Newbie-squatting, knees going way forward ?

[azathoth]

Hey there!

Im a squat-noob, used to do the usual split routines concerning mostly upperbody until i found out about 5x5 etc, started on the stronglifts program which i have been following for 3 months with pretty good results but now that i found out that mehdi isnt that cute and innocent that he seemed ive switched to do SS instead.

My lifts are as follows on bw of 80kg, length 185 cm, age 30.
(this is 5x5 PRs, deadlift 1x5)

squat 95kg
bench 92,5kg
press 65kg
deadlift 132,5 (with horrible form, need to deload)

Please check my squat form here:



Am i going deep enough (feels like it) ?

My knees seems to go way forward, ive tried to do the "knee movement" at the beginning of the squat but not very successful. Should i try to practice with a "terrible useful block of wood"? havent got any coach, training at home.

When the weights are heavy i tend to lean forward too much when raising up from the hole, any tips for this ?

Thanks and regards
Azathoth

[MikeC1]

Without being able to see for sure because of the lighting and your dark clothes, it looks like you're getting deep enough. Block of wood might be helpful. Are you making sure you're pushing your knees out? If you're having trouble coming up correctly out of the bottom, imagine a spot somewhere on your midback, that you want to drive straight up. If you're leaning too far forward, move that spot higher up on your back, and lower if you lose too much hip drive. Don't rush the ascent; always concentrate on going up smoothly and in control, paying attention to the bar path / back angle.

[azathoth]

Ok, thanks for the advice. Ill try that and post a new video tonight or tomorrow. As i read your comment i get the feeling that you think it wasnt that shabby after all, is that correct ?

[MikeC1]

There's been far worse posted in this forum. I also just noticed that you're looking up in this video. Try looking down.

[hamburgerfan]

You appear to have very long legs, so your knees are going to end up in a more forward position than someone with shorter legs. What you're doing right now actually isn't that bad, but you said you came from stronglifts. Many people who started with stronglifts (myself included) really overdo the sit-back. My knees used to slide forward at the bottom and cause pain in my joints. I ended up fixing it by not actively concentrating on sitting back at all, but simply squatting down. It turns out that I was already sitting back enough anyway. I can't guarantee that it'll work for you, but it may be worth a shot.

[azathoth]

Ok been trying to incorporate head down and hip drive, pretty hard though when weights are heavy, this is actually a 5 rep PR. You guys think there is any improvement comparing to the first one ?

[Tom Campitelli]

You have some forward knee travel at the bottom of a few of the reps. You are still looking up on several of them and you cut one or two reps a little short. More food should be a big part of your plan, too.

Do you have Starting Strength? Have you read it?

[azathoth]

You have some forward knee travel at the bottom of a few of the reps. You are still looking up on several of them and you cut one or two reps a little short. More food should be a big part of your plan, too.

Do you have Starting Strength? Have you read it?

Yes im still not sure how to correct the knees, some reps i tried to take them forward before the descent, maybe that helped if some reps were better than others. I also tried to keep head down, my best explanation is the weight was too heavy which made me focus more on getting the thing up than actually trying to improve form that i actually forgot to keep it down due to bad habit :S

Ill do some lighter sets on saturday, try to think about all the stuff and post them.

Yes i have SS and have read the squat chapter twice. Hard to implement everything though, those two videos are the first ive shot and i didnt really know my issues until now. And i am trying to eat much, just hard going around all day feeling stuffed and nauseous

[azathoth]

Just so tired of deloading the squat due to form/depth issues, then it would be lighter than the bench press AGAIN, which is ... freaky

[MikeC1]

Now that we can actually see what you're doing:
Rep 1 looks ok, but lock it out at the top of every rep and get everything reset. Rep 2 is fine. Depth is questionable on reps 3-5; I would say not low enough. Wait a little longer before moving your butt back, maybe halfway down, or 3/4 of the way down. I mean, your hips and knees will still break at the same time and flex in a coordinated manner, but wait a bit longer on the 'sit back' cue, and see if this doesn't help you hit the right depth consistently. The important thing is to identify the correct bottom position and figure out a way to get there each time.