Form Sucks

fakeplastictree

I have a really hard time with the whole toes not extending past the knee thing. Anyone else have a hard time with this one? It's frustrating because I always feel like I'm doing my exercises wrong. ::sigh:: guess I'll just keep trying. Hoping I'm not the only one with this issue.

theresmynapkin

I'm confused. What exercises are you doing where you're unsure about your form? Otherwise I don't think anyone can help unless we know what you're trying to do, because you don't say. I'm a runner so I immediately go to running, and not extending your toe past the knee while running creates some very amusing, strange images.

fakeplastictree

Whoops, sorry. I notice it with things such as Hack Squats and Bulgarian Split squats. It feels like I will fall if I push back more. I don't go way over or anything but it seems like I do a little. Just wondering if this is a common feeling or if it's just me. lol.

Captain_Tightpants

I have a hard time with my balls extending past my knees. Not sure about the toes thing though.

fakeplastictree

I have a hard time with my balls extending past my knees. Not sure about the toes thing though.

That could be a problem.

theresmynapkin

I am by no means a weight lifter (just ordered New Rules of Lifting for Women, so maybe soon!) but I'd think a little bit would be okay. Whenever I DO decide to do squats I always feel like I'm a centimeter away from falling over too. I've read that sometimes it's because your leg muscles are tight and need to be stretched a little better... The flexibility will help with balance.

jfan175

Usually it's a problem with a lack of flexibility in the achilles tendon, which pushes you onto the balls of your feet because you can't keep your heels on the ground. Practice the squats with no weight, and concentrate on pushing your butt backwards while keeping your heels down. It will start feeling more balanced and comfortable as your flexibility improves.

NeuroticVirgo

Try practicing with a chair under you. Sometimes it's peoples balance and fear of falling backwards. If you have a chair under your butt it won't be as scary (and if you can squat down till your hovering just over the chair and then back up again). After a while you'll realize whats comfortable without your knees going over your toes

sweetsarahj

I'm pretty sure you meant not pushing your knees beyond your toes and not hte other way...

Try making a concious effort to 'sit your bum down' when squatting. If you push your knees forward too much when going deep, then go less deep. Dial it back to the start and practice.

dlwyatt82

If you concentrate on keeping your balance directly over your mid-foot (which will mean that the bar is pretty much directly over mid-foot, once the weight is heavy enough that it becomes your center of balance), your legs should pretty much do the right thing. A few things that might be going wrong:

If you're trying to keep your toes pointed forward (or very close to it), it's very difficult to make it all the way down for most people. Try opening your stance a bit; when I squat, my toes are pointed out practically 45 degrees. It's different for each person; just make sure your knees are pushed out to be parallel with whatever direction your toes are pointing.

If you're trying to keep your back vertical all the way down, the weight will be behind your mid-foot. In order to keep from falling over, you'll have to shove your knees out too far forward, which is what you're trying to avoid. When you squat, allow your torso to lean forward (at the hips, not the waist; keep your lower back straight) so the bar stays directly over mid-foot.

You may have the bar too high on your shoulders. This means your torso doesn't have to lean as far forward to maintain balance over the mid-foot, and also means that your knees will be sticking out more. This blog post has a good visual representation of the relationship between bar position, back angle and knee position. (I think the image may have come from Starting Strength; it looks pretty familiar). http://kettlebellrob.blogspot.ca/2012/06/front-squat.html

fakeplastictree

Thanks Everyone!!

hesn92

have you tried putting a chair behind you and sitting down on that?

Hendrix7

Knees going slightly in front of the foot doesn't matter.

The important part is keeping the knee in line with the foot (not folding inwards), keeping the pressure through the heel of the foot and if you are talking about a barbell squat, making sure the bar does not travel forward past the toes.



As you can see for this person if would be physically impossible to get into a deep, upright torso squat position without the knee coming over the toe somewhat. Everyone is different (limb length, flexibility etc) so you have to find the style of squatting which suits you best.

As long as you don't have any pre-existing knee issues, not something you need to worry about.

Determinednoob

That girl is very slightly too upright. Bar should be directly over the mid foot which would put a bit more forward lean on it. The biggest cue for squats, over head presses, and pulls from the floor is keeping the bar in line with the mid foot.

If you can\want to, you can video yourself performing the lift, go to the Exercises subforum at forum.bodybuilding.com and post it there, and those dudes will help you out.

Behavior_Modification

I used to.

What got me over that was being told to stick my butt out --WAY far -- and you gotta look in the mirror. Like you're sitting down on a chair.

iWaffle

Knees going slightly in front of the foot doesn't matter.

Same for me. It's nearly impossible to keep my knees from going a bit past my toes. I try to keep the knees over my toes as much as possible but you can't eliminate that entirely. I just try to focus on driving up with the weight on my heels and mid foot and pulling your hips forward as you come up. I'd fall over backwards if my knee didn't go past the toe at all. The only way you can cheat this and stay 100% behind is to use a Smith machine or some other type of squat machine where you're not concerned with balance so much.

jenluvsushi

Bump! ...My squat drastically improved by lowering weight and working on form before power.

AABru

lower your weight and work on an easier squat or lunge than the bulgarian split squat. Try a reverse lunge with no weight and a forward lunge with no weight, and once you have the form down, add weight...then try the bulgarian with no weight....then add weight. Form always, always needs to come first so you don't injure yourself especially if you workout without a partner.

live2dream

You'd think it would depend on how big your feet are... my feet are like skis.