1st time squat form check

[Ed Bremer]

I know it's ugly and way too high. tips on a good place to start fixing this?

[Jeff Illingworth]

I thought I replied, so if this is a double post, I apologize.

You are very loose, your shoes and/or mats are very squishy, and your stance is too wide. The wide stance is probably the big contributor to being shallow.

[Ed Bremer]

i'll bring my heels together around 6" and try again tomorrow. also will work on staying tight. this was my third set, and I got looser with each set. thanks for the input.

[Ed Bremer]

I believe this was set 1

[nemoronin]

This looks way too heavy for you. Also, your safeties are probably set too high.

[Ed Bremer]

This looks way too heavy for you. Also, your safeties are probably set too high.

do you think I should deload and work back up?

[Jeff Illingworth]

You would greatly benefit from an in-person coaching session. If there's any way at all you can get one, do so.

In the meantime, you are still very loose. Watch how much the bar swings around when you're moving and when you're getting ready to squat. Brace! Squeeze hard! Take a big, hard breath (like you're going to dive to the bottom of the pool and stay there for a minute or two) and squeeze your gut around that.

You've got to do something about your shoes/that mat. One or both are just too soft and it's making you more wobbly than you already are.

When you squat, it needs to be much more hip and much less knee. Watch/read these: Bend over, hip drive, back extension, grip. Tape every set you do, starting with the empty bar warm up, watch it as soon as you're done, and plan corrections to the next set based the aforementioned resources.

Generally, you need to think hips back much more. You are really getting into your knees and onto your toes.

This probably sounds like a lot and it kind of is - however, it is all very, very fixable

[Ed Bremer]

thanks for the tips. I actually scheduled a coaching session in the Peoples Republic of Austin in 2 weeks. I think I can remove the rubber mat under the squat rack. I will try that tonite. will also work on the hips. I've been reading about hipdrive, and watching some video, but it's hard to put into practice. I will look at info you referred to above. thank you for your input. I will also work on staying tight.

[Ed Bremer]

that was good stuff. I think i'm going to back the weight down a little. what do you think? back it off 25# or so and work on my form, or keep adding 5#? the weight in the video was 180#.

[Jeff Illingworth]

You may end up having to take some weight off the bar. My general advice is to film and watch every set you do - especially when working on fixing form issues. Presumably, at some light weight you'll have good form (it may not be with the empty bar). When you start deviating from the good form, notice it in the film and fix it on the next set. Just before you can't fix it anymore, that's your work weight. This is basically what a coach does: they watch your form as you add weight and, based on observation and experience, they call your work set of 5. From there, keep adding weight from session to session.