My Squat form is horrid, please help

[pfc55]

I originally posted this on another forum.

"I tried doing squats, my form was so awful (I think largely due to inflexibility) that I decided to start stretching for two or three weeks before I tried again. I still think I am not getting good depth and my back is rounding too much.
I've been squatting 135 for a little while, scared to move up in weight until my form improves. Is this a good idea, or should I drop down or go up in weight?"

vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_IA0zRvZ88

I tried following someone's advice on there to try to keep my elbows perpendicular to the ground to keep my back from rounding as much here are the results

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9np-...layer_embedded

the advice I receive most is to sit back further and keep my chest up, but I feel as if I'm going to fall back over my heels. I've done it before, which is partly why I am scared to use any more weight.

I would greatly appreciate any advice. Thanks

[Gunnhild Bruno]

Have you watched this?

http://startingstrength.com/index.ph...sition_control

[pfc55]

watching now

[pfc55]

I've seen that before, and I've had someone confirm that I can actively contract my lower back (using Rips cue.) Next time I attempt to squat, I will actively try to contract my lower spine throughout the movement.

[Gunnhild Bruno]

OK, you have a bunch of stuff going on. All of this is based on the second video, since that is the more recent one.

The biggest problem is that you leave the rack looking good, but you go all wet noodle as soon as you begin. TIGHT. You must stay tight. The closer you get to the bottom of each rep, the tighter you have to be. Just chant that to yourself in your head as you complete the rep. Your lumbar must be tightly extended. You have to be pulling your knees apart as hard as possible. Your scapulas have to be squeezing together to keep your chest out. Your elbows have to be pulled up hard. Do NOT relax at any point during a rep.

ELBOWS:
Do you see you start with your elbows up when you first step out of the rack, then immediately drop them as soon as you start your set? Don’t do that. Keep them up. Force yourself.

CHEST:
This problem ties in with the above. At the top, think CHEST OUT. As you approach the bottom, think CHEST UP. If you get the elbows to stay up, this should come fairly naturally.

LUMBAR:
Exaggerate the extension more at the top of each rep. Try to keep it extended as you go down. As you get to the bottom, pretend you are reaching back with your balls and trying to brush the floor behind you with them.

KNEES/FEET:
Although the angle’s not great for seeing this, it looks very likely that your knees are caving in--or at least your feet are pronating (rolling inward). WL shoes will help, but you also need to keep shoving those knees out. Actively. Hard. VERY VERY HARD. Open your crotch as hard as you can. Arch your lower back and push your gut down between your thighs.

Don’t put more weight on--you need to learn how to properly set your torso/back and stay tight first. Next time, post a rear view as well as a side view. Re-reading the squat chapter in the book wouldn’t hurt, either. And (re)read the Active Hip 2.0 article in the Resources section of this website. Hope that helps.

[pfc55]

recorded myself, don't think it was good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4Ccdtw36LE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIArhg-Lb34
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqclrekyqAo

[Gunnhild Bruno]

recorded myself, don't think it was good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4Ccdtw36LE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIArhg-Lb34
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqclrekyqAo

Your elbows and bar position are actually quite good now. Big improvement there. Keep that up.

Your lumbar is still problematic, and your depth is too high.

Watch the second video. Watch carefully what your knees do. See how you get them shoved out really nicely in the first part of descent, but at some point you lose the active shoving out/pulling apart, and they drift back in? This is what you need to avoid. Concentrate really hard to keep those knees out as far as possible all the way through the bottom and coming out of the hole. As you pull the knees apart, think of arching your lower back and pushing your lower gut forward into the space that you create between the legs as you open up your crotch.

You have some balance problems, too, but the above may fix them. Post more vids after you try the above, and we can tweak further if you’re still having problems.

ADDED: If the above thing with getting the knees out is hard to do, decrease the weight. Better a temporary hit to your ego than a lower back injury.

[pfc55]

thanks for the prompt reply.

i will certainly work on the knees out and i'll record myself at lower weight. I feel better with a little more weight on the bar to push me down to get further depth, but perhaps that's just mental.

I think I have a hard time actively contracting my lumbar region. I am able to so standing straight up by trying to tilt my pelvis forward, but I seemingly cannot control it during my squat decent. I am quite inflexible, would this matter?

[Gunnhild Bruno]

I feel better with a little more weight on the bar to push me down to get further depth, but perhaps that's just mental.

This is because you aren’t getting your knees out.

I think I have a hard time actively contracting my lumbar region. I am able to so standing straight up by trying to tilt my pelvis forward, but I seemingly cannot control it during my squat decent. I am quite inflexible, would this matter?

Flexibility is usually not the problem. Just do that thing with pushing your lower gut into the space where your crotch opens up. That + knees out should fix it.

[blowdpanis]

I honestly think a big part of the problem is that his balance is well-forward of midfoot based on the side view (hard to tell for sure, direct side view will probably confirm this imho). He can try to arch his back as hard as he can and get his knees out as much as possible, but if the system itself isn't in balance over midfoot, weirdness is going to result. Actually thinking about where you're balancing can be useful here (heels being a good correction for being too far into your toes).