he means the neck, not the lower back. you don't want your lower back to be hyperextended either, though. your lower back is properly extended and stays that way through the lift. definitely not on the verge of rounding.

More form checks for me:

Box squats (10 lbs jump, looks like my form isn't breaking yet, although my g/f claims I'm holding the bar on the left side higher)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txZElyRMNxI

Press - I seem quite shaky when doing it but my form definitely is better than when I started. Anything else I'm doing wrong besides still being a bit hesitant about smacking my nose maybe?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r2IF7IYWHY

DL - went down to 225 instead of 240 and pretty sure there is zero back rounding. Still have trouble leading with my chest and not my hips. But I'm v happy with the more solid back. Any other thoughts?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw16C5X2X84

Elbows are way too far back in the press

What would guys rate your forms on the five lifts from the best to worst?

I think I'd go DL, squat, press, bench, then PC.

squat, DL, bench, press, clean

my clean suuuxxxxxxxxxx

ALL OF THE ABOVE

Press, Bench, Squat, PC, Deadlift

cannot get my lower back into extension for ****

Squat:
5x185 (Set #2) - Haven't had a depth issue since I restarted SS after a long layoff, but other than than depth, any issues here?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q7g3UlDY3E

Press:
5x80
http://youtu.be/JTwF06KgOxw

That's my wife in the FSU shirt(haha) who is 4 weeks post c-section & back in the gym before she's supposed to be, yet not recording my video...awesome eh?

yup, still this. I think it's pretty good overall considering. IMO, you'll feel stronger when you get them forward & more under the bar. You also down wear yourself down on the way down as much. You're making your forearms do all of the work, although I'm sure someone else can explain that more biomechanically.

Any comments? Never posted a press video. FWIW I had left elbow pain after the first set.

Get those elbows in front of the bar. Pin the bar back a bit more near your chest & get your elbows slightly forward of the bar which will help straighten your bar path. Aim for the nose, since your bar path tends to go out and up rather than straight up. Also, looks like you're cheating the ROM just a bit, get that bar all the way back down. If you don't get your elbows forward then, you'll really start to get warn out during the negative going all the way down.

In vid 1, you do a better job getting your body under the bar and your bar path is a bit better during the later reps.

Vid 2, your bar is traveling back instead of up, so think about what I said above, but let your body come under the bar.

Watch the Rip videos on youtube/SSwiki for the Press vids.

mine isn't amazing either =\ bar does a little bit what yours does + my back looks over extended, but waiting on teh responses.

As for your elbow pain, could be related to your elbow position since the weight is fairly significant. Foam rolling your bicep area & lower bicep tendons is a good idea. I have had a significant bicep issue in the past via a strain and tendonitis & they aren't insanely painful, but can be very debilitating for lifting since every lift will stress it in someway.

Thanks Dudd & Gator. Every time I setup for Press I make sure to get my elbows out there and I guess every time I start struggling it's the first thing to fall apart. Which of course just makes the whole rep harder. I will concentrate specifically on this and being smooth and not worry as much about where my face is.

Apparently I'm really inflexible in shoulder/elbow/wrist area and I guess I'd have to say I didn't realize how bad until now. It always felt like my elbows were more in front of the bar on the clean. I also can't bring my elbows up in any way. Soulman linked me to a video that discusses upper body flexibility for Olympic lifts and I just started to do shoulder dislocations, but I haven't a friend that can help with improving my rack position.

I see exactly what you are saying about the bar path wrt the different sets and it being slightly different on the 2nd set. Must be the angle that makes the reps look short because I remember making sure to touch it back down to my shoulders, aka rack position.

Watching the Rip vids on the SS wiki now, luckily work is slow now.

Thanks for the analysis.

squats look pretty good imo

press - I suck at the press and critiquing it, but it looks to me like your back is arched way too much. Tighten up your abs a lot and try to get that arch flattened a bit.

Yeah, I was going to edit my OP to mention the arch but I tried too late. I have been consciously trying to tighten the abs & ass, but I think the ass part is being counterproductive. It seems to be encouraging the arch.

My other focus is on leaning from the hips like Rip suggests, but half way through the set, I convert to leaning from the shoulders.

if your abs weren't tight you would not be able to recover as well as you do. i have to disagree with cha about your press. i think your back looks fine, but i will add that it is hard to really judge your overall position without seeing your legs. the only thing i'd work on is getting all the way under the bar as soon as the bar is high enough to allow it.

my lower back is arched even more than yours here.

TFG,

squats look ok, but your knees go a bit too much forward at the bottom. Try to tighten your abs and back as much as you possibly can and really go back, not down, to start the descent. Weight looked pretty easy, but this'll be more important once you get to heavier weights. Other than that, form looks good.

I agree with miles on the press. Maaaybe you lean your head/upper back backwards a bit too much but not by much if so. You could probably rotate your elbows a bit more forward, see miles' video for a comparison.

k, thanks. Def agree with you about getting under the bar.

Yeah, I can see that in my squat now, comparing to other vids. ty

Bench 5x125 & DL 5x205 in the same vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgJFFJX_GHg

Sorry for the craptastic vids, so I understand if you can't see much out of it.

DL form as been crappy since my return to lifting, so wanted to get something up although view is blocked on most of the reps. Weight was pretty light so that maybe doesn't help but wanted to see something before I got into any bad habits.

DL - the first rep your butt was too high and your low back wasnt set when you pulled it off the floor. Get your butt down lower, tighten your back and squeeze the weight off the floor. Dont stay in the set position for several seconds - that makes you weaker. Just set the back & pull. Also, finish the lifts by squeezing your butt cheeks together at the top. keep in mind, that does NOT mean to lean back at the top. Think about standing tall and squeeze your glutes to finish the lift.

BP - looks sort of ok, but I kind of think you could be squeezing your shoulder blades together tighter. There are some other minor things too, but getting the shoulder blades tight is most important. Watch this series: http://articles.elitefts.com/article...e-series-here/

Bench angle is weird, but almost looks like the bar is too far in front of you. I dunno, I just dislike a standard bench set up so much now compared to the Tate style shown in the above series. Just FYI, the form shown in that series is different from the one that Rip teaches, they're not really comparable.


DL: don't think the butt was much too high, you just need to make sure to get behind the bar a bit more. Looks like you followed Rip's setup guide? I actually think your butt was too low for the later reps. You bend your knees a bit too early on the descent, causing the bar to go around the knees.

Front raise form check please: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew2y8mkruLs

Your set-up levelled me good as to what exercise you were about to complete.

curling in the squat rack ITT