Squat Form Check

[ryanm]

I just need a form check for myself and my nephew, I have read Starting Strength 2nd Edition and Practical Programming as well as watching the numerous videos Rip has on YouTube. My nephew has done none of the above, I have tried to instill what I have learned from Rip onto him but I am sure I can use some assistance with that as well.

Me:
1st Set - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR9-dTzsc5w
2nd Set - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoCBP0xw4rI

Nephew:
1st Set - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dduq9U4cPck

Hopefully that camera angle is acceptable, if not I can try to do it again. Thanks in advance, it is much appreciated. I'll get a deadlift form check on 11/25 as well, if it's okay I would like to just post it on this thread so I don't have two simultaneous threads.

[Joe Jaloszynski]

The few things that caught my eye:

Stop looking in the mirror, both of you. Put the supports on the inside of the power rack so you're facing away from the mirror. Your and his depth was high. Your stance looks narrow. Both of you have wrists in flexion. Choice of footwear should be reevaluated.

[Scott Hanson]

In addition to Blugold's comments, head down, with eyes on the floor a few feet in front of you (I know he said that, but it's that important).

You both have the bar too high, especially your nephew. Here's Rip's bar position instructional video for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2tyOLvArw0

Your nephew is overarching his back. He needs to take a big breath and tighten his abs really hard, as if he's ready to get punched in the stomach.

You both are lifting your chests too soon and not getting good hip drive, but lets see if proper head and bar position correct some things first.

No prohibition on posting a followup dead-lift video in the same thread. Do you only have this week to work with your nephew?

[ryanm]

The few things that caught my eye:

Stop looking in the mirror, both of you. Put the supports on the inside of the power rack so you're facing away from the mirror. Your and his depth was high. Your stance looks narrow. Both of you have wrists in flexion. Choice of footwear should be reevaluated.

I do have a bad habit of looking in the mirror to try to make sure my knees aren't too far in, I will try your suggestion but that will be kind of hard to record at an angle because of the wall as you can see in the video. My stance is around shoulder width apart unless my shoulders are wider than what I can perceive.. I understand the flexion in the wrist, it's kinda painful to not be able to have any but I will try Friday when I post a squat update. What do you mean by footwear? I don't exactly have the money right now to go out to buy a pair of shoes, would vans be a better shoe? They are pretty flat.

In addition to Blugold's comments, head down, with eyes on the floor a few feet in front of you (I know he said that, but it's that important).

You both have the bar too high, especially your nephew. Here's Rip's bar position instructional video for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2tyOLvArw0

Your nephew is overarching his back. He needs to take a big breath and tighten his abs really hard, as if he's ready to get punched in the stomach.

You both are lifting your chests too soon and not getting good hip drive, but lets see if proper head and bar position correct some things first.

No prohibition on posting a followup dead-lift video in the same thread. Do you only have this week to work with your nephew?

I try to put the bar as low as possible but when I put it too low I notice when doing squats I feel it go further down my back to the point that it feels like it isn't secure. My nephew has complained that it hurts him when he puts it any lower because it rests on his bone. No, I can work with him longer than this week.. I'll try to put the bar lower/head movement and see what everyone thinks, thanks for the replies back! I might need some tips on fixing the wrists.

EDIT: That reference just answered my questions on wrist/bar placement.. Thanks!

[Joe Jaloszynski]

I do have a bad habit of looking in the mirror to try to make sure my knees aren't too far in, I will try your suggestion but that will be kind of hard to record at an angle because of the wall as you can see in the video. My stance is around shoulder width apart unless my shoulders are wider than what I can perceive.. I understand the flexion in the wrist, it's kinda painful to not be able to have any but I will try Friday when I post a squat update. What do you mean by footwear? I don't exactly have the money right now to go out to buy a pair of shoes, would vans be a better shoe? They are pretty flat.



I try to put the bar as low as possible but when I put it too low I notice when doing squats I feel it go further down my back to the point that it feels like it isn't secure. My nephew has complained that it hurts him when he puts it any lower because it rests on his bone. No, I can work with him longer than this week.. I'll try to put the bar lower/head movement and see what everyone thinks, thanks for the replies back! I might need some tips on fixing the wrists.

I understand about the recording angle, but for now, it will help you to learn to not rely on the mirror. We can make do with the less than ideal camera angle.

If your gym has a band or anything you can lay across your shoulders, do it and make some landmarks. Put that on the ground and line up your feet. Hell, bring a tape measure with you and measure it out.

If the bar is on bone, it isn't in the right spot.

Regarding the shoes, I understand the funds concern. But the correct answer is to get proper footwear. We aren't after flat. We're after firm and secure.

[ryanm]

I understand about the recording angle, but for now, it will help you to learn to not rely on the mirror. We can make do with the less than ideal camera angle.

If your gym has a band or anything you can lay across your shoulders, do it and make some landmarks. Put that on the ground and line up your feet. Hell, bring a tape measure with you and measure it out.

If the bar is on bone, it isn't in the right spot.

Regarding the shoes, I understand the funds concern. But the correct answer is to get proper footwear. We aren't after flat. We're after firm and secure.

If you guys don't have a problem with the camera angle then I don't have a problem facing the other way!

I measured out the distance today using one of the gyms bands and you are correct, my stance was a lot narrower than how wide my shoulders are from the end to end. I will definitely make sure Friday I have a wider stance, I think I am going to notice a big difference in how the squat feels with a more wider stance.

I didn't squat today but I did try out the bar placement/fix the wrist flexion that I learned from watching the reference Scott Hanson provided. It was a total difference, the bar felt significantly more secure than I have ever felt before. Even though I had only the bar, I could feel the difference between what I was doing and the way it should be done via Rips video. Hopefully when I post an update Friday I am more correct in that nature.

Anyways, here's my deadlift video... I wasn't able to get one of my nephew today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fzNH7Bqij4

As always, I really appreciate all the help that's being provided..

[Joe Jaloszynski]

Grab the bar with straight legs. Then bring your shins to the bar without pushing the bar and without dropping your hips. That should fix a that first deadlift.

When putting it down. Break your hips with straightish knees. When the bar gets past your knees, then bed your knees.

These also looked light. Add some weight. Probably 15lbs. Then, let's eat some turkey

[Noah Milstein]

Read the CURRENT 3rd edition of the book. The information you have is outdated.

That point aside, you need a coach.

1) Do NOT face a mirror.
2) Look DOWN at the floor, roughly 4-5' in front of you. This means both the eyes and head angle are set and constant. It should look and feel like you are trying to hold a tennis ball under your chin.
3) The bar is in the wrong position. It should sit underneath the spine of the scapulae, viced in tightly between the bottom of the spine of the scapulae and the top of the posterior deltoids. Grab the back of your shoulder and use your fingers to palpate, walking your fingers outwards to locate the acromion process (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acromion). This is the terminus and most prominent part of that spine. The bar sits at the BOTTOM of that part of your body.
4) Your grip is too narrow AND the bar is sitting too high in your hand AND your wrist is bent.
5) Neither of you guys are squatting below parallel. An above parallel squat is not a squat.

That's enough things to fix all at once. You will have other issues after these issues are fixed.

Most importantly, you need to read the current edition.

[ryanm]

Grab the bar with straight legs. Then bring your shins to the bar without pushing the bar and without dropping your hips. That should fix a that first deadlift.

When putting it down. Break your hips with straightish knees. When the bar gets past your knees, then bed your knees.

These also looked light. Add some weight. Probably 15lbs. Then, let's eat some turkey

I will try to implement it on Sunday then I will post a video for review.

Read the CURRENT 3rd edition of the book. The information you have is outdated.

That point aside, you need a coach.

1) Do NOT face a mirror.
2) Look DOWN at the floor, roughly 4-5' in front of you. This means both the eyes and head angle are set and constant. It should look and feel like you are trying to hold a tennis ball under your chin.
3) The bar is in the wrong position. It should sit underneath the spine of the scapulae, viced in tightly between the bottom of the spine of the scapulae and the top of the posterior deltoids. Grab the back of your shoulder and use your fingers to palpate, walking your fingers outwards to locate the acromion process (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acromion). This is the terminus and most prominent part of that spine. The bar sits at the BOTTOM of that part of your body.
4) Your grip is too narrow AND the bar is sitting too high in your hand AND your wrist is bent.
5) Neither of you guys are squatting below parallel. An above parallel squat is not a squat.

That's enough things to fix all at once. You will have other issues after these issues are fixed.

Most importantly, you need to read the current edition.

I will try to get a copy of the latest addition whenever I have some extra cash, I'm not exactly rolling in the money right now. Same reason I can't get a coach at the moment.

I appreciate the Wikipedia link, Scott Hanson posted a reference earlier that also explained how to find the acromion process but the graphic in the Wikipedia link definitely helps.

Before you watch the update videos I would like to point some things out that I noticed while reviewing the videos. My first set I didn't inhale as deeply as I should have and I may have needed to put my head further down than I did but you guys can critique me if need be. Second set seemed better but I might need to adjust my head a little more. My nephew still needs to squat deeper but I think his shorts were restricting him so I told him next time to wear less restrictive shorts. He might need to adjust his head some more as well, I don't seem to see much hip drive with him either but maybe that's because he isn't squatting below parallel. I feel like we both have better bar placement/wrist placement though, might not be perfect but it seems better than it was in the previous videos. It also feels more secure than any of my previous squats. It's uncomfortable but it feels secure which gives me more confidence than in the past.

Me:
1st Set - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyg2DpG5vVw
2nd Set - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHBjYjZtM24

Nephew:
1st Set - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOUVhheupFA
2nd Set - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYOXdxaqOtE

[Noah Milstein]

I can't see your bar, hand, or wrist orientation in these videos.

You still have your head and gaze set too high. Look way down at the floor, 4-5' in front of you. Imagine you are holding a tennis ball beneath your chin. You are coming forward slightly on your ascent. Fix this by first reducing the load and second by pushing through the mid foot. You will probably notice that the pressure on the foot during the ascent is towards the ball of the foot. Be sensitive to this proprioceptive input. It is hard to gauge your depth given the dark clothing and camera angle, though it has no doubt improved from the previous session.

Your nephew needs to drop his head and gaze down as well. Pull a ton of weight off his bar and don't accept any rep that is above parallel. If he can't figure out how to squat below parallel without a bar, then he can't progress to the bar; if he can't squat with the bar, then he can't add any weight and so on.

Go to your local library and check out a copy of the 3rd edition. Keep checking it out until you have memorized it.

Bar position: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2tyOLvArw0
Hip drive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yha2XAc2qu8
Learning to squat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhVC_AnZYYM

Notice how low on the floor these lifters are looking. It is more than just their eyes, the head is set low. This encourages the proper back angle, which - in turn - encourages hip drive. Looking in the wrong place kills hip drive.

You both need to to look down, bend over, and lead with the hips (even more so with your nephew). Drive out of the bottom with the hips while looking down with a fixed head position. There's a lot of other stuff going on here but you can only work on so many pieces at a time. Never add weight if the technique is off and - worst of all - if you don't break parallel. Not breaking parallel is the cardinal sin, never stand for it. It's absolute heresy.