Form check videos

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Replies

  • krokador
    krokador Posts: 1,794 Member
    Squats @ 90 lbs:
    http://youtu.be/0kHiiEdafa8

    Overhead Press @ 65 lbs:
    http://youtu.be/nb_IFyYHDU8

    That last rep was hard, lol.

    Dead lift @ 135:
    http://youtu.be/NTU8HR1CXw4


    I know the views may not be optimal for all the videos, but was my first time recording today! On my DL, I noticed that my hips are coming up before my torso, so glad I took the video. :)

    Squats look good, although you do get your knees forward quite a bit, so do make sure your heels do not pop up when you get to the bottom of the rep (it's tough to see since the rack is hiding most of your feet). ATG don't mean a thing if you're on your tippy toes! BTW, you're doing pause squats. Don't know if that's what you intended! ;)

    Your legs look wobbly on the OHP and you're pushing the bar away from your face while you should be leaning back just a bit to get a better straight line..Try keeping your butt engaged when you do it, it makes a world of difference!

    Similar problem with the deadlift: you're kinda pulling the bar away from your knees. If you focus more on pulling the bar back towards your shins your back should rise a bit more in time with the hips, giving you a more effective bar path and better leverage altogether. You're wearing pants so really you shouldn't be too afraid of actually hitting your shins (heck, you make it look all kinds of light and easy, so imagine what a correct bar path would do for you!)
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
    I did notice that on the squats too (about the knees), I'm trying to concentrate on keeping the bar over my feet, so is it a bar position problem or...like what kind of cue can I use to correct that? I don't feel that my heels are coming up at all, but I'll make sure next time.

    OHP as well, I'll stay at 65 and see if I can get that less wobbly, also the bar path. Do people just generally stay leaned back when doing these?

    The pants are specifically because it was DL day. Lol. However I didn't get any bruises that day so I'll work on it. ;) Thank you!
  • krokador
    krokador Posts: 1,794 Member
    I did notice that on the squats too (about the knees), I'm trying to concentrate on keeping the bar over my feet, so is it a bar position problem or...like what kind of cue can I use to correct that? I don't feel that my heels are coming up at all, but I'll make sure next time.

    OHP as well, I'll stay at 65 and see if I can get that less wobbly, also the bar path. Do people just generally stay leaned back when doing these?

    The pants are specifically because it was DL day. Lol. However I didn't get any bruises that day so I'll work on it. ;) Thank you!

    Bar path on your squats is actually pretty straight, but I think you might be tilting you pelvis forward a tad and/or shifting your weight a bit forward at the bottom. Try not stopping at the bottom and see how it feels. If you lose balance on the way up IMO you need to focus on keeping your weight back on your heels, even if it costs you a bit of depth.

    As for the OHP, you really only want to lean back until the bar gets past your head. After that it's easier to push the bar up if it's directly over your head. You just don't want to do that little curve around your head because that takes a lot of effort. And you also don't wanna lean too far back and turn it into an incline press. That's bad for the back, among other things. It looks easy on paper, but the OHP is just as technical as the rest of the lifts, haha
  • spirit095
    spirit095 Posts: 1,017 Member
    Hi, could you please critique my form? The picture is in my profile. I tried a gif, but that failed lol. I know my butt isn't touching my ankles, but it's the best I can do now.

    Thanks!
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
    I think your form looks pretty similar to mine. We both have our knees coming forward slightly, which I have been trying to correct. But the bar looks pretty well over mid foot. I went to look at your height, 5'0" and I'm 5'2" so I'm wondering if that is just a natural squat position for shorties. lol My trainer told me to concentrate on pushing my butt back a little more and bringing my torso down and forward a bit.

    Do you have a youtube account you can post the video on?
  • spirit095
    spirit095 Posts: 1,017 Member
    I think your form looks pretty similar to mine. We both have our knees coming forward slightly, which I have been trying to correct. But the bar looks pretty well over mid foot. I went to look at your height, 5'0" and I'm 5'2" so I'm wondering if that is just a natural squat position for shorties. lol My trainer told me to concentrate on pushing my butt back a little more and bringing my torso down and forward a bit.

    Do you have a youtube account you can post the video on?

    Thanks for your response! :bigsmile:

    I've read that knees going over toes in a high bar ATG squat is ok, and if you look at Olympic lifters, their knees also go over. I think it's just a part of that type of squat. It's so confusing sometimes :(

    I don't have a Youtube account, but I'm going to see what I can do about it.
  • ketoandbarbell
    ketoandbarbell Posts: 189 Member
    Could you check out my form please. Thanks!

    http://youtu.be/sJNH9bGRykw
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
    Your heels come up slightly and the weight comes to the balls of your feet, I was doing the same thing. Also, you're looking at the floor, which might actually be causing the weight to come forward. Look straight forward, or even just baaaarely up, and pick a spot on the wall to look at.

    Looking good though. :)
  • ketoandbarbell
    ketoandbarbell Posts: 189 Member
    Your heels come up slightly and the weight comes to the balls of your feet, I was doing the same thing. Also, you're looking at the floor, which might actually be causing the weight to come forward. Look straight forward, or even just baaaarely up, and pick a spot on the wall to look at.

    Looking good though. :)

    Thanks I will work more on that!
  • girlie100
    girlie100 Posts: 646 Member
    Hi, could you please critique my form? The picture is in my profile. I tried a gif, but that failed lol. I know my butt isn't touching my ankles, but it's the best I can do now.

    Thanks!

    Looks good to me, when squatting high bar the knees are going to be forward of the toes. Obviously the next form check would be how you look coming out of the bottom, are you able to keep you chest up?
  • girlie100
    girlie100 Posts: 646 Member
    Could you check out my form please. Thanks!

    http://youtu.be/sJNH9bGRykw

    You have a high bar so first of all you need to be more upright before you squat, and as the other poster said look forward or up slightly for high bar.

    When you descend don't let you bum go backwards, initiate the movement with your knees and allow your bum to drop between your legs.
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpOM3JP1yus&feature=youtu.be

    Latest squats at 135. It's so funny to watch myself setup, that left foot...lol. Anyway, kind of wiggly, and almost dump the bar right at the end while re-racking, but here it is!
  • hnsaunde
    hnsaunde Posts: 757 Member
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpOM3JP1yus&feature=youtu.be

    Latest squats at 135. It's so funny to watch myself setup, that left foot...lol. Anyway, kind of wiggly, and almost dump the bar right at the end while re-racking, but here it is!

    That squat looks really, really good to me!
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpOM3JP1yus&feature=youtu.be

    Latest squats at 135. It's so funny to watch myself setup, that left foot...lol. Anyway, kind of wiggly, and almost dump the bar right at the end while re-racking, but here it is!

    That squat looks really, really good to me!

    I agree...only thing I noticed on rep 4 was a bit of a lean...nothing serious tho.
  • girlie100
    girlie100 Posts: 646 Member
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpOM3JP1yus&feature=youtu.be

    Latest squats at 135. It's so funny to watch myself setup, that left foot...lol. Anyway, kind of wiggly, and almost dump the bar right at the end while re-racking, but here it is!

    That squat looks really, really good to me!

    I agree...only thing I noticed on rep 4 was a bit of a lean...nothing serious tho.

    Nice :bigsmile:
  • fruitloop2
    fruitloop2 Posts: 437 Member
    So I've been doing strong lifts on and off for about a year...more off than on the past little while unfortunately. I am getting back into it and thought I should get my form checked on my squats and dead lifts to make sure all is good and fix what I'm doing wrong before the weight gets to heavy. I am currently squating 80lbs and dead lifting 130lbs. I'm hoping I can link the videos properly :/ in the last dead lift I went off balance at the beginning because I wasn't paying attention and lost concentration. Thinking to much about the video I guess.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=em-upload_owner&v=v6nf8KcGzEY

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=em-upload_owner&v=0fgq6jgDJsQ /url]

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jqjNgnLi7g8&feature=em-upload_owner

    Thanks in advance and I look forward to hearing on how I can improve :)
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
    @fruitloop2 For the squats, it looks like you aren't breaking parallel so you are gonna want to drop your butt down a little more when you come down into your squat. For the dead lifts, bring the bar closer to your leg on the way up. My trainer told me to concentrate on dropping back before I start to lift almost to the point where I feel like I'm gonna fall down, then do the lift. It helps to concentrate on pushing up with your legs as opposed to pulling the bar with your arms. Get me?
  • fruitloop2
    fruitloop2 Posts: 437 Member
    After comparing my vidoes with the others, I knew going lower was going to be said. Maybe I'll put a stool under me so I can feel how low I need to go. Thanks for the tips!
  • girlie100
    girlie100 Posts: 646 Member
    @fruitloop2 looking at your vids you are squatting high bar which means you need yo keep your torso more upright. Don't push your bum back when you start the move just break at your knees and allow your bum to drop between your legs. By pushing your bum back you are actually making more work for yourself by travelling further, this might help you get a bit more depth as well. Also another point for high bar you want your elbows under the bar not behind it :smile:

    For your deadlifts as other poster said you need the bar closer to your shins and the movement is to try and pull through your shins, once the bar clears your knees you want to push your hips through, at the moment you are mainly pulling with your lower back. You could try dropping your bum a bit lower before you pull to make sure your glutes are firing.
  • fruitloop2
    fruitloop2 Posts: 437 Member
    Ok, thanks so much. I'll try those tips for my next lift. When I was watching videos I thought you were suppose to push your bum back a bit to help so your knees don't go over your toes. I will try not doing that as much and just go down.
  • girlie100
    girlie100 Posts: 646 Member
    bum back and knees not past toes is for low bar, with high bar you are looking to keep your torso upright and the knees will go past the toes. Its just like a front squat but the bar is behind your neck rather than in front of it :happy:
  • fruitloop2
    fruitloop2 Posts: 437 Member
    Ah, ok...gotcha! Thanks! I was always so concerned with knees not going over toes.
  • fruitloop2
    fruitloop2 Posts: 437 Member
    Is it possible to just not be physically able to go very low (butt bellow the knees)? I am not very flexible in my hips and I've been practicing and I'm finding it physically impossible to get lower than the videos I showed. My hips, no matter how far apart my feet are, do not allow my butt to drop lower. I've stretched before hand and still can't . When I get down to a certain point I can feel my hips tightening and it's very uncomfortable. I don't know if I just need more practice or if it's the way I'm built or what but I'm having difficulty getting as low as the rest of you :(

    If I hold on to a pole and walk myself down into the squat I can get my butt lower...do I just need to practice that way before adding weight back in. If I were to let go of the pole though, I will fall over, lol.
  • fruitloop2
    fruitloop2 Posts: 437 Member
    Ok, I did some googling and apparently 1 of the reasons for not being able to go parallel is inflexibility. Si I'm guessing that is me. So I have to do stretches every day to oven up my hips to allow myself to be able to get to parallel. Boo! There were for reasons for not being able to go parallel...1. you are weak 2. you are lazy and/or deluded 3. inflexible (most common reason) 4. you don't actually know how to squat.

    So...I need some good hip stretch exercises to help open up my hips so I can squat properly.
  • hnsaunde
    hnsaunde Posts: 757 Member
    Ok, I did some googling and apparently 1 of the reasons for not being able to go parallel is inflexibility. Si I'm guessing that is me. So I have to do stretches every day to oven up my hips to allow myself to be able to get to parallel. Boo! There were for reasons for not being able to go parallel...1. you are weak 2. you are lazy and/or deluded 3. inflexible (most common reason) 4. you don't actually know how to squat.

    So...I need some good hip stretch exercises to help open up my hips so I can squat properly.

    Have you tried foam rolling in addition to stretching? Take a look at this video, Joe DeFranco is an excellent trainer and has a "Limber 11" flexibility routine. I do some/most/all of this each and every time pre-squats or deadlifts.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSSDLDhbacc
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
    So...I need some good hip stretch exercises to help open up my hips so I can squat properly.

    Sex? LOL, jk.

    Maybe.
  • hnsaunde
    hnsaunde Posts: 757 Member
    So...I need some good hip stretch exercises to help open up my hips so I can squat properly.

    Sex? LOL, jk.

    Maybe.

    Helps me every time :bigsmile:
  • maryetamfp
    maryetamfp Posts: 70 Member
    Right, embarassed to post this as I don't think you can even call this a squat but I need to learn how to improve them and I'm very keen and open to feedback and advise!

    My thoughts: booooooooooooooo. And on a more serious note: I don't think I'm hitting parallel but then I'm surprised I actually managed to go that deep (I really am crap with even air squats) so I'm hoping this is something I could improve doing more workouts. I might only be hitting parallel on the last rep of this video? I know I open the legs/hips a LOT and I've just realised I did open my feet probably too much as well, so that might have affected what my knees were doing (whatever that was). Then, I don't know what the hell I did with my neck. I was focusing on just go for the one point but I can see a lot of movement all the time. I have to say I don't have any neck pain at all today but it definitely seems problematic in the video. And then, the last major problem, it's a SMITH MACHINE, I know... I'm definitely going to try these with my boyfriend's help to get the bar on my shoulders.

    And the video:

    http://youtu.be/NmHwjDjmif8
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
    @mary Of course it'll be a little hard to judge since you're on the smith, but just what I noticed is that it looks like you are leaning a bit forward when you come up and look off balance. When the weights get heavier it might throw you off, you're gonna want to come up with your weight on your heels. Don't look down when you squat, look forward or slightly up. Also, take a deep breath before squatting down, hold it, and don't exhale until you are up or almost up. You started getting a deeper squat towards the end of the video, just slow down and try to get low. :)
  • maryetamfp
    maryetamfp Posts: 70 Member
    @mary Of course it'll be a little hard to judge since you're on the smith, but just what I noticed is that it looks like you are leaning a bit forward when you come up and look off balance. When the weights get heavier it might throw you off, you're gonna want to come up with your weight on your heels. Don't look down when you squat, look forward or slightly up. Also, take a deep breath before squatting down, hold it, and don't exhale until you are up or almost up. You started getting a deeper squat towards the end of the video, just slow down and try to get low. :)

    Thanks for commenting, I know there is really no point with the smith machine! Yesterday, we sort of re-created a "squat rack" in the functional room by using two of the PVC handles that people use there to do pull ups and so on so we could leave the bar there. Therefore, I did squat yesterday without any other support whatsoever and I was rubbish :( Could not go deep at all, not even hitting parallel but I can go down without weight, I think I'm scared to "seat back" having the weight on (and then for some reason the barbell kept on rolling down my back yesterday :/). Oh well, I'm not going to give up and I hope this is something I can learn and improve with the time!
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