*** H&F Form Check Thread ***
04-06-2011
, 09:10 AM
Quote:
Geronomo,
iirc, the last vid you posted one of your big issues was that your ankles were rolling in on your squats... can't really see from that vid if your knees/ankles are stable.
Bar is still too high.
You are losing lumbar extension at the bottom. Can you see this when you watch your vids? See as you drop below 90 degrees your lower back starts to round? Get keep it flat (or slightly arched). Get it in that position when you unrack. Tighten your upper back, abs, lower back. Squeeze everything and keep it that way throughout the lift.
I can see you are trying to get your hip drive on, but to get any real benefit from hip drive, you have to get the bar in the right position. i.e. lower. and once you do get the bar lower, you will have to concentrate more on beginning the movement by pushing your hips back. i.e. sit back first, then bend at the knees.
Can't *see* much wrong with your dead at that angle, but I've got a feeling you have the same issue with a rounded lower back at the start of the pull. Remember that the bottom position of your squat and dead will probably be fairly similar.
Also, this pic might help explain the impact the bar position has on your squat. Notice how the high bar position (what you are doing) tends to make the torso much more vertical? Well, when you don't really get any benefit from hip drive in this position. It will tend to just bring your shoulders forward (like what happens in the last couple of reps of your posted set).
iirc, the last vid you posted one of your big issues was that your ankles were rolling in on your squats... can't really see from that vid if your knees/ankles are stable.
Bar is still too high.
You are losing lumbar extension at the bottom. Can you see this when you watch your vids? See as you drop below 90 degrees your lower back starts to round? Get keep it flat (or slightly arched). Get it in that position when you unrack. Tighten your upper back, abs, lower back. Squeeze everything and keep it that way throughout the lift.
I can see you are trying to get your hip drive on, but to get any real benefit from hip drive, you have to get the bar in the right position. i.e. lower. and once you do get the bar lower, you will have to concentrate more on beginning the movement by pushing your hips back. i.e. sit back first, then bend at the knees.
Can't *see* much wrong with your dead at that angle, but I've got a feeling you have the same issue with a rounded lower back at the start of the pull. Remember that the bottom position of your squat and dead will probably be fairly similar.
Also, this pic might help explain the impact the bar position has on your squat. Notice how the high bar position (what you are doing) tends to make the torso much more vertical? Well, when you don't really get any benefit from hip drive in this position. It will tend to just bring your shoulders forward (like what happens in the last couple of reps of your posted set).
Here are some squats from this morning. (5x60kg) Basically I was trying to put the bar lower on my back and focussing on keeping my back and hips coming up at the same time on the way up. I'm not sure if I accomplished either
Pretty disappointed with today, I think I'm still a bit intimidated by everyone at the gym so I get there and forget everything I'm supposed to be working on! Before Friday I'm going to revisit the SS chapter for squats and really focus on getting them right, even if it's at a lower weight.As the bar gets lower on my back, when I unrack I really struggle to hold it easily with my hands like they are. Is that a flexibility issue?
Also re: squats, some old guy came up to me and told me a few things. He didn't seem completely clueless. He basically said:
1) Lower back is rounding at bottom (what Snitch said).
2) I go to the bottom and bounce up, which is bad.
3) I should put the safety pins up and do half squats, then 3/4 squats, then deep squats to practise.
Any truth to any of this?
Oh and quickly, some hang cleans, anything majorly wrong here? I can't actually tell if I'm using my arms or not.
My presses today were awful so I didn't add any weight to the bar and I'm just going to go back to the drawing board with those.
04-06-2011
, 09:59 AM
Dude, those squats look waaay better than your last posts imo.
+ Bar is lower (but could maybe go just a little lower tbh) and hand/arm position better.
+ Knees staying out more (ankles not rolling), but keep working on this, you can see them really wanting to come in
+ Lower back not rounding. This could be a product of the lower bar position plus better proprioception (I think that's the word for it
).
Pause that vid at the bottom of your first rep and compare it to the bottom of your previous vids. MUCH better imo. The bottom of that first rep is very close to a correct position for a lbbs.
There are a few points, but they're not as dramatic as they have been. You're wrists are a little bit cocked, your knees are on the verge of caving, back is slightly rounded, your weight is coming forward onto your toes a little (I like to do the thing where you curl your toes up to the sky in your shoes to prevent this). But generally quite good. Just concentrate on these points every lift rep.
As for unracking the bar being uncomfortable... It does look like you are lacking a bit of tightness in your back in general when you unrack. Get under the bar. Get the bar into position on your back. Take a big breath in. Pull your shoulders back. Arch your back. Tighten everything up. Unrack the bar and step back.
I don't want to say this, but you are looking down too much when you unrack. It's like you're dangling your head down. Remember you look "down" but really your head/neck is just in a neutral position with your spine and the reason you are looking "down" is because your back is angled slightly forward.
As for what the other guy said:
1) Looks like you are improving this now.
2) Nah. Doesn't look bad to me. May be a couple of reps are a little fast which makes it look a bit "bouncey". In truth you do actually want a "bounce"... but the reason the "bounce" has a bad rap is because most people associate it with increased pressure on the knees. If you get your lbbs form down, you will get a "bounce" out of your hamstrings. So just keep doing what you are doing, work on keeping your ass back which will help to recruit your hamstrings.
3) Bullsh*t. If you want to do drills to get your squats better in the bottom position, stretch and do things like the squatting down and pushing your knees out with your elbows.
+ Bar is lower (but could maybe go just a little lower tbh) and hand/arm position better.
+ Knees staying out more (ankles not rolling), but keep working on this, you can see them really wanting to come in
+ Lower back not rounding. This could be a product of the lower bar position plus better proprioception (I think that's the word for it
).Pause that vid at the bottom of your first rep and compare it to the bottom of your previous vids. MUCH better imo. The bottom of that first rep is very close to a correct position for a lbbs.
There are a few points, but they're not as dramatic as they have been. You're wrists are a little bit cocked, your knees are on the verge of caving, back is slightly rounded, your weight is coming forward onto your toes a little (I like to do the thing where you curl your toes up to the sky in your shoes to prevent this). But generally quite good. Just concentrate on these points every lift rep.
As for unracking the bar being uncomfortable... It does look like you are lacking a bit of tightness in your back in general when you unrack. Get under the bar. Get the bar into position on your back. Take a big breath in. Pull your shoulders back. Arch your back. Tighten everything up. Unrack the bar and step back.
I don't want to say this, but you are looking down too much when you unrack. It's like you're dangling your head down. Remember you look "down" but really your head/neck is just in a neutral position with your spine and the reason you are looking "down" is because your back is angled slightly forward.
As for what the other guy said:
1) Looks like you are improving this now.
2) Nah. Doesn't look bad to me. May be a couple of reps are a little fast which makes it look a bit "bouncey". In truth you do actually want a "bounce"... but the reason the "bounce" has a bad rap is because most people associate it with increased pressure on the knees. If you get your lbbs form down, you will get a "bounce" out of your hamstrings. So just keep doing what you are doing, work on keeping your ass back which will help to recruit your hamstrings.
3) Bullsh*t. If you want to do drills to get your squats better in the bottom position, stretch and do things like the squatting down and pushing your knees out with your elbows.
04-06-2011
, 10:17 AM
04-06-2011
, 02:19 PM
04-07-2011
, 06:29 PM
04-08-2011
, 05:53 AM
04-08-2011
, 09:59 AM
@geronimo
I also took a quick look at your 5x100 deads and they were much the same, but you can see your form breaking down and back starting to round under the heavier weight.
However, I think if you stop extending too early with your knees, that might help fix your back rounding as you will be less bent over. i.e. more vertical back angle. Understand? Open your hip angle first, then open your knee angle.
As an addition to this, you should try and not let your hips rise first. It's really hard not to do (and maybe not that important as you get a better feel for the lift), but if your hips are rising first (as they do in most of your reps) this can also indicate you are trying to extend your knees first.
Also, your cleans are terrible. You get the power in the clean through extending your knees and hips. You're not really doing any of that. I would highly recommend watching the vids on this site and do the drills that you see in the first couple of vids for the clean and jerk.
http://www.californiastrength.com/olwete.html
I like the way that he breaks it down into three steps.
1) Bend a little at the knees
2) Hips back
3) Hips forward
Really emphasize the hips thrusting forward (and maybe "up" is a better cue) imo. I've said it before, and I don't know if it is physiologically what happens, but I like to think that pushing my hips back loads up my hamstrings like a slingshot, then you let let it go and they fly forward.
I also took a quick look at your 5x100 deads and they were much the same, but you can see your form breaking down and back starting to round under the heavier weight.
However, I think if you stop extending too early with your knees, that might help fix your back rounding as you will be less bent over. i.e. more vertical back angle. Understand? Open your hip angle first, then open your knee angle.
As an addition to this, you should try and not let your hips rise first. It's really hard not to do (and maybe not that important as you get a better feel for the lift), but if your hips are rising first (as they do in most of your reps) this can also indicate you are trying to extend your knees first.
Also, your cleans are terrible.
You get the power in the clean through extending your knees and hips. You're not really doing any of that. I would highly recommend watching the vids on this site and do the drills that you see in the first couple of vids for the clean and jerk.http://www.californiastrength.com/olwete.html
I like the way that he breaks it down into three steps.
1) Bend a little at the knees
2) Hips back
3) Hips forward
Really emphasize the hips thrusting forward (and maybe "up" is a better cue) imo. I've said it before, and I don't know if it is physiologically what happens, but I like to think that pushing my hips back loads up my hamstrings like a slingshot, then you let let it go and they fly forward.
04-08-2011
, 10:07 AM
04-08-2011
, 10:09 AM
04-10-2011
, 12:25 AM
04-10-2011
, 03:26 PM
04-10-2011
, 06:41 PM