Squat Check Please?

[brazilsp]

Dear Coaches.

I've had quite a lot of checks on the Technique forums and am looking for some professional opinions on what it's looking like right now.



Thank you very much and I appreciate this amazing resource that is disposable to the public for free.

Best regards,
Mat.

[Tom Campitelli]

Not too bad. Lean over a little earlier. You tend to stay too upright in the first part of your descent. Leaning over more may also help you at the bottom, where you have more back angle change than I would like to see. Drive your butt up, not back and keep pushing with your hips all the way to the top. Watch the video on bar position on this site. The bar looks like it is rolling up your back on every rep. That may be because you are carrying it a little too high.

[brazilsp]

Thank you very much Tom for the advice.

What do you mean by "where you have more back angle change"? Not quite sure what that means.

As to driving butt up more, I'll try and work on that (basically you're telling me to use more hip drive, right?).

I lowered the bar slightly and it feels good.



One problem though. I tried bending at hips same time as bending at knees, and I for some reason just couldn't properly keep tightness in the butt and upper back if I started bendnig at hips early. I tried at 135lb, felt loose, and by the time I got to warming up with 180 pounds, I actually hurt my lower back a bit from lack of tightness.

I still finished my 3 sets of 258lb, but had to do it with the leaning over late, as trying to lean over earlier for some reason just makes me loosen up... Not sure why

Is it possible to keep doing the staying too upright in first part of descent, or is this a vital problem that must be fixed? I'm afraid of hurting myself more like I did at what was a relatively light weight (180lb). I can't quite identify why I loosen up, I just feel my glutes and hams properly tighten and stretch when lowering the way I do in the above video, whereas if I learn over earlier, I feel the tension disappear.

If you would like a video of squats at 258, I could put them up, though they are quite similar as the above ones, just with a slightly lower bar, so not sure if they are of any use....


Sorry for the long text, I tried to keep it as brief as possible.

[Tom Campitelli]

What do you mean by "where you have more back angle change"? Not quite sure what that means.

Your first move out of the bottom tends to be to push your butt back instead of up. This causes your back angle to change with respect to the floor.

Is it possible to keep doing the staying too upright in first part of descent, or is this a vital problem that must be fixed?

You can squat however you like. However, when you flex the hip, which is what happens when you bend over, you elongate the hip extensors – gluteal muscles, hamstrings, and adductors. You quite literally are putting them under tension. If you are getting loose on the descent, it is probably something besides the order in which you flex the hips and knees. The biggest action that helps with tightness is taking a big breath at the top and holding it while you contract all the musculature of your torso around that breath. Try working on it a little more. You definitely need to stay tight when you lift.

[brazilsp]

Thank you very much coach Tom. I watched the squats in slow motion, and the whole "butt back instead of up" thing has been going on ever since I added hip drive to my squats. I guess I never learned it properly and nobody caught onto it in the technique forum. But I see what you mean by it.

I'll try my best to fix that ASAP tomorrow during warmups, and hopefully my 5x3 will look better.

Maybe the leaning over early and back angle change are related. I'm a little worried of hurting myself again, but for the sake of science and love in the SS community, I'll give it another shot

[Tom Campitelli]

A little back angle change is not a problem. Just remember to keep all your musculature contracted around the big, held breath.

[brazilsp]

Thank you coach Tom.

I tried my best yesterday implementing what you said about breaking at the hips earlier, and trying to go more "up" than "backwards" with the butt during the ascent. I think the earlier breaking at the hips looks better, although not sure about the "up with the butt", I can't seem to remove the backwards factor. But you're a better judge.

As for bar position on the back, I put the bar as low as I feel that it can go (without going onto the rounded part of the muscle... since that just doesn't feel stable). I watched the bar position video, and I think? this is correct. So I have 2 warmup reps as well I'll put up at 242lb that show a better view of the bar position...


This is my 1st set of 258x5 (doing LP, going up every training):




Here's 242x2 for bar position (different angle):





Thank you very much coach Tom for the help up till now.

[Tom Campitelli]

Not bad. I only watched the 285. See if thinking about keeping your shoulder blades pinched back and down as you descend keeps the bar from rolling around on you. As you fatigue, you still send the butt back a little, but I have seen worse.