Stuck with squat: technique or something else?

[ArthurR]

Hi,

I started SS Novice program on august last year. I skipped a few months of doing DL and PC, because of a small injury in my forearm.
Currently I am doing all of the excercises.

Age: 41
Height: 1.84m
Weight: 93kg
Calories/day: approx. 3000

SQ 140kg
DL 150kg, going up every week
BP with multigrip bar 83kg (can't do a normal BP because of a malfunctioning left elbow), going up every week
PR 56kg (stalled, but some form fixes seem to help)
PC 55kg (still learning, incrementing weight frequently)

My last succesful 3x5 squat was at 137.5kg and somehow I seem to stall every time I try to get above that.
It happened more than once, because I throttled back a few times after failing 3x5 and increased up to 137.5kg with normal 3x5LP.

I tried changing the program to a A) 1x5x140 and 2 sets of 3x130 at saturday, B) 2x5x15 monday, and A) again on wednesday.
But until now that didn't solve the problem: with 140 I run into problems on Rep 3. Although it could be mental, I think there is a form problem too.

I somehow get the impression that my grip position or back is not correct. The recording is here

Any help is highly appreciated.

Arthur

[Acorn1993]

I'm a novice myself and have had a lot of trouble getting down the squat so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Your bar position looks a tad bit high to me to be a low bar squat. You'll also notice that your weight shifts onto your toes at the bottom (look at your heels come off of the floor). Your knees seem to be too far over your toes which is probably a consequence of the bar position and shifting your weight forward.

I think you could place the bar a little lower on your back, set your knees early, and sit back more.

I think the weight stall was a little mental too. Have you been doing a light squat day yet?

[Nockian]

Looks more like a high bar squat to me.

[ArthurR]

Your bar position looks a tad bit high to me to be a low bar squat. You'll also notice that your weight shifts onto your toes at the bottom (look at your heels come off of the floor). Your knees seem to be too far over your toes which is probably a consequence of the bar position and shifting your weight forward.

I think you could place the bar a little lower on your back, set your knees early, and sit back more.

I think the weight stall was a little mental too. Have you been doing a light squat day yet?

You're right, indeed my heels come off. I continuously have the feeling that I should lean more forward, but as you can see, I can't.
My 'mid' day is always a light day of 2x5. I introduced that earlier in the program since I otherwise won't recover properly.

Looks more like a high bar squat to me.

I had a - very - long struggle with getting my shoulder and thoracic mobility so I couldn't get it lower. I think nowadays I can by slamming myself under the bar and having a fairly wide grip.

I will try getting the bar lower on my back. Thanks guys.

[tfranc]

Looking at your setup, I think your bar position is correct.

You take way too long to get going once you unrack the bar. Unrack, get your footing, deep breath, squat. Way too much energy wasted just standing there with a heavy weight on your back.

You could stand to bend over a bit more on the descent.

Having said all that, you’ve been using the LP since August of last year? You need to switch programs mate. You’re no longer a novice and you’ll get much better results (in your squats case, results in general) if you start doing an intermediate program.

[ArthurR]

You take way too long to get going once you unrack the bar.

Having said all that, you’ve been using the LP since August of last year?

Yes, although not in one straight line, because of some injuries. And some of my lifts are lacking behind.

I changed my squat to 1x5+2x5, one light day and then again 1x5+2x5, which was a suggestion in the book at the end of the LP. Could very well be that the LP is exhausted and that I need to move on to intermediate.

[tfranc]

Yes, although not in one straight line, because of some injuries. And some of my lifts are lacking behind.

I changed my squat to 1x5+2x5, one light day and then again 1x5+2x5, which was a suggestion in the book at the end of the LP. Could very well be that the LP is exhausted and that I need to move on to intermediate.

Just from personal experience, I’m a bit younger than you but I wish I had made the switch to different programming much sooner than I did. I tried to milk it and I ended up feeling awful, but once I switched it was amazing and my technique improved for all my lifts. I don’t know if you’re feeling that way too but it’ll probably be a really good thing for your progress. Even if you don’t squeeze every last drop

Also, sorry for sounding so critical on the “too much energy wasted” bit. You’ll be amazed how much more energy you have for your set if you squat asap after you unrack :-)

[ArthurR]

I don’t know if you’re feeling that way too but it’ll probably be a really good thing for your progress. Even if you don’t squeeze every last drop

Yes, especially for the squat. But I found my other lifts not impressive enough to think about moving to an intermediate program. After reviewing the basic TM again, I think it is worth a try.

Also, sorry for sounding so critical on the “too much energy wasted” bit. You’ll be amazed how much more energy you have for your set if you squat asap after you unrack :-)

NP, I am indeed squatting hesitant in the video (partly because of the balance issue).

[Eric Schexnayder]

Yes, especially for the squat. But I found my other lifts not impressive enough to think about moving to an intermediate program. After reviewing the basic TM again, I think it is worth a try.

Intermediate programming has nothing to do with "Impressiveness" of a lift. It's all about your individual ability to recover from a stress. When you can no longer make a worthwhile jump from workout to workout, you're an Intermediate. Example: You get X, you stall at X+5, you reset and make it to X+5 two weeks later. You may as well just do X+5 once per week, it's a better investment of your time.

NP, I am indeed squatting hesitant in the video (partly because of the balance issue).

IMO, the best way to get over this is to practice "bailing". I had the same issue, and once I felt like I could trust my power rack and safety bars I got over it. I'm sure at some point in your LP you've had this experience, so I may just be blowing smoke.

On the other hand, that practice was also what I needed to work on getting my back angle more acute (bend over more). So there's that benefit too, at least in my experience.

[BBB]

Wow... where do I start... you're getting some confusing advice.

First of all, that is definitely more of a high-bar squat. Not that there's anything wrong with that, especially because you're working around injuries, but setting the record straight.

Next, you waste a lot of time just standing there with the bar. Considering you basically eeked out a tripple, that's pretty heavy weight for you and it's a long time to be standing and supporting that much weight. Your form actually looks pretty decent, so congrats there

Now, regarding programming. Not the right forum for it (there's the programming forum). However, if you want to get strong... never fail. What's the point of practicing bailing? Anyway, I digress.

Rule #1: Don't grind out heavy weights.
Rule #2: Increase volume.

Although you're a novice, familiarize yourself with the concept of RPE. You don't have to use RPE, but understand what it means. You shouldn't be touching ANYTHING that's above RPE 9. Meaning, whatever work you do, make sure you always have at least another rep in reserve. If you're ever failing (or at risk of failing) and it's not a "test day" then you're doing it wrong.