Hi All,

I'm another lurker, but I did some squat form check videos last night that I was hoping to get opinions on.

1 set of 6 reps @ 135 pounds. This is a challenging weight for me, but not close to my 5 RM.

http://youtu.be/ZgkbaT7mnSY

1 set of 5 reps @ 170 pounds. This is my 5 RM, and there are definitely some form issues here.

http://youtu.be/6dhU117ZwZM

For those of you in both groups, I'm also posting this in the Eat, Train, Progress form check videos section as well. I'm trying to take advantage of all my resources to get the most feedback.

Thanks in advance!

The first set looked pretty good to me--your stance is a touch wider than shoulder width, but if nothing hurts and it feels comfortable, don't mess with it. You are a bit shy of depth in most of your reps in the 5RM video--something to keep an eye on.

Thanks to both of you for the help!

That's a good point about me looking up, I started doing that because I noticed I was looking at the ground when I placed my feet, and I would keep looking at the ground, which rounded my back. Now I'm doing the opposite, so I need to find some middle ground there.

I thought I wasn't going low enough on the 5 RM, and I'm going to scale back the weight a a bit. I think 170 is just out of my reach for now, since I can do it at 165 (it's not easy, but I can hit depth there).

Thanks again!

I would try again next week with the same weight and pay more attention to depth. What sort of program are you following right now, still linear or something more complicated? You mentioned 5RM so I assume the latter?

My 40kg second set from yesterday.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpck...e_gdata_player
depth is better, chest is getting there!

You already know what I think But I'll say it again for the benefit of the others: this is a good squat, with just one thing that I would suggest working on (since it relates to your earlier knee slide issue): break at the knees and at the hips simultaneously rather than breaking at the hips first. This will help you get the knees in position early in the movement.

Thanks to both of you for the help!

That's a good point about me looking up, I started doing that because I noticed I was looking at the ground when I placed my feet, and I would keep looking at the ground, which rounded my back. Now I'm doing the opposite, so I need to find some middle ground there.

I thought I wasn't going low enough on the 5 RM, and I'm going to scale back the weight a a bit. I think 170 is just out of my reach for now, since I can do it at 165 (it's not easy, but I can hit depth there).

Thanks again!

I would try again next week with the same weight and pay more attention to depth. What sort of program are you following right now, still linear or something more complicated? You mentioned 5RM so I assume the latter?

Ok, I tried again, but my sets looked closer to 4, 3, 3, 4, 3 when I concentrated more on my depth, and I definitely did the good mornings when I changed direction.

I'm following Stronglifts for my program, so I'm going to try that weight again once more, and then deload if need be. Thanks again!

Thanks to both of you for the help!

That's a good point about me looking up, I started doing that because I noticed I was looking at the ground when I placed my feet, and I would keep looking at the ground, which rounded my back. Now I'm doing the opposite, so I need to find some middle ground there.

I thought I wasn't going low enough on the 5 RM, and I'm going to scale back the weight a a bit. I think 170 is just out of my reach for now, since I can do it at 165 (it's not easy, but I can hit depth there).

Thanks again!

I would try again next week with the same weight and pay more attention to depth. What sort of program are you following right now, still linear or something more complicated? You mentioned 5RM so I assume the latter?

Ok, I tried again, but my sets looked closer to 4, 3, 3, 4, 3 when I concentrated more on my depth, and I definitely did the good mornings when I changed direction.

I'm following Stronglifts for my program, so I'm going to try that weight again once more, and then deload if need be. Thanks again!

I would die if I did those weights at that volume I worked with three sets of five for all of my lifts while I was on a linear program. I did five sets of five at the very beginning, but the gains petered out pretty fast and recovery became a major issue. But you're a lot younger than me, so you might be able to take it for longer.

Lol I'm running into a similar problem right now. I think I'm close to maxing out on all of my lifts except for my deadlifts, so I'm probably going to switch programs in a month or so. I'm thinking of trying the Wendlers one I keep reading about.

Hi Sara - overall I think your form looks pretty good. You have a very exaggerated foot angle - it looks from the camera angle that it's >45 degrees. It's not a crime but 30 degrees (our less) will be more optimal. I'd be curious to see how you'd do if you turn those feet in a little.

Thank you ladies for the feed back.

@leadfoot- I angle my feet out more than 30 because my knees seem to like this track better and don't slide in. I didn't think it was greater than 45 though. Thanks for pointing it out. Will try to bring them in a little tomorrow. I am an over-pronator so not sure if that causes some out-toeing for me. I haven't been told I walk like a duck for a long time: :-)

@lwoodroff- Yes,thumbless grip. Looking at the video now it does look really awkward. Maybe I'm not feeling it yet because I'm only at 95 lbs. . I'm a massage therapist so I always have trouble with everything elbow down. I will try to get my thumbs more on top of the bar tomorrow. As of tomorrow i will always un-rack in a squat position.

Thanks again ladies :flowerforyou: More lifts to come...

Watched it a couple times and here's my $.02 - What you're doing is a high bar squat but with a low bar squat back position. The barbell should be over the middle of your foot throughout the entire lift. Yours is almost towards the front of your foot because your back is bent too far over for a high bar squat. If you have the shoulder flexibility to do so, move that bar down just below the spine of your scapula (the shoulder blade bone) and see what happens. The weight of the barbell will then be more evenly distributed so that the barbell travels in the correct path (over the mid-foot). If you want to continue or due to shoulder flexibility have to continue to do high bar squats, your back needs to be a lot more vertical than it is.

Tried to post a couple of pictures but I couldn't figure it out so check out this site:

http://nicktumminello.com/2012/05/back-squats-whats-the-best-bar-placement-high-bar-vs-low-bar-position/

It gives you a visual for what I was trying to explain about high vs low squats and bar position on your back.