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Barbell Dusting of my low bar squat

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your lower half looks pretty good - i would guide you toward getting your head up and looking to the horizon instead of the floor and starting with and maintaining a big chest - both cues will help as the weights get heavier.
 
Someone please explain why to look at the floor - I imagine this would cause the hips to rise first and therefore cause you to get buried with a heavy weight.

-S-
 
Steve Freides said:
Someone please explain why to look at the floor - I imagine this would cause the hips to rise first and therefore cause you to get buried with a heavy weight.

-S-
Click to expand...
Don't have the book handy but it mentions looking up placing the cervical spine in overextension and looking down puts it in its preferred position and makes hip drive easier iirc.
 
@Steve Freides Mark Rippetoe explains the eye position in this article under the sub-heading "Back and Hips Together": Squat Mechanics: A Deep Analysis | T Nation

Essentially, looking down is going to promote a good amount of forward torso lean which will make the squatter use the muscles in his back, not just his muscles in his legs.

This does make sense, I suppose, you're recruiting more muscles to squat which could potentially make you lift more weight. However, I tend to agree with you, that it'll cause the hips to shoot up which is not good. Its probably worth noting that Rippetoe advocates letting your hips shoot up out the bottom of the squat - he says that it allows you to use your hamstrings and glutes to a greater extent. I do like Rippetoe's overall training philosophy but the way he teaches the squat, in my opinion, is just dangerous


 
OK, I follow the reasoning. I don't squat with a barbell on my back very often. One could place this difference of opinion along with rounding the upper back in the deadlift, I think. It works, it will make a lot of people able to lift more weight, but I don't think it's as safe, either. I choose to make that tradeoff in my barbell deadlift - I do round my upper back, and I think it's a legitimate choice to make when squatting, too, so long as it doesn't cause you to get buried by a heavy weight.

-S-
 
i have no issue with Coach Rippetoe's teachings, in fact i think they are great, BUT "looking down" in the Starting Strength style is a gaze down and OUT and a strong contraction of shoulder blades together which keeps a BIG CHEST, NOT a look directly down. in the OPs video the gaze gets sharper and sharper towards his feet and the head position is not maintained, but gets lower and lower. Also, to be consistent with the Starting Strength style, the OP should not push the hips forward at the top, but since the head is guiding his chest lower and lower he tries to compensate at the top by moving forward at the hips - that's a no no in Starting Strength style.
 
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Lovely squatting, to expand on the 'big chest' comment from above, rotating Your elbows under the bar will help prevent your chest from caving. I'm saying that assuming your shoulders are packed (which they look to be). Rippetoe's squat style is a great teaching method but people get hung up on where they're looking and their posture suffers... I really am nitpickoing though, the squat was lovely, how much torque do you feel you get from your foot position?
 
i don't know :) but i know i slide my knees forward too much on descent also, but i was curious about what SFL cert. would point out:)
 
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