Squat form inspection

[Jesse]

Greetings,

After screwing around far enough in the gym, I've decided to learn to squat properly. I feel like I'm starting to undo my bad habits, but I'm probably not qualified to make any definitive assertions. Comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Hopefully this video is sufficient, I'll need to fetch myself a tripod if I'm allowed to go and buy one in the near future. Sorry about the vertical mode.



Thank you.

[Hayden-William Courtland]

Hi Jesse. You're arching your back as you descend in these reps - try and keep your back flat (tight abs). You are also crashing a bit in the bottom with a bit too much depth at times. Aim for just below parallel and keep your knees out in the bottom.

[Jesse]

Hi!

Thank you for the critique, I'll try to make the changes you advised on my next training session. After filming a couple of my previous sessions, I was surprised to see how quickly I was going to the bottom, pretty much dive bombing it. This attempt felt like an improvement, but I guess there's still some work to be done.

About the depth: I guess relying on the mirror and going ass to grass for quite some time hasn't done me any favours.

In terms of difficulty this session felt relatively easy, at least the reps felt consistent to me. Do you think I should add weight to the bar on my next session, or keep hammering with the current weight (120 kg, 265 lbs), until these issues have been fixed? One quote from the blue book caught my attention, which might suggest a conservative approach: "Resist the temptation to add weight at the expense of correct technique – you are doing no one any favors when you sacrifice form for weight on the bar."

[Hayden-William Courtland]

Your form is good enough to add 5lbs, just diligently work on your form. Filming all your sets (including warm-ups) and trying to make adjustments *each* set will help you make more rapid progress. Don't use the mirror to inform how you do the lifts, just look at a spot through the white portion of the wall that is below the mirror. The video you take of each set is what you should use to correct your depth.