Squat / Deadlift form check

[Flea2021]

Hi team, back to it after a while, and want to do some form checks

Note: due to an injury, I get headaches if I hold my breath during the rep (that’s why I’m breathing)

Squat:
- back: Squat 10/7/23 - YouTube
- side: Squat side view 10/7/23 - YouTube

Deadlift:
- Deadlift 10/7/23 - YouTube


All thoughts welcome. I had two questions in particular:

Squat: I lean forward a tiny amount when I start the descent. I’m doing this to break hips and knees at same time, but I see that the bar path is no longer straight up and down. How do I fix this, or is it okay?

Deadlift: back feels neutral (really focusing on tightening core). However, on the way up, it seems my butt will lead a tiny amount before the bar follows. This leads to my legs straightening before the rest of my body follows.

[Maybach]

The bar path on the squat is straight enough: you are operating at less than bodyweight (I'm reasonably certain. You don't look like you weight less than 135), which means the CCOM of the system will lie closer to your COM than the barbell, which in turn means the bar is a little bit forward. I wouldn't worry about it. You are going a bit too deep on these.

Your hips are rising on the deadlift because they are starting too low. The legs should straighten before the rest of the body: knee extension should be almost, though not entirely, finished by the time the bar clears the knees. It feels like you're getting too much because they are starting too bent. You're rocking back slightly to get that extra hip drop. Don't do that. On the reps you don't reset between, this problem disappears.

[Matt James]

Crocs?

[Matt James]

On the breathing thing: holding a valsalva is pretty critical to performing the lifts safely and effectively. If your injury (which I gather from another post is a head injury) is preventing you from doing that, I question the wisdom of trying to do the program under these circumstances.

Have you been medically cleared for strenuous activity? Normally I wouldn't put much stock in a doctor's opinion but head injuries are a little different (speaking as a guy who had a TBI in 2016). Even if you have been cleared, the fact that you are still getting headaches from performing the valsalva at these weights suggests to me that you may not be fully recovered.

[Flea2021]

@Maybach thanks so much. I just looked up the COM vs CCOM and saw the below article which really explains it well. I appreciate it. Looks like I will revisit this when I get back to a heavier squat.

Re depth - any disadvantages to slightly deeper? (My understanding is that it’s not harmful as long as I keep core tight, and in fact deeper squats can help with certain movements ie jumping)

@Matt James I’m a bit of a nomad so don’t have my lifting shoes, and it’s better than Nike Frees. Re the head injury, that’s great advice. I actually got the original sensitivity from doing a SS 3 month boot camp just a week after a concussion, which caused all the problems (so I wish I had your advice back then!). Now it’s been almost 10 years and I am learning to brace my core while still breathing (on advice of PT; it’s still possible to brace and I can feel the difference in hip drive). A light valsava also seems better, so fingers crossed. Thank you for the advice and care.

[Jason Donaldson]

Siphonaptera: With regards to your breathing, is this something you get whenever holding your breath no matter how?

There are ways to do the valsalva wrong, which can give anyone headaches, so it's worth making sure you're doing it correctly. For example, you should be able to hold it with an open mouth/parted lips. If not, you're holding the breath in your mouth, not against a closed glottis.

If doing it properly is indeed an issue, then that's cause for concern, as Matt said. You will valsalva when it gets heavy, and you need to, to maximize spinal stabilization. Best to ensure it's correct, and that you don't have something else going on...

[Maybach]

Read the Blue Book squat chapter for why excessive depth is undesirable. It's not that it's harmful, but that the extra range of motion is not effective: you're just having the quadriceps relengthen the hamstrings and the erectors pull the hips back "under" the bar. I'm not sure how squats done deep enough to shorten the hamstrings could help jumping, since the same principles apply there: ducking excessively low to jump just adds extra ineffective movement you have to do to get to the best position to jump, i.e. with stretched hamstrings.

[Flea2021]

@Maybach I just checked the book, only thing I saw about deeper than parallel is the pictures on p32 (where it shows ass to grass depth). Can't find the section where it talks about downsides. (I guess it's extra wasted motion, so why do it? Other than I feel like it gives me strength at the edge of the motion)

[Jason Donaldson]

@Maybach I just checked the book, only thing I saw about deeper than parallel is the pictures on p32 (where it shows ass to grass depth). Can't find the section where it talks about downsides. (I guess it's extra wasted motion, so why do it? Other than I feel like it gives me strength at the edge of the motion)

The criteria for strength training are the most weight, using the most muscle mass, over the most effective range of motion. The low-bar back squat to just below parallel meets those, the ATG squat does not, as the additional range reduces the weight you can move, etc.

Training the movement builds strength best. If you want to improve movements like jumping, the best way is to train strength to get strong, and practice those movements separately. In other words, this is a classic case of the two-factor model.