Squat Form Check

This is my second work set of squats, I think my form looks alright here. 95KG for 8-10ish… just trying to work up some volume with better form before increasing the intensity. Can I make any improvements?

Are you wearing running shoes?

That isn’t too bad, but here are a few things to bear in mind:

  1. Drop the running shoes. Go for some flat-soled, non-compressible shoe or something with a hard, elevated heel (you’ll laugh, but a pair of dress shoes will do). You’ve already got pretty decent ankle mobility as it is, so reducing the instability and raising your heels on a solid block should do absolute wonders.

  2. Set the pins a tad lower. You’ll be able to set up better and unracking will be much more comfortable. You’ll also be able to lower the bar down your back a little if you should want to.

  3. Break by pulling your butt back and down while keeping your chest upright and elbows forward. Don’t even think about your knees, they’ll follow your butt. Do this in a tight, controlled way while keeping your whole midsection as hard and rigid as possible. Don’t divebomb into the hole, it will cost you tightness, control and pounds on the bar. By the look of it, your body wants you to end up in the hole with your backside futher behind you than it is now (see below), so doing that should make things much nicer and add some decent weight to the bar.

  4. Focus on keeping your chest up throughout the whole movement, ESPECIALLY coming out of the hole. Your hips shoot back a trifle as you come up and this tips your whole trunk forward. That makes the bar path come off vertical, and that makes your life difficult because it isn’t as efficient. You should feel tightness in the lower back holding your trunk upright and rigid. I’d recommend incorporatiing heavy deadlifts, rows, pull-ups and some good mornings into your training to make your back nice and strong to hold you upright. I had exactly the same issue, and once my back got strong enough holding position stopped being too difficult.

[quote]MarkKO wrote:

  1. Set the pins a tad lower. You’ll be able to set up better and unracking will be much more comfortable. You’ll also be able to lower the bar down your back a little if you should want to.

[/quote]

x2

I’ve always set them just below the level of shoulders. I find having to push up a touch preferable to going onto tiptoes / bashing the pins when un-racking.

Everything is loose. Tighten it up. Use more hip drive.

You lose points for those pants.

[quote]Alrightmiami19c wrote:
You lose points for those pants.[/quote]

lol