Squat Form Check

[Michael Wolf]

Definitely.

[Jr_Geezer]

Here's my second attempt at correcting my squat form. I deloaded from 285 down to 250 so I could concentrate more on my form. I definitely felt my hips moving back more and the kness not moving forward as much. Depth still looks a bit shallow and knees a bit wobbly on some of the reps. This is my second work set because my phone fell over during my third and I wasn't going to stop or redo the set.

Video at http://youtu.be/hr05efnC0GI. See any improvement from last time?

Thanks!

-Rob

[Michael Wolf]

Yes, improvement is happening and your self diagnosis looks good. It looks like you know what you need to do, but the old pattern is so ingrained that you need to think through every rep, which means they're not going to be perfect right away, and they're not going to be smooth. Might be worth going down to 205, and working back up in 10 lb jumps for a while. The lower weight will help you focus even more on correct and not "get back up no matter how," and the 10 lb jumps will make the lower weight more palatable; and you should be able to do them since it's so far below your max. In addition to the depth and getting knees in place sooner, you're also losing your hip drive. Make sure to drive the hips the whole way up, don't switch to raising your chest partway through your ascent.

[Jr_Geezer]

I'm certainly thinking of a lot of things while I'm trying to squat. Knees, hips, spine, head and where they belong and when they belong there. That, and getting the weight up and down. I'll take your advice, check my ego, and go down to 205 so I can worry less about the weight and more about the form. With respect to hip drive, is the idea that I should be trying to keep the hip angle more closed until I am nearer the top of the motion? This new motion will take some getting used to as I feel like I'm folding myself in half at the bottom, but looking at the video it's no where near that.
Thanks for the analysis and advice.

-Rob

[Michael Wolf]

Yes, though most people's brains seem to process "stay leaned over and drive your hips up," or a variant thereof, better than "keep your hip angle more closed."

[Jr_Geezer]

I think the part I'm having a hard time visualizing is where in the upward squat motion I stop leaning over and become more upright again on the way back up. As the back angle relative to the floor is not constant during the whole motion, at some point I have to raise the chest/open hip angle. Where does this start to happen?

[Jr_Geezer]

OK, I think the knees are better but could still use more depth. I could be fooling myself but I think the hip drive is a bit improved as well. The lifts certainly felt better. I was concentrating so much on form that I lost count and did six reps instead of five. I noticed the bar path is not the same going up as it is going down, with the bar going forward as I go up which means I'm leaning forward as I start up. Another detail to work on I guess.


Video here: http://youtu.be/8I_j5cUdEIA

-Rob

[Michael Wolf]

It's not possible to judge depth perfectly from your vids; I can tell if you're very high or very deep, but cases where it's close can't be determined for certain from these videos. However, I'd say depth is better and you may be just fine. Hip drive is also much better. If you think about keeping the bar over mid-foot, you'll tend to start opening up the hip angle (lifting the chest) when you need to do so in order to maintain mid-foot balance, without worrying about exactly when that is.

Knees are the biggest culprit here, and are also the cause of the forward bar path at the bottom/right out of the hole. You need to get them in place sooner, then just sit back. Did you read the TUBOW section of the book, as I suggested earlier?

[Jr_Geezer]

OK, so some progress is being made. I have re-read the TUBOW section and I wish there was just a bit more detail about the placement of the block. There's just one sentence and the series of photos, so I'm not entirely sure where the block goes.

I have my next workout tomorrow and I will again concentrate on sitting back. I wish I had started with the videos earlier because they are extremely useful to me, actually being able to see what I'm doing.

The deload is really an ego thing and I really had to fight myself from putting a second 45 on instead of the 35 because I really didn't want to go below two plates again! But the lighter weight does make it a lot easier to think about form.

Thanks once again for the feedback.

-Rob

[Jr_Geezer]

While I couldn't find a TUBOW at the gym, I found a TUPP instead. Not sure if I put it in the right place or not, just in front of and to the right of my right foot. As you can see in the video, my knee (well, the bottom of my kneecap) just touches it on a few of the reps so I think I'm sitting back enough (more, anyway).

Because the camera is tilted slightly, it's a bit hard to judge the actual path of the end of the bar, but using the back upright of the cage as a reference, the bar path looks pretty consistent up and down to me. To my untrained eye depth looks pretty good as well on most reps and chest is not leading on the way up. Now is where you jump in and point out all the things I'm still doing wrong.

Video here: http://youtu.be/cU9VckC2GxU

-Rob