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Thread: Squat, Press, and Deadlift Form Check

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2020
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    Default Squat, Press, and Deadlift Form Check

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    I’ve been on the Texas method for about 9 weeks and just started “running it out”, so this is my first set of 3x2 (the second set of each is shown in the video) on my intensity day.

    On my previous squat form check, the critique was to stay in the hips and not the chest, which I’ve been able to maintain on volume days, but once it starts getting heavy, I almost involuntarily torque my head back to get a little extra out of the hole. I even put a red cap on the ground to stare at and keep my head down, but that only works sometimes.

    I’m not sure about the other two lifts other than having a decent amount of back rounding on the deadlift.

    January 22, 2021 - YouTube

  2. #2
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    Jun 2014
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    Hey Marty
    It's helpful to see the feet too, so if you can back up next time, please do.
    The core issue is your upper back. Because you feel like the bar is going to roll up, you don't lean over at all. So when you hit the turn around and drive your hips up, you're having a massive change in back angle. If your body gets the sense the bar is going to roll up at all, you'll panic and lift your chest.
    Take wider grip before you get under the bar. This is a pet peeve of mine. So much so I wrote an article out of annoyance. Read this.
    Then once you're sure the bar is in the right spot, pull your hands toward your shoulders to get everything tight. Don't hang your head off your shoulders. It causes the upper back to round. The opposite of what you want. The second to last thing you do before you un-rack is lift up your chest to put the upper back in extension. Like you're trying to wrap your back around the bar.
    I can't tell for sure, but double check the bar is not too high. Check out Nick D's video on our YouTube channel about easy ways to make sure it's in the right spot.
    If you can get your upper back to comply, it'll help clean up a lot downstream. You'll be able to lean over, stay more on midfoot, and stay in your hips.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2020
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    Those shoes (if they are weightlifting shoes) look too flexible and not sturdy enough for someone your size under the loads you're lifting.

  4. #4
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    May 2020
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    Quote Originally Posted by J. Killmond View Post
    Those shoes (if they are weightlifting shoes) look too flexible and not sturdy enough for someone your size under the loads you're lifting.
    Oops, I see that you changed shoes after the squats. Upon looking closer (and at the earlier video), I see you did the squats in some solid-looking white Adidas lifting shoes with blue stripes (nice).

    For the deadlift, to maintain upper body tightness, breathing at the top is frowned upon (Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, 3d ed., p. 135 & 139).

    In a Coach Rippetoe favorite, you can see Brad Gillingham deadlift 400kg (hook grip!) with a lot of breathing on the way up and at the top--but for regular folks, it's probably better to keep the air in to help support back rigidity and avoid spinal flexion:

    Brad Gillingham 400kg Deadlift - YouTube

    Deadlift Mechanics:The Obvious Can Be Obscure | Mark Rippetoe

    Brad Gillingham appears to take a more conventional approach with a Valsalva on this deadlift (with a further assist from AC/DC):

    2010 IPF World Championship Brad Gillingham 400 kg Deadlift - YouTube

  5. #5
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    Nov 2020
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    Thanks Pete! Thanks J! I apologize for the video, it must have gotten cropped down somewhere between combining the three videos and uploading them to YouTube and I forgot to double check. Pete, I read that article and watched some of the videos you made, so tomorrow on my volume day, I’ll re-examine my bar position and try the walking-the-hands-in technique. I do think that my bar position might have crept upwards a hair over the last year or so. I don’t know if the bar rolling up my back is necessarily what I’m feeling, but it may be why I’m instinctively throwing my head back when I get fatigued.

    J, that’s correct, I squat and bench in the Adidas Powerlift 2.0’s and switch over to a pair of Xero shoes for presses and deadlifts because it feels more comfortable for me not to have the raised heel for those two movements.

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