Squat check.

[PizzaDad]

I know that the way I hold the bar is an abomination. I had shoulder surgery 17 years ago. I will not get full range of motion ever.....I am now working on mobility every day. I am hoping that I will be able to get my hands properly on the bar. Yes, it looks like I could get a terrible injury to my shoulders, but if I need to I can just bail . I can drop to the rear and it doesn't hurt.
I know I need to keep my head down. I am working to break that habit. Trying to get my butt lower.....part of that is repaired knee.(ACL surgery 19 months ago)...part is I just have crap mobility.

Squat2-9-17 - YouTube

The weight today was 275 lb

[Randy Scheingold]

Welcome to the program. First the bad news...your squat is about 8 or 9 inches too high. Not even close to parallel. Check out my video from today (in my intermediate log)...I'm worried about depth on my reps, but compare those to your video.

Now, the good news....you are in the RIGHT place to get straightened out. Looking at your video, I would definitely suggest in person coaching first. Your prior surgeries & mobility issues may need more hands on assistance then just form checks to work through. If that is not an option. Keep posting progress here and the group will help set you straight. First 3 things to work on:

1) Knees Out \ Go much deeper....video every set, including warm ups and only add weight if you hit depth. When bar speed slows down or depth gets high...that's your new workset weight. It may be as low as 185 at proper depth....don't worry about that.
2) Head down (not sure if that is harder due to the shoulders)
3) Break hips & knees at the same time.

Also, get some safeties for your rack. using them will increase your confidence and may help you go deeper without fear of crushing yourself.

Keep it up and don't get discouraged.

May not hurt to post your other lifts as well (separate posts each) if you haven't yet.

[Jeremy Tully]

Welcome to the program. First the bad news...your squat is about 8 or 9 inches too high. Not even close to parallel. Check out my video from today (in my intermediate log)...I'm worried about depth on my reps, but compare those to your video.

Now, the good news....you are in the RIGHT place to get straightened out. Looking at your video, I would definitely suggest in person coaching first. Your prior surgeries & mobility issues may need more hands on assistance then just form checks to work through. If that is not an option. Keep posting progress here and the group will help set you straight. First 3 things to work on:

1) Knees Out \ Go much deeper....video every set, including warm ups and only add weight if you hit depth. When bar speed slows down or depth gets high...that's your new workset weight. It may be as low as 185 at proper depth....don't worry about that.
2) Head down (not sure if that is harder due to the shoulders)
3) Break hips & knees at the same time.

Also, get some safeties for your rack. using them will increase your confidence and may help you go deeper without fear of crushing yourself.

Keep it up and don't get discouraged.

May not hurt to post your other lifts as well (separate posts each) if you haven't yet.

There is a lot of good advice above.

But OP, I am going to be blunt: the way you are holding the bar right now is a disaster waiting to happen. Either get a grip on the bar in the low bar position, or, if you can't do that, you need to squat high bar. A coach can help you figure this out.

Beyond that, there are a lot of issues with the squat, already identified above. Take all that weight off and fix your squat, then work it back up with correct technique.

[marcf]

I think if you're truly finding it impossible to hold the bar in the way it's described in the book, or anything at all remotely close to it, you should try a safety squat bar. I'm not sure how much your shoulder surgery limited your range of motion, but if it's that bad, your options are limited. You can't squat like that forever. Mark Bell squats with his arms out wide, but he has more meat on him to hold the bar up, and he's still got his hands on the bar. Sort of.

[PizzaDad]

I will continue with the shoulder mobility exercises. I will lower my weights and work on getting my ass lower in the hole. That is probably going to require a lot more knee stretching....almost as painful as the shoulder work. When I think I have made some progress I will repost.
Thank you.

[Ryan Arnold]

I will continue with the shoulder mobility exercises. I will lower my weights and work on getting my ass lower in the hole. That is probably going to require a lot more knee stretching....almost as painful as the shoulder work. When I think I have made some progress I will repost.
Thank you.

I'd bet a lot of money you have zero mobility restrictions preventing you from getting your ass below parallel. Working with a SSC even for just a couple sessions will save you a ton of time trying to fix all this on your own.

[PizzaDad]

There is one starting strength coach listed in Richmond va. From the website,the place looks like a yoga studio that also does crossfit and barbell training. Maybe she can fix my squat.

[David Geiger]

There is one starting strength coach listed in Richmond va. From the website,the place looks like a yoga studio that also does crossfit and barbell training. Maybe she can fix my squat.

If you are talking about Cassie, she is great. She just moved to Richmond from Atlanta where she trained and coached at Atlanta Barbell (home to several of us on this forum). Give her a call and she'll get you straightened out (pun intended?).

[Cassi Niemann]

If you are talking about Cassie, she is great. She just moved to Richmond from Atlanta where she trained and coached at Atlanta Barbell (home to several of us on this forum). Give her a call and she'll get you straightened out (pun intended?).

Thanks Dave! We set something up next week. Can't wait to meet PizzaDad!