Massive respect, Mike Thurston. You have the humility to bring other very capable lifters on to your channel, even bigger guys than yourself. We all can learn a lot from you, both about technique and also how to be better people by always being open to learning from others. Great job!
Powerlifter here, I would add the importance of sticking your arse out and a slight forward lean before you go down. This prevents you from falling forward either when hitting the bottom or just starting to come up. Maintain that same lean from standing, to depth and back to lockout.
I mean if you're squatting real olympic style you wont stick your ass out. More like sitting your ass on your heels or whole body between legs. Good queue for powerlifting style squats tho.
@@F-Tier_Physique Olympic lifters only high bar squat because in a clean & jerk the first part of the lift is a front squat, if they back squat it makes sense to train high bar but in powerlifting you just need to move the highest weight possible so that's usually low bar. Wide stance is another good tip, the adductor muscles are very powerful and wide stance incorporates them.
@Ze TheGame mike has some good videos but I'm sceptical when I see him crossing into powerlifting territory. He's a bro lifter/aesthetic model type and not serious about lifting weights. His own form looks pretty bad, the other guy is good though
"Powerlifter here". Yeah, we got a half-repper in the house. Powerlifters squat lowbar cuz you can use more glutes. Bodybuilders don't squat to develop glutes. They squat to develop quads, and high bar squatting is better to build the quads. Besides, the weight is irrelevant. You don't want to find the most efficient way to squat. You want to find the hardest way to squat, cuz that's how you fatigue your legs the most and make them grow.
Mike's form isn't really that bad considering his terrible mobility. He'd do much better with a squat shoe. I have terrible ankle mobility and I won't even attempt the squat without the squat shoes.
Amazingly helpful! I found out recently at uni that I have no mobility like you Mike 😢 tight hammies, tight calves, tight thoracic cage. And my heels come up like crazy. I have to do wide stance too. But thanks Matt for the exercises to help with it. Not many people have any answers to help it, they just tell you to raise your heels. ❤️❤️❤️
Have exactly that problem with full depth. That exercise on the wall is brilliant. One of the most uncomfortable things about squats for me. Cheers guys!
@@wildodds3013 depends what your goal is. there is no perfect squatform. besides, bb squats are not needed at all for big legs. there's way better exercises. this is not the 70s. even dorian yates stopped doing squats early in his career and his legs exploded going forward. mind-muscle connection during bb squat is crap. people use all their focus on balance and "form". you'll never get big legs by doing only squats. just look at clarence, squats every day, mostly heavy and his legs are not even impressive.
@@Wa11Dre the boy thinks that he knows what bodybuilding is about and how to execute the exercise the truth is his knowledge is very basic and limited not slagging here just my honest opinion cant't believe ppl are listening to him
@@pablopablito9990 gotta be honest, the only reason why I clicked on the video was to see what stupid stuff was going to be said in it. The fitness industry is unfortunately full of people who thinks they know stuff. As sbdsbd said: good thing Matt is there
I need to do everything quickly and efficiently. Food prep and everything. but in the rush I don’t think that I have time to think and prepare to make sure that I have that much protein intake. But I try my best.. I prepare food,I train very hard
Wouldn't say that's a great position for your neck to be in when it gets heavy, Your neck and torso should be in a line. I would say focus more on sitting back and keeping your chest up and you won't fall forward. If you need to, do box squats to start with.
Your hamstrings arent lengthened during squats though and probably arent the thing holding you back. I thought I had that problem too but it wasnt that. Ankle and hip mobility are more likely to be an issue. Or the way you're trying to move. If you want good tips for squats, look up squat university on youtube/instagram.
It's not particularly great advice. I think Mikes a good guy and his physique is insane. But if you want to learn how to squat - watch people like Alan Thrall and Silent Mike. Watch people who are squatting every day - not someone who struggles to even do it.
Mike, have your feet furhter back and squat lowbar to not fall forward. You do lowbar stance with your feet while your'e doing highbar. Switch to lowbar and squat with a neutral back instead of a straightned back. (not that bad to look down to mimick this. Matt does this iin the vid, try it.)
The difference in stance from the the one espoused by Mark Rippetoe always surprises me. What he says makes sense: squat with your head angled towards the thing you (imagine) you're picking up from the floor. The number of uncomfortable looking squat positions you see from people trying to keep their chin up or back straight is crazy.
Hi ,love the channel Mike! Your opinion on crossfit? Considered trying and doing a video series of you doing CF? If not, have you heard of Fitness Five? You and/or Matt should be testing that and do a video about it. In short terms it is 100seconds of 1. Deadlift@150%xM, 2. Squat@125%xM, 3. Benchpress@100%M, 4. Dips, 5. Pullups where M is your total body mass. It's not easy, have tried it a couple of times and had to reduce my M by 25% to be able to complete 100seconds on each exercise (excluding dips where I do 100%xM). Your score is the sum of total number of repetitions on each exercise.
Really interesting what Matt said about pushing your tongue up on the roof of your mouth, a channel called ‘orthotropics’ covers this concept in depth in terms of oral posture and how important it is for skeletal development, and it looks like Matt had found how it fits into bodybuilding! Impressed
this wide stance variation is exactly how I feel with the deadlift where I have to have a wider sumo stance when I perform it it just seems more efficient for me and stable
Hi! Awesome video, didn't really know why I couldn't go so far down so I started squatting by going down to my bench and standing up, gonna try that flexibility exercise and see what it does. On a side note does having a belt help with increasing strength/power? Only doing 5reps/set atm to supplement my wrestling.
I don't squat. I'm between novice/intermediate for deadlift and bench. BW 88kg, I can press 95kg (pb last week) but I couldn't get the 100kg. I'm too worried about form/balance to try squats.
if you have relatively weak glutes i highly advise not doing that thing at the start where you try and make your knee touch the wall for 30 seconds. If you have a weak lower posterior chain like myself a lot of stress can be put through your knees and doing this excessively will cause you problems because of the load going through your knee.
the "stretch" he did at the beginning while holding the post doesnt do much, better to do a hinge stretch since hamstrings get lengthened at the hip during the squat. Also the cue to curve lower back (anterior pelvic tilt/girl posture) is also a recipe for disaster. slight posterior tilt and keeping lower back static is safer and stronger.
Hello Mike, can you please give me any tips or advice on how to build muscle and pay attention to nutrition. If I work full time 8 to 16:00. And I have 1 year old baby after that. But after work I try to go to the gym for one hour. and after I need to take care of baby. I feel struggling with all that.
@@krane15 Anyone can work on their body. Mike's admitted to have not worked a lot on his legs. All he needs now is full reps and he will be set. He's squatting 140 for reps, but could easily drop that to 100 to work on his 'body type'.
@@MetalDavidRulez You're not listening. We can all have the desire and train 24/7, but if you're 5'5 you are genetically unlikely to ever be in the NBA. Sure practice and training is important -- I'm not denying that -- but having the right frame and body type comes first. That genetic predisposition works the same way with all athletes whether they're lifters, gymnast or track and field. They're good because they practice, but their primary advantage comes from their body type. I heard a Chinese Olympic diving trainer say the he selects his talent first by their body type, then teaches them how to dive. That was his secret to making Gold medal champions. There's a reason you don't see gymnast that are 6'9 or a pole vaulters that is built like a heavy weight Olympic lifters. If you don't first have the right body, its just not going to work no matter how much you practice or train.
Probably no one will read this but ... beginning of this year I weighed 18 stone , good muscle but also a lot of fat , I never stripped it like Mike , My shoulders were My best feature ... I seemed very strong in that dept , anyway a month into the year and I had stomach pains , turned out to be gallstones and had My gallbladder removed straight away , after recovering for a few weeks I lost about 2 stone and didnt have the mass anymore but was more ripped as such , then as the year went on My private life took the worst plunge ever , even became homeless , I know weigh 14 stone and basically have no muscle , I havent trained for nearly a year and feel very small , I'm 6 foot and losing weight on that height can make you look very slim , So ... I was hoping that there may be someone out there on this youtube world that could point Me into a weight gain plan , is there weigh gain diets out there that could help Me ... I've thought of weight gains but theres so many out there ... I just dont want to buyt stuff that I'm basically going to crap out in 12 hours and get no gain , I'm UK based and would luv any help to diets and supplements that worked for you , I'm old at 50 so dont expect to gain like a 20 - 30 year old , Apologies for the long post ... I'm kinda desperate , Thanks for reading :)
Two of my fave youtubers: Mike Cheston and Luca's father
lmao... Luca's father.. 😂😂😂
My 2 favourite natural youtubers too
500th like 😎😀
@@bruceybrew Matt is natty
@@kiyoponnn ye and I believe in santa and the tooth fairy
These two complement each other. More duo videos please!
Cum
complement*
@@obviouslymatt6452 cheers 👍
Matt and Mike, and Brian Shaw/Eddie Hall are up there with Batman and Robin in terms of duos go. Love it.
coldfire22 and Larry and Thor/BTC
Massive respect, Mike Thurston. You have the humility to bring other very capable lifters on to your channel, even bigger guys than yourself. We all can learn a lot from you, both about technique and also how to be better people by always being open to learning from others. Great job!
The greatest duo in RUclips history
Sick video Mikey boyyyyyyyyy
Ty luca
Mike..where’s Matt
Powerlifter here,
I would add the importance of sticking your arse out and a slight forward lean before you go down. This prevents you from falling forward either when hitting the bottom or just starting to come up.
Maintain that same lean from standing, to depth and back to lockout.
I mean if you're squatting real olympic style you wont stick your ass out. More like sitting your ass on your heels or whole body between legs. Good queue for powerlifting style squats tho.
@@F-Tier_Physique Olympic lifters only high bar squat because in a clean & jerk the first part of the lift is a front squat, if they back squat it makes sense to train high bar but in powerlifting you just need to move the highest weight possible so that's usually low bar.
Wide stance is another good tip, the adductor muscles are very powerful and wide stance incorporates them.
@Ze TheGame mike has some good videos but I'm sceptical when I see him crossing into powerlifting territory. He's a bro lifter/aesthetic model type and not serious about lifting weights.
His own form looks pretty bad, the other guy is good though
"Powerlifter here". Yeah, we got a half-repper in the house.
Powerlifters squat lowbar cuz you can use more glutes. Bodybuilders don't squat to develop glutes. They squat to develop quads, and high bar squatting is better to build the quads.
Besides, the weight is irrelevant. You don't want to find the most efficient way to squat. You want to find the hardest way to squat, cuz that's how you fatigue your legs the most and make them grow.
Mike's form isn't really that bad considering his terrible mobility. He'd do much better with a squat shoe. I have terrible ankle mobility and I won't even attempt the squat without the squat shoes.
That gym looks like the set for a mid 90's Will Smith wholesome rap video.
Matt Sim. Nooooow this is the story
I’m Ugandan too. Only from the waist down
Is he actually half ugandan?
Iam actually from there
@@ezramwesiga1621 Probably grew up there.
Matt of course saying “and look sick” in reference to why you should squat. Legend
Amazingly helpful! I found out recently at uni that I have no mobility like you Mike 😢 tight hammies, tight calves, tight thoracic cage. And my heels come up like crazy. I have to do wide stance too. But thanks Matt for the exercises to help with it. Not many people have any answers to help it, they just tell you to raise your heels. ❤️❤️❤️
Have exactly that problem with full depth. That exercise on the wall is brilliant. One of the most uncomfortable things about squats for me. Cheers guys!
just me or does mike look like a velociraptor when he squats
he is terrible at squat
Wild Odds sorry mr Olympia
Wild Odds that’s an excellent opinion I’m glad you have it
Velociraptor vibes for sure
@@wildodds3013 depends what your goal is. there is no perfect squatform. besides, bb squats are not needed at all for big legs. there's way better exercises. this is not the 70s. even dorian yates stopped doing squats early in his career and his legs exploded going forward. mind-muscle connection during bb squat is crap. people use all their focus on balance and "form". you'll never get big legs by doing only squats. just look at clarence, squats every day, mostly heavy and his legs are not even impressive.
cameraman: top half of the frame is wasted space. We're doing squats, lower the lens!
Dont diss sairs' camera capabilities
? Position and angle of upper body is key
I like sqauting in a pair of Sketcher boots ..Solid bottom and elevated heel works great for helping with stability & depth
Great guys ! Appreciate that 🤜🤛💪
These 2 together proper make me laugh while giving me sound lifting advice, more please!
why are you guys my fav duo? keep up the amazing videos guys!
Matt elevated this video
So nice to see a tutorial like that. Am as tight as you, Mike! Very motivating.
Mike and Matt inspired me to make some of my own gym videos. Keep up the work guys 👍🏼🎯
Mike has no idea what a squat is 😂😂 luckily matt knows what hes talking about
Was thinking the same.. Why on earth is this guy trying to teach the squat
@@Wa11Dre the boy thinks that he knows what bodybuilding is about and how to execute the exercise the truth is his knowledge is very basic and limited not slagging here just my honest opinion cant't believe ppl are listening to him
@@pablopablito9990 gotta be honest, the only reason why I clicked on the video was to see what stupid stuff was going to be said in it. The fitness industry is unfortunately full of people who thinks they know stuff. As sbdsbd said: good thing Matt is there
whahahahah its funny wen mike tries to explain something ...but then again it's dangerous for people who follow him........
@@Wa11Dre Conclusion, you're getting your money's worth. Oh, wait... .
Nice video. Some good things to keep in mind for legs day today.
I need to do everything quickly and efficiently. Food prep and everything. but in the rush I don’t think that I have time to think and prepare to make sure that I have that much protein intake. But I try my best.. I prepare food,I train very hard
i look up towards ceiling to stop myself while squatting down to stop from falling/bending forward... try it, it works
Wouldn't say that's a great position for your neck to be in when it gets heavy, Your neck and torso should be in a line. I would say focus more on sitting back and keeping your chest up and you won't fall forward. If you need to, do box squats to start with.
Aaron Bohlman look up with ur eyes , don’t alter neck position
Feel your pain dude. Tight hammies!! I'll try the hamstring warm up before my squats! Thank you :)
Your hamstrings arent lengthened during squats though and probably arent the thing holding you back. I thought I had that problem too but it wasnt that. Ankle and hip mobility are more likely to be an issue. Or the way you're trying to move.
If you want good tips for squats, look up squat university on youtube/instagram.
Matt is the PERFECTION.
Everything he does is perfect.
I agree. His legs and glutes are amazing..The proportions on his physique are a great gift from the universe.
Absolutely love this! Very useful, thanks Champs!
Good to simplify things heaps more information thanks guys
Great to see Mike and Matt together! Great video lads! Thanks
Me and you have the same problem mike. Years and years of lifting without proper stretching my ankle mobility is exact same as yours
I love the collab of good info in this video. Learned a bunch about squatting watching this.
It's not particularly great advice. I think Mikes a good guy and his physique is insane. But if you want to learn how to squat - watch people like Alan Thrall and Silent Mike. Watch people who are squatting every day - not someone who struggles to even do it.
Matt Does Fitness creator is ALWAYS LOVING.
Mike, have your feet furhter back and squat lowbar to not fall forward. You do lowbar stance with your feet while your'e doing highbar. Switch to lowbar and squat with a neutral back instead of a straightned back. (not that bad to look down to mimick this. Matt does this iin the vid, try it.)
Good advice just built a home olympic gym so your vids are really helpful thanks Mike keep youtubing.
They two really have some chemistry going on
Great video, quality duo.
The difference in stance from the the one espoused by Mark Rippetoe always surprises me. What he says makes sense: squat with your head angled towards the thing you (imagine) you're picking up from the floor. The number of uncomfortable looking squat positions you see from people trying to keep their chin up or back straight is crazy.
Hi ,love the channel Mike!
Your opinion on crossfit? Considered trying and doing a video series of you doing CF?
If not, have you heard of Fitness Five? You and/or Matt should be testing that and do a video about it. In short terms it is 100seconds of 1. Deadlift@150%xM, 2. Squat@125%xM, 3. Benchpress@100%M, 4. Dips, 5. Pullups where M is your total body mass. It's not easy, have tried it a couple of times and had to reduce my M by 25% to be able to complete 100seconds on each exercise (excluding dips where I do 100%xM). Your score is the sum of total number of repetitions on each exercise.
That's an awesome home gym!!! It's my dream to have a home gym like that when I own my own house. Even half that space would be great!
This is the only channel powered by self-satisfaction. Now, with Miss Thurston involved there's enough self-satisfaction to power the internet
Matt’s arms are the best I’ve seen
Hey everybody it’s Jason Blaha here again, it’s time to discuss current events in the online fitness community.
Wow look at Mike's hair! That transplant is a classic!
@Law M no but it's really good I'd love to know what it cost
@Law M the link in his video he originally did?
@Law M can you get 40 quids worth a time spread the cost out over a couple years or so ? Lol
"I'll have 20 folicles please"
@@870deans haha well I'm totally bald on top so I reckon I'd be in debt for life
What’s the best warm up for snooker? I find Wellies are great for squats and the farmers walk..
This vid has so much info thanx matt
When I see a Mike Thurston video pops on my feed, I first smash the shit outta the like button then watch the video.
Very informative as always, keep going on.
Really interesting what Matt said about pushing your tongue up on the roof of your mouth, a channel called ‘orthotropics’ covers this concept in depth in terms of oral posture and how important it is for skeletal development, and it looks like Matt had found how it fits into bodybuilding! Impressed
this wide stance variation is exactly how I feel with the deadlift where I have to have a wider sumo stance when I perform it it just seems more efficient for me and stable
You guys personality seems to have amazing synergy lol really fun to watch
Matt getting that bar whip
my favorite duo. A better duo than Shaq and Kobe
That’s a big vessel
Easily best video I've come across for squats. Straight to the point.
Omfg, knowledge bombs again from matt does fitness! Miss that shit instead of eating gimmicks
Mike seems very excited when matt is around ahahah
Love you guys
Thanks guys. 👍
the man, the myth, the legend Mikey T!!!
9:59 much respect not looking for that 10 min mark haha
2 seconds longer and you could have made twice the amount of money...
Mike don't give no fucks
Yh and if he did then all the comments would be about the 10 minute mark
D L 25k a month pal I don’t think he’s too fussed
Zain That's not how YT works lol, the whole "10 min mark" is outdated
Ali Yea I figured lol
Mike BUY you some Weightlifting SHOES ASAP.... BEST Investment you will ever do... Coach
Very good video very informative!
Mike is the Beast💪
Loving the content Mike 💪🏼
Hair gains are looking great bro👌 and thanks guys today is leg day💪
the bar lower doesn't mean it travel less distance, it just will end up lower. The distance might be affected by the difference in stance though
Do u let your knees go past ur feet
thanks guys
UGANDA FOREVA 🙅🏼♂️
WE ARE COUNTING ON YOU MATTDOESOLYMPICS!!!
Hi! Awesome video, didn't really know why I couldn't go so far down so I started squatting by going down to my bench and standing up, gonna try that flexibility exercise and see what it does. On a side note does having a belt help with increasing strength/power? Only doing 5reps/set atm to supplement my wrestling.
If only mikes squat was as good as his hair transplant
tommygunTW1 violation
ohh boy! savage
His legs are bigger than yours.
@@HongFeiBai good one.
Thank You
I do breathing for heavy sets but for lighter sets with higher reps would you still do the breathing thing?
Such a good squat video 🙌
Good banter
I don't squat. I'm between novice/intermediate for deadlift and bench. BW 88kg, I can press 95kg (pb last week) but I couldn't get the 100kg.
I'm too worried about form/balance to try squats.
Would go squat like you right now, but the stitches on my knee say no
Hair is looking quality 🔥
I have limited knee range due to injury and surgery. I can get to parallel.....is this enough to build size and strength?
Another top video Mike...👌
Could you do a video of workouts with weight plates and medicine ball?
TYSM for the exercises, as I have been unable to go low.
Needed this going heavy want the best form possible and no injuries
if you have relatively weak glutes i highly advise not doing that thing at the start where you try and make your knee touch the wall for 30 seconds. If you have a weak lower posterior chain like myself a lot of stress can be put through your knees and doing this excessively will cause you problems because of the load going through your knee.
How about front squats? You didn't mention anything on that!
the "stretch" he did at the beginning while holding the post doesnt do much, better to do a hinge stretch since hamstrings get lengthened at the hip during the squat. Also the cue to curve lower back (anterior pelvic tilt/girl posture) is also a recipe for disaster. slight posterior tilt and keeping lower back static is safer and stronger.
It helps stretches your hips and abductors and abductors! It's very important to achieve proper depth and comfort during a squatting movement.
Ok this is sick advice. Cheers !
Hair looking sick Mike.
Hair is looking amazing
In my opinion, as a natural stronger = bigger, therefore I would swaping between intensity training and volume training each time
Learning tonnes from these two ATM.
Does the wider stance hit the glutes more and the shorter stance hit quads?
Good tips!
Hello Mike, can you please give me any tips or advice on how to build muscle and pay attention to nutrition. If I work full time 8 to 16:00. And I have 1 year old baby after that. But after work I try to go to the gym for one hour. and after I need to take care of baby. I feel struggling with all that.
Hearing a lot of excuses for half squatting.
In fact, your ability to squat depends largely on your body type. So just like anything else bb, genetic is key.
@@krane15 lol BS. Some olympic lifters are super heavy dudes that have great hip, knee and ankle mobility. If you have poor mobility, work on it.
@@k9leadstheway531 Has it occurred to you that Olympic lifter are already the elite of society? You didn't think that one through.
@@krane15 Anyone can work on their body. Mike's admitted to have not worked a lot on his legs. All he needs now is full reps and he will be set. He's squatting 140 for reps, but could easily drop that to 100 to work on his 'body type'.
@@MetalDavidRulez You're not listening. We can all have the desire and train 24/7, but if you're 5'5 you are genetically unlikely to ever be in the NBA.
Sure practice and training is important -- I'm not denying that -- but having the right frame and body type comes first. That genetic predisposition works the same way with all athletes whether they're lifters, gymnast or track and field. They're good because they practice, but their primary advantage comes from their body type.
I heard a Chinese Olympic diving trainer say the he selects his talent first by their body type, then teaches them how to dive. That was his secret to making Gold medal champions.
There's a reason you don't see gymnast that are 6'9 or a pole vaulters that is built like a heavy weight Olympic lifters. If you don't first have the right body, its just not going to work no matter how much you practice or train.
Love your channel
When the student becomes the master (Matt surpasses Mike in subs)
Excellent
Probably no one will read this but ... beginning of this year I weighed 18 stone , good muscle but also a lot of fat , I never stripped it like Mike , My shoulders were My best feature ... I seemed very strong in that dept , anyway a month into the year and I had stomach pains , turned out to be gallstones and had My gallbladder removed straight away , after recovering for a few weeks I lost about 2 stone and didnt have the mass anymore but was more ripped as such , then as the year went on My private life took the worst plunge ever , even became homeless , I know weigh 14 stone and basically have no muscle , I havent trained for nearly a year and feel very small , I'm 6 foot and losing weight on that height can make you look very slim , So ... I was hoping that there may be someone out there on this youtube world that could point Me into a weight gain plan , is there weigh gain diets out there that could help Me ... I've thought of weight gains but theres so many out there ... I just dont want to buyt stuff that I'm basically going to crap out in 12 hours and get no gain , I'm UK based and would luv any help to diets and supplements that worked for you , I'm old at 50 so dont expect to gain like a 20 - 30 year old , Apologies for the long post ... I'm kinda desperate , Thanks for reading :)