Form critique thread, post your videos here.
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Hmm. Not sure how I feel about being barefoot.
No, my knees feel fine on my squats.
Ahh, I knew I was doing something wrong on my deads. I will pull my legs closer together and narrow my grip.
You're pulling 405 bro, and you're worried about getting your footsies a little dirty? =P
The problem with normal shoes for lifting is cushioning, it can cause stability issues which can impact form. Additionally on deadlift it makes you a little bit taller, which makes the technique harder since you have to pull the bar a greater distance.
Hahaha!!! Touche!!
I would actually love to hear recommendations for a good pair of gym shoes.
Converse All Stars.
Yeppers
Although I have been known to pull barefoot - do you want me showing you up?
:laugh:
Actually, I have used you as motivation during a lift more than once.
"Sara could lift this. Stop being a ***** Tim!"
:blushing: :flowerforyou:0 -
For deadlift they should NOT be at shoulderwidth. Your arms should be at shoulder width and if your legs are there your arms will be angled out some and you'll have to lift the bar higher. For conventional pulls my legs are pretty darn close together.
This is all good in theory, but for guys like me and whierd, sometimes a wider stance is necessary to accommodate the, ahem, 'power belly' getting in the way during setup.
You can learn to get around it though, also be careful of lower back rounding at the start, be extra aware of it until you're used to the new technique.
Please DON'T get vibrams for lifting. They are no different from other minimal shoes like canvas plimsoles, chucks etc, except they cost a ****ton more. I REALLY regret spending the money there instead of on some squat shoes. If you're going to get them for barefoot running, then by all means go for it, but for lifting they are a very expensive option for what they are.0 -
For deadlift they should NOT be at shoulderwidth. Your arms should be at shoulder width and if your legs are there your arms will be angled out some and you'll have to lift the bar higher. For conventional pulls my legs are pretty darn close together.
This is all good in theory, but for guys like me and whierd, sometimes a wider stance is necessary to accommodate the, ahem, 'power belly' getting in the way during setup.
You can learn to get around it though, also be careful of lower back rounding at the start, be extra aware of it until you're used to the new technique.
Please DON'T get vibrams for lifting. They are no different from other minimal shoes like canvas plimsoles, chucks etc, except they cost a ****ton more. I REALLY regret spending the money there instead of on some squat shoes. If you're going to get them for barefoot running, then by all means go for it, but for lifting they are a very expensive option for what they are.
I was able to deadlift with proper form at 350, and I'm not that flexible. Power belly or no, proper grip and stance width should be doable.
Definitely agree with the low back rounding.
I like my vibrams for lifting, but chucks and such are cheaper as you say. Budget and goals are definitely factors.0 -
I feel like my lower back was rounding more than it should have been, but I can't seem to comfortably correct the issue at the start. :ohwell:0
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I feel like my lower back was rounding more than it should have been, but I can't seem to comfortably correct the issue at the start. :ohwell:
It's loud, but this video gave me a lot of the cues I use for my deadlift:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNvONtw-94g
He sets up stiff legged, pulls the slack out of the bar a couple times, then goes for it. I find that helps me a lot getting into position, and pulling myself down to the bar on setup A) takes the slack out and
means I have to hold the position for less time. 0 -
It's also worth pointing out, that while pulling with a rounded back isn't good, it isn't an immediate trip to snap city like a lot of people make out. So long as you are lifting from a braced position, and maintain the braced position until you complete the lift, you'll be safe. A rounded back does represent a point where power is being lost in the lift, and it is a compromised position. So if you fail, you're far more likely to injure yourself *if something goes wrong*. But assuming you don't fail, it's more mechanically disadvantageous than unsafe.
To me, it's not worth the risk except for when form breakdown is acceptable, which is mainly when you're pulling a 1RM for a good reason. Just don't let it cause undue worry.0 -
tagging0
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tagging (AND working up the guts to post my vids ) 0
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I feel like my lower back was rounding more than it should have been, but I can't seem to comfortably correct the issue at the start. :ohwell:
I'm jumping in late but will add one thing I see you doing that I was doing. You are getting way too low at the start. Your butt should be at about the 3/4ths position in a squat movement. Raising your butt will help you keep your chest upright and your shoulders locked out, which at the end will make that final hip-thrust to lock out that you were missing much easier.
You handled that weight easily, very impressive. The tips above are what I read in Rippletoe's Starting Strength and the next time out after my normal work out (5x5 at 245) I decided to try 285. Did it with ease. Could have done 315 but my grip failed me.
Good luck!0 -
I feel like my lower back was rounding more than it should have been, but I can't seem to comfortably correct the issue at the start. :ohwell:
I'm jumping in late but will add one thing I see you doing that I was doing. You are getting way too low at the start. Your butt should be at about the 3/4ths position in a squat movement. Raising your butt will help you keep your chest upright and your shoulders locked out, which at the end will make that final hip-thrust to lock out that you were missing much easier.
You handled that weight easily, very impressive. The tips above are what I read in Rippletoe's Starting Strength and the next time out after my normal work out (5x5 at 245) I decided to try 285. Did it with ease. Could have done 315 but my grip failed me.
Good luck!
This is definitely right, but it depends somewhat on musculature balances. If you're very quad dominant, starting lower will let you move more weight. Otherwise, definitely good advice.0 -
Ok - FINALLY gathered the courage... so here goes
Put up today's 100 kg (220.5 lbs) DL for critique. It's my fifth set, so be gentle lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMymfFCcqsM 0 -
Ok - FINALLY gathered the courage... so here goes
Put up today's 100 kg (220.5 lbs) DL for critique. It's my fifth set, so be gentle lolhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMymfFCcqsM
There's a few issues going on here that I can see.
1) It looks like the barbell is a bit too far away from midfoot when you start the pull. The result is that you're having to bend quite far at the knees which shoots the knees quite a bit past the barbell, which then forces you to straighten out before the barbell leaves the floor (knees are having to get out of the way of the bar). I'd solve this by just moving a couple inches closer in the setup and I would also first bend at the waist to grab the barbell, then bend at the knees until the shins touch the bar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syt7A23YnpA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX8jgCFXYTU
2) Your stance looks a bit wide. This isn't a huge issue and it's something pretty minor, but when you consider that a traditional deadlift puts your grip outside your stance (you have to grip the bar far enough outside your stance to clear your legs), this wider stance forces your arms to go beyond vertical in the setup. This increases ROM of the pull with slightly worse leverages. You might be better off narrowing the stance a bit more which allows your arms to move a bit closer on the bar so that they're closer to being straight up and down in the start.
3) Your descent goes around the knees and this is partially caused by the setup issue in 1, IMO. Fixing the setup may help to correct this, but you may also need to think about breaking at the hips first on the descent (*kitten* goes back rather than bending the knees first to lower the bar). If you watch your descent, your knees go forward immediately and now the barbell has to move around your knees to avoid injury.
There are a few other things with the pull like dragging the bar up your legs and pulling back more (both good things that you should incorporate), but I think resolving #1 above is the first step, at which point the pull will probably look quite a bit different, and some of the secondary issues may resolve on their own.
That's all I got for now., in for other critiques as there's a few other people here who will probably have things I may have missed.
In closing, I do think you should pick 1 thing first to work on, and start position will be the big one, IMO.0 -
Ok - FINALLY gathered the courage... so here goes
Put up today's 100 kg (220.5 lbs) DL for critique. It's my fifth set, so be gentle lolhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMymfFCcqsM
There's a few issues going on here that I can see.
1) It looks like the barbell is a bit too far away from midfoot when you start the pull. The result is that you're having to bend quite far at the knees which shoots the knees quite a bit past the barbell, which then forces you to straighten out before the barbell leaves the floor (knees are having to get out of the way of the bar). I'd solve this by just moving a couple inches closer in the setup and I would also first bend at the waist to grab the barbell, then bend at the knees until the shins touch the bar.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syt7A23YnpAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX8jgCFXYTU
2) Your stance looks a bit wide. This isn't a huge issue and it's something pretty minor, but when you consider that a traditional deadlift puts your grip outside your stance (you have to grip the bar far enough outside your stance to clear your legs), this wider stance forces your arms to go beyond vertical in the setup. This increases ROM of the pull with slightly worse leverages. You might be better off narrowing the stance a bit more which allows your arms to move a bit closer on the bar so that they're closer to being straight up and down in the start.
3) Your descent goes around the knees and this is partially caused by the setup issue in 1, IMO. Fixing the setup may help to correct this, but you may also need to think about breaking at the hips first on the descent (*kitten* goes back rather than bending the knees first to lower the bar). If you watch your descent, your knees go forward immediately and now the barbell has to move around your knees to avoid injury.
There are a few other things with the pull like dragging the bar up your legs and pulling back more (both good things that you should incorporate), but I think resolving #1 above is the first step, at which point the pull will probably look quite a bit different, and some of the secondary issues may resolve on their own.
That's all I got for now., in for other critiques as there's a few other people here who will probably have things I may have missed.
In closing, I do think you should pick 1 thing first to work on, and start position will be the big one, IMO.
AWESOME response with great details that make sense!
And the vids you posted are something that I wish I had found at the beginning - the guys do a great job of explaining and demonstrating, and I think I've finally understood it - can't wait to try
I'll start working on the setup then we'll see what happens with the rest - wil post a new vid when I correct the setup and the stance width (which I was unsure about as well)0 -
Ok - FINALLY gathered the courage... so here goes
Put up today's 100 kg (220.5 lbs) DL for critique. It's my fifth set, so be gentle lolhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMymfFCcqsM
There's a few issues going on here that I can see.
1) It looks like the barbell is a bit too far away from midfoot when you start the pull. The result is that you're having to bend quite far at the knees which shoots the knees quite a bit past the barbell, which then forces you to straighten out before the barbell leaves the floor (knees are having to get out of the way of the bar). I'd solve this by just moving a couple inches closer in the setup and I would also first bend at the waist to grab the barbell, then bend at the knees until the shins touch the bar.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syt7A23YnpAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX8jgCFXYTU
2) Your stance looks a bit wide. This isn't a huge issue and it's something pretty minor, but when you consider that a traditional deadlift puts your grip outside your stance (you have to grip the bar far enough outside your stance to clear your legs), this wider stance forces your arms to go beyond vertical in the setup. This increases ROM of the pull with slightly worse leverages. You might be better off narrowing the stance a bit more which allows your arms to move a bit closer on the bar so that they're closer to being straight up and down in the start.
3) Your descent goes around the knees and this is partially caused by the setup issue in 1, IMO. Fixing the setup may help to correct this, but you may also need to think about breaking at the hips first on the descent (*kitten* goes back rather than bending the knees first to lower the bar). If you watch your descent, your knees go forward immediately and now the barbell has to move around your knees to avoid injury.
There are a few other things with the pull like dragging the bar up your legs and pulling back more (both good things that you should incorporate), but I think resolving #1 above is the first step, at which point the pull will probably look quite a bit different, and some of the secondary issues may resolve on their own.
That's all I got for now., in for other critiques as there's a few other people here who will probably have things I may have missed.
In closing, I do think you should pick 1 thing first to work on, and start position will be the big one, IMO.
AWESOME response with great details that make sense!
And the vids you posted are something that I wish I had found at the beginning - the guys do a great job of explaining and demonstrating, and I think I've finally understood it - can't wait to try
I'll start working on the setup then we'll see what happens with the rest - wil post a new vid when I correct the setup and the stance width (which I was unsure about as well)
Watch those videos a few times and let it sink in. When you try to put the barbell over the midfoot, it will look like you're almost 2/3rds or 3/4ths under the bar with your feet when you're actually correctly over midfoot, due to perspective (when you think it's over midfoot, it's probably still 1-2" short of midfoot). A good check for this that sounds silly but works, is to take your shoe off and look at it from a side view. Barbell should roughly evenly bisect the shoe when looking at it from the side.
EDIT: I'm not sure if I explained that very well. Due to perspective you will probably need to be closer to the bar then you think you do in order to properly position the bar over the mid-foot.
Regarding stance width, I don't think you need to change this a great amount, but try a few inches narrower with stance and grip.0 -
Ok - FINALLY gathered the courage... so here goes
Put up today's 100 kg (220.5 lbs) DL for critique. It's my fifth set, so be gentle lolhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMymfFCcqsM
There's a few issues going on here that I can see.
1) It looks like the barbell is a bit too far away from midfoot when you start the pull. The result is that you're having to bend quite far at the knees which shoots the knees quite a bit past the barbell, which then forces you to straighten out before the barbell leaves the floor (knees are having to get out of the way of the bar). I'd solve this by just moving a couple inches closer in the setup and I would also first bend at the waist to grab the barbell, then bend at the knees until the shins touch the bar.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syt7A23YnpAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX8jgCFXYTU
2) Your stance looks a bit wide. This isn't a huge issue and it's something pretty minor, but when you consider that a traditional deadlift puts your grip outside your stance (you have to grip the bar far enough outside your stance to clear your legs), this wider stance forces your arms to go beyond vertical in the setup. This increases ROM of the pull with slightly worse leverages. You might be better off narrowing the stance a bit more which allows your arms to move a bit closer on the bar so that they're closer to being straight up and down in the start.
3) Your descent goes around the knees and this is partially caused by the setup issue in 1, IMO. Fixing the setup may help to correct this, but you may also need to think about breaking at the hips first on the descent (*kitten* goes back rather than bending the knees first to lower the bar). If you watch your descent, your knees go forward immediately and now the barbell has to move around your knees to avoid injury.
There are a few other things with the pull like dragging the bar up your legs and pulling back more (both good things that you should incorporate), but I think resolving #1 above is the first step, at which point the pull will probably look quite a bit different, and some of the secondary issues may resolve on their own.
That's all I got for now., in for other critiques as there's a few other people here who will probably have things I may have missed.
In closing, I do think you should pick 1 thing first to work on, and start position will be the big one, IMO.
AWESOME response with great details that make sense!
And the vids you posted are something that I wish I had found at the beginning - the guys do a great job of explaining and demonstrating, and I think I've finally understood it - can't wait to try
I'll start working on the setup then we'll see what happens with the rest - wil post a new vid when I correct the setup and the stance width (which I was unsure about as well)
Watch those videos a few times and let it sink in. When you try to put the barbell over the midfoot, it will look like you're almost 2/3rds or 3/4ths under the bar with your feet when you're actually correctly over midfoot, due to perspective (when you think it's over midfoot, it's probably still 1-2" short of midfoot). A good check for this that sounds silly but works, is to take your shoe off and look at it from a side view. Barbell should roughly evenly bisect the shoe when looking at it from the side.
EDIT: I'm not sure if I explained that very well. Due to perspective you will probably need to be closer to the bar then you think you do in order to properly position the bar over the mid-foot.
Regarding stance width, I don't think you need to change this a great amount, but try a few inches narrower with stance and grip.
Agree with the above. The other thing I would 'fix' first also is that you are not properly grounding the bar. You can tap and go, but some of the reps it did not look like you actually touched the ground at the bottom.
As SideSteel noted, there are some other things that should be fixed, but fixing the starting point of the bar will change some of them so it is best to fix a few things at a time. In addition, it is hard to remember everything so getting into the habit of doing things is important so you no longer have to think about them as they are automatic. It then frees up the brain to focus on other things that need to be tweaked. Deadlifts are a deceiving lift. They seem really simple, but there are a lot of things to make sure you get right.0 -
Ok - FINALLY gathered the courage... so here goes
Put up today's 100 kg (220.5 lbs) DL for critique. It's my fifth set, so be gentle lolhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMymfFCcqsM
There's a few issues going on here that I can see.
1) It looks like the barbell is a bit too far away from midfoot when you start the pull. The result is that you're having to bend quite far at the knees which shoots the knees quite a bit past the barbell, which then forces you to straighten out before the barbell leaves the floor (knees are having to get out of the way of the bar). I'd solve this by just moving a couple inches closer in the setup and I would also first bend at the waist to grab the barbell, then bend at the knees until the shins touch the bar.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syt7A23YnpAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX8jgCFXYTU
2) Your stance looks a bit wide. This isn't a huge issue and it's something pretty minor, but when you consider that a traditional deadlift puts your grip outside your stance (you have to grip the bar far enough outside your stance to clear your legs), this wider stance forces your arms to go beyond vertical in the setup. This increases ROM of the pull with slightly worse leverages. You might be better off narrowing the stance a bit more which allows your arms to move a bit closer on the bar so that they're closer to being straight up and down in the start.
3) Your descent goes around the knees and this is partially caused by the setup issue in 1, IMO. Fixing the setup may help to correct this, but you may also need to think about breaking at the hips first on the descent (*kitten* goes back rather than bending the knees first to lower the bar). If you watch your descent, your knees go forward immediately and now the barbell has to move around your knees to avoid injury.
There are a few other things with the pull like dragging the bar up your legs and pulling back more (both good things that you should incorporate), but I think resolving #1 above is the first step, at which point the pull will probably look quite a bit different, and some of the secondary issues may resolve on their own.
That's all I got for now., in for other critiques as there's a few other people here who will probably have things I may have missed.
In closing, I do think you should pick 1 thing first to work on, and start position will be the big one, IMO.
AWESOME response with great details that make sense!
And the vids you posted are something that I wish I had found at the beginning - the guys do a great job of explaining and demonstrating, and I think I've finally understood it - can't wait to try
I'll start working on the setup then we'll see what happens with the rest - wil post a new vid when I correct the setup and the stance width (which I was unsure about as well)
Watch those videos a few times and let it sink in. When you try to put the barbell over the midfoot, it will look like you're almost 2/3rds or 3/4ths under the bar with your feet when you're actually correctly over midfoot, due to perspective (when you think it's over midfoot, it's probably still 1-2" short of midfoot). A good check for this that sounds silly but works, is to take your shoe off and look at it from a side view. Barbell should roughly evenly bisect the shoe when looking at it from the side.
EDIT: I'm not sure if I explained that very well. Due to perspective you will probably need to be closer to the bar then you think you do in order to properly position the bar over the mid-foot.
Regarding stance width, I don't think you need to change this a great amount, but try a few inches narrower with stance and grip.
Will check the video later when I'm not at work, but what sidesteel says is legit.
A couple things to add to that that I use as cues for what needs improvement:
1) Bar path. In basically every lift you do, the bar (or dumbbell or kettlebell or whatever) should be straight along whatever axis its traveling. Side note: this is why shake weights are f*cking stupid. I don't personally think about proximity to shins much because if the bar is too far out, pulling it straight up is freaking impossible.
2) Leg/body wobble is lost force. If you're legs aren't firmly planted and you see movement, that's putting you at a leverage disadvantage, and is basically always a bad thing. It's unavoidable sometimes in max intensity lifts (I do it myself), but if you could do that max lift with no wobble, you'd be able to lift more.
That's without looking at the vids mind you, once again will check later.0 -
Ok I've been sucking at benches and I'm pretty sure my form could use all kinds of help. (I'm not going super wide on my grip, about 2-3 inches wider on each side than when I deadlift.) This is fairly heavy for me as 6 reps was all I could do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac2Gfo_OUJM 0 -
Will check the video later when I'm not at work, but what sidesteel says is legit.
A couple things to add to that that I use as cues for what needs improvement:
1) Bar path. In basically every lift you do, the bar (or dumbbell or kettlebell or whatever) should be straight along whatever axis its traveling. Side note: this is why shake weights are f*cking stupid. I don't personally think about proximity to shins much because if the bar is too far out, pulling it straight up is freaking impossible.
2) Leg/body wobble is lost force. If you're legs aren't firmly planted and you see movement, that's putting you at a leverage disadvantage, and is basically always a bad thing. It's unavoidable sometimes in max intensity lifts (I do it myself), but if you could do that max lift with no wobble, you'd be able to lift more.
That's without looking at the vids mind you, once again will check later.
Watched. Only thing I have to add is that I promise you the weight won't break. You don't need to be so gentle putting the weight down on your descent.0 -
Ok I've been sucking at benches and I'm pretty sure my form could use all kinds of help. (I'm not going super wide on my grip, about 2-3 inches wider on each side than when I deadlift.) This is fairly heavy for me as 6 reps was all I could do.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac2Gfo_OUJM
Your bar path isn't straight, you round out. Try to keep the bar lower on your body at the top. Last rep your left side dips, which is an injury risk.
Your base collapses on the way down, you need to stay tight, which will help with bar path on the bottom too. Draw your shoulder blades back and together to make a base, and keep them tight like that on the descent.
Also look up arch and leg drive.0 -
Ok thanks!Ok I've been sucking at benches and I'm pretty sure my form could use all kinds of help. (I'm not going super wide on my grip, about 2-3 inches wider on each side than when I deadlift.) This is fairly heavy for me as 6 reps was all I could do.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac2Gfo_OUJM
Your bar path isn't straight, you round out. Try to keep the bar lower on your body at the top. Last rep your left side dips, which is an injury risk.
Your base collapses on the way down, you need to stay tight, which will help with bar path on the bottom too. Draw your shoulder blades back and together to make a base, and keep them tight like that on the descent.
Also look up arch and leg drive.0
