1) Get your knees out better. Your stance might be a bit (like 1 inch) wide. (That's 2.54cm for the metricentric).
2) Let your knees come a LITTLE farther forward.
3) You are about an inch (see the previous comment about 2.54cm) deep.
4) Shoes.
✓ Member
Squat form check
Hello coaches,
Height - 163 cm
Weight - 77 kg
I am currently doing the advanced novice program.
This was my main set @ 142kg x 5 reps.
Thank you.
Starting Strength Coach
1) Get your knees out better. Your stance might be a bit (like 1 inch) wide. (That's 2.54cm for the metricentric).
2) Let your knees come a LITTLE farther forward.
3) You are about an inch (see the previous comment about 2.54cm) deep.
4) Shoes.
✓ Member
Thanks for the help, Steve. Especially for the ISO friendly advice accurate down to the hundredth of a centimetre
Originally Posted by Steve Hill
I realize that my stance tends to be slightly wider than what I generally see in the forums. On this occasion it might be wider than my usual. I'll narrow it down consciously. Do I need to increase the angle of my feet to get the knees out better?
I tried narrower close to shoulder width stance previously but had issues with it. eg: leaning one to either of the legs and weight often shifting on to the toes. I have a slight case of knock knees (it's hereditary). I reasoned that the width I'm comfortable with would be such that straight lines drawn along my femurs to the ground in front view would be of shoulder width, even though the feet might be slightly farther apart. Someone with bow-legs might have to narrow the width etc.There's no scientific background to my thinking but rather me explaining away to myself what I found to be more comfortable. How close to the truth am I or am I merely being hyper-imaginative?
I understood farther forward the knees, more the stress on them. What changes should I make to the set up to get my knees a little more forward?
It is a bit intentional on my part. I chose err on the side of caution than risk not hitting the depth. But being that conservative is difficult as the weight becomes heavier. I'll try TUBOW.
Chuck Taylors are the only thin and hard soled shoes available in India. I see that I need to move on to a more suitable pair of lifting shoes.
Starting Strength Coach
No. You should be fine. The book explains why a too-wide stance can affect knees out though.
This would be hard to see without being with you in the gym. Your knees may need to track parallel to your feet but actually inside them, which would give the appearance of your knees being caved in during the rep. Over video that would be tough to see.
None. You use your massive brain to make your knees go forward more.
TUBOW has nothing to do with depth.
You're in India. You could probably have someone make you a pair for less than what CTs cost you.
✓ Member
I have narrowed my stance, used my massive brain to make my knees move forward an inch and also the knee are a little more outward now
Can you suggest a technique to get the squat depth right? I tried 143 kg the following session and I hit the safety pins on the way down on the third rep.
Not in India, Steve. China, maybe. India is more into software than manufacturing. I could find a cobbler who can make leather shoes on order. I bought my Chuck Taylors for less than $10. So, a custom made shoe would be more expensive
Any pointers on what goes into making of a lifting shoe and the basic requirements? How I wish we could have the lifting shoe equivalent of SS power rack plans!
As a follow up to the video I posted, the entire next week, I missed every single lift except the dead lift PR @ 161kg x 5 on Friday. And even that, I might not have locked my knees correctly on 3 and 4. I wasn't tired, my diet was fine and so was sleep. It's just as if my mind is repulsed at the idea of a barbell. Entire week felt jaded, desolate and vacuous in the gym. So, out of sheer desperation, I started TM this Monday. Even the 126kg x5 x5 felt uncomfortable. I tried a lighter deadlift @156kg too but managed only 3 reps (Having done 161kg x 5 two days ago). And I'm looking forward to a failed squat on Friday. I'll be grateful for any suggestions.
Once again, thanks for your time, efforts and help
Starting Strength Coach
Starting Strength
✓ Member
Guess I asked the question for which the answer is the SS equivalent of 42
1) Resting time between my heavy squats has been 7~9 minutes for month and a half
2) My weight jumps have been 1kg from 133kg to 143kg. I can try 0.5kg increments but I doubt if there's a whole of of novice progression left with the technique modification you suggested. I could try but I don't want to feel horrible in the gym for another week or wreck my other lifts
3) My sleep and diet are fine
Guess that leaves moving on to an intermediate program the only logical option. TM ahoy!
Starting Strength Coach
Post our stats. What weights did you start each of the lifts at, how long you have been performing a NLP, body weight at the start, current body weight(already posted). For instance, how much weight have you gained over the last four weeks? Two weeks? Since last week?
Member
If I may add in a question. How do you determine that his knees are too far backwards?
✓ Member
Height - 163 cm
Weight - 77 kg
Age - 36
I started SS LP proper around an year and a half ago, once I got hold of a power rack. Before that I was substituting leg press and dumb bell squats for proper SS squats. While running LP, I had taken a couple of breaks of one to two months each. The last break was due to the fact that I suffered a bulged disc trying a 5RM DL of 156kg with very poor form and a greedy increment of 5kg over the previous 5RM. At that point, my lifts were;
Squat - 133kg x 3 (was stuck there forever)
Press - 59kg x 5
Deadlift - 151kg x 5; 156kg x 4 (resulted in injury)
Benchpress - 82kg x 5
Power Clean - 66kg x 3
The current LP started around 5 months ago. I began with very conservative weights and increments due to the disc injury. I must note that deadlifts helped a lot with my recovery and my physio was surprised at the pace of recovery. As the squat went past 138kg x 5 or so, my other lifts started to suffer. I couldn't get past press of 64.5kg x 3 x 2, benchpress of 90kg x 3 x 2 and the power cleans fell from 70kg x 3 x 5 to 61kg x 2 x 2 over a period of two weeks. I did deadlift a PR of 161kg x 5 x 1 the Friday before the last but it was with very ugly form (didn't lock my knees on the 3rd and 4th and was screaming out loud at the end of each rep, given, I usually lift quiet and efficient). At that point, my max. lifts were;
Squat - 142kg x 5; 143 kg x 3
Press - 64.5kg x 3
Deadlift - 161kg x 5
Benchpress - 90kg x 3
Power Clean - 70kg x 3
My weight at the begining of this LP was 80kg and it dropped to 76~77kg in 6 weeks and maintained that level ever since
I tried out TM last week. This is how it went
Volume day Intensity Day Squat 126kg x 5 x 5 140kg x 5 Benchpress 76kg x 5 x 5 91 kg x 3 Deadlift 156kg x 3 x 1 161kg x 5
I didn't try cleans on Monday as I just didn't have the confidence. Tried a lighter than max. DL of 156kg but gave up after 3 reps. On Friday, everything felt great. It was a PR on benchpress and the deadlift of 161kg x 5 felt very good, even though a repeat of the same load as the previous Friday
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