When speaking of “squat” it refers to the full or deep squat exercise. This article will review the squat in detail as it is well known that the squat is an exercise that directly strengthens the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, erector spinae, and triceps surae. Apart from the fact that it involves a series of synergistic muscles that contribute to the execution of the exercise and balance.

In this series of articles we deal with some of the most important concepts of strength training, collecting notes from the recently published book Strength, Speed ​​and Physical and Sports Performance written by renowned researchers Juan José González Badillo and Juan Ribas Serna.

Summary

• Squats will do more to prevent knee injuries than any other exercise.
• If the exercise is performed with a correct technique, it is trained progressively and supervised by experts in the training of this exercise, the squat is presented as a training to protect against injuries and improve the strength of the lower extremities.
• The squat is the main exercise that can be practiced by any athlete who wants to improve their physical performance by doing any exercise that is not the actual practice of the specific exercise.
• Healthy non-athletic users would still have less risk because the loads used, the frequency of training and the stress would be much lower.

It has also been possible to verify through the studies analyzed in this text that it has a significant effect on the ability to jump and acceleration. In fact, it has been proposed that higher sprint performances are achieved by greater application of force against release, not by more rapid leg movements (Weyand et al., 2000).

Naturally, this greater applied force can only be achieved by improving the strength of the previously mentioned muscle groups, as momentum in the stride is directly dependent on the strength of the gluteals, hamstrings, triceps surae, and quadriceps. From the functional point of view, when comparing the effect of training the squat, half and quarter squats, only the squat could be considered as an effective exercise to improve strength, because only the degree of flexion of the squat provides the morphological and neural stimuli required for the hip and knee extensors to positively influence acceleration processes (Hartmann et al 2012).

only the squat could be considered an effective exercise to improve strength

In another study in which the effect of training with loads from 60 to 80% of the RM was compared in the squat, the squat to the parallel and the half squat. This means that executing the squat exercise allows an effect that is even above the effect due to the specificity of the exercise itself evaluated. In addition, the squat had the greatest effect in CMJ, 20m run and Wingate test, while the half squat did not improve in any of these three variables and was the only one that experienced a significant increase in the physical disability test (pain, rigidity, functional disability) (Pallarés otal.. 2019)

Traditionally it has been considered that the squat was detrimental to the knee joint, but this does not seem to be very justified. Escamilla (2001) concludes that the squat (to parallel) does not compromise knee stability and can properly reinforce stability. Although he still has reservations about flexing anything more than parallel.

Its embargo, Hartmann et al. (2013) consider that with greater flexion of the knee joint, a displacement of the contact areas of the knee components occurs with a continuous enlargement of the retropatellar articular surface, which leads to lower retropatellar compressive stresses. .

Both menisci and cartilage, ligaments, and bone are susceptible to anabolic processes and structural adaptations to their function in response to increased activity and mechanical stress. Therefore, concerns about degenerative changes in the femoral tendon complex and the apparent increased risk of chondromalacia, osteoarthritis, and osteochondritis due to the squat are unfounded (Hartmann et al., 2013).

It must be taken into account that for the same relative load, when doing the half or quarter squat, the pressure on the joints of the back, hips and knees is much greater, so the risk of excessive stress is also applied. is.

squats will do more to prevent knee injuries than any other exercise

Parker (1992) says: “squats will do more to prevent knee injuries than any other exercise” (p.28). And he continues: “many trainers believe that squats are dangerous for the knees. Nothing is further from reality”. Squats are a staple exercise in the New York Giants (the football team this author coaches) program, and will be for sure in the future.

Poliquin (1992, p. 28), in making the initial diagnosis before planning the training of Jadson Logan, hammer thrower, found that the athlete had been plagued with knee pain for the past eight years. This pain was caused by the continued use of the so-called “safe squat”, “safe squatting”, that is, by the half squat.

To avoid this, this type of exercise was changed to the full, deep squat: the posterior part of the thigh had to cover the calves at the deepest moment of flexion. After six weeks of training, the athlete reported no pain, improved his position in the hammer throw twist, and achieved better results than ever in the vertical and horizontal jump.

Therefore, if the exercise is performed with a correct technique, it is trained progressively and supervised by experts in the training of this exercise, the squat is presented as a training to protect against injuries and improve the strength of the lower extremities.

Contrary to popular belief, the squat does not contribute to increased risk of passive tissue injury (Hartmann et al. 2013). Given its positive effects for carrying out practically all sports actions in which the legs are involved and its protective effects against possible injuries, the squat is the main exercise that any athlete who wants to improve their physical performance by doing any exercise other than their own can practice. practice of the specific exercise.

The squat is the main exercise that any athlete who wants to improve their physical performance can practice.

Regarding the way to perform the squat, a series of considerations must be kept in mind, a squat can be considered complete if it is exceeded, even slightly; the horizontal of the thigh with respect to the ground. That is, it is not necessarily about forcing the maximum possible flexion.

The greater or lesser flexion will depend on the joint mobility of each subject, and it is never recommended that the flexion be the maximum possible if the subject has high joint mobility. Therefore, in all cases, and especially in subjects with some joint laxity, due to their low muscle-tendon rigidity, it should be recommended that the last degrees of flexion are not reached and that the subject not relax in this phase, losing the correct posture of the lumbar zone, which must remain straight throughout the execution of the movement, nor that it make a marked “rebound”, excessively fast, at the moment of the eccentric-concentric transition.

On the other hand in the flexion phase (eccentric phase) in its entirety a high speed must not be reached.

Another important aspect is the load with which this exercise should be trained. As a training exercise, you should never perform a squat with the maximum load (1RM), nor a training or an estimation of strength with the maximum possible number of repetitions per series (the “famous” 6RM, 8RM, 10RM, 15RM. ..) That is, the “character of the effort” should never be the maximum.

Nor should MRI be used as an initial test to program training. For this, as indicated, the execution speed is taken as a reference, and in the event that it cannot be measured, the guidelines in this article must be followed and applied in relation to what to do when the speed of execution cannot be measured. execution.

Throughout the text, extensive information is given on the loads for training this exercise. Most of the exercises that are carried out in sports produce significant stress on the knees. Practicing sports as diverse as alpine skiing, soccer, hockey, tennis, jumping, weightlifting, badminton… and many others cause much higher stress than a full squat performed correctly and with the proper loads.

Moreover, many of the injuries that occur in these sports, except weightlifting, may have a lot to do with the weakness of the muscles that protect the knee, which can be correctly stimulated with the deep squat. Whoever considers that this exercise is not suitable for someone or something is in charge of showing the reasons.

Extensive experience using this exercise, apart from studies aimed at analyzing its mechanics, risks and effects, favorable, in some cases, as a means of protecting against injuries, allows us to affirm that there is no reason to justify against its use, and that However, there are reasons to apply it to the entire population that practices sport.

Healthy non-athletic users would still be at lower risk because the loads used, training frequency and stress would be much lower. Obviously, if you suffer from a knee injury, the situation would change, but the experience of having applied this exercise to athletes (top-level soccer players) with great benefit for the recovery of injured knees and cruciate ligament surgery is taken into account.

The squat is the main exercise that any athlete who wants to improve their physical performance can practice.

Other athletes to whom this exercise has been applied with great success for their sporting results and without a single case of injury or discomfort in the knees during a long time of training, were, for example, the national track cycling team ( speed), who went from being able to perform approximately a squat with 105-115 kg in some cases, or 150-160 kg, in another, to being able to move 160-170 and 190-200 kg, respectively, improving their performance in competition . No athlete presented the slightest knee problem.

During all this time, neither 1RM nor training with a “maximal effort character” was ever performed. The women’s field hockey team (1992 Olympic champion) trained with this exercise for three years, each year improving their vertical jump, their time in 15-30 meters and their threshold speed (the so-called second lactate or anaerobic threshold) were runners-up in Europe (lost final on penalties) and there was not a single knee or back injury.

The training carried out was even less stressful than in the case of the cyclists. Other examples with the same results are soccer players who have participated in World Cups and other top-level youth of their ages, top-level volleyball players, or 400-meter runners.

Conclusions about the squat

As a summary of the advantages of the squat exercise, the following is indicated:

• During the full squat, the full range of motion is used in the sagittal plane of the knee and hip joints and quite a bit of range of the ankle. This causes all the components of the connective tissue of said joints to be stretched, thereby giving these tissues stimuli to adapt to great stresses at angles of extreme magnitudes, which probably improves the rigidity of these tissues in extreme displacements.
• The use of full ranges of joint movement probably leads to the distension of the sarcomeres in the most homogeneous way possible before a shortening, accustoming the system to make the “strong” sarcomeres work against the “weak” ones, so that the whole of the fiber (or muscle fibers) get the most out of it.
• Activating a fiber in different ranges of stretching provides advantages when it comes to obtaining the best moments in the length-tension curve of each fiber, especially in penneate (non-linear) muscles. As well as the possible increase in the length of the fascicle, due to the contribution of sarcomeres in series.
• When a fiber is stretched beyond its normal range, the risk of breaking some Z line and, above all, some T tubules increases, which would lead to local contractures within a fiber and an increased risk of total fiber rupture. But the fact of accustoming it to working in wide ranges of stretching probably adapts the sarcolemma and, therefore, the tubule system itself to work in those conditions with less risk of complete fiber rupture.
• Probably the degree and form of the recruitment of motor units within a muscle is different depending on the range of movement, one of the reasons is that at different moments of force, different recruitment and synchronization requirements, due to the participation of large muscle groups of coordinated way.
• The articular cartilages and menisci are maintained thanks to the stimulus that Ssupposes the rubbing of a load, intermittently, on them. When you only work in a short range of movements, a part of the cartilage stops receiving adequate stimuli and before a sudden shock in the less stimulated region it can be injured. Something similar, but with tensions instead of pressures, happens with the ligaments. Today it is known that the innervation of the ligaments is important to maintain the tone and hypertrophy of some muscle groups of the joint in which the ligament is located. The stimulation positions of the ligaments are not exactly known, but it is known that they work in joint positions in which the muscles have little to do (this seems to be precisely one of their functions, that the muscles can relax in certain angular positions). of the joint) It is also likely that when working in positions with a wide range of joints, the synergy of action between ligaments and muscles (especially of the elastic elements of the latter) increases.

Fatigue is a complex and multifactorial process that affects performance. Neither the way fatigue occurs nor the hierarchy of factors that cause it in any of the production modalities is still not completely known.

In this series of articles we deal with some of the most important concepts of strength training, collecting notes from the recently published book Strength, Speed ​​and Physical and Sports Performance written by renowned researchers Juan José González Badillo and Juan Ribas Serna.

Summary

• Fatigue can be defined as any situation in which the value of muscle activation is inevitably and involuntarily decreased.
• The feeling of fatigue increases faster than the amount of work done in the unit of time to protect the body from possible injury.
• Without fatigue there would be no possibility of improving performance, because the adaptation processes would not take place. The challenge is to reach the degree of fatigue with which to obtain the best results.

Observations related to fatigue range from the will to perform specific acts to changes in the behavior of intracellular proteins. In general, it could be conceptualized as the inability to continue a task at a stipulated level (usually stipulated by the central nervous system).

The difficulty in understanding the production of fatigue derives from numerous factors: places where it can originate, the different methods that must be used to measure the effects of fatigue, the difficulty in extrapolating in vitro results to situations in normal or physiological conditions or difficulty in integrating all the results.

The feeling of fatigue increases faster than the amount of work done in the unit of time (Mosso, 1904), thus protecting our body from possible injuries of lesser or greater severity.

Thus, fatigue is largely an emotion, part of a complex regulatory system that keeps us from taking risks. In extreme conditions, in which the will ignores this emotional indicator, tissue damage occurs and, in very extreme cases, death.

We have examples of this every day in endurance competitions such as the marathon, which precisely commemorates the death of a soldier (Philipides) who, ignoring his fatigue, insisted on continuing to run until he exceeded the limits of the regulation systems and died after deliver important news.

The feeling of fatigue increases faster than the amount of work done in the unit of time

Our brain uses fatigue symptoms as a key regulator to ensure that exercise is stopped before bodily harm is done. However, among the symptoms of fatigue, the “sense of effort” stands out.

This feeling of exertion increases as more repetitions of a task are performed, until just one more repetition is an extreme effort. This sensation of effort is proportional to the difference between the task commanded by the nervous system and the real difficulty in carrying it out.

For its part, the difficulty in carrying out a task will depend on many mechanical, physiological and biochemical variables at different levels from muscle cells to the organs in charge of general homeostasis. This sensation of effort is modulated to a certain degree by the will of the athlete.

For individuals with the same level of training and performance, the differences between winners and losers sometimes only includes the mental decision, the will, different in the winners.

Fatigue is synonymous with a wide range of physiological conditions, from pathology and general health to sport and exercise (Wilkinson et. al., 2010). Fatigue in sport and physical activity in humans has usually been described in subjective terms and has been measured by the acute reduction in physical performance during and after exertion.

The consequence of exercise-induced fatigue is the inability to maintain a certain value of applied force, which results in loss of speed and power of execution in dynamic actions. It is considered that there are three factors through which fatigue is expressed in mammalian muscle:

1) reduction in the number of active cross bridges, which affects the loss of isometric strength,

2) reduction of the maximum speed of muscular shortening in activations without opposition to the shortening (absolute speed) and,

3) increase in the curvature of the force-velocity curve that affects the reduction of maximum power (Jones, 2019).

For individuals with the same level of training and performance, the differences between winners and losers sometimes only includes the mental decision, the will, different in the winners.

Therefore, fatigue is quantified by the loss of strength, muscle shortening velocity, and force production in unit time (RFD). Loss of static or isometric strength depends on reducing the number of active cross bridges (pc) and the force exerted by each pc.

The loss of speed and RFD depends on the decrease in the rate of formation and activation of pc. As a consequence of the loss of strength and speed, power will decrease. A phenomenon associated with the above that affects them is the deactivation rate of the pc, which is a determining factor in the relaxation time and in the rate of formation of the pc themselves.

However, the physiological mechanisms prior to the final consequences that we have just indicated, and that underlie fatigue, give rise to different proposals and are still the objective of numerous investigations.

The causes of fatigue may be related both to the oxygen transport capacity and the available metabolic substrates, as well as to the cerebral causes of the contractile fibers of skeletal muscle and the muscle activation mechanisms themselves. Therefore, the decrease in force / speed associated with fatigue can originate in any process at different levels, from the brain order to the formation of actin-myosin cross-bridges (Debold, 2012).

But in practice, to study fatigue it is necessary to specify the task and the production mechanism. Otherwise it would be, if not impossible, if not very complex, to study all the elements that can intervene in the generation of fatigue simultaneously. For example, the speed and extent with which fatigue occurs depends largely on the type and intensity of the physical activity performed (Fitts, 1994).

But the main purpose is not to discuss the different opinions regarding the causes of fatigue or the methodologies used to detect and measure them, but to expose the most accepted ideas, although also discussed, and that have a practical application for physical and sports performance. .

fatigue concept

Fatigue can be defined as any situation in which the value of muscle activation is inevitably and involuntarily decreased. (loss of force, production of force in the unit of time or RFD, speed, power,) with respect to another value reached in a time immediately prior to the effort. In this sense, Macintosh and Rassier (2002) define it as a contractile response that is less than what is expected for a given stimulation. It can also be expressed as the inability to maintain a certain intensity (speed or power) over time.

And it can also be defined and differentiated by the recovery time after the effort. Fatigue can begin in the first moments after the muscle activation command is initiated or from the first effort in a series of repeated efforts, without the need for muscle failure or the inability to maintain a certain intensity.

Therefore, the most relevant and appropriate way to define fatigue is to consider it as the magnitude and time of loss of performance in whatever the situation may be in relation to what is programmed or intended by the will or the CNS. From these definitions the need to know the value of contraction or performance prior to the measurement of fatigue can be deduced. Therefore, the conditions that must be met for us to be in a position to quantify fatigue are that there is loss of performance, that this loss does not occur voluntarily, and that there is a previous value that is taken as a reference.

In the Essential Dictionary of Sciences, fatigue is defined as the deterioration of the performance of a living being… over time. It is associated with a feeling of tiredness, lack of concentration, slowness and the appearance of simple errors. But a muscular activation, in addition to fatigue, can also produce potentiation, which is an opposite response to fatigue, whereby an increase in muscular performance is produced as a consequence of an immediately previous activation. Therefore, fatigue and potentiation can coexist.

The possible existence of two opposite effects in the same muscle activation makes it difficult to determine the degree of fatigue. In this situation, great care must be taken in the interpretation of the data referring to a “before” and an “after”: the result can be a mixture of fatigue and potentiation.

However, potentiation has a limited duration while fatigue may persist until functional incapacity. Even when the post-effort performance is greater than the initial response, there is no guarantee that the mechanisms associated with fatigue are not present (Macintosh and Rassier, 2002).

a muscular activation, in addition to fatigue, can also produce potentiation, which is an opposite response to fatigue, whereby an increase in muscular performance is produced as a consequence of an immediately previous activation.

In this way, we can find situations in which the response is greater than that which occurs in the resting state (potentiation), but probably less than what could be expected if there were no fatigue. In fact, In training practice, it is observed that when the efforts are not made until exhaustion, the response after the effort (for example, measured through the vertical jump) in some cases is superior to that offered before it., even having previously warmed up to reach maximum initial performance.

That is, the effort has meant a “better warm-up” than the one previously made. But there are also situations in which the contractile response is less than before the effort. If this is the case, it can be concluded that fatigue exists with certainty, but its quantification is not easy, because there are also potentiation mechanisms simultaneously. This means that if the potentiation mechanisms were not present, the magnitude of the fatigue measured would be greater.

The term fatigue should not be identified with situations in which one becomes exhausted, with a forced interruption of the activity. Muscle fatigue begins immediately after starting physical activity and includes changes in physiological processes that reduce muscle strength (Enoka, 2002).

fatigue and training

Fatigue must be considered as a component of training, and therefore, it must also be considered as an essential character of the stimulus necessary to ignite the adaptation processes of training. The degree of fatigue (subjective, observed by the coach, or measured through the relevant means) is the reference point to determine and assess the training load. Without fatigue there would be no possibility of improving performance, because the adaptation processes would not take place. The problem that arises is the degree of allowable fatigue to achieve the best result, or how training makes us more resistant to fatigue.

Without fatigue there would be no possibility of improving performance, because the adaptation processes would not take place. The problem that arises is the degree of fatigue that is acceptable to achieve the best result, or how training makes us more resistant to fatigue.

degree of fatigue

Overload is a situation in which the subject is subjected to a stimulus (load) higher than usual. In order to produce fatigue, it is not necessary for overload in this sense, but other minor stimuli than the usual ones can also cause fatigue. Depending on this degree of fatigue and its duration, we find ourselves in three different situations:

i) acute or immediate fatigue of short duration (from a few minutes to a few hours or 2-3 days)

ii) fatigue of medium duration (from several days to 2-3 weeks) and,

iii) long-term (chronic) fatigue (several weeks to several months)

Acute fatigue corresponds to the fatigue produced by an exercise (a series or repetition) or a training session. Recovery should occur before the next set or repetition (in full or in part) or before the next session (in full).

Medium duration fatigue is the fatigue produced intentionally by several training sessions. It is made up of several units of acute fatigue without sufficient recovery between sessions. After several training units, a special, broader recovery occurs. It is expected that from this sustained load phase a higher supercompensation phase will emerge, which corresponds to the English term “overreaching”, for which there is no equivalent term in Spanish. but if the consequence is that optimal supercompensation is not reached, the subject is considered to be in an “overloaded” situation, or with excessive fatigue.

Chronic or long-term fatigue does not occur on purpose. It is the consequence of an error in training programming, although it can sometimes be associated with other circumstances such as certain diseases. It is caused by carrying out an excessive number of fatigue phases of medium duration. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between the phase of medium and long duration fatigue. Recovery from this state of fatigue may take several months. It corresponds to the English term “overtraining”, which in Spanish would be equivalent to the term “sobretraining”.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

Crossfit is a great and totally addictive tool to get fit and improve your health and fitness that is used by thousands of people all over the world. It is a proven and studied system that offers improvements in the level of performance and body composition throughout the world. However, Crossfit’s detractors accuse this discipline of being harmful, due to the fact that complex exercises are carried out, with high intensity and with medium-high loads. The reality is that injuries in Crossfit happen like in any sports discipline and to deny that would be to ignore reality.

And study from the Kennesaw State University of Georgia, United States carried out for 4 years with more than 3000 participants concluded that the ratio of injuries per 1000 hours of Crossfit is 0.74, quite inferior than other sports such as football, hockey, basketball, rugby and many other sports according to this review of studies conducted by the University of Queensland.

It seems likely that the idea that Crossfit is very harmful comes from the fact that the majority of the population comes into contact with Crossfit by looking at the Crossfit Games u other competitions where professional or semi-professional athletes go to the maximum, leaving technique aside in order to get one more repetition or start a second off the clock.

However, we cannot transfer elite competition to the recreational sport that is practiced by 99% of crossfitters in the world. We cannot forget that Crossfit is practiced under the supervision of a professional monitor and the vast majority of them are concerned that their clients perform the exercises with the correct technique and intensity. However, even having the correct advice, we cannot ignore the fact that Crossfit injuries occur and most of them, as in all sports, are preventable with adapted work, correct rest and training with good mobility.

Within Crossfit, shoulder injuries have been reported to be the most common. It is normal since there are a series of very common exercises that demand the shoulder joint, such as the Overhead Squat, Snatch, Clean, Push Press, Thruster or Push Jerk to name a few. The shoulder joint is not specially designed to bear weight like the knee or hip, and it is the most mobile joint in the human body. Many of these Crossfit exercises put pressure on the shoulder, especially in gymnastics or handstand pushups. This stress, particularly when the athlete is fatigued and technique may be compromised, can lead to shoulder injuries.

The shoulder is one of the most complex joints in the body, it is formed at the junction of the humerus with the scapula. Other parts of the shoulder are the acromion, which is a bony projection off the scapula, the clavicle, which meets the acromion at the acromioclavicular joint, and the coracoid, which is a hook-shaped bony projection from the scapula.

How to avoid shoulder injuries?

• Maintain a correct technique: it seems obvious but it is the most important thing. Most injuries come from forcing the joint by doing exercises that we do not master well or with a load that we cannot move correctly. In the end for amateur crossfitters, the competition is with oneself, so if we need a few more seconds to rest or remove a disc from the bar, it is surely the wisest decision for our long-term performance.
• Strengthens the joint: We continue with the obvious, but strong muscles and tendons are less likely to be damaged. We recommend these exercises to strengthen our rotator cuffs and thus prevent many injuries:
  1- Turkish lifting
  2- Inverted row
  3- Rowing pendlay
  4- Facepull
• Train shoulder mobility: a good base of joint mobility and stability is key to being able to perform the most demanding Crossfit exercises without shoulder injuries. Of course, this won’t guarantee you won’t injure yourself, but a foundation of strength and mobility is the cornerstone of healthy shoulders. We recommend these exercises to work the mobility of our shoulders:
  1- Stretching in “door frame”
  2- Shoulder dislocation
  3- “Five ways” with elastic band
  4- Wall extensions
• Warm up your shoulder before training: no matter how much mobility and strength you have, starting to push jerk as you enter the door of your box is buying tickets to win a shoulder injury pack. Before training, both a general and a specific warm-up are essential before starting the day’s work. For the general warm-up we recommend some cardio exercise at a low-moderate intensity to raise the general temperature of our body and raise our heart rate. Doing 500 jump ropes, rowing 500 meters or 50 jumping jacks can be a good general warm up before training.
  On the other hand, specific warm-up is just as important, in this case for shoulders. A good warm-up could be the following:
  1- Cat-Cow Pose: 12 repetitions
  2- Slides on the wall to : the more the better!
  3- Y’s, T’s y W’s: 8 repeticiones
  4- 3 or 4 minutes of approximations to the weight with which you are going to work in the exercise that you are going to do.
• Train pulling exercises more than pushing: this can be counterintuitive, but to maintain balance between the anterior and posterior chain, experts indicate that we should do more pulling than pushing exercises, even in a 2:1 ratio. Why is that? Currently, most of the activities to which we are regularly exposed contribute to the mastery of the previous chain, for example working at a desk, driving or sitting writing on WhatsApp are things in which we spend many hours a day. Being a bit dramatic, the modern lifestyle hates the posterior chain. How can we compensate for this? It’s simple, do more pulls. Try to do 2 reps of a pull exercise for every push rep. This may seem like an exaggeration, but it is quite effective. Also, having a strong and stable back is a great help to improve your Bench Press, Squat and Deadlift. To get to or get close to this ratio, we can use various methods.
  1- Do 1 or 2 pulling exercises in all warm-ups.
  2- Super series every push with pull.
  3- Pull heavy first in every workout.
  4- Do pulls throughout the day with an elastic band.
• Stop Benching “Bodybuilder Style”: Many bodybuilders spread their elbows away from their bodies and lower the bar over their upper chest, supposedly to isolate the pecs as much as possible. Although there may be some truth to this, what is also true is that it is a terrible generator of shoulder injuries. The same applies to push-ups where the elbows should never go at an angle of 90 with respect to our trunk.
• Avoid Wide-Grip Pull-Ups and Pulldowns: In line with the advice above, wide-grip pull-ups are supposed to isolate your lats better, but the reality is that they shorten your range of motion and increase the potential for injury. In general we do not recommend extending your grip beyond slightly more than shoulder width.
• Do not do exercises that are harmful to the shoulders: strong Although in the above cases it is acceptable to use the “bodybuilder” technique if it is done from time to time and with moderate loads. In this case, we do not recommend doing the following exercises under any circumstances:
  1. pull-ups
  2. pull behind the neck
  3. military press behind the neck They offer no advantage over their variants in front of our face and they are very, very dangerous.

As a complement to this guide, we are going to propose a series of 8 WODs that will strengthen your torso and help prevent shoulder injuries.

• WOD 1:
  5-10-15-20-15-10-5
  Push-Press
  Ring Dips
  Push ups
• WOD 2:
  21-15-9
  Handstand Push Ups
  Ring Dips
  Push Ups
• WOD 3:
  For Time: 100 Pull Ups
• WOD 4:
  5 rounds, max reps
  Press Banca with your corporal weight
  Pull Ups
• WOD 5:
  5 rondas per hour
  Ring Push Ups Max Reps
  Rest 1:00
• Max Reps Ring Dips
  Rest 1:00
• WOD 6:
  AMRAP 20 minutes
  5 Pull Up
  10 Push Up
• WOD 7:
  21-18-15-12-9
  Back Extensions
  Pull Ups
  Sit UpsRing Dips
• WOD 8:
  4 rondas per hour
  6 Push Press
  6 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls
  6 Kettlebell Push Press Unilateral

Conclusions:

Despite the fame of creating many crossfit shoulder injuries, you should not have problems with this joint if you go to a professional box, do not do stupid things and listen to your body. Shoulder mobility is something that is achieved over time and by working on it you can get great results.

We hope these tips are useful and can help avoid shoulder injuries, we want a healthy and sporty community that exceeds its goals in Fitenium. If there is any other part of the body that interests you and you want a similar article about it, write us an email to info@fitenium.com and we will study the suggested topic.

Greetings and see you in Fitenium!

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores, for example to buy crossfit knee pads. Download it here.

We have to face it, one of the worst problems you can find in Crossfit is injuries. You can go to the best BOX in the world, with the best coaches, because if you take this discipline seriously and push your body, the injuries will end up arriving. However, there is no need to worry. Injuries are common in practically all sports disciplines in the world and the number of injuries per 1000 hours of training in Crossfit is much lower than in other sports such as football, rugby or strongman. Although according to studies, most Crossfit injuries occur in the shoulders and in the back, we can not forget our knees that also “suffer” significant loadsThey are the third part of our body that gets injured the most and good crossfit knee pads can make the difference between continuing to progress in this discipline or having to live with injuries, discomfort and other problems that slow down our progress.

Why should we use crossfit knee pads?

We must understand that when you load a joint, the weight is not only expressed vertically towards the ground, but also “radiates” out through the soft and connective tissues, mainly tendons and cartilage. The aim of a training knee pad is to compress the joint, reduce this outward force and stabilize the joint.

This is the idea behind the crossfit knee sleeves and it is crucial because of the enormous number of high load exercises that are performed and are usually done at high repetitions and in a state of near failure fatigue. Think, for example, of weightlifting exercises, powerlifting and Crossfit exercises such as Wall Balls or Box Jumps that create pressure on our knee and where stability is important.

How to distinguish good crossfit knee pads

As we mentioned before, in Crossfit there is a high variety of movements that impact our knees of different types of wood. A high but stable load like in a squat, a lower load but with a higher impact like in a Squat Clean or small but constant impacts like in Wall Balls do not create the same effect. That is why crossfit knee pads must be very versatile.

This is why weightlifting knee wraps, while they can be useful for specific WODs, are too harsh for most WODs involving other types of movement or even running. For these reasons, these are the factors to consider when buying the best crossfit knee pads:

• Material: Normally you will find training knee pads made of three different materials: body, with a better level of compression and basically what they do is heat up the joint; neoprene, the most common since they have a medium heat and compression level and the ribbons, which are basically used in powerlifting and we only recommend it for extremely high loads. For Crossfit training, the best material is Neoprene for its versatility, perfect for the variety of Crossfit exercises.
• Durability: Crossfit knee pads should last for years. If in a few months your knee pads are deformed and do not fit well, it is a bad product and it is not fulfilling its function correctly.
• Thickness: the most common measurements are 3mm, 5mm and 7mm, from less to more thickness. Probably the most “all-terrain” size is 5mm, so to do normal WODs it is the one we recommend, since it is useful for a Snatch and then to do box jumps.
• Size: It is important to buy knee pads that fit enough to perform their stabilizing function but that do not compromise movement by being too tight. Especially when buying online, we must know what our size is before buying our crossfit knee pads.
• Design: Who doesn’t love cool crossfit knee pads?

best crossfit knee pads

• Rocktape Assassins knee pads: they are the official ones of the Crossfit Games and stand out for their fair compression, providing stability without compromising freedom of movement. They’re pretty good for low-impact movements like rowing, running, and the like, which can make up for the lack of 3mm crossfit knee pads. Plus, it has some of the best designs on the market. As cons, some complaints are reported about the poor durability of the product and poor customer service.
  Spain: You can buy your Rocktape Assasins knee pads for €44.99 in their official store.
  Colombia: You can buy your Rocktape Assassins knee pads for 280,999 Colombian pesos in Mercadolibre.
  Mexico: You can buy your Rocktape Assassins knee pads for 1,250.00 Mexican pesos in their official store.
  Argentina: You can buy your Rocktape Assassins knee pads for 6,300 Argentine pesos in your Mercadolibre.
  Chile: You can buy your Rocktape Assasins knee pads for 46,000 Chilean pesos in Vurpi.

• Rehband RX knee pads: many professionals such as Josh Bridges, Rich Froning or Camile Le Blanc use this brand, which is why they have positioned themselves as one of the most popular options on the market. Both its durability and its adaptation to many exercises have made it the rival to beat for its current competitors. The Rehband 7mm RX knee sleeves are more specific for weightlifting exercises, while the 5 and 3mm models are more versatile. On the other hand, it might seem that they have a fairly reasonable price, but keep in mind that they are sold individually and not in pairs.
  Spain: You can buy your Rehband RX 5mm knee pads for €26.95 per unit at our partner store Traininn.
  Colombia: You can buy your Rehband RX 5mm knee pads for 230,900 Colombian pesos in Mercadolibre.
  Mexico: You can buy your Rehband RX 5mm knee pads for 688 Mexican pesos at Iron Equipment Mexico.
  Argentina: You can buy your Rehband RX 5mm knee pads for 2,199 Argentine pesos at Boxfit.
  Chile: You can buy your Rehband RX 5mm knee pads for 58,637 Chilean pesos in Mercado Libre.

• Banbroken 5mm knee pads: another national company that is making a name for itself in this highly competitive market. Their product is more focused on versatility, which is why they only have 5mm knee pads. They stand out for their spectacular designs and good durability, although sometimes it is reported that they are not as comfortable as other options.
  You can buy your Banbroken Knee Pads for €38.75 in its official store.
• Shock Doctor Knee Compression knee pads: Shock Doctor has surprised us with some crossfit knee pads that stand out for their non-slip silicone coating that create the most comfortable knee pad on the market. Maybe it is not as technical for Crossfit as the other crossfit knee pads that we discussed, but if you do some other sport like basketball in addition to WODs it can be a very interesting option. Our collaborator Traininn, where you can get up to a 10% discount on your purchases, has excellent post-sale serviceSpain: You can buy your Shock Doctor Knee Compression 5mm knee pads for €26.95 per unit at our partner store traininn.
  Colombia: You can buy your Shock Doctor Knee Compression 5mm knee pads for 125,900 Colombian pesos in Mercadolibre.
  Mexico: You can buy your Rehband RX 5mm knee pads for 619 Mexican pesos at Score.
  Chile: You can buy your Rehband RX 5mm knee pads for 31,899 Chilean pesos in Mercado Libre.

*Tip for #fiteniers: anyone who has been to a Box knows that knee pads end up causing quite unpleasant pain over time. However, it is not recommended to put crossfit knee pads in the washing machine if we want to optimize their durability. Instead, we recommend soaking the knee pads and leaving them overnight in the freezer. In this way, the vast majority of bacteria that the knee brace has and that are causing this unpleasant odor will die and we will have solved the problem.

Final comments

The crossfit market has grown a lot in recent years, which has a positive and a negative part. On the negative side, there are more reasons to create imitation and/or low-quality products indicating that they are for crossfit, with which athletes are the ones who suffer the consequences of this low quality. But on the other hand, there is also more reason for innovation and the search for new designs and materials that improve the experience in WODs. Take advantage of the high-quality offer on the market and don’t be afraid to invest a few tens of euros in a product that, if well cared for, should last you for years.

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