Squat check

zanyzana

Hi wise and strong ones,

Please be gentle. These 2 videos are of my deloaded squats this morning. They both have a bit of mucking about with my phone at the start - I perched it up with my handbag, so of course it fell over! The first video is from the side, and the second is from the back. I am quite gifted in the behind department, and have never before seen it looming so scarily in front of my eyes. Oh dear, it is indeed a shocking sight! Sorry, please just focus on the knees (which I think collapse in a bit) and any other squat appropriate things and ignore the ampleness that is my butt...

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3vEINPnWVnM

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8gvsuM2uN9I

So scary!

Thanks

bumblebums

Your knees are actually not that bad--you could shove them out more, but they are not caving in a whole lot.

Your stance is a bit wider than what I use--there is no "right" stance, as different things work for different people, but you could try a slightly narrower stance (shoulder width) and point your toes out 30 degrees while keeping knees pointed in the same direction as the toes. That might allow you to go down deeper. You're just above parallel now, and believe it or not, your knees might like it better if you go below parallel. It has to do with what the quads do to the knee caps at different degrees of contraction. The more you stretch them, the happier the knees.

A couple of other things: I would ditch the foam thing on the bar. The bar feels a bit unpleasant at first, but you are less likely to put it in the right position if you have a big pillow wrapped around it. Right now, the bar is a bit high (I am assuming you are going for a low back squat here). Try putting it right at the base of your rear delts--feel the back of your shoulder with the opposite hand for the boney spiney part of the scapula, and try to put the bar just under that spot. It will be secure if you pull your shoulder blades together.

And finally, you have a bit of a good mornings thing going on with your torso. The angle of the torso should not change significantly throughout the squat--the cue here is to keep the chest up.

And finally finally, I've seen much bigger butts. Yours was a bit of a letdown after all the buildup

girlie100

bumblebums has pretty much covered it all.

stance is pretty much down to comfort, try a narrower stance and a wider stance feet out @ 30degrees and focus on pushing your knees out and see what gets you to parallel or below.

The pitching forward needs to be worked on, focus on keeping chest up and looking forward as you sit back.

In terms of bar position it seems quite high but that could be because of the pad, try with just the weight of the bar and no pad to find a comfortable position on your back. You can try having the thumbs over the top of the bar rather than under it, so you know you are just locking the bar to your back and not supporting with your arms, this again is personal preference and you may feel more comfortable as you are.

Happy squatting

chubby_checkers

I'll check out your videos when I get home a little later (at work). I just wanted to say that your description of your butt made me laugh and I had to turn it into a cough so I don't become known as the crazy one that laughs to herself. :laugh:

kerricolby

Everyone pretty much already said everything I was going to say. I just wanted to add something about your grip on the bar. I started to have a lot of elbow pain as I was closing in on squatting 200 pounds. I bought "Starting Strength" for my kindle and started really focusing on my form. The elbow pain was coming from me wrapping my thumb around the bar when I was squatting. Once I switched to not "gripping" the bar in the traditional way, the elbow pain went away immediately. It also slightly changed the position of the bar on my back which actually helped me a lot with the heavier weights.

chubby_checkers

--- for bar positioning. I second not using the bar pad. It takes a little adjustment, but it's less cumbersome without that giant roll in the way, and makes it easier to get the bar placed correctly.

lwoodroff

Rippetoe calls it the 'puss pad' and it was scary when I did away with it.. however after 2 or 3 sessions feeling bruised it was fine. Just remember to squeeze your shoulder blades together so it's resting on muscle not bone!

also you could do a bit more of a hip thrust when you come back up to the top..
check your bar path - I suspect it's not vertical? that 'good morning thing' mentioned above.
if you have the cue 'spread the floor with your heels' it should help push your knees out too. mine want to wobble but that seems to help!

good going, lady, and nice butt

zanyzana

Thanks all,

I tried to put all your advice into practice this morning. I will keep myself on the same weight for the next week or so, until I feel like I have it nailed. I really think I was doing better with the squats when I first started than lately. I must have lost my focus somewhere along the line!

And sorry about the intro about the bum... It's always been my most hated body part. It's only recently that I started realising that the ample butt was becoming quite a sought after thing - god love hip hop! (or whatever music it is that's caused this change).

:drinker: Here's beers for you all.