Squat check

[Nerovid]

Hey guys,
Looking for a little guidance on my squats. I know I'm not achieving the right depth, but when I'm squatting, I don't feel like I can go any lower without falling backwards. Got up to 250 pounds but my depth wasn't what I wanted it to be, but even on a reset, lifting 215 pounds I don't think I'm getting adequate depth either. I can do an unweighted ass to grass squat, but I have to have my arms straight out in front of me otherwise I fall backward, could this be an ankle mobility problem??

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Oh yeah, M/29/6'6"/255. Average torso, long legs (hip joint is 44" off the ground).

240x5 (3rd set of 3)

[bamzi]

The main reason you are struggling with depth is your knees - shove them out wider and don't let them collapse as you rise out of the hole. Drop the weight until you can hit depth and stop your knees caving, then progress from there.

[Nerovid]

The main reason you are struggling with depth is your knees - shove them out wider and don't let them collapse as you rise out of the hole. Drop the weight until you can hit depth and stop your knees caving, then progress from there.

Thanks for the suggestion. I honestly haven't paid much attention to the width of my knees. It makes logical sense to me so I'll give it a try.

[Hollis]

Your feet don't seem angled enough. This will also help the knee width. Do the squat stretch in the book with your elbows pressed into your inside knee to set the target. I always do this first.

I think you should back off weight so you improve your form. Repost a video doing 135# implementing the advice here.

Also, your ankle mobility/falling over problems are because you're doing this barefoot, which no one here recommends that you do. You wouldn't have so much trouble with this if you were in lifting shoes.

[Thomas Jones]

Like you, I'm 6'6", about 250#. I don't know if my legs are as long as you -- I have a 36" inseam.

As Hollis mentions, lifting shoes are a must.

I could be wrong, but it looks to me like you may have the bar too high for the low bar position, assuming that is what you were trying (I hope others will weigh in on this because I do not trust my judgment on this point). I have found, after only a very short time, that I am far more balanced and stable with the low bar position than I was with the high bar.

If you feel like you will fall backward by shooting your butt back, you have to offset that by leaning forward a bit more. It also looks like you might be raising your head up as you come up, rather than maintaining your gaze on the ground a few feet in front of you. Doing so, I think, may also help avoid the feeling of falling backwards.

Not sure it will help, but here's a video of yours truly, which my Rippetoe-endorsed coach indicated shows decent form (during my first time low bar squatting): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPUeK...bCX3nBXRQ-q5k=

Agreed also to back off on the weight until you get more comfortable.

Good luck!

[Dastardly]

The longer your legs are in relation to your torso, the more bent over you need to get. Currently your squats are high, I think accepting that you need to get quite bent over will help you get depth.

[Nerovid]

Thanks for the great tips everyone. I did a reset to 135 tonight and implemented most of the suggestions I got.

Last two sets at 135

I really focused on keeping my knees out and I also splayed my feet out wider than I had previously. How does the depth look to you guys? I definitely felt these squats differently than before, much more on the outside of my hip. I've also been doing the squat stretch you guys recommended and I think it helped me keep my legs out wider.

Oh, and weightlifting shoes are in the mail.

[Dastardly]

Technique overall looks much better. Depth looks ok, but sort of borderline. Its hard to tell without a direct side view.

[Nerovid]

Like you, I'm 6'6", about 250#. I don't know if my legs are as long as you -- I have a 36" inseam.

As Hollis mentions, lifting shoes are a must.

I could be wrong, but it looks to me like you may have the bar too high for the low bar position, assuming that is what you were trying (I hope others will weigh in on this because I do not trust my judgment on this point). I have found, after only a very short time, that I am far more balanced and stable with the low bar position than I was with the high bar.

I have to work really hard to get the bar in the low bar position, and it might still be a bit high. About two months into starting strength I developed really bad pain in one of my shoulders when I tried to get into the low bar position. It's since gone away, but my shoulders still don't like to get into the position, and it often isn't until the working sets that I can keep my wrists straight and in close to my shoulders with my elbows back. I know what high bar feels like, and it definitely isn't that, and I know what it feels like to be right on the spine of the scapula, so I think I am beneath it, maybe just not by as much as I should be.

Thanks for the link to the video, it helps to see how other tall guys cope with these exercises. You and I are very similarly sized, my inseam is also 36".

[Nerovid]

Technique overall looks much better. Depth looks ok, but sort of borderline. Its hard to tell without a direct side view.

I'll try to get a side-view next time. I'm going to start stretching daily as I think my hips might be holding me back now.