Syndesmosis

Hey Dan, thanks for the AMA. If you come back, I hope you'll consider my question. Thanks!

I don't have a major in biology (I'm close from taking courses out of interest), and I don't have any research experience. However, I'd like to shoot for a Master's in something like microbiology. Do you have any suggestions for nontraditional aspiring scientists who want to break into the game or further their science education?

Since no one else has answered you yet, I'll offer some advice. You shouldn't work out every day. If you're training and not just exercising, then your frequency will depend on how hard you train. If you're doing an upper/lower split, you may train upper 3 times and lower 2 times on a lighter/moderate week, whereas you may only do each twice on a moderate/heavy. When you go for max effort, you'll probably do each once. A lot of it depends on your training goals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoZWgTrZLd8

Check this video from Candito on how to squat.

Some cues: elbows tucked down, shoulder blades pinched tight and down, chest up. You may be leaning forward too much, so focus on keeping the weight over mid foot. When you're in the hole, focus on opening up your hips and putting the weight on the outside of your foot.

Pause squats and front squats will help, too.

Sometimes the weight is just gonna feel heavy as fuck when you're getting to your working sets. You may notice that, if you do a back off set at the end, a warm-up weight that felt heavy will feel like feathers. Part of it is just getting used to how the weight feels, part of it is strength, and part of it is proper technique. Are you bracing your core and tightening up before you get the bar on your back? Make sure before you unrack it that you're tense. A good cue that I heard from Couch Hamilton on Omar's channel (I think) was locking down your ribs. The more tension you have during the lift, the more efficient you'll be with energy expenditure. Plus it should feel better when it comes to that compression.

Accessory work will help to bring up lagging weak points, but the best way to get stronger is doing the main lift and not allowing for form breakdown. What's your rep range and training weight look like, if you don't mind me asking?

Candito, being a pro for all practical purposes, will naturally be able to give you way better advice, especially on a form check. But that is a service that he charges for.

Oh, and another question: what's your warm up look like? I experiment with my warm up sets a lot and I've found that 3-4, sometimes 5 for super heavy days, work best for me. It's different for everyone, but maybe adding in another set could help, even if it's just a rep or two.