Been drifting through this forum for awhile and decided to join to be a part of the community.
I used to compete in powerlifting a few years back but over the last few years have decided to take some time and really focus on building a ton of strength before I start investing a ton of time and money into competing in actual meets again.
Here are my current stats:
Height: 6’0"
Weight: 223 (as of 4/10)
I have been training as in a powerlifting style since i was 23 years old, I will turn 28 in a couple weeks. I have done just about every program imaginable and have discovered that i really like lots of volume with low rep numbers and multiple sets. I love training with bands and chains, I know they are not considered optimal for raw lifters, but having fun and doing new and interesting things are important to me.
Best lifts in a mock meet i did about 5 months ago at a bodyweight of 230ish
squat: 545
bench: 405
dead lift: 565
Total: 1515
Anyways I have really been working on my squat form the last couple years and have kind of settled into what I would like to call a groove. I have just recently begun filming myself as suggested by an older lifter and would really appreciate some critiques and observations from the eyes of other lifters.
today was a high volume day: 395 for 12 triples below I have linked the 1st, 4th, 8th, and 12th set. If you have the time and kindness to check them out and give some feedback it would definitely be listened to and appreciated.
Nice numbers! We’re about the same age, weight and height, and my squat is around 30 lbs behind, DL I’m marginally ahead (maybe 20 lbs) and bench, well, I’d rather not say but you’re over 100 lbs ahead.
I watched your 12 set on the basis that it’d be the least good due to fatigue. I didn’t see anything that jumped out at me except your buttwink/APT. You squat like I used to, sticking your butt out and then going down. That makes your butt tuck under you in the hole. I fixed that by squeezing my glutes at the top, before I descend and keeping that squeeze all the way down. It feels weird as hell at first but after a few weeks you get used to it. Doing GHRs or back raises and squeezing your glutes at the top before squatting can help get you feeling your glutes more.
I agree with MarkKO about the butt wink. Your lower back definitely rounds a bit at the bottom. But I also have a couple more things.
I would not grip your thumbs around the bar (I could see in the mirror). This can be tough on the shoulder and wrist, but also by taking the thumbs off, putting the palm of your hand against the bar with a straight wrist, then pushing your elbows up slightly will create a much better shelf for the bar to set on.
If you watch the bar move up and down you will notice it doesn’t move in a straight line, which is the most effective way to move a bar. It starts off straight, and then moves forward away from your center of mass because your knees are tracking way way forward at the bottom, and then as you move back up it comes back where it came from. Push your knees out at the bottom, like hard, think about spreading your knees as far away from each other as you can. Right now you are caving to the tension in the hole instead of embracing that tension by pushing your knees out. Tension in powerlifting is good. Spreading your knees will also go a long way towards fixing your butt wink.
I agree though great numbers, with a few small tweaks you’ll be hitting some even bigger numbers!
Thank you for your time and advices gentlemen, the internet can be a pretty nice place.
MarkKO- I have been throwing in tons of GHR’s both lower body training days but never thought to do them before the main movement. perhaps i will try splitting my work sets in 2 halves 1st half before the main movement and then the 2nd half as a finisher.
Derek- thank you as well, I have tried using thumbless in the past for a few sessions, it felt funny to me and since i never had any elbow or shoulder issues i did not bother to start getting proficient with it. I will give it another go with the elbow cue you stated above, staying tight in the mid and upper back in the hole is something that has always caused me trouble when the weight gets heavy, perhaps that will be my ticket out of the hole with a tighter back.
I totally agree that i am running away from the tension, good eye. I get unnecessarily paranoid about depth even though that has never been an issue. which results in me loosening up and crashing into the hole. Are their any type of specific drills you have used or seen to get the proper sensations.
You don’t need to do many. Maybe 10 at most in your squat warm up. I like to get to the top and hold there for a second or two squeezing my glutes as hard as possible. That last one I do maybe three times.