- the heels while squatting other than by a regular heel of a shoe. (Raising
the heels increases leg flexion and pushes the knees too far forward, greatly
increasing the stress on those joints.) Never mind that some of the big phy-
siques can apparently safely squat with their heels raised on a board, though
they may pay the price in years to come. What matters is how your knees
react. I paid a heavy price for my misjudgment.. With my knees injured from the raised-heels hip-belt squat, they now
could not tolerate regular no-elevation barbell squatting. Even squats with
light weights produced days of discomfort afterward. e soreness became
unbearable and in June I dropped the squat.. While the knee problem ruined the squat, it did not mar the deadlift cycle.
I was not using my knees a great deal in the exercise anyway. By taking my
knees just a little more out of the movement the deadlift could continue to
progress. e effect of this was that the stress upon my back was increased
as my legs contributed less to the movement.. On April I did for reps. I was down to continuous reps and
rest-pause reps to get all out. en I got injured, but not while deadlift-
ing.. While performing standing barbell presses I felt something “twang” in my
upper back. e pain was immediate. I visited a chiropractor the next
day and had two vertebrae in my upper spine adjusted. ere was instant
improvement and within a week my back was feeling . From then on I
did my overhead presses while seated and with my back supported against a
high-incline bench.. Being cautious I did not deadlift again until May, and then only with
pounds. A week later I did for the usual reps, and a further week later
I did , and a week after that ( May) I did the I had done before the
upper-back injury.. I then hurt myself again. While stretching at home, doing a familiar back
movement, I got carried away and went for extra stretch. I felt another
twang and regretted the enthusiasm for stretching. Great care needs to be
given to stretching exercises because if you get carried away you will injure
yourself.