Squat From Check 185

[wellbub]

Over the weekend I attended the OKC squat camp with Chase. It was fantastic and I highly recommend. I've read the blue book a few times, but have never really been diligent about videoing anything. For all the lifts, things are much different in my mind than what I see on film.

Chase had the following feedback for me:
-Descending too quickly. Try counting to 3 on the way down.
-Going too deep initially, and then overcorrecting by not hitting depth. Essentially focus on hitting depth exactly.
-Not staying tight at the bottom.
-Not effectively driving hips.
-He recommended resetting down to 185 to work on these things.

Here's my latest attempt. It looks to me like i got the right depth on the first three, but way maybe a bit low on the last two. I have a terrible eye for this however.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Apologies for the dim lighting. I hope to have this corrected for the next workout.

[Ryan Arnold]

The bar is not quite low enough on your back. You need to lean over more, keep your chest down and drive your hips the whole way up. Depth was good on first 3 reps, then last two were a little high

[wellbub]

Thanks Ryan! I'll work on the bar position. Chase noticed this being too high at the camp as well.
As for depth, I have a hard time seeing when it's right. The next time, I'll not worrying about going too low and see where it ends up.
I'll focus on not raising the chest so soon on the ascent as well. I'll post a follow-up tomorrow.
Thanks for looking!

[wellbub]

I think I've finally got the bar position right, and man what a difference it makes. I did the Paul Horn stretch several times between warmups. Here's a picture of where the bar was on the last warmup set.
barPosition.jpg

It felt really balanced and natural the entire time. This made the weight feel way lighter too. If this form is mostly correct, I don't think I'll dread squats anymore.
As for depth, I can't tell if I got there or not. The fifth rep looked the best to me, but I'm still trying to learn to see this.
Thanks in advance for any feedback.

I forgot to include in the initial post:
5'11", 190, 39 y/o
3380kcal 211p/423c/94f
5RM
Squat: 190
Bench: 175
DL: 270
Press: 120
3RM:
PC: 105

[Ryan Arnold]

Most of the reps are a little high. You are lifting the chest on the way up. Drive your hips the whole way up and keep your nipples pointed at the floor

[wellbub]

Thanks Ryan. Here's my set 2nd and 3rd sets from yesterday (195). The 2nd set is from the side to get a clear picture of the depth. To my eye, it looks the 3rd and 5th were good concerning depth, but the other three were maybe not quite there. I'm pretty bad a seeing it, and even worse at feeling it. Aside from depth, it's looks like my bar path twists to the right a bit on the way down. This entire workout felt less controlled and sloppy compared to the last one. I've been setting my focal point about 4 feet in front of me on the ground.


Here is the third set:

I think I got depth on all the reps here maybe, but I'm still struggling not lifting the chest on the way up I think. Any good mental cues for this, or should i adjust my focal point maybe?
Last question, should I add 5 pounds next workout, or is my form bad enough here to stay at 195 until I clean it up?

[Ryan Arnold]

bar is still too high on the back in this latest vid

[wellbub]

That makes sense. That's probably why it felt so much more difficult than the workout before. Because the bar was too high, I couldn't keep it over the mid foot without keeping my back more vertical. I'll widen the grip a little a really focus on getting the bar in the correct spot. Hopefully I have a better video on Wednesday. Thanks for all the help man.

[wellbub]

This workout was pretty rushed. I've watched the video several times and am less than thrilled with the performance. On the third set, depth started off questionable, but I think ended up correct by the end of the set. I focused really hard on grip, and getting the bar low enough. It felt better than the last workout, but not as good as the one from 2/4. I think the back angle was better at the bottom than previous workouts, particularly on the last three reps.
Questions:
1. Is the bar low enough on my back this time?
2. Depth?
3. Back Angle? If my back angle is still bad, I'm not sure if I can productively add weight before I get it fixed.

Thanks for any advice.

[wellbub]

Here's the 3rd sets from the last two workouts at 205 and 210. I wasn't sure the depth was there on the first one, but I think I am finally on track in the 2nd one.
205:

210: