Doing it the right way is harder!!! Downward gaze question..

[rburak]

Hey Coach,

After watching the video of Zach squatting I realized I had little to no downward eye gaze (was doing narcissist squats with a mirror). When I squatted today with focus on my neck position I failed miserably on my working sets.

Is this because my back lost tightness as the natural "chest up" effect of looking up (even though incorrect) was lost? Or is it because without a mirror reference I was squatting lower than normal (either a problem with my initial depth or a tendency to go atg)?

It would suck to have to deload to relearn proper technique as my squat has gone from 135 to 275 this summer, but whatever it takes.

Also I need to thank you for the best novice routine I've tried and for sticking to your guns (you already know this).

Thanks

[Mark Rippetoe]

I would argue that looking up has no chest-up effect. This is dealt with in the book. Having not been there, I don't know what you did wrong, but we correct this for 25 people every weekend (it's the most common error) and the results are always positive.

[Gunnhild Bruno]

Posting this type of question without video generally yields very little usable information, which is a shame, since you have Rip's attention.

I recommend you post a video so we can see what you're doing. If you don't feel it necessary to bother Rip with this, post to the Technique forum and other folks will help you out.

[rburak]

My next workout is tomorrow so I couldn't get a vid today so I apologize for that.

At home doing bodyweight squats in the mirror I realized that I do indeed maintain a chest-up position when using the downward gaze. I also realized that the downward gaze causes me to squat to depth, something I must have been cheating myself on when looking forwards.

My plan is to do a standard deload but now apply the proper technique (which should have been done in the first place, I know) and build back up to my "previous" max.