Form rundown?

[Brandon Oto]

Hi Mark,

I'm fairly comfortable with my form at this point, but I figured I'd make a quick check to see if there's any polishing I can do, or any blatant errors I'm missing.

Squat, dead, press. My Olympic form is a separate issue and my bench press is... unfilmed. Quick 'n easy vids.

Deadlift (warmup set @ 242lb. Known bugs: sliding forwards at the bottom of the eccentric.)

Squat (work set about a month ago, can't remember weight. Known bugs: unexciting lumbar rounding. And who stole my shoes?!)

Press (work set @ 105, last set of 5x5. Known bugs: no hip whip [never learned it], would like to have wrists straight at the top, and is that elbow flaring okay?)

Any gripes?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Your deadlift slides back towards your shin as it comes off the ground. The form I teach uses a different approach.

Your squat features the standard knees-sliding-forward-at-the-bottom so common to all the videos we see here.

Your press is basically fine, even though your chest could be up a little better.

[Ryan Holmes]

Mark,

To fix knees sliding forward (in front of toes) on the squat the trunk would need to be less vertical to maintain midfoot balance with the bar, Correct?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Yes, and you'll need to think about your shins staying vertical, your ass sliding back, your knees going out instead of forward, or all three.

[Brandon Oto]

Mark, from what I've been able to tell, my squat descends somewhat normally, then at the very end (already past parallel) it does the knees-forward thing. I could eliminate this by simply not trying to eke out that extra depth, but I figure I might as well, since it's not hurting anything. Is there any disadvantage to letting this happen at the bottom in exchange for a deeper squat? I haven't had any pains or the like.

Is the solution to the backward motion of the bar in the DL to start pulling with my shins slightly more vertical/back more horizontal?

[Mark Rippetoe]

The disadvantage to letting your knees slide forward at the bottom is that it slacks your hamstrings, thus making it hard to perform the very thing we're trying to do when we squat: drive up the ass using the posterior chain. This is covered in BBT.

The solution to the DL problem is to start from the floor with the bar directly over the middle of your foot.

These 2 questions indicate that you have either not read the book, or read it very quickly, because these are fundamental issues that you are failing to understand.

[Brandon Oto]

The solution to the DL problem is to start from the floor with the bar directly over the middle of your foot.

This is what I meant, though. To start the bar farther back would entail a more vertical shin position, unless I implant the bar in my tibias.

BBT is on my shelf, but I haven't memorized it. Sorry if I'm pushing you towards alcoholism.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Alcoholism I can handle. Repeating myself ad infinitum I can't.