Squat form check for SS forum newb

[jheald1]

Thanks ahead of time for the advice. I've been trolling the SS forum for a few days now, and I'm looking forward to the criticism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDWj5...ature=youtu.be

I've been doing SL, but I decided to switch to the SS 3x5 this week because the number of sets was starting to become draining and take forever. This is my working weight, second set.

I'm asking for a form check before I ask Mark about some knee pain; I emailed him earlier this week about it, and he told me to film my squat and post it. I was having pain in my knees, in the quadricep tendons (above and medial to the patella) after my workouts, but never during. I did some trigger point message for immediate relief, and realized that I was probably not "shoving my knees out" from the start of the squat. I also think I was rounding my lower back, so I've been working on those for the last two workouts. I still have residual pain, but it's getting better, so I think the knees/back attention is solving the problem.

Notice the "NO CHALK" sign in the corner? I use resin, like what tennis players use. This is effective for me thus far. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

And yes, that's a guy doing a sitting press on a smith machine...he was there for a while.

[MikeC1]

Hold the bar about a half inch lower on your shoulders. Go down slower - you should get slower the closer you get to the bottom. Start pushing your knees out when you get about halfway down; you need to create some space for your body to sink down into. And then keep your knees out on the way back up.

[jheald1]

MikeC1,

Thanks for the suggestions. I've recently realized I wasn't holding the bar in the right place, so it's good to have another person see it. Regarding the speed of my descent, do I really need to go slower? It does look pretty fast (it surprised me when I watched it), but it certainly doesn't feel fast. Rip said something (somewhere) about not going so quickly as to loose tightness. I don't feel like I'm too loose, but I guess I would have to be tighter if I'm consciously going slower. I might have been going a little faster than normal this time, because I was also thinking about the 'up' portion of the squat (Rip suggested this in SS), since I realized that I pause slightly and therefore miss the "bounce" I could be getting.

Thanks again!