Squat: vertical back angle fixed?

[bigbonustoday]

Hi forum -

I received a lot of helpful feedbacks on my squat form from the thread Squat stance too narrow

Primary issue is my back angle is too vertical and it's more of a high bar squat. I re-read the squat chapters of the blue book and watched lots of squat videos which was helpful.


Here's my latest attempt. Does it look better?

https://youtube.com/video/pTxVA-ylutc?feature=share


Here's the video from a week ago, for comparison.

https://youtube.com/video/_THckpq0Kxo?feature=share


Thank you!

[Mark Rippetoe]

What the hell are you doing with your knees?

[Maybach]

It looks like...you are breaking with your knees and THEN your hips, causing you to have to shove your hips "back" after the descent has already started.

Try to break at the hips first. This is a cueing approximation: the hips and the knees should break at the same time, but YOU need to try to break at the hips first.

Your stance is still too narrow.

Your grip is extremely soft. Bring your shoulder blades in more, and use this to keep your elbows down. The heel of your hand needs to be sitting under the bar, such that if a line were drawn through your forearm, it would intersect the bar. You are kind of "draping" your hands across the bar, which means you are using a combination of shoulder extension and torque through the forearm to hold the bar. Think of a black hole at the base of your spine that is drawing your elbows in.

[bigbonustoday]

It looks like...you are breaking with your knees and THEN your hips, causing you to have to shove your hips "back" after the descent has already started.

Try to break at the hips first. This is a cueing approximation: the hips and the knees should break at the same time, but YOU need to try to break at the hips first.

Your stance is still too narrow.

Your grip is extremely soft. Bring your shoulder blades in more, and use this to keep your elbows down. The heel of your hand needs to be sitting under the bar, such that if a line were drawn through your forearm, it would intersect the bar. You are kind of "draping" your hands across the bar, which means you are using a combination of shoulder extension and torque through the forearm to hold the bar. Think of a black hole at the base of your spine that is drawing your elbows in.

What the hell are you doing with your knees?

fixed knees, grip (I think?)

Does this look better?

https://youtube.com/video/XhM8S2RiQoc?feature=share

[Mark Rippetoe]

Watch your knees at the top of the squat on the way up. You have somehow developed a double-knee-bend at the top of the squat. I've never seen this before.

[Jason Donaldson]

Franklin, what exactly are you doing with your pelvic angle during each rep? You're breaking this movement up into unusual chunks, and I think I'm spotting something going on with you changing your pelvic tilt, and that may be what's initiating the distinct, choppy movement at the top. It's hard to tell with the dark clothing. You're not thinking of tightening your abs specifically, are you?

If you are doing what I think I see, then it'll be affecting your lower back - check out this video, and see if it helps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZuB4t5cYkk

You want to get to where the movement starts and ends together, and is a smooth transition down and back up, while keeping the lower back in the same extension the whole time.

[bigbonustoday]

Watch your knees at the top of the squat on the way up. You have somehow developed a double-knee-bend at the top of the squat. I've never seen this before.

I think I understand what you're referring to. I do have the tendency to break my knees in two separate motions. I think doing it that way somehow helps me keep my balance better with the bar on my back?

Do you think this is bad for the knees?

[Martin Shenfield]

Watch your knees at the top of the squat on the way up. You have somehow developed a double-knee-bend at the top of the squat. I've never seen this before.

What is the fix for it though? I thought touching a TUBOW in one smooth motion and just constant yelling if a coach is present. But he's doing it on the way up too.

[Maybach]

You're doing what you were initially doing on the descent backwards: you are fully extending your hips before your knees finish extending. This is in effect an extremely late variation of the "raising chest early" fault.

This will prevent you from squatting the weight before it hurts your knees.

Your knees and hips should move as one: in the low bar squat, knee extension *produces* hip extension. Try to lock out your knees before you finish the rep. This should get them in line, since this mostly worked to fix it on the descent.

[Mark Rippetoe]

What is the fix for it though? I thought touching a TUBOW in one smooth motion and just constant yelling if a coach is present. But he's doing it on the way up too.

Since I've never seen it before, I don't know how to fix it. But I could figure it out with a few minutes on the platform with him.