Squat form check/advice

[auger38]

I finally got around to filming myself squatting. I gotta say, i squat a lot lower than I thought I did. I guess it's from my fear of being labelled a quarter squatter. Anyways. Here are 4 different videos with different weight/depth

This is my first video. This is when I noticed my ass to grass. Big butt wink at the bottom.


This is trying to get 225lbs. Again, ass to grass, butt wink.


225lbs at what I thought was parallel. I'm stuck somewhere in between atg and parallel, and it was hard as fuck to get up.


This is 135lbs, hitting parallel (I think), on 4 of the 5 reps.


Please critique away. My goal is to get the most amount of weight on the bar and squat it. So that means going to parallel from now on will be ideal I assume. Any suggestions on how to train myself to not go so low? Or is it just a matter of repetition?

Thanks!

 

[deadshot138]

Ass to grass is over rated. You’re squatting too deeply for a low bar set up and that’s why you fold like a taco at the bottom. Also i see you take a breath and then fold immediately after, your bracing needs work. Look up some Chris Duffin videos on bracing and squatting in general.

If you want to squat atg, do it high bar with a more upright torso. You’re on the road to snap city with this form.

 

[Oblivian]

The biggest cue that I think you need to work on right now is keeping your chest up and bar back out of the hole. You are getting folded and the bar is drifting forward. This will sound weird, but focus on what your upper body is doing more.

 

[TheeFaulted]

You can train depth with box squats, so you know when to stop. They can also help you with focusing on staying tight and driving up out of the hole.

 

[kevo1295]

Butt wink aka posterior pelvic tilt is, a lot of times, an anatomical limiting factor that can't be corrected with mobility exercises. Basically everyone has buttwink to some extent. It can however, also be due to tightness in the hip flexors or hamstrings and can be limited to some extent with mobility work. The best way to avoid it if its anatomically derived is to just decrease the range of motion to at least a parallel depth. The only thing ATG squats are more advantageous for is hip development and for competition. Otherwise, leg development is basically negligible when it comes to ATG vs Parallel. Just keep recording yourself squatting at parallel and eventually you'll habituate the motion.

Try and emphasize hinging at the hips more rather than just descending immediately. For perspective on keeping your torso upright, your lower back should run parallel with your lower legs/shins throughout the whole movement. Your torso is almost parallel to the floor in some of your reps which is very risky when you're working with heavier weight. Your cervical looks a bit too far protracted/sticking out as well. It should be aligned with the rest of your spine. To determine optimum depth, record yourself doing a bodyweight squat, where you monitor this proper angle and at what depth form begins to fall off at (lower back arching/rounding). Also, do this test with your feet pointed forward as it requires more mobility in the ankle and hips. A slight angle is OK when working with weight. If you're already "breathing through your diaphragm" / stabilizing core by expanding your belly with air, then good. That is very important.


Ideal Squat Form

 

[auger38]

Cervical protracted means I should be driving my head back into the bar more?

Thank you all for the tips and advice. I'll be filming myself doing body weight squats later to see what that looks like, and then trying to keep my chest up when doing it with weights!

Will report back some time in the middle of the night

 

[Kirra]

Can you film yourself from an angle where the plates don't obstruct 80% of the view? If there's no space in front of the rack (45 degree angle from the front is imo preferable), you can film from a 45 degree angle from the back.

It's pretty hard to see what's going on in your vids.

 

[auger38]

I tried my best to film from different angles, I tried to build various platforms, but everything wound up being from a really low/far/close angle. I gave up and filmed from the side again, sorry!

I have 13 videos from today. 2 without weights, 7 with 135lbs, 2 with 185 and 225.

After the first 6 at 135, I finally realized I'm leaning forward because I don't actually brace my core, I just breath into my belly. So in the 7th video, I got myself doing it the correct way, with my head pushing into the bar, and I think it looks better, but what do you guys think?



The sets at 185-225 I was leaning forward again. Not as bad as I normally do, but it was still too far. I got home and watched thoroughly, and my head is not pushing into the bar at all, and the body follows the head I guess! Here's the first at 225. All the other sets are virtually identical to this.



@kevo1295 @Oblivian @deadshot138 @Kirra

 

[Oblivian]

Your 225 lbs x 2 looked a lot better IMO.

 

[auger38]

Well I'm happy to know I'm on the right track!

 

[kevo1295]

Yeah looks fine. A couple things though. In your first video, when you lock out at the top try to keep your knees from swaying back and forth so much. Also, when doing a low bar squat, the first thing you want to do is hip hinge by bringing your hips back before squatting down.

Here's a good gif

 

[auger38]

Noted. Will give it a try tomorrow! Thank you!

 

[Kirra]

@auger38

Your 225lbs x2 vid looked way better than the 135 vid. Keep doing what you're doing at 225.

Also, when doing a low bar squat, the first thing you want to do is hip hinge by bringing your hips back before squatting down.

Here's a good gif

Strongly disagree here. If you are a powerlifter that competes in a suit, then yeah, you should sit back. For most people squatting raw though, the knees and hips should unlock at the same time.

Go look at his 225x2 vid on the slowest speed setting, it looks near perfect. If it ain't broke, there's no reason to try and fix it.

I like Alan, but what he demonstrates in that gif is an ugly squat imo.

EDIT: Ah, the gif is from 2015, I'm 99% sure that he doesn't squat like this anymore.

 

[auger38]

Well I'm happy I saw this before going to the gym and trying something new! Haha

 

[Oblivian]

Well I'm happy I saw this before going to the gym and trying something new! Haha

Keep filming yourself and try to keep it similar to the 225 lbs x 2 video. If you get comfortable with that form/depth, then you'll likely see some pretty good gains.

 

[auger38]

This is from my training log. I'm fairly certain my technique is similar to the last video. It's all thanks to you boys! It feels like I'm conserving way more energy doing things the right way. It's awesome!


@Kirra @Oblivian

After having fixed my bracing and depth issues, got back in the gym today to resume regular work loads. Decided on 225lbs for 3 x 5, to make sure technique stayed crisp. Well, after having finished those I was still feeling kind of good, so I decided to see how much I could squat. Got up to my old PR of 275lbs, then stopped.

This is all after working a 12 hour overnight shift with no meal before the gym (and after working sets) so I know I have more in the tank. I'm super pumped that just fixing two things in my squat has made drastic improvements. Can't wait to see where I can go now!

 

[Kirra]

Looks solid bruhh

 

[Oblivian]

I think this is probably the quickest form fix that I've seen on a form check thread. Awesome job!

 

[auger38]

Clear instructions on what to do helped