Barbell SQ+DL form check please

[bluejeff]

I received a barbell set for Christmas and have been doing an Easy Strength style session throughout the week. As such, I am keeping the weight light. I'm in no rush and just want (for now) to use the BB to increase overall strength. I want to make sure I'm not making any huge mistakes before I let things get any heavier.

In DL set one: I pulled in a way that feels "natural" to me.
DL set two: more focus on keeping the lumbar spine straight the whole time.

I noticed that in my first pull my back appears slightly less straight, and then straightens out throughout the rest of the set. Any tips there? Obviously something with my set up. Maybe a "pre-pull" to get tight before the actual pull?

SQ set one: more focus on lumbar
SQ set two: feels much better; just squatting how it feels natural to me.

Squatting AGT has never been an issue for me, but I want to make sure I don't have any degree of "butt wink" that may be of any concern.

Even though I mention some focus on my lumbar spine, I should add that I don't feel any discomfort (at least yet). I do feel that my back has gotten a brief bit of work though; almost like a pump, but not quite if that makes any sense.

Thanks!

 

[BJJ Shawn]

To me, things look pretty good. On your deadlifts, you need to try and engage your lats more prior to pulling. You have nice straight arms, but it doesn't look like you're getting tight enough. This could be because the weight is too light, but as we learned in Barbell 101, the only muscles that connect to both your upper body and lower body are your lats so to make it a full body exercise you really have to get them to engage hard otherwise your upper and lower body are trying to work independently of each other.

Also, on the way down you are going around your knees, and it looks like that is from sitting down into it too much to make it more of a squat.

 

[bluejeff]

on the way down you are going around your knees, and it looks like that is from sitting down into it too much to make it more of a squat.

Are you referring to when I slide the bar over my kneecaps a little on the descent? This is something I see some people do and others not, and have wondered whether it's "okay" or not.

Should the bar travel in a very straight line on the way up and down, not sliding over the knees?

Thank you!

 

[Anna C]

Basically good lifts and no major issues from my view.

I agree with @BJJ Shawn, could get tighter before the deadlift. StrongFirst teaches to get tight, then reach down with tension. Either way, as you position yourself with grip on the bar, anti-shrug the shoulders hard and take a big breath and hold it. Fix your gaze on a point ahead of you. Then lift. I prefer to put the emphasis on the lift with deadlift, and let the weight fall with control between reps. But that's not always an option depending on flooring, noise, etc. It's not wrong to lower it like you are, but it's not necessary, either. On the lift, keep pressing your feet hard into the floor with strong legs... don't let the legs go passive and make the glutes and back do the hard part. You can go heavier and then you'll start to learn more about the lift... but it looks pretty solid. Thinking of sending your hips back on the descent will get your knees out of the way on the descent.

Wow, that squat depth is impressive! On the squat, get braced and tight with a big breath before your descent. I would not go so low, but there is value in squatting to a variety of depths, particularly if you can... For general squat-strength building, I would say you want to stay tight at the bottom and cut a bit off your depth. When you go so low the hamstrings tend to relax. Even the quads can relax if you can get to a resting position down there! But you want to set yourself up for a strong ascent with a heavy weight, because that's where you get the most value out of a squat. And that means find that depth where all the muscles stay tight and are ready to push the weight back up.

Can't see your stance from that angle, so perhaps more to comment on if you get a 45 degree view. Looks fine from what I can tell.

Congrats on the barbell set! Looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[bluejeff]

Thanks @Anna C !

I do live in an apartment (with concrete floors . . .) so I have to use a controlled negative for DL for now.

As for the squat, I will experiment with shortening the depth just a hair. That was another detail I was wondering about. I choose to go very low (at least for now) because my barbell work is more for "health-strength" than feats of strength at this point, so I'm aiming for a large ROM. Until I can film a different angle, I would say my stance is not very different from how I regularly stand, except maybe a couple inches wider and with the toes angled just a bit out (maybe 20-something degrees at a guess). I am lucky to have good ankle and hip range of motion. Pistols also came quite easily.