Squat Form Check

[StevenH]

I've been working on my form and mobility for a while. I feel I'm almost there in terms of having a passable squat. I think with just a couple more weeks of mobility work and stretching, my form will be right where I want it to be. I'm also debating whether or not to squat in my chucks or in my oly shoes. I feel much more solid in my oly shoes, but the heel makes it awkward for me to sit back now, in comparison to the chucks. I plan on cutting the weight down to 200 for next time and start from there to really hammer my form, and when it gets good I'll start increasing the weight again.



I know, I know, lots of movement with my feet. I haven't squatted much in those, and going from oly shoes to chucks is a lot different. Just for this one time, ignore that my feet keep moving around. I'm already going to work on fixing that, whether or not I squat in chucks. Just bothers me seeing me move like that.







I have two of my working sets here. I filmed the third, but I don't know what happened but it didn't record properly, so unfortunately I don't have that footage. The weight on the bar is only 235, and I plan on dropping to 200 to really work on my form more. I noticed that my back goes flat at the bottom of the squat, and is this a terribly bad thing? I could feel that I was still tight, but it still bothers me that I can't maintain that perfect arch yet. I believe the singles were filmed after my working sets with the same weights (the video with the chucks came after for sure). I like pausing in the bottom sometimes for now because I still want to get that feel of being below parallel and truly knowing when to apply the stretch reflex to ensure proper depth on each rep. Once my form gets better, I will not be pausing on purpose.

Hopefully you guys think it looks better than my last form checks. I thought it looked pretty decent, and I'm sure theres a couple minor things to adjust because there always is. I would really appreciate some constructive criticism, and a thanks to everyone who has been/is willing to help me out. I think I'm almost there, and I really hope I'm right this time

 

[gentrified]

How do your knees feel? Any soreness? It looks like you are waiting until you get deep before pushing them forward. I don't think you want to do that.

 

[StevenH]

No they feel good actually. Could that develop into knee pain later?

 

[gentrified]

No they feel good actually. Could that develop into knee pain later?

Did for me quickly.

 

[StevenH]

Alright so should I try and let them go forward more gradually or focus on not letting them move forward at all?

 

[gentrified]

Alright so should I try and let them go forward more gradually or focus on not letting them move forward at all?

I think you should break hips and knees simultaneously and most of the knee travel issues would probably be fixed. Especially if you did it with a block of wood in front of your foot for a set or two.

I think what's happening is that your knees aren't forward enough when you hit parallel and your thighs are banging against your calves. When this happens the knees move to where they should have been before the thighs and calves touched.

 

[StevenH]

Okay thanks a lot for the help! I'll work on that for next time and try and post another form check and hopefully that problem will be fixed.

What shoes do you think I should squat in? My chucks or my oly shoes? I feel more stable in my oly shoes, but I'm afraid that they put me too far forward and the squat becomes more quad dominant. With the chucks, I know that every squat will be glute and hamstring dominant, but I'm less stable right now.

 

[calvus]

I don't think you're getting deep enough. It looks like you're stopping just above parallel, or maybe at parallel on some of the reps. I didn't see any reps that were below parallel. Keep working on your hip mobility & depth.

Also, knees are moving around some, work on pushing the knees out.

 

[Keosawa]

I think you should break hips and knees simultaneously and most of the knee travel issues would probably be fixed. Especially if you did it with a block of wood in front of your foot for a set or two.

I think what's happening is that your knees aren't forward enough when you hit parallel and your thighs are banging against your calves. When this happens the knees move to where they should have been before the thighs and calves touched.

If he's squatting low-bar, then he wants to break at the hips first, followed by the knees. If this were a high-bar squat, then your advice would be correct. But for a low-bar squat, your knees aren't going to extend as far forward as for high-bar.

The first thing you need to fix here is the fact that you're swaying like a leaf in the wind. Not just with your feet, but with your hips, too. Try to keep still; be more methodical in your approach.

Oftentimes, in form checks, we overload you with a lot of things to work on, and it's impossible to tackle everything at once. First, I would fix whatever's going on with your feet and, in general, the exaggerated lateral movement of your hips. Then, I would worry about knee drift and squat depth. After that, I'd want to see another squat check with all of you in the frame, so that we can see what's going on with the other half of your body when you're squatting.

 

[gentrified]

If he's squatting low-bar, then he wants to break at the hips first, followed by the knees. If this were a high-bar squat, then your advice would be correct. But for a low-bar squat, your knees aren't going to extend as far forward as for high-bar.

I don't know how you feel about Rip's teaching methods, but he says do it simultaneously:

Hip-Drive Assistance/Knees/Proper Stretch Reflex @ Bottom of Squat

Your knees are too far forward at the bottom, the result of your misunderstanding of the first part of the movement. The hips go back at the same time as the knees go forward and out.

Regardless, I do agree with the rest of what you said. I bet once he fixes the weird feet and hip movement, the knee travel will be less exaggerated.

 

[StevenH]

Ya I still need to make the whole movement feel and look more natural. I think part of it is that I'm over thinking everything during the movement, and it throws me off. I'll try more to just squat and not worry so much about the certain little movements, and hopefully that helps a bit more. I'll try and get more videos up for tomorrow or thursday.

 

[ljcsov]

You look like you are barely hitting parallel. For the heavier sets where you are trying to push yourself this is fine. However, make sure on the lighter sets you focus on your mobility and dropping that ass down as far as you can to travel well past parallel.

In my opinion, the knees do not look bad. From this angle it is difficult to tell where they are going exactly. Of course, with your knees you want to focus on pushing them outward instead of forwards to create a nice wide stable base.

Keep on it!