Some powerlifting help :)?

[haydz0r]

Hey guys,

Its been a while since ive posted, had a bit of a break and did other things (gymnastics type stuff mainly)! but im keen to get back into this side of things. I never quite got the squat down properly, so for the last 2 weeks i have been watching videos, studying starting strength and practising my squat technique.

Here is a video of me squatting 70ish kgs.

Any advice helping me with my form would be hugely appreciated! In the past I have had trouble with the squats and my left knee, im hoping form will correct this

[SoaringSwine]

Few things:

1) 70kg is obviously pretty light for you, doing a heavy set of 3 is more useful as it reveals your "true" form.

2) You did well sitting back into the squat, but you did lean forward a lot. Probably not much of a problem at that weight, but as you get heavier it probably could create a problem. If it does there are a couple solutions: 1. let your knees drift forward a bit so you don't need to lean forward so much or 2. get your feet wider which means your centre of gravity will allow you to be more upright.

3) When you unrack the weight get both feet underneath the bar instead of one back one forward. When the weight gets heavy you will have problems walking out like that. So get both feet under, stand up, then walk out.

What are your big three at the moment?

[Old Bull]

SS,

pretty well sumed it up, it is hard to gauge weakpoints when you in a comfort zone of squating 8+ reps.

On the left knee, have you had an injury to you left leg/hip at some stage?

It shows in your rear shot, last rep more than the others reps. That your left glute is not firing, and is weak so your dominant Right Hip/Glute takes the load and shifts the centre of gavity over.

This would be more pronouced as the weight got heavier, if this is the problem then 1 Legged Good Mornings will bring it up to speed.

[haydz0r]

Few things:

1) 70kg is obviously pretty light for you, doing a heavy set of 3 is more useful as it reveals your "true" form.

70kg was the weight i worked up to from no weight like it said to do in starting strength going up in 5-10kgs, so by the time i got to 70 it sure felt like a lot of weight. That was my first day back squatting in over 6 months. To help show more weaknesses in my squat, I will take it up further to where I can only squat 3 reps and record that.

2) You did well sitting back into the squat, but you did lean forward a lot. Probably not much of a problem at that weight, but as you get heavier it probably could create a problem. If it does there are a couple solutions: 1. let your knees drift forward a bit so you don't need to lean forward so much or 2. get your feet wider which means your centre of gravity will allow you to be more upright.

Im not quite sure what you mean here? by lean forward do you mean the barbell does not line up with the centre of my feet (if there were to be a line drawn from the barbell directly down to my feet)? So that my torso is too bent over, meaning i should "sit up" a bit more?

3) When you unrack the weight get both feet underneath the bar instead of one back one forward. When the weight gets heavy you will have problems walking out like that. So get both feet under, stand up, then walk out.

What are your big three at the moment?

Thanks for the advice Im really glad there are people like you out there that take a little bit of their time to help out! I will make sure to unrack the weight with both feet first.

I dont really have a big three at the moment, I went into olympic lifts a year ago (only lasted 6 months) without any comprehensive knowledge and because I didnt try to get my form down properly I ended up with all sorts of injuries. So now im starting fresh - my mind has pretty much forgotten how to do the lifts with bad habits :-s. Back when I used to do unguided lifting I had a 140kg deadlift, 75kg bench press and 90kg squat (im pretty damn sure i could do all 3 today) - not much, but we all have to start somewhere. After cleaning up my squat technique, those 75kg squats felt a lot easier than I thought they would. only after 10 sets of 5 reps did i felt fatigued!

Thanks again for your help!

[haydz0r]

SS,

pretty well sumed it up, it is hard to gauge weakpoints when you in a comfort zone of squating 8+ reps.

On the left knee, have you had an injury to you left leg/hip at some stage?

It shows in your rear shot, last rep more than the others reps. That your left glute is not firing, and is weak so your dominant Right Hip/Glute takes the load and shifts the centre of gavity over.

This would be more pronouced as the weight got heavier, if this is the problem then 1 Legged Good Mornings will bring it up to speed.

Hey Old Bull I am keen to join your house of lifting next year when I start university in Wellington!

Your bang on with the left knee and hip. When I did taekwondo, I strained the inside of my hip joint on numerous occasions, and occasionaly when I do some sports like surfing where I have to pull my legs in to bring them up onto the board it will "pop" out of place (it doesnt actually pop out of place, it just feels like that) - the weird thing is, the pain almost completely dissapears within a few hours. My knee was injured presumably by bad squat technique a 6months to a year ago, it got weak and in the mornings i would have to "click" it to make it feel loose and walkable. But everything has pretty much healed up since then.

Thanks for your advice on the left glute/ham, I will do an extra set of one legged good mornings at the end of each gym session to try to bring it up to speed. I have noticed my right side in all areas of my body dominates my left side quite noticeably (haha even my sun tan turns out a lot more even/less freckles than my left side!)

Thanks for your time to help out too Old Bull! Im looking forward to next year and hopefully I will be able to train with you and your gym members!

[SoaringSwine]

If your legs are wider it means you don't have to lean forward as much to get the weight over your heels. I've drawn a crappy diagram that may explain it.

[haydz0r]

oh yep, i understand what you mean now.. although im unsure as to the reason why leaning over in the narrow stance will be a problem at heavier weights? Is it an injury hazzard or does it simply mean I wont be able to lift as much?

Thanks again!

[SoaringSwine]

oh yep, i understand what you mean now.. although im unsure as to the reason why leaning over in the narrow stance will be a problem at heavier weights? Is it an injury hazzard or does it simply mean I wont be able to lift as much?

Thanks again!

You're probably more likely to injure yourself. And yes it's a pretty inefficient way to lift, therefore you'll most likely lift less.

[Laver]

SS, you're so cute. Nice picture. :jive: