McSquared's Formchecks

[mcsquared]

Hey all, here are some form checks

250lbs Squat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8JnxSCrtv4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QRcplaR4rA

Concerns: Knees, going too low...

120lbs Press

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG2Q79_yqHg (fail)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrYWs_KRF9s

Concerns: Backward lean, elbows. Grunting.

85lbs Powercleans

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2psN11lQbw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_mQiMUcGbE

Still in the process of working on these. Elbows moving slow and the bar not touching the "jumping point."

Appreciate thoughts, ya'll. Thanks!

EDITED FOR VIDEO FIX

[stronger]

you are about 6 inches too deep for squats

[Tom Campitelli]

Squat:

You are trying to attain high bar depth with low bar placement. You are correct in that your knees are wiggling all over the place at the bottom. Rereading SS would probably be of use here. You need to put your posterior chain under more tension. This is going to involve slightly more forward lean, locking your knees in place after the first half of the descent, and going a bit slower.

Press:

Your first video doesn't work. Your second video looks okay, although we can only see half of you. You have very little layback at all. In fact, you could potentially do with more in order to get a straighter bar path. You seem to be wiggling around too much at the top. Once again, tightness is key.

Clean:

We cannot see what happens after the second pull, nor can we see how you rack the bar. Given those limitations, your start position is okay some of the time, but is limited by the fact that you cannot get the weights on the ground. You have a tendency to land forward a little, especially on the later reps. This is not a great habit. I suspect that with more weight and the bar on the ground, you might have an easier time nailing this down. You want to keep the bar close to you for the movement. Landing forward is often an indication that the bar is traveling too far from the body. Also watch out for excessive stomping. Donkey kicks don't add power, but they do take extra time.

Requests:

Fewer videos at one time and better camera placement so we can see what is going on.

[Dastardly]

you are about 6 inches too deep for squats

If he is flexible enough to get that depth then surely its not totally worng to make use of it?

Having feet point more forwards will help get more tension in hamstrings which will reduce depth if that is what he wants.

I would also recommend putting safety bars on notch higher as there is very little room left at the bottom for a fail.

[Paul Sousa]

Looks like your stance is too narrow for a low bar squat. Like TomC said, it looks like you are combining the high bar and low bar. Try widening your stance a bit and see how it looks.

[IWillLiveFreeOrDie]

I would ask Rip to comment on the videos. To my untrained eye the squats didn't look bad. You drop down really fast, but you also come up at a good pace. I would be interested in hearing what he or nisora think?

[nisora33]

I would ask Rip to comment on the videos. To my untrained eye the squats didn't look bad. You drop down really fast, but you also come up at a good pace. I would be interested in hearing what he or nisora think?

I'd listen to Tom here, he's usually one of the few who's pretty spot-on IMO and looks like he's nailed it as usual.

[lylemcd]

I only watched the cleans and the reason he's jumping forwards is because the bar is out front of him. That is, as it passes the knee, where he should scoop it back into the power position, he's going into an exaggerated jump and pulling it straight up from the knee. And since tht is putting the bar far out front of him, he has to jump forwards to get under it. There's also no double knee bend as a function of this because he's not extending at the hip and scooping the bar back as it passes the knee.

2 things to focus on
1. Keep your heels on the floor longer. You're trying to 'jump' far too soon and the bar isn't in position. You're also getting a hell of a donkey kick because of it. Just think about driving your heels into the floor for 'as long as possible' (it is entirely possible to overdo this and overextend).

2. As the bar passes the knee, thinking about scooping it back into your lap by extending at the hip. This will automatically make your knees move under the bar (double knee bend) and get the bar in position for the final explosion. It will also keep the bar closer to your body so you won't have to jump forwards to get under it for the rack.

But you can only do it if you wait much longer to explode.

Hope that makes sense.

Lyle

[mcsquared]

Thanks for the thoughts, everyone.

Tom, I hear where you're comin' from. I think part of the problem with my squat is still that I'm going too low, which contributes to knee wiggling. For tomorrow I'll widen my stance, point my feet more forward, and see if that helps. Unfortunately the gym that I use is lacking in a place to mount my camera, so the angles are gonna be shitty till I go back to lifting in my buddy's garage.