How offensive is my squat form

[Gunnhild Bruno]

I knock the TUBOW down everytime. I'm almost wondering if I should just build a big fucking barrier that is completely immovable, or a large sheet of plywood.

Once I start looking at my knees, my back will round, my knees don't get shoved out and my bounce isn't........I'm a fucking mess. Too much shit goes through my gourd when I squat.

You're too hard on yourself, which is a characteristic of many overthinkers.

And your squat is very, very far from the worst we've seen on here. It's actually in fairly decent shape, aside from the leading with the chest and the knee travel, and the latter is not abominable, as I've said.

A good strategy for overthinkers is to work on one problem at a time.

Work on head down/hip drive first, because if you do this properly, it's possible that it may ameliorate the knee travel issue.

The TUBOW situation should be navigated by touch rather than by sight, even with your head down. Post a form check with the TUBOW after you get the head/hip drive situation fixed, and people here will help you with it. Many strong squatters on this board have had to work with the TUBOW in the past. When you're ready for this, you may want to PM sking001, who was very successful in using the TUBOW to fix this same problem and has been making excellent progress with his training.

And remember: Nobody is grading you with the intention of putting your family in a forced labor camp if you don't get an A. Let yourself make mistakes so you can learn.

[sking1001]

Totally agree with spar. I found that lower lumbar tightness along with shoving the femurs apart very hard were key to keeping the knees in position. I also have a couple of other observations:

1) Are you trying to squat low bar? It's hard to tell, but from the first video, the bar looks too high. This will force you to have a more vertical back angle and the knees will want to come forward more, and it looks like you are trying to "sit back". That's going to make it VERY hard to keep your lumbar tight.

2) I guess you were probably trying to stay tighter in the second video, because did you notice they were above parallel, whereas the first one was to depth?

Make sure you're doing low bar.

[VTHS]

Totally agree with spar. I found that lower lumbar tightness along with shoving the femurs apart very hard were key to keeping the knees in position. I also have a couple of other observations:

1) Are you trying to squat low bar? It's hard to tell, but from the first video, the bar looks too high. This will force you to have a more vertical back angle and the knees will want to come forward more, and it looks like you are trying to "sit back". That's going to make it VERY hard to keep your lumbar tight.

2) I guess you were probably trying to stay tighter in the second video, because did you notice they were above parallel, whereas the first one was to depth?

Make sure you're doing low bar.

Low bar, I've had a strength coach tell me that my bar position is fine. I've tried to cut my depth because someone else told me I was going way too deep (which I was) and my back was rounding as a resulting.

This is kinda frustrating. My back is vertical because it was rounding badly if it got any more horizontal.

Half the people tell me I need to keep my chest up more and my back less horizontal and others say more.

Regardless, my squats tonight sucked balls. I don't know if the back injury is making it harder or what, but my damn bench is higher than my squat, and my press is getting close.
FML

[Gunnhild Bruno]

Low bar, I've had a strength coach tell me that my bar position is fine. I've tried to cut my depth because someone else told me I was going way too deep (which I was) and my back was rounding as a resulting.

This is kinda frustrating. My back is vertical because it was rounding badly if it got any more horizontal.

Half the people tell me I need to keep my chest up more and my back less horizontal and others say more.

Regardless, my squats tonight sucked balls. I don't know if the back injury is making it harder or what, but my damn bench is higher than my squat, and my press is getting close.
FML

If you have a coach, you should just listen to your coach. Unless you don't trust the coach, in which case, why do you have that coach?

People are going to tell you different things because everyone has a different notion of what "the squat" is. If you want to squat the way Rip teaches it, you should make sure you work with a coach... who understands the squat the way Rip teaches it.

You should also make sure you don't cross post about your squat on a bunch of different forums, if that's what you're doing, and ask everyone and his mother about your squat. Because you are likely to get varying answers that will just confuse you and make you think your squat is worse than it is.

Bottom line: the bar may be in low-bar position, but you are squatting in a style that is more similar to the high-bar squat. That's why sking1001 asked whether the bar was in the right position, and that's why I identified a lack of hip drive and leading with the chest as problems. If you squat in a high-bar style, even with the bar low on your back, your knees will travel at the bottom. That is the nature of high-bar squat mechanics.

As for the back rounding issue--you need to try it with different cues. Either you have been misunderstanding the cues you know/have been given in the past, or you haven't yet encountered the cue(s) that work for you.

Sounds like you're getting frustrated because you're letting too many chefs in the kitchen. Pick a source of information and coaching you trust and do what (s)he says.

I see no reason after looking at your clips why you shouldn't be able to fix your squat in one in-person session with a competent coach. It may take a little longer over the Internet, but there's no reason for you to feel like squatting properly is as impossible as you make it out to be.

[Gunnhild Bruno]

My back is vertical because it was rounding badly if it got any more horizontal.

Where is your DL, by the way? How is your progress there?

[VTHS]

My deadlift has also been slow to recover. I don't know if my issues are the result of the injury, or part of a larger problem I now have. I had set back about 6 weeks ago following a workout stemming from a squat set that went bad, resulting in my foot getting tingly, and cramping in the quad followed by pain in the lumbar area.

I had 185 on last night while squatting for 3 working sets. I felt like the weight was going to crush me, while 2 years ago I could have done 185 for 20. My form at the time was likely horrific, but the weight was light and manageable.

My frustration level is pretty high right now.

[Gunnhild Bruno]

My deadlift has also been slow to recover. I don't know if my issues are the result of the injury, or part of a larger problem I now have.

How are you programming them? What weight are you working with now? Have you been doing chins/pullups?

I had set back about 6 weeks ago following a workout stemming from a squat set that went bad, resulting in my foot getting tingly, and cramping in the quad followed by pain in the lumbar area.

You're 6 weeks out from a back injury. Calm the fuck down and be more patient with yourself. Eventually,t he squat will go back up. Stop getting hung up on the fact that your bench is the same or whatever--you're not in the same boat as a newbie who didn't injure his back, and obsessing about lift ratios right now is counterproductive.

I had 185 on last night while squatting for 3 working sets. I felt like the weight was going to crush me, while 2 years ago I could have done 185 for 20. My form at the time was likely horrific, but the weight was light and manageable.

"Light and manageable", yet you injured yourself. Learn from that and be accepting of the fact that you need to put in some time now to get the form right.

My frustration level is pretty high right now.

It may be that you're feeling gun shy about the greater loads on the back that the low-bar squat produces, and you're not letting yourself learn/do the form this way.

I expect a bunch of folks will tell you to just high-bar squat.

I personally think that's unnecessary and a bad choice, and that you're not all that far away from doing a good low-bar squat. But if you're not psychologically going to allow yourself do a good low-bar squat, there is nothing to be gained by trying to achieve it. Do some soul searching.

You mentioned a coach in a past post. Are you currently working with that coach? Is that person an SS certified coach?

[MEbigUsmall]

Cool shoes.

[VTHS]

Yes, the coach I was using was SS certified. I was fucking around with my form last night and I can see how keeping my head down would fix my knee issue. The problem is that I just can't keep my back tight when I do it.

FWIW, the back injury was deadlift related. (SI Joint that ultimately caused a disc injury while bending down to pick up a grocery back off the floor).

[Gunnhild Bruno]

Yes, the coach I was using was SS certified. I was fucking around with my form last night and I can see how keeping my head down would fix my knee issue. The problem is that I just can't keep my back tight when I do it.

At that weight, I doubt it is lack of strength. What you need is a good coach to give you tactile cues as you squat and DL so you learn what to contract and how.

Post a DL form. I suspect it will show some kinesthetic issues with your back.