HELP: How do you Squat with perfect form???

[princesa]

I've been doing legs for over 6years and the way i was taught is

place your feet shoulder width, hands as close as possible
chest up, abs tight, knees slightly bent, glutes out
eyes to the ceiling, slowly bend your knees, lower your butt slightly below 90 degree angle and push through your heels, glutes always tight and knees DO NOT go forward of your toes

now when you are squating heavy your back will automatically arch ..am i right???


was doing legs/glutes today and this trainer at the gym approches me
compliments me on my legs and goes "i have one small suggestion"
im like "sure, show me what im doing wrong" im open to suggestions ....

so i go to the squat rack and i start squatting as i statted above
he comes behind and puts his hand on my lower back and the other one on my waist....im like wtf-at this point im pissed, no need to be touchy feely ..i put the bar down and ask him to show me how he does it
he says i should keep my back straight and knees going forward pass my toes this way im hitting my quads

im explaining to him that my primary focus was to hit glutes then quads and so on...

he kept insisting he was right and how he is been a trainer for the past 6 years blah blah... at this point i was ready to pass out i had no more energy to talk to this guy so i tried to be polite and thanked him for the tip

but i dont agree with him at all


what are your thoughts?????

 

[DaveTSI]

no he's not right hes just another dime a dozen retard personal trainer, you are 100% correct.

you can adjust your foot placement to whatever suits you, im very wide because it takes pressure off my knees and transfers it to my hips.

"now when you are squating heavy your back will automatically arch ..am i right???"
do you mean your back will round over forward? or do you mean stay arched like your position when you start?

 

[GUARDIAN]

i was taught to break at your hips first to lower down then the knees and body will follow not the knees first.

 

[DaveTSI]

i break knees a split second before hips now, i used to go hips first. Breaking your knees first allows you to keep more tension on your hips and get more power out of the hole.

 

[princesa]

no he's not right hes just another dime a dozen retard personal trainer, you are 100% correct.

you can adjust your foot placement to whatever suits you, im very wide because it takes pressure off my knees and transfers it to my hips.

"now when you are squating heavy your back will automatically arch ..am i right???"
do you mean your back will round over forward? or do you mean stay arched like your position when you start?

stay arched from the start position...for me its hard to keep a straight back when I squat heavy

 

[musclemom]

1. Knees should not go out past your toes, that's the fastest way to risk knee injury.

2. You need the arch in your lower back. Straightening the lower back with a weight on your shoulders is a very good way to ask for a herniated disc.

Look at the form illustrated in Delavier's "Strength Training Anatomy." There is a "right" way illustrated and a "wrong" way illustrated. The wrong way has the back straight and the knees going over the toes.

Think of the way the spine of a skeleton looks, the way the human body is designed with our heads balanced over our hips. Ideally, when carrying any load high you want to maintain the curves in the spine, that's how the body is strongest and most stable.

 

[PoweredUp]

One thing I could point out is that you should not be looking up at the ceiling. This puts your neck in a very bad position. You should be looking at something on the ground about 6 feet in fron of you.

 

[Sculelos]

One thing I could point out is that you should not be looking up at the ceiling. This puts your neck in a very bad position. You should be looking at something on the ground about 6 feet in fron of you.

Not sure about the ground part, but yeah anything in front of you is much, much better then the ceiling.

As for the back part. Your lower back should not round but it should have a slight natural curve, If your rounding or overextending (Bending backwards) with large amounts of weight your asking for injury.

 

[AEKDB]

Great video by Dan John on how to squat: Squat Lesson

 

[Elementality]

Watch this video for a quick glance at squatting. Shows all the olympic lifts, this kid can fuc*ing lift man. weights like 165, squats 8 plates like its nothing.

For the squat, scroll down on the right side and look for back squat.

Also, notice his knees ARE over his toes which you all disagreed with. I always thought by pushing the chest out, the glutes out, and the hips forward your knees naturally do point over the toes and that takes stress OFF the knees...

 

[Beachbum1546]

i was taught to break at your hips first to lower down then the knees and body will follow not the knees first.

this is probably the most overlooked part of the squat but one of the most important parts of a good squat.

 

[curvymommy]

I thought I was doing good with my squats now I have a lot of doubts after reading this. I wonder if I'm doing it right...at least I'm doing something but here's my question:

Is it ok to go all the way down? I do and it gets really hard toward the end ( in a good way). My back arches a little on the way down but not exagerated.

Another thing...why am I the only woman doing squats in the gym? I'm not worried about it but it's kinda sad that more people don't do them.

 

[AEKDB]

I thought I was doing good with my squats now I have a lot of doubts after reading this. I wonder if I'm doing it right...at least I'm doing something but here's my question:

Is it ok to go all the way down? I do and it gets really hard toward the end ( in a good way). My back arches a little on the way down but not exagerated.

Another thing...why am I the only woman doing squats in the gym? I'm not worried about it but it's kinda sad that more people don't do them.

Watch the video I posted. I know it is long but Dan John does a great job explaining the movement. It is a "natural" movement and should not be over examined. If you keep your shoulders back, chest out, head up, and move straight up and down you will have perfect form. Likewise in the deadlift if you lift by trying to push your head into the wall behind you, you will have perfect form.

 

[curvymommy]

Watch the video I posted. I know it is long but Dan John does a great job explaining the movement. It is a "natural" movement and should not be over examined. If you keep your shoulders back, chest out, head up, and move straight up and down you will have perfect form. Likewise in the deadlift if you lift by trying to push your head into the wall behind you, you will have perfect form.

Thank you. I will. It feels like a natural movement now. When I first did it I had a bruise along the back of my neck. My neighbor/friend happened to be there that day and corrected me to hold the barbell higher, more along my traps. It's been smooth sailing since.

I WILL check out the video too. Thanks very much.

 

[Elementality]

Watch this video for a quick glance at squatting. Shows all the olympic lifts, this kid can fuc*ing lift man. weights like 165, squats 8 plates like its nothing.

For the squat, scroll down on the right side and look for back squat.

Also, notice his knees ARE over his toes which you all disagreed with. I always thought by pushing the chest out, the glutes out, and the hips forward your knees naturally do point over the toes and that takes stress OFF the knees...

WHOOPS! here's the link. check it out guys, this is squatting http://www.aceathlete.com/hatch/video.htm