[quote]LiarPantsOnFire wrote:
to me, it now looks like you are almost deadlifting the weight up after your bottom position (which, i think, can afford to be lower while we’re at it).
i’d love to see a video of you squatting down with just your bodyweight or an empty bar to see what it takes to get your body into and out of the bottom of a squat, and then i’d advise you not to load beyond the point where you lose that.
i think there is a video of Dan John teaching some folks how to squat on google video. there is a link to it floating around this site somewhere, if you search for it. i found it to be really useful way back when.
for me, i like to see a bottom position where your hammies are touching the calves (or at least near there), which is, i think, when unloaded, a really natural resting position (and if that changes when you load it, then reduce the load until it is no longer so). for instance, try squatting down to there and just sort of chilling out… maybe with your arms up on your knees or whatever.
as for getting to and from that position, try to do it (unweighted… this is just a drill) facing a wall, with your toes and nose on the wall. see how far you can get down, and every day try to get lower, without losing your balance.
this taught me how to keep my lower back and ass tight when squatting, and gave me an image of what going straight down actually FEEELS like, because it is very easy to feel like you are going straight down and still, in reality, ahve a HUGE forward lean.
it will also help keep everything in alignment as you go up and down (as opposed to your thing, which currently seems ot be that you have this weird thing going where you are leaned forward for the duration of your concentric, so you end up having to fire your glutes at the end in order to “lockout”. it is really odd, in my opinion).
hope this helps…
dan[/quote]
Thanks!
I front squat to where I feel I can keep an arch in my lower back, and I’m improving my hip mobility daily so that I can do full ATG front squats every time I do them.
I know what you mean about the glutes finishing at the end. Every day I do overhead squats with bands around me knees with focus on maintaining an arch in my lower back, a tight core, and glutes activated throughout the movement. I feel like I’m making progress.
You should check out the videos again though, liarpantsonfire, you’ll find that my hammies are touching my calves, at least slightly, on every rep.
I do have some goofy anthropometry for weight lifting- that’s for sure
And your wish is my command.
It is my observation that, when front squatting, longer limbed oly lifters tend to push their knees forward to maintain an upright torso. I tend to see this technique at the mid-point of the concentric portion of a heavy front squat. One ex.:
Due to my previous observation, it should be added that the wall-facing drill is a faulty model for optimizing a lift where the knees travel forward depending on anthropometry. Although it is a good squat teaching tool, it doesn’t seem to apply well to my limb lengths and the resulting front squat form I’m trying to improve.
I’m going to try pushing my knees forward much more next week when I’m in a power rack and I can afford to fall over, lol
I really appreciate the input!