Squat Form Checklist

[joshetc]

if you're purposely keep your elbows back, then you're purposely not recruiting your lats which contribute a lot to your torso stability. In other words you should be pulling the bar down towards your upper upper back, which is kind of difficult if you're purposely keeping your elbows back.

That explains why I can squat more with a neck roll and not squeezing my shoulder blades together.

 

[Tornado]

That explains why I can squat more with a neck roll and not squeezing my shoulder blades together.

what do you mean by 'a neck roll'? as in a foam roller that you put on the bar or as in you physically rolling your neck back towards the bar? And if you do you squeeze your shoulder blades together, can you pull them downward (depress them) and still contract your lats? if you try it without a bar you might notice that your chest can puff up and stay that way, even if you only inahle into your belly.

edit: hey, that's my countryman on your avatar! wicked!

 

[CarnalSalvation]

Carnal, any suggestions on increasing flexibility so's I can do a better outward push when I'm close to rock bottom?

I usually do PL squats, and I'm really trying to get my form ironed out.

I do stretches where I get into a squat stance, sit back and try to maintain the position for 30 seconds or so. In other words, simulating a PL squat without the barbell. I haven't been doing the outward push during the stretch, but I could try it.

That's a good place to start.

My favorite is sitting on a low box (for me, 12") and gradually moving my feet wider, and pointing my toes forward more. All the while pushing the knees out of course.

Don't worry about flaring your feet unless it's really extreme, I've never seen a raw lifer take a wide stance with their feet pointing straight ahead. I've tried it and it is hell on the knees. Some equipped lifters seem to like it and I'm honestly not sure what the difference is.

And part of it of course is just time. Lifting is about patience at some points, and once in a while you just have to pay your dues so to speak. My point being often times problems fix themselves with practice, not to say that you shouldn't work on actively correcting the problem, just keep in mind nobody has perfect form right away.

 

[flak]

^^^ Cool, thanks, Carnal. I'll work on it. Half the fun is trying to improve the form.

Thanks also to Old Man. I should watch all those Squat RX vids.

 

[TheCuttlefish]

^^^ Cool, thanks, Carnal. I'll work on it. Half the fun is trying to improve the form.

Thanks also to Old Man. I should watch all those Squat RX vids.

No actually this is no fun at all.

And on the elbows issue: I'm a skinny mother fucker (really the skinniest on these boards last time I checked) and I can hold the bar low with my elbows pointed down. Of course, this involves me pulling my hands in to almost shoulder width. I get some slight pain in my elbows or a pinch in my lats when i do this though.

I probably need to stretch my shoulders out more but pulling your hands in makes for a nice pad.

 

[joshetc]

what do you mean by 'a neck roll'? as in a foam roller that you put on the bar or as in you physically rolling your neck back towards the bar? And if you do you squeeze your shoulder blades together, can you pull them downward (depress them) and still contract your lats? if you try it without a bar you might notice that your chest can puff up and stay that way, even if you only inahle into your belly.

edit: hey, that's my countryman on your avatar! wicked!

One of those pads people always put on the bar when they squat. I don't really use it often, but sometime in December I was working on my car and my neck was sore on squat day so I went ahead and used the pad and hit a PR..which was kinda odd.

If I pull my shoulderblades together to compress my traps, I can still contract my lats, but not 100%. Its kinda like when you try to flex your bicep with your arm extended. I'm going to practice squatting with a low bar position tomorrow, cause I usually hold the bar pretty high. This should allow me to recruit my lats a bit more and maybe keep my core more stable. I've only squatted like twice in the last two months so I'm really lacking in the lift, and it showed last week in the gym.

Edit: btw you've been really informative today, lol..

 

[stylesbjj**]

When you reach the bottom, hit the brakes. Don't bounce at the bottom, could bring your knees beyond their natural range and damage them.

 

[dexter c]

if you're purposely keep your elbows back, then you're purposely not recruiting your lats which contribute a lot to your torso stability. In other words you should be pulling the bar down towards your upper upper back, which is kind of difficult if you're purposely keeping your elbows back.

This is actually an awesome tip. For big squats, I think of attempting to bend the bar over my back on the way up. Makes my core a lot more stable.

 

[bacon]

Driving your head back into the bar on ascent helped me a lot. The first time i tried it, I remember thinking, "ohhhh...I get it."

 

[BlondeWarrior]

Driving your head back into the bar on ascent helped me a lot. The first time i tried it, I remember thinking, "ohhhh...I get it."

How high is the bar on your back?

 

[bacon]

How high is the bar on your back?

I guess that was a little confusing, huh? Should have been, "drive head back on ascent" If you're driving it into the bar, you're one goofy lookin dude.

 

[BlondeWarrior]

Oh, goodness. Yeah, it was confusing. I look up when squatting, so I look retarded (yes, I look retarded regardless of what I do). Looking up helps me keep the chest up.

 

[bacon]

I had a bad habit of GMing the last bit of ROM on squats until I started driving my head back.

 

[joshetc]

I had a bad habit of GMing the last bit of ROM on squats until I started driving my head back.

Thats my problem too, whenever I work anywhere near my max I always lead with my hips and end up almost GMing the weight for the last couple reps. I think if I fix this problem my squat should be able to go up quite a bit.

 

[CarnalSalvation]

Thats my problem too, whenever I work anywhere near my max I always lead with my hips and end up almost GMing the weight for the last couple reps. I think if I fix this problem my squat should be able to go up quite a bit.

I call weak glutes/hams on that.

 

[joshetc]

I call weak glutes/hams on that.

Yeh. My balance is terrible, so it is natural to sort of lean my body forward to counteract leaning back. I'm going to put a lot of work into that, because I really feel it is hampering my squats. I'm also going to start doing glute-ham raises. I really feel comfortable with weight much higher than my max, I just can't resist leaning forward and sometimes get stuck in the hole.

Edit: The power rack at my gym doesn't help much either. It just feels horribly unstable and confined. Thats one thing I really miss about my old job, our gym only had squat stands and I had to do all squatting in the open on the hard floor.

 

[BlondeWarrior]

Yeh. My balance is terrible, so it is natural to sort of lean my body forward to counteract leaning back. I'm going to put a lot of work into that, because I really feel it is hampering my squats. I'm also going to start doing glute-ham raises. I really feel comfortable with weight much higher than my max, I just can't resist leaning forward and sometimes get stuck in the hole.

Edit: The power rack at my gym doesn't help much either. It just feels horribly unstable and confined. Thats one thing I really miss about my old job, our gym only had squat stands and I had to do all squatting in the open on the hard floor.

At first read, it sounds like you're on your toes a lot when squatting. Have you ever had anyone watch you squat, paying attention to this? Are you far forward with your upper body, too? (These are common faults of mine, too... )

 

[joshetc]

Yeh, my feet are always flat on the floor and never shift. I think it may be an ankle flexibility issue so I looked up a few stretches. I used to have a lot of problems a few years ago. I would roll my ankle on a regular basis while playing football. I'm regulated to wrapping them every time I play sports now :\

 

[christiancore]

okay, so - thighs parallel or as far down as i can go?

right now, i'm going all the way to the ground, but i rarely see people do this and i've had a couple people say to me that parallel is far enough.

my personal opinion - if you can go farther, go farther. what's the general consensus here?

 

[the_harbinger]

okay, so - thighs parallel or as far down as i can go?

right now, i'm going all the way to the ground, but i rarely see people do this and i've had a couple people say to me that parallel is far enough.

my personal opinion - if you can go farther, go farther. what's the general consensus here?

Yes, if you can go farther...go farther. What usually happens to me is I do my warm-up sests as far as I can go down...to get a good stretch. As the weight goes up, so does usually my depth. I still make sure, though, that that depth never exceeds parallel.