Form Check

[gabriel]

I will upload a video on my squat and bench when i get a chance but heres my Deadlift at 320LB www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dTB6hCWfZQ thoughts?

[dbunch]

The biggest thing I see is that you need to sit back more and sink your hips deeper in the beginning of your lift. You start off good (again you could be a little deeper) but you first move your razing your hips 3 to 5 inches before you even get the bar off the ground so when you final get the bar moving your using mostly lower back. Focus on keeping the weight driving through your heels. Also, keep your head up. Where the head goes the body follows. That will help with sinking the hips. I’m guess you got at least 50 more pounds in you right now.

[gabriel]

usually i sit pretty deep in my dead, also with the head thing i was told by a few people, and from watching a video by elliot hulse of strength camp that you wanna keep the chin tucked in and have a neutral spin position when doing the standard deadlift what are the pros and cons of this in your opinion.

[osu122975]

Key things to remember, chest up butt down. That keeps your shoulders in line w/ the bar. Sitting back will cause you to lean forward when you pull. Watch your hips go up when you first initially pull....that' from not sitting down enough into position. See how horizontal your back is? Get into the correct position first. Butt down chest up. You should feel good and tight at that point. Make sure to pull the slack out of the bar before you pull.

Head position is up for debate, but imo, looking straight ahead or even slightly up will help keep your chest high which in turn keeps your butt down.

Use lighter weight to focus on technique first. As you get better and go heavier, you'll find your weaknesses and where you need to make adjustments or what exercises you need to use to bring up those weak points.

[gabriel]

What squat form do you guys recommend, I was thinking of using the form recommended in starting strength, obviously everybodys body is different And will react differently to different squat forms

[dbunch]

I think you nailed it when you said “everyone is different”. I would suggest trying several different styles and seeing what feels right/works for you. I personally keep adjusting my squat style as my strengths change. Right now my thighs are much stronger that my ham so I squat with a closer stance. Also, depth was an issue with the close stance so I started using Olympic shoes which made hitting depth easier. I wasn’t comfortable with a close grip so I move to a higher bar to accommodate my wider grip. As I’m getting stronger I am starting to widen my stance a little.

[bighawgfsu]

I like the feet a little wider than shoulder width apart for my squat...I found turning my feet out a little more also helps with my depth and power.

[gabriel]

What are your opinions on using the box squat for building up the back squat.

[dbunch]

There is another recent thread out there that talks about the pros and cons of box squats as they relate to raw powerlifting. I align myself with the camp that doesn’t find them epically useful as a training tool for raw lifting. Now, I did do a lot of touch and go box squats at the beginning of my career mostly to train my body to reach depth.

[gabriel]

just saw that post now gonna read through it now