Well I guess we can agree to disagree, I just come from a different school of thought, I guess. I apologize if I offended you, that wasn't my intention, I just give my unfiltered, honest opinion based of course on my experience and way of thinking.
Many wouldn't see it this way. They would feel that 'punishment' is generally a good thing in training, and that padding the bar amounts to pampering. You gonna use a yoga mat for your sit ups too?
Not sure what you consider heavy, but there's no use in my opinion having the bar pressing into my shoulders and across the upper back for the sake of taking a certain amount of pain. I'm lifting for my legs and core strength, not to see how much I can let the bar press into my shoulders and back. I don't lift too heavy since I lift alone, but I'm 6 weeks shy of 61 and don't go heavier than 450 since I've had 3 surgeries on my right knee over the years for tears and ACL replacement. Knock yourself out if you feel like lifting just with the bar on your shoulders. I won't knock your technique or style. It's all a matter of personal preference.
closer the bar is to your skin the closer to your bodies midline you`ll be able to keep the bar. (you wont risk being pulled forward as you drive up) i`d really work on your form till its perfect and as your using squats to build your legs for boxing and not bodybuilding i`d go with high rep squats for endurance not low for power and size. you will get a certain amount of size if your food is good (size is as much down to progessive resistance as weight used, you only grow if you increase the difficulty each week, ie add 1 kg a week, every week, not the same old weight each time) saying that 20 rep rest pause squats are high rep and great, but you will hit your lower back hard and as a boxer you want to minimise the risk of injury more than ever. you want a functional body. raise your elbows, keep your wrists flat, shrug your shoulders up to you ears to create a pad of muscle for the bar to rest on, keeping the bar slightly lower may feel more comfortable. in the grand scheme of things using a padded bar wont hurt too much, youre not training for powerliftng. initiate the exercise with your hips, sitting back and pretend your sitting on a chair feet behind you, allow your knees to follow, personally i keep knees behind toes. drive up with your lower back, pulling chest up and driving feet thru the floor. elbows up all the time, holding the shrug, keeping your body TIGHT, i could go on about breathing lol.. rough rule of thumb if you want to cut is to get your carbs protein and fats in a 40% 40% 20% ratio. if i was in shape and training hard i`d go for a 50% 30% 30% ratio as i`d be burning more carbs for energy not needing fat loss. keep your food clean and in a slight deficit and be consistent. stay within 7lbs of your fighting weight and you`ll increase your chances of being as strong as possible, i think its a huge balancing act for fighters who fight 20lbs above theyre weight limit, just think how strong they`d be undrained. when your strong and really fresh, you have more heart to give... everyone gives it theyre all, or should do, but it takes more than that in a war.. you have to give yourself every edge you can.. ricky hatton for example, could he have withstood pac and floyd if he hadnt lost 3-4? stone in 3 months?? what if he`d had a stone to lose and had trained at full strength on lots of carbs for 2 months at full strength?
no you didnt offended me, i cant be offended by some internet guy it maybe looked like that because i used bad language, sorry about that i understand your and ant-man philosophy and i like it, but i think that there are more important things where that philosophy can be applied then squating with a tampon.
Also I was wondering if I should be doing sprints on the same day when I workout my legs. My training regimen looks like this Mon- boxing + legs strength n conditioning + regular cardio/jogging/jumprope Tue-boxing + upper body strength n conditioning + sprints wed- boxing + legs same as monday thursday- sparring friday- sparring saturday- light workout just usually shadowboxing and some light cardio sunday- rest
make sure you cycle the intensity of workouts if youre training 6x aweek i`d space weight workouts out as much as poss. tbh i`d add an extra rest day (dependent on whether you work or not) and train the body 2x aweek. (i`m presuming your natural and not assisted.)
What do you mean by natural? Do you mean by if I'm being personally trained with a strength and conditioning coach? I only see my strength and conditioning coach twice a week at my boxing gym, so rest of my workouts beside that is unassisted.
The bar shouldn't be touching your shoulders, your scapular should be retracted with the bar resting on your bunched up traps. You're probably leaning forwards too much. If you've been injured that's more reason to squat heavy. And if you're squatting 450 pounds at 61 years old you're the best powerlifter in the US for that age (using a tampon as well, incredible) so I think you have your numbers off there. With lifting it's not a matter of personal preference, technique is very set unless you're a freak anthropometrically speaking.
