Eat, Train, Progress.

Join

Form critique thread, post your videos here.

1…3132343637…49

Replies

  • n3ver3nder
    n3ver3nder Posts: 155 Member
    Instead of a box, sets the bars at the level where your butt is when you break parallel and run a resistance band across them. Squat down to this instead of a box, the give of the band won't affect your technique like the solidity of a box can.
  • QueenBishOTUniverse
    QueenBishOTUniverse Posts: 14,121 Member
    Ok gentlemen,

    Lots to be getting on with. Thanks again for all the advice. :flowerforyou:
  • _benjammin
    _benjammin Posts: 1,224 Member
    Instead of a box, sets the bars at the level where your butt is when you break parallel and run a resistance band across them. Squat down to this instead of a box, the give of the band won't affect your technique like the solidity of a box can.

    Or just a bungee cord.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    Instead of a box, sets the bars at the level where your butt is when you break parallel and run a resistance band across them. Squat down to this instead of a box, the give of the band won't affect your technique like the solidity of a box can.

    That's a good suggestion. Though, except you'd then lose some of the functionality of the safety bars. I guess another pair of bars would be perfect if you're a safety freak like me.
  • QueenBishOTUniverse
    QueenBishOTUniverse Posts: 14,121 Member
    Ok so I worked on form for my lifts during my deload last week and I'm feeling fairly confident on everything but my DL. After comparing to my video from two weeks ago I do feel *better* because there seems to be improvement, but it wants me to go to 170 next week and 180 the week after and if I'm going to be working above body weight I feel like I should probably have my form nailed down. So... question is, full steam ahead, full steam ahead with some adjustments, or back off and work on some things?

    Here's two weeks ago for comparison:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5u4XCsExTI&index=10&list=UUepllmxz5TqbdGdEUYoEIXA

    And here's from today:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn79IUQJmHA&list=UUepllmxz5TqbdGdEUYoEIXA
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    Pretty marked improvement to me. You'll probably just have to keep an eye on things. I video every single deadlift session, personally. My form seems to just gradually break down over the course of weeks if I don't constantly work at it. You might be in the same boat for a while. You can see your old habits start to slowly come back as you get more and more tired. Pretty typical, just have to stay vigilant and keep working on it over time until it becomes second nature. Even world record powerlifters are constantly tweaking things.
  • QueenBishOTUniverse
    QueenBishOTUniverse Posts: 14,121 Member
    DopeItUp wrote: »
    Pretty marked improvement to me. You'll probably just have to keep an eye on things. I video every single deadlift session, personally. My form seems to just gradually break down over the course of weeks if I don't constantly work at it. You might be in the same boat for a while. You can see your old habits start to slowly come back as you get more and more tired. Pretty typical, just have to stay vigilant and keep working on it over time until it becomes second nature. Even world record powerlifters are constantly tweaking things.

    Yay! I was actually feeling better and better about that lift the more I compared the two. And I FELT my form starting to give out around rep 6 or 7 but I was trying to hold it together. Yes, I think I'm going to have to film for a while but at least now I feel like I have and idea what to look for. I *thought* I finally had it right this time but with as new as I am to this I wanted be sure. Thank you!
  • Meevenbetter
    Meevenbetter Posts: 4 Member
    angelskwats wrote: »

    The bar looks a bit low on you - or at least not on the 'shelf' of your traps. You look to be a bit uneven/wobbly and your hips are come up a bit too much compared to your shoulders (most on the 4th rep) - which is not a big deal now but may become one as you get more weight on the bar. There are a few other things, but I would like to see you play with the bar position first as well as to see a video from the back and the front to see if you are uneven (and too see how much your knees are coming in). You can PM me if you are not comfortable posting that.

    This is a good video re bar position - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2tyOLvArw0

    To be honest, I would keep the weight as is for a session or two.



    When you re-rack - do it the same way you unrack - with both feet parallel and not split.

    Thank you sooo much! I noticed too that my hips come up way earlier than my shoulders, will work on that. The bar was definitely low after I watched that video, that's probably why my wrist is hurting a bit :( I'll try to find that shelf on my next workout. Will also keep this weight and get a different angle. Thanks again for your input! :smile:

    Needed this, thanks
  • smittybuilt19
    smittybuilt19 Posts: 955 Member
    edited October 2014
    https://youtube.com/watch?v=CqWOtVPNYy0&feature=youtu.be

    It's been a while, please critique squat.

    Thanks.
  • smittybuilt19
    smittybuilt19 Posts: 955 Member
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8cbuo--2xE&feature=youtu.be

    * I particularly want to get feedback on these power cleans. I have not done them since HS and I sucked terribly at them then. I know they can't be correct, but how bad are they?

    Thanks.
  • smittybuilt19
    smittybuilt19 Posts: 955 Member
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp2sMQXgyH0&feature=youtu.be

    One more for the road, I'd like to think my DL is the most technically sound of my lifts.

    Please tell me if I am wrong and what to tweak.
    Thanks folks!
  • n3ver3nder
    n3ver3nder Posts: 155 Member
    Stop banging off the safeties on your squat. It's what causes your hips to shoot up in the bottom.

    Powercleans you're doing a deadlift and a reverse curl. Arms should be used as cables, they should only bend to bring elbows through. Cal strength has a good tutorial on youtube.

    Deadlift looks sound. Can't tell if you're scraping knees slightly on way up or not? If so adjust your distance from the bar slightly on setup.
  • beckerkra
    beckerkra Posts: 80 Member
    My wife and I finally were at the gym at the same time so I could have her take a video of squats and deadlifts for me so I could finally check my form. I would love any constructive criticism I could get for my form for both exercises.

    Squats:
    Squats

    Overall I'm relatively pleased with my form, but the one thing I noticed, and maybe it's just because I'm lifting heavy enough weight to notice any pain (just hit 200lbs when I took this video for my 5x5) is that the bar is sitting way too high on my neck and that will probably eventually start hurting and causing myself to start falling forward which won't be good.

    Deadlifts:
    Deadlifts

    My deadlifts on the other hand I'm not very pleased with the look of my form and it's obvious I have work to do because of too much rounding of the back. Again, the weights aren't really heavy enough where I've noticed any pain while doing these lifts (230lbs in the video), but I definitely don't want to keep increasing weight much beyond this until I've fixed my form.

    Any further critiques beyond what I've already mentioned I would greatly appreciate, and/or tips for fixing these issues would be awesome! For now I think I'm going to deload 10% weight to make the lifts a little easier so I can re-focus on form and start working my way back up 5lbs each workout according to the standard 5x5 stronglifts method.

    Thanks all!
  • smittybuilt19
    smittybuilt19 Posts: 955 Member
    n3ver3nder wrote: »
    Stop banging off the safeties on your squat. It's what causes your hips to shoot up in the bottom.

    Powercleans you're doing a deadlift and a reverse curl. Arms should be used as cables, they should only bend to bring elbows through. Cal strength has a good tutorial on youtube.

    Deadlift looks sound. Can't tell if you're scraping knees slightly on way up or not? If so adjust your distance from the bar slightly on setup.

    Thanks for the response. I will work on the squat issue. DL - sometimes I will scrape my knees but not nearly as often as I used to.

    Power cleans are uncharted territory for me. When I watched the video myself I knew it was incorrect right away, too much arm bend, pull timing off. Watching Cal Strength videos made me want to start PC's lol. I did see a video from Cal Strength on PC's, possible with Glen Pendlay? I will continue to review it.

    Thanks again.

  • CarlKRobbo
    CarlKRobbo Posts: 390 Member
    edited October 2014
    Evening all, New member of the group, I've lifted for 3 1/2 years now, almost 3 years as a Powerlifter. I compete in the GBPF in the UK, Next comp is 30th November.....

    As a test post\intro here is a 1RM Attempt on my squat.. If anyone can help advise how I get the video here, not via link, I'm all ears (That's if this does not work!)

    youtu.be/oEhHSUkJHD4

    **Warning - Turn the volume down!!!! Angry man squats FTW!!**
  • n3ver3nder
    n3ver3nder Posts: 155 Member
    edited October 2014
    CarlKRobbo wrote: »
    Evening all, New member of the group, I've lifted for 3 1/2 years now, almost 3 years as a Powerlifter. I compete in the GBPF in the UK, Next comp is 30th November.....

    What region? I'm YNE.

    You can do [theyoutubes] just the bit of the link after the equals sign [/youtube] to get the videos, but if you do the full link instead of the shortened version that embeds too I think.

    Squats look fine btw.
  • CarlKRobbo
    CarlKRobbo Posts: 390 Member
    I'm in the NW region, 93KG class (Yep, picked the easy one....) Next comp is the NW champs.

    What weight class you in?

    Squats have always been strong, got 3x3 at 200KG (Set\Rep PB) Today as well... that PB^^^^ is gonna get smashed!!
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    Smitty, your squats and DLs look really quite good. Excellent work. I can't comment on power cleans as I don't do them. They look pretty terrible regardless of that fact :P
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    CarlKRobbo wrote: »
    Evening all, New member of the group, I've lifted for 3 1/2 years now, almost 3 years as a Powerlifter. I compete in the GBPF in the UK, Next comp is 30th November.....

    As a test post\intro here is a 1RM Attempt on my squat.. If anyone can help advise how I get the video here, not via link, I'm all ears (That's if this does not work!)

    youtu.be/oEhHSUkJHD4

    **Warning - Turn the volume down!!!! Angry man squats FTW!!**

    The video was taken from two countries away and at the worst possible angle but from what I can see, it looks good :)
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    beckerkra wrote: »
    My wife and I finally were at the gym at the same time so I could have her take a video of squats and deadlifts for me so I could finally check my form. I would love any constructive criticism I could get for my form for both exercises.

    Squats:
    Squats

    Overall I'm relatively pleased with my form, but the one thing I noticed, and maybe it's just because I'm lifting heavy enough weight to notice any pain (just hit 200lbs when I took this video for my 5x5) is that the bar is sitting way too high on my neck and that will probably eventually start hurting and causing myself to start falling forward which won't be good.

    Deadlifts:
    Deadlifts

    My deadlifts on the other hand I'm not very pleased with the look of my form and it's obvious I have work to do because of too much rounding of the back. Again, the weights aren't really heavy enough where I've noticed any pain while doing these lifts (230lbs in the video), but I definitely don't want to keep increasing weight much beyond this until I've fixed my form.

    Any further critiques beyond what I've already mentioned I would greatly appreciate, and/or tips for fixing these issues would be awesome! For now I think I'm going to deload 10% weight to make the lifts a little easier so I can re-focus on form and start working my way back up 5lbs each workout according to the standard 5x5 stronglifts method.

    Thanks all!

    Squats look pretty good I thought. As you mentioned, definitely fix your bar placement, it really shouldn't even be touching the neck at all, nevermind enough to cause pain. Get it up on your traps if you're doing high bar or just switch to low bar if you prefer.

    Your deadlift wasn't as bad as you made it out to be. Could definitely use a little work at the start for sure. Try to focus on bringing your shoulders back and your chest up and out (this will happen simultaneously). This will help flatten out your back.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    I'm posting my own lift for critique today:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykqNH2wGbbQ

    Any notes from any sumo DLers? This is a max, max effort attempt and a new PR. My lockout is a little soft sometimes but otherwise I felt happy with it.
  • smittybuilt19
    smittybuilt19 Posts: 955 Member
    DopeItUp wrote: »
    Smitty, your squats and DLs look really quite good. Excellent work. I can't comment on power cleans as I don't do them. They look pretty terrible regardless of that fact :P

    Haha! Thanks for the honesty. I've been watching videos trying to figure out where to start making them less terrible. It doesn't seem that many people do PC's, at least on here anyways. I wonder if that's necessarily a sign?
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    smittybuilt19 wrote: »
    DopeItUp wrote: »
    Smitty, your squats and DLs look really quite good. Excellent work. I can't comment on power cleans as I don't do them. They look pretty terrible regardless of that fact :P

    Haha! Thanks for the honesty. I've been watching videos trying to figure out where to start making them less terrible. It doesn't seem that many people do PC's, at least on here anyways. I wonder if that's necessarily a sign?

    I've tried them a few times and every time I felt like a newborn baby giraffe learning to walk. Just so awkward. It's a lift that I suspect takes quite a bit of practice to perfect. Maybe look up Rippetoe vids? He's big on them, especially since he includes them in SS. Other than that, I'd do billions of reps with light weights to practice it thoroughly.
  • n3ver3nder
    n3ver3nder Posts: 155 Member
    CarlKRobbo wrote: »
    I'm in the NW region, 93KG class (Yep, picked the easy one....) Next comp is the NW champs.

    What weight class you in?

    Squats have always been strong, got 3x3 at 200KG (Set\Rep PB) Today as well... that PB^^^^ is gonna get smashed!!

    Haha, you'll have to hope Tom ends up bulking too, now Screamers made the leap. 93 also so I know those feels!

    I may be there on the 30th so I'll say hello if I am. Team mate should be guest lifting as he can't make YNE on 22nd, plus it's always good to see Screamer lift and I think he was planning on it last time I spoke to him.
  • CarlKRobbo
    CarlKRobbo Posts: 390 Member
    n3ver3nder wrote: »
    CarlKRobbo wrote: »
    I'm in the NW region, 93KG class (Yep, picked the easy one....) Next comp is the NW champs.

    What weight class you in?

    Squats have always been strong, got 3x3 at 200KG (Set\Rep PB) Today as well... that PB^^^^ is gonna get smashed!!

    Haha, you'll have to hope Tom ends up bulking too, now Screamers made the leap. 93 also so I know those feels!

    I may be there on the 30th so I'll say hello if I am. Team mate should be guest lifting as he can't make YNE on 22nd, plus it's always good to see Screamer lift and I think he was planning on it last time I spoke to him.

    Yeah, Screamer lives round the corner from me.. Will have to have a word, see if he's competing.... Hopefully Tom'll bulk up soon... Well, We can dream anyway! Trust us to be in one of the most competitive classes!! I loose too much strength below 85KG though, so I'm sticking in the 93's...

    I'm Pushing Squat\Deadlift only, this one, May only do a 100KG Bench, Shoulder injury.... If I PB Squat\Deadlift, I could qualify with a 80KG Bench... Tempting...

    Have 3 of us from our Gym competing, Me, Danny (73 class) (PT) and Big Jord (120+ class)..... Should be a good day
  • beckerkra
    beckerkra Posts: 80 Member
    DopeItUp wrote: »
    beckerkra wrote: »
    My wife and I finally were at the gym at the same time so I could have her take a video of squats and deadlifts for me so I could finally check my form. I would love any constructive criticism I could get for my form for both exercises.

    Squats:
    Squats

    Overall I'm relatively pleased with my form, but the one thing I noticed, and maybe it's just because I'm lifting heavy enough weight to notice any pain (just hit 200lbs when I took this video for my 5x5) is that the bar is sitting way too high on my neck and that will probably eventually start hurting and causing myself to start falling forward which won't be good.

    Deadlifts:
    Deadlifts

    My deadlifts on the other hand I'm not very pleased with the look of my form and it's obvious I have work to do because of too much rounding of the back. Again, the weights aren't really heavy enough where I've noticed any pain while doing these lifts (230lbs in the video), but I definitely don't want to keep increasing weight much beyond this until I've fixed my form.

    Any further critiques beyond what I've already mentioned I would greatly appreciate, and/or tips for fixing these issues would be awesome! For now I think I'm going to deload 10% weight to make the lifts a little easier so I can re-focus on form and start working my way back up 5lbs each workout according to the standard 5x5 stronglifts method.

    Thanks all!

    Squats look pretty good I thought. As you mentioned, definitely fix your bar placement, it really shouldn't even be touching the neck at all, nevermind enough to cause pain. Get it up on your traps if you're doing high bar or just switch to low bar if you prefer.

    Your deadlift wasn't as bad as you made it out to be. Could definitely use a little work at the start for sure. Try to focus on bringing your shoulders back and your chest up and out (this will happen simultaneously). This will help flatten out your back.

    Thank you for taking the time to watch and critique! Greatly appreciate the advice. :)
  • smittybuilt19
    smittybuilt19 Posts: 955 Member
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkT1QLXFAWM&feature=youtu.be

    So I lost the weight and just practiced with an empty bar.

    So the concept is...Create momentum by driving off the floor with the legs then shrug the weight (no arm flex), while the weight is "flying up" from the momentum, drop under the bar similar to a front squat while rotating arms under the bar to finish in rack position.

    ^^Am I thinking on the right track there?
  • smittybuilt19
    smittybuilt19 Posts: 955 Member
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G2pd_58D-w&feature=youtu.be

    Peep please. I love the slow motion setting on youtube, I just noticed it a couple of days ago lol, very helpful.
  • CarlKRobbo
    CarlKRobbo Posts: 390 Member
    Bump for Smitty... Looking to try powercleans soon myself, unfortunately, never tried them myself to advice.
  • n3ver3nder
    n3ver3nder Posts: 155 Member
    smittybuilt19 wrote: »
    Peep please. I love the slow motion setting on youtube, I just noticed it a couple of days ago lol, very helpful.

    tbh I think you just need practice. Get your elbows through quicker and drop under the bar a bit better. Try doing it without the jump, without even letting your feet come off the floor, as practice to work on speed dropping under.

Categories