Form critique thread, post your videos here.

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1636466686973

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  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    Still trying to stop that intial arch. I can't seem to take a belly breath without tilting my pelvis.

    Try facing away from the mirror. Looking at the mirror for visual cues makes it harder to focus inwards and actually feel your positioning (= proprioception). :+1:
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    I'd agree about not facing the mirror but honestly your squat looks pretty damn solid to me.
  • StephieWillcox
    StephieWillcox Posts: 627 Member
    edited June 2016
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    Okie dokie, last time for me for a while I promise!

    Had a go at correcting the arch - means my set up is messy messy messy but I assume that will get better with practice.

    What do we think? Better?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6mSv-fuIO8
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    This looks solid, previous vid looks solid too. Would be curious to see knee tracking from a front view but you're not far off if anything is going on there.

  • StephieWillcox
    StephieWillcox Posts: 627 Member
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    Ok cool, this actually felt a lot worse in terms of being quite uncomfortable, and holding everything strong, but felt much more stable and like I could squat an awful lot more.

    I will keep an eye on the knee tracking - this has been a problem in the past - it may be a little off in these videos because I was so focused on bracing!
  • _benjammin
    _benjammin Posts: 1,224 Member
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    What do we think?
    I think a lot of people are jealous of your good Squat form.

  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    What do we think? Better?

    Much, much better! :+1:

    This may seem like nitpicking, but on the way up, you arch your back again, when you're about 1/3 the way up. That could potentially tweak your back, or make you fall forward if you get stuck. It's usually from the abs not staying tight enough to stabilize your pelvis. Do you do ab exercises before you squat? If so, don't!
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    Ok cool, this actually felt a lot worse in terms of being quite uncomfortable, and holding everything strong, but felt much more stable and like I could squat an awful lot more.

    I will keep an eye on the knee tracking - this has been a problem in the past - it may be a little off in these videos because I was so focused on bracing!

    Your squats are nice. Just be aware of your potential weaknesses and breakdowns and keep an eye on them. Eternal vigilance.

    That feeling of uncomfortableness is normal and expected. Total body tension in the big movements like squats, deadlifts, bench, OHP, etc is critical for power production and also for injury prevention. It's exhausting and unpleasant but necessary.
  • StephieWillcox
    StephieWillcox Posts: 627 Member
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    Cherimoose wrote: »
    What do we think? Better?

    Much, much better! :+1:

    This may seem like nitpicking, but on the way up, you arch your back again, when you're about 1/3 the way up. That could potentially tweak your back, or make you fall forward if you get stuck. It's usually from the abs not staying tight enough to stabilize your pelvis. Do you do ab exercises before you squat? If so, don't!

    Ha, I saw this too - and nitpicking is fine.

    Now I am over my weird fear of videoing myself in the gym I think I will do it more often, as obviously the arch was corrected very quickly.

    My core is not strong AT ALL. I don't do abs before squatting (stronglifts, so squats come first) but I think I probably should add some core work onto the end.
  • AigreDoux
    AigreDoux Posts: 594 Member
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    Hello,
    Can anyone help me with my deadlift form? I am wondering if I am rounding my back too much? Any other feedback would be appreciated!

    https://youtu.be/U1-E8-V-cLQ
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    I don't think you're rounding your back to any degree that I'd be concerned about but there's a couple of things I'd adjust slightly.

    1) I would try to get better upper back tightness and thoracic extension before you pull. Think about showing your shirt to the mirror before you pull. Or chest out.

    2) You have somewhat of a shoulder shrug at the top that's a bit pronounced/exaggerated. As long as your shoulders are not slumped forward you're fine and you don't need to try to shrug the weight at the top.

    Another cue that may help is to think of trying to put your shoulders in your back pockets before you pull (during the set up).
  • AigreDoux
    AigreDoux Posts: 594 Member
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    Thanks! That is very helpful!

    Glad to hear that back rounding is not an issue. I think I have been trying to get it more arched but seems impossible. Is it normal to have some soreness in the muscles of the lower back after deadlifts then? I can definitely feel those muscles working more than others (glutes, hamstrings, etc) during the lift and afterwards to so was concerned I was doing something wrong.

    I will work on the set up and the weird shoulder shrug (I think that's me trying to make sure I got it all the way up).
  • AigreDoux
    AigreDoux Posts: 594 Member
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    I tried again today. I don't really think I did any better, maybe a little worse. This was my third set of 6.

    https://youtu.be/Mgdu0B7hEeA
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    What kind of shoes are those, and do they have an elevated heel?
  • AigreDoux
    AigreDoux Posts: 594 Member
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    Adidas Sambas - they are pretty flat I think.
  • peppermintmama
    peppermintmama Posts: 30 Member
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    brand new, i was recommend ( by usmcmp) to come ask all of you awesome experienced lifters to help me with my squat form i'm not sure if i am not going deep enough or if i should trade out my dumbbells for barbells but i'm having some back pain and my toes tend to turn out when im going into my squats some have told me this is ok and some that it's not ok so here i am asking all of you.

    https://youtu.be/4wkxTJKodUI
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    edited June 2016
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    brand new, i was recommend ( by usmcmp) to come ask all of you awesome experienced lifters to help me with my squat form i'm not sure if i am not going deep enough or if i should trade out my dumbbells for barbells but i'm having some back pain and my toes tend to turn out when im going into my squats some have told me this is ok and some that it's not ok so here i am asking all of you.

    https://youtu.be/4wkxTJKodUI

    Depth is fine.
    Toes can point out and IMO in most people they should.

    I'd be curious what it looks like with only one dumbbell though, YouTube search for Bret Contreras goblet squat as a tutorial. I'd link but I'm typing from my phone and I'm also being lazy lol.

    The reason I'd suggest it is that it's easier to get the DB closer to your body.

    In this video the load is pretty far out in front of you which is causing you to have to push your hips quite a bit far back to balance the load.

    This isn't inherently problematic (yet) but it could be, and it may also (possibly) cause issues when you move to barbell squatting.

    Overall though this isn't bad, and you can absolutely make progress doing it this way.

    Does your back hurt when you squat like this?
  • peppermintmama
    peppermintmama Posts: 30 Member
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    SideSteel wrote: »
    brand new, i was recommend ( by usmcmp) to come ask all of you awesome experienced lifters to help me with my squat form i'm not sure if i am not going deep enough or if i should trade out my dumbbells for barbells but i'm having some back pain and my toes tend to turn out when im going into my squats some have told me this is ok and some that it's not ok so here i am asking all of you.

    https://youtu.be/4wkxTJKodUI

    Depth is fine.
    Toes can point out and IMO in most people they should.

    I'd be curious what it looks like with only one dumbbell though, YouTube search for Bret Contreras goblet squat as a tutorial. I'd link but I'm typing from my phone and I'm also being lazy lol.

    The reason I'd suggest it is that it's easier to get the DB closer to your body.

    In this video the load is pretty far out in front of you which is causing you to have to push your hips quite a bit far back to balance the load.

    This isn't inherently problematic (yet) but it could be, and it may also (possibly) cause issues when you move to barbell squatting.

    Overall though this isn't bad, and you can absolutely make progress doing it this way.

    Does your back hurt when you squat like this?


    I will definitely search for him and get the goblet squatting started, My back does not hurt when I am just performing the squat, it hurts when I go from a dead lift into a squat which is a huge part of the program I'm doing ( T25 Beta). I've included a video,
    https://youtu.be/I0dsMBHg-SE

    Thank you so much for the advice! Aftwr I've looked at the goblet squatting and learned to do it I'll post a video of it for your curiousity and critic :D
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    Possible that the back pain is caused from you going into lumbar flexion at the bottom of that deadlift. I wouldn't go down nearly as far as you are. Watch the video and you'll see that near the bottom of the deadlift your lower back is rounding.

    I would do two things on that deadlift: Keep the DB's much closer to your shins, and stop at about mid-shin rather than going all the way to the floor.
  • peppermintmama
    peppermintmama Posts: 30 Member
    edited June 2016
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    SideSteel wrote: »
    Possible that the back pain is caused from you going into lumbar flexion at the bottom of that deadlift. I wouldn't go down nearly as far as you are. Watch the video and you'll see that near the bottom of the deadlift your lower back is rounding.

    I would do two things on that deadlift: Keep the DB's much closer to your shins, and stop at about mid-shin rather than going all the way to the floor.

    Is there anyway to fix that Other then stopping at my shins? Do I need more flexibility? Does my core need to be tighter? Am I just at the end of my spinal flexibility at that angle? I want to make sure I'm getting every benefit I possibly can from every workout I do.