The next step in cue use is to let your training partners know about the cues that work for you. If the only person who knows what cues you need to hear is the coach and you have to go for a max effort attempt when they’re not around, your training partners can help you through the lift with the right cues. They get to take all the hard work your coach has done instructing you and remind you of the proper technique by saying a short phrase. That’s pretty sweet! Just make sure they know what you are trying to accomplish so that they can cue you at the right time.

Part three is to make sure you listen to your cues. This sounds so simple that it shouldn’t even be mentioned, but it is amazing how many times it is forgotten. When the weight gets heavy you need to pay attention to your cues even more because the margin of error becomes much smaller. The human mind has a tendency to shut out everything when the work gets hard and you have to fight through this to make sure you hear and respond to the technical advice being given to you. If you forget to pay attention to cues I bet you are forgetting your technique. Without this none of the hard earned strength you have built can be translated to the barbell.

Now on to the 1 rep max; this IS your squat, the only measure that truly counts. A 1 rep max is a big deal, warming up for it doesn’t have to be. In earlier posts you learned how to warm up for other attempts and the 1 rep max is very similar to these.

Again it is best to start with the empty bar and then a set of 5 with a light weight. From here the reps should drop immediately to doubles and after a few sets of those you should drop to singles. Doing one rep allows for maximum concentration of technique as well as time to mentally prepare yourself for the effort without tiring physically.

It is best to find the right amount of volume for a 1 rep max through trial and error; however there are some general rules. A less experienced lifting with a lower squat weight may need more warm-up sets, possibly with more reps, than a more experienced lifter. Although the experienced lifter will probably be able to lift more he (or she) will be more likely to perform well with larger jumps and lower volume because the technique is much more ingrained and the body is trained to warm up and get to a working weight much faster.

“Take account of the difficult while it is still easy
And deal with the large while it is still tiny
The most difficult things in the world originate with the easy,
And the largest issues originate with the tiny”
-The Dao de Jing (Ames and Hall Translation)

This will be a 3 part post about how to warm-up for squatting. I hope the cliffhangers don’t tear you apart during your agonizing wait…

So it’s squat day and you’re faced with a horrid Westside/Bulgarian/German Volume mash up and you need to be warm and ready for the hard physical task ahead of you. Let’s tackle the general warm-up first before moving on to specifics. The first thing you want to do when you get to the gym is sit down in a deep squat position.

Let yourself relax into it and try and loosen up all the hip tightness caused by your overly stressful desk job (read: sitting on the couch watching tv, melting your brain). After the initial discomfort goes away try pushing your knees out or shifting your weight to one side then the other to try and generally loosen up the bottom of your squat. This step can be followed by other mobility work if your hips are super duper tight (try mobilitywod); however I typically move on to the barbell after I feel my hips are loose enough.

The first set of squats with the barbell should be done with no additional weight. These squats should be perfect. Cue yourself with any errors you are prone to, and have a partner watch you to make sure that these squats are the most beautiful thing in the world. With no weight on the bar you should be able to squat with perfect technique. If you can’t there is absolutely no way you will survive when you load the bar up with all the weight in the gym and everyone is screaming at you to blow it up.

Next step, putting weight on the bar…