Is it bad if your knees travel past your toes when performing squats and lunges?
One of the most overrated rules in all of training.
There are certain movement’s where Defranco will coach for the knee to go past the toe such as the reverse lunge. Have a counter balance where the upper body and knee of the working leg shoot forward as the opposite leg shoots back. However there is one stipulation, you need the ankle mobility in order to keep the heel down.
If your knee is going past the toe and the heel is lifting – than it put’s the knee in a comprising position for injury, imbalance and instability.
SMR on the fascia of the foot for about a minute each helps with ankle mobility + a weighted calf stretch on the stairs.
Do partial range exercises (like rack lockouts, board presses & rack pulls) decrease flexibility and increase your risk of injury?
There is a time and a place for everything.
One of the best method’s of improving flexibility and mobility isn’t stretching and foam rolling, but performing full ROM strength training movements.
Such as BSS where your getting that added hip stretch and ankle mobility benefit.
If you want to reach your stregnth potential, get as strong as possible and be well rounded than some partial lifts should be incorporated.
Why?
Because you are limited in the amount of weight you can push and force you can apply in any movement by the weakest part of the ROM. So by overloading the top portion of the lift you build strength in the strongest points of the lifts which rarely if ever get’s overloaded, because you’re limited to what you can lift at your weakest point.
Programming Example
Some of the best programs Joe has designed for himself have come from using this:
If you’re incorporating max effort days: for 3 week’s choose a full range max effort lift, E.G. 3 week’s of a regular BB BP. The following 3 week’s – overload the triceps and do a partial range movement – rack lockouts. Then by week 7 for the next 3 week’s go back to a full range life. Maybe it’s BP with accommodating resistance or a narrow grip BP. Then go back to another partial range lift like a BB floor press or a board press.
Alternate mesocycles with full range of motion lifts and partial range lifts.
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Written by Alex Sandalis, Spoken by Joe Defranco