T Nation

Form Check for Squats and Deadlifts

Beginners
#1

www.youtube.com/user/Plumfire2?feature=mhum#p/a

All videos are on youtube cause the file size was huge and couldnt even load on here.
My butt tucks under on the bottom of the squat so im thinking tight hams and a weak ass.
Deads i think are ok but i still wanna hear from someone whos more experienced then me.
When i do the overhead press i feel slight pressure on my lower back and i pretty sure my
technique is terrible.

Goals bench 225 Done got 225x4
squat 315 far far away
dead 405 315 is my best so far
pullups 10 reps 4 reps so far will upload a video of the pullups soon.

Bodyweight= 230
fat% fat enough
post comments on here not youtube as this is my homepage

#2

…deadlifts look very good.

#3

Squats are what people call high bar or olympic squats. They look good for what you are doing, but they aren’t the best way to squat to move more weight.

To learn low bar:

  1. Sit on the edge of a chair with your legs coming off such that you’re knees are a bit in front of your toes. Maybe 1 to 2 inches.
  2. Feet should be about shoulder width with toes pointed slightly out (you’re good on this)
  3. Hinge forward at the waist until your belly is touching your upper legs.
  4. Lift your chest up and try to arch your lower back.
  5. Drive your butt straight up in the air. Shoulders should rise at the same rate.

Your back will not be vertical, as it has to come forward a bit to keep the barbell over your feet, as your butt goes back. Don’t get tricked into thinking your should push your butt back indefinetely as at some point you will have to sink down to load up the ass, high hamstrings, and adductors.

Post a new vid after you try it.

To embed youtube, just post the link, example: http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v= ###########

#4

thanks so much ill practice what you said and ill post a video. Squats are my weakest lift so far so ill film those the most. Also realized that i can lift 315 but its usually a crappier rep and today i blacked out for a couple seconds cause of that and fell back. So i need to stick to practicing with 225 or 275 at the most. Ill film the videos tomorrow and they’ll be up the same day.

Is my ohp as bad as i think it is?

#5

Looked good but you moved it a bit too fast for it to be a good form check weight.

Of all the lifts, OHP is probably the most difficult to screw up, so don’t worry about that one.

#6

It doesn’t look like your lower back is rounding. It looks like you’re starting with it over-arched and it’s straightening out.

Good form on both lifts, but you need to get closer to your max to see where your form breaks down. Knowing that will clue you in to what areas need the most work.

#7

i have a video with more weight and the bar moving slower so ill upload that.
Also im uploading a video with the 315 deadlift for 1 rep so that should show where i start to break down.
About more weight on the squat i think i could do over 200 for 3 reps or so but 225 would be pushing it.
Especially since the first time i ever did any of the big lifts was less then 2 months ago.

Also on pullups and chinups i cant touch the bar to my chest yet. I think holding myself at my sticking point would help. Losing weight would help but fat loss isnt my top priority just yet. Going from 205 to 230 and doing pullups on the irongym bar and in the gym has made my back wider then anything else could.

Vids will be up in 20min

#8

to jaypierce i think your right that i over arch my lower back. The problems seems that im arching my lower back too much and not sticking my chest out enough. Also could be cause i have weak abs cause ive never trained them. Gotta start doing hanging leg raises.

#9

ohp 115

dead 315

#10

Haha! I love how you just fall over after the deadlift. I find myself wanting to do that after heavy deads as well

#11

[quote]Jokerz wrote:
Haha! I love how you just fall over after the deadlift. I find myself wanting to do that after heavy deads as well[/quote]

Its not cause i wanted to haha totally blacked out and lost my balance for a couple seconds. The floor felt like clouds. Didnt even realize i hit the machine behind me till i saw the video myself. Dont wanna make this a regular thing though ha.

#12

[quote]Stan Darsh wrote:

[quote]Jokerz wrote:
Haha! I love how you just fall over after the deadlift. I find myself wanting to do that after heavy deads as well[/quote]

Its not cause i wanted to haha totally blacked out and lost my balance for a couple seconds. The floor felt like clouds. Didnt even realize i hit the machine behind me till i saw the video myself. Dont wanna make this a regular thing though ha. [/quote]

Oh, well that’s not good. But at least you didnt eat a dumb bell rack. There’s a youtube video of some one doing just that. It was on tosh.0 if I remember right.

#13

[quote]Jokerz wrote:

[quote]Stan Darsh wrote:

[quote]Jokerz wrote:
Haha! I love how you just fall over after the deadlift. I find myself wanting to do that after heavy deads as well[/quote]

Its not cause i wanted to haha totally blacked out and lost my balance for a couple seconds. The floor felt like clouds. Didnt even realize i hit the machine behind me till i saw the video myself. Dont wanna make this a regular thing though ha. [/quote]

Oh, well that’s not good. But at least you didnt eat a dumb bell rack. There’s a youtube video of some one doing just that. It was on tosh.0 if I remember right.[/quote]

Im pretty sure that dude needed to get stitches cuz of that. When i saw that video i taught he was deadliftingg 500 pounds cause of the size of the plates and it was badass then I learned it was 330. My first reaction was that’s it? Then it happened to me… haha oh lordy. Gonna have to wear a helmet from now on.

#14

[quote]theuofh wrote:

Squats are what people call high bar or olympic squats. They look good for what you are doing, but they aren’t the best way to squat to move more weight.

To learn low bar:

  1. Sit on the edge of a chair with your legs coming off such that you’re knees are a bit in front of your toes. Maybe 1 to 2 inches.
  2. Feet should be about shoulder width with toes pointed slightly out (you’re good on this)
  3. Hinge forward at the waist until your belly is touching your upper legs.
  4. Lift your chest up and try to arch your lower back.
  5. Drive your butt straight up in the air. Shoulders should rise at the same rate.

Your back will not be vertical, as it has to come forward a bit to keep the barbell over your feet, as your butt goes back. Don’t get tricked into thinking your should push your butt back indefinetely as at some point you will have to sink down to load up the ass, high hamstrings, and adductors.

Post a new vid after you try it.

To embed youtube, just post the link, example: http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v= ########### [/quote]





My knees are going forward as I come out the bottom. In starting strength rippetoe
says that wastes power and energy by letting the hams lose tension. Probably means I need to stay on my heels more and use my glutes more at the top instead of using the quads to lock out. Easier said then done. I tried to put the bar even lower on my back but my wrist and shoulder flexibility is not that great yet.

#15

You know what you need to fix.

You can try leaning forward a bit more at the start and see if this fixes it. It seems like you are still subconsciously trying to stay more vertical than you need to and compensating by looking straight down with your head, instead of getting a forward lean.

Your stance may also need to come out a bit, but its hard to tell from the camera angle.

Here is an example of what you should trying to be emulating:

You may not look exactly the same, but it is a good example of recruiting the glutes, hamstrings, and adductors. Your stance can also be a little narrower than his, which I suggest starting with before experimenting with wider stances.

#16

Damn he has the bar almost on his mid traps. About my stance ill try to go a bit wider because watching the knee tracking video when it looks like im locking out using my quads almost like im snapping them into place.
What do you think of this style of squating?

This video is what made me wanna learn to squat.Not saying that low bar is not something im willing to learn but i always thought that being more vertical made your mechanics more efficient.
mhhmm background bench dips

#17

scratch that… watching rippetoes video on high bar vs low bar and he also says low bar is better to move more weight. Less weight till i get it right. What helps with learning to sit back? Getting glutes and hams stronger? Pull throughs should help i think. Box squating is supposed to help with this but the box in the gym is only about 10 inches off the ground.

#18

Stack a couple plates on it if the box is too low. Don’t spend too much time with the box, as it will impede learning how to free squat.

You are strong enough now to do a correct squat, put it is simply a matter of proprioception, which is just having a knowledge of what your body is doing and where it as from feel. It will come in time.

Start doing pull ups if you can and build some rear delts to rest the bar on. You should feel a shelf and it will be more comfortable than putting the bar up on your traps. For now, until you have the muscle mass in the upper back, just put it where it feels best.

The guy in the video you poster used to post on here as ‘skizacks’ or something like that. If I remember correctly, he was going to experiment with changing his squatting style to more low bar, in order to move more weight.

#19

you got it. Ill keep filming myself and seeing how it compares to nick zhukov’s style. But your right I need to need get a feel for my body and just more experience overall. Im already doing pullups/chinups. Cant touch my chest to the bar yet but working on it. If i truly think i got the form down ill post a video again here. Video of the squats that is not the pullups.

#20

[quote]Stan Darsh wrote:
ohp 115

dead 315

[/quote]

i bet that music rele gets u in the zone…