Author Topic: One-leg wall sits  (Read 19799 times)

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LanceSTS

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Re: One-leg wall sits
« Reply #15 on: January 09, 2011, 06:44:28 am »
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  The vmo is recruited at the bottom of a full squat, theyre at an advantageous position to produce force in relation to other musculature at that point.  Charles poloquin has written alot about the same thing, using the bottom of a full squat to bring them up (and im not advocating everything charles poloquin says by any means) but apparently believes in them too for better vmo development.  here is an article where he talks about it briefly, he has alot more on them but im not gonna dig them up right now.

http://www.charlespoliquin.com/Blog/tabid/130/EntryId/154/Tip-1-C-Find-out-how-one-can-vary-a-few-minor-things-and-affect-percentage-of-muscle-contribution-in-the-squat-Part-3.aspx

If you think about the bottom of a full squat, the vmo is under a great stretch at that point, it also has to provide alot of knee stability at that point, so it makes perfect sense why it would be extremely active. 
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LanceSTS

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Re: One-leg wall sits
« Reply #16 on: January 09, 2011, 11:43:03 am »
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(the teardrop or inner portion of the knee), hamstrings and gluteals forcing the lateral quadriceps to do most of the work. Omitting squats completely will deprive the athlete of knee and hip stabilization that may help prevent or reduce knee injuries. Half squatting disallows the knee to travel across the toes and move through a full range of motion again facilitating quadriceps/muscle imbalance by under recruiting the VMO muscle which is the pillar of knee joint stability. "

There are studies both ways, and alot of it is going to depend on HOW you squat regardless of depth, but from my experience doing mini reps, from the bottom of the squat back up to parallel as i mentioned earlier, is extremely effective at bringing up a lagging vmo issue and has the added benefit of more glute work in the process.

« Last Edit: January 09, 2011, 11:55:42 am by LanceSTS »
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Raptor

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Re: One-leg wall sits
« Reply #17 on: January 09, 2011, 12:03:34 pm »
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Well I can full squat only if I have a very wide stance... otherwise I feel like I''ll fall back on my butt, even with the heels elevated. That means I'm compensating with a lot of forward knee bend...

Do you know if the VMO is activated even with wide stance full squats?

And yeah, I did 1 & 1/2 squats before... never to three reps though.

LanceSTS

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Re: One-leg wall sits
« Reply #18 on: January 09, 2011, 12:16:07 pm »
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  Your squat depth is deep enough as is, you dont need to try and go any deeper.  Just decend into the bottom, rebound about a foot up, then back into the bottom.  I usually do those in my warm up sets, I find that my work sets are much easier and in better form.  Its like a dynamic stretch + weak point improvement in one.
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Raptor

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Re: One-leg wall sits
« Reply #19 on: January 09, 2011, 03:32:07 pm »
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Yeah I agree, my only issue is the squat stance. It's really wide, I can't even squat narrower (even with the heels elevated it still feels like I'll fall on my back).

LanceSTS

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Re: One-leg wall sits
« Reply #20 on: January 09, 2011, 08:02:58 pm »
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_I09mXCAkw" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_I09mXCAkw</a>

 Your stance is not "wide" at all, youre not a 5'3" olympic lifter, your stance is going to vary according to individual levers and hip structure, I think that stance in the video is perfect for you and I wouldnt change it if I were you.  If you want more depth try pushing out to the sides of your shoes just a little more, that will open the hips up and let you get a little deeper without making you feel like you will fall over backwards.
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Raptor

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Re: One-leg wall sits
« Reply #21 on: January 10, 2011, 03:39:18 am »
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Well I look at how other people of my height are able to squat full and they definitely can squat narrower... I mean, look at adarqui. Although I haven't seen him squat full.

LanceSTS

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Re: One-leg wall sits
« Reply #22 on: January 10, 2011, 04:27:20 am »
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 Yea you gotta stop doing that man, youve finally achieved a good, usuable, technique in your squats that you can progress without injury, dont fix things that arent broken, especially over wanting it to look like someone elses squat.  That squat youre performing is a good example of an athletic style squat with an athletic style stance. btw, adarqs feet are about the exact same width as yours and he may have narrower hips than you as well.
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Raptor

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Re: One-leg wall sits
« Reply #23 on: January 10, 2011, 05:24:18 am »
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I have my Olympic high jumper friend that's 6'4-6'5 and can squat narrow but always squats high bar with heels elevated... he has great flexibility but then again - he's been at the Olympics in 2004 I think. So I can't really compare myself to Olympic athletes (although I am comparing myself - you need to aim to the highest level if you're to improve). But he probably is so much more flexible.

LanceSTS

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Re: One-leg wall sits
« Reply #24 on: January 10, 2011, 06:02:53 am »
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 Right, the width of the hips on alot of those guys is usually narrow, theyre structure is different and his squat stance isnt gonna be the determining factor in his high jump success anyhow.  Youre not super wide or super narrow, so anything in between is fine and where u feel most comfortable is going to mean alot more than copying someone elses stance.
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Raptor

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Re: One-leg wall sits
« Reply #25 on: January 10, 2011, 06:22:21 am »
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Yeah definitely. I think it's smarter to go with a narrower, more jump-related stance with half squats since you're going for specificity anyway.

n00bEM

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Re: One-leg wall sits
« Reply #26 on: January 10, 2011, 05:19:37 pm »
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Very good thread. I think I'm going to make changes to my technique after figuratively beating my head (and knees probably) into a concrete wall for so long.
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Guga

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Re: One-leg wall sits
« Reply #27 on: January 16, 2011, 05:04:53 pm »
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I used to do 1 and 2 legged wall sits, but now its impossible for me to hold a 1 legged wall sit, my knees hurt as hell.

Raptor

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Re: One-leg wall sits
« Reply #28 on: January 16, 2011, 05:24:17 pm »
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Maybe you should work on contracting the hell out of your glutes and try to take more force into them...

LanceSTS

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Re: One-leg wall sits
« Reply #29 on: January 16, 2011, 09:56:11 pm »
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I used to do 1 and 2 legged wall sits, but now its impossible for me to hold a 1 legged wall sit, my knees hurt as hell.

Yea man, the position youre put in is not very conducive to using the glute/hams and puts alot of stress on the knees in an awkward position , there are alot of better options discussed earlier in this thread that you may want to try.  It is possible to learn to engage the glutes and posterior chain by isometrically performing a leg curling motion with the working leg, but alot of people will have a hard time doing this, especially with the single leg version, and end up with more knee pain than anything for their troubles.   
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