squats

[demeis]

Originally Posted by CunningSmeagol

I've been working on squat form lately, which included moving to low bar, sitting back more and going deeper. It does take some getting used to. Anyway here's what it looks like today:
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TIP: to embed Youtube clips, put only the encoded part of the Youtube URL, e.g. eBGIQ7ZuuiU between the tags. There's another video on my channel from a few months ago showing what my squat used to be:
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TIP: to embed Youtube clips, put only the encoded part of the Youtube URL, e.g. eBGIQ7ZuuiU between the tags. I expect never to be fully happy with it.
So I really don't think its a flexibility issue. It really has to do with your form. While it's not bad there a few things that could use improvement. I'll go from head to toe with what I see as problems. 1. Your head is down when you pull the weight out. While you put it back up you are already starting at a disadvantage. DON"T look at your feet. Your head should be more than neutral. Your shoulders should be locked and pinched back. By looking down as you come out of the rack your are losing this position and starting to get some back turn over right away. So head up, chest out, pinch the shoulders and lock that bar in place. 2. Your lower back is looking to flat. You should have more a slope in your tail bone as you sit into the squat. Your ass should come out first and your back should remain locked as you sit back into your squat. 3. Your knees are going forward to much. You said you think it is a flexibility issue but its not. What I am seeing in the video (it is hard to tell though but your knees are telling me this) is that your making this a quad only exercise. Your hips should shoot out as well as your knees. This will then activate your glutes, hamstrings, and hips more into the exercise while allowing you to keep your shins straight. You'll feel this more on your feet. You should be feeling the pressure on the outside of your foot from about mid foot back to the heel. My guess is now you are feeling it more in the toes as your knees shoot out (Correct me if I'm wrong). In the video of you doing 285 you look like your heels come up just a bit as well. How do you fix these problems? Box squats. This will help you feel more comfortable sitting back into the squat. It gives you something to take the "pressure" off as sitting back with that much weight on your shoulders can be a bit unnerving at first. Also if you could get a spotter as well I would feel much better with you doing higher weights.

 

[CunningSmeagol]

Thank you for that. I will look at the things you mention and see how they feel.

 

[demeis]

Also will throw this up here. Matt Wenning did an awesome series for Elitefts. 6 parts to the series I think.
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[Pennglock]

Smeagol, it looks like you are going for a Starting Strength style squat? If so, I've been to Rippetoe's Crossfit seminar and I think he would tell you the following.

-Most importantly, stop trying to keep your shins vertical and forget the "sit back" cue. It's no good unless you're doing a wide stance powerlifting style squat.

With the width of stance youre using, your knees will eventually have to come forward in order to keep the bar over your center of gravity. By initiating the movement with sitting back, you're just delaying the forward knee travel to the second half of your descent. You don't want that- you lose hamstring tension when your knees slide forward at the bottom and you end up loading your hip flexors instead.

So instead of thinking "sit back," start breaking at the hips and knees simultaneously. And if you err in any direction, get the knees out before the hips. Your knees should do all their forward travel during the first half of the descent, then travel no more.

-I also don't think you're shoving your knees out wide enough, though it's tough to tell from this angle. If you point your toes out a little further and get your knees out over them, you'll be able to keep more tension in your hamstrings and adductors. In the video posted the bottom of your squat looks a little squishy, like youre having to search for the bottom. If you make the 2 adjustments I recommend, you'll have tension at the bottom and be able to start your ascent with a lot more power.

 

[Mr Herbert]

its astonishing how much writing their is on back squats around.

ive never understood the low bar back squat. i was taught simply, put the bar on your shoulders, squat as deep as possible, always keep your chest up high.

 

[Pennglock]

^^High bar is definitely the more intuitive and simple movement of the two. I wish they didn't bother my knees so much.

 

[inq89]

Love me some squats, I've gotten great legs and booty from them. Current girl I am seeing said that the first thing she noticed were my muscular legs (was wearing shorts at the time). Unfortunately I seem to be plateauing around 265lbs 3x5. Hoping to reach 315x1x5 by the end of the year.

 

[bbaquiran]

Originally Posted by stylenooob

I just reset my program yesterday and switched from a straight 3x5 to 2x5/1x5+, ala Greyskull LP.

First time I've done more than 5 reps of squats in pretty much forever. Got to eleven reps and felt like I'd just completed a hill sprint. On a big hill. Had to sit down. I'm on a reduced lifting volume for the summer, but doing this every week is going to get brutal.

Nice. I'm also getting back into lifting today with the GSLP (bought the e-book yesterday). How much did you reduce your 3x5 squat weight for your first GSLP workout?

 

[Manton]

The numbers quoted in this thread astound me. I can't imagine ever being able to squat that much. You guys really are Atlas.

 

[javyn]

I don't see how anyone can high bar squat, it's just painful. Then again, I'm the boniest person in the world

 

[stylenooob]

Originally Posted by bbaquiran

Nice. I'm also getting back into lifting today with the GSLP (bought the e-book yesterday). How much did you reduce your 3x5 squat weight for your first GSLP workout?
I dropped 10% from my top 3x5.

 

[Radagast]

..

 

[bbaquiran]

Originally Posted by stylenooob

I dropped 10% from my top 3x5.

Thanks, I figured I'd do the same, based on my last 3x5 workout a month ago, which came out to my bodyweight on the bar. Did 12 reps on the last set but I think I could have done 15.

 

[A Y]

Originally Posted by Manton

I do dumbell squats. I don't have the rack thingy to use a barbell. I guess that makes me a *****?

The main reason to use a barbell is that you can adjust the weights on it with a very fine granularity. Dumbbells come mainly in 5-lbs increments, and perhaps more when they get heavier. With a barbell, you can adjust by ounces if you like. The small increments get important as the weight gets really heavy because you can't expect to increase the weight by 5 or 10 lbs per workout as when you did as a total beginner. It's important to incrementally increase weight so that you can continue to apply stress to your body to force it to adapt and progress.

Originally Posted by Manton

The numbers quoted in this thread astound me. I can't imagine ever being able to squat that much. You guys really are Atlas.

There are some high numbers, but if you are not a dedicated lifter (ie. lifting is not your primary physical activity), then aim for 1x bodyweight, and eventually 1.5x bodyweight. That is OK for an athlete who's using weight training as a supplementary exercise.

You should get the Starting Strength book: there is more useful detail and knowledge in there than you can shake a stick at.

--Andre

 

[Mr Herbert]

i have starting strength and disagree with his squat style, and imagine it would bore anyone not seriously interested in strength training