Squats and benching

[HandyAndy]

My squatting is HORRIBLE!!! Im really tall which kinda adds to the problem, if you look at me, you would think im extremely strong, but Im really not, 150 pound kids can squat more than me, I have "knock knees" (Knees bend inward) which I think adds to the problem. Also, me being tall makes me going lower to the point of my legs being parallel harder than usual, I need to work on my form alot, however, I can legpress around 340, which isnt alot anyways. How can I get stronger squatting and benching?

 

[Drum&Bass]

weightless squats every chance you get..

Benching is just one of those things...do it right, and your chest will grow..slowly but surely.

-Inclines
-Flat
-Declines
-Flys

boo-yah !

 

[Quagmire911]

Drum and Bass has some good ideas, to expand a little...

If you find squatting form difficult, you may want to look into box squats. Very useful for beginners who can't quite get the technique.

http://www.ironaddicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3395

Do those 1-2" BELOW parallel initially, if you really have a problem breaking parallel then go 1-2" above parallel initially.

You're full squats you should try and go down as far as possible:

http://www.ironaddicts.com/Benifits of deep squatting on knees.html

But don't worry if you can't quite get there, just work on it. As Drum said, squatting without weight can help to. Here is another great article by stronglifts:

http://stronglifts.com/why-your-lower-back-rounds-during-squats-how-to-fix-it/

Incorporate these and you should be squatting well fairly quickly, just stick to it.

As for benching TECHNIQUE again is number one. I was always harassed on the point that your elbows need to be tucked, do this by squeezing the lats. Drum listed a few variations of the lift, you also have close grip bench, rack bench, board presses, use of bands whilst benching. Unless you have been benching for a while though and can bench over 1x bw you should just focus on technique and getting the lifts moving again. You can also look at different rep ranges etc, if you have been doing 3x5 for 6 months it is probably time for a change to say 3x3.

Good luck,

Quagmire

Ps-And you don't need to be overtraining on a 5 day either.