Disagree... I have zero issues with doing HBBS,but SS isn't the rep scheme or the even the weight progression, it's a very specific program.

If someone tells me they are doing SS, they are doing low bar back squats and using low bar squat cues. Period.

It's true all novices can benefit from using SS's rep and weight progression scheme, no matter the style of squat. But that's because SS is one example of a linear progression program. Using SS as short hand for every 3x5 program is lazy and inaccurate, and highly likely to confuse newbs who can't even distinguish a LBBS from HBBS.

If his intention is to follow SS to the letter, then I agree. If his intention is to get strong and maximize athletic potential, then I disagree and think he should continue to high-bar and use the SS scheme as a tried and true guide. One of those seems like a superior option, but alas, it's up to bleu.

Making adjustments are a lot harder than I thought they would be. We both tried lowering the bar and taking a wider stance. To me my form still looks awful and the bar looks like its going way forward instead of coming straight down.






My gf said her wrists hurt after doing them as well as the side of her upper arms. I don't think the weight of the bar is going onto her arms though so I don't know whats causing the problem.

Should we be adding weight each workout even though our form stinks?

Do you actually have the book? All your mistakes and how to fix them are described pretty well.

Adding weight is good but drill in your form with the empty bar every workout.

I read the book around 6 years ago, but don't have it with me.

Had a great workout today. My form felt a lot better and looks better to me as well on the vids.

does look a bit better. Watch the bottom in slow motion. You're back is still going from pretty straight to much more C shaped. Imo, you need to slow a couple things down while you learn correct form. After you take a deep breath into your belly, take a second to get your whole torso tight and locked in, especially your lumbar. This does not mean try to extend your lumbar as much as possible making a backwards C. I like the cue "take a big breath into your lumbar". Obviously there's no air going there, but the sensation comes from actually engaging your muscles strongly in isometry in that area. Slow down your descent while you're learning to keep lumbar isometry at the bottom. You're going into the hole so fast that I expect you cannot feel your lumbar rounding. That tempo may be OK later on when your back is solid, but not now. Keep posting, and you should be able to fix this up relatively quickly. You don't seem to have any ROM restrictions so you just have CNS work to do.

I just started SS and also had pain on the sides of my upper arms. The left one was bad enough that I took a few days off from pretty much all lifts.

I don't know if this is accurate or not and I have not posted a form video so take this advice with a grain of salt. But last night I tried the squats again after resting my upper arms and I took a very narrow grip on the bar such that my forearms were basically pretty much completely vertical (from the feel of it). And I kept my elbows tucked way down low. This was considerably more comfortable for me and I felt basically no pain after a full squat workout.

She may want to try that. I've got gator arms and I think when I was taking a grip like hers (relatively wide) it was putting some king of painful torque on my humerus bones or some ****. I find having a more narrow grip makes it easier to tuck my elbows straight down and takes a lot of stress off the upper arms. Good luck.

Anyone have any good front squat tips for me?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j77LXcSHdwQ

Second time deadlifting in about 3 years. And it looked about as bad as i thought it would. Some pointers would be appreciated.

You should review the Rip Deadlift setup. You never get tight before the pull. Finish the pull with your glutes.

anyone else have comments on this post?

They look pretty good to me, Colombo. You have a bit of pelvis tuck at the bottom which you should work to eliminate. Try to not overextend your low back when you set at the top, pull your ribs down towards your pelvis and take a big breath, brace your abs hard and then never relax it.

yeota, I don't know **** about this but your legs look much improved from the first DL video. There still looks something not quite ideal about the deadlifts but I don't want to guess at it. Are you finishing the lift with your glutes? It looks kinda like no.

In the squats it looks like your upper body kinda leans forward at the top of the lift. I don't know if this is "wrong" or not but it seems like other videos I watch the person is a bit more vertical at the top of the lift.

People who know what they're talking about will chime in

Hips are too low in the DL starting position, which can be seen because your hips shoot up first before the bar breaks the floor. This also indicates a lack of systemic tightness. You want to load up the hamstrings more in the starting position. Read the deadlift setup post above yours.

What sort of squat are you trying to do? Looks like a high bar placement? Knees out harder, stay tight in the back through the bottom portion of the lift (probably by slowing down the decent marginally), chest up out of the hole. The bar is drifting forward at the bottom because you are losing core tightness (bar path is a curve, you want a straight a line as possible). Your knees slide forwards at the bottom on the latter reps, you want them to be as still as possible to keep the tension on your hamstrings out of the bottom. You could probably sit back further to ameliorate this, but that is a bit inconsistent with the bar position you have so I don't know. An HBBS'er might chime in.

Out of interest, have you read Starting Strength?

ty for the comments

i have not read starting strength. i have watched a decent amount of youtube videos and think I am pretty good at applying what I see, and realizing things that are wrong in my videos compared to others.

i would like to have the bar a little lower on my back (but not much) but I had shoulder surgery in november and that is about as far as I can reach back right now.

i think that surgery is subliminally effecting my DL also, because I dont want to put extra stress on it (you might notice a lack of a full "finish" at the top of the lift).

my core is definitely weak as **** currently, as that is probably where I lost most strength being bed ridden for a month +. I can feel how weak it is especially compared to where I was at before the surgery. I do try to focus on keeping tight but sometimes I can't "feel" my core muscles if that makes sense. Its coming back slowly.

I have a similar injury issue going on with my achilles (has really bad tendonitis that I had all but worked out before surgery and the resultant loss in flexibility) but i dont think it is having too much impact on my lifts.

last time I did squats I definitely went slower and felt it more in my hammys.

Squat @ 50kg

Start of set
End of set

I still don't feel 100% confident in the motion yet. It's starting to click though and this is way better than when I started. I know I need to go lower and I'm leaning off balance a little. When I've felt it was nearly correct I had a really strong core and just sank down. The sensation was a little surprising compared to my usual attempts.

Deadlift @ 80 kg

Start
Mid 1
Mid 2
End

Thoughts?

Do I need views from the back as well?

Looks great.

Only thing I would do is to immediately get rid of the cross grip and use a standard grip. So many exercises rely on being able to get in that position.

Squat:

You're leaning way forward and coming up on your toes. This is very bad mistake. You have to sit back. Looks to me like you are doing Hi-bar. If so, you need to get deeper while maintaining a more upright posture. Since you are starting out and the weights are light, I would focus on form here and really drive deeper while sitting back. Even to the point where you are sitting in the hole, all the way down. Just to get the feel for it.

DL
Looks ok. But you are leaning over the bar too much. If you watch the bar path, you can see the bar travelling forward at start of lift. You want to get out over the bar but keep pulling back, driving your heels through the floor.

row vid

yeota,

what was the surgery? I very much notice the lack of "finish" on your DL and think it's the biggest flaw in your lift. Your starting position is a little off, you could set up a bit better and get a neutral spine, but overall it looks OK until just before lockout, where your hips finish tilting and you just arch your back more.

Assuming no medical reason preventing it, you should be squeezing your ass hard and getting your hips through to finish the lift (hump the bar), leaving your back position as is.

i had labrum surgery on my right shoulder. labrum was pretty shredded.


I am just afraid to finish the lift like that and add a little extra pressure to my shoulder at this point.


What do you mean by neutral spine?

not flexed, not overly extended.



only standing, obv. A pretty common mistake in the DL is to finish the lift by extending/arching the low back, rather than squeeze your ass and get your hips through.

If you're cutting off the top of the lift due to your shoulder (which is kinda weird but I sorta get it), just be careful to actually cut the lift short rather than still going through the full ROM by extending the low back.

Thanks for the feedback.

I started off with sitting in a deep (3rd world) squat while holding the rack for a minute x 2 with a few air squats in between. Then I did 20 reps with the bar trying to concentrate on the mechanics of proper form (or in my case something that resembles an actual squat).

10 @ 25kg, 5 @ 30kg and then 3 x 5 @ 40kg.

For me, they were certainly the best squats I've done so far. Just have to get the practice in now

kc -

thanks for the explanation, makes sense. I'll try and get a new vid next week

- Deadlift: http://youtu.be/nMuIkG6byzo
- OHP: http://youtu.be/qXORqv3NooA
- Squat: http://youtu.be/OpdmASrQwA8

Feedback very much appreciated!