*Now Squat Form Check Needed* 176lbs, 365lbs 5 reps squats

[brikis98]

Bump. Added my squat vid. Lmk how my form is.

Thanks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNlCMyoPpb8

Just watched you Koing on your youtube vid. That's an insane amount of weight. Very impressive

I agree w/ SC's comments: your squat form needs a lot of work. Major issues:

1. Not enough depth. The minimum requirement for safe & effective squatting is to go to "parallel", which is defined as getting the hip joint below the knee joint. The top of the thigh is typically parallel to the floor at this point. All of your reps come up short and the ones towards the end of the set are particularly bad.

2. Bar sliding down the back. You start in the high bar position and the bar gradually slides down to the low bar position and then even lower. Pick a back squat style and stick with it.

3. Hips rising faster than shoulders. As you try to get out of the hole, your hips shoot up, but the bar doesn't move much. This results in you being bent way over and then being forced to do a good morning to get upright again. This is extremely inefficient and is causing you to round your back, which is also unsafe.

4. Using a mirror. Since mirrors only show you one angle, they are extremely deceptive in judging your lifts: what looks like full depth or proper form in your reflection might be far from it in reality. A big part of free-weight training is developing proprioception (an awareness of where your body is in space) and balance and mirrors tend to interfere with this process. If you can't find a squat rack that isn't facing a mirror, see if you can hang up a towel on the mirror itself.

My advice for you is the same as I told calvinbiss in his squat form thread (compare his first form check video to his last to see some drastic improvements):

1. Drop the weight down. Way down. There is a good chance you'd struggle to squat 315 to full depth. It sucks, but you need to check your ego. The squat is NOT worth doing if you aren't doing it right. You'll even want to start with air squats - check out the Crossfit exercises page for videos.

2. Buy this book. It is the best resource I've seen for learning all the major barbell lifts, including a 60 page chapter on squats. The book is worth every penny and I highly recommend spending a couple hours reading before wasting hundreds of hours doing things wrong at the gym.

3. Other good resources include the Stronglifts squat tutorial, the Squat Rx series, and the Dan John FitCast.

 

[Red Dawn]

That's what I weighed yesterday and I did 5 below parallel squats @ 365lbs. Nothing Olympic worthy but a personal best for me. Every week I do squats and I add 5 lbs every time. Hoping to get in the upper 400lb range squats.

How good are those numbers? What's a realistic goal for a 176lb guy to squat max? I want to at least get to where I have 4 plates on each side (405lbs) and doing reps. I actually want to get where the bar is bending when I do my reps. Is 405 lbs enough to get the bar bending?

Update: I got around to recording my squats. It's 365lbs 5 reps. It kicked my butt today, it didn't seem nearly as easy as last time. Well let me know how my form looks. Be as brutally honest as you want. Or maybe my form is pretty good. LMK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNlCMyoPpb8

My back hurts just watching that. You should listen to the advice given, lower the weight and work on your form, you look very awkward. If you can lift that much with poor form you should be eventually able to do as much with good form if not more, you just need practice.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Thanks for all the advice guys. It's a humbling experience and I'm gonna work on the form. I'm gonna have to check my ego as mentioned earlier. I'll drop the weight and find that book. I'll update with a new and improved squat form soon.

 

[Bulldog13]

Right at the beginning of the set you look down (0:11). That seems to set the pace for your hunch. Instead of looking down, look up and straighten your back and puff your chest. Look up the whole set.

And get a belt. A real leather one.

Congratulations!

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Right at the beginning of the set you look down (0:11). That seems to set the pace for your hunch. Instead of looking down, look up and straighten your back and puff your chest. Look up the whole set.

And get a belt. A real leather one.

Congratulations!

No, no belt. Not until his form is fine without it. It can enable the person to rely on it, especially if they learn to squat with it, and that's not what anybody needs. It's great for heavy efforts and hitting maxes, but using it when his basics need some work is a bad idea.

 

[Whisper]

No, no belt. Not until his form is fine without it. It can enable the person to rely on it, especially if they learn to squat with it, and that's not what anybody needs. It's great for heavy efforts and hitting maxes, but using it when his basics need some work is a bad idea.

This is what I've found to be the case more times than not as well. Of the people I know who regularly and religiously use belts, once they adapt, they can no longer do even medium-weight sets without the belt on.

Not that I'm the greatest example, but I hardly ever use a belt for that very reason. Although in all honesty, part of the reason is that I'm too lazy to walk to the equipment desk and check one out before I start working.

 

[brikis98]

Right at the beginning of the set you look down (0:11). That seems to set the pace for your hunch. Instead of looking down, look up and straighten your back and puff your chest. Look up the whole set.

After looking down at 0:11, he looks straight ahead, so head position is not his problem. In fact, looking "up" is not a good idea as that'll put his neck in a bad position to carry lots of weight on the back. In virtually all exercises, the neck should be kept in a neutral position, aligned with the spine. In a high bar back squat, this means looking straight a head. In a low bar back squat, due to the increased tilt of the torso at the bottom of the squat, this means looking down slightly at a point on the floor 6-10 feet in front of you.

And get a belt. A real leather one.

Belts are not safety mechanisms and not a way to fix form problems. The primary goal of a belt is to let you lift more weight. This not what the OP needs at all, so a belt will not be useful. Instead, he needs to lower the weight and work on his technique.

 

[Koing]

The biggest issue is not keeping his chest up and letting his hips come faster and leaving his chest down and good morning it up. But this has been mentioned by everyone.

Drop the weight down to 220lbs and record a set of 5. SEE how THIS LOOKS NOW. The forms hould be perfect with this weight.

The leaning over forwards that much is NOT GOOD FORY OUR BACK. If you face plant it will not be good. Sure you have the rack but it's never good to be that bent over on back squats.

I'd advise you to FRONT SQUAT. You will not be able to 'cheat' a front squat. The bar will just fall down as your so bent over.

The amount of weight I lift should be fairly reasonable considering I spent 80% of my training focusing on legs in one way or another and I have been trainine for 10yrs now...

Take a few steps backwards and you will be able to squat with better form and more weight which will be safer for your back. Your back is obviously f0cking strong to be able to take the weight like that!

Koing

 

[darkxshade]

That last rep was really painful to watch, sorta cringed as you struggled to rerack the weights. Looking at the first rep though, it seems that you should be able to do it with proper form with lighter weights. I think you're just trying to hard[to lift heavier]. I could probably struggle too and bang out 5 reps with 30lbs more and sacrifice form[while luckily getting away with it with no injury] but eventually it will catch up with me. That's why I take it easy and do it proper. I'm 165lbs and only squatting like 185-200lbs... I really should get my squat recorded too though since it's my weakest link.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Yeah watching the vid and hearing the advice I now see my form is really bad. The good thing is I also get my deadlifts done at the same time I squat. Lol!

Koing I warm up with 225lbs and it's really easy. I'll try a set at 225 going down till my ass almost touches the ground and if it's still easy I'll try a set at 275lbs and record that.

 

[Eric62]

Don't buy training advice.
Everything you need to learn can be obtained free on the internet, and by using the trial and error method.

 

[Deeko]

One thing I noticed that I don't think was pointed out yet -

In addition to not enough depth, it doesn't appear you have enough "height" on the lift either. Maybe its just the angle, but it appears to me you're getting near the top of the lift and immediately going back down. You're still bent over.

Work on keeping your back arched, chest up, and fully completing the motion, from hitting depth to being fully upright. Don't rush at the top of the rep to start the next one. This is a strength training exercise, not cardio.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

One thing I noticed that I don't think was pointed out yet -

In addition to not enough depth, it doesn't appear you have enough "height" on the lift either. Maybe its just the angle, but it appears to me you're getting near the top of the lift and immediately going back down. You're still bent over.

Work on keeping your back arched, chest up, and fully completing the motion, from hitting depth to being fully upright. Don't rush at the top of the rep to start the next one. This is a strength training exercise, not cardio.

I mentioned he wasn't extending his hips all the way, but you're right to point it out specifically since that is a serious ROM issue.

 

[Deeko]

I mentioned he wasn't extending his hips all the way, but you're right to point it out specifically since that is a serious ROM issue.

oops. Reading is not my strong point I guess.

 

[gramboh]

All the advice so far is great, from the vid even with the problems you are obviously a strong dude so don't be too worried, you can make the changes and will be back at 365 in no time (it will be easier to squat once you fix your form).

One thing that hasn't been mentioned, you look like you are squatting in running shoes which will definitely have a negative effect on your stability. If you don't own any flat sole shoes like Chuck Taylors, try squatting barefoot/in socks, it should feel more stable. Olympic weightlifting shoes are the best but will cost you at least $70-100.

 

[Koing]

Yeah watching the vid and hearing the advice I now see my form is really bad. The good thing is I also get my deadlifts done at the same time I squat. Lol!

Koing I warm up with 225lbs and it's really easy. I'll try a set at 225 going down till my ass almost touches the ground and if it's still easy I'll try a set at 275lbs and record that.

Seriously dude, record the 225lbs and then the 275lbs. Thats also a big jump. I'd probably do 255lbs or so. Just record them all so you can see HOW YOUR FORM CHANGES with the weight.

Little bro back squated 107kg ATG @ 55kg. His form was perfect. Also Snatched 63 and C&J 80kg!

Koing

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Since the last humbling squat form check I've been to the gym a few times and tried some much lower weight and gotten more depth and straightened my back up. I believe my form is picture perfect and it is not physically possible to get any lower than I have been squatting lately. Bad thing is I've had to drop the weight to 275-280lbs for my sets as of now. But I'd much rather do them properly and get the full benefits. I'm doing 3x5 sets. My back feels much better and now my hamstrings and glutes are getting sore. With my old form only my quads were getting sore. I plan on getting a new vid with my new form soon. I didn't realize how bad the form really was. Thanks for the help guys. I need to get some video of my deadlifts too. Hopefully it won't be too long and I'll be lifting in the high 300's with picture perfect form.

 

[Koing]

The strength will come to you relatively quickly.

Get a video straight away so we can check. The weight is irrelevant, the form is what matters. You'll get stronger by simply training longer

Not enough volume imo. Do at least 4-5sets x 5sets imo. 3 sets of 15 is not enough imo.

Koing

 

[SociallyChallenged]

The strength will come to you relatively quickly.

Get a video straight away so we can check. The weight is irrelevant, the form is what matters. You'll get stronger by simply training longer

Not enough volume imo. Do at least 4-5sets x 5sets imo. 3 sets of 15 is not enough imo.

Koing

Did you mean 3 sets of 5 isn't enough? And typically, on a linear progression, 3 sets is perfectly fine since the warmup entails a fair amount of volume. Personally, I can't stand doing 5x5 squats and, when on a beginner's program, it's not quite necessary.

 

[MrEgo]

Did you mean 3 sets of 5 isn't enough? And typically, on a linear progression, 3 sets is perfectly fine since the warmup entails a fair amount of volume. Personally, I can't stand doing 5x5 squats and, when on a beginner's program, it's not quite necessary.

So I assume you're doing 3x5, but you're not counting your warmups as part of the 3?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

So I assume you're doing 3x5, but you're not counting your warmups as part of the 3?

Yes. I do ~5 warmup sets (45, 135, 185, 225, 255) and then do my 3 sets of 5 at my work weight.

 

[Koing]

Did you mean 3 sets of 5 isn't enough? And typically, on a linear progression, 3 sets is perfectly fine since the warmup entails a fair amount of volume. Personally, I can't stand doing 5x5 squats and, when on a beginner's program, it's not quite necessary.

Warm ups are just that, warm ups. They don't count to overall training volume as they are too light. If your doing technique, volume is key to learning (reptition) so you need to do more reps or sets. 15reps in a session isn't that much, but 20-25 is A LOT more % wise over just one session.

For me it's necessary for a beginner to get volume to get better at the exercise and get some general conditioning in before going heavier.

Koing

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Warm ups are just that, warm ups. They don't count to overall training volume as they are too light. If your doing technique, volume is key to learning (reptition) so you need to do more reps or sets. 15reps in a session isn't that much, but 20-25 is A LOT more % wise over just one session.

For me it's necessary for a beginner to get volume to get better at the exercise and get some general conditioning in before going heavier.

Koing

Interesting. I'm more from the school of thought that higher volume should be utilized during warmup (for form a motor learning). Form tends to degrade after 3 sets, in my experience with others, and then they're just practicing poor form. I'd rather they warm up with perfect form, retain relatively good form on the 3 work sets, and end their so their motor learning is optimal and their strength gains are good.

 

[Deeko]

Interesting. I'm more from the school of thought that higher volume should be utilized during warmup (for form a motor learning). Form tends to degrade after 3 sets, in my experience with others, and then they're just practicing poor form. I'd rather they warm up with perfect form, retain relatively good form on the 3 work sets, and end their so their motor learning is optimal and their strength gains are good.

Realistically if you're doing 5 work sets it should be with a weight light enough that your form is not degrading. If your form is degrading, you're doing too much weight.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Realistically if you're doing 5 work sets it should be with a weight light enough that your form is not degrading. If your form is degrading, you're doing too much weight.

Or perhaps it's the balance between overload and volume? Some people like higher intensity with lower volume. Greater load induces greater hypertrophy. Both will get the same job done. I just hate spending 10 extra minutes on squats when it takes me 35-40min from the time I walk into a gym to finish them anyhow.