Tall Texan's form check thread

[Tall Texan]

So I thought I'd just put all my form checks in one thread instead of having 3 different ones. If you see anything that I need to fix before I bump up the weight, please let me know so I can repeat the weight and get the problem fixed.

Today was squats at 275x5 and deadlifts at 315x5(belted), 315x3 (unbelted), and 225x4.



I thought I did a better job today of breaking at the knees/hips simultaenously. Looks like my chest caved in a bit on the 3rd rep and made me fall forward some.

Hated my deadlifts. Back didn't look set, hips rise first on some reps, and it looks like I lurch forward after the initial pull. I moved the bar away from my shins from 1"/1.5" to about 2" for the last pull at 225. Those felt really solid and the pull felt much shorter as well as my back staying set throughout.

[veryhrm]

Only thing i see that i'm confident commenting on is agreeing that on your belted set of DLs your lower back wasn't set in extension at all. You squeezed your chest up, but looks like the tension didn't make it all the way back. It didn't move during the rep, but it was flexed from the get go. But then the unbelted sets after it looked fine.

(I do some RDLs during my DL warmups just to get the feeling of an extended back. Helps sometimes)

[Tall Texan]

That's something i've noticed also. Would that be caused by the belt being too thick? Belt too high up? I tilted the front part down today before a clean and press and it was much harder to breathe as I got down to pull.

Here is today's OHP set:
Vid1: 115
Vid2: 137.5
Vid3: 137.5 (belted)
Vid4: 115 (belted) Kept my abs tight each rep for this set and was even a bit sore after which i've never had before.



Overall my working sets were a joke after getting 5 reps at 135 last week. My bar path still is f'd up and going too far back. Where are my eyes supposed to be looking?

[Tall Texan]

Squat 315x1
Squats 275x5
Power Cleans 145x3

Descent looks a little slow? Bar path comes forward on some reps out of the hole. Do my knees come in too much on the front vid? I was exhausted on my last set of cleans and my form shows it as I could barely get the bar up, but I got it.

[veryhrm]

Yeah, the knees are coming in on those squats some. Fight to keep them out.

The PCs look good, but you're catching the bar with the elbows pointing mostly down and then you're moving them forward. Snap those elbows up in a single aggressive racking move.

[Tall Texan]

Thanks for the advice veryhrm. Would you suggest repeating the same weight next week for squats until the knees stay out or would I be able to fix the problem as I bump up the weight?

Dropped some weight off my OHP to work on keeping my abs tight. Bar path still going back some but I had a few reps that weren't taped where I couldn't definitely feel a difference in the bar path.

[Gunnhild Bruno]

My bar path still is f'd up and going too far back.

Your press form is very inconsistent from rep to rep, but here are the general trends I can identify:

1) Get your hips forward to initiate the movement. Instead, you are leaving your hips where they are and leaning back, which often results in your face getting really far away from the bar. Also, on at least a couple of those reps, you actually lean forward from the hip to initiate. You manage to power through that now at this weight, but it will cause you problems when the bar gets heavier.

2) Do not overexaggerate the motion of getting under the bar. Get the top of your head under the bar ASAP, then just concentrate on getting the bar up, standing up as straight as possible (i.e., elongating your back while keeping your chest big) and shrugging your shoulders up as much as you can at the end. This should get you in the right alignment. Did someone at some point give you the "head through the window" cue? Because that's what it looks like you're trying to do. It may be helpful to think about trying to touch your ears with your shoulders.

3) Stay tighter. A lot of your wild variance in form is due to not staying tight, especially when you initiate the movement. Remember: tight abs, tight quads, thrust the hips forward, drive up.

Where are my eyes supposed to be looking?

Straight ahead.