Squat Form Check

[Rufus]

Hi coaches,

Recently I filmed a set of squats with the intention of posting the video here for a form check. This was the first time in a couple of months I had been able to film any sets & when I checked the video, I realised I didn't need to post it here as it was clear to me my form had turned to shit. It was never that great to begin with, but at least I used to always go deep enough. The major issues I could see had developed over time, were a lack of depth & excessive forward lean at the beginning of the ascent.

I deloaded about a week ago & have been focused on improving my form, I managed to film my squats again today & have uploaded my 3rd set at 127.5kg for you to look at. I can see that I'm still not quite reaching parallel so I will repeat this weight again & focus a bit more on depth next time. What other things do I need to improve upon, to get my squat form a bit closer to being acceptable?

Thanks

[Tom Campitelli]

Your stance is a little wide and you are moving quite slowly. Aside from those issues and your lacking depth, I've seen a lot worse. You need to go several inches deeper. Fight the tendency to let your upper back round on the ascent. Based on your bar speed, I would suspect this will require taking some weight off the bar to accomplish. What happens in the event that you cannot stand up with the weight? Are there safety spotter arms, or are you able to dump the bar. Those look like iron plates, so I suspect the latter is not an option.

[Rufus]

Thanks for the feedback, Tom. I will take a bit more weight off & work on the things you have pointed out & post a video here once things are a bit better.

I think that my lack of depth & slow bar speed developed due to a lack of confidence through having no safety net at this gym yet. I started going to this gym a couple of months ago & even though it is a full on black iron gym, there isn't a power rack - there used to be one, but it was removed due to lack of use. Currently, I pull a bench out of the way & squat in a bench press station. Every time I squat, it is in the back of my mind that today might just be the day that I can't stand up with the weight on my back. I'm basically feeling my way through my worksets, assessing the likelihood of standing up from this depth & if I think it's worth going for another rep. Dumping the bar is not an option, the gym only has iron plates. If I've had a tricky set, I've asked the gym owner to spot my next sets, which isn't ideal.

Apparently, there is a new power rack on order, I've been asking for one ever since I joined this gym. I think I'll be able to squat with more confidence once its here, until it shows up all I can do is try my best not to get stuck at the bottom. I really don't know what I would do if I ever did.

Thanks.

[Rufus]

Tom,

Here's my last set of 125kg from this Sundays session, you can't see my feet in the video but I am making sure to keep them closer in than before.

Other than bar speed & consistent depth throughout the set, what else do I need to concentrate on?

[Tom Campitelli]

Deeper yet. Every rep was still high. Fix that issue first.

[Rufus]

Ok, so I've tried to go deeper again. There was one small problem with todays session, I went out last night & this morning I was paying for it a little. I spooked myself on the 3rd rep of my first workset, I've uploaded that video here too. I think this played on my mind for the following two sets.

Set 1



Set 3

[Tom Campitelli]

Getting closer, but not there yet. Crease of the hip must go below the top of the patella. Once that happens, keep your chin down and drive your hips up hard.

[Rufus]

I'm almost certain you are going to say that I still need to go a bit deeper with these, I'm posting this video so you can see that I have at least been trying.



I spoke with the gym owner about the difficulties I'm having getting these right & he says the problem is in my head rather than a physical limitation or a lack of strength. He said that I'm probably scared of getting stuck at the bottom, which is likely stopping me from giving full commitment to the squat - as slowly as the bar is moving, he says I'm in too much of a hurry to start the ascent.

I'm going to go back into the gym in the morning & practise with even lighter weights until I've got it. It's starting to do my head in, that I've been trying to sort this out for a couple of weeks & still haven't got it.

I won't be uploading tomorrows practise session, I'll wait until Sunday for my next upload.

[Rufus]

Here's my 3rd set from this morning. I hope these are better, I felt more of a stretch when I was at the bottom of the descent & although my upper back is still dropping a bit on the ascent, overall I felt that these squats were an improvement.

I didn't realise there was an obstruction when I was filming these today, I hope you can still see enough to be able to keep pointing me in the right direction.

Thanks

[Tom Campitelli]

Those are pretty good for depth. One or two may have been a hair shy, but they look better. Now, instead of bending the knees first, break with the hips and the knees at the same time. Lean over and send your butt back as you bend the knees. This will help to make for a smoother, faster descent. It is okay to be leaned over in a low bar squat. You may be trying to stay a little too upright. Your upper back looks okay to me.