Squat form check

[Tank50]

Hey guys. Its been a few months so I just wanted to do a quick form check. I especially wanted to ask if my knees are shooting back too much coming out of the bottom? Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks guys.

Set 1
Squat Set 1- 315lbs - YouTube

Set 2
Squat Set 2- 315lbs - YouTube

Set 3
Squat Set 3-315 lbs - YouTube

[Tank50]

I can’t tell if I am setting my back angle early enough on the descent and sustaining it long enough on the ascent?

[Tank50]

So after to trying to self evaluate on this, my conclusion was that I wasn’t pushing my hips back enough, thus setting my back early and sustaining that back angle. I think my knees shooting back were actually them getting into the right spot that I failed to get them to on the descent.

Here are a few recent sets…any feedback on these? I think the 3rd set was actually the best one, but I’m not sure exactly what I did differently on that one?

Set 1
Squat- Set 1- 300lbs - YouTube

Set 2
Squat- Set 2- 300lbs - YouTube

Set 3
Squat- Set 3 - 300lbs - YouTube

Thanks again for any feedback.

[Maybach]

These don't look too bad: back angle is pretty decent. Your knees shooting back a little is a normal byproduct of leading with your hips. Two things:

First, your elbows are a little high: try narrowing your grip a little and making sure your elbows are low. Remember you want to make sure you're not using shoulder flexion to hold the bar up. Try and pull your elbows in as much as you can to get the heels of your hand underneath the bar.

Second, you're doing something weird with your feet where your toes come up. Don't make your brace so "active." Breath in, hold, and just go down (a shade slower: you're rushing again). "Push" into the bottom, don't "throw."

[Matt James]

Hard to tell from this angle but you may be raising your head/extending your neck on the ascent. Double check for yourself from another angle and correct that if it's happening.

[Tank50]

Maybach,

Thanks for the reply. I will try to get my grip narrowed. I see what you mean though…the heel of my hand is kind of on top of the bar instead of supporting it underneath.

I didn’t notice my toes doing that. I think that is a result of my trying to make sure to throw my hips back toward the wall. Apparently that’s throwing me off balance a hair. Perhaps just slowing down (again) will cure that. Thanks again.

[Tank50]

Tried to narrow my grip today. To really get it narrow and get the heels of hands under the bar it felt like the bar needed to be higher on my back. This resulted in the first set below which felt terrible. I felt like there was a lot more weight in my hands (not on my back) and I felt that if I bent over much the weight got way out front. Basically it felt like the bar was in a high bar position. I didn’t even do the fifth rep because it felt like I was going to lose it. (I did an extra triple at the end to make up for it.)

On the next sets I put the bar back down where I normally do and just tried to narrow my grip as much as I could. The sets felt pretty good. I wonder if my forearm length is just a bit long to allow for the narrower grip? (For reference, when I press, the bar floats above my delts at the bottom and doesn’t rest on them, which I believe is an indication of long forearms)

I did slow down my descent which I think helped with my toes coming up.

Any other thoughts after the adjustment? Thanks!

Set 1
Squat- Set 1- 310lbs - YouTube

Set 2
Squat-Set 2- 305 - YouTube

Set 3
Squat - Set 3- 305 - YouTube

[Maybach]

The bar is indeed too high on the first set. Second set the grip is a bit better, still iffy. Final set it's more of a return to form.

I think the bar rolling is exacerbated by you being a bit late to set your back angle. The bar pitches forward on the way down just a hair. And by "late" I don't mean "slow." Lean over once you break your knees and then STOP and drop straight down from there, but don't "throw" yourself into it. Just make sure the back angle is fully established before you drop too far. A TUBOW (or suitable replacement) will help that: lean over and bend your knees and once your knees hit the TUBOW, your back angle is established.

A bit of a digression about grip: having long forearms slightly changes the approach. I have the same issue and it took a while to nail down. When you're told to "narrow your grip", for those with shorter forearms moving the hands in will do all the work, because the larger segments (the humeri) need to move out of the way of your hands. But if you have longer forearms, you can cram your hands in over or around the level of your shoulders while leaving the elbows out wide, and the function of the narrow grip: a tight back and a thick shelf for the bar, is not actually achieved. What you need to do in this case is not think about getting your hands in closer (though that may happen), but think about pulling your elbows in and down. I think of trying to "point them at my tailbone." Then, when you've packed your elbows in as far as they will go, position your hands at a width on the bar that puts the bar firmly in your hand, with the bar resting on the heel and all your fingers in contact with the bar. This means your hands might be "rotated" a little, relative to the bar (so that the angle between your fingers and the bar is more like 60 degrees than 90). But that's now your grip. Pushing your grip in from this point needs to be accomplished with your shoulder joints, not your elbows. Your grip might still be "wide" from thumb to thumb, but the elbows will be in tighter.

The arms in the "classic" squat grip look something like \/\/. Yours will look more like \||/. What you want to avoid is |/\|, which is what you achieved in the first set here.

Right now what you're doing is extending your shoulders, holding it up with the extended arms, and then using torque around the elbow joint to "twist" into the bar and pin it into place. Remember, the bar should be held up with compression through the forearm, not torque (which causes epicondlytis), and the arms should end up almost parallel to the torso, rather than "stuck out" behind.

[Satch12879]

Tried to narrow my grip today. To really get it narrow and get the heels of hands under the bar it felt like the bar needed to be higher on my back. This resulted in the first set below which felt terrible. I felt like there was a lot more weight in my hands (not on my back) and I felt that if I bent over much the weight got way out front. Basically it felt like the bar was in a high bar position. I didn’t even do the fifth rep because it felt like I was going to lose it. (I did an extra triple at the end to make up for it.)

On the next sets I put the bar back down where I normally do and just tried to narrow my grip as much as I could. The sets felt pretty good. I wonder if my forearm length is just a bit long to allow for the narrower grip? (For reference, when I press, the bar floats above my delts at the bottom and doesn’t rest on them, which I believe is an indication of long forearms)

I did slow down my descent which I think helped with my toes coming up.

Any other thoughts after the adjustment? Thanks!

Set 1
Squat- Set 1- 310lbs - YouTube

Set 2
Squat-Set 2- 305 - YouTube

Set 3
Squat - Set 3- 305 - YouTube

These were high. Your hips are leading your knees and you are lifting your head on the turn-around. I also think you’re on your toes.

[Tank50]

Sorry about the delayed reply. That makes a lot of sense about the grip and I will continue to try and work it in.

I am also focusing on Lee my head down…I keep my eyes on a certain spot on the floor but sometimes my eyes stay down although my head comes up. I think I just have to be more conscious of it.

I will keep working on these and the other suggestions and repost after I get them worked out.

Thanks again for all you guys’ knowledge and suggestions.