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I'm getting a tiny bit of knee pain so I want to make sure my squat form is okay. I haven't been able to edit the video so it's kind of terrible and you get a lovely gratuitous cleavage shot at the end. So your welcome.

I filmed myself doing some back squats so I could check my form. Overall, I think it's pretty good except that I round a bit in my back as I drop below parallel in the squat. Also I could make less of a 'pain face' in the later sets. Any feedback is welcome <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Z_qzfEKELIA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Hi bodyweighters! I've been doing a lot of bodyweight squats lately (yeah!) but I feel like they're getting easy. So I upped the intensity and started working on pistols. However, I notice that it's difficult to hold my non-working leg straight. And what I mean is that it feels like that quad is being strained or just generally hurt in some way. I also feel like my working leg is collapsing in to compensate. So last night I put my the ankle of my non-working leg on my working knee and did pistols like that. I felt a good stretch in the non-working leg and felt like I got better range of motion in the working leg. Is this an "acceptable" way to do pistols? What I mean is, I'm not going to hurt myself OR I'm not otherwise limiting the exercise, right? I should mention that I'm just learning these so I'm barely reaching parallel, if I'm reaching it at all. And I'm still holding on to a chair for stability. Thanks!

Warriors! A query for you... I have no plans to get into powerlifting, I'm more into general fitness/strength training. However, I do want to expand the actual lifts I'm doing with a barbell. Currently I do squats and deadlifts, but I was thinking of added an OHP or Clean and Press to my routine. I currently do a mostly bodyweight circuit routine that looks like this: Circuit Round 1 Circuit Round 2 Circuit Round 3 Vinyasa Yoga (15 min.) Squats (10) Squats (10) Squats (10) Push-Ups (10) Push-Ups (10) Push-Ups (10) Bench Row (10) Inverted Row (10) Inverted Row (10) Hollow Body Position (30 sec.) Plank (30 sec.) Plank (30 sec.) Deadlift (10) Deadlift (10) Deadlift (10) Bench Dips (10) Bench Dips (10) Bench Dips (10) Half Bridge (30) Half Bridge (30) Half Bridge (30) Lunges (20 - 10 each leg) Calf Raises (20) Calf Raises (20) L-Sit (15 sec.) I end with basically doing a Farmer's Walk with 35 lb in each hand till I can't go anymore (which is currently around 135-150 steps). I squat 55 (going to work on form because I increase this) and DL 105 (3x10). I add weight to the calf raises and lunges as well. My question, what would the best lift to add be for upper body? I'm not big on BP in general, simply because it's not an area I focus on/feel is a broad strength building exercise like Squats or Deadlifts are... but would it be more beneficial than say - OHP? Thanks in advance!

Hey fellow NF members, I actually started about three weeks ago but I did want to start a log to keep myself accountable, and to possibly give some insight on the Starting Strength Program to any fellow members who might be interested. About Me: I'm a 26yo Male, 6'1", 176lbs, 18.4%BF taken by bioimpedance analysis. I may actually be a little lower than that, I felt pretty lean a few weeks ago, but I digress. I have floundered around in the world of fitness and diet for about 5 years now. I graduated high school at about 170lbs, very weak, and the epitome of skinny fat. I proceeded to pack on another 50lbs my freshman year of college through epic binge drinking and an all around awful diet. It was pretty bad, pics to come later. Moving out of the dorms and getting a job my sophomore year had me losing weight gradually, to a pretty stable 195, but still incredibly weak and with no muscle. It was about 5 years ago, that I made the decision to change my life. I started eating better, bought a bench, and the 90lb adjustable Bowflex Dumbbells, and began building a home gym. Over this span, I've added a decent amount of strength and muscle, and changed my body composition considerably. If I've missed anything, or if you're wondering anything else, fire a post down below and I'd be happy to answer it. The Program: For those of you that are unfamiliar with Starting Strength, it revolves around progressive overloading of the the main barbell lifts, Squats, Deads, Bench, and Overhead Press. I will start the program with the below two workouts performed three times a week. ABA one week, BAB the next. Since I've done these lifts in the past, I have an idea of what I've been capable of, and I'll be starting considerably lower to hammer out form, and allow for continued progressive overload for, hopefully, quite some time. Squats will increase by 10lbs per workout until bar speed slows, Deads by 10 until I hit 225, then I'll swap out a deadlift day with power cleans/chinups. OHP and BP will increase by 5lbs per lift. Workout A: Squats - 3x5 OHP - 3x5 Deadlift - 1x5 Workout B: Squats - 3x5 Bench Press - 3x5 Deadlift - 1x5 Previous 1RM: Squat - 190lbs Deadlift - 295 OHP - 95 Bench Press - 185 Starting Weights: Squat - 95 Deadlift - 135 OHP - 45 Bench Press - 95 Diet: I've made my MFP log available to everyone so you can get a handle on what I can eat. I've been at an overall caloric deficit for 5 years, I could not possibly be more excited to bulk. I'm going to start out shooting for roughly 3000 cals a day and see where that takes me as far as strength and fat gains. Hopefully I can bulk pretty cleanly. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/Bolson32 Target Macros: Carbs - 300 Fat - 117 Protein - 188 Pics: Might as well put some before and after pics up eh? Before: That's me at about 220. About 50% of my weight gain was in the jowls region. I liked to party, don't judge. Now: That was last October, I'm leaner now as well, probably 180ish though. I'll try and find something better, I clearly still like to party. Goals: I've written down the below goals and would like to be there by December 31st. End of year goals are all for 3 sets of 5 reps (3x5). Power Cleans are 5x3. Deadlift – 315 Squat – 225 Bench – 185 OHP – 135 Power Clean – 150 End of Bulk Goals - 1RM - end date TBD Deadlift - 400lbs Squat - 300 Bench - 225 OHP - 165 Power Clean - 185 Motivation: Why not really? I've always wanted to be stronger, now seems like the right time. Also, the more muscle I add, the less chance I'll have of looking like that fatty above. Finally, I have a pretty fantastic girlfriend who has only further pushed me into the world of fitness, and she's done some amazing things, so it's safe to say she's a big part of my motivation. All that aside, I'm a pretty avid sports guy, play softball and basketball leagues, golf etc, and getting stronger and in better shape has really helped in those ventures. Furthering that strength should only help. I'm sure I've missed something, that after someone else reads(hopefully someone will) will be glaring. So feel free to ask anything, I'm a pretty open book after all these years of being at it. Oh, one last thing, I've got softball on wed and some full weekends the next month or two, therefore my lifts won't be M W F or S T TH right away, so I'll keep the logs coming as they come in. I will however, get at least 2 lifts in per week, and never have a back to back week with only two lifts.

I am not the most flexible person, which is something I am slowly working on. My front squat, and back squat are pretty decent. I can lift atleast 85 lbs for both. But my overhead squat so far has been embarrasing enough which just a 15 lb weight bar alone. When I first did an overhead squat, my legs never went past parallel. Last night while doing my overhead squats, not only did my legs go past parallel but I was able to put up 45 lbs. Not the biggest milestone I've had, but a pretty important one to me.

Hey lifting ladies! I know that squat form is the same for men as it is for women (or it is from what I can find), but given that a woman's center of gravity is lower than a man's, do any of y'all have trouble staying back? I always feel like I'm going to fall on my ass. It hasn't been a huge problem, but as I add weight, form is becoming even more of a concern. Any pointers from you experienced lady lifters?

So, I feel like there are several things wrong - I can't seem to prevent my knees going way out over my toes, and it looks like I have an unnecessary bend in my lower back/hips area. This video is just with the bar, since the heavier I go, the worse my form gets. What am I doing wrong, and how should I fix it? Thanks so much!

When you find out you were stronger than you ever imagined you could be haha. I stepped into the squat rack for the first time in over five years today to do today's WOD. 5-5-3-3-3-1-1 Reps working towards a new 1RM. I took it easy and started at 135lb/61kg but by the end of it I managed to put on two 45lb/20kg plates for a new 1RM of 225lb/102kg (including the bar)!! I had no idea I could still squat that much haha. So feeling emboldened I decided that I'd try out dead lifting those two 100lb/45kg bumpers that I'd been eye-ing since I rocked out 15 reps of 225lb/102kg dead lifts last week. My buddy threw on two 5lb/2.2kg stoppers on the end just to mess with me, bringing the weight up to 255lg/115kg (including the bar). Went and chalked up for the first time ever and lo and behold I did it! I got ballsy and went back for a second rep but gravity put me back in my place the second time haha. Still, it feels good to get back into weight training and not having to start completely from scratch again!

For the last challenge, I signed up as a Ranger. However, my main goal (Strength + Size) is really more at home in the Warrior's guild... Main Quest: Size + Strength As you'll see from my prior challenge, I've always been a smaller guy. I'm finally starting to get bigger, and that's what I'm going to do during this challenge. Goal #1: Eat it Up: 3000 calories on rest days, 3500+ calories on work days STA +2, CON +2 I know the only way I'll really get bigger is to lift heavy and eat heavy. I think in the last challenge I did a good job on work out days, but not so great on my rest days. So, I'm going to bump it up this time around. Also, I'm going to track my protein macro this time around - ensure I get at least 180g of protein every single day. Goal #2: Push it Up: Bench 215, 5x5 STR +4 I've created my own lifting routine that I'm really looking forward to. It definitely follows the high weight/low rep philosophy (similar to SL 5x5, really). Last night I put up 185 for 5x5, so for this challenge I'll up it 30lbs. Goal #3: Push it Up, Part 2: Squat 270, 5x5 STR +4 At the end of the last challenge, I was able to squat 250x5 for a few sets (I think 3?). I think I'll be able to start out around 230 for 5x5, then I'll work my way up to 270! Life Quest: Find my happy place WIS +2, CHA +1 I used to attend yoga class at least once a week. I always enjoyed it, but recently I haven't been going. At all. I'm going to get back on track and attend one class per week! Doesn't matter what style or difficulty - just gotta get there!The biggest challenge I see so far is that I'll be traveling for work one week. This will make it VERY hard to get to a gym, yoga class, and to know exactly what I'm eating...anyone have any suggestions? I'll be in New York City - I'd love to hear your ideas!

This is my latest squat, filmed this morning on the last set of 5x5... My main problem, I feel, is depth. I just can't get deep enough. I really feel my hamstrings shouting at me at the bottom of the squat! I was hoping to get some advice on working on depth, at the moment I'm doing hip-opener stretches, foam rolling and working my IT band. Also, please tell me what else you see in the video that can be improved! I'm not sure about the angle of my back. I'm also constantly adjusting my wrists so that they aren't broken. This is the heaviest I've squatted and it's taken me 2 months to get here! Looking forward to your feedback

Hey guys, so i've been lifting weights for only about a month now. Its not my first effort into excercise, being in the Army I PT every day back home, and have been used to vigorous activity for the last year or so. Anyways, i kinda hopped and skipped ahead a bit into stronglifts, so instead of starting with the bar i found out what my current 5 rep max was on everything and started from there. I'm just wondering if doing this could backfire at all, i mean, ive been able to make hop skips and jumps on squats and deadlifts, the presses and rows are coming up slowly, right along with the Stonglifts progression, but its hard for me to not want to slap on 10 or even 20 lbs instead of 5 on the deadlift and squat. I have kinda tweaked my shoulder on the bench press due to improper form, so im trying to be much more form concious now, so im just wondering if trying to progress this quickly is going to cause more harm than good.

So, I went to the rec center and worked out. I didn't have much time, so I decided to do a small number of heavy lifts and GTFO. I deadlifted for the first time ever. I only lifted 50lbs, but I concentrated on my form and kept my back straight the whole time. I squatted my bodyweight +20lbs. I benched 30lbs. w00t, w00t, and w00t. Then I did some dumbbell rows, and unbeknownst to me, my form was incorrect. I was sticking my elbow out too far and curling my wrist. Some Guy came up to me... I have anxiety. It manifests itself in social situations, and when people are in my personal space. My usual reaction to being approached by a stranger is somewhere along the lines of onoz onoz onoz onoz! This time was no exception. When he started kindly giving me pointers and demonstrating what a proper dumbbell row should look like, it hit me. Wait a minute. I am feeling nervous because I have anxiety. It's like feeling congested when I have a cold--nothing I can do but acknowledge it and do the best I can to work with it. This guy is not going to kill me. He is telling me good information and I should concentrate on it. So, I did. I pulled my elbow in, just like he said. I kept my wrist straight. I felt muscles that I hadn't been feeling before. It was amazing. So, I did a few sets of proper dumbbell rows, cleaned up, stretched, and left. On the way out, the guy wished me a good evening and I said goodbye, like it was no big deal. It was only when I got out to the car that I realized that he'd been touching me, guiding my elbow to where it should have been, and I didn't freak the hell out. That's HUGE in my world. I was able to get through a normal social interaction, including completely inocuous touching, without an adrenaline response. I am so proud of myself!! Here's to stepping outside my comfort zone!

I'm feeling pretty good after last challenge, and normally I'd want to cut all summer. This time I'm changing it up a bit. Here we go! Fitness goals: 1) Increase my squat and bench 1RM by 15 lbs, 275 lbs and 245 lbs respectively. 2) How you say? How bout a round of Smolov Jr. for bench and squats. Bench and squat 4X per week (oof). Squat: Week 1 Monday 6x6 182.5 Wednesday 7x5 195 Friday 8x4 207.5 Saturday 10x3 220 Week 2 Monday 6x6 185 Wednesday 7x5 197.5 Friday 8x4 210 Saturday 10x3 222.5 Week 3 Monday 6x6 187.5 Wednesday 7x5 200 Friday 8x4 212.5 Saturday 10x3 225 Bench: Week 1 Monday 6x6 160 Wednesday 7x5 172.5 Friday 8x4 185 Saturday 10x3 195 Week 2 Monday 6x6 162.5 Wednesday 7x5 175 Friday 8x4 187.5 Saturday 10x3 197.5 Week 3 Monday 6x6 165 Wednesday 7x5 177.5 Friday 8x4 190 Saturday 10x3 200 3) Eat more brotein bro. If I'm going to make gains on Smolov Jr. I'm going to need to eat for it. 200 g of protein a day, 2400+ calories. No alcohol (except on the 4th of July because America) Life goal: I want a motorcycle, continue saving, start shopping around (bonus points to me if I buy one this challenge). Here is what I want

Okay, I'm just starting to get into lifting and I am concerned about my form. I've been practicing with just a bar, as I am a super noob when it comes to free weights. However, I am actually a giant. At 6' 10", I've found that a lot of "simple" exercises are either tremendously difficult or downright impossible. Ask me how much concerted effort it took to be able to do one push-up. I'm concerned about the realities of doing the proper weighted deadlift and squat. Here are my concerns: 1. Proper deadlift form is to push your hips forward to lever the bar upwards, avoiding the quad-intensive movment that newbies (read: me) will default to and scrape the bar along your shin and bang your knees. I am struggling with this and am wondering if there are any other very tall Rebels out there who can offer some insight. Or, for the experienced lifters, am I just being paranoid? Should I just be pushing more with my hips to do it right? 2. Doing a weighted squat involves resting the bar on the shelf of your upper back muscles. In addition to my extreme height, I am also a very stereotypical ectomorph. My muscle mass is definitely on the lean side. I have a lot of trouble settling the bar so that it will stay put through the squat. I can do about 20 body weight squats without much issue, so squats aren't new to me. But holding the bar in position is messing me up. Any advice would be super helpful. I will try to get my wife to tape me doing these so that there's a frame of reference. Thanks.

I am acting on behalf of my wife (Sandylion here on the boards) who is too nervous and self-conscious to post a youtube video of her form on squats and deadlifts. She has asked me to reach out and see if there is anyone that she can PM to share a non-public video of her form. My form is terrible still, so I am no help. But the NerdFitness community is, in a word, awesome and supportive and amazing. So I implore you, is there anyone willing to help a terrified young woman who just wants to be better lifter?

Hi folks (warriors in particular ) I've come out the back of 3 months of the Rebel Fitness Guide a lot stronger than I started, made some good strength progress with bodyweight and dumbell exercises. I'm brand new to barbell lifting and I'd like some advice from experienced rebels please. I have ordered a copy of starting strength, waiting for it to arrive in the mail. In the meantime I have started the Rebel Strength Guide, at present I'm doing alternate days of Squats/Push Press and Deadlift/Pull ups. All my exercise is done at home, as I don't have squat stands or power rack yet (working on getting one or the other) and I recognize I need to work on technique, I have started pretty light. I've completed the first week, am up to 23kg barbell for all exercises. I'm beginning to plan goals for my next 6 week challenge and I'd like to get an idea on what would be realistic for weight progress? I would like to be able to eventually deadlift my body weight, which is 77kg. I don't want to rush things as I am historically a little injury prone, what would be a realistic time frame to go from 23kg to 77kg on deadlifts? I'm a clean slate and need to educate myself so any advice/links will be welcomed. In case it's useful: Age: 38 Height: 178cm Weight: 77kg's (169 pounds) I can do 3 sets of 5 pullups then 2 sets of 5 chin ups. Thanks Dominic

I've finally worked up the guts to post up my form check videos. Taken today so about as recent as they can be: (Squat at 45kg)

So today is Friday, which means that I have two days before my next lift day. It's also the first Friday of the month, which I have decided is PR day--each month I'm going to shoot for a new PR for one of the lifts I'm working on. Today was squat day. After finding two very kind people to spot for me, I went for 1x250 and made it. The vast majority of the time under load was at the bottom psyching myself up to actually try to stand back up, but I did. So, that's a full bodyweight squat for me. Good enough for now. P

First of all, I don't speak Spanish, yet, that'll be a goal eventually. This is my first time participating in the 6 week challenge, and it couldn't have come at a better time. I'm currently applying for a position at my college that will challenge me both physically and mentally. It's like frosh week, except it's 5 weeks, and there's no partying, it's simply beasting the freshman (it's a military academy). For this position, I need to write the most exceptional brag sheet. Currently, I need to work on my fitness in order to get in, so here we go. Goal 1: Do 60 consecutive push-ups (+3 Str, +1 STA) My current push-up count is around 30-35 push-ups. The minimum standard to pass the college fitness test is 28, while the "maximum" is about 80. Therefore, there's definitely some room for improvement if I want to achieve a higher score. I've been looking into push up workouts such as the 100 push-up challenge, but I haven't had much success with that system. I was thinking about merely doing my max reps each morning before doing anything else, but I'm unsure as to whether that would be overtraining or not. Goal 2: Cut out high-sugar deserts (+3 CON) For Lent, I've already stopped eating wheat products, and I've been maintaining that for the past 2 weeks, even when I went home for a week off (they love wheat products). I've already begun slowly cutting down on high-sugar products, with the occasional slip with a desert or a chocolate bar here and there. I think it's time to cut it out entirely. Once I adapt to this after 6 weeks, I won't mind the occasional "treat-yo'self" desert, but for now the focus will be living without it long enough to make it a habit. I'd say that compared to about 2 years ago, my desert consumption has dropped to about 10-15% what I used to eat. My goal is to reduce that percentage to 0%, thus cutting all deserts from my diet. Goal 3: Do full back squats without heel support (+2 STR, +2 DEX, +1 STA) To be honest, I have pretty terrible mobility. The shoulders, thoracic spine, and the hips are by far the worst of the bunch. Mobility is one of those things I ignored for the longest time, especially during my teen years; now I regret not improving it. When I do back squats, I need a board or some weights in order to raise my heels so that I can lower myself as much as possible. I read that it's not bad, but that I need to increase my mobility. At the moment, I use a 1.5 inch board to support my heels. I plan on decreasing the height by one quarter inch a week, which coincidentally means I should not need any supports by the sixth week. I'm following a modified Stronglifts 5x5 workout, so I do squats 3 times a week. Goal 4: Pay off my credit card (+1 CON, +1 WIS, +1 CHA) One of my biggest problems for the past few months was paying off my credit card that I abused during my freshman year (not on alcohol of course...). Since about October, I've already payed off about $700. I now have $300 left to pay off and enough income to pay it off in 6 weeks provided I cut my expenses, which I have been doing pretty well. This overbearing debt has been a burden for too long, dragging me down and robbing me of doing what I want to do with my life, such as starting to do some rock-climbing, and flying. The closer I get to zero, the more excited I get to finally get this out of the way. Not only that, but I'm getting used to living with little spending money, so it'll make it much easier to save up for trips in the future. If you have any suggestions, especially regarding the push-ups, squats, or attribute points distribution, I am all ears. Merci beaucoup! (As opposed to Spanish, I can speak French) - Plantem, TDV EDIT: Thanks to Laureleye, I updated my Goal #2 in order to follow the SMART system. EDIT2: Accidentally called Laureleye Renegade... Now it's fixed and I hopefully won't make that mistake again.

Wanted to make sure that everyone saw this. A whole week dedicated to squatting from the guys at Juggernaut Strength. Get to Know Squat? Day 1 : 7 Habits of Highly Effective Squatters How I Built My Best Squat Ever - Split Squats Day 2: How I Built My Best Squat Ever - Front Squats Day 3: How I Built My Best Squat Ever - Low Bar Good Mornings Day 4: Squat Technique With Team Juggernaut Day 5: How I Built My Best Squat Ever - Safety Squat Bar Squats The Greatest Squat Article Ever!We've been sampling these guys all week and as such, I don't feel bad at all linking to the advert they posted offering even more in-depth articles and detailed programs. It is available to all JTS members for something like $7 a month. Yes, it's an advert. But still, I love squatting.

Fellow rebels I got problem. Yes I do. I try to do squats just like Mark Ripetoe is advicing. You know: weight on your heels, legs going outside align with feets, first bend at hips, don't check her or her roundie shapes while squating, etc. But my problem is, that when I go beyond parralel my pelvis rounds and my lower back rounds. I got butt wink. Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Thanks to Athena, I checked some yt videos and found out, that one of ways to fix it, is to bend first at your knees and let them go past the toes. I tried it, and actually it works a bit, my butt wink is minimum. But on the other hand I feel it is much more demanding for my knees - they are poping and cracking at the bottom (no pain though - just weird feeling). I also read something about hip flexors but still I need more info. I also noticed that when I go only to parrarel - my back dont round and my knees feel better. But I wanna go lower than that cause I read that this is bad for your knees. So my question is as follows: What should be my priority while thinking about avoiding injury? Dont rounding my back aka avoiding butt wink? Dont letting my knees go past my toes? Not going beyond parrarel while keeping my knees not past my toes = avoiding butt wink but what about knees injury then? ???? - any other option that is better than those above? Maybe this is flexibilty problem? Or core strength problem? Or those hip flexors issue? Any advice would be appreciated plus maybe some good links to other exercises I should be performing to help with my technique?