Am I really going too flat? I agree that the 4th rep was pretty bad but I thought the rest looked like a consistent angle.
Can you explain how tightening up the lower back keeps the upper back from flattening into a good-morning? Is my lower back too loose?
I may actually use that line as a cue:
"Hips go up, so bar goes up"
Thank you
Have you noticed any improvement of core strength and how it affects the good-mornings? I think that might be my problem.
Wouldn't the cue to drive up with the hips make the problem worse? I keep thinking "hip drive" and I know Ripp focuses on that but I thought he also said that occasionally the cue of "chest up" is used to help keep a consistent back angle when the hips rise too fast. Unless I understood the reasoning wrong.
That's correct -- I need that cue occasionally also. For me, setting my back angle immediately ("nipples down") is the cue that fixes my occasional squat mornings, but you seem to be setting your back angle well from the outset, so I don't know if that would be helpful. I'd say try "chest up" next time -- you've got great hip drive already.
I had a really weak core when I started squatting, so I went from my chest completely collapsing at the bottom of a squat to good mornings. It's a lot less of an issue now. I think you just have to take it slow with adding weight to the bar and focus on good form and bracing your core. You look like you have the bracing down with your breaths, so that's great.
I think a key with using hip drive is that you have to drive up with your hips *through the center of your foot*. I had the epiphany moment with deadlifts when I realized it was less about pulling the bar up as pushing down on the floor through your feet. The same cue I found I could use with squats. So when I squat I'm conscious over which part of my foot the bar is balanced. If I noticed it's over my toes, and that still happens, I'll good morning. Balancing on and consciously pushing through the center of my foot helps me a lot in not having good mornings.
Different cues definitely work for different folks. I had coaches tell me to explode up. I was like... ?!?. Does not compute. In my experience it was best to spend time with light weight, not quite the bar but enough to not be just air squats, and try different things until I found the things I could focus on that made me feel strongest and most stable. So if you feel something isn't working for you, then totally just ignore it. They're all mental tricks to get your body in the right position.
;-) Just trying to help.
Thank you for the tips. Wow, the chest collapsing sounds scary!
I think you may be on to something with the bar being in balance over the foot. I know Ripp has tried to pound it into everybody's heads just how important being in balance is. I try to keep it over mid-foot but I think I forget/focus on other things once the weight gets heavier and I can't feel it very well. I will try to really feel the bar through my feet (does that sound weird?).
I don't think the "explode up" cue would work for me neither. Did you see me grinding those last reps? I am not exploding anywhere with that weight ;D
You kind of answered your question there - it looked to me like your back angle was collapsing a little as your drove your hips up. For me, it's lower back squeeze that keeps that from happening. Something else may work for you - it looks like you've gotten some other ideas/feedback as well.
I filmed all my lifts today (except the camera cut out on the last power clean set):
SQ: 105lbs x 5, 5, 2, 5
I am going to go ahead and count this one as a win. I bailed on rep 3 of set 3 and decided to rest a couple more minutes and go back for the last 3 to complete the set (but still to be repeated next time). I was angry and went in on ATTACK! mode. I ended up completing the set so I was pretty happy with myself (I may have had a little maniacal laugh going in my head upon finishing).
Methinks it be time to commence triples on squats. This is around the weight where I got stuck before my vacation.
Here are the last 2 sets (the one I bailed and the one I finished with). My form might be shitty but I was still really happy just to have done it.
08/08 - SQ 105lbs x 2 (bail) - YouTube
08/08 - SQ 105lbs x 5 - YouTube
OP: 56lbs x 3 x 6 (oops!)
I went into my press feeling great because of the squats so I really like how these felt, even with the accidental extra rep. I noticed my wrists are too bent so I need to fix where the bar sits in my hand and I am not doing the hip rebound.
08/08 - OP 56lbs x 5 - YouTube
PC: 80lbs x 5 x 3 (set #4 because my camera ran out of space)
I was running late because of squats so I was rushing my power cleans. I have trouble putting them down while keeping my back straight and not knocking my knees on the way past. I also supersetted them with jump assisted chin-ups so I was out of breath. BTW, I started doing jump chins in May and could only do 3 x 7 and now I can almost make 3 x 12 (I am also a bit heavier). Yay progress!
08/08 - PC 80lbs x 3 - YouTube
Last edited by Sirimiti; 08-09-2016 at 08:06 AM. Reason: 6 reps