# Critique my Squat(s) Back and Front -Please- (video ofcourse)



## viktor89 (Dec 14, 2015)

Back, high bar- 225 lb 5 reps ,  Squat. Where can i improve ? or am I fine? Butt Wink ? 

https://youtu.be/OcDLuy9ntIE



Front Squat - 170 lb 5 reps. Where can I improve? (very new to front squats - this was third week doing it) 

https://youtu.be/84TZDiQ_2qM




Feedback appreciated. I'll be posting more workout forms soon. 

Thanks in advance


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## Milo (Dec 14, 2015)

I don't see a need to go that low unless you're doing squats for oly lifting. Depends on what you're training for I guess. But your lower back does round a shit ton. Probably not a big deal with 225 but could cause problems with heavier weight especially when you're dive bombing the squat.

As for front squats, back could be a little more upright. Again, with heavier weights you need to be fully centered or you'll tip forward.


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## snake (Dec 14, 2015)

Oh my God. My knees twinged just watching that video. There's a lot you could fix but lets start with some things that will keep you from being injured. First, put some shoes on when your in the gym unless you're getting ready for a competition and your DLing. You're going to get a broken toe sooner or later. Second; stop that accelerated freefall. I would say if you continue to do that with heavy weight, you'll get hurt but the chance of squatting like that and seeing heavy weight is slim to none. Take your time and control the weight. No one is going to take it away from you. Over time, you will be able to squat more weight when you learn to control it.


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## PillarofBalance (Dec 14, 2015)

I can't really help when all I can see is feet. If you get a better video where I can see head to toe then I can help.


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## viktor89 (Dec 14, 2015)

snake said:


> Oh my God. My knees twinged just watching that video. There's a lot you could fix but lets start with some things that will keep you from being injured. First, put some shoes on when your in the gym unless you're getting ready for a competition and your DLing. You're going to get a broken toe sooner or later. Second; stop that accelerated freefall. I would say if you continue to do that with heavy weight, you'll get hurt but the chance of squatting like that and seeing heavy weight is slim to none. Take your time and control the weight. No one is going to take it away from you. Over time, you will be able to squat more weight when you learn to control it.




Accelerated fall? I've never done squats slowly? all the countless youtube videos talk about speeding your squats. - I go up fast and come down fast too. Maybe from the video but I don't free fall- I can stop right in between if I wish to-so it is indeed a controlled descent. My stance is wide and my feet are in a V-shape. Knees also stay behind toes -it is a V-stance that's why it might look knee problem? 



Milo said:


> I don't see a need to go that low unless you're doing squats for oly lifting. Depends on what you're training for I guess. But your lower back does round a shit ton. Probably not a big deal with 225 but could cause problems with heavier weight especially when you're dive bombing the squat.
> 
> As for front squats, back could be a little more upright. Again, with heavier weights you need to be fully centered or you'll tip forward.




Sorry what's (oly) lifting?  - I thought only people who didn't do ass to grass squats were suffering from mobility problems and I wasn't I always did these? 


Ok it might sound gay but my butt is completely round. I used to do a lot of squats when I had no weights at home- 100 reps and when that got easy I'd keep doing squats for 1min no rest and then 2 min no rest. 

So is it possible due to that the back might seem rounded? added to the fact that I'm 27% body fat? and fat at the obliques combined with round butt makes back is rounded too?


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## viktor89 (Dec 14, 2015)

Also I should've uploaded the video of my PR -280 lbs cuz this 225 was just warming up for that rep since I am on Wendler 5 3 1 program


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## Milo (Dec 14, 2015)

You're dive bombing the squat and I think it's going to **** your knees up when you get heavier. I'm not saying your out of control but your knees are catching the brunt of the impact instead of your quads, hams, ass.
The lower back rounding is known as butt-wink or spinal flexion and it puts your lower back at risk. Tons of you tube videos on how to fix it.
By oly squat I mean high bar/narrowish stance. Used to mimic the squat portion of a clean and jerk.


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## John Ziegler (Dec 14, 2015)

Nice gym, A little too fast & deep (that's what she said) otherwise it looks pretty good from this angle. Like Pillar said would be nice to see the full range of motion. 

On the regular squat your leaning a little too far forward on the rebound but that should fix its self when you slow it down a little and stop bouncing off the grass.


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## Seeker (Dec 14, 2015)

Lol geeze guys on the harse critique.  I think the weight was to light to give a real assessment. That was warm up weight.


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## MrRippedZilla (Dec 14, 2015)

Back squat - Major butt wink, knees way beyond ankles, possible issues with foot positioning, plus all the other stuff others have mentioned.
Front squat - difficult to assess without a better video like POB said, I'm especially interested to see what your shoulders are doing. 

Honestly, I consider that back squat to be completely unacceptable and would never let a client get away with it - I recommend doing a complete restart and hiring a coach to teach you the lift.
Your hip mobility simply isn't there for ATG squats so either work on that or stop going that low - you should be going as low as you can without your butt curving under you like that (butt wink) until your mobility improves.


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## viktor89 (Dec 14, 2015)

Alright... thanks everyone...3 out 3 exercises wrong on my form so far. 

Bench , Deadlift , OHP and Bent Row remaining. 

It's like a cruel joke - everytime I'm go 4-5 months of progression - some sh!t happens and I have to go with my weight down all the way. The best I did was 280 LBs today. I'll 

drop the weight down to 135lb to re-learn the form. 


To be honest- the form is learned from coaches and videos from youtube. CandidoHQ - he has a video basically talking about how butt wink is fine and not entirely harmful.


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## viktor89 (Dec 14, 2015)

MrRippedZilla said:


> Back squat - Major butt wink, knees way beyond ankles, possible issues with foot positioning, plus all the other stuff others have mentioned.
> Front squat - difficult to assess without a better video like POB said, I'm especially interested to see what your shoulders are doing.
> 
> Honestly, I consider that back squat to be completely unacceptable and would never let a client get away with it - I recommend doing a complete restart and hiring a coach to teach you the lift.
> Your hip mobility simply isn't there for ATG squats so either work on that or stop going that low - you should be going as low as you can without your butt curving under you like that (butt wink) until your mobility improves.



The knees "look like" they go beyond toes because of the angle of the camera and my V-stance -my feet are more than shoulder width apart. 

and I'm certain that my butt wink isn't as bad as it looks- I don't know on video it looks very bad -mayb cuz it can't be distinguished properly with the clothing and less lighting. 

Is their a way to check if I'm flexible or not? to make sure that it indeed is butt wink? like a stretch that would show if I'm non-flexible ?


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## viktor89 (Dec 14, 2015)

Milo said:


> You're dive bombing the squat and I think it's going to **** your knees up when you get heavier. I'm not saying your out of control but your knees are catching the brunt of the impact instead of your quads, hams, ass.
> The lower back rounding is known as butt-wink or spinal flexion and it puts your lower back at risk. Tons of you tube videos on how to fix it.
> By oly squat I mean high bar/narrowish stance. Used to mimic the squat portion of a clean and jerk.



Every video on youtube talks about speed and explosiveness -that's how I learned -I guess i messed up somewhere. When I am doing the squat I do feel like I'm in full control. 

Is it possible that one squat position doesn't fit all ? and all would have a different stance depending on their body structure ? maybe I fit in that category?


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## viktor89 (Dec 15, 2015)

Ok -

I was learning/watching this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBxYSAxxajc 

so this dude basically fixed the form and was able to push more weight. 

I'm hopeful now that maybe I don't need to go back down to 135lbs to re-learn squat and maybe I can just fix form as is and continue going up from 280 lb lol


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## ECKSRATED (Dec 15, 2015)

Knee traveling in front of your feet is not a bad thing. This is raw lifting, not geared. Some of the best squatters in the world don't "sit back" and keep their shins perpendicular to the floor. Some guys just can't squat like that. Especially high bar.


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## snake (Dec 15, 2015)

viktor89 said:


> Accelerated fall? I've never done squats slowly? all the countless youtube videos talk about speeding your squats. - I go up fast and come down fast too. Maybe from the video but I don't free fall- I can stop right in between if I wish to-so it is indeed a controlled descent. My stance is wide and my feet are in a V-shape. Knees also stay behind toes -it is a V-stance that's why it might look knee problem?




Sorry if you took offence to that, I just don't want you to get hurt that's all. My knees travel over my feet more then most PLers but that works for me. Just control that weight and I bet you get both size and strength out of it without taking any undue risks. One other thing; no need to drop down in weight and start over. You're not struggling with something that is out of your reach. Just try it.

Another thing, stay the hell off of those youtube videos and put one up here as POB asked. He'll do more for you in 2 minutes than 2 years of watching videos.


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## PillarofBalance (Dec 15, 2015)

Vik just get me two vids. From the side and front the front facing you... don't start panicking. Just get the vids next time you squat. And don't use 135. Use some working weight for a heavy triple.


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## MrRippedZilla (Dec 15, 2015)

viktor89 said:


> The knees "look like" they go beyond toes because of the angle of the camera and my V-stance -my feet are more than shoulder width apart.
> 
> and I'm certain that my butt wink isn't as bad as it looks- I don't know on video it looks very bad -mayb cuz it can't be distinguished properly with the clothing and less lighting.
> 
> Is their a way to check if I'm flexible or not? to make sure that it indeed is butt wink? like a stretch that would show if I'm non-flexible ?



Do a bodyweight air squat (arms straight ahead) and slowly descend into the hole while filming yourself from the side - make sure to capture your whole body on video. The point at which your butt starts to tuck in is the limit of your hip mobility; depending on how bad it is, I wouldn't go any lower than this limit until you address the issue.

Also, do you want to squat like an olympic lifter, powerlifter or bodybuilder? There is some big differences between the three...



ECKSRATED said:


> Knee traveling in front of your feet is not a bad thing. This is raw lifting, not geared. Some of the best squatters in the world don't "sit back" and keep their shins perpendicular to the floor. Some guys just can't squat like that. Especially high bar.



Your right provided the hips are still carrying the majority of the load, not the knees. Tough to tell if that's the case for the OP based on that video but if your squat involves the knees going past the toes & butt wink then I don't really see how this is possible.


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## Strength athlete (Dec 15, 2015)

Just as the others have said, you need to post another video. Preferably at an angle that shows the entire body from beginning setup to racking. A full body view allowing sight of your setup will let us see many things that were hidden. BTW, what are your goals/purpose of training. The advice you will receive could vary in some details depending on your training purpose. The comments made so far have been spot on regardless of squatting style. The discussions regarding descent speed, butt wink, shoes, etc. are all advice that should be taken seriously. They are trying to keep you healthy, and moving forward with training. I seen that you had mentioned regressing back in weight for an undefined reason. If this is from a reoccurring injury or injuries, clearly there is something wrong. You have taken a step in the right direction in coming here for advice. Now you will just need to implement the advice that is given. One word of advice.....When you get the videos loaded as POB described, and members begin giving advice, try to focus on asking questions about how to fix, or improve upon the things that are mentioned. Dont get me wrong, because I know that you have been, but try to refrain from the "well could it just look like it be because of this, or could it just be because of that" questions. The members here have a mountain of knowledge, and many years of training experience. When they give advice, it is because a trained, and experienced eye has noticed something that could be improved or corrected.  Other than what the others have mentioned, I noticed that you held your breath through the first 4 reps, or at least it appeared that way. On the fourth rep, your upper back began to round as you neared the top, and upon completion of the fourth it sounded as though you finally let out your air, and took another breath. When you hold your breath for that long, you lose the tightness you originally had, and this can cause the back to round. I personally reset between each rep to ensure that I maintain that tightness. I look forward to seeing your next videos brother. We are all here to help.


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## viktor89 (Dec 15, 2015)

snake said:


> Sorry if you took offence to that, I just don't want you to get hurt that's all. My knees travel over my feet more then most PLers but that works for me. Just control that weight and I bet you get both size and strength out of it without taking any undue risks. One other thing; no need to drop down in weight and start over. You're not struggling with something that is out of your reach. Just try it.
> 
> Another thing, stay the hell off of those youtube videos and put one up here as POB asked. He'll do more for you in 2 minutes than 2 years of watching videos.



Hey bro - I didn't take any offence at all- I was merely asking. That's all- i appreciate all the comments and criticism. 



PillarofBalance said:


> Vik just get me two vids. From the side and front the front facing you... don't start panicking. Just get the vids next time you squat. And don't use 135. Use some working weight for a heavy triple.



I will do - this saturday-i'll ask someone to film it because I was alone- I only put it in one spot. 



Strength athlete said:


> Just as the others have said, you need to post another video. Preferably at an angle that shows the entire body from beginning setup to racking. A full body view allowing sight of your setup will let us see many things that were hidden. BTW, what are your goals/purpose of training. The advice you will receive could vary in some details depending on your training purpose. The comments made so far have been spot on regardless of squatting style. The discussions regarding descent speed, butt wink, shoes, etc. are all advice that should be taken seriously. They are trying to keep you healthy, and moving forward with training. I seen that you had mentioned regressing back in weight for an undefined reason. If this is from a reoccurring injury or injuries, clearly there is something wrong. You have taken a step in the right direction in coming here for advice. Now you will just need to implement the advice that is given. One word of advice.....When you get the videos loaded as POB described, and members begin giving advice, try to focus on asking questions about how to fix, or improve upon the things that are mentioned. Dont get me wrong, because I know that you have been, but try to refrain from the "well could it just look like it be because of this, or could it just be because of that" questions. The members here have a mountain of knowledge, and many years of training experience. When they give advice, it is because a trained, and experienced eye has noticed something that could be improved or corrected.  Other than what the others have mentioned, I noticed that you held your breath through the first 4 reps, or at least it appeared that way. On the fourth rep, your upper back began to round as you neared the top, and upon completion of the fourth it sounded as though you finally let out your air, and took another breath. When you hold your breath for that long, you lose the tightness you originally had, and this can cause the back to round. I personally reset between each rep to ensure that I maintain that tightness. I look forward to seeing your next videos brother. We are all here to help.



Yes- thanks. Was just trying to understand.


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## 4acesbro21 (Dec 15, 2015)

From what i can seethe majority of the form was correct, yup slight bend when going deep but ive also noticed this myself when i add weight on , and in regards to your (explosive speed) its something which i stay away from ,   Not only because i have always been taught that time under tension gtows muscle and the speed you were going at i only imagine your muscle was getting more rest time then tension time , i also agree that their is a added risk of injury when squating up fast and down , can sometimes over exaggerate the movement and lock out and speed , personally when i squat i keep a constant movement throughout my set, i dont stop at top and dont stop at bottom , i travel up with the bar at the same speed i travel down , 

I would maybe try different methods in  regards to squatting, their more then one way of increasing intensity and in regards to building muscle i find going fast is at the back of the que and going slow is somewhere at the front , 

But their is all kindz of ways to increase intensity and at the same time keeping form in check ,,, higher reps, slower reps , aiming for constant tension , of course adding weight to a certain degree ..... I kindov went off topic their but in full your form is far from bad , it is at a level were some minor tweaks could do your some major benefit


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