Sounds good.Yeah that's a good plan first page for all the weeks.
Your set-up looks great I should have suspected that kind of organization from you. I really like your landmine I think I am gonna bring one of those back home with me later this year. Good idea to store your weights on the rack. I ordered a squat rack that had the side attachments but then they sent me a power cage instead and I was tired of waiting. Thats why I just stack them against the wall. I really would have liked that setup though.
So does that hot tub work? I had one back when I lived up in the hills in CO, I loved that thing. Best $10k investment ever.
I do a narrow stance and high bar position. I have tried the low bar and wider stance and it just feels so awkward for me. I get the exagerrated good morning motion when I do it and severe knee caving. I think I have a longer torso and shorter legs which is why the upright squat suits me better. I can squat deep comfortably which I think makes me a better candidate for the olympic style squat.
Brett Contreas posted about knee caving over the weekend and I think I might do the goblet squat thing as he recommends and see if that helps.
"Having trouble keeping the knees out during squats? Don't look to special exercises such as lateral band walks to fix it. Instead, perform daily goblet squats with proper form, making sure the knees track properly and don't cave inward. This particular issue has more to do with motor programming than muscle strengthening, so it's important to get in ample quality repetitions throughout the week until the pattern is ingrained. Perfect practice makes perfect."
Thanks, as you know, it took a lot of messing around to achieve that organization. But it was worth it. My workouts really flow well these days. It's funny, I only spent $30 for the power rack with the high and low pulleys, but then I spent a fair amount of time and money upgrading it. Might be the same price as a proper power rack cage now, but I like the way my rack fits into my limited space. Eventually I'll probably put the chinup bar and crossover cables back on the top.
I could probably do without all the dumbbells, but since I can't sell them for what they're worth, it made sense to get a more vertical rack to save space. Plus my wife and kids might eventually start using them. And then I finally figured out a way to keep the landmine bar permanently loaded. I like having it there ready to use. As I think I've mentioned, for me a good finishing routine is Hyperextensions, Russian Twists and Loaded Carries. Lately I've been messing around too much trying different stuff out during the main body of the workout, so I haven't been doing those finishers, but it's my intention to get to them fairly regularly. I'd also like to do kicks with the heavy bag at least once a week, now that my knee seems to be OK.
You could probably DIY some plate holders for your rack at the hardware store. Mine are just carriage bolts for the smaller plates, and then for the larger rubber grip plates, half-inch or 3/4" pipe going through the rack with 1" adapters for the plates. You'll need plumbing wrenches to get them good and tight though.
The hot tub is nice, but too hot for the kids. I should lower the temp, but then the effect is lost for me, but it's fun to have the whole family in there, especially in the winter. I often find it easier just to stretch out though. It would probably be best to have something much smaller so that I could have a little more room for the weights stuff.
Well, I'm not going to tell you how to squat, but I felt a lot of instability in my squats for the first several months of doing them. It took me a long time to get it right, but now I feel really stable. I think Bret is write about doing higher frequency to develop the skill. That's why I recently put the squats first thing in the workout. I could see making squats more of a 20-rep lift instead of a 10-rep lift, but there's always the problem of them interfering too much with the running. And it's just as important to me to run well as it is to lift well. In fact, I think right now I'm a bit more focused on the running again. Sunday I was able run a bit faster after two days off, and it felt great. Maybe I should go back to the EOD routine for a while. Plus it's snowing today, so it's going to be hard to motivate to run in the snow tomorrow morning. Might wait till afternoon. So the daily 5K is there, but maybe I should view it as just another variation, something I can switch to once in a while.
Rippetoe agrees with Bret, insofar as he says keeping the knees properly lined up is the only crucial variable in the squat. Everything else--stance, bar position, toe angle--can vary according to one's body type and goals. I like the low bar squat because, in theory at least, it will allow me to develop the greatest overall strength, but I doubt it really matters.