Squat Form Check

[MattV]

Opinions on these squats....

http://youtu.be/46jG9q9YDcM - 396x1
http://youtu.be/TrI4orID6mo - 353x3
http://youtu.be/cCH77Gj77WM - 330x8

[Edge]

You didn't edit your videos... As asked in the sticky, a thread saying 'stop being lazy and edit your videos', and a thread explaining how to do it free and easily.... So I'm not going to sugar coat it.

Those are ugly,

You did not reach depth on 1 rep at any of those weights.

Your knees collapse at 396, 353, and 330..

You definetely need to deload a bit and work out your form issues.......... like really....

[MattV]

Trimmed...

....may not be fixed immediately, edit is in progress, sorry fellas!

[Edge]

Thanks... If no one else has I'll give it another go tomorrow...

Have you read SS?

[MattV]

I have read it..

The depth is shit, I will admit that...

Knees out....is something I know I need to work on..

[Edge]

K, so let's try and figure out where we're going wrong.

I'm going to only review the 330... because let's face it, if your form is breaking down on the first couple reps at 330, those are the issues you need to address first...

and before I waste both our time.. are you fatigued going into these reps? Were you running a pyramid down or something? What program are you running? What are your goals? What is your past experience? How long have you been lifting?

[MattV]

I was running 5/3/1 for the 330x8 set, I've been lifting pretty consistently for 3-4 years..

I'd like to squat 405x5 and deadlift 500..

[Edge]

Disclaimer - This is what I think

To get there you're going to have to deload and fix your knee issue. Your knees are collapsing because you're quad dominant... You've probably been doing this for a long time which has left your posterior chain underdeveloped for the weight you're doing... When your knees come in, it is allowing you to use more quad to get the weight up... In the long run, and to reach your goals, you're going to need to fix this... Your posterior chain is MUCH stronger than your quads... This is why you can always low bar more than you can front squat (assuming both have been trained the same amount)... When you shove those knees out you engage more hams/glutes than quads which is what we want.

I would suggest to find where you are at on the low bar, with proper form, I'd deload 20% from 330 (so 270ish) video tape them at 1x5... MAKE SURE YOU HIT DEPTH and your knees are out HARD.... If your knee position looks good, and your below parallel, add 10lbs and 1x5, assuming you hit these add 10 more putting you at 300 and 1x5..... I would wager that your form is going to break down in one of those sets...

Post your vids and we can go from there?

**If anyone has a differing opinion, I'd love to hear it.

[MattV]

Alright...

Asked a random buddy from the gym to film these sets, so they may not be the best views, also my gym's plates are 44's, 22's and shit like that, so excuse the weird weights I put on the bar...

Set 1 - 265x5 - http://youtu.be/g20ILxaSRRs
Set 2 - 276x5 - http://youtu.be/eTXVWl4XQAk
Set 3 - 298x5 - http://youtu.be/7asjbZlgeg8

[Edge]

Wow, that was fast.....

Set 1 - You're close to... But I still don't think you're hitting depth... I can't tell 100% from that angle, but you don't look like your below parallel... the knees stayed out, which is VERY good compared to your previous vids.. I would guess this is because the weight is light compared to what your used to..... I don't think you're focusing on pushing them out (only because...............

Set 2 - Your knees are starting to collapse.... On every rep.... This can be happening for 2 reasons... 1. You need your quads more... 2. You are a bit too wide in your stance... Without actually being there and yelling at you while you lift, I'm not sure...
I hear you have someone with you... Since you need the Q's, I'd suggest you ask him to give you the q when you collapse... If you can feel yourself doing it, why are you not correcting it? If it is because there is too much weight, we need to start from 265, FORCING those knees out like your life depended on it! This will get your hams and glutes WORKING HARD and growing.

If it's a stance issue, bringing it in 1-2" (no more, because to be honest, I wouldn't even think twice about your stance if you were collapsing so hard at a weight that is so sub your max)

Set 3 - DEPTH IS GOOD! After watching this one several times, I'm leaning towards stance..... Bring your feet 1-2"'s closer together, keep your knees out and DRIVE YOURSELF UP WITH YOUR HIPS.... This set is the closest you've gotten to a good lookin squat... The knees were the only issue here...

I think this is the weight you should start your deload from. I'd start at 298 @ 3x5. Get your buddy to Q you on your knees when they collapse, EVERY REP.... Everything else your doing is okay for now, you need to focus on keeping those knees out. Next workout, if you can, give us 2 at this angle, and 1 side shots (I want to see bar path).

Honestly, these 298's were leaps and bounds better than every other set on here. Let's get the knee thing fixed and you're be setting new goals, because you'll smash 5x3 405 in under a year.