Squat Form check 335x5 - Last Set

[caseyrocks]

Hello and thank you in advance for even taking the time to check my form and read my post.

I probably should have had this checked long ago, but I digress. I was previously doing StrongLifts with a high-bar squat and got to 275x5x5 before I saw the glorious ways of the low-bar. I had some pain in my hip and my girlfriend decided to show me how to low-bar. It was a struggle, and I'm still struggling a bit with my grip. On that note, my shoulder mobility is pretty bad, and I have to take a pretty wide grip on the bar. I currently do the low-bar stretch before every session before my warm up sets, and it seems to be helping, but not enough. Perhaps I just haven't done it enough. I am also experiencing some bicep tendonitis (I think that's what it is) from either my grip or my form, or both. Deadlifts actually seem to relieve some of the pain (if that make sense), but it can get pretty bad sometimes. I'm posting here to get a general form check and to see if anyone can spot what the problem with my grip might be.

Again, thank you for your time.

[Jeff Illingworth]

Casey, you've got a couple things going on here that should be easy to fix and ought to give a pretty good return on investment. The first one is going to be the hardest because of the way your rack is configured. If you can, get your feet under the bar when you go to unrack so you can stand up as opposed to good morning the bar out - there's a chance that the hook above where the bar rests will get in the way. Second, read and apply as the thoracic extension article. You're actually too "bent over" in the top of your back and looking too far down. This is going to exacerbate any shoulder issues you have. Third, when you're out of the rack and getting set, take a slight wider stance with just a bit more turn out, this will help get your thighs out of the way. When you start the descent, break at the knees and hips simultaneously and aim your chest at the ground (while keeping your back in extension!). Stop your knees' forward movement just a hair in front of your toes and get them there by the time you're halfway down - keep them there until you're halfway back up (try a TUBOW).

[caseyrocks]

Thank you Jeff!

I will give all of those things a try tonight. I will post back to see if I have corrected any of the problems you've noticed.

[caseyrocks]

I apologize for not including this in my original post, but here are my stats.

Age: 32 M
Weight: 220lbs
Height: 5'9"
Caloric intake: 3340 a day, with my protein goal set around 250.

Other lifts are as follows:
Squat: 335
Deadlift: 365
Press: 140
Bench: 180

Here is my first set of 5 tonight at 340:


I unracked all my warmup sets and my first working set from the higher rack position, but after the first set I racked it in the lower position out of habit. My second set I did from there trying to take into consideration all the advice given, but after review of the video I still feel like I was too bent over. I re-racked the weight in the higher position for the third set, but the weight just proved too heavy and awkward (for me) to unrack from that high.

I was able to take a bit of a wider stance with toes out just a little more, and that seemed to help depth and to get my thighs out of the way.

I don't think I did a very good job of breaking at both the hips and knees, but I will work on that.

I don't feel like I kept my back tight and my chest proud, and I will work on that too. I was able to do two sets of 5 at 340 tonight, but I failed the last set on the second rep. I'm going to reset after this and drop down to a lower working weight until I get a lot of these problems squared away.

Thanks again.

[Jeff Illingworth]

These are better!
You are still very into your knees. Use a tubow for awhile to help you find where they need to stop moving. This will also help you get your hip drive dialed in.
When I was talking about unracking, I didn't mean for you to put the bar higher, rather I meant for you to get under the bar in more of a squat position. However, because of the way the hook rail is configured on your stand, racking/unracking will always be a challenge.

[Mia Inman]

Re your grip issue. Your wrists are a little bit flexed, and that can cause issues with elbow/upper arm pain. Straightening them out might help, but that may be difficult given your shoulder mobility. Keep working on that low-bar stretch. Over time, crank the elbows down a bit too, if you can. That will help with Jeff's observation about keeping the chest up a bit and the back in extension.

Question, is the bar just below the spine of the scapula or do you have it set lower than that. If it's too low, you could be trying to pull the bar up with your hands to keep it in place and that can cause some pain. Just something to check, I'm struggling to tell bar location from the angle in the video.

[caseyrocks]

These are better!
You are still very into your knees. Use a tubow for awhile to help you find where they need to stop moving. This will also help you get your hip drive dialed in.
When I was talking about unracking, I didn't mean for you to put the bar higher, rather I meant for you to get under the bar in more of a squat position. However, because of the way the hook rail is configured on your stand, racking/unracking will always be a challenge.

Thanks again. I will use a TUBOW next session to get my knees and hip drive hopefully sorted out.

Hahaha my mistake on the misunderstanding regarding the rack position! I will take a squat stance with both feet under the bar when unracking from now on.

Re your grip issue. Your wrists are a little bit flexed, and that can cause issues with elbow/upper arm pain. Straightening them out might help, but that may be difficult given your shoulder mobility. Keep working on that low-bar stretch. Over time, crank the elbows down a bit too, if you can. That will help with Jeff's observation about keeping the chest up a bit and the back in extension.

Question, is the bar just below the spine of the scapula or do you have it set lower than that. If it's too low, you could be trying to pull the bar up with your hands to keep it in place and that can cause some pain. Just something to check, I'm struggling to tell bar location from the angle in the video.

Thank you for your input! I think I may have the bar a tad too low. I will take all of this into consideration next session and post another video, with a little better angle next time.

Thanks again to both of you for your help.

[caseyrocks]

I reset to 300 to try and fix a few issues. I used my TUBOW to help set my knees.

I placed the bar a little higher (I think) than what I used to, and taking a squat stance with both feet under while unracking seemed to help the tendonitis a bit. I tried to keep the elbows down, but old habits die hard. I still had some pain, but not nearly as much as usual. I don't know if the pain was lessened by the advil, the change in grip, stance, or a little bit of everything. It (the pain) seems to be worse the higher the weight. We'll see going forward at this point.

Overall, how are these looking? I am trying to keep my back tight and my chest proud, but I'm not sure if I am actually putting it to practice. Also, are these deep enough?

[pip]

It looks like you could start to get set much earlier by bending over more near the top so your back angle and knee is set well before the bottom. This will help with the hip drive out of the bottom. Right now as the weight gets heavy it looks like you’re trying but you really just slowly sit into the bottom of the squat and then push out of the hole without a ton of hip drive to help. I also think setting the descent earlier will help stay balanced better.

[whale]

It's better but I think you should get under the bar when unracking it. It's better to bend at the knees when unracking. Also a tiny bit faster to utilize the stretch reflex.