg/5 x5; 60s rest; also incredibly difficult in LS
Tomorrow is more high rep Double C+P. Probably 10s.
I don't know how many tons I've front squatted with a barbell over the years. I had some pretty good numbers (not real great--405/1, 385/3, 374/3 x3) but I don't recall them being as challenging on the midsection as 2x32kg KBs done in long spine--which means the opposite of Hard Style. LS is where you lenghten from crown of your head to your coccyx and allow your muscles to recruit as your body deems necessary as opposed to using tension--tensing the abs, active negatives, etc. I really felt the torso musculature kick on. This is an advanced technique. If I didn't use LS, then I would've created a flexion moment in the lumbar spine and could've produced a back injury. No excessive lumbar erector recruitment. The strange thing is that my legs were fine. No problem there--all torso work. Fun stuff.
Today's training:
A. KB Clean and Press, L then R: 40kg/5+5; 90s rest
B. KB FSQ: 2x32kg/5 x5; 2 minutes rest; Back down sets: 1x32kg, L, rest 60s then 1x32kg R.
Probably too heavy to work my new form, but I don't have 2x24's yet. May have to mix and match tomorrow.
C. Row-PUPs (rows from push-up position--I hate the name "renegade row")
2x16kg/5 x5; 60s rest; also incredibly difficult in LS
Tomorrow is more high rep Double C+P. Probably 10s.
posted by Geoff Neupert at
4:31 PM
6 Comments:
that was the only way I could squat toward the end of my squatting 'career'. Long spine stuff is what saved my back after the herniation in 2000.great technique but yes,advanced for most.
chek and siff convinced me as well. siff told me to 'arch the back hard and just let the abdominals do what they need to to stabilize".It worked well and I ended up with 385x5x5 in the squat.
I can't do with kbs as my crazy abs get locked even just HOLDING db kbs it seems. good post.
Yeah, it's definitely advanced, but the way I do it is neutral lumbar spine, no arch. I used to do it Siff's way but that bought me an impinged nerve root at L4-L5/L5-S1. Now, I try to keep C, T, and L-Spines all neutral while lifting.
yeah I could see that with you hyper lordotic curve. with my flat ass lower back even trying to be hyperlordoctic barely brings me up to neutral,lol.
I agree Geoff. Doing alot of execises in axial extension is brutal. Doing push ups with a long spine is especially difficult.
There is HUGE benefit to this technique although it's not for everyone on every exercise. Or maybe it is for everyone but everyone can't tolerate it in the beginning. It's a learned skill for sure!
Absolutely, Franz--a learned skill for sure. Everybody can and will benefit from training in axial extension. It is brutal at first (SAID Principle) but many of us don't have the patience to step back and relearn movements we already feel comfortable with or think we've mastered. The payoff, as I can attest to, is huge. Less work, better results, faster.
Great info!
I'm in the process of trying to relearn all my lifts in Long Spine (and have been since R Phase cert last Oct). Wow, that was a kick to the nuts at first! Much harder than I thought, esp. after years of trying to completely "lock out" my lumbar area and really arch my low back. Now when I am not in long spine, I can feel the added tension on my low back and I really feel it the next day. In long spine, my low back actually feels BETTER; even after deadlifts at a higher % 1 RM my low back is still good the next day.
I now attempted front squats (with a bar) in long spine and I can feel my abs "turn off" about 2/3 of the way down and my low back arch, even with just an empty bar (barefoot, no shoes, all the way down). I may have to change to KB front squats for some time since they seem to be a little easier to do than with a bar. Much more difficult than I would have ever guessed.
Mike N
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