Squat Form Check 6'4"

[rococo41]

Hi All,

I could really use some help figuring out what I am doing wrong as I have been going around the houses with this!

Height: 6'4"/193cm
Weight: 110kg/242lbs
Squat: 97.5kg
Deadlift: 115kg
Bench: 58.75kg
OHP: 52.5kg

Been doing SS for a couple of months but had a deload recently to fix form on deadlift, squat and bench. Deadlift and bench seem to have improved but squat I am facing the same issues i always do when it gets heavy (including previous SS runs)..






Thanks in advance.

[misspelledgeoff]

Your stance is a touch too wide and your knees are caving inward on the way up. Bring your heels together about 3cm on each side. Put your toes out at about 30 degrees. Shove your knees out on the descent. Concentrate on keeping your knees out over your toes through the rest of the movement.

[Brooke Haubenstricker]

Great notes from misspelledgeoff. Fix your stance, knees track out over your toes, knee position and back angle should both be established halfway down. Sink your hips consistently. If you can narrow your grip on the bar, do that too so you can retract your shoulder blades when you’re getting the bar positioned and hold them together throughout the set. Post an update from this angle and another from the side please.

[rococo41]

Thanks for the advice, it feels a lot better with my toes pointed more out. I can't believe I thought that I was pointing them out 30 degrees this whole time.

I tried to get a video from the side but messed up the recording sorry. I also didn't step out of the rack on this set the best, I was a bit too hasty.



I feel I am slightly tipping forward, is this because I am not concentrating hard enough on keeping my knees over my toes on the way up? Also was this too much weight after I just changed my stance quite a bit?

Thanks again.

[Sean Herbison]

I feel I am slightly tipping forward, is this because I am not concentrating hard enough on keeping my knees over my toes on the way up?

Possibly, but you've still got some issues with your setup. Your stance is still a bit wider than I would prefer to see, and that's going to make it hard to keep your knees out. You're also extending your lumbar spine too much during setup. You should be aiming for a neutral back position, and you don't get that until the very bottom of the squat, where hamstring tension forces it to happen.

Also was this too much weight after I just changed my stance quite a bit?

If it's taking an extra amount of mental focus to keep your technique dialed in, you may need to drop the weight a little bit. But I wouldn't do anything huge, just 2.5-7.5 kg.

[rococo41]

I worked out today and I made my grip slightly narrower with my hands more over the bar than previously, I also bent over more and sooner. I felt so much more stable in the hole with no feeling of tipping forward or weight going onto my toes. The weight felt so much easier even though I increased from last workout.



Thanks for the additional advice. I will make my stance narrower and not extend my lumbar spine so much next workout. It makes me feel a lot more confident that my lumbar position is fine at the bottom as I thought it was in flexion as you say it changes at the bottom due to hamstring tension.