Is Your Squat Stuck? It's Not Why You Think.

Do you have an odd sticking point in your squat? Let’s fix it right now.

Odd sticking point? What do you mean?
On your descent, you reached back with your hips, you pointed your chest at the floor, and you shoved your knees apart. You’ve gotten a bounce out of the bottom of the squat, you’ve started your ascent, and you’re driving your hips upward as you do so.

You’ve maintained that nice, leaned over back angle, and then, when you’re past what is the typical sticking point of a heavy squat - around one third to one half of the way up - right when things should start getting a bit easier, suddenly, your squat is still extremely difficult. In fact, it might even get harder and actually slow down.

If you want to see a demonstration of this, watch the video below - specifically the squat that starts at the 0:43 mark.

What did I do wrong?
You maintained your back angle and drove your hips up out of the hole initially, but because the barbell feels awfully heavy and you’re worried about missing the rep, your brain reverts to “Oh-my-goodness-I-need-to-stand-up-right-now,” and you start raising your chest too soon.

This kills your hips drive, the bar speed dies, and the squat gets much harder than it should be at this point in the ascent.

The Fix
There are a couple of different cues to help you solve this problem:

• Keep driving the hips.

• Stay in your hips.

• Stay leaned over.

• Stay in your lean. (my personal favorite, and the idea is to stay in that leaned over position longer than you think you should)

Tyler does an excellent job staying in his hips, - staying leaned over - on his ascent.

When panic sets in - when you really want to raise your chest and try to get your torso vertical (which will make your squat miserably hard) - stay in that lean just a bit longer . . . and you’ll reach the top without making the squat any harder than it needs to be.

To see this “staying in your lean” executed well, go back to the video above and watch the squat at the 0:56 mark.

Stay in your hips, stay in your lean - and you’ll be just fine.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

I Didn't Notice This Mistake Until It Was Too Late

Watch the single at the start of the video below.

Pay attention to when the plates come off the floor, and specifically, pay attention to when the plates on the right side of the barbell come off the floor as compared to when the plates on the left side of the barbell come off the floor (if you watch long enough, it’s shown a few times in slow motion).

If you watch closely, you can see that the right side of the bar (i.e., the plates on the right side) leaves the ground a bit later than the left side.

Public Service Announcement: Check your bar.

Before starting your set - the last thing you do - check your bar to make sure the weight you want is what you actually have loaded on the bar.

I knew exactly what I wanted to have on the bar, so I didn’t make a bar math error in the usual sense. You’ll notice that on the near side (i.e., the right side), I have a 10 lb plate and a 5 lb plate on the bar - that’s exactly what I wanted.

However, I forgot to add the 5 lb plate on the left side (look closely and you’ll see it sitting uselessly on the floor).

I didn’t realize it until it was too late, but I wondered about it the moment I pulled that bar off the floor. As I pulled, the thoughts in the back of my head ran along these lines, “That’s weird - the right side came off a bit late . . . right side feels a bit heavier . . . oh well, keep pulling.”

No doubt about it, by lifting the incorrect - and lighter - weight, I had made my job harder. The weight was 5 lb lighter than it should have been, but since it was asymmetrically loaded, it would have been easier had it been 5 lb heavier and correctly loaded.

Many of the things we coaches teach and repeat over and over again are learned from situations like this - situations where we’re ticked at ourselves for doing something stupid like not checking the bar before lifting it.

With this in mind, check your bar loading before you lift. Don’t just double check your bar math - check to ensure that you actually loaded what you meant to load as well . . . on both sides.

In short, don’t make the same stupid mistake I did.

As always, we hope these tips help you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

The LPP Rule: Fewer Barbell Loading Mistakes

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 01/21/22)

The name in the following story has been changed to protect the guilty . . .

This is not 140 lb . . . and Sally knows better.

One of our lifters - Sally - needed to squat 140 lb for her work sets. However, Sally didn’t want to spend the effort necessary to put a 45 lb plate on each side of the barbell. Bear in mind that Sally squats over 200 lb and deadlifts nearly 300 lb, so it wasn’t as though lifting a 45 lb plate was very difficult for Sally - she just didn’t want to do it.

Consequently, Sally had to use far more plates to load her bar than she normally would have used had she chosen to use a 45 lb plate, and as a result, she made a barbell math mistake and ended up squatting 130 lb for a couple of sets instead of 140 lb. When I noticed this, I pointed it out to her and also pointed out that she now needed to load the correct weight and perform her work sets.

What’s the moral of this story? All lifters make math errors when loading the barbell every now and then, but you can greatly reduce your chances of loading (and lifting!) the wrong weight if you follow one simple rule:

The LPP Rule: Always put the Largest Possible Plate on the bar.

(I recommend watching the included video for a demonstration as well as explanation) 

For example, if you want to squat 140 lb (using a 45 lb bar), simply put a 45 lb plate on each side followed by a 2.5 lb plate on each side. Do NOT use some silly combination of plates such as a 25, two 10s, and a 2.5 on each side, or worse yet, a 25, a ten, two 5s, and a 2.5. The list of terrible combinations goes on and on, and this is exactly the problem.

If you always put the largest possible plate on the bar (the LPP Rule), then there is only one possible combination of plates that will produce the correct weight on the bar. If you don’t utilize this method, there are myriad combinations that will get you the correct weight, and with this greater number of possibilities comes a correspondingly greater number of ways that you can screw up the math and misload your bar.

With the LPP Rule, not only are there far fewer ways to make a mistake, but you’ll also benefit from always building your bar math around “milestone weights” such as 95 lb (one 25 on each side), 135 lb (one 45 on each side), 185 lb (one 45 and one 25 on each side), etc. These milestone weights are numbers that you’ll memorize rather quickly (whether you intend to or not) if you use the LPP Rule, and it makes the bar math for any weight above these weights simpler, quicker, and harder to mess up.

We hope this helps you get stronger and live better!

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

---

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?

Bar Math: Stop Doing This!

(This is a Blast from the Past article originally posted on 10/01/21.)

Bar math can be tricky, and if you’re a new lifter (or even an experienced one!), you might find that simply loading the correct weight on the bar is one of the more difficult aspects of your training experience. Let’s solve this (if you like, you can just scroll to the end of this article and watch the video instead!).

First - what not to do. Do NOT use the “subtract-and-divide” (SAD) method to figure out your bar math. Here’s an example - we want 110 lb on the bar (i.e., 110 lb total - including the bar’s weight), so we subtract the 45 lb bar from 110 lb, and we get 65 lb left over. We then divide 65 by 2 since we have to split that 65 lb between each side of the barbell to get 32.5 lb, and now we need to figure out how to load 32.5 lb on each side.

Again - do NOT do this. Mathematically, yes, it makes sense, but in the long run, it’s neither the easiest nor the quickest way to go about this process. We’ve seen people break out calculators to do this, and we’ve even seen people working some long division to accomplish this process, but no matter what tools you have at your disposal, SAD isn’t very practical, and it’s rather error prone as well.

The best method is to simply load the largest possible plate (without going over your target weight) that you can every single time. Your brain works decently with subtraction and division, but it works quite a bit better with addition and multiplication, and this “largest possible plate” (LPP) method takes advantage of this fact. An additional advantage to this method is that you’ll start to memorize some “milestone weights” or “landmark weights” along the way (this will happen whether you mean to do so or not!), and this is extremely useful.

Let’s run through the 110 lb example again - this time using LPP. (Warning - this looks bad on paper, but it’s far easier in practice.)

• Can I add a 45 lb plate (on each side)? 45 x 2 = 90, and adding 90 lb to the bar is too much, so no, I can’t. Move on.

• Can I add a 25? 25 x 2 = 50, and 50 + 45 (bar’s weight) = 95, so yes, I can.

  • By the way, 95 lb is one of those landmark weights you’ll eventually have memorized, which is very useful as you’ll build upon that for other weights.

• Now we’re at 95 lb. Can I add a 10? 10 x 2 = 20, and 20 + 95 = 115, and that’s too much, so no, I can’t add a 10. Move on.

• We’re still at 95 lb. Can I add a 5? 5 x 2 = 10, and 10 + 95 = 105, so yes, I can.

• Now we’re at 105 lb, and I’m close enough to 110 that I realize that I need 5 more lb total, so I simply add a 2.5 lb plate to each side, and I’m done. (Technically, there’s a little “subtract-and-divide” going on here at the end, but I get to do it with very small numbers, which is nice.)

To recap:

• Adding 25s (i.e., one to each side) takes us to 95 lb (in total weight).

• Adding 5s takes us to 105 lb.

• Adding 2.5s takes us to 110 lb.

This is actually far simpler in practice than it looks on paper, but you’ll have to try it out to believe me. Again, all you need to do is put the largest possible plate on every single time without actually going above the weight that you’re trying to reach.

By doing this repeatedly as you train each day, you’ll eventually know that 25-lb plates take you to 95 lb, 45-lb plates take you to 135 lb, etc., and this type of accidental memorization speeds up the process even more. In the long run, if you force yourself to keep doing your bar math in this manner, you’ll be a faster and more accurate “bar mathematician” than if you stuck with the ol’ SAD method.

Feel free to check out our video on this topic, and as always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better!

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

---

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?

The LPP Rule: Fewer Barbell Loading Mistakes

The name in the following story has been changed to protect the guilty . . .

This is not 140 lb . . . and Sally knows better.

One of our lifters - Sally - needed to squat 140 lb for her work sets. However, Sally didn’t want to spend the effort necessary to put a 45 lb plate on each side of the barbell. Bear in mind that Sally squats over 200 lb and deadlifts nearly 300 lb, so it wasn’t as though lifting a 45 lb plate was very difficult for Sally - she just didn’t want to do it.

Consequently, Sally had to use far more plates to load her bar than she normally would have used had she chosen to use a 45 lb plate, and as a result, she made a barbell math mistake and ended up squatting 130 lb for a couple of sets instead of 140 lb. When I noticed this, I pointed it out to her and also pointed out that she now needed to load the correct weight and perform her work sets.

What’s the moral of this story? All lifters make math errors when loading the barbell every now and then, but you can greatly reduce your chances of loading (and lifting!) the wrong weight if you follow one simple rule:

The LPP Rule: Always put the Largest Possible Plate on the bar.

(I recommend watching the included video for a demonstration as well as explanation) 

For example, if you want to squat 140 lb (using a 45 lb bar), simply put a 45 lb plate on each side followed by a 2.5 lb plate on each side. Do NOT use some silly combination of plates such as a 25, two 10s, and a 2.5 on each side, or worse yet, a 25, a ten, two 5s, and a 2.5. The list of terrible combinations goes on and on, and this is exactly the problem.

If you always put the largest possible plate on the bar (the LPP Rule), then there is only one possible combination of plates that will produce the correct weight on the bar. If you don’t utilize this method, there are myriad combinations that will get you the correct weight, and with this greater number of possibilities comes a correspondingly greater number of ways that you can screw up the math and misload your bar.

With the LPP Rule, not only are there far fewer ways to make a mistake, but you’ll also benefit from always building your bar math around “milestone weights” such as 95 lb (one 25 on each side), 135 lb (one 45 on each side), 185 lb (one 45 and one 25 on each side), etc. These milestone weights are numbers that you’ll memorize rather quickly (whether you intend to or not) if you use the LPP Rule, and it makes the bar math for any weight above these weights simpler, quicker, and harder to mess up.

We hope this helps you get stronger and live better!

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

---

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?

Bar Math: Stop Doing This!

Bar math can be tricky, and if you’re a new lifter (or even an experienced one!), you might find that simply loading the correct weight on the bar is one of the more difficult aspects of your training experience. Let’s solve this (if you like, you can just scroll to the end of this article and watch the video instead!).

First - what not to do. Do NOT use the “subtract-and-divide” (SAD) method to figure out your bar math. Here’s an example - we want 110 lb on the bar (i.e., 110 lb total - including the bar’s weight), so we subtract the 45 lb bar from 110 lb, and we get 65 lb left over. We then divide 65 by 2 since we have to split that 65 lb between each side of the barbell to get 32.5 lb, and now we need to figure out how to load 32.5 lb on each side.

Again - do NOT do this. Mathematically, yes, it makes sense, but in the long run, it’s neither the easiest nor the quickest way to go about this process. We’ve seen people break out calculators to do this, and we’ve even seen people working some long division to accomplish this process, but no matter what tools you have at your disposal, SAD isn’t very practical, and it’s rather error prone as well.

The best method is to simply load the largest possible plate (without going over your target weight) that you can every single time. Your brain works decently with subtraction and division, but it works quite a bit better with addition and multiplication, and this “largest possible plate” (LPP) method takes advantage of this fact. An additional advantage to this method is that you’ll start to memorize some “milestone weights” or “landmark weights” along the way (this will happen whether you mean to do so or not!), and this is extremely useful.

Let’s run through the 110 lb example again - this time using LPP. (Warning - this looks bad on paper, but it’s far easier in practice.)

• Can I add a 45 lb plate (on each side)? 45 x 2 = 90, and adding 90 lb to the bar is too much, so no, I can’t. Move on.

• Can I add a 25? 25 x 2 = 50, and 50 + 45 (bar’s weight) = 95, so yes, I can.

  • By the way, 95 lb is one of those landmark weights you’ll eventually have memorized, which is very useful as you’ll build upon that for other weights.

• Now we’re at 95 lb. Can I add a 10? 10 x 2 = 20, and 20 + 95 = 115, and that’s too much, so no, I can’t add a 10. Move on.

• We’re still at 95 lb. Can I add a 5? 5 x 2 = 10, and 10 + 95 = 105, so yes, I can.

• Now we’re at 105 lb, and I’m close enough to 110 that I realize that I need 5 more lb total, so I simply add a 2.5 lb plate to each side, and I’m done. (Technically, there’s a little “subtract-and-divide” going on here at the end, but I get to do it with very small numbers, which is nice.)

To recap:

• Adding 25s (i.e., one to each side) takes us to 95 lb (in total weight).

• Adding 5s takes us to 105 lb.

• Adding 2.5s takes us to 110 lb.

This is actually far simpler in practice than it looks on paper, but you’ll have to try it out to believe me. Again, all you need to do is put the largest possible plate on every single time without actually going above the weight that you’re trying to reach.

By doing this repeatedly as you train each day, you’ll eventually know that 25-lb plates take you to 95 lb, 45-lb plates take you to 135 lb, etc., and this type of accidental memorization speeds up the process even more. In the long run, if you force yourself to keep doing your bar math in this manner, you’ll be a faster and more accurate “bar mathematician” than if you stuck with the ol’ SAD method.

Feel free to check out our video on this topic, and as always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better!

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

---

At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?