I don't normally invest a lot of time into new people at the gym. They come and they go. They know everything, listen to very little, and fail to show initiative that keeps me interested. Andre started out the same way but has quickly moved up the list!
Last week he showed up (drove a long freaking way to be here) and did Log Press, Farmers, Viking, Sandbags, more Log Press, and then Squats with Kostis before Deadlifts! All to serious intensity!
He wanted to squat and I figured that I'd surely pick up a few things that he was doing wrong. Kostis was competing in Weightlifting 5 days later so he ran through a dynamic effort squat session with chains (remain explosive, reinforce posture, not get injured) so Andre decided he would do it to.
These are important! You can do a session like this with 50% of your 1RM + 10-20% in chains, 5-10 sets of 2 with 60 seconds rest between sets, 3x per week! Low impact and if you have a camera, a coach, or you are really good at reading your own body it is an ideal way to get better at squats FAST! Heck...if you are coaching clients hands on you are giving yourself 5-10 sets to coach them on in a short time period without beating them up...and as you can see from the sweat coming down off of his forehead in late October with all of the gym doors open and a fan blowing...it isn't easy! The short rest periods give you as a coach just enough time to tell him what to do better and then send him right back out there to the bar to correct it. It is an idea teaching tool!
Take the time and listen to the video. The coaching cues are just what he needed. Was this ALL that I saw? No! But he is a newbie, has no idea how to really squat, and if you overload him with more than 1-2 cues per session he will not remember them and will be so confused he will not be able to squat!
