Anyway, a cue I got from one of my coaches was to breath in until you can't anymore, then hold it. Then suck your abs in towards your spine. You can do this while just standing (without a bar), then poke yourself in the stomach. You'll feel how damn rigid you can get your core. If you set up like that, squat, then come back up, you can breath out and reset.
[edit] a clear example of this is in a video in the powerlifting thread:
1 minute 27 seconds, if embedding at a timestamp doesn't work.
On October 19 2013 06:36 AsnSensation wrote: yeah when you reach the lowest point the bar still "collapses" on you due to the lack of flex'd abs and chest up I think which transitions the whole movement into the "squat-morning"
Also it's hard to tell from this angle but I think you could go even narrower with your stance. I don't know about the others here but personally I barely go further than shoulder width when doing Highbar.
The stance really isn't that much wider than shoulder width (it looks pretty bad in the videos, I will admit) but I really can't go narrower. I really just don't have the mobility yet.
Surprised this hasn't already been mentioned (maybe because sJarl isn't around as much) but Game of Thrones decided to recast the mountain this season which is great, considering the last guy to play him (although tall) was pretty much a stick.
This season it's going to be Hafþór Björnsson, the 6'9 400 lb strongman from iceland.
The woman in that picture is 5'6, for comparison. Damn that's a big sword. His character has a much bigger role in the upcoming seasons (unless there's significant rewriting from the books) so I can't wait to see how it turns out.
On October 19 2013 06:36 AsnSensation wrote: yeah when you reach the lowest point the bar still "collapses" on you due to the lack of flex'd abs and chest up I think which transitions the whole movement into the "squat-morning"
Also it's hard to tell from this angle but I think you could go even narrower with your stance. I don't know about the others here but personally I barely go further than shoulder width when doing Highbar.
The stance really isn't that much wider than shoulder width (it looks pretty bad in the videos, I will admit) but I really can't go narrower. I really just don't have the mobility yet.
The reason you're collapsing is because you're lacking tension in the right areas to keep your form straight. Things that can *help* with this are - Practising being really tight and strong and slow with a lighter weight - Taking a breath and holding it in tight - Tensing your abs and even the way you hold the bar on your back - Thrusting and lifting using the power of your quads and hammies, and NOT your back to lift the bar up - Going down slowly and deliberately and stopping BEFORE a resting position (as deep as you can to do so) and then thrusting from there - (i.e, don't compromise your lower back at the bottom of the squat to get your glutes deeper, instead work on your flexibility instead - for most people this will simply come naturally as you squat more. A deep squat comes from the angle from your femurs to your hips, not by bending your lower back - this causes buttwink) - Lifting shoes. Yeah, it helps distribute your weight and keep your weight on your heels and keep your more stable etc. - Staying more upright, you're squatting hi bar like a man after all
Generally once you get used to squatting, most of these things just become automatic and not a problem
On October 19 2013 06:36 AsnSensation wrote: yeah when you reach the lowest point the bar still "collapses" on you due to the lack of flex'd abs and chest up I think which transitions the whole movement into the "squat-morning"
Also it's hard to tell from this angle but I think you could go even narrower with your stance. I don't know about the others here but personally I barely go further than shoulder width when doing Highbar.
The stance really isn't that much wider than shoulder width (it looks pretty bad in the videos, I will admit) but I really can't go narrower. I really just don't have the mobility yet.
The reason you're collapsing is because you're lacking tension in the right areas to keep your form straight. Things that can *help* with this are - Practising being really tight and strong and slow with a lighter weight - Taking a breath and holding it in tight - Tensing your abs and even the way you hold the bar on your back - Thrusting and lifting using the power of your quads and hammies, and NOT your back to lift the bar up - Going down slowly and deliberately and stopping BEFORE a resting position (as deep as you can to do so) and then thrusting from there - (i.e, don't compromise your lower back at the bottom of the squat to get your glutes deeper, instead work on your flexibility instead - for most people this will simply come naturally as you squat more. A deep squat comes from the angle from your femurs to your hips, not by bending your lower back - this causes buttwink) - Lifting shoes. Yeah, it helps distribute your weight and keep your weight on your heels and keep your more stable etc. - Staying more upright, you're squatting hi bar like a man after all
Generally once you get used to squatting, most of these things just become automatic and not a problem
Good stuff here.
If I could add to this Mtl, I have a friend that seems to have similar problems with form when he squats. Like, the guy can squat-morning 165x5, but it looks terrible (no offense, yours isn't as bad as my friend's).
One thing we tried today was first just seeing if he could even get into "ass to grass" position at the bottom of the squat. No weight, just get in position. He couldn't even do it without falling backwards, and had to help himself down by holding on to the rack. Yeah, part of his problem is mobility and he's been stretching and everything, but honestly I think stability is a bigger problem for him. He just doesn't have the strength in the right places (abs, hips, quads) to hold his body in the correct position to not fall over.
He was, however, able to do it while holding a 25lb plate at full arms length straight ahead of him to counter-balance his tendency to fall backwards. So he did a set with a 25lb plate, and then a few sets with a 10lb plate. His abs and quads were burning by the end of it, but it looked way better than what he was doing before. I don't know if this will work for you, but you might want to look into it.
Maybe during warm ups just see if you can hit the correct position at the bottom of a squat and hang out there for a bit as part of a dynamic stretching routine. It's a pretty common way to get loose for all types of athletes.
On October 19 2013 06:36 AsnSensation wrote: yeah when you reach the lowest point the bar still "collapses" on you due to the lack of flex'd abs and chest up I think which transitions the whole movement into the "squat-morning"
Also it's hard to tell from this angle but I think you could go even narrower with your stance. I don't know about the others here but personally I barely go further than shoulder width when doing Highbar.
The stance really isn't that much wider than shoulder width (it looks pretty bad in the videos, I will admit) but I really can't go narrower. I really just don't have the mobility yet.
The reason you're collapsing is because you're lacking tension in the right areas to keep your form straight. Things that can *help* with this are - Practising being really tight and strong and slow with a lighter weight - Taking a breath and holding it in tight - Tensing your abs and even the way you hold the bar on your back - Thrusting and lifting using the power of your quads and hammies, and NOT your back to lift the bar up - Going down slowly and deliberately and stopping BEFORE a resting position (as deep as you can to do so) and then thrusting from there - (i.e, don't compromise your lower back at the bottom of the squat to get your glutes deeper, instead work on your flexibility instead - for most people this will simply come naturally as you squat more. A deep squat comes from the angle from your femurs to your hips, not by bending your lower back - this causes buttwink) - Lifting shoes. Yeah, it helps distribute your weight and keep your weight on your heels and keep your more stable etc. - Staying more upright, you're squatting hi bar like a man after all
Generally once you get used to squatting, most of these things just become automatic and not a problem
Good stuff here.
If I could add to this Mtl, I have a friend that seems to have similar problems with form when he squats. Like, the guy can squat-morning 165x5, but it looks terrible (no offense, yours isn't as bad as my friend's).
One thing we tried today was first just seeing if he could even get into "ass to grass" position at the bottom of the squat. No weight, just get in position. He couldn't even do it without falling backwards, and had to help himself down by holding on to the rack. Yeah, part of his problem is mobility and he's been stretching and everything, but honestly I think stability is a bigger problem for him. He just doesn't have the strength in the right places (abs, hips, quads) to hold his body in the correct position to not fall over.
He was, however, able to do it while holding a 25lb plate at full arms length straight ahead of him to counter-balance his tendency to fall backwards. So he did a set with a 25lb plate, and then a few sets with a 10lb plate. His abs and quads were burning by the end of it, but it looked way better than what he was doing before. I don't know if this will work for you, but you might want to look into it.
Maybe during warm ups just see if you can hit the correct position at the bottom of a squat and hang out there for a bit as part of a dynamic stretching routine. It's a pretty common way to get loose for all types of athletes.
and Lu Xiaojun, just googled him and apparently he backsquats 300kg for 4x BW and Frontsquats 220kg for 3x bodyweight, all of my wats. Will there be a livestream for the World Championships?
for MtlGuitarist here's a little squatmotivation and an outline how your back should look during the excercise
That video keeps amazing me every time I watch it. He walks around with 250 kg's on his back the same way I walk around with 40 kg lol. Such amazing speed as well.
Gotta ask again since I'm not sure about the schedule, but is there a stream for the Weightlifting Champ. ? Mainly interested in seeing the chinese power houses ^^
Played 5 hours of ultimate yesterday (5 50min games with 10min breaks). First two games were a blast. Went downhill from there in terms of leg functionality XD. Really happy I only had cramping calves, tight groin and lower back, but no SI pain so I'll take that as a good sign. Wife didn't want to go the gym alone so I went and did some BB upper body stuff lol. Proceeded to eat a meal like every two hours until I went to bed.
I'm jealous, I haven't played any ultimate since I moved to Florida No one here plays. There was a rec sport league that had ultimate but they ended up cancelling due to lack of interest.
I am not working out today because all I did was work on squat stuff and try to do some ab exercises. I probably shouldn't substitute this for a whole workout, but I don't think I can squat after just holding the bottom of the squat position for a while and I don't want to just bench and work on cleans. I may do some dips and pull ups instead, but I'll see how I feel a bit later tonight.
Anyway, here's what I was doing. I took BenKen's idea (since IgnE suggested that I do goblet squats and I can't actually do goblet squats with a narrow stance and my front squat looked like shit) and held a plate out in front of me. It was only 10 lbs, but it seems to have done a lot for my squat. I'll keep doing that and try to do it every single day on top of stretching. I don't know if I can keep deeper while keeping my back naturally arched (or as close to it as my mobility permits).
On October 21 2013 06:07 MtlGuitarist97 wrote: I am not working out today because all I did was work on squat stuff and try to do some ab exercises. I probably shouldn't substitute this for a whole workout, but I don't think I can squat after just holding the bottom of the squat position for a while and I don't want to just bench and work on cleans. I may do some dips and pull ups instead, but I'll see how I feel a bit later tonight.
Anyway, here's what I was doing. I took BenKen's idea (since IgnE suggested that I do goblet squats and I can't actually do goblet squats with a narrow stance and my front squat looked like shit) and held a plate out in front of me. It was only 10 lbs, but it seems to have done a lot for my squat. I'll keep doing that and try to do it every single day on top of stretching. I don't know if I can keep deeper while keeping my back naturally arched (or as close to it as my mobility permits).
Yeah I would keep doing that. Sit in the bottom of the squat position for more than a couple minutes a day and keep upping the mobility. Not sure if your knees are moving out enough to make room for your torso since it still looks like you are bending forward quite a lot.
anyone been on fitocracy lately? seems all my past lifts have been deleted/lost :/ all it says now is Barbell Squat: 5 reps, 5 reps, 5 reps. no weights. just wondering if anyone else has that problem or if its just me!