Help on improving squats

Chena83

This week is my 3rd week completing SL, 2 days a week with 2 days of cardio on rest days. I am scheduled to lift 40 pounds on Wednesday; however, my squats are not parallel. I have a trainer and I will not see her this week. How can I get parallel? Right now I am an obtuse angle instead of a 90 degree angle. I would like to improve my form before adding more weight. I would love to post a video for you to see, but my Android does not show an option on the MFP app to upload videos or photos. Any pointers are DEEPLY appreciated.

TIA

krokador

Few things
1. what kind of shoes do you wear when you squat?
2. how tight are your ankles and calves
3. where do you sit the bar on your back
4. what does your foot placement (width/feet angle), how tall are you, and would you say you're upper-body tall or lower-body tall as opposed to symmetrical?

Bonus: the best way to put a video on MFP is to upload it to youtube as an unlisted video, then put the link to it in a post here

Chena83

@krokador
1. I wear my Asics
2. I am not sure how tight they are. They feel soft. When I do cardio, they get sore sometimes
3. When i use the bar, i sit it on upper traps,below the C7 vertebrae. Planet Fitness bars are not in 5 lbs increments so I also use dumbbells as well
4. My feet are shoulder width apart or wider. Narrow causes me to wobble and lean forward. I am 5'2.75. I think my thighs are longer than torso. I am pear shaped.

https://youtu.be/oSzaTBiweJ0

Thanks for the input on the video as well. I put it above for review

Thanks SOOOO MUCH

krokador

Okay, now that I have some more info I can give some actual input

1. running shoes will never be optimal for squatting/training in the gym in general. They are super padded, which means your balance is going to be wobbly because your feet can't feel the ground underneath. If you have an old pair of chucks or something similar, it may help a little.
2. calves/ankles with a shortened range of motion will not necessarily be stiff. I wasn't super clear I guess, so the question is more: can you bend your ankle back further than your foot being about perpendicular with your leg? If not, you may need to work on the ankle restriction (try this without shoes on!)
3. Make sure you keep your upper back engaged when doing goblet squats, so the weight doesn't pull you forward. Ideally you shouldn't be resting it on your chest at all, that'll force the proper engagement (but it *is* harder and you may have to drop the weight a bit. You could always try 2DB squats and rest them on top of your shoulders instead
4. Doesn't sound like your height/proportions are an issue.

In the video, the first thing I noticed is that you are clearly being pulled forward by the weight. This could be made worse by the wobbly shoes. You're also mostly breaking at the knees first, which also sends your weight forward, and will not allow you to really sink down.

I would try learning to break at the hips first and sit your weight back (goblet is good for that if you use the weight as a safety/counterbalance, but you might need to drop it down a good bit for that to be effective). Your feet may not be out wide enough, but that's hard to say. Perhaps if you could use a bench behind you to "spot" you as you are sitting back, since it is common to simply shift the weight forward because you're afraid of falling backwards, you'd be able to get in deeper.

I am not sure if this will work, as it is from a facebook group, but if it does it may be of help to you: https://www.facebook.com/mikekcoach/videos/1825051151069716/

Chena83

krokador wrote: »

Okay, now that I have some more info I can give some actual input

1. running shoes will never be optimal for squatting/training in the gym in general. They are super padded, which means your balance is going to be wobbly because your feet can't feel the ground underneath. If you have an old pair of chucks or something similar, it may help a little.
2. calves/ankles with a shortened range of motion will not necessarily be stiff. I wasn't super clear I guess, so the question is more: can you bend your ankle back further than your foot being about perpendicular with your leg? If not, you may need to work on the ankle restriction (try this without shoes on!)
3. Make sure you keep your upper back engaged when doing goblet squats, so the weight doesn't pull you forward. Ideally you shouldn't be resting it on your chest at all, that'll force the proper engagement (but it *is* harder and you may have to drop the weight a bit. You could always try 2DB squats and rest them on top of your shoulders instead
4. Doesn't sound like your height/proportions are an issue.

In the video, the first thing I noticed is that you are clearly being pulled forward by the weight. This could be made worse by the wobbly shoes. You're also mostly breaking at the knees first, which also sends your weight forward, and will not allow you to really sink down.

I would try learning to break at the hips first and sit your weight back (goblet is good for that if you use the weight as a safety/counterbalance, but you might need to drop it down a good bit for that to be effective). Your feet may not be out wide enough, but that's hard to say. Perhaps if you could use a bench behind you to "spot" you as you are sitting back, since it is common to simply shift the weight forward because you're afraid of falling backwards, you'd be able to get in deeper.

I am not sure if this will work, as it is from a facebook group, but if it does it may be of help to you: https://www.facebook.com/mikekcoach/videos/1825051151069716/

Thanks sooo much. I will try these new things for tomorrow's work out.

canadianlbs

my two cents on top of krok's comments:

i'm only really able to give input by imagining my own body doing what i see on the screen and then nit-picking from there. so this is the feedback that i'd give myself. and since my body's different from yours don't sweat too much about 'having' to do all (or any) of it.

[also, i somehow got to see it once and then the facebook sign-in clamped down. so i'm just going by a single play-through here as i don't facebook].

that looks like a really good beginning to me (sez the queen of buttwink). as you go through the set you start to tip forward more, and it looks like somewhere in the middle you had a sudden total-disorientation moment, like 'what is my body doing again?' [me, i get those all the time ]. but your back angle in the first few is nice, you keep your spine straight, and it just seems to be mostly a question of not knowing how to get past your stop point. so here are my thoughts:

- i can't validate what krok said about shoes loudly enough. seriously. it looks like your body just got scared at the idea of going any further back, and no wonder if it couldn't get a strong connection with the ground through your feet. feeling like you're gripping the floor with your toes does wonders for reassuring your brain you're not going to let yourself fall over backwards.

- if that were me in your clip, then the solution would be: once i reach the 'wall' point, 'open' my knees. here too, having solid shoes will help a lot because you'll be able to get that tightness in your legs right from the start, and then the knee-opening thing tends to just happen a lot more naturally when all your abductor muscles are already wound up. the best video i've ever seen for that knees-open thing is this one with max aita. i dream of having a squat form like his you only need to watch about the first 10/15 minutes of it.

for dumbbell squats i like the goblet hold better than trying to keep two dumbbells at chest level. it really forces me to keep my chest and elbows up, and that keeps my upper back more engaged. although don't ask me why i can do that with a barbell or a single dumbbell, but not with a pair of them.

Chena83

canadianlbs wrote: »

my two cents on top of krok's comments:

i'm only really able to give input by imagining my own body doing what i see on the screen and then nit-picking from there. so this is the feedback that i'd give myself. and since my body's different from yours don't sweat too much about 'having' to do all (or any) of it.

[also, i somehow got to see it once and then the facebook sign-in clamped down. so i'm just going by a single play-through here as i don't facebook].

that looks like a really good beginning to me (sez the queen of buttwink). as you go through the set you start to tip forward more, and it looks like somewhere in the middle you had a sudden total-disorientation moment, like 'what is my body doing again?' [me, i get those all the time ]. but your back angle in the first few is nice, you keep your spine straight, and it just seems to be mostly a question of not knowing how to get past your stop point. so here are my thoughts:

- i can't validate what krok said about shoes loudly enough. seriously. it looks like your body just got scared at the idea of going any further back, and no wonder if it couldn't get a strong connection with the ground through your feet. feeling like you're gripping the floor with your toes does wonders for reassuring your brain you're not going to let yourself fall over backwards.

- if that were me in your clip, then the solution would be: once i reach the 'wall' point, 'open' my knees. here too, having solid shoes will help a lot because you'll be able to get that tightness in your legs right from the start, and then the knee-opening thing tends to just happen a lot more naturally when all your abductor muscles are already wound up. the best video i've ever seen for that knees-open thing is this one with max aita. i dream of having a squat form like his you only need to watch about the first 10/15 minutes of it.

for dumbbell squats i like the goblet hold better than trying to keep two dumbbells at chest level. it really forces me to keep my chest and elbows up, and that keeps my upper back more engaged. although don't ask me why i can do that with a barbell or a single dumbbell, but not with a pair of them.

Thanks. I am putting my Chucks on today. Lol. Do you think the bench is a proper hieght or too low?

krokador

Thanks. I am putting my Chucks on today. Lol. Do you think the bench is a proper hieght or too low?

Ideally you want something that's at least below knee height (or lower). You can start with a regular bench and eventually you can work to a smaller box or something that is lower. Just focus on the mechanics of bracing and using your glutes and sitting back. Depth will come eventually

mom23mangos

Can you do a third world squat? https://www.t-nation.com/training/third-world-squat

Working on your depth with no weight might be the best place for you to start. Just use a broomstick or something and air squat as low as you can go until you get a good feel for what that feels like and your body position.

amyinthetardis1231

To add to the other advice given (and hopefully not repeat anything already said), you could try opening your stance a bit. I squat with a very wide stance to get to depth. Too narrow and I just get stuck.

Chena83

Thanks everyone!!! I WENT MUCH LOWER TODAY. Yay. I think I am going to try a few days weight free and get used go thiz feeling. I took my shoes off, went weight free, placed feet wider, and made sure to turn knees out. I am still trying to get the concept of hips back. Do I need to push hips back like I do in the dead lift?

canadianlbs

Chena83 wrote: »

Thanks everyone!!! I WENT MUCH LOWER TODAY.

\o/

Do I need to push hips back like I do in the dead lift?

idk . . . not so much, maybe. the main thing with deadlift is your hips go back and your back goes horizontal. so you're hinging in a way that mostly changes your upper-body angle relative to your legs. your torso is the main thing that starts out horizontal and then moves to upright. with squats it's mostly your thighs that go from upright to horizontal and then back again.

so i guess with squats you only need your hips to go back as far as it takes to make room for your thighs to reach parallel. i think, anyway. i can't truthfully tell you i've ever quite figured it out my own self.

krokador

Chena83 wrote: »

Do I need to push hips back like I do in the dead lift?

It's not really a hinge at the hips like the deadlift. More along the lines of INITIATING the movement there. Just pretend you're sitting into a chair. What moves first? Your butt moves back, right? (nobody sits straight down, afaik). That should be agood starting point.

'nother lil tip I like to give people is: think of the movement as pushing the floor away, as opposed to getting your body back up. Doesn't work for everyone, but for me it "opens" the chain (a squat is a closed chain exercise, open chain example would be a leg press, where the rest of your body is braced against something), where the entire body feels much more stable than it does with the other line of thinking (probably because when you think about pushing things AWAY from you, the opposite side of the body WILL almost automatically brace itself to give you the best leverage. )

Jedi mind tricks

Edit: just as an addendum to what I said about "sitting into a chair", obviously you don't want to sit back too far, either, and you do want to try to sink down pretty much where you are. I think what I'm trying to say is, you want to initiate the movement the same way you initiate sitting down, but you don't actually want to emulate sitting down too much? Ah, I think I just made it more confusing.

Chena83

Thanks so much everyone. I have decided to practice at least 5 squats on my off days and sitting in the baby squat position for a few seconds, keeping head and spin neutrual, tgroughout the day. Applying everyone's advice has helped me ACTUALLY feel my muscle s work. I had only felt the contractions in my inner thigh. NOW I SEE WHY THIS IS A FULL THIGH AND BUTT exercise.

amyinthetardis1231

To add to Kroc, a lot of people actually practice squatting to a box or bench. Find one low enough that your bum would touch the top of the box at the bottom of a full depth (hip crease even with top of knees) squat and practice squatting until you just touch the box, then standing up. Don't sit on the box, just touch and go. With enough practice, you'll develop the muscle memory to learn the feel of a good, deep squat.

rkintn

I did my workout today sans shoes, just to see what the difference was from flat to the Asics I normally wear and I was pleasantly surprised. I'll continue without shoes until I can find an affordable flat shoe alternative.

nowine4me

chuck taylors are perfect -- $30 on amazon