squat check 242lbs (restarting strength)

[Samuelsson]

Hi everyone,

Could I have some feedback on my (low bar) squat from my last work set @ 5 x 110kg – 242lbs please?



(squat 242 170106 - YouTube)

My wall is blocking the ideal rear quarter angle as requested for posting squat form check videos, so this one is from the side… At least I trimmed the video and made sure of enough lighting and shot at hip height! Did wear black pants however.

My focus points (cues): get my knees out early and lock them in place, and try to ‘stay in the hips’.

Things probably obvious enough for me to notice:
1) depth is questionable on reps 1, 2 & 5.
2) on rep 4 my (right) knee hits the box which serves as a TUBOW, so poor knee control on that rep.
3) Apart from rep 4 I don’t see my knees and butt shoot back ‘too much ‘during the ascent: knees are ‘quite’ stable and my butt moves mostly up (and not up and back).
4) I have a hard time feeling (and concluding from the video) if I have enough hip drive (stay in the hips long enough?) instead of a semi-goodmorning?
5) Do I lean over enough? Is my back angle too vertical?

Current stats:
male 31 y.o.
heigth: 1m87 – 6,1 foot
weigth: 76kg/167lbs --> 85kg/187lbs (eating to grow)
SS LP for about 8 weeks now (slow progression, due to time restraints and history of knee and shoulder injury)
squat: 60kg/132lbs --> 110kg/242lbs (still adding 2,5kg/5,5lbs)
press: bar --> 46kg/101lbs
bench: 30kg/66lbs --> 67,5kg/149lbs
deadlift: started too high, lost time with form issues --> 120kg/264lbs
powerclean: recently started, now at 55kg/120lbs



Thanks for the free advice!



Additional background info:
restarted doing SS after a 3 year hiatus, did it for a good half year but my squat form was way worse than it perhaps is now. I also messed up some of the programming basics (especially in the deadlift) and wore chucks.
I now have also purchased and read Practical programming, and got me some weightlifting shoes.
FWIW my end lifts were 3x5: 120kg/242lbs squat, 140kg/308lbs deadlift, press and bench somewhere in around 50kg/110lbs and 80kg/176lbs IIRC, did not do the PC as I was NDTP.

[Tom Campitelli]

Honestly, from what I can see from here, those look pretty damn good. Carry on.

[Samuelsson]

That’s great to hear! Thanks for the input!

I do notice 2 things now though:

1) It seems there’s quite a bit of bar travel / bar drift. Don’t remember the correct term, but I mean the bar has a noticeable horizontal shift instead of travelling in a vertical line only. Especially on reps 3, 4 and 5.

2) the video is really dark on my monitor at work, hard to see the difference between my black pants and the background. Weird, because on my laptop it looks OK, with no difficulty to discern between pants and background… Hope it shows up OK on your screen.

I’ll sort this out next time I post a video, and re arrange my stuff so I can shoot at 45° rear angle.

[Tom Campitelli]

On second watching, you do drift forward on your ascents. Stay off your toes on the way up. Keep the bar over the middle of the foot. It doesn't really happen on your last rep, probably because you are beginning to fatigue and need to move more efficiently. I also cannot comment on stance width, knees out, etc... from the side.