Form Help

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xcalygrl
xcalygrl Posts: 1,897 Member
edited March 2015 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I lurk on this board quite often. After reading another thread, I realized I may have a bit of a form issue on my squats. I really appreciate what you guys have to say on form videos, so I'm hoping you'll be able to watch mine and give me some input.

I deloaded my squats yesterday to work on the issues that I believe I have (went from 175 to 135#). The issue I noticed after reading other threads is that my knees seem to drop in when I'm lifting. I taped all of my sets, but I'm only including sets 3, 4, and 5 since the first two videos weren't great angles/quality. (The three I'm including are great either, but I tried :neutral_face:.)

Hopefully this embedding thing works (if not, I'll include the links on an edit).

Thanks everyone in advance for the help!!

Set 3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83I3N-4p1w0


Set 4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br6-UMDrDMI


Set 5:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3zTT9-piSs

Replies

  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    Wobble will happen. It's not QUIET as bad as you think- but you're aware of it- you know what the problem is- hard to tell about anything else- I mean- I'd give you a tentative thumbs up on everything else- posture looks reasonably from this angle- depth is solid.

    I'd keep working lower weights and bringing attention to the knee wobble.
    AND/OR
    (both is fine)
    Get a band- squat with the band around your knees- when you're knees buckle- the band falls down.
    So this does 2 things.
    1.) brings awareness- and an immediate self correction
    2.) helps strengthen by doing and creating some resistance with the band.


    not a great squat- but clearly- you get the idea.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha8ykM5Mfqo
  • xcalygrl
    xcalygrl Posts: 1,897 Member
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    Thanks @jorocka. I'm going to stay at the lower weights until I can get my form down. I don't want to jump up in weight with crappy form (even though my ego wants to squat more weight, LOL). I'll also go shopping for one of those bands to help me stay mindful of my knees.
  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
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    xcalygrl wrote: »
    Thanks @jorocka. I'm going to stay at the lower weights until I can get my form down. I don't want to jump up in weight with crappy form (even though my ego wants to squat more weight, LOL). I'll also go shopping for one of those bands to help me stay mindful of my knees.

    If you can't find a band just like that, Target has flat resistance 'bands' - just tie the two ends together at the appropriate diameter. it's what all of my physical therapists have done for me - also probably cheaper than hunting for that band specifically
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    I agree with the banded work, or even the "Hip Circle" by Slingshot. I use it on all my warm up sets to help with cueing, or of I'm working technique. It is a bit more resistance than the bands though since it's a different material

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPA5Ly8BJ90
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    I've no help, I tend to do the same. Just popped in to say, cheers @JoRocka - going to give the band idea a bash too.
  • ShellyBell999
    ShellyBell999 Posts: 1,482 Member
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    Reference
    Thanks!
  • gio14
    gio14 Posts: 57 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Your depth is great *kitten* to grass, few tweak you can try that will help stabilize the knee wobble. Focus on engaging your hamstrings on the way down, I can't fully tell by the video but u seem a bit quad dominant..I could be wrong.

    Your stance looks a bit wide experiment with a bit tighter maybe... different stance works for different people so see where you feel strongest and most stable. Make sure your knees are pointing in the direction of your feet thru the movement. On the way up press your knees out this will apply proper torque and engage the glutes. Imagine cork screwing your feet into the ground. Press thru the heels yes, but make sure your weight is distributed thru your whole foot, imagine gripping your toes into the floor.
  • xcalygrl
    xcalygrl Posts: 1,897 Member
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    Thanks @gio14!

    I'm going to do some reading up on quad dominance and some corrective measures. I'm not sure I am quad dominant, but activating more of the hamstrings and glutes isn't a bad thing (if I am quad dominant).
  • gio14
    gio14 Posts: 57 Member
    edited March 2015
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    xcalygrl wrote: »
    Thanks @gio14!

    I'm going to do some reading up on quad dominance and some corrective measures. I'm not sure I am quad dominant, but activating more of the hamstrings and glutes isn't a bad thing (if I am quad dominant).

    A test u can do is on ur next squat set try some negative reps (slow on the way down) observe whats happening, if u feel all the tension on ur quads then not enough tension is being applied thru the entire chain. One tip is on the way down activate ur glutes and hams by engaging them/squeezing them. This will get the mental connection down for ya. Pressing those knees out should help with that wobble as well, good luck let us know how it goes! BTW fantastic transformation!!

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