poor squat form causing injuries?

[threeonethree]

Hi Coach,

Age 29
Weight 91 Kg
Height 6 feet

I read the squat chapter, saw the videos, read the articles. But my poor squat form gave me pain in my 1) Knees (top of patella) 2) Upper back ( near the shoulder blade) 3) Arm( Near the bottom of the bicep and elbow).

Doc gave me anti inflammatory medicine for 10 days and i skipped gym for 2 weeks. Upon returning I deloaded to 45 Kg from 90 Kg and added TUBOW.

This is my latest workout video with 2 different angles.

I still feel like i am doing everything wrong and getting out of the hole feels like a "leg press".

Please help me in improving as i do not want to have the same injuries again. I live in a remote location and do not have access to any coach.

[Brodie Butland]

Yeah, we've got some problems. I'm going to focus on the major ones, with the hope that we can iron out the minor ones later.

(1) Back extension basically doesn't exist. You overextend your spine in the top half of the movement, and lose lumbar extension in the bottom half. That's why your bar path is all over the place and your knees are shooting forward at the bottom.

We want a NEUTRAL spine. To illustrate, find a mirror and stand sideways with no shirt on. Extend your lower back only...you should see your pelvis tilt back but your torso remain stationary. This is overextension, and we don't want that. Now contract your abdominals isometrically, then extend your lower back...you should feel your lower back extensors contract hard, but your lower back should remain close to the position it was at the beginning. This is neutral extension, and it's what we want in the squat and deadlift.

tl; dr - Hold your back in neutral extension through the movement.

(2) You're breaking at the hips first, then breaking at the knees. They should break at the same time, plant your knees at their final location in the first 1/3 to 1/2 of the descent, and then keep them there for the remainder of the movement.

Also, where is the TUBOW located relative to your toes? Where does the book say it should be located?

(3) Stop reaching for depth at the bottom. Hit depth and drive up. You shouldn't be slowing down as you approach the bottom.


Try incorporating these and we'll go from there.

[Brodie Butland]

Also:

https://startingstrengthonlinecoaching.com/

[AndrewLewis]

You're about 3 inches too deep.

[Brodie Butland]

You're about 3 inches too deep.

At times, yes--an artifact of losing back extension before even breaking parallel.

[IlPrincipeBrutto]

At times, yes--an artifact of losing back extension before even breaking parallel.

I would also say an artifact of having the TUBOW too close to the toes, which pushes the knees too far back.

IPB

[threeonethree]

Yeah, we've got some problems. I'm going to focus on the major ones, with the hope that we can iron out the minor ones later.

(1) Back extension basically doesn't exist. You overextend your spine in the top half of the movement, and lose lumbar extension in the bottom half. That's why your bar path is all over the place and your knees are shooting forward at the bottom.

We want a NEUTRAL spine. To illustrate, find a mirror and stand sideways with no shirt on. Extend your lower back only...you should see your pelvis tilt back but your torso remain stationary. This is overextension, and we don't want that. Now contract your abdominals isometrically, then extend your lower back...you should feel your lower back extensors contract hard, but your lower back should remain close to the position it was at the beginning. This is neutral extension, and it's what we want in the squat and deadlift.

tl; dr - Hold your back in neutral extension through the movement.

(2) You're breaking at the hips first, then breaking at the knees. They should break at the same time, plant your knees at their final location in the first 1/3 to 1/2 of the descent, and then keep them there for the remainder of the movement.

Also, where is the TUBOW located relative to your toes? Where does the book say it should be located?

(3) Stop reaching for depth at the bottom. Hit depth and drive up. You shouldn't be slowing down as you approach the bottom.


Try incorporating these and we'll go from there.

Hi coach,

The overextension in my lower back seems from me trying to put my chest up which automatically puts an arch in my lower back. Also harder to brace the abs while keeping the chest up.

I tried these things. after putting 1/2 inch of gap between tubow and my toes

1) Pulled air in my stomach and made it as tight as i could before every rep. Tried not to over extend my back.
2) Tried cutting off the depth for the squat.
3) Tried bending over more using the "nips to the floor" cue
4) Could not focus on my knees while incorporating points 1,2,3


I still feel like my back is over extending specially when i am nearing the bottom. Also in couple of reps i felt the weight was coming on my toes. Do i just need to try bracing harder or is there anything i am missing? The pain in my upper back(only right side, near the shoulder blade) has returned and this is very light weight! I do not know if it is from my squat or any other exercise(press?bench?deadlift?).

Two video angles.

[threeonethree]

my back is still rounding. And i felt the weight over my toes in 1-2 reps. I am bracing as hard as i can. Any cue or exercise to get this fixed? In the second part of the video i kept a small salt shaker(containing chalk) 3-4 feet infront of me to set my gaze on.

[threeonethree]

only thing i am not sqeezing hard is my glutes.. is that the solution?

[threeonethree]

up