Squat Check

[REvans]

Hey all,

I would love some feedback on my squats. This was my third set of 5 at 260lbs. Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L0V_LV5KPg

[JayvH]

They are not looking bad, nice speed. But your heels sometimes seem to come up (around 0:26). Maybe a the bar is coming a tiny little bit too far forward, but hard to judge from this angle. Second (this is only a guess) maybe your knees are traveling through the whole descent instead of jsut the first third but this also could better be seen from the side. On the other hand if this would be the case how could you produce such a good bounce.

[imnotbncre8ive]

Take any comments I make regarding form with a grain of salt:

For what it's worth, I believe there is a bit of good morning-ing here. Your hips rise faster than your shoulders when coming out of the bottom, causing your torso to become more horizontal on your way up than when you start your reps.

I don't know if this is something you need to worry about right now, though.

[MazdaMatt]

I think only a couple of the reps were good-morninged.

[REvans]

Thanks for the comments, I appreciate it! All good stuff that I need to work on. I also noticed that I probably need to have a closer grip, looks a little too far out to me.

[isis]

Looks like you're losing thoracic extension. Lift your chest up and keep it there. A narrower grip may make that easier to do if your shoulders can handle it.

[HamptonMike]

I would recommend the narrower grip also. Bar position will be more stable and you'll be less likely to bend over so much to keep the bar in place. Watch your elbows too with the narrower grip. If they support too much weight you'll get a sweet dose of tendonitis.

[PVC]

They look pretty good. Your grip is too wide, but I'm guessing this is a flexibility thing. If this is the case, bring in your grip a little tiny bit every time you squat, and in a few weeks you'll have your grip width right where you want it.

And get some squat shoes.

[OITW]

Some mild dissent here. Yes, move the grip in, remember to push the elbows up and back when you do. Not worried about the hip angle opening a little if you aren't, think chest up if it helps.

And for once we don't have to tell someone to go eat something!

But from this angle it seems as if your knees are going too far forward and aren't setting. You see more movement in them in the later reps, not coincidentally when the back gets looser and the hips rise faster.

Get the TUBOW out and set it about one inch past your toes on whichever side you prefer. I think you'll find that you're knocking it over. Using the TUBOW, practice just touching it with your knee and then halting all forward movement of the knee by pushing your knees out. At that point you'll have to think more about squeezing your butt down and back to hit depth. It will feel different than what you're doing now, I guarantee it, but it will keep your hamstrings tighter and give you still more bounce out of the bottom. Only use the TUBOW on your warm-up sets, not on your workset.

If you do this and find you do need to adjust, you may need to drop a little weight to fix it, but given how strong these look, I'd recommend very hard you work on making adjustments while you keep adding weight.

[JayvH]

And get some squat shoes.
He is wearing Rip's shoes which are distributed by rogue, doesn't he?

[OITW]

Looking at the shoes, I see your heels rising. Your knees are definitely moving too far forward. Get them out to the TUBOW in the first third of the lift, then hold them there with knees pushing out.

[PVC]

He is wearing Rip's shoes which are distributed by rogue, doesn't he?

Is he? Those are some pretty ugly shoes.

If that's the case, then yeah, his feet are wobbly and it's not the fault of the shoes. I agree with using TUBOW, along with making sure he keeps his balance over the midfoot.

[REvans]

Thanks for all the comments guys! I really appreciate it. I did a workout today and squatted 275x5 for 3 sets. Later this evening I will get my last set posted. Hopefully I fixed the knee issue, I haven't reviewed it yet.

Yeah, those are Rip's shoes sold by Rogue.

[REvans]

Here is 275x5. Third set for the day. I get off balance on the 3rd rep and have a good-morning movement to it.

What do you think about the knees? I warmed up with a 2x4 placed an inch in front of my right foot and worked on getting depth and not knocking the board over.

Also moved my grip in a bit. Have to work on shoulder flexibility as well.

Have at it and thanks again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rn-NiSiDBk

[Jalps]

Something I'm noticing in the second video, and you can probably see it too, is that your heels are still lifting off the ground (especially in the early reps). Now, notice how far the bar goes forward when your heels are off the ground, and how when the bar moves back, everything becomes more fluid.

Perhaps you need to try and get your butt a little further back on your way down so that your center of gravity stays over the middle of your feet. That way you can get the full power of your legs to the floor.

[OITW]

LOL, I can see the TUBOW in the background.

Appreciate the side angle. The first time through, all I could see was that bar moving way forward, and that's where the "good morning" is coming from. The hip angle opening with a strong hip drive isn't really a problem unless the bar is moved forward from the middle of the foot. From the side view, it clearly is.

What Jalps said. Keep using the TUBOW, jam your knees out HARDER. Look at your knees as you descend, get them to where they belong quickly and JAM them out IN PLACE. You want them to be fixed levers as your hips move down and back. Then concentrate on feeling your weight on your heels as you move your butt back back and down (find the toilet in the dark), and when you drive, drive with your hips, keep the knees jammed, keep the weight on your heels.

Look closely at your fourth rep. That is your best rep, except that your knees are still too far forward, but your hips move back, the bar stays over the center of your foot and you are on your heels throughout. That's what you want to keep doing.

If in a couple of sessions you haven't settled onto your heels, we have other tricks, but I think you'll get it. And great work adding 10lbs. I feel silly commenting when you've now tied my PR.

[JayvH]

Is he? Those are some pretty ugly shoes.

Yes indeed, they only go with black sweat pants, but we're not here for aesthetics and they are good to lift in.

[LudwigVan]

The first video was pretty much fine, aside from needing more upper back tightness, which bringing your grip in can help with.

The second video is not as good -- the bar is getting too far forward on several of the reps. Focus on "chest up."

[REvans]

Thanks again everyone for your coaching points. I really appreciate it! I'm going to work on this stuff the next workout and hopefully in a few training sessions I'll have most of it worked out and back with another video. Thanks, you guys are awesome!