The Really Ugly: Squat Help

[MGJ]

Hello,
New guy here posting the first squat video. I recently finished the SS book and the DVD. My flexibility is horrible so I just started (last week) doing foam roller, mobility/stretching every day. Here what I see:

1. Don't have the shoes yet.
2. Hard to notice here but bar is high - stiff upper body not allowing the bar to get all the way into low bar position. Working on flexibility.
3. Not low enough by several inches - knees out more?
4. Bar path moves forward starting about half way down - is this flexibility, knees not out far enough? I try to use the cue of keeping the bar path in a slot but obviously it didn't work on this set.

175 - 1st set
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXhpOVUs614

I know I have a lot to work on here and your advice is appreciated.
Cheers - John

[Dastardly]

Your flexibility looks sufficient for a parallel squat. Your technique however is horrible. I suggest you take some weight off the bar and practice technique till you get something a whole lot better. Currently you are just collapsing forwards. Your method of holding the bar looks awkard and possibly risky for your shoulders too.

Dont try to force depth, focus on staying tight and pushing the knees out. If your push them out hard enough it should prevent both your knees and your torso collapsing forwards while simultaneously helping you get the depth with the important straight bar path. The excessive forward lean could also be an artefact of forced depth.

[misspelledgeoff]

John, I don't think your squats are all that bad. You are high though. Duck your feet out and and yell "knees out" to yourself on the decent.

Lower the weight if it helps your confidence. Otherwise work with this weight until you have the depth right.

[Bloodninja666]

The bar is possibly a tad high, which may account for some of the forward travel in your bar path at the bottom.

Your stance may also be a bit wide. Experiment with feet a bit narror and knees pushed out more during the movement.

If you are actually thinking abou leaning the torso forward during the descent, don't worry about that. Rather thank about knees out, and sitting down. Just keep the trunk tight, and it will do what it needs to. It looks like you may be losing some tightness. Are you doing a valsalva? Don't half-ass this breath, it can make all the difference. Another trick for staying tight is to hold your chin tightly in a steady position (the cue from SS is to imagine youre holding a tennis ball between your chin and sternum.)


We nitpick a lot on this subforum, so realize youre very close to getting this. Just need a few tweaks.


Oh, and lower that safety bar 2 notches. God forbid you actually get proper depth, it's set to ruin your day.

[MGJ]

Thanks for the tips - I will go ahead and drop the weight and work more on knees out. Also, I read on here all the time about tightness and don't feel I have that down yet so I'll keep working. Hopefully I can get a much better squat vid up here in a couple weeks as I am determined to get it right.