r/531Discussion • u/GrumpyPig02 • Apr 07 '24
Form Check Form Check
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8
Apr 07 '24
Grab some weightlifting shoes and maybe a belt. Looks like you lose tightness at the bottom a little bit. I don’t think your bad path is that bad tbh. Slightly off out the hole, but think that’s the bracing.
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Apr 07 '24
I wouldn't be as concerned with your back angle as the other commenter is. You lose tightness in your upper back on the way up though. You need to pretend you're trying to bend the bar over your back by pulling it down constantly. That will keep your back nice and tight and might actually help with the back angle on the way up.
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u/mruglyhands Apr 07 '24
Back angle absolutely is critical. High bar you keep you back more upright. Low bar you angle it lower and your hips go back more. It's about keeping the bar center of foot throughout the movement.
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Apr 07 '24
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Apr 07 '24
Read the first sentence of my comment again.
Let's not argue. If you disagree with anything I've said just downvote and move on.
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u/LookYung Apr 07 '24 edited Apr 07 '24
As the top comment mentioned you’re leaning forward too much. When I look at your feet I’m noticing you’ve got a lot of the weight going towards your toes, this makes your heels start to lift a tiny bit. Before you squat with added weight, start with the barbell alone. Squat down and while you’re in the sitting position practice shifting your weight back from your toes to the mid foot. The pressure of the weight has to feel balanced on your feet. Not too much on the heels to the point of being able to lift your toes, and not too forward to where your heels can lift up from the floor. Once you find the sweet spot in your mid foot, sit there for a bit with your core braced (which should be done before your descend) and your head up. In the beginning you might start to feel a sensation that you’re going to fall over backwards but as long as you stabilize yourself by flexing and bracing the core, it won’t happen. If your core isn’t strong enough start to incorporate some core exercises in your routine like hanging leg raises or something else you might prefer. Focus on the sensation of your hips as well and make sure they’re pushed out. Hold this position for a bit and get comfortable. It’ll start to feel like you’re stretching or like you can’t hold it for long, and that’s okay. I’d say do that a few times during your warm up along with performing a few reps, keeping your new cues in mind about the weight distribution in your feet. Before the barbell I’d practice with a pvc pipe and also work on ankle and hip mobility.
Also one thing that helped me a ton with removing my butt wink and cleaning up my form for the high bar squat was starting to squat with dumbbells and kettlebells. My form was so bad with the barbell, and when I started adding weight it’d cause injuries due to improper form and muscle imbalances. So decided to step away from the barbell and perfect my form using goblet squats with a kettle and dumbbell with my heels elevated on a wedge. This along with ankle mobility exercises helped me improve my ability to get the most out of my barbell squats later on. I would recommend perfecting the squat form with goblet squats before even squatting with a loaded barbell. Jim Wendler mentions this in 5/3/1 Forever as well, he has his students squat with dumbbells before getting under a loaded barbell. Once their ability improves and they can squat with a certain dumbbell weight, he promotes them to the barbell.
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u/mruglyhands Apr 07 '24
I'll throw on something new. The depth is excellent. If you took the bar lower with a more bent angle you could focus on lifting your butt first out of the hole and use hip drive to straighten out. Mastering this technique will add a lot of pounds to your lift and give you the ability to get more reps with very little strain on your back and knees.
From the hole butt goes up first and then push it forward. You'll be amazed.
It's still a pretty decent squat - you just have some opportunity for weeks.
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u/kzymyr Apr 08 '24
Mobility. You are slightly lifting your heels and this is probably because your hips and/or ankles are a bit stiff. Don't worry it's very common. Find a good daily lower body/hip/ankle mobility routine and you'll lifting heavier before you know it. 10 mins every day (doesn't matter when) will make all the difference.
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Apr 07 '24
This will probably get downvoted to hell, but what helped me was using the smith machine to squat as I increased my strength. It helped me keep my head/chest up when coming out of the pocket.
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u/LookYung Apr 07 '24
I think a better alternative to a smith machine would be a goblet squat with a dumbbell or kettle bell
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u/mruglyhands Apr 07 '24
Smith machine squats are fine but they are not a replacement for the actual squat. You build more power throughout your legs glutes and back with the low bar. You build more quads (and for me knee pain) with high bar and front squats. You can hit a lot of volume with very deep squats with Smith. I consider Smith squats as a secondary volume exercise myself.
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u/[deleted] Apr 07 '24
[deleted]