You are not getting deep enough.
Hello,
35 years old
5'11"
106 kg, give or take (I haven't weighed myself in a while, sorry)
Squatting 127kg. This is not my PR, it comes after a deload from my PR weight of 131kg, during which session I got some kind of "pop" in or around my right knee, which might have been a cartilage tear having something to do with my hamstring. No acute pain, no swelling, but mild very mild pain/discomfort in the area that caused me to take a week off in hopes that it would help recovery.
It has happened once or twice before in the past couple of years, and it used to alarm me because 5 years ago I had a medial meniscus tear in my right knee and had surgery which has left me with 70%-80% of that meniscus, as the Dr. said. I even asked him about this "popping" cartilagey sensation before, and he said it likely has nothing to do with my meniscus, and that the pain is more to do with just nerves. Anyway, I have some nervous anxiety about my right knee because of this history of the meniscus tear, so it is an irrational psychological factor in my squat training. In the back of my mind I'm always worried my right knee is going to blow up for whatever reason.
I would appreciate some feedback on overall form. But I am concerned about bar position, depth, and horizontal/vertical back angle in particular.
There wasn't enough room for a front-facing camera angle, so Sets 1 and 2 are from the back. Set 3 is from a 45(ish)-degree angle.
Set 1:
-Apologies for the lengthy shoulder-stretching part of the video, but I wanted to include it just to illustrate that I do this before EVERY set, including warm-ups, because I have shoulder inflexibility issues.
-Bar tilts to the left a bit on this set, which has been a recurring problem for me that I am trying to fix.
Set 2:
-I edited out the should-stretching up to a part where I thought I was ready, but then got a shoulder cramp and did a little more stretching.
-Bar isn't tilting to the left as much, which is nice. But I sometimes have to look up and check myself in the mirror to make sure.
Set 3:
-I edited out the shoulder stretching.
-Depth doesn't look nearly as good as it did from behind. Certainly doesn't look as deep as it feels. What do you think?
-How is my back angle? Too horizontal? Too vertical? Goldilocks?
You are not getting deep enough.
__________________________________________________
Science for Fitness:
Online Strength Coaching, Nutrition Coaching, & In-Person Training
Set 3, 130kg 3x5.
Sorry for the dark clothing, but I think you can see the definition of my hips relative to knees, to see if I am going below parallel.
As far as I can tell this is below parallel. It feels much deeper than it really is. Should I be going deeper?
Yes, depth is better. You need to start your reps standing more upright at your hips. You are very bent over, even during the walk out. This has the bar way in front of mid foot before your reps start, which I'm sure is not great on your knees. Also, go a bit slower as you descend. This may also feel better on your knees.
__________________________________________________
Science for Fitness:
Online Strength Coaching, Nutrition Coaching, & In-Person Training
In order to stand up straighter I think changing to standard thumbs-over grip may help. As it is, I am probably leaning forward because there’s not really much of a “shelf” being formed now, so I am compensating.
I’m at the gym now trying the thumbs-over grip and have finished my 1st work set. Seems that it does allow me to stand up straighter because there is more “shelf.” But for some reason it is quite painful at the base of my right thumb, to the point that the 5th rep sucked because the pain was distracting me.
(For context, I was doing thumbs-under grip because coach Kim found that was easier on me after I got some kind of tear or strain in my right elbow. Hopefully I can get back into standard grip mode.)
....And as I’m getting into position on the 3rd workset, I got a loud POP right between my clavicles. Directly in the middle. Never happened to me in my life. Caused by the stretching of my chest, I guess. Not sure if it’s a harmless pop or if I’ve actually torn something. I’m gonna skip the last workset.
Sorry that this turned into an injury question, but please do let me know if you know what this portends.
Does it hurt?
I get that loud pop from time to time. Sometimes it hurts the next day. Benching ALWAYS fixes it, for me.
To answer Rip’s question more fully:
It was immediately painful, and trying to get under the bar, thumbs under or over, was distractingly painful. In a “sore” way.
I skipped the last squat set, did Presses, though I felt tired out and weak and only got all 5 reps on the 2nd set.
Then I Deadlifted and did fine.
The whole time it felt, and has felt, sore, since the “pop.”