Why do my squats suck??

[Galgenstrick]

So the spinal erectors should be contracted through the whole lift? Abs tight and chest not so far back? I'm having trouble keeping my lower back from rounding at the bottom, even though everything feels really tight.



Edit:

Agreeing with Manveer here. Even with the bar you are setting up with an exagerated lower back curvature. Instead of pulling your chest so far BACK (to get tight), you might think about pulling your chest OPEN. And then when you set your abs, think about pulling your ribs down to your hips.

I'm looking in the mirror a bit. "Ribs down" is making a huge difference while just standing. I will try this with the bar tomorrow. Really appreciate this tip. I have always been afraid of rounding my upper back which is why my chest has been way up. That looks to be why my lower back is arched so bad. Excited to try this out.

[DannyP]

So the spinal erectors should be contracted through the whole lift? Abs tight and chest not so far back? I'm having trouble keeping my lower back from rounding at the bottom, even though everything feels really tight.



Edit:




I'm looking in the mirror a bit. "Ribs down" is making a huge difference while just standing. I will try this with the bar tomorrow. Really appreciate this tip. I have always been afraid of rounding my upper back which is why my chest has been way up. That looks to be why my lower back is arched so bad. Excited to try this out.

Another thing I learned with regards to avoiding upper back rounding that I found helpful was to cue myself to "squeeze my shoulder blades together" rather than "maintain a big chest." I realize the latter is the typical cue, and works for most, but for me it works much better to tighten the upper back by imagining I was trying to get my shoulder blades to touch.

[Galgenstrick]

A little more practice today. I really tried to focus on keeping my abs tight and pushing my ribs down. I see some changes in my lower back, especially at the top. Hopefully I'm on the right track here...

Squat Practice - Ribs down - YouTube

[manveer]

A little more practice today. I really tried to focus on keeping my abs tight and pushing my ribs down. I see some changes in my lower back, especially at the top. Hopefully I'm on the right track here...

Squat Practice - Ribs down - YouTube

That looks pretty good. Let's see with some weight on the bar.

[Scott Hanson]

Definitely much better at the top; no overarched lumbar. You are still getting some lumbar flexion at the bottom, which will probably not go away with more weight on the bar. Have you tried Rip's face-down on the floor "superman" drill?

[Galgenstrick]

Definitely much better at the top; no overarched lumbar. You are still getting some lumbar flexion at the bottom, which will probably not go away with more weight on the bar. Have you tried Rip's face-down on the floor "superman" drill?

Thanks. Glad it's improved. I'll do that drill as part of my warmup. Will post some weighted squats later today from my workout.

[Galgenstrick]

Alrighty. Here's my 3 working sets at 155lbs today. Looking forward to improving these even more. These felt much more solid than last workout. More balanced, more ridged and definitely more power in the hips instead of the quads, and even a bit more depth! I'll keep taking any suggestions you guys can give me.


Set 1:
155 x 5 SS Squats 1/3 - YouTube

Set 2:
155 x 5 SS Squats 2/3 - YouTube

Set 3:
155 x 5 SS Squats 3/3 - YouTube

[HomeBrew]

Looks so much better. Keep those abs braced and focus on a vertical bar path and you will have it nailed. See if you can close your grip a bit to tighten up the muscles under the bar.

[Galgenstrick]

Looks so much better. Keep those abs braced and focus on a vertical bar path and you will have it nailed. See if you can close your grip a bit to tighten up the muscles under the bar.

Awesome! I'm going to look into a belt as well so I can train myself to really focus on keeping the core tight and pressing hard into the belt. I think the bar path improved a bit on the last set; next time I'll cue myself to keep the weight mid foot the whole time.

As for the grip, I can get narrower but pulled a muscle in between my shoulder blade a couple months ago because of it. I'm working on shoulder mobility every time I warm up, and working back to getting the grip closer.