Multiple form checks. 1 year of lifting.

**peace_main** · 08-24-2012, 04:24 AM

Hi Starting Strength!

This video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o6ZX...ature=youtu.be
has all my lifts. I'm especially interested in critique of my squat since that is the lift that i've had the most problems with (it begins at around 1:03). I only recently started doing power cleans and I know I have much to learn of them aswell.

Some quick notes about the lifts:
I'm rustling about on the second showing of the BP - I know I should not do that, but I started the lift off-center and tried to fix it(Hey - I did my 5 reps!)

Due to some minor back from sleeping on the ground a couple of nights at a festival, I only did 1x1 deadlift whereas I would normally do 1x5.

Anyway. I hope you can give me some guidance on how to improve!

May gravity smile upon ye!

**MikeC1** · 08-24-2012, 04:39 AM

Some very quick points for you to work on:

BP - try to set up with a lot more lower back arch.

BSQ - get your knees pushed out to the sides a little more and keep them pushed out. Don't let your knees slide backwards when you're squatting back up; keep them in place and use your quads to drive up.

PCL - you're basically pulling the bar up almost entirely with your arms. You need to keep your arms relaxed and straight, and try to pull the bar up using just your legs and hips. Your arms shouldn't start to bend until you start moving down to receive the bar (and I don't think I saw you dip down to receive the bar, you can work on that too).

OHP - your grip is a little narrow, widen it a little, and at the bottom of your reps, keep your elbows forward instead of letting them shift back.

**Dastardly** · 08-24-2012, 05:10 AM

(First of all, I should tell you that it is very obvious you havent read the book, or even any of Marks vids out there on youtube. If you had, you wouldn't have these problems with all your lifts.)

Bench press: You are lowering the bar too high on your chest, this is why your forearms are diagonal when viewed from the front. They should be vertical when viewed from all sides in the bottom position. You should try to get more arch as Mike has mentioned, but I have used those technogym benches before and know it is difficult because they have a weird contour shape.

Squat; The bar looks a little too high for low bar squats, and you are collapsing forwards at the bottom. Perhaps lower the bar a little and focus on sitting back more. Also drive up as soon as you hit parallel.

Power Clean; Your setup is weird and unecessary, grip too narrow. And most importantly, you are bending your arms WAY TOO EARLY. In the two first pictures I have attached your arms should be STRAIGHT. On the third picture, your "receive" position should look something like this; http://www.sportivnypress.com/docume...g_jerk_105.jpg
As in, a bend in the knees and hips.

Deadlift; more or less fine, but you are struggling because you are using small diameter plates. Why not use the same plates you did for powercleaning?

Press; elbows should be more forwards in your bottom position.

**peace_main** · 08-24-2012, 07:29 AM

Thank you both very much for your advice.
I believe I understand it all and will attempt to improve my technique accordingly. When I feel like i've made significant improvements, I will post a follow-up video.

@Dastardly
I have read starting strength 2nd edition, but it was more than a year ago and since english is not my first language and the fact that my anatomy vocabulary is lacking, some points probably flew over my head (I also read it in a couple of days because I was anxious to get started with the training)
Ironically, I have only watched a few videos from mark about the deadlift ('cus I heard it could mess with your back) and the one about squat bar position.

Regarding the squat: I have always had problems with the bar position. For some reason I cannot get it to rest comfortably in the prober low-bar and hence the position is some barstard son of the low-bar and the high-bar position. Whenever I lower the bar position I'm forced to drop quite a bit of weight below 225 lbs and have considered that as a sign that the prober low-bar feels different than it looks. However! I will try again to "nail" it.

Regarding the press: MikeC1 you mention I should widen the grip - could that not also, naturally, make ones elbows be more fowards in the bottom position?

Thanks again!

**ayjay23** · 08-24-2012, 08:49 AM

Hey peace_main,

The book is definitely a tough read -- it's a really thick book with a lot of technicalities (not to mention it's a 2nd language for you). I suggest focusing on one section of the book for now (i.e., focus on the "Squats" section). Get at least 90% of the form correctly, before starting a new section.

As for bar placement for your squat, you might want to tighten the muscles on your thoracic spine (upper part of your back) because it looks a bit rounded. You want it tighten (see 12:26 in the video below). Also, Mark has a recent video about bar placement (see below), hope that helps.

**peace_main** · 08-24-2012, 11:40 AM

Thanks for the advice ayjay23. I remember watching this video a long time ago. Watching it again definately made things clearer. I think that tightening my upper back muscles will help a lot with the bar placement. Looking forward to testing it tommorrow!