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Another Squat Form Check Post
When I reached 255 lbs during my LP my arms hurt so badly all the way from the wrists to the shoulders, I had to skip the rest of work outs. I put off posting a video for form check and just went high bar for a while, which is now proving to be hard on my knees and doesn't work my lower back like I'd like it to. So here I am quite a few weeks later for a form check.
Some relevant information;
I reached the end of LP and now been doing HLM but doing a cut and very fatigued from going on 6 weeks worth of calorie deficit. What you see in the video here is my very first attempt at low bar in quite a few weeks in a fatigued state with lowered strength, plus I was being careful with weight as it was my first time coming back, so please don't judge the poundage. I had also just done 2 sets of high bar prior to making this video as those were my work sets for medium day. I'm also REALLY bloated from having eaten a cheat meal from the night before.
I already noticed a couple things myself. I'm not locking out at the top and I'm not looking down as I should during the squat.
Does anyone else spot anything wrong at this angle?
✓ Member
You're pretty much doing a high bar squat where the bar is lower than usual. In addition to the things you've noted, stop at the top of each rep. Don't look up. I thik your stance is too wide, but can't tell for sure in this video. There are two platform videos on here you need to watch that deal with back angle (featuring Rip and Chase) and one on looking down (featuring Tom Campitelli and a lady).
Member
The way you unrack the bar is not good. Your upper back isn't as tight as it could be (make a prouder chest), you also get loose before your first rep (don't exhale so much air, just exhale a couple short breaths and then inhale again), and it's hard to tell because I can't see all of your feet but it looks like you aren't standing directly under the bar when you unrack it. Instead it looks like you're standing slightly behind the bar and doing a mini good morning to take it out of the rack instead of a mini squat i.e. you're opening up your hips to unrack the bar instead of opening your knees.
As for the actual squats, I agree your stance looks a bit wide, although it's hard to tell since we can't see both your feet fully, you're looking up when you shouldn't be, and you're not locking out any of these reps. Fixing the stance should be pretty straight forward, reread the book for advice on how to break the looking up habit since it can be tricky if you've gotten used to always looking forward, and doing full reps should be pretty easy now that you're aware of the problem. Post another video after you make those changes and we'll see how things look. The most important things for you to work on, imo, are getting your back tighter and keeping it that way the whole time, looking down instead of forward, and locking out every rep.
Member
As far as the unracking, I'll say that rack totally sucks, and it is probably messing with the you.
With those fixed J-Hooks, you can never find the right height. Look, they are like on 8-9" spacing.
And if they are low for you, and you just stand up, you hit the bottom of the next set above the one you just lifted off of.
The blade style are a poor choice for this set up. The J-hooks occupy too much space (underneath them).
All this is not 100% of his problem, but yeah . . . . those style racks are far from ideal.
You probably get used to not standing up all the way straight out of the rack, and then carry that feeling/set-up with
you back to where you start squatting.
Stand up all the way (extend your knees).
Everything might look A LITTLE different if you start squatting from a standing position than a 1/8-sqt. position.
The squats do look high-bar-ish, but not terribly so.
You need to get you knees in place sooner, and stop them (but then again, starting off in a 1/8 sqt pos is affecting that)(
And look at where the wall meets the floor; that would be about neutral spine/neck.
(I'm not down with that looking down between your feet thing).
Member
Just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to respond guys. Fulcrum you hit the nail on the head. I've come to the conclusion the rack is my biggest problem here. If nothing else it's screwing with my head coming out of the gate.
It's even a little awkward unracking doing high bar.
They also moved this rack across the gym and I felt very "out of place" and awkward. Staff has noted the same exact thing and told the general manager to move it back, but he won't and this is their only rack. I would change gyms but I already signed a 2 yr contract with this one, which I'll never do again anywhere. I heard one person say a rack isn't needed anyway, really. If they take this rack away, I WILL be getting out of the contract using that reason.
✓ Member
What about the black one by the door behind you in this footage?
Member
It's a huge rack that you can adjust the hooks for up to four people to use and they mainly use them for presses. It was just installed and just before he moved the squat rack. Why? Because everyone started doing them there after watching me and the one jacked dude who comes in there do presses with 45s on each side, and we could only use the squat rack for it so everyone starting doing that in their one squat rack, too.Originally Posted by Jeff Illingworth
Instead of paying to just get another squat rack like everyone was asking him to do, he built that.
They don't have anything to support failed squats, either. And all he had to do was extend something out or put something that pins from pole to pole to make a cage. But no, nothing.
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