T Nation

Back Squat Form Check

Beginners
#21

Hey guys thanks for all the feed back. I really do appreciate the honest answers.

You guys are correct. I’m going to lower the weight and REALLY practice on having everything fire up the way it should. Keep tightness all around and especially try to feel my glutes. I’ll stick to just squats and not worry about the BB hip thrusts.

I’ll give this a try for 2 weeks (6 squatting sessions) and will post a video again to have you guys check out and let me know if it is better or not. I do have tight hip flexors/adductors, so I’ll definitely do a bit more mobility on that. Hopefully my form will be much better! Thanks again fellas!

#22

Guys -

So yesterday I did some hip thrusts before lifting to get my glutes fired up.

Then during my warm up sets for Front Squats I REALLY focused on activating my glutes and using them to help me to drop down and ascend back up. I also dropped the weight from 165 to 135/155/145 (3 working sets, next week I’ll stay at 145).

I had to widen my stance to be a bit more so it was shoulder/right outside shoulder width apart.

I could DEFINITELY feel it in my glutes WAY more yesterday. And this morning my glutes are sore lol. That spot that connects your hamstring to your ass hurts lol. So I’m guessing yesterday for the first time I squatted properly with my glutes firing the way they should.

If I felt myself shift to the ball of my foot when coming back up I quickly shifted all my weight to my heel and I could tell instantly I was way more vertical when rising up. I could tell I was way tighter overall yesterday than I’ve ever been.

#23

Nice work on getting your glutes engaged. Take at least the next few weeks to really target that area while doing your best to get everything else tight. Make sure your glutes are working every single rep throughout the entire rep. When testing with heavy weights again in the future and your form is still off, remove the tunnel vision from your glutes and focus on the next area. You’ll find that the work isn’t wasted. You just slowly have to integrate more muscle groups over time and it’s better to do a good job at integrating each one instead of half assing everything and getting nowhere.

#24

[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
I’m sorry for sounding unkind, but how is “I have a hard time being strong in a certain movement so I’ll practice that movement” hard to understand? It’s not like you have superhuman quad strength and your glutes are weak. You are weak everywhere. Keep doing squats and front squats and push yourself, that will solve your problem. The whole Westside/Russian concept of adding in assistance exercises to bring up lagging is intended for advanced lifters. All you need to do is squat right now.[/quote]

This, in the kindest way possible jsut as it was intended. All the advice you’ve been given about glute activation and everything is great advice, and you should follow it - but the bottom line is that you need to stop overthinking every little thing and squat and front squat, gradually increasing the load.

I understand your hesitation because of your injury, but you need to back yourself to do it right this time. You’re that bit wiser now. I’ve seen MUCH worse squats and front squats. You just need to work on getting better technically and getting stronger.

#25

i must be missing something
is your goal to have perfect form or get stronger?

#26

[quote]MarkKO wrote:
This, in the kindest way possible jsut as it was intended. All the advice you’ve been given about glute activation and everything is great advice, and you should follow it - but the bottom line is that you need to stop overthinking every little thing and squat and front squat, gradually increasing the load.

I understand your hesitation because of your injury, but you need to back yourself to do it right this time. You’re that bit wiser now. I’ve seen MUCH worse squats and front squats. You just need to work on getting better technically and getting stronger. [/quote]

Thanks man. Yes this whole past week I’ve added back squats and started adding weight back into my FS. Just thinking about my glutes and staying tight has made it WAY better. Feel MUCH stronger during the movement. So now I’m just adding weight and making sure to stay tight. I’m not overthinking when lifting now and just kinda letting my body do what it is designed to do. It’s funny because the weight feels lighter than it did in the video when I did it again lol.

Thank you guys for all your tips!

#27

[quote]isdatnutty wrote:

[quote]MarkKO wrote:
This, in the kindest way possible jsut as it was intended. All the advice you’ve been given about glute activation and everything is great advice, and you should follow it - but the bottom line is that you need to stop overthinking every little thing and squat and front squat, gradually increasing the load.

I understand your hesitation because of your injury, but you need to back yourself to do it right this time. You’re that bit wiser now. I’ve seen MUCH worse squats and front squats. You just need to work on getting better technically and getting stronger. [/quote]

Thanks man. Yes this whole past week I’ve added back squats and started adding weight back into my FS. Just thinking about my glutes and staying tight has made it WAY better. Feel MUCH stronger during the movement. So now I’m just adding weight and making sure to stay tight. I’m not overthinking when lifting now and just kinda letting my body do what it is designed to do. It’s funny because the weight feels lighter than it did in the video when I did it again lol.

Thank you guys for all your tips![/quote]

So good to hear. Sounds like you’ve got it now. When the weight feels lighter I’ve found that’s usually a sign you’re doing something right.