Dead & Squat check

[Roland Conde]

Hey Ripp, I was gonna try not to bother you with form checks, but after resetting my deadlift from 325 with shitty form to 285, I thought I'd get your opinion. Figured while I'm posting vids I'd put up my most recent squat for a check as well, as I failed on it for the first time since I started the Texas Method 5-6 weeks ago. Both are from today.

[youtube]6eqzThWKVqs[/youtube]
Squat @ 280

[youtube]N7_UXMCatR4[/youtube]
Deadlift @ 285 (forgive the music)

Regarding Squat: I should have gotten all 5 here, I kind of pussied out for some reason. I think the form is okay and am confident I can get this weight next week, I just wanted to hear your input as my hip was bothering me following shitty form Monday, and I wanted to confirm that my idea of decent form here was accurate.

Regarding Deadlift: This was the second consecutive session I did 285, as the last time I did so I found myself unable to keep the bar close to my shins. This time it was much better but I think I still see it drifting a little, plus some back rounding on the 5th rep, so I'm considering doing 285 again next time to get it proper before going up another 5.



I'm doing the Texas Method as follows for reference, with a 12ish minute cindy on Saturday:

Monday
5x5 Squat
5x5 Press/Bench

Wednesday
2x5 Squat @ 80%
2x5 Bench/Press @ 80%
Pull-ups 3x-6-8 ~20lb

Friday
1x5 Squat
1x5 Press/Bench
Farmer's walks


Originally had planned to do cleans 8x3 on Monday and alternate rack/haltings with deads on Friday, but per your recommendation have chosen to do full ROM deadlifts till they hit somewhere near 2x bodyweight. Thus, I have a somewhat weird A/B setup where A = deadlift/clean and B = back extensions and bodyweight chins, modified to keep deads and cleans off of Wednesday since I find myself too beat to do them there. At this rate my squat will soon pass my deadlift, but that's my own fault I guess for having shitty deadlift form for a while.
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Much thanks in advance if you get a chance to look at this.

Also, though I'm sure you hear it quite often, infinite thanks for the books+help on these forums; in a little under a year I've went from 150 to 190 at 5'9 from SS and most recently the Texas Method. A bit sad that I can only eek out about a pound per week on the presses and cleans now, but I've made great progress thanks to you and hopefully will continue to do so for a while.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The squats look good, in fact. Best ones ever done in a Gold's, perhaps. But the deadlift bar path tells you the story. See it move forward right off the floor? It's following your pulling mechanics, because your ass is too high and the scapulas are in front of the bar; it wants to go home/forward. Finish getting your chest up before you start the pull so that the bar path can be vertical.

[Roland Conde]

Ah, foolish of me, I always presumed my scapula were over the bar with that position. I'll lift my chest up to get my scapula back a bit more and my ass down, and post up a vid with hopefully fixed form as soon as I deadlift again Monday. Much thanks.