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Thread: Squat Form Check @ PR 117.5 KG

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
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    474

    Default Squat Form Check @ PR 117.5 KG

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    Hello Dear Coaches,

    TL;DR
    Please check my form on this third set of five @117.5kg; a PR.

    YouTube

    Since I hit 100 kg I've been focusing on (after reading some of your form checks here in the forum):

    -Feet pointed out less-closer to 30 degrees than 45
    -Bar not so low on the back
    -using "hip drahve" more
    -more narrow hello on the bar
    -trying to break parallel still, even though the weight is quite heavy for me

    So please take a look at my form, as I want to make necessary corrections ASAP to avoid stalling out other setbacks. I especially want you to check out the:
    width of the feet,
    Angle of the toes,
    Bar position on back,
    Am I going low enough? (For this workout I tried to focus on really getting low enough, since previously at 115kg I felt like I cheated back up a little early)
    Am I bending over too much, into "good morning" territory, when I try to use my hips to drive up out of the bottom?

    Thanks!! I'll really appreciate any feedback you can provide!
    ---_---------------
    Longer version:

    I've been back at the gym since August 2018; I wanted about a month messing around and listening to one of the bulky guys who recommended I work on machines (the standing forearm extension) instead of barbells.

    Thankfully after that first month I did a search for squat form advice and stumbled upon Stronglifts, downloaded their app, and did that program until about January (I kept getting stuck at around 90kg as being too tough to knock out five sets).

    Then thankfully I read more into Mark rippetoe's program and found out he only recommends three sets, and I felt like I'd hit the lottery!

    I'm kind of bitter that I wasted all that time on standing rows instead of deadlifts and then power cleans early in my training, but such is life!

    Well I kept getting stuck at 100kg and then resetting, but somehow this time around I'm making progress beyond!!

    I credit it to some of y'all's comments here, and a more refined viewing of Mark's videos, when I finally:

    -actually finally put the bar low on my back! (I had thought it was low, but it's such an usual position that I guess I just had it "high-low." And then I got over excited and kept the bar too low-the weight just suddenly felt so light!-and the bar started skipping down my back mid-rep, just like Mark explains in his videos)
    -switched to a thumb overhand grip
    -moved my foot angle in closer to 30 degrees, but still allow my foot position to be really wide (at least it feels wide!) **You see, keeping my feet (and foot angle) WIDE had always felt better and more stable, like I could lift more weight, so that's what I'd always been doing until I read some of the advice here in the forums about foot angle narrow enough for the knees to track with them**
    -I think I'm finally getting more sleep (I've got a one-year-old) and eating more dairy and eggs for protein (I'm a vegetarian)

    So, I'd love some feedback on what I'm doing right and what I can improve, so I can continue progressing without stalls or other setbacks!!
    I took your advice and tried to film from behind at a forty-five degree angle, and I cropped out the long beginning and end of the clip. Thank you!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    North Texas
    Posts
    53,559

    Default

    An agonizing set to watch. Bar is too high on your back. And just before you descend, your unlock your lower back into flexion, clearly visible as your shirt moves.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
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    474

    Default

    Thank you, Mark! A lot of that shirt movement is from me trying to "brace" myself by taking a big breath and pulling my pelvis up towards my belly button. I watched that somewhere in YouTube land (Alan thrall??) and have been using that cue to have that strong, stable base everyone talks about. Is this when I should be putting my lower back into extension (curving out, tilting my pelvis forward), instead?

    What good cues do you have for getting and keeping the lower back in extension? Something simple like the "push your belly between your thighs" cue on the DL would be nice, so I don't have to think too much about it.

    I'm starting to review your articles and videos on the topic (thank you!). If I don't correct this form malfunction, are the risks greater here for injury or just reduced efficiency & lifting potential? Trying to figure out if yet another deload is called for here.

    About bar location, I'll try getting it lower but a few months ago I was overdoing it and the bar was slipping down during the set, so I'll need to find some middle ground.

    I assume everything else looks OK? Thank you!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    North Texas
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    53,559

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    Quote Originally Posted by NicholasL View Post
    A lot of that shirt movement is from me trying to "brace" myself by taking a big breath and pulling my pelvis up towards my belly button.
    If you pull your "pelvis" up toward your belly button, you are performing a lumbar flexion, exactly the opposite of the required movement.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
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    474

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    Here's my attempt from today:
    YouTube

    I dropped down to 100kg from what should have been the first 120kg attempt today, because I did lots of warm-up sets and wasn't happy with how the back looked.

    I tried to focus today on puffing my chest up and out, and pushing my pelvis back and up, as I took a big bracing breath, to try to get my lower back into extension from the beginning.

    But it looks to my untrained eye like it's going into flexion again as I lower down, and I'm not sure how to keep the damn thing in extension. Do I think about the back the whole way down? Wouldn't I have to keep my chest up, like with a high bar squat, to keep the lower back in extension? That's how it feels, at least.

    I also tried a narrower grip today and tried to keep that shelf on my upper back for the bar. But I'm guessing it's still too high-should the bar be 1/3 down the shoulder, whereas I've got it at about 1/4 down??

    Thanks for your help!!

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