Beyond-Brawn-2nd-Edition

October 1994
HOW A TRAINING NIGHTMARE WAS SILENCED
anything involving substantial flexion of my knees was out of the question
until a while later.
18.62 In October I substituted aerobic work on a ski machine, partly because of
the greatly reduced knee stress of the latter relative to the stepper, and also
because of the superiority of the ski machine as an aerobic exerciser, because
it involves much more musculature.
18.63 Also in October I started bent-legged deadlifting. I had tried bent-legged
deadlifts once in late 1993, with a very light weight, but my knees gave me
hell. Instead I kept to deadlifting exclusively with stiff legs but knees slightly
unlocked. I started the 1994 bent-legged deadlifts using a Trap Bar, which is
superior to a straight bar in a number of important ways. See the extensive
technique descriptions of the Trap Bar deadlift in THE INSIDER’S TELL-
ALL HANDBOOK ON WEIGHT-TRAINING TECHNIQUE.
18.64 I started the bent-legged Trap Bar deadlift with too much poundage. I used
what was my stiff-legged poundage at the time—about 270 pounds. is
was down from the 300 pounds of April, due to some unsuccessful training
changes in the months in between. My knees were happy with it, but my
back seized up and I was virtually crippled for a few days. After recovering,
with the help of intensified trigger point therapy, I started again, this time
with only 135 pound, and worked up slowly, as I should have done to begin
with.
18.65 e only bad experience I had with the Trap Bar was when I tried a single
set with 135 pounds while standing on a 2-inch platform. I enjoyed the much
greater involvement of my quadriceps, but my knees hated it. While I cannot
do this deep deadlift, it is a terrific variation for those who can.
November 1994
18.66 In November I dropped the policy of squatting to or below the point where
my upper thighs were parallel to the ground. Having been imprisoned by
the supposed virtues of such a depth of squatting I had been subjecting my
lower back to stress that had been at the root of injury problems. Taking a
few inches out of my squatting depth proved to be one of the most beneficial
things I ever did to take care of my lower back. While this was a personal
matter, there are many people who are squatting too deeply for their body
structure and limitations.
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