Squats Vs Bulgarian/Romanian Squats?

I really need to get into some harder bodyweight activities.

Is there any difference between regular squats and Bulgarian/Romanian squats? Or are B/R squats just a harder version? Normal pistols are out due to my ankle flexibility (working on it!).

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seriously just get some weights

 

Seriously, no!

No place to put them (deadly serious). And I am not going to work out in an attic when the weather hits -35.

 

good gym membership > than weights.

you cant sufficiently load you legs without weights or jumps (eventually you'll out grow jumps) and you cant do jumps in your house.

 

They're a good movement, but they will quickly get too easy as well.

For what its worth, my weights are in my basement which isn't connected to the house, with no heat. Its sometimes very cold - though if it actually gets THAT (-35C) cold where you live, then never mind.

 

Have you tried standing on a platform and just dangling the non-working leg off the side and doing pistols. If you can do an ATG BW squat, then you should get full range in this too.

 

Platform? Like the kitchen table?

No, I can't do ATG, not even close, I'm that stiff...My squats are terrible. I'm having physio for an ankle problem and it is getting looser, but it's a slow process.

 

Anything you can stand on safely and dangle your other leg off. If you're willing to stand on your kitchen table, go for it.

I thought the problem was just for pistols, you'll probably have the same depth issue with this variation then, it usually just helps with balance and thus a more upright back.

 

I have some serious flexibility issues, especially in my legs. Most physios etc I have been to just burst out laughing in shock. It is that bad

 

Have you suffered an injury? Or for some reason stretching just not working? If it is the latter, I may have some voodoo that fixes some issues.

 

That's the 'shocking' part...no injuries, been in no accidents...I've always had poor flexibility, but I took a break from training and just sat around doing nothing for 5 years or so. I think that didn't help at all. I used drive a lot for work, 200 - 250 km a day, which didn't help either.

I'm just started following some of the stretching advice on MAP and I feel a touch looser. But it's early days. I'm probably gonna start capoeira this week to help out with the issue.

Any advice is certainly appreciated...as long as I no animals are hurt in the process.

 

look up Joe defrancos agile 8 and also his upper body warm up, do both once a day in the morning and again before you work out. Do some easy static stretching in the evening before bed for the hip flexors, glutes back and hamstrings. Buy a foam roller and a tennis ball .

 

Do you consider yourself an animal?

Well this is something I am much better at in person, for probably obvious reasons, but I can give it a good go.

Some major flexibility issues can be caused by muscles not firing properly and/or not supporting strong structure, and this can happen upstream and downstream from the "problem" muscle. For instance the hamstring can be tight from something going funky in the glutes or the lower back.

So with that said, I've had a lot of progress with people in their internal and external hip rotation as well as some progress with hip flexion using planks and side planks as activation exercises.

Now I'm going to assume you've at least done planks before. Where do you feel them when you do them? Most people when they do them end up fatiguing at their shoulders and or hips, and sometimes feel it in their lower back. None of these places are where you should feel the plank as the main actor. This is caused by improper plank positioning and not thinking about activating the relevant muscles.

So what you should do; is get a broom handle or some other pole you can rest on your back. You're going to get into a "table" position on your hands and knees, and you're going to put that pole onto your back. Feel the pole's position on your back. Curve your back upwards into a "camel" position, get a feeling for the pole resting on just a point on your back. Curve your back down into a "cat" position, get a feel for the pole sitting across a couple of points on your back and feel the gap where the pole isn't touching.

Move between these positions a few time, getting used to them. Then find the middle point where the pole rests relatively flat back. This is the neutral spine. Now there should be a very small gap, as the neutral spine isn't entirely straight, but an 'S'. Get used to the feel of this position. Move out of it and back into a few times to get used to forming the position.

Now get into your plank position on your elbows and toes making sure your elbows are under your shoulders, placing the pole on your back. Form your neutral spine. Let your chest "drop" so you aren't holding up your body with your shoulders. Consciously tense your glutes like you are trying to crush a nut in your cheeks, and tense your abdominals. If you feel it more in your shoulders or hips, re-check your positioning.

Your tendency will be to drop out of the neutral spine, so keep a feel for that pole.

Also note that you may confuse tension as your lower abdominals, but if you are feeling it quite low, you are probably feeling your hip flexors working, which is not the target area.

For the side plank, you can't use a pole, so you have to just try your best getting a neutral spine. A friend may be able to help you into position.

Again, you want to make sure you elbow ends up under your shoulder. You need to consciously contract the side of your core closest to the ground; "squeeze" yourself up with the contraction. You'll want to look out for common compensations such as pushing the hips back to bend your body, you can focus on squeezing your glutes to get a straight body. You may turn your body so that your top shoulder isn't over your bottom shoulder, and you can notice this by the tension in your side not being very even from front to back; feeling it more in your back or your stomach than your side.

Despite the wall of text, this drill is pretty quick and can do magic on flexibility without even stretching. It is also pretty good for fixings some postural problems.

If you want to do it and have any questions feel free to ask here or PM.

PS: Being a long term sitter, I have pretty high hopes of this helping you out, getting the glutes, back and abs working is generally a big job for those who have office or similar jobs. Don't forget to test before and after you do the drill, also, glute bridges.

 

Great advice.

The best thing for pistols in my opinion is Mike Mahler's stair step approach. That ultimately helped me to achieve a pistol with each leg.

 

back at you, i was going to suggest the stairs approach to forgot Mahler came up with it, worked for me to

 

A'right!

Cheers all. I'll start those tonight. I think I'll wait a while before I try the pistols. I'm sure something will snap If I try those at the moment.

I was worried about the 'voodoo' element.

I think this is one of the things. I have a ton of problems; shoulder, elbow, lower back, knee and ankle...and all down the right side. I think one thing goes and it eventually causes problems for another area as I am over compensating with other muscles or not walking properly etc...If that makes sense.

I'm a bit of a cripple really.

 

I don't remember typing this but it certainly sounds like me. Odd.

 

Umm . . . . I am always of the opinion that weights need to be as close to the ground level as possible. Weights in the attic, never mind working out in the attic, seems like a recipe for disaster!

I don't know if this is classified as a dynamic stretch but I used this "technique" to reach the flexibility I needed to do ATG squats and it's pretty simple to do and I added it into a stretching routine. After a warm up, squat down slowly (on your heels) until you get to the point where your balance is about to go and you either fall back or have to lean too far forward to keep your balance. Once you get to that point, hold that position for a minute. Repeat this 3 more times, sinking deeper into the squat each time. Once you start really getting your hips low without losing balance you can start wiggling around in the squat, shifting your weight back and forth, side to side to loosen up the hips. I did this for about 3 weeks, twice a day 3-5 times a week and it worked for me.

Goblet squats also help a lot as well because they force you to maintain good posture/technique and you can also wiggle around in the bottom position to loosen up your hips. It takes a little time to be able to do ATG squats if you've never done them and lack the range of motion but like anything if you stay disciplined and work it comes in time.

 

After reading about your experience with the osteopath...I think I'll be booking a flight very soon. Been to 3 or 4 physios with no luck, couple of chiro-people, and god knows how many qua...doctors.