Squat form check

[Fips]

Hi coaches,

Could you have a look on those squats, please?



It is today's third work set, 120 kg (265 lbs) x5x3 at 79 kg (174 lbs) bodyweight.

I'm sorry for not recording the video at 45°, but this is as much rear oblique as my small German garden allows.

Thanks in advance!

[Tom Campitelli]

Guten tag, Fips. Those squats look pretty good with one exception. You are overextending your spine as you ascend. Don't arch your back so much on the way up. Think: chest down. Also, that squat video was filmed from a much more useful perspective than the majority of videos that get posted here. Good work.

[Fips]

Hi Tom, thanks for the quick response and feedback. I really appreciate the work you and the other coaches put in to this forum. I guess I'm overextending my spine because I'm worried that my squats could turn into squatmornings and thus lift my chest too much. I'll try the "chest down" cue tomorrow. Just to clarify, by "chest down" you mean "don't overdo the proud chest thing" and not "keep you back angle a little more horizontal"? Thanks again!

[Tom Campitelli]

Correct. Don't try to point your chest at the wall in front of you on the way up. You want your back to be in as close to normal anatomical position as you can get it when you squat. The dreaded squat-morning is very rarely seen. Just stay tight and drive your hips up.

[Fips]

Hi Tom,

I tried to apply the "chest down cue" the last couple of workouts. It feels better now, but I'm not sure if it's good enough. Could you give it a short glance, please? Thanks in advance!

[Tom Campitelli]

You are getting there, but you are still arching your back too much. Focus more on driving up with the hips and less on arching your back.