Form check pls - Squat/Dl/Press/cleans

[Ezpeasy]

Hi all, been following the forums for roughly 3 months reading up as much as possible BEFORE commenting, so first post here. In any case, I injured my back a little over a month ago via a goodmorning'd squat, so trying to get the form/technique for the lifts in a better place.

Squat - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auUveAcKpdQ
Deadlift - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5gWSVEBxEE
Press - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAJldOVQXLk#t=0m10s
Power cleans - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vT1_hIpCtE

Any/all comments appreciated. I apologize for any bad angles, the first 3 lifts were filmed at a globo gym that is pretty cramped.

[MikeC1]

Get a little deeper on your squat.

It looks like you're starting low on your deadlift. Get your butt a little higher before pulling. If you could get a more side-on view, I would be able to say for sure.

Press is textbook. Are you breathing at the top or bottom?

Power clean - narrow your stance a bit. Your pull should be a little snappier at the top. Pull the bar slowly up your legs until it reaches the "jumping position" on your thighs (and you'll figure out where that is by experimenting), and then explode the bar up, without pausing in between.

[Ezpeasy]

Does my lower back seem fine, at least in the squat/DL (though the angle and shirt don't help)?

The press I breath in on the descent or bottom and out on the ascent..is that correct? I've been focusing recently on bar path and trying to get that shrug at the top.

Never realized how useful videoing yourself is for getting technique down...I actually thought I was slow on the 1st pull of clean, and faster on the 2nd pull. After looking at the video it all looks to be the same speed.

Thanks for the input

[Steve Berryman]

you're doing a reverse curl

turn your elbows out to the side and think "upright row"

[Tom Campitelli]

you're doing a reverse curl

turn your elbows out to the side and think "upright row"

You would be wise to ignore this advice, especially the upright row part.

Touch a little higher on your thigh on the power clean. This will help you extend your knees and hips better. Add a little weight and jump harder.

[Sixteh]

Here's how I fixed my power clean, which took forever, along with some coaching:

1.) Set up in a deadlift stance, with your knees slightly out. Exactly how wide your stance is / how far out your knees go depends on your anthropometry and your flexibility.
2.) Tighten your back (squeeze your chest up), and pull the bar up while keeping your back angle the same. Squeeze your lats / shoulders back to keep the bar close to your body, and wait until the last possible minute to explode up. The best mental cue I've found for this is to try and pull your knees back without lifting your hips at all. Remember: low hips. Stay patient, keeping your shoulders over the bar as long as possible, and as soon as the bar reaches the crease (the spot the bar rests if you just deadlift the bar up) explode with at your hips, shoulders, and knees simultaneously. You should feel your hamstrings start to tighten as you approach the jump position; this is called loading the hamstrings. If you perform the scoop and second pull correctly you'll be shocked how high you can pull the bar.
3.) Pull yourself under the bar. This isn't as big a deal with power cleans as full cleans, but if you have the flexibility and make the first and second pulls correctly this should be effortless, and the bar will just land on your shoulders. The bar curve should be somewhere between a shallow S curve (the bar curves in then out) and straight up and down.

The biggest key is to stay over the bar as long as you can. It'll feel weird, and you'll want to lean back, but the longer you can stay over the bar while keeping your weight balanced on the heels, the more power you have to work with for the second pull, and the more vertical your bar path will be. There's a Tommy Kono lecture on youtube about this that's very informative if you want to do some searching.

As for reverse curling, you could try widening your grip a bit. That might force you to turn your elbows in. And don't do sets of 10, that's practically cardio...

[Steve Berryman]

You would be wise to ignore this advice, especially the upright row part.

why? i'm pretty sure your god Rip says to turn elbows out, too -- it helps keep the bar close and prevent the dreaded "american" reverse curl

it's not supposed to be a literal upright row, but the elbows should scoop, not go backwards



if you don't like me, that's fine, but don't be a jackass and tell people to ignore very sound advice