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Thread: Squat check - Forward bar travel

  1. #1
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    Default Squat check - Forward bar travel

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    Hello.

    Quick stats: 21yrs, around 178lbs, eating 4k cal/day, squat stuck at 285, deadlift at 260 if it has any relevance, been doing SS for 6 months (I know, INDTP, the first 3 months were a failure due to not eating enough)

    I am still trying to fix my awful-looking squat, but form problems keep popping up, I can't seem to perform a smooth, good-feeling squat most of the time. It is now primarily my bad form that prohibits progression for me.
    I think my primary problem is my hips rising too fast, resulting in a more horizontal back angle, resulting in my lower going into flexion, resulting in an awkward and taxing good-morning squat.

    I've tried the "chest up" cue and the Master Cue, but it only works for me rarely. (But when it works, the squats feel great and smooth, and I feel like I can do another 1-2 reps after my fahves).

    I don't know what to do, or if something else is the root of the problem.

    This is 285 after a reset from being stuck at the same weight. The reason I looked in the mirror on the last rep was because the squat taxed my back so hard I couldn't tell if I was going into flexion even when standing.



    Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

  2. #2
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    You do let the bar come forward out of the hole, but if you think these are hard reps that you can't go heavier on, you need to recalibrate your expectations of what it's going to take to get strong. Getting strong is hard. It's supposed to be hard, and will usually be hard. These reps are fast and fairly easy. Don't be such a wuss, expect it to be hard and get under the bar and dominate it anyway.

    Since you know what you're supposed to be doing and are doing it wrong anyway, giving you THE perfect cue not in real time is difficult. I'd really need to be there to see how you react to the cues I give. You might think "sit back more" or "heels" - an overcorrection and not technically correct, but one that sometimes works for someone who gets forward a lot.

  3. #3
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    Thank you for your answer Wolf.
    I know that it requires hard work to get strong, and yeah, this was one of my better sets where the forward lean weren't too bad.

    But when my form is obviously wrong, and my back takes most of the load in the squat, I think it's natural to feel like the weight is killing me - bad form is after all the primary reason (atleast for me) for missing reps. And I've missed a lot of reps recently.
    Plus there's the fact that I might get injured from just continuing with that kind of weight while my back flops around because of my form.

    With that said, I get your point about working harder.


    Is it okay if I post a follow-up video after trying your cues, or do you consider this thread /closed ?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Wolf View Post
    ...if you think these are hard reps that you can't go heavier on, you need to recalibrate your expectations of what it's going to take to get strong. Getting strong is hard. It's supposed to be hard, and will usually be hard. These reps are fast and fairly easy. Don't be such a wuss, expect it to be hard and get under the bar and dominate it anyway.
    This is another great quote that should go on the list Nick compiled recently. In looking at OPs reps here and comparing to my own (at similar weight...but 19 years older & fatter)...I realize that mental barriers probably continue to be my limiting factor more than anything else. Gotta remind myself (and OP should too)...if you set the safeties and you truly do fail a rep...who gets a shit...rerack it and get back to it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bavnemand View Post
    Thank you for your answer Wolf.
    I know that it requires hard work to get strong, and yeah, this was one of my better sets where the forward lean weren't too bad.

    But when my form is obviously wrong, and my back takes most of the load in the squat, I think it's natural to feel like the weight is killing me - bad form is after all the primary reason (atleast for me) for missing reps. And I've missed a lot of reps recently.
    Plus there's the fact that I might get injured from just continuing with that kind of weight while my back flops around because of my form.

    With that said, I get your point about working harder.


    Is it okay if I post a follow-up video after trying your cues, or do you consider this thread /closed ?
    Most of this reads as if you didn't really understand the first paragraph of my response.

    Yes, post another vid after trying it again.

    Quote Originally Posted by entering40strongerthan20 View Post
    This is another great quote that should go on the list Nick compiled recently. In looking at OPs reps here and comparing to my own (at similar weight...but 19 years older & fatter)...I realize that mental barriers probably continue to be my limiting factor more than anything else. Gotta remind myself (and OP should too)...if you set the safeties and you truly do fail a rep...who gets a shit...rerack it and get back to it.
    Thank you, sir. It's not always easy, but you've gotta frame it as YOU are using the barbell to get stronger, not the barbell inexorably crushing you into the floor.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Wolf View Post
    Most of this reads as if you didn't really understand the first paragraph of my response.
    No, I think I understand, but there is a fine line between manning up and lifting something heavy, and simply putting too much weight on the bar with bad technique. And the latter is what I fear I'm doing... Maybe because I'm not experienced under the bar, so I don't know where my limits are and what heavy-as-fuck really means.

    But I still added 5lbs to the bar for the next workout, even though I didn't think I could lift it at all. Proves you and entering40strongerthan20 right, I guess, even though the form isn't great.
    This is the last set.


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    Oh yeah, I have one more question I forgot to include...

    I haven't been able to add weight steadily (on my squat and press only) for the past month.
    - Do you think I'm reaching the "Advanced Novice" phase, where I only add weight 2 times a week on squats? I'm a little confused as to how I know if I've reached that stage.

    My other lifts are progressing somewhat steadily.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bavnemand View Post
    But I still added 5lbs to the bar for the next workout, even though I didn't think I could lift it at all. Proves you and entering40strongerthan20 right, I guess, even though the form isn't great.
    Precisely.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bavnemand View Post
    Oh yeah, I have one more question I forgot to include...

    I haven't been able to add weight steadily (on my squat and press only) for the past month.
    - Do you think I'm reaching the "Advanced Novice" phase, where I only add weight 2 times a week on squats? I'm a little confused as to how I know if I've reached that stage.

    My other lifts are progressing somewhat steadily.
    You probably should have switched to the Advanced Novice stage a little while ago. Better late than never. Switch immediately. Gp up in weight on the 2 end days and use the middle/lighter day to really focus and dial in your technique at 70-80% of the most recent heavy day, staying over mid-foot, and apply it to your heavy days. When you fail a rep or reps at the same weight two heavy workouts in a row, do a re-set and work your way back up.

  9. #9
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    Hi Bavnemand.
    I'm a total novice, so take this from that perspective: for my first several weeks, I was squatting in a set up with no safeties. I was overly tentative. Then, when I started squating in a set up with safeties, I got more confident with pushing myself, because failing a set is hardly catastrophic.

    It looks to me like there are no safeties in your set up. If that's right and you can change to get some safeties, you may find it mentally easier to push yourself.

    Take that for what it's worth. (By the way, beautiful space for lifting!)

  10. #10
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    Hello DingusMingus.

    Yes, I can definitely see what you mean and I strongly agree that the reassurance of the safeties helps mentally boost your confidence...

    Right now, there is always a small part of my brain going "oops, the last rep was kinda hard, better not go for the next one - no safeties, remember?"

    I wish the gym I go to had safeties, but they don't, and they're not willing to invest in them - I know the guy who runs it, and the higher-ups don't really care for barbell training, unfortunately.



    Wolf, I have another question that I hope you can answer:
    I've worked my way up to 315, but I think my back is going too much into flexion, it looks kind of horrible:



    It's impossible for me to keep my back in extension on these reps - but when I go lighter (@0:50 mark, doing 225, same day) I think I'm doing a better job.
    Is it just because the bar is going forward of the mid-foot, or do you think it is necessary to deload and work my way back up?

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