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Form check on squats
- Thread starter imdave0182
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Rabid_Goose
New member
I'm new to Squats, period. Especially ATF squats but I'm on my 4th week of doing them. I've watched a lot of videos and descriptions but only slightly Hands on Experience and my form is still a work on progress. You look like you have it, I'm not good enough to find anything wrong, your knees are sturdy and if you were squating to sit on a toilet seat your ass would be in the water and on the porcilin lol.
Edit: One thing I do is search YouTube for videos of lifts I want to learn. It looks like to me you don't need any more help but if you want too for other lifts.
Edit: One thing I do is search YouTube for videos of lifts I want to learn. It looks like to me you don't need any more help but if you want too for other lifts.
TomoUK
New member
i agree they look really good. the only aspect i would comment on is the speed that you go down, my coach makes me go down much slower so that i 'control the bar and feel the weight'. Makes the lift much harder cus there is zero momentum! whether this is just a particular training style or if this is the way they should be done im not sure, maybe someone more experienced than me could clarify this?
Protobuilder
New member
Those look great, Dave.
I don't know exactly how fast/slow you should descend, but here's something to compare to. I don't think your descent was too fast, so long as you aren't divebombing in order to make it back up with the weight. IOW, you shouldn't bounce a bench press off your chest to make it past your sticking point . . . and you shouldn't bounce on your knees in order to get the first couple of inches on the reversal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH-IadDDsK4
I don't know exactly how fast/slow you should descend, but here's something to compare to. I don't think your descent was too fast, so long as you aren't divebombing in order to make it back up with the weight. IOW, you shouldn't bounce a bench press off your chest to make it past your sticking point . . . and you shouldn't bounce on your knees in order to get the first couple of inches on the reversal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH-IadDDsK4
Cynical Simian
New member
Those are excellent squats.
Regarding speed of descent, there's a fine line between utilizing the tightness/rebound at the bottom and, to borrow PB's phrase, "divebombing" it. On your early sets/weeks you can take your time in the hole, but as you get into PR weights you'll naturally spend less time at the bottom. Knee pain would be one good indicator that you need to stay tighter, and in this sense it's pretty self-regulating: your knees will start bugging you if you continually "divebomb" your later reps/sets. Your form and depth looked great, so as long as you're not getting any pain, just worry about adding weight to the bar.
Regarding speed of descent, there's a fine line between utilizing the tightness/rebound at the bottom and, to borrow PB's phrase, "divebombing" it. On your early sets/weeks you can take your time in the hole, but as you get into PR weights you'll naturally spend less time at the bottom. Knee pain would be one good indicator that you need to stay tighter, and in this sense it's pretty self-regulating: your knees will start bugging you if you continually "divebomb" your later reps/sets. Your form and depth looked great, so as long as you're not getting any pain, just worry about adding weight to the bar.
Tweakle
New member
Depth was good, but imo the descent speed on the triple was too fast. Once the weights get up there you're going to have some problems with your knees.. it's only 3 reps so slow them down and blast up as hard as you can.
for higher reps with lighter weight then you should be ok with that speed
for higher reps with lighter weight then you should be ok with that speed
imdave0182
New member
Protobuilder said:
I've seen that clip many, many times. I use him for reference. Who is he?
Tweakle said:
So I can get by with that speed on my light sets. Cool. I'll try and slow down on the descent. I didn't realize I dropped that quick until I watched it.
Thanks for the tips, guys. Any more?
s8nlilhlpr
Banned
wheytime said:
No, you have fallen for a common misconception. You are doing them wrong, unless you are using a really wide stance, powerlifting squat, which is not what he is doing.
Scotsman
New member
Fantastic depth man, those look great. As mentioned before a little more control on the descent. Also try looking up instead of at yourself in the mirror, you were tracking forward a tiny amount and when you get heavy it may become worse. Look up go up! Again though great work. Now just get the gym to change that music.LOL
Cheers,
Scotsman
Cheers,
Scotsman
super_rice
New member
Fantastic everything. Just learn to use that spring with a tight and strong body, because if you cave slightly or relax at the bottom, the weight will crush you.
As well as looking up, the thing is your form is 99% BUT your hips are in danger of coming up faster than your shoulders. You're not exactly going into a good morning and getting pinned to the deck- no far from that, but your bar speed is slowing mid point. To me that indicates you need a little more power in the hips and quads to explode back up. I also noticed the condition of your lower back arch changes throughout the movement. Whether this is seen as acceptable and/or normal will of course depend on who you talk to, but it does have an effect on leverage and subsequent power output.
It's one thing if your quads and hips are tired after fifteen reps, that's when the lower back comes into play to take over the lift a little. It's sloppy form and basically equates to failure or at least fatigue of specific muscles. It's another thing if on rep 2 of 3 the lower back has to take a bit of load.
What I'm saying here is marginal- because it isn't as though your form is wrong or that your legs are too weak- it's a reminder that the tiniest deviation can become a problem if you don't nip it in the bud.
It's one thing if your quads and hips are tired after fifteen reps, that's when the lower back comes into play to take over the lift a little. It's sloppy form and basically equates to failure or at least fatigue of specific muscles. It's another thing if on rep 2 of 3 the lower back has to take a bit of load.
What I'm saying here is marginal- because it isn't as though your form is wrong or that your legs are too weak- it's a reminder that the tiniest deviation can become a problem if you don't nip it in the bud.
Last edited:
Scotsman
New member
petpre61 said:
Problem with that is you tend to look forward and as part of human nature we go where ever we are looking. If you can stay back and not track forward looking forward then that's fine. The other reason to look up is it helps maintain your arch in your back so you don't collapse forward when you go heavy. Mirrors are the big culprate though you tend to try and check out your form while lifting, if you face out from the mirror it eliminates a lot of that.
Cheers,
Scotsman
Cynical Simian
New member
I agree with Scotsman about the mirror thing (I lift at home so it's never been an issue, but it seems like it'd be a distraction) but not about changing your neck angle. Instead, a helpful cue might be to look up with your eyes rather than actually tilting your head up, as in this photo some of you guys might've seen before.
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