READ THIS FIRST BEFORE POSTING - Posting to the Technique Forum
Technique Forum: Form checks and technical discussion of the lifts
Before you post a form check, we encourage you to look through the hundreds, or possibly thousands, of form checks we have already done. Watch the video, try to figure out what we'll say, then go check what the SSC says, and follow up with the further re-checks. Your issue has almost certainly been addressed at least a dozen times before.
Good topics for the Technique Forum:
- Form checks
- How to correct form problems
- How to modify technique to accommodate special cases
Want feedback on your form check from a Starting Strength Coach? Make sure to see Starting Strength Forums General Information on how to get answers to your questions from Starting Strength Coaches, plus other information on participation, moderation/moderators, and more.
Here are several general recommendations when posting questions to the technique forum:
1) Post a video. Really, sometimes we have to say this.
- If you film the exercise in portrait mode, find a way to rotate it so that people don't have to turn their heads to the side. If you don't have time to figure out how to rotate it, you don't have time to post the video. Others have figured this out. So can you.
- Use support for your camera. A tripod is the gold standard. If not, a chair, a box, or a stack of plates works nicely. If it is handheld, try to lean against something, or sit down and brace your arm. Watching shaky footage needlessly inflicts pain on your viewers.
- Learn to use video editing software. There is basic stuff out there for free that will do what you need. Windows Movie Maker and iMovie come to mind. If you have a minute of you setting up the camera and getting psyched for a lift, you are wasting everyone's time. Clip out most of the stuff in the beginning so that we can see the lifts.
- Better quality footage results in easier diagnosis. It is 2010 and if you want free coaching from anonymous people on the Internet, borrow your friend's camera instead of using a four year old cell phone. It will make everyone involved happier. (More importantly, it will make SSCs and/or me happier, which is all that matters. Your happiness depends on our happiness, so for your own safety, make us happy. - Steve in ATL)
2) Post your last working set. We want to see you at your tired worst. That means the tape should show 5 reps - 3 for cleans. At your working weight. Don't post a "light weight" because you were "working on your technique." Please don't post sets of 6/9/12 reps - you shouldn't be doing them, so we don't want to look at them.
3) Don't wear black or other really dark colors - it's hard to see some of the landmarks that we're looking for. Grey is usually good.
4) Get as much light as possible on you. Let me repeat: You are not using enough light. USE MORE.
5) Show your set-up, and include all of you in the frame. Sometimes we want to see where you're putting your feet / hands / head.
6) If it is a follow-up video, post a link to your previous technique thread.
For each of the lifts, here are some additional recommendations:
SQUAT
1) From the front / rear quarter, at eye level is usually the best, but sometimes from the side will be necessary. We will tell you when this is so.
- Position the camera at roughly hip height at a 45-degree angle from whoever is exercising. Videos from the side and back or front have their uses, but if you can only post one video, please choose a 45. This keeps the plates out of the way and allows us to see all of the joints and what they are doing. No angle is perfect and shows everything, but the 45s are a nice compromise.
- Take away note: Do no film from floor level. We will deride you.
2) Try to keep obstructions to a minimum.
3) Put the camera at what would be eye level, just like we were there with you. Don't put the camera 6" off the ground, or we will have you fucking killed.
4) Since you're doing 3 sets, try to take one set from the front quarter, from the rear quarter, and then your last set from the side. That way you have the other two angles if needed.
5) KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN. 95% of you will make this very basic mistake. I guarantee it.
DEADLIFT
1) Show your set-up. Show your set-up. SHOW YOUR FUCKING SET-UP.
2) Best if filmed from the side or the front quarter. We need to see where you put your feet / hands / knees, and this can be done from a high side-shot.
- Make sure that your head and feet are in the frame at all times. This means you may have to back up a good way from whoever is lifting.
3) We need to see the entire bar path. That means we need to see the close end of the bar for the entire range of the rep.
4) Show your set-up.
PRESS
1) Shot best from the front quarter. Need to be able to see the lockout position, and the entire body at least from the knees up.
BENCH PRESS
1) Usually shot best from above the head of the lifter looking down at a 45 degree angle (from where the spotter would stand), although from the side is good as long as we can see where the bar touches the chest, as well as the end of the bar.
POWER CLEAN
1) From the front quarter is almost always best because we need to see set-up, but the side is good too as long as the camera is far enough back. See rule #1 on the deadlift.
2) Make sure you show the end of the bar for the entire bar path or we will have you killed.
From Rip:
Do not post clearly above-parallel squats on these forums. This wastes the forum's time and it is the most basic responsibility you have if you're going to train using this method. Look at the video before you post it. Learn what depth is. If it is high, do not post it.
And be careful about posting YouTube videos with copyright-protected music or anything else in the background. They don't like that, and they may block the video.
