Squat Form Check

[hehejo]

I had trouble with staying on my heels while looking slightly down, thus why I am looking slightly up now which fixed that issue for me. If that's really bad then let me know.

[Steve Hill]

You're not having trouble keeping your heels on the floor because of your head position. You're having trouble keeping your heels on the floor because you are performing a high-bar squat with the bar in the low-bar position. Note the excessive and continuous knee travel. Re-read the section on knee travel in SS:BBT. Knees should be set in place after the first 1/3-1/2 of the ROM of the squat. Yours never get set - they are in motion continuously.

Once you set your knees, sit back, and bend over.

[hehejo]

Tried to sit more back. Could definitely feel the posterior chain working much harder, but the knees are still moving from what I can tell.

Is that deep enough? I tried to go lower on the warmup sets but it lead to lower back rounding at the bottom.

[Steve Hill]

Yes. You need to set your knees early in the rep. The final position is right, you just need to get there sooner, and then keep them still when they get there. Now, fix your back (you're slouching at the top when you unrack the bar, and you never fix it - get your chest up, and fix your head - get your head down) and you'll be well on your way to a perfectly adequate squat. Take a bit more time between reps to take a huge, deep breath and squeeze down on it harder. Your depth in these is fine.

[hehejo]

Here is another try. Not deep enough though from what I can see and still the problem at the top.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO0v1NrdqGg

[Steve Hill]

You are not setting your knees early in the rep and then sitting back. Do you understand what I mean by this? During the first 1/3-1/2 of the rep, the knees do all their forward travel, and then stop for the bottom 1/2-2/3 of the rep. Control them better at the bottom - do not let them stab forward.

Don't worry, for some people this is hard. Even experienced lifters can let this sneak back into their squat. You just have to make it go away. TUBOW might be helpful here.

[hehejo]

Thanks a lot for the feedback so far, really appreciate it.

Tried again today, is that more like it?



Is the following correct?
1. unlock hips
2. bend knees
3. sit down/backwards?

[Steve Hill]

Is the following correct?
1. unlock hips
2. bend knees
3. sit down/backwards?

No. Knees / hips should unlock / bend at the same time. Once knees get out over toes (during the 1st 1/2-2/3rds of the rep), they then stay in place while you sit down/back and bend over.

In this video, you are actually unlocking your knees first.

[hehejo]

And the next round... I feel like I am not making any progress at all... Try to fix one thing, another one goes wrong again...

Are there any coaches in or around Switzerland I could go visit?

[Steve Hill]

From this angle it looks like your stance in incorrect - you need to turn your toes out more. Keep your head down and control your knees better at the bottom, which may be helped by fixing your stance. YOu have to learn to control what you can control absolutely and do it every time. As an example, fix your stance, and make sure before you do your first squat that your stance is correct, because once you get it right, at least for that set it will remain correct. Same with bar position (yours is fine). From there, you have to start adding things you can control. Your head. Your knees. It's a process, not an event.

No SS coaches in Switzerland that I know of. We do have one in Finland though...