Squat form check

[Motomo]

Hi,

new to the forum, but not the program. Lifting for a while now. What do you think about my form? Thanks in advance.

[Michael Wolf]

I hope when you say you've been lifting for a while that you mean a few weeks, unless those are by some chance 100lb plates, in which case a couple months would be ok. Otherwise, you should definitely be lifting more weight, and be bigger yourself.

That said, regarding your squats:
- Big breath, hold, and set your back between each rep. Stop breathing in on the way down, and I don't see you setting your back.
- Unlock your hips and knees together. You're currently pushing hips back first.
- Cut off about 4 inches of depth, so you're an inch or two below parallel. The extra depth is loosening you up at the bottom.

A few more things to fix, too, but focus on those and let's see how it looks.

[Motomo]

Thank you for your post. Second round of linear progression after a psmf. Squat is my weakest lift. It was 192lbs total.

Having some health problems, today with 176lbs.

I think it did better, but have to focus on breathing and setting the back.

[Tom Campitelli]

You are still going too deep and on many reps you send your butt back first, followed by flexing the knees. Make your descent smoother. Don't go so deep.

[Aslin]

Are they not high bar?

Also I'd focus on tightening my back as Michael mentions. Pinch those shoulder blades together and think about bringing your elbows in, they look like they're flared out in my humble (non professional) opinion.

[Tom Campitelli]

Are they not high bar?

They may well be. It's tough to tell from the video, but I suspect you are correct.

[Michael Wolf]

They do look like high bar position in this video. Though like Tom said, it's a bit hard to tell from the video, I think this second post with the two sets clearly shows a bar over the shoulders, whereas in the first post, it was more ambiguous.

OP - what is a psmf? If you tell us you're not new to the program and have been lifting for a while now, but haven't squatted more than 192x5, then there's a problem.

[Motomo]

They do look like high bar position in this video. Though like Tom said, it's a bit hard to tell from the video, I think this second post with the two sets clearly shows a bar over the shoulders, whereas in the first post, it was more ambiguous.

OP - what is a psmf? If you tell us you're not new to the program and have been lifting for a while now, but haven't squatted more than 192x5, then there's a problem.

In my opinion I was doing high bar, but a coach (in my country) told my it was low bar. In the new videos it should definitively be low bar.

psmf = Protein-Sparing Modified Fast (Rapid Fat Loss by Lyle). My Squat maximum was 254lbs 2 Months ago, but let me explain. I failed twice 259lbs @5000kcal, so I deloaded -20%, but before I could get back, I got ill and other stuff, so wasn't able to lift for 3 weeks. This was a huge setback for me. After this time I got into "Neanderthal No More" for a few weeks to fix my posture, work on my butt wink and loose some bodyfat. 2 weeks ago, i got back to the program, but wasn't satisfied with my squat form (what I never really was), why I started a Thread here.

I started at 150lbs @ 6'1" (skin and bones, no muscle, never was into sport) and bulked up to 190lbs, now 176lbs bodyweight. So pretty much standard here, I guess.

Squat felt different today, seems to be the first time I really setted my back (never got told, never read somewhere), therefore tomorrow I will start to work through the squat chapter again (as you may have noticed, I'm not a native speaker).

Thank you so much for your posts.

[Tom Campitelli]

I can guarantee you speak better English than I can speak your language, whatever that may be. You are kind of wobbly on your descent. I also suspect you may let your knees go forward at the bottom. Keep the knees out. Think "chin down, chest up" at the top. You don't lift your chest on the squat, but you want to start with your back in extension and keep it there. Your depth looks about right.

6'1" and 176 pounds is pretty skinny. You don't need a gallon of milk a day to squat 187 pounds, but you do need to eat and train hard. Pick one thing and dedicate yourself to doing it. You need to squat 100 kg sooner rather than later. Then, you need to get to 125 kg. I train small women who squat significantly more than 187 pounds. Think of them and get pissed. As a male of your size, you have potential to squat much heavier weights.