Squat form check

[Şenol Tapirdamaz]

Hi,
It's been a while that I've posted. I've had several injuries like my left knee, my lower back etc.
I did keep on training, but then quit for just a week.
Deloaded all my lifts with about 20% to get back.

My stats so far: I've started in february all with empty barbell.
- Squat at 87.5kg now (pr 95kg)
- DL at 95 kg (pr 117.5kg)
- Press and OHP are at 60 and 47.5kg
- I'm not doing powercleans because I cannot handle the explosiveness on my left knee. Substituted for rows.

I'm really focusing on:
- keeping my elbows as close to my body as possible
- keeping my knees pushed out
- hipdrive
- getting just parallel
- watching the knee slide when at the bottom
- keeping my back straight.

When I watch my own video I think my depth is ok. I cannot get lower without dropping my hips. The backpart of my legs are touching my calfs. WHen I go any lower, my knees slide forward.
I've really tried to get my ass more back instead of going down. and then pressing the hips up.

Any pointers? Things I've missed?

[Chris76]

I am surprised no one has said anything in responds to your squats. I mean I am not a coach but your spine look neutral, in other words your back look flat. Not rounded forward or over extended backwards.So you back looks good. Your knees look like there staying right in line with your toes. So no knee cave inwards . Your balance seems ok with feet flat on the floor. The bar seems to travel down and up over the middle of your feet through out the whole squat. You don’t seem to be loose or leaking energy anywhere. I wanna see if anyone can find something you need to improve on cus , I think these look look pretty good . What I would ask tho is how are your knees and back feeling? Better,worse,same? The one think I see that you need to improve is your walk out. Your gonna want to get stronger and the weights are gonna get heavier. So ya need a efficient walk out. Try to walk out of the rack in two or three steps. I think Barbell Logic just did a video on squat walk out. But in short I think these look pretty good.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Depth???

[Bekah Cygan]

Hello Senol!

Looks like you are off to a good start with your NLP.

Do you think you can post a video of your squat that is more at the oblique or 45 degree angle? That view point would give us a better idea of what your knee and back angle look like.
Are you still having knee pain in your left knee? Is this why you are trying to "just get parallel"? More than likely if you feel you can't get lower without "dropping your hips" or sliding your knees forward- you may not have your knees and back angle in the correct place to start. This is difficult to see from this camera angle though. Everyone has a stance- that aligns the knee and back angle where they can easily reach depth about 2 inches below parallel. And this is the safest depth for your knees to squat to. If you are still having knee pain - though this could affect things... are you still in pain?

Also- I think your toe angle may be out just a bit far- but I would like to see the other camera angle to confirm.

Keep up the good work!

[Şenol Tapirdamaz]

Thanks for the comments in first place.

I will try to get a recording on hip height.

I also believe I can get below parallel, but not while trying to get my back "horizontal".

But let's start with a recording first.

[Bekah Cygan]

Senol-

Agreed!

Looks like we are trying to solve the same problem- the correct depth and back angle for you! Post it and we will have a look!

[Şenol Tapirdamaz]

I've tried recording at hip height today.

My opinion is that I've failed my third set.
Therefore I've added my second set to this post too.

I think I'm stepping out better now.
Also think I'm on depth.
My knees however, I'm not sure if they are moving too much when in squat. I've tried setting them on 2/3 of squat.

On my third set I think my back is rounded. I've lost form there. Also I believe my heel came of the floor in the 2 or 3 rep.

What I also noticed was that in my warm up sets, my left knee really hurt. After getting a good warm up. Thank pain was a lot lot less, almost gone. .

Second set
YouTube

Third set
YouTube

[samking7185]

On my third set...

I know you're still working thru some form issues, but just wanted to say keep up the good work man! It's great being able to see people consistently pushing themselves (and grinding) when it starts to get hard!

[Aslin]

Not sure if it's been covered. But you should focus on keeping your hands locked at the same angle of your forearms. that will help you get tighter.

[Ryan Arnold]

Hey Senol,

Main thing is the knee slide. Slow down the descent and think about sitting ALL THE WAY BACK. Try to make your butt touch the wall behind you. May help to just think about not letting your knees come forward. TUBOW may be useful here as well:

YouTube