Squat Form Check for Schmopey

[Schmopey]

I had the time and the camera, so I wanted to make sure there aren't any glaring issues. I am working my way back up from 135, because I experienced some hip strain at 185 previously. These are at 170#. I did the first and second sets and then the fifth to make sure my form is not getting too bad with fatigue.

 

[Bolson32]

I'm not the best squatter in the world, but it's one of those things you can see whats wrong even when you arent!

 

Anyway, it looks pretty decent to me. Good depth, good back angle, knees come out nicely. The only thing I can see, is that bar path is pretty....not straight.....It kind of winds its way up and down. This is probably because it appears to be slightly heavy, and it looks like it drifts back a bit. Maybe you're thinking about sitting back a bit too much? Instead of sitting down between your hips?

 

Other than that, it looks pretty good. That comment is really just about efficiency. It's not poor form like you're rounding your back wildly and going to hurt yourself.

[robert da strongman]

one thing i noticed..you seem to be leaning forward on the way down. try to look up with your eyes and drive your head back into the bar.

you can also push forward with your elbows. this should help you stay upright.

[Schmopey]

Thanks for the comments. Keeping my chest up is one of the things that I constantly need to work on.

[Bolson32]

Thanks for the comments. Keeping my chest up is one of the things that I constantly need to work on.

 

Preach, I struggle with it too my friend. It's really helped with the dreaded "butt wink".....when I actually do it.

[eseng666]

If i may suggest, it would also be very helpful if you can include your foot in your next videos. In that way, we (as well as you) can easily check your stance and ankle positioning.

[Bolson32]

*removed* Wrong thread

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Your form has improved drastically since your first form check awhile back, nice job. Like said above, you still have minor chest dropping issues. You have a little butt wink too, which I think comes back to the chest issues.

 

one thing i noticed..you seem to be leaning forward on the way down. try to look up with your eyes and drive your head back into the bar.

you can also push forward with your elbows. this should help you stay upright.

 

I don't know about driving the head back, but looking forward, but not up, can help with keeping the chest up. Looking up is reserved for front squats and for some people high bar back squats, but for low bar back squats tends to cause loss of hip drive and bounce out of the hole.

[PitBull_Liz]

you can also push forward with your elbows. this should help you stay upright.

 

Forgive me as I'm a newbie, but I don't understand pushing forward with the elbows.  I thought we were supposed to have our elbows/shoulderblades back to make a nice meaty shelf for the bar to rest on? 

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Forgive me as I'm a newbie, but I don't understand pushing forward with the elbows.  I thought we were supposed to have our elbows/shoulderblades back to make a nice meaty shelf for the bar to rest on? 

 

That's the cue used to get you to clench your upper back and make the shelf. This is for two reasons. First, as a new lifter, a lot of people don't have a lot of back musculature, and cuing elbows up is needed in order to make the shelf. As you get a stronger and more meaty back, the shelf is there with much less effort. This leads into number two, where since you are used to shrugging your shoulders back into the position to make the shelf, you can maintain that meat shelf shrug even when pushing your elbows forward to help with the chest cue. Some people can handle this right from the beginning and maintain the shelf.

[PitBull_Liz]

Gotcha, thank you for the explanation!

[Schmopey]

Time for another form check. I have finally gotten my work weight above body weight and am also lifting on an extended caloric surplus for the first time. I want to make sure I am lifting properly and can improve upon my Fall Brawl numbers come January.

 

 

It looks like I still need to work on keeping my chest up. Is it bad enough that I should lower the weight and work on it, or should focusing on that specifically while adding weight be enough? I am currently adding 2.5# per workout.

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Now that you know about it, make it a prime focus, especially out of the bounce, but I wouldn't say it's bad enough to reset. It's my main problem too.

 

Other than that, your right knee comes in slightly at the bottom when you're changing direction, but you fight and shove it back out. Keep cuing that and keep an eye on it, never let it track in much. It's not doing it a ton, but keep an eye on it.

 

Your depth still needs work, but it's better than it was. You're just hitting parallel on your first set in the video with 1-2 reps slightly high. By your 3rd set though you're very high on a bunch of the reps as you're getting fatigued. Don't increase the weight unitl you are hitting depth on every rep. You might want to video yourself each set, and watch your videos between sets so you know what you need to correct right away. I did this for awhile and it really helped.

[Schmopey]

I think I did much better today. The right knee still needs watching, but I think I maintained my form better throughout the sets.

 

[Schmopey]

Hi again everybody! I'm back after a couple of months out of the gym.

 

Time for another form check: 160lbs

 

Set 1:

 

Set 2:

 

Took video of set 5, but there doesn't look like there's anything noteworthy.

 

 

[msuroo]

Wait, your gym just has racks and platforms and bumpers for days?  That's amazing.

 

Squats look great to me.

[El Exorcisto]

You're squats are looking good. If you see the chic on the yellow top again let her know she's squatting an inch or two high.

[Morrigainz]

Looking good

[wildross]

Something to think about.  I notice that you have your feet together when you unrack and rack the bar.  This works ok at lower weights, but has you go up, you will need to actually squat the bar off the pins, both for side to side stability and just to move it.  If you have to have your feet together to get high enough to clear the pins...the pins are too high.  

 

I feel that it is good practice to lift the light weights like they were the heavy ones.  So I basically squat the bar off the pins even with light weights (alright, not with an empty bar).

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

You're squats are looking good. If you see the chic on the yellow top again let her know she's squatting an inch or two high.

I was going to say the same thing! Those were warm up sets with the bar though, schmopey cut us off before she started the next set with plates. Her form didn't look too bad otherwise. Please continue filming in the future.

As far as you go schmopey, you've improved so damn much. You're not as deep as you once were, but you are hitting depth. You are so much more stable/solid and under control through the whole lift though.

Do you find yourself favoring you right leg? You lean a bit to your right and I think the right hip drops a bit more or something. Still trying to figure out what's going on there, but you can see it in the back view if you look for it. Let me know how it feels and what you interpret it as next time you squat if you can spot what in talking about.

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[Schmopey]

I was going to say the same thing! Those were warm up sets with the bar though, schmopey cut us off before she started the next set with plates. Her form didn't look too bad otherwise. Please continue filming in the future.

As far as you go schmopey, you've improved so damn much. You're not as deep as you once were, but you are hitting depth. You are so much more stable/solid and under control through the whole lift though.

Do you find yourself favoring you right leg? You lean a bit to your right and I think the right hip drops a bit more or something. Still trying to figure out what's going on there, but you can see it in the back view if you look for it. Let me know how it feels and what you interpret it as next time you squat if you can spot what in talking about.

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I can't promise that I'll be able to continue filming the folks in the background (that might get me kicked out).

 

I'm not too surprised that I am not hitting quite the depth I used to, I've only been back to squatting for a couple of weeks after almost two months off.

 

I definitely favor my right side, and I think I know exactly about what you are talking. My body tries to shift almost all of the weight to my right leg as I start out of the hole. I have to consciously fight to try to keep the load balanced.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Yep, that's exactly what it looks like. I have the same issue.

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[Schmopey]

Here's the latest @ 225#:

 

 

 

I think I've done pretty well at mitigating the twisting seen in the last form check posted. I can still work on getting more depth, but I think I only missed on a couple of reps. The sixth rep in set 2 was because I sort of lost count and figured one more is better than one too few.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Depth was good on the first, just ok on the rest. Keep working in improving it. That wiggle/favoring of the right leg is only slight and much improved.

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[Schmopey]

Hi everybody! I'm back after a bit of a hiatus. I pretty much stopped going to the gym after the video for the above form check was shot, until the beginning of this most recent 6 week challenge that is. I have gotten the weight lifted back to where it was, so I figured it would be a good time for a new form check.

 

 

 

I think I actually look to be having an easier time of it now than I was back in June. I think my overall depth is a touch better, though there is still room for improvement.