Form Check

B

bgates1654

New Member
Please take a look at this video and critique my form. Its about 15MB.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6918278091800593035&hl=en

Description:
225x5 squats (I think I lean forward too much. Athletic Stance Rippetoe style)
125x5 Press (I bump my chin on the last rep and it throws it out of line)
BW+40 Dips (nothing special)
Various Cleans at 135/150 (I think I squat down a bit too far on my power cleans from the power position and consequently put my shoulders behind the bar.) The hang cleans also show my deadlift form.
 
The squats actually look pretty good, and you are definitely not leaning too far forward for the type of low bar squat that Rip advocates imho. The only things I noticed here is that your depth looks questionable on some reps and that your knees might be sliding forward a little out of the bottom, a sign of the hamstrings relaxing a little. Both problems would probably be helped by the "knees out" cue, particularly in the hole.

The presses and dips both look very good imho, and I'm not really qualified to comment on the cleans.
 
Good presses, it looks like you could handle even more weight, although that can lead to push-presses....which are still awesome!
laugh.gif
 
Squats look good to me except for a slight bit of lower back rounding going on just before the lowest point - although it's not easy to see under loose clothing. That will allow the hips to come forward a little and put less strain on the hams, as mikeynov pointed out. Do you feel your hams tightening as you get close to the lowest point? If you do, then work on keeping them that way so that you get some extra help coming out of the hole; think of your hams as rubber bands that you want to be as stretched as possible at that point.
 
Looks good; I can't comment on any oly's tho. (don't know much) I like dips to go a bit lower with narrow bars, but they're easy for me, since I trained on wide. (34")
 
I pretty much agree with what Lol said.

As Sci said, it looks like the presses were pretty easy, but you elbows should not be directly under the bar when you start the rep.

Although you stopped doing it toward the end, why were you taking such long pauses when doing the cleans? The purpose of cleans is to be an explosive movement. But since you stopped doing that, maybe it was just warming up?
 
<div>
(TunnelRat @ May 01 2008,10:59)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">That's a mighty fine-looking power rack you've got there!</div>
That rack changes my mind once again of what equipment I want.

BGates; your form looks pretty solid, but take the word of some of the pros whom commented above. Great video - thank you for posting it!
 
Thanks for the replies, everyone!

Squats are something that I have not been able to nail quite yet. Something always seems off. I know what I need to do, but I have trouble getting my body to do it. I think I do need to concentrate on the &quot;knees out&quot; more. Its hard to check position of my knees at that angle but I have a feeling that they are not out enough mainly because I dont feel tightness/soreness in the adductor anymore.
It also seems like the next thing I need to do is eliminate the hip tuck. That should solve the knees forward issue too. Its kind of weird to me that I have that tuck at parallel because my hamstring and glute flexibility is good enough that I can put my palms on the floor when I stretch. I figured that would at least get me below parallel. My hams do feel tight when I get to the bottom, but I think that may be something I am doing consciously. They do get sore along with the rest of the leg muscles though.

Press has always been nice to me. I am willing to bet with a push-press or maybe even a push-jerk I could put 225 above my head. I dont think my elbows are actually directly under the bar. It could be the perspective. Elbow position is something you can check pretty easily with the bar in hand. My elbows are typically 2-3in in front of the bar, but I will look at the video again. I could be slacking on form and missed it.

Dips, I use my full range of motion, limited by stretch reflex of the chest and shoulders. I stretch everything after a workout so my range of motion shouldnt be too bad. I will measure width between the bars when I get a chance.

The first 3 or so cleans were hang cleans. I think it went hang power clean from the power position -&gt; hang clean from the power position -&gt; Hang power clean from the knees -&gt; Hang power clean from below the knees -&gt; Hang clean from below the knees -&gt; Power clean -&gt; clean. The order is kind of goofy because it goes from hardest to easiest in terms of power. The cleans from the power position were done with 135 and the rest 150. The power position the position above the knees, after the scoop, but before the last explosion.

I cut out a failed hang power clean from the knees. I tried to explode too soon and it went way out in front of me. Its knid of funny to watch though.

Thanks! The rack was a great price and I have no complaints about it. I definitely recommend it. The bench I got... well... I wouldnt buy it again... mainly because I cheaped out and am using it in ways it was never intended. Oh and it wiggles... which is not something you want when you go for a 1RM Incline Bench PR.

Well hopefully I can work out the issues with my squats. I am thinking about picking up a trainer at the local crossfit or olympic gym, so I can finally iron them out.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Thanks! The rack was a great price and I have no complaints about it. I definitely recommend it. The bench I got... well... I wouldnt buy it again... mainly because I cheaped out and am using it in ways it was never intended. Oh and it wiggles... which is not something you want when you go for a 1RM Incline Bench PR.</div>

Curious, what was the price of the rack, and where did you purchase it at?
 
As Lyle and others have pointed out, and despite what even Rip might suggest, I have never seen anybody who didn't have gymnast-esque flexibility capable of squatting with a loaded barbell deeply (i.e. to/past ferrealz parallel) that did not tuck a little at the hips. If you want an ironic example of this, even the author of the Squat RX videos on youtube can be seen clearly tucking at the butt/sacrum when he loads the bar to 2+ plates per side in a video or two of his.

Actually, even Rip says that a little hip tucking is not a big deal to him, it's pronounced rounding in the lumbar spine that's the concern.
 
Thanks Mikey, I think that's good for all of us to take on board.

BGates: the fact that you say that your hams still feel tight in the hole is a good sign. If you were aware that tension in your hams wasn't at it's max at that point then that might have been something for you to watch out for.

Looking at it again it struck me that your elbows seem to be dropping down a lot as you descend which makes me think that you are allowing your shoulder blades to abduct and your shoulders to drop. It's difficult to tell exactly what's going on because the plates are in the way but that might explain why you felt like you were leaning forward too much.
 
Colby, I got it at fitnesszone.com for $349 shipped.

Good to know Mikeynov, thanks!

Lol, I never noticed that but it definitely appears to be true. Perhaps the bar is sliding down a bit and I am leaning forward to compensate.
 
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