Squat form help...

PackPariah

Anybody here ever go from probably the worse possible squat form to nearly perfect.

I have been struggling with squat form for months now (note: I have not tried an actual squat with weight, strictly body weight). I can't seem to keep my chest up, break at the hips and I am no where near parallel let alone *kitten* to the grass.

I do know that I have absolutely poor mind/body communication. I video tape myself and the entire time I am thinking break at hips and knees, keep *kitten* down, keep chest up, look straight. But the tape shows me basically bending slightly at my knees and just simply bending it over. It is the most eerie *kitten* I have ever seen.

Could there be supportive muscles that are underdeveloped? Is it just purely mental and my poor coordination?

I know the best thing would be to hire a PT and I am trying to save some money for one. But in the interim, I wanted to see if anybody out there had similar problems and what did they do to resolve the issue.

Thehardmakesitworthit

sit on a box and stand up ..... over and over again....practicing the head and chest part. This helped me immensely as well as the stance with knees out. Everyone's stance will be different to a degree so you may need to widen yours perhaps? IDK but keep at it. Good luck#

Chieflrg

I've done decent but far from perfect.

I suggest posting one of your vids so we can see if your high bar or low bar with all the good things mixed in.

Personally I think chest up is a horrible cue in low bar. Also body weight compared to barbell is a different game. Get the barbell on upur back with some kind of weight to make corrections. If you ask me to bodyweight squat, it would be ugly.

One thing for certain is to work on one thing at a time. Don't go into your sets with many cues on your mind. It's impossible to correct everything at once. It's like people who try using a mirror to correct their form, it likely just to confuse the person.

PackPariah

I really appreciate the pointers. I plan on posting a video when I shoot another one, don't know what I was thinking deleting them after watching.

ritzvin

Try a wider stance with toes slightly pointed out, and knees pushing outward as you squat.
Lack of ankle mobility is a frequent problem for people.

Walter__

Probably not the answer you were looking for, but..

Stop worrying so much about keeping your chest up. Your objective shouldn't be to stay as upright as possible. How upright you are or how much you lean forward during your squat is based on your body proportions.

Here's a very good video that explains it. I highly recommend you watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av3LO2GwpAk


Chest up is also generally a bad cue for most beginners because it usually leads to hyperextension. When you're hypextended, you can't brace properly and lose core stability. Not only that, but being hyperxtended under heavy load puts a lot of pressure on your low back which is going to lead to low back pain.

Instead of chest up, you want to learn how to keep your spine neutral.

Below are two examples of hyperextended vs neutral spines:





Practice keeping a neutral spine and building the core strength to maintain it. Once you have the ability and awareness to do that you can more safely hit depth and just have a better squat overall.


Here's a video on neutral spine and bracing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcY3YSW9vX4

richardgavel

I would also look at the Stronglifts web site, they have very detailed form descriptions of each core lift, grips, hips, knees, etc. Everything broken out, I reread it a lot and always try and make continuous improvement.

JusticejamesbMBA

@richardgavel fantastic idea. Before I got sick I was squatting ~625lbs, I started just by sitting on a box I built that was 12-inches high, I did 1000-reps of that. Then switched to just the bar, did ~600-reps of that, then just increased and increased. @sstaley_23 should not be putting weight on his back until he's trained his body in proper form by doing ~1,500 - ~2,000 reps, (that would probably be in the 12 - 15 month range).

not_a_runner

JusticejamesbMBA wrote: »

@richardgavel fantastic idea. Before I got sick I was squatting ~625lbs, I started just by sitting on a box I built that was 12-inches high, I did 1000-reps of that. Then switched to just the bar, did ~600-reps of that, then just increased and increased. @sstaley_23 should not be putting weight on his back until he's trained his body in proper form by doing ~1,500 - ~2,000 reps, (that would probably be in the 12 - 15 month range).

You squatted 625 lbs for 600 reps in a single workout?
1500-2000 squat reps, in ONE workout??
Whut? O.o

I would ask "why", but quite frankly I don't believe it...

ETA.. wait, you're saying you just squatted BW to the box for 600 reps? Still, why so many reps? No need.

JB035

TresaAswegan wrote: »

JusticejamesbMBA wrote: »

@richardgavel fantastic idea. Before I got sick I was squatting ~625lbs, I started just by sitting on a box I built that was 12-inches high, I did 1000-reps of that. Then switched to just the bar, did ~600-reps of that, then just increased and increased. @sstaley_23 should not be putting weight on his back until he's trained his body in proper form by doing ~1,500 - ~2,000 reps, (that would probably be in the 12 - 15 month range).

You squatted 625 lbs for 600 reps in a single workout?
1500-2000 squat reps, in ONE workout??
Whut? O.o

I would ask "why", but quite frankly I don't believe it...

ETA.. wait, you're saying you just squatted BW to the box for 600 reps? Still, why so many reps? No need.

@TresaAswegan
I think he's saying total reps, not all in one set. Some Oly coaches say to correct form it takes 1000 - 2000 reps of a correct movement to get all parts of the body to respond fully to the technique.

I've heard my coach say that before too.

Edit... I found the post my coach was talking about.

http://www.catalystathletics.com/article/1798/The-1000-Rep-Problem-Weightlifting-Technique/

peaceout_aly

sstaley_23 wrote: »

Anybody here ever go from probably the worse possible squat form to nearly perfect.

I have been struggling with squat form for months now (note: I have not tried an actual squat with weight, strictly body weight). I can't seem to keep my chest up, break at the hips and I am no where near parallel let alone *kitten* to the grass.

I do know that I have absolutely poor mind/body communication. I video tape myself and the entire time I am thinking break at hips and knees, keep *kitten* down, keep chest up, look straight. But the tape shows me basically bending slightly at my knees and just simply bending it over. It is the most eerie *kitten* I have ever seen.

Could there be supportive muscles that are underdeveloped? Is it just purely mental and my poor coordination?

I know the best thing would be to hire a PT and I am trying to save some money for one. But in the interim, I wanted to see if anybody out there had similar problems and what did they do to resolve the issue.

Hi! I sucked at squatting when I started. 4 years ago I thought if I could leg press *insert non-impressive amount* that it was equivalent to squatting that amount. Then I started squatting...on the smith machine. And FINALLY when I hit barbell I was terrible. No where near parallel, bending my back in funky ways, etc. I had someone spot me, and even so, I couldn't reach parallel. It a lot of times has to do with tight muscles. Focus on stretching your quads, hams and hips (especially hips) prior to squatting. Make it a daily habit to really stretch those muscles. That's when I saw my form improve. Make sure you start with a light weight and work the hell out of that form before attempting to increase weight. If you're squatting 300 lbs. with a *kitten* form and a barely quarter squat then you're going to get hurt. It's better to squat the bar with perfect form. If your knees turn in, get a band to place around your thighs which helps remind you to keep the knees straight instead of turning in or out. It's possible to improve without a personal trainer, I did. Just don't be scared to ask other gym members for advice or for a spot.