Australian Strength Coach

At my Strength System seminar I was assessing this HABIT HAUS COACHING squat and her movement was excellent.

When she asked for feedback, my first question wasn’t to critique the lift. It was to ask what she is trying to achieve?

Because there isn’t just one way to squat.

Different squat patterns prioritise different outcomes. Some build more quadriceps. Some build more hips. Some allow you to lift heavier loads.

Her squat was already very well rounded, but we made a few small adjustments to highlight different variations.

First we looked at a high bar squat with slightly elevated heels, which is typically used to emphasise the quadriceps. She was initiating the movement strongly with her hips, which isn’t wrong, but if the goal is more quadriceps, that hip initiation takes some load away from them.

So we increased upper back tension to help her brace better and stay more upright.
We then elevated her stance slightly more and brought her stance slightly in. This de emphasised her hips and allowed her to use her quads even more. However, this variation isn’t as strong so we should have reduced the load a little to allow her to familiarise herself with the position.

Then she asked about low bar squatting and lifting heavier loads. The upright position we wanted for the high bar was now the wrong cue for letting her use her hips.

So I had her look slightly down and widened her stance which allowed her torso to tip forward more and bring the hips back into the lift.

None of these adjustments were about fixing a problem. Her squats were already excellent.

They were simply about prioritising different outcomes.

If you want more quads, stay more upright and bend the knees more.
If you want to use more hips and lift heavier loads, allow a bit more forward lean and consider a low bar position.

Small adjustments can shift the emphasis of the squat significantly.

Barbell positions explained ☝️

In this video I have demonstrating the correct barbell positions for squatting.

Low bar squat - bar sits on shelf created by rear delts.
Don’t go below the rear delt!

High bar squat - bar sits on the shelf created by the upper trapezius.
Don’t go higher than this - if it’s sitting on your cervical vertebra, it’s wrong.

Save this post and thank me later 👊

I think .stephanie.estima has been taken out of context.

On the podcast, she was asked about the differences between men and women. Because she specialises in women’s health, she answered from the perspective of how she works with women.

A lot of the criticism that followed claimed she was saying men and women should squat differently.

She never said that.

In fact, she explicitly said that men and women shouldn’t necessarily squat differently.

Whether you agree with every word she used or not, I think it’s important that we criticise people for what they actually say, not for claims that have been attributed to them afterwards.

270kg low bar squat with Australia’s number 1 weightlifter 💪

89kg bodyweight.

This is our 3rd low bar squat session together and he keeps getting better.

For his entire career all he’s done to complement his weightlifting is high bar squats, so this movement is still foreign to him but I’m trying to convince him that it’s only going to make him better.

Next step is to get this guy in a powerlifting competition 👀

Dumbbell Lateral Raise 💪

If you train weights and don’t do this exercise, DO EVEN LIFT?

Just kidding, but seriously, this is one of the favourites for many of the best bodybuilders in the world.

It’s safe, easy to perform, it’s not fatiguing, and it targets the middle head of the deltoid which gives the broad shoulder appearance that most people want.

Here’s a few cues that I like to use to make sure you get the most out of the exercise.

I like to do 2-3 sets of 12-20 reps at the end of my heavy upper body sessions.

Thank you for letting me use your deltoids 💪

This AI post from Fitonomy looks impressive, but the message isn’t accurate.

They’re claiming the brachialis is “underused” and that’s the reason your arms are small.

That’s not how it works.

The brachialis is the workhorse of the elbow flexors.
Every time you bend your arm, it’s working.

Curls, rows, pull-ups, pulldowns, it’s always involved.

So if you’re training any of these exercises, you are training your brachialis.

If anything, the biceps are the ones that are underused.

They cross two joints, shoulder and elbow, which means during compound pulling movements they’re trying to flex the elbow while lengthening at the shoulder.

These are conflicting actions which makes them less active during compound exercises.

On top of that, the biceps attach to the radius, so forearm position matters.

If you’re not supinating, you’re not fully loading the biceps.

Neutral grip and pronated work shifts emphasis away from them.

The brachialis doesn’t have that problem. It’s attached to the other forearm bone, the ulna, and this bone doesn’t move when you pronate or supinate your wrist. These brachialis is always working when you bend your elbow.

So no, your arms aren’t small because you’re “not using your brachialis.”

If your arms are small it’s because you haven’t trained them hard enough for long enough.

.limit.breaker has just produced the greatest powerlifting performance in history.

A 1,225 kg raw total with knee sleeves:
455 kg squat
277.5 kg bench press
492.5 kg deadlift

To put this into perspective, he broke the all-time wrapped world record by 20kg despite wearing sleeves and he broke the sleeves world record by 70kg, and both of those records were owned by him anyway 😂

It’s fair to say he’s now separated himself from the rest of the field to such an extent that it feels like the battle is now for second place.

In this video, I break down each lift individually and explain why this performance was so freakishly good.

Congratulations, Colton. I don’t see anyone coming near this total in a long time.