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Deep Squats, Shallow Thoughts

@wolfstrength • 10,967 subscribers

Strength Coach, former Little League MVP. Link below for more thoughful, longer form articles on Substack

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This post about bench press safety escaped containment and got a lot of people commenting in disagreement that safeties/spotter arms would've saved him. And in truth, my language below was a little too absolute: safeties MIGHT have saved his life (though even if so, would not have prevented all damage), but it's far from certain that they would have, so I stand by the overall sentiment. I will explain in detail below. The spotter arms have to be set below the top of your arched chest or else they’ll interfere with every rep - you'll clang the bar on the safeties, which not only severely interrupts proper technique and performance, but can also be potentially injurious in its own right as the clanging against the safeties takes you out of the rhythm of the rep and leads to uneven and chaotic force application demands mid-rep. The safeties can’t be set a mere milimeter or even a half inch below the chest: both because most racks have 2-3 inch hole spacings that don't allow such finely calibrated setting, but even if they do - also because as a gross movement pattern, not a fine movement pattern, you can’t control the movement of the bar precisely and accurately enough not to clang the safeties if they’re so close to your chest. Human beings performing gross movement patterns simply lack such fine control: on heavy sets, the bar might be slightly uneven on one side, you might lose a touch of your arch over the course of the set, etc... and end up clanging the safeties anyway, if they're set so close to the top of your arched chest. These issues are not form errors that can be prevented with proper training, but are inherent limitations in the human capability to control gross motor pattern movements at a heavy weight. Thus, the safeties have to be far enough below your chest in order to not interfere with the set itself, such that they can’t possibly catch the bar before it hits your chest in the case of a sudden catastrophic drop. The proper placement for the safeties is far enough below your chest so as not to interfere with the normal execution of the set and so the bar never touches the safeties at all during the set, even with the inherent human limitations of gross motor pattern control. But high enough such tha - if you find yourself unable to successfully press the bar to lockout - you can bring the bar under control back down to your chest, exhale and drop your arch, and the bar will ideally now rest on the safeties instead of your chest and you can crawl and slither out from under it. Worst case, you can roll the bar slightly upwards and the safeties will soon take it, well before it would lie on your neck. I have an example of using the safeties this way in the video below, with 485 lbs. The ability to set this position with precision and accuracy depends on the equipment you're using: Some racks/benches have 1 inch spacings for this purpose, which is excellent and allows greater precision in safety placement, but most common racks have 2-3 inches between holes and thus people must often have the safeties a little lower than they'd ideally be. The main point is the proper use and purpose of safeties in the bench press is not really to catch a very rare catastrophic sudden drop onto your chest, but to allow you to survive the much more common situation of a normal failed rep. Could they theoretically save your life in such a situation where you drop it? Yes, they might. They won't stop the bar before it hits your chest but they might reduce the impact by stopping the bar from going further down and reducing the impact. This may or may not save your life in this rare catastrophic drop situation - it's good to have them there, set up anyway, but it's far from a sure bet. The most important things you can do are to learn and practice good technique, which involves stiff wrists in a very slightly bent back position, and thumbs around the barbell - NO SUICIDE GRIP. The safeties won't catch the bar and stop it from hitting your chest, so it's best to reduce the chances of dropping the bar on your chest from almost zero to even closer to almost zero. I've been bench pressing regularly for well over 20 years, always put my thumbs around the bar, and have never dropped it on myself. Nor has anyone I have coached to the best of my memory, over tens of thousands of sets and hundreds of thousands of reps. I have used safeties to successfully avoid getting trapped under the bar after a failed rep. In the video below, I tweaked my pec while pushing through a rep at 485 and had to set the bar on the pins to avoid getting trapped under it. This kind of situation is the primary use for the safeties. It's good to have them set up regardless - they might indeed save you if you somehow still manage to drop the bar, but they also very well might not.

This post about bench press safety escaped containment and got a lot of people commenting in disagreement that safeties/spotter arms would've saved him. And in truth, my language below was a little too absolute: safeties MIGHT have saved his life (though even if so, would not have prevented all damage), but it's far from certain that they would have, so I stand by the overall sentiment. I will explain in detail below. The spotter arms have to be set below the top of your arched chest or else they’ll interfere with every rep - you'll clang the bar on the safeties, which not only severely interrupts proper technique and performance, but can also be potentially injurious in its own right as the clanging against the safeties takes you out of the rhythm of the rep and leads to uneven and chaotic force application demands mid-rep. The safeties can’t be set a mere milimeter or even a half inch below the chest: both because most racks have 2-3 inch hole spacings that don't allow such finely calibrated setting, but even if they do - also because as a gross movement pattern, not a fine movement pattern, you can’t control the movement of the bar precisely and accurately enough not to clang the safeties if they’re so close to your chest. Human beings performing gross movement patterns simply lack such fine control: on heavy sets, the bar might be slightly uneven on one side, you might lose a touch of your arch over the course of the set, etc... and end up clanging the safeties anyway, if they're set so close to the top of your arched chest. These issues are not form errors that can be prevented with proper training, but are inherent limitations in the human capability to control gross motor pattern movements at a heavy weight. Thus, the safeties have to be far enough below your chest in order to not interfere with the set itself, such that they can’t possibly catch the bar before it hits your chest in the case of a sudden catastrophic drop. The proper placement for the safeties is far enough below your chest so as not to interfere with the normal execution of the set and so the bar never touches the safeties at all during the set, even with the inherent human limitations of gross motor pattern control. But high enough such tha - if you find yourself unable to successfully press the bar to lockout - you can bring the bar under control back down to your chest, exhale and drop your arch, and the bar will ideally now rest on the safeties instead of your chest and you can crawl and slither out from under it. Worst case, you can roll the bar slightly upwards and the safeties will soon take it, well before it would lie on your neck. I have an example of using the safeties this way in the video below, with 485 lbs. The ability to set this position with precision and accuracy depends on the equipment you're using: Some racks/benches have 1 inch spacings for this purpose, which is excellent and allows greater precision in safety placement, but most common racks have 2-3 inches between holes and thus people must often have the safeties a little lower than they'd ideally be. The main point is the proper use and purpose of safeties in the bench press is not really to catch a very rare catastrophic sudden drop onto your chest, but to allow you to survive the much more common situation of a normal failed rep. Could they theoretically save your life in such a situation where you drop it? Yes, they might. They won't stop the bar before it hits your chest but they might reduce the impact by stopping the bar from going further down and reducing the impact. This may or may not save your life in this rare catastrophic drop situation - it's good to have them there, set up anyway, but it's far from a sure bet. The most important things you can do are to learn and practice good technique, which involves stiff wrists in a very slightly bent back position, and thumbs around the barbell - NO SUICIDE GRIP. The safeties won't catch the bar and stop it from hitting your chest, so it's best to reduce the chances of dropping the bar on your chest from almost zero to even closer to almost zero. I've been bench pressing regularly for well over 20 years, always put my thumbs around the bar, and have never dropped it on myself. Nor has anyone I have coached to the best of my memory, over tens of thousands of sets and hundreds of thousands of reps. I have used safeties to successfully avoid getting trapped under the bar after a failed rep. In the video below, I tweaked my pec while pushing through a rep at 485 and had to set the bar on the pins to avoid getting trapped under it. This kind of situation is the primary use for the safeties. It's good to have them set up regardless - they might indeed save you if you somehow still manage to drop the bar, but they also very well might not.

924,853 次观看

Interviewer: “Can you live without deadlifts?” O’Hearn: “No, no absolutely not. There’s just exercises that keep you healthy and it has nothing to do with bodybuilding or powerlifting - it just keeps you healthy. And deadlifts are one of those exercises.”

Interviewer: “Can you live without deadlifts?” O’Hearn: “No, no absolutely not. There’s just exercises that keep you healthy and it has nothing to do with bodybuilding or powerlifting - it just keeps you healthy. And deadlifts are one of those exercises.”

37,634 次观看

Just add five pounds

Just add five pounds

120,140 次观看

It’s heartwarming to see that these pussified nitwits are not confined to only Twitter

It’s heartwarming to see that these pussified nitwits are not confined to only Twitter

25,779 次观看

A lot of You People need to understand how much bad information about lifting comes from Bodybuilding. Not every bodybuilder, but a lot. Here is one great example. Clip 1: Bodybuilding legend Robby Robinson explains how to avoid injury in the deadlift, you need to bend your arms. Yes, you heard that correctly. The literal exact opposite of the truth, the exact mechanism which greatly increases the likelihood of tearing a biceps tendon in the deadlift (which ~never happens for people who do a controlled pull with straight arms) is what Robinson claims you MUST do to avoid injury. This isn't just a small disagreement. This is comically absurd levels of delusion. If it came from some random gym bro that would be one thing, but the important lesson here is that you can ascend to the highest levels of bodybuilding success and fame without knowing the most basic things about training that us mere mortals who have normal genetics and aren't blasting gear HAVE TO LEARN or else we won't succeed. Bent arms facilitating biceps tendon tears is easily understandable via mechanisms: The deadlift is a heavy lift that, if done at a weight heavy enough to spur adaptive stimulus, must be with much more weight than you can curl, then it will tend to forcibly straighten out the arms under load as you lift, which increases the chances of a rupture. But as a real lift demonstration of this phenomenon, I offer you Clip 2 which shows this happening in action: A lifter tearing a biceps tendon on a deadlift which you can literally see happening because of the bent-arm pull. I've never seen this happen in less than the 550-600 range EXCEPT in cases of bent arm pulls exactly like this one. If Robinson hadn't said what he said but I claimed bodybuilders say this, I would be accused of making up things to hate on bodybuilding. But this is just one example of a pattern I've observed over 25 years doing this. I have taught the deadlift to IFBB pros who have stood on the Olympic stage, who told me after the session that they had no idea how to do them until working with me, they just winged it and sort of copied what they saw other people do. If you want to learn how to achieve a bodybuilding look, most bodybuilders know a lot. If you want to understand proper technique for complex lifts and loaded human movement patterns, the bodybuilders who know and understand that are the exception, not the rule.

A lot of You People need to understand how much bad information about lifting comes from Bodybuilding. Not every bodybuilder, but a lot. Here is one great example. Clip 1: Bodybuilding legend Robby Robinson explains how to avoid injury in the deadlift, you need to bend your arms. Yes, you heard that correctly. The literal exact opposite of the truth, the exact mechanism which greatly increases the likelihood of tearing a biceps tendon in the deadlift (which ~never happens for people who do a controlled pull with straight arms) is what Robinson claims you MUST do to avoid injury. This isn't just a small disagreement. This is comically absurd levels of delusion. If it came from some random gym bro that would be one thing, but the important lesson here is that you can ascend to the highest levels of bodybuilding success and fame without knowing the most basic things about training that us mere mortals who have normal genetics and aren't blasting gear HAVE TO LEARN or else we won't succeed. Bent arms facilitating biceps tendon tears is easily understandable via mechanisms: The deadlift is a heavy lift that, if done at a weight heavy enough to spur adaptive stimulus, must be with much more weight than you can curl, then it will tend to forcibly straighten out the arms under load as you lift, which increases the chances of a rupture. But as a real lift demonstration of this phenomenon, I offer you Clip 2 which shows this happening in action: A lifter tearing a biceps tendon on a deadlift which you can literally see happening because of the bent-arm pull. I've never seen this happen in less than the 550-600 range EXCEPT in cases of bent arm pulls exactly like this one. If Robinson hadn't said what he said but I claimed bodybuilders say this, I would be accused of making up things to hate on bodybuilding. But this is just one example of a pattern I've observed over 25 years doing this. I have taught the deadlift to IFBB pros who have stood on the Olympic stage, who told me after the session that they had no idea how to do them until working with me, they just winged it and sort of copied what they saw other people do. If you want to learn how to achieve a bodybuilding look, most bodybuilders know a lot. If you want to understand proper technique for complex lifts and loaded human movement patterns, the bodybuilders who know and understand that are the exception, not the rule.

26,730 次观看

Front squatting 635 to legit depth = The Standards 69.0

Front squatting 635 to legit depth = The Standards 69.0

12,379 次观看

Well, that one strongman who didn’t know how to deadlift properly said they were bad so

Well, that one strongman who didn’t know how to deadlift properly said they were bad so

15,070 次观看

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The combination of one-size-fits-all maximum grip width and absurd arching that powerlifting allowed for decades, led to where now lots of people associate bench press with a party trick instead of basic upper body development. Sad!

The combination of one-size-fits-all maximum grip width and absurd arching that powerlifting allowed for decades, led to where now lots of people associate bench press with a party trick instead of basic upper body development. Sad!

Deep Squats, Shallow Thoughts

120,059 次观看 • 1 年前

This MFer spittin Tanner Shuck

This MFer spittin Tanner Shuck

Deep Squats, Shallow Thoughts

45,036 次观看 • 4 个月前

Collegiate strength and conditioning coaches will do anything to keep their players busy except make them squat, press, deadlift, bench, and clean.

Collegiate strength and conditioning coaches will do anything to keep their players busy except make them squat, press, deadlift, bench, and clean.

Deep Squats, Shallow Thoughts

229,982 次观看 • 2 年前

People really don’t appreciate how massive the strongest people in the world are.

People really don’t appreciate how massive the strongest people in the world are.

Deep Squats, Shallow Thoughts

65,020 次观看 • 7 个月前

Even if the anti barbell squat guys were theoretically proven right*, I’d still squat because you can’t replicate with a smith, hack, pendulum, or leg press any of what Platz so passionately describes here

Even if the anti barbell squat guys were theoretically proven right*, I’d still squat because you can’t replicate with a smith, hack, pendulum, or leg press any of what Platz so passionately describes here

Deep Squats, Shallow Thoughts

111,182 次观看 • 1 年前

Thor missed his deadlift attempt at 511kg, trying to break his prior record by 1kg He hit 510 last year with solid gas in the tank but has missed 2x now trying to beat it. It’s crazy how thin a razor’s edge that these elite athletes walk on to push the limits of human performance

Thor missed his deadlift attempt at 511kg, trying to break his prior record by 1kg He hit 510 last year with solid gas in the tank but has missed 2x now trying to beat it. It’s crazy how thin a razor’s edge that these elite athletes walk on to push the limits of human performance

Deep Squats, Shallow Thoughts

28,107 次观看 • 3 个月前

Experts weigh in: what’s the risk to reward ratio here?

Experts weigh in: what’s the risk to reward ratio here?

Deep Squats, Shallow Thoughts

22,210 次观看 • 3 个月前

A lot of You People need to understand how much bad information about lifting comes from Bodybuilding. Not every bodybuilder, but a lot. Here is one great example. Clip 1: Bodybuilding legend Robby Robinson explains how to avoid injury in the deadlift, you need to bend your arms. Yes, you heard that correctly. The literal exact opposite of the truth, the exact mechanism which greatly increases the likelihood of tearing a biceps tendon in the deadlift (which ~never happens for people who do a controlled pull with straight arms) is what Robinson claims you MUST do to avoid injury. This isn't just a small disagreement. This is comically absurd levels of delusion. If it came from some random gym bro that would be one thing, but the important lesson here is that you can ascend to the highest levels of bodybuilding success and fame without knowing the most basic things about training that us mere mortals who have normal genetics and aren't blasting gear HAVE TO LEARN or else we won't succeed. Bent arms facilitating biceps tendon tears is easily understandable via mechanisms: The deadlift is a heavy lift that, if done at a weight heavy enough to spur adaptive stimulus, must be with much more weight than you can curl, then it will tend to forcibly straighten out the arms under load as you lift, which increases the chances of a rupture. But as a real lift demonstration of this phenomenon, I offer you Clip 2 which shows this happening in action: A lifter tearing a biceps tendon on a deadlift which you can literally see happening because of the bent-arm pull. I've never seen this happen in less than the 550-600 range EXCEPT in cases of bent arm pulls exactly like this one. If Robinson hadn't said what he said but I claimed bodybuilders say this, I would be accused of making up things to hate on bodybuilding. But this is just one example of a pattern I've observed over 25 years doing this. I have taught the deadlift to IFBB pros who have stood on the Olympic stage, who told me after the session that they had no idea how to do them until working with me, they just winged it and sort of copied what they saw other people do. If you want to learn how to achieve a bodybuilding look, most bodybuilders know a lot. If you want to understand proper technique for complex lifts and loaded human movement patterns, the bodybuilders who know and understand that are the exception, not the rule.

A lot of You People need to understand how much bad information about lifting comes from Bodybuilding. Not every bodybuilder, but a lot. Here is one great example. Clip 1: Bodybuilding legend Robby Robinson explains how to avoid injury in the deadlift, you need to bend your arms. Yes, you heard that correctly. The literal exact opposite of the truth, the exact mechanism which greatly increases the likelihood of tearing a biceps tendon in the deadlift (which ~never happens for people who do a controlled pull with straight arms) is what Robinson claims you MUST do to avoid injury. This isn't just a small disagreement. This is comically absurd levels of delusion. If it came from some random gym bro that would be one thing, but the important lesson here is that you can ascend to the highest levels of bodybuilding success and fame without knowing the most basic things about training that us mere mortals who have normal genetics and aren't blasting gear HAVE TO LEARN or else we won't succeed. Bent arms facilitating biceps tendon tears is easily understandable via mechanisms: The deadlift is a heavy lift that, if done at a weight heavy enough to spur adaptive stimulus, must be with much more weight than you can curl, then it will tend to forcibly straighten out the arms under load as you lift, which increases the chances of a rupture. But as a real lift demonstration of this phenomenon, I offer you Clip 2 which shows this happening in action: A lifter tearing a biceps tendon on a deadlift which you can literally see happening because of the bent-arm pull. I've never seen this happen in less than the 550-600 range EXCEPT in cases of bent arm pulls exactly like this one. If Robinson hadn't said what he said but I claimed bodybuilders say this, I would be accused of making up things to hate on bodybuilding. But this is just one example of a pattern I've observed over 25 years doing this. I have taught the deadlift to IFBB pros who have stood on the Olympic stage, who told me after the session that they had no idea how to do them until working with me, they just winged it and sort of copied what they saw other people do. If you want to learn how to achieve a bodybuilding look, most bodybuilders know a lot. If you want to understand proper technique for complex lifts and loaded human movement patterns, the bodybuilders who know and understand that are the exception, not the rule.

Deep Squats, Shallow Thoughts

26,730 次观看 • 5 个月前

Average guy who wants to “focus on hypertrophy” without first Building His Base ᵀᴹ

Average guy who wants to “focus on hypertrophy” without first Building His Base ᵀᴹ

Deep Squats, Shallow Thoughts

32,961 次观看 • 7 个月前

I would never say that my own form is perfect, but this is a pretty good approximation of what a low bar squat for general strength purposes looks like

I would never say that my own form is perfect, but this is a pretty good approximation of what a low bar squat for general strength purposes looks like

Deep Squats, Shallow Thoughts

20,062 次观看 • 6 个月前

1124 lbs and it doesn’t even look that hard. Hafþór J Björnsson isn’t just next level, he’s next galaxy.

1124 lbs and it doesn’t even look that hard. Hafþór J Björnsson isn’t just next level, he’s next galaxy.

Deep Squats, Shallow Thoughts

36,758 次观看 • 1 年前

Really good insight from More Plates More Dates on how being super lean is used dishonestly to sell a look of size that isn’t there. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I’ve always felt I’d rather clearly look like I lift with normal clothes on, even if not shredded, than be shredded but have to take off my shirt or wear absurdly small clothes for anybody to know I even lift, bro. But the latter often looks more appealing in pictures especially when they use lighting, angles, and other tricks to appear bigger than they actually are. What do you think?

Really good insight from More Plates More Dates on how being super lean is used dishonestly to sell a look of size that isn’t there. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I’ve always felt I’d rather clearly look like I lift with normal clothes on, even if not shredded, than be shredded but have to take off my shirt or wear absurdly small clothes for anybody to know I even lift, bro. But the latter often looks more appealing in pictures especially when they use lighting, angles, and other tricks to appear bigger than they actually are. What do you think?

Deep Squats, Shallow Thoughts

45,466 次观看 • 1 年前

This is 110x10, my standing DB press PR from ~2.5 years ago and 25 lbs heavier than I am now. Based on how 90x10 seated felt the other day, feels Iike I should be able to match then beat this pretty quickly without much trouble. Feels way more badass to clean the DBs first tho

This is 110x10, my standing DB press PR from ~2.5 years ago and 25 lbs heavier than I am now. Based on how 90x10 seated felt the other day, feels Iike I should be able to match then beat this pretty quickly without much trouble. Feels way more badass to clean the DBs first tho

Deep Squats, Shallow Thoughts

26,419 次观看 • 1 年前