Form Check

ZoeLifts

Hey all! It really helped to get some input last time, so here I am to bug you again. I put all of my videos here in one message. If you have the time, please take a look and drop a few lines of advice for me. This is the B day of Stronglifts, btw, recorded last Friday:

Squat: Still working on my form a lot here. I have de-loaded and you will see am working with the box. Sorry about posting two of this, but I recorded several of my sets and got an upper body one and a lower body one:

Upper: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tdgnltq4kqepqz5/Squat - Upper 06.01.12.wmv
Lower: https://www.dropbox.com/s/x2qe4vo46ba4xu9/DSCN3489.AVI

Overhead Press: I may have to stay at this weight (60 lbs) for a while because it is a struggle for me, but here goes anyway!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2vhv18m2v67rnmt/OH Press 06.01.12.wmv

Deadlifts: Yeah, I did more than 5, I know. I felt like I kept trying to use my shoulders to pull the weight over my knees, so I was trying to focus on my hips hinging: https://www.dropbox.com/s/exa285jmmejii08/DSCN3495.AVI

Thank you for your input!!

ZoeLifts

:flowerforyou:

Mayor_West

I'm not very familiar with Stronglifts, but here's my $.02.

Squats: Try taking fewer steps after unracking the bar. I try to take one big step backward to put enough distance between myself and the hooks. Remember- the farther away from the hooks you step, the farther you have to walk to re-rack the bar, which is not easy after working to failure. Also, it looks like in the lower vid, you're squatting to the box, but not in the traditional powerlifting style I'm familiar with. Instead of actually sitting on the box, resting for a second and then standing up, it looks like you're doing a touch-and-go type of squat. Is the box there to just make sure you get the proper depth? Or is there another purpose? Finally, try setting your feet a little bit wider apart in your stance. It looks like your knees are very close to tracking past your toes, which can be cause for injury. A wider stance will enable you you to keep your knees back, as well as prevent them from bucking inside.

Overhead press: As with the squat. don't take too many steps back from the hooks. Also, try setting the safety pins a little higher as well.

Deadlift: The first thing I noticed is that you're pulling the weight off of the safety pins. This cuts down on the range of motion and also allows the bar to roll around, making it more difficult to control. I'd highly recommend pulling directly off the floor- if the bar is too low, then lay down some 2.5- or 5-lb plates on the floor and have the plates on the bar rest on those. As for your form, I noticed:
A) your back is too flat- lower your hips until your arms are perpindicular to the floor
your shoulders are in front of the bar- this puts too much stress on the shoulder joint, and not on the hips, where it belongs
C) at the top of the lift, your upper body seems to be leaning forward (although this is cut off on the video)- make sure you're standing fully upright at the top of the lift
Here's a great video on the proper form for deadlifing:
http://youtu.be/1nRRlk6264I

All in all, though, it seems like you've got a great foundation. Best of luck!

MW

ZoeLifts

I'm not very familiar with Stronglifts, but here's my $.02.

Squats: Try taking fewer steps after unracking the bar. I try to take one big step backward to put enough distance between myself and the hooks. Remember- the farther away from the hooks you step, the farther you have to walk to re-rack the bar, which is not easy after working to failure. Also, it looks like in the lower vid, you're squatting to the box, but not in the traditional powerlifting style I'm familiar with. Instead of actually sitting on the box, resting for a second and then standing up, it looks like you're doing a touch-and-go type of squat. Is the box there to just make sure you get the proper depth? Or is there another purpose? Finally, try setting your feet a little bit wider apart in your stance. It looks like your knees are very close to tracking past your toes, which can be cause for injury. A wider stance will enable you you to keep your knees back, as well as prevent them from bucking inside.

Overhead press: As with the squat. don't take too many steps back from the hooks. Also, try setting the safety pins a little higher as well.

Deadlift: The first thing I noticed is that you're pulling the weight off of the safety pins. This cuts down on the range of motion and also allows the bar to roll around, making it more difficult to control. I'd highly recommend pulling directly off the floor- if the bar is too low, then lay down some 2.5- or 5-lb plates on the floor and have the plates on the bar rest on those. As for your form, I noticed:
A) your back is too flat- lower your hips until your arms are perpindicular to the floor
your shoulders are in front of the bar- this puts too much stress on the shoulder joint, and not on the hips, where it belongs
C) at the top of the lift, your upper body seems to be leaning forward (although this is cut off on the video)- make sure you're standing fully upright at the top of the lift
Here's a great video on the proper form for deadlifing:
http://youtu.be/1nRRlk6264I

All in all, though, it seems like you've got a great foundation. Best of luck!

MW

Thank you! 2 things: I was trying to get back to the box and yes, I am just tapping, though I could spend more time down there. The other thing is on the deadlift, I have it coming off the pins right now because that is the height it would be at if I had 45 lbs plates on instead of my measly ones I have, so that is my goal height I am trying to pull from since I will eventually build up to 45s.

Thank you for the suggestions, all wonderful! Especially needed to hear about a wider stance on the squat, I've been unsure on that.

ZoeLifts

Nice video btw!! Very well explained. I had never heard the idea of the feel of the RDL at the top returning to the knees. Interesting!

DopeItUp

Overhead press looks pretty good.

Squats, kinda hard to tell from the angles. How tall is that box you're using? It seems a little too tall, I'm assuming you're using the box just to make sure you get to the proper depth, but it doesn't seem like you're breaking parallel. You probably want to go a little deeper so that your femurs are below parallel with the ground.

Deadlift, first off I would lift the bar off the ground, that is the proper way to do the exercise. What you are doing is basically a rack pull. If you can't do 45lb plates yet, lay some plates or pads or whatever on the ground to give you the right height. Or get some training plates (5-10lb plates that are the same height as 45lb plates, usually made of plastic or something. Hell you can make them out of scrap wood if you want).

Secondly, your upper body is basically parallel with the floor. You want it to be more like a 45 degree angle pointing up. Try grabbing the bar and bringing your hips down to stick out your butt. Bring your chest up and stick it out like you're showing it off. Finally, bring your shoulders back at the same time so you're squeezing them together (pretend there is a tennis ball between your shoulder blades that you're trying to hold in place). This should take the slack out of your arms and now you're ready to pull. As a reference point, your shoulders should be directly over the bar, and your arms should be completely vertical to the ground. Upper body angled upwards roughly 45 degrees to the ground.

This is one of the best guides I've found: http://www.tonygentilcore.com/blog/5-coaching-cues-deadlift/ There is a video at the end too.

Mark Rippetoe has some excellent (albeit long-winded) explanations in his book Starting Strength as well.

DopeItUp

Thank you! 2 things: I was trying to get back to the box and yes, I am just tapping, though I could spend more time down there. The other thing is on the deadlift, I have it coming off the pins right now because that is the height it would be at if I had 45 lbs plates on instead of my measly ones I have, so that is my goal height I am trying to pull from since I will eventually build up to 45s.

Thank you for the suggestions, all wonderful! Especially needed to hear about a wider stance on the squat, I've been unsure on that.

Didn't see this before I posted, sorry about correcting the deadlift off of the rack. I couldn't tell what size plates those were.

One handy little tip for correct leg positioning on squats. Turn your toes out pretty far, like 30 degrees. Now squat down (just bodyweight) so that your knees follow the direction that your toes are pointing. To check to make sure your knees are far enough out, do the following while you're squatted down:

Put your palms together, and then stick your elbows straight out so that they are pushing your knees apart. THAT's how far apart you want your knees to be. Some pics to demonstrate (this isn't me):

and

Notice how low to the ground he is here too. Thighs are below parallel with the ground. Depending on how flexible you are you might not be able to get THIS low but you definitely want to be lower than you're going in the video.

ZoeLifts

Thank you! 2 things: I was trying to get back to the box and yes, I am just tapping, though I could spend more time down there. The other thing is on the deadlift, I have it coming off the pins right now because that is the height it would be at if I had 45 lbs plates on instead of my measly ones I have, so that is my goal height I am trying to pull from since I will eventually build up to 45s.

Thank you for the suggestions, all wonderful! Especially needed to hear about a wider stance on the squat, I've been unsure on that.

Didn't see this before I posted, sorry about correcting the deadlift off of the rack. I couldn't tell what size plates those were.

One handy little tip for correct leg positioning on squats. Turn your toes out pretty far, like 30 degrees. Now squat down (just bodyweight) so that your knees follow the direction that your toes are pointing. To check to make sure your knees are far enough out, do the following while you're squatted down:

Put your palms together, and then stick your elbows straight out so that they are pushing your knees apart. THAT's how far apart you want your knees to be. Some pics to demonstrate (this isn't me):

and

Notice how low to the ground he is here too. Thighs are below parallel with the ground. Depending on how flexible you are you might not be able to get THIS low but you definitely want to be lower than you're going in the video.

Excellent pics, very helpful! I do this to stretch but was never sure if that is how wide out my feet should be! Thank you!

MinimalistShoeAddict

How is this Deadlift Form?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh-LFQRICR4&list=FLorllpzCethyyiv8bmRaVpw

Siekobilly

Hey all! It really helped to get some input last time, so here I am to bug you again. I put all of my videos here in one message. If you have the time, please take a look and drop a few lines of advice for me. This is the B day of Stronglifts, btw, recorded last Friday:

Squat: Still working on my form a lot here. I have de-loaded and you will see am working with the box. Sorry about posting two of this, but I recorded several of my sets and got an upper body one and a lower body one:

Upper: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tdgnltq4kqepqz5/Squat - Upper 06.01.12.wmv
Lower: https://www.dropbox.com/s/x2qe4vo46ba4xu9/DSCN3489.AVI

Overhead Press: I may have to stay at this weight (60 lbs) for a while because it is a struggle for me, but here goes anyway!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2vhv18m2v67rnmt/OH Press 06.01.12.wmv

Deadlifts: Yeah, I did more than 5, I know. I felt like I kept trying to use my shoulders to pull the weight over my knees, so I was trying to focus on my hips hinging: https://www.dropbox.com/s/exa285jmmejii08/DSCN3495.AVI

Thank you for your input!!

I can't access dropbox at work so I can't see the videos, but here's a 100# form check video I did about a month ago for OHP if it helps any; http://youtu.be/r0suQUEslmw