Barbell Squat form check

[jvasqu01]

Hi all,
I’m new to the forum and I had previously posted a deadlift video and gotten some great feedback. I’m hoping to improve my squat as well and my goal would be to keep getting stronger and avoiding injury. Today I did a 5x5 at 215lb. Last couple of weeks I was working in the 10 rep range. I notice the bar moving forward a bit.... thanks in advance.

 

[Hardartery]

It looks to me like you are initiating the lift from the hole with your hips, more specifically you are driving them forward. You could worry about driving up insteaf of forward, but I wouldn't worry about it. You look fine on the lift.

 

[Anna C]

Very nice squat mechanics! The main thing I noticed is you're not visibly taking a breath and getting tight.... but you don't appear lose any position as a result, so that's good.

Low bar or high bar? The movement looks more like low bar, but the bar looks a bit high for low bar. Can't really see from this angle.

I do see the hips coming forward on the the last few reps as @Hardartery noticed... it looks like you're trying to keep the knees back (shins vertical).... You could let the knees come forward more on the descent, so that the ascent is in the strongest position already. Lifting shoes help with that as well, but aren't essential.

 

[Hung]

I have no experience in squatting like that so I will not give a feed back. Just want to say that it's good to see a post about back squat.

 

[jvasqu01]

Very nice squat mechanics! The main thing I noticed is you're not visibly taking a breath and getting tight.... but you don't appear lose any position as a result, so that's good.

Low bar or high bar? The movement looks more like low bar, but the bar looks a bit high for low bar. Can't really see from this angle.

I do see the hips coming forward on the the last few reps as @Hardartery noticed... it looks like you're trying to keep the knees back (shins vertical).... You could let the knees come forward more on the descent, so that the ascent is in the strongest position already. Lifting shoes help with that as well, but aren't essential.

Thanks for the feedback. I’ll work on getting tighter prior to the lift. And I’m placing the bar on the top of my traps. Not sure about low bar or high bar though.

 

[Anna C]

I’m placing the bar on the top of my traps. Not sure about low bar or high bar though.

Sounds like high bar. And you'd be more bent over for low bar. (Some of mine: high bar, low bar).

So I think you could use more ankles and knees for your squat. Some people get too far forward into their knees and need to put more emphasis on moving their hips back (especially with low bar), but I think yours is more of the opposite.

 

[Steve Freides]

@jvasqu01, what I see that I like is something I've been working on in my own squatting: once you break at the knees on the descent, you keep your knees in the same position as you ascend. I tend to let my knees come backwards because my back is stronger than my quads. Nice work. @Anna C, I think I'm saying the opposite of what you're saying. I've found that I can end up moving more weight, with my current strength levels of leg and back, by letting my knees come back, but I think it develops the legs more not to do that.

-S-

 

[Anna C]

@jvasqu01, what I see that I like is something I've been working on in my own squatting: once you break at the knees on the descent, you keep your knees in the same position as you ascend. I tend to let my knees come backwards because my back is stronger than my quads. Nice work. @Anna C, I think I'm saying the opposite of what you're saying. I've found that I can end up moving more weight, with my current strength levels of leg and back, by letting my knees come back, but I think it develops the legs more not to do that.

-S-

Yes, some of that comes down to "Do you let your body do what it does in order to move the most weight?" (and therefore train heavier and perform better now) vs. "Do you make your body do the movement differently (in a less-strong way, but somehow more "correct") in order to stimulate adaptations that theoretically would eventually make you overall stronger?" (and therefore eventually be able to train even heavier, move the most weight, and perform better in the future).... I think about these things a lot as I train ...

 

[Steve Freides]

Yes, some of that comes down to "Do you let your body do what it does in order to move the most weight?" (and therefore train heavier and perform better now) vs. "Do you make your body do the movement differently (in a less-strong way, but somehow more "correct") in order to stimulate adaptations that theoretically would eventually make you overall stronger?" (and therefore eventually be able to train even heavier, move the most weight, and perform better in the future).... I think about these things a lot as I train ...

IMO, the first of your choices would be short-sighted in training, although desirable in competition. Heavier now is only better if it leads to yet heavier in the future.

SQ: Back to the lift at hand, the squat: I think the focus for most people in squatting is legs, hence my recommendation to keep the focus there. If my back was weaker and my legs stronger, I think I might choose another vehicle for strengthening my back, e.g., the deadlift.

DL: I've been going through this dilemma/choice in my own deadlift training, having gotten to the point where, in one recent competition, my lift was mostly back and not nearly enough legs. My recent training can be summarized as follows: specialized variety to strengthen the weak parts, and limiting training weight in the lift itself to what the weakest parts can handle with proper form and focusing on using that form. "Proper form" being what I hope to use when the weak parts (here, legs) have gotten as strong as the strong parts (here, back).

-S-