Squat form check 2.

IamOnMywayNow

Here is me with just the bar.
http://s644.photobucket.com/user/ameliasmommy26/media/20130403_193000.mp4.html

Here is me with 70lbs
http://s644.photobucket.com/user/ameliasmommy26/media/20130403_195915.mp4.html

I am starting to think maybe I wont try to go ATG because once I get down that low I feel myself using more of my quads than any other muscle. And I see my butt tilting under at the bottom and I dont know how to fix that. Do you ladies think box squats would be ok for me to do and if I only go a little below parallel will it still be a good squat? I watched So you think you can squat about 20 times yesterday before my workout and I tried to do what he said ......hopefully I will get it soon.

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

I think you look great

With the 70lbs you can tell you are pushing through a bit to come up to standing but honestly, you form isn't really breaking down so I don't think that is a huge problem. I would stay at 70lbs for a couple of workouts though to see if you can power through that and get the transition a bit smoother, but otherwise great job!

Your depth is awesome and I say keep going to parallel at least as it really does make the squat that much more effective. You actually activate your glutes and hams way more than you think by going low like that!

Good work!

lwoodroff

I love the whispered '5'. cute!

DaniH826

I don't know if it's the angle, but it looks to me like your bar travels in a curve or swoop.

Other than that I think your form is great. Maybe just visualize making the travel go straight up and down (your body will adjust), and you'll cut down on the horizontal movement.

Keep lifting! Looking good! :flowerforyou:

kirabob

You look pretty awesome. Just a thought - have you tried lifting in your socks, or in flat shoes like Chucks? I've been taking my shoes off to lift, and all of a sudden I felt the work balance out between my quads and my hammies and glutes. I've ordered some Chucks so that i can skip taking my shoes off - apparently they are so flat that they don't tilt your feet forward. . .

IamOnMywayNow

Thanks everyone! I will try to squat barefooted and see if that helps with the bar movement. I have to say that I appreciate you ladies so much! You all are so helpful and inspiring!

MonsterToBe

I see what you mean about your butt coming forward at the bottom. I've just recently managed to get myself to stop doing that most of the time, so I can share some of what helps for me.

One is getting your entire core tight before starting the descent. If you watch this girl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acqQ4opiJo8
you can see her hips come forward before she starts to squat. This is because of taking that deep breath and then tightening everything, squeezing the core, glutes, upper back, everything, before squatting. In your videos I see your hips going back instead. If you start your descent without tightening first, when you get to the bottom and need to have everything tight to stay balanced coming up, it's harder to get it tight -- which allows the bar to come forward and you get a squat morning effect -- this is when, in your 70 lb set, your hips start coming up first while your shoulders aren't moving much, and you have to fight to get the bar the rest of the way up and back into position. Try tightening everything before each rep and see how it feels.

For the part about your butt coming forward, think about what you're doing now as sitting down, and think about what you *want* to do as reaching back with your butt like you're trying to touch a wall that's right behind you. Or you can think about pushing back like for sex. (I can say that since we're all girls here, without any creeper responses, right? o.0) What helped for me the most, though, was thinking about my entire posterior chain -- back, glutes, hamstrings -- during the descent, as lengthening like a rubber band that I was going to snap at someone. And my butt was the part of the rubber band that I was pulling backwards. When your butt comes forward at the bottom like that, your hamstrings shorten instead of lengthen, and you have to work harder to get out of the hole. When your butt is moving backwards at the bottom, your hamstrings stretch and you get the stretch reflex to help you out of the hole. Combining getting that hamstring stretch and keeping your back as tight as possible on the way up takes some practice, but you'll be amazed at how easy your squats start feeling when you do!! It made such a difference for me that the guy filming my last PR at 220 lbs (not quite as impressive as it sounds since I weigh 203) thought it was another warmup rep. :oD

You're controlling your descent beautifully, btw. (I was dropping too fast, and that was part of why my butt was coming forward.)

MonsterToBe

Also, box squats are relevant for equipped lifters but don't have much benefit for raw. Going slightly below parallel is plenty deep for a good squat. And I think once you get your hip position at the bottom fixed to get rid of the butt wink (awful name for the butt-forward phenomenon, but short to type lol) you'll still be impressively deep! The people I train with are competitive powerlifters and are fond of saying that squatting is a skill -- more practice at the squat is how to get better at doing it, not practicing some variation of it. Keep going, you're doing great!!