Squat Form Check – 215 lbs (pain in left biceps)

[Tinkerius]

Hi Coaches,

I’d appreciate some feedback on my squat form in this video:

http://<a href="https://www.youtube.... - YouTube</a>

I did that yesterday for a PR, and it felt easy (even though I don’t think I hit depth on reps 2-4, and it looks like I could stand to have way more hip drive), but my biggest immediate problem is that right after each set, I felt pain in my left biceps (in what feels like both the biceps brachii and the brachialis). The pain increased with each set, and by the time I got to overhead pressing, my left arm felt like weak, useless jelly.

Any thoughts on what could be causing the pain? The bar felt stable and firm on my back (no rolling up or down on the back at any point, and the weight never felt like it was shifting to either my toes or heels), and I was really trying to tighten my back and narrow my grip to keep weight off my hands. I’ve also been focusing on incorporating Bill Hannon’s “proud chest” cue from his recent article on thoracic spinal flexion in the squat, as I have a tendency to round the thoracic spine on the way up.

Thanks for your time.

[Steve Hill]

Link to video does not work. Post preview is your friend.

[Tinkerius]

Sorry about that. It looks to be embedding now when I preview the message:

[Steve Hill]

Bar might be a bit far down your back, and elbows are lifted a little hard. fix that, widen your grip one or two fingers. If it persists, you might read the "elbow headache" thread below.

That being said, these are all high. And everything is moving forward at the bottom. Get your knees set earlier in the rep, and out harder, then sit back and bend over and get deeper.

[Tinkerius]

Thanks, Steve. I'll try to position the bar a bit higher, lower my elbows, and widen my grip. I only notice now that you've pointed it out that I do still slide my knees forward at the bottom, despite my trying to fix that problem for weeks. I'll aim to shove the knees out even more quickly and forcefully.

[Tinkerius]

Just wanted to report back to say thanks for giving me the advice that fixed the problem: I implemented your advice, and since yesterday's session (the 2nd session since the video I posted), I've had zero biceps or elbow pain (and I hit a PR). Widening the grip a good 2-3 cm on each side, keeping the bar much higher while still being below the spine of the scapula (for some misguided reason I had been thinking: "If just below the spine of the scapula is good, even lower must be better!"), and only raising my elbows up as much as necessary to create a shelf for the bar--all that did the trick.