Please critique my form for the squat, bench, row and overhead-press?

[pg009]

For now I am just perfecting my form on all exercises, to prevent future problems when the weights become heavy.

If you guys could please critique my form on the squat (low-bar variation), bench press, barbell row (not pendlay style), overhead press, & stiff-legged Deadlift I would highly appreciate it.

Please do not hold back any criticism, I have analyzed some the movements myself, and have listed my concerns for my form.

If you could please advise me on how to fix these concerns I would be very thankful and please also weigh in any of your own criticism.

Here is the video:

I apologize for the long video, next time I will cut them.

Here are the time markers (for anyone else who can help out):

Squat: 0-2:45 mins.

Bench press: 2:45 -4:35 mins.

Row: 4:35 – 5:34 mins.

Overhead Press: 5:34 – 7:48 mins.

SLDL: 7:48 mins.

Concerns for exercises (respective to order in video):

Squat:

• My upper body is rising faster than my lower body during the upward movement

• I noticed a slight but-wink at the end of the downward motion

• I noticed I was leaning too forward during the upward motion

Bench-press:

• in the 2nd set I think I maybe bringing the bar too low, closer to the stomach, however when I bring it higher my front delts are strained more

• In previous workouts I felt my front delts working more than my chest but cannot figure out why as I am pinning my shoulders back & down and contracting my glutes, keeping my but on the bench, and pushing though the legs

• Another relevant concern, my shoulders tend to click a lot and my front shoulder gets strained easily during push-ups and movement similar to the bench press. I have tried to incorporate rotator-cuff warm-ups before exercising though.

Barbell row:

• see no issues, except I maybe jerking my upper body a bit too much & I will focus on that next time

• I also don't feel that much lat activation maybe due to the light weight

Overhead press:

• I think I may need to keep my elbows in front of the bar a bit more

• I think may need to push upward a bit more and not so much back when I lock out at the top

Stiff-legged Deadlift:

• I see no problems, do you?

• Overall I feel the most stress placed on my hamstrings and glutes, however slightly on the my lower back as well during the downward part

Thanks for any advice

[jkw]

Well, first of all the weight is too low across the board to tell much. A squat with 65 pounds or whatever you have on there won't look anything like one with weight that is a work set.

I think other much more qualified people will have lots to say, but something that is glaringly wrong is your bench. At the top your arms should be perpendicular to the floor, not out over your belly. It is no wonder you feel it in your front delts, it is like some sort of lying front raise. You will not be able to bench much weight that way, and it will be unsafe and unstable at the top.

I have to ask the usual question... did you read the book or watch the DVD?

[pg009]

Well, first of all the weight is too low across the board to tell much. A squat with 65 pounds or whatever you have on there won't look anything like one with weight that is a work set.

I think other much more qualified people will have lots to say, but something that is glaringly wrong is your bench. At the top your arms should be perpendicular to the floor, not out over your belly. It is no wonder you feel it in your front delts, it is like some sort of lying front raise. You will not be able to bench much weight that way, and it will be unsafe and unstable at the top.

I have to ask the usual question... did you read the book or watch the DVD?

Okay I will upload my next video with higher weight for all sets, thanks for the advice

I have watched the dvd several times and most of the starting strength series on youtube as well, but this is my first time being an external observer to my lifts so I did not take note of these problems. The bench is an easy fix, I think :S, i will just focus on a point higher up on the ceiling while bringing my arms more perpendicular.

I think I may need to push stay a lot tighter at the bottom of my squat so I don't lean forward and push through my heels as per the videos. Any other advice on how to reduce this forward leaning.

[jkw]

Regarding forward lean: http://startingstrength.com/resource...?t=7077&page=1