Squat form check, eh.

[Mr_Rogers]

I was more confident in the workout I did last Wednesday when I squatted 205lbs the videos didn't turn out all that well, they're kind of dark. (A bit about me).

I took 4 days off as I wanted to get on a MWF schedule so I re-did 205lbs. I didn't do any mobility stretches over that time so I was a little stiff today even with my warm-up. I missed taping set 2 though...oddly enough I think it was my best set.

I apologize in advance for the horrific music. I couldn't figure out how to mute it when I was importing it and uploading it.

Set 1 (should rotate once you hit play):





Set 3 (should rotate once you hit play):




I am finding 205 to be heavy (currently weigh 155lbs and have received some advice on that earlier today in the thread I linked above). With form issues should I use a belt or deload 10-20% and iron those out?


edit:

Here are my videos from last Wednesday:

Set 2


Set 3

[Mr_Rogers]

I've been bro-squatting for years and a proper low bar squat is pretty foreign to me. It looks like my back is relaxing/rounding a bit in the hole but it feels tight when I'm actually doing it. Any comments/suggestions regarding my form and possible breakdowns would be greatly appreciated.

[Mac Ward]

The thing I see first is that you initiate the squat by sticking your butt back, and then you break at the knees. The squat starts with a simultanenous unlocking of the knees and hips. Knees find their position as you descend about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way down, as the hips continue down...

[Tom Campitelli]

Your squat looks pretty good. Mac is correct about the knees and hips. On your first rep, you tend to be shallow, but fix that in later reps. You are also correct about about a little lumbar flexion. It's not too bad, however. Try narrowing your stance slightly and driving the knees out a little more. That may fix those issues. The only other advice I have is to keep the bar over the middle of the foot and moving in a straight line. It tends to drift forward on your ascent and your weight shifts to your toes.

Gaining muscular bodyweight is only going to help all of this.

[Mr_Rogers]

@ Mac Ward: I see what you mean. I was so focused on not letting my knees go forward that I've over compensated a lot. I'll work on smoothing the that out. Thanks for the observation.

@ TomC: I'll try the narrowing of the stance, I was actually widening it because I thought I was too narrow. I could be wrong, but I think my lumbar goes into flexion because I'm trying to get below parallel with a stance that is a little too wide. Shifting weight to the toes would kill hip drive if I remember correctly and that's probably why I'm pausing/slowing at a certain on some reps?

Thanks again guys, I really appreciate it.

[Mr_Rogers]

So marked out 8, 12, 16 and 18 inches on my floor...turns out my squat stance kept getting wider as the weight got heavier and in the above video my heels were between 20-24" apart (the outside of my shoulders are roughly 18"). I also marked a spot roughly 6' away from the lines I drew for a focus point.

I squat tomorrow, but I dropped I'm dropping it down to 185lbs and building back up, hopefully with much better form.