First Squat form check: 130kg (287lb) x 5 x 3

[Man in the Box]

Hi. This is my first form check video. I've been training for some time and have been pretty happy with my form until now. The weight now feels crushingly heavy and I want to be sure my form is good.

I know 45 degrees is the optimal balance but there's equipment in the way so I tried 3 different angles. There's limited space to record in the gym so some were better than others (e.g. no feet visible at some points). Any feedback as to which is the most useful will be humbly noted and acted upon in future. Also, sorry about the video in portrait, there's not enough room to back off and get a landscape shot.

This weight was a new PR for me (current bodyweight 95.5 kg / 210lb)

Here are the vids:
Set 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzB61QGtisk
Set 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgS5NrEZbec
Set 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYyp0Nt4VX0

Issues I spotted myself are:
- Knees wide on the drop then scooping in as I drive up. I only saw this in the second set (due to the angle) so worked on correcting in the third set with a little success. Must do better.
- Head angle: eyes are usually down but head moves to a horizontal gaze, I will work on this but it doesn't feel excessive.

Lastly, on the first two sets it felt a little like I had racked the bar too high. This is NEVER a problem for me so I'm not sure why it didn't feel seated right. I've had issues with debilitating ache/pain/dead arm some times immediately after doing squats recently have been playing around with grip width, palm placement and elbow angle to try and rectify it. Maybe this is why I racked uncomfortably high.

Anyway, please shoot away. All tips on technique and filming gratefully received and thank you for giving me some of your time.

[Edge]

your hips are shooting out of the hole before your chest rises. this is causing the bar path to come forward placing extra weight on your toes. Try and keep you chest rising at the same speed as your hips.

You look like you're going a little deep which is causing major buttwink... Focus on keeping that lower lumbar locked in place.. google fixing squat buttwink for some videos on it..

[Man in the Box]

Hi Edge, thanks for taking the time to look and critique. I would like to clarify some points if that's ok.

First question: Buttwink
I'm a little confused on the "buttwink" issue. Rip is quoted as saying:

Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe
The term "butt-wink" is CrossFit bullshit, and comes from the impression that it is possible to squat with an apparently motionless lower back. With the weights CrossFitters typically squat, it might be. But a heavy squat will cause some movement in the lumbar spine, and the appearance of the glutes changes as the hips stretch into eccentric flexion. As long as it is not a gross flexion, it is no problem, as anyone with a powerlifting background can attest.

So, your lower back is FINE. STOP WORRYING ABOUT BUTT-WINK AND START WORRYING ABOUT BEING A PUSSY.

I went through the first set frame by frame and took a screenshot at the lowest point of each rep (only 4 included as that's the forum limit)
S1R1
S1R2
S1R3
S1R4

Having a look at each of these, I can't see my back rounding at all. Are you saying that I have a rounding problem at depth?

Second: Hip drive
I can see what you mean about hips shooting out of the hole before my back rises. I was interpreting the feel of this as my hip drive and previously thought it was part of the movement.

Watching this video I can see that my hip drive is quite exaggerated. If I keep my chest angle (fairly) constant and not allow my Beyonce arse to overtake it, but still do the same drive, is that correct or have I got the whole concept wrong?

Last: Depth
I spent ages trying to guess the correct depth, stopping short for many I suspect. I finally settled on making sure I'm in the correct stance and going as low as is needed for the bounce and that's how low I go in the video. Any higher and there's no elastic bounce at the bottom.

I am very flexible and an osteopath has commented on how hyper-mobile I am so is the depth I need to 'bounce' perhaps an expression of my flexibility?

Thanks is advance for any replies.

[Edge]

- Hard to tell about your back rounding 100% from that view/clothes, but from the stills looks okay..

- You have the idea of the drive correct, you want to get a bit of a bounce out of the hole, but you must maintain your chest rising at the same time as it, otherwise the weight dumps forwards.

- I'll let someone with more experience reply fully to the last question, as it was just something I worked out (and am still working on) without too many q's... If you're doing this to actually compete, etc, you're going to want to learn the least amount of depth to get a clean lift, as I have yet to meet someone who can squat more ATG than they can parallel.

I found that the 'bounce' I was getting was more throwing me off than anything when I went ATG.. It felt like everything was coming up really quickly, when in fact it was just my hips (leaving the weight moving forwrd and not upwards) and any advantage I had from it was being counteracted by the extra effort to bring the bar back to where it should be over my foot....

Hopefully someone can come on and give us an ideal in this situation.

[Man in the Box]

Thanks. For ages I had a problem with the weight coming forward and having to handle it. It felt like I was 'levering' my back up after the bounce, which would tally with what you say. I thought I had this (mostly) fixed but next time I'll get a set from the side too to get a clearer view (front quarter is tricky due to the wall!).

I know dark clothes aren't ideal. I just need to get myself to the cheap sports shop to buy lighter ones as they're all I have at the moment!

I understand your point about competing. I've never really had an inclination to compete, this was all just to get strong, but never say never etc. I certainly don't feel like I'm going ATG and I didn't think the stills showed ATG but perhaps my expectations are wrong.

Can anyone else shed any light on the depth/bounce/flexibility issues?

[Edge]

Not completely ATG, but as close as they typically get on low bar.. Much deeper than needed for a competition.