I’ve been using Oly shoes and Chucks to squat for the last year or so. Before that, I couldn’t really squat any significant amount of weight, so I don’t think it mattered much what type of shoe I wore. I’m too lazy to look back up, but IIRC your lifetime PR is in the mid 300s which means you could (and would) benefit from a more goal-oriented pair of shoes
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Anyone asked for a video yet?
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I squat ATG and am 6’4" tall. I have quite a bit of forward lean and haven’t had any issues. I don’t know that keeping your back “upright” is ideal?
Have you ever tried pistol squat ?
I can name about at least a dozen or so guys off the top of my head who squat 800+ and are 6’2 or taller. Your problem is not your height.
Posting a video is really the only way anyone can help you in this thread, descriptions just don’t work that well. I concur with others who have suggested getting a flat soled shoe to squat in. That’s huge, I can’t believe you’re squatting in sneakers. That alone will likely help quite a bit.
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Thank you. These topics drive me batty. Somewhere along the line, anything above 5’11 became too tall to squat or deadlift.
Living in Dallas, I went to a lot of Mavs games during Dirk Nowitzki’s career. He begins all of his shooting sessions/ shoot-arounds before games with ass to grass squats. I have no idea how much he can back squat or anything like that, but he can certainly perform a proper below-parallel squat, at 7’0 tall, and lanky-as-fuck-looking.
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Or bench!
Waaaa my bench sucks because I’ve got long arms.
No, your bench sucks because you fucking suck at benching.
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I just ordered some converse sneakers, I honestly think that is/was my major issue all along. I would never have thought your shoes could impact your squat so much, I guess I just assumed it was my height/body proportions that were causing my problems. I never knew your shoes made that much of a difference and the sneakers I wear are legit running shoes which is likely why I lean forward so much and strain my back. My mobility isn’t great but it’s not terrible either. The shoes probably have to do with why I had to point my feet out so much as well, when I’m barefoot I can keep them straighter but have a much harder time keeping my heels planted barefoot. I’m going to take a video before I get the converses and then a video with them on to see if you guys can tell if that’s what’s really going on. Thank you for the insight
That all sounds like good progress and, at least towards the end of this thread, you’ve got some good advice to work with. One point I would make is don’t go in thinking there is a ‘right’ position for your feet. The hip is a complex joint, and everyone has a different set of mechanics when it comes to the angle of how the ball sits in the socket. You need to find out what squat width and foot placement works for you. You may well need to squat very wide, or have your toes pointed out quite far, or completely the opposite. There are people that squat big at every conceivable combination of foot placement.
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This ones with sneakers on
This ones with converses
Dude, you have loads of mobility, this is not the issue.
You’re squatting like you are an accordion and you get buttwink at the bottom. This is a form issue, not mobility or shoes.
Your levers are going to mean you need to lean over a bit more. Slow down a bit and remain tight. That should set you right.
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So are you saying I shouldn’t squat as low as I am? And where should I focus on staying tight in my back or my core?
Squat as deep as you like. If you want to keep squatting the way you are, then I’d work on fixing that buttwink. Otherwise, I think you were okay at parallel.
Yes.
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I’ll give a different opinion from strongmangoals. I personally don’t give any shits about ‘buttwink’. I think that term gets overused, and I think it’s going to happen for most people who squat deep, period.
I’d like to see a front view of your squat. You have a lot of forward knee travel, and I’m wondering if you’re forcing your knees out laterally as much as you should be. I can’t tell from the side.
I also can’t tell if you’re bracing properly. If I were you, I’d start wearing a belt. A belt can help with mental cues tremendously, as far as bracing is concerned.
I don’t like that your heels come up when you squat low. But this could potentially be fixed by forcing your knees out more, if that is indeed an issue.
flex your glutes hard when you brace. That can help a lot of things that I’ve mentioned. It will turn your knees out in the direction they need to travel.
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I will record a forward angled video in a couple of days, I appreciate your assessment of my squat. In your opinion do you think it’s necessary for my squat to be as deep as it is, if I’m strictly focused on powerlifting? And I’m pretty sure I’m neglecting stabilizing with my core as much as I should. I shy away from wearing a belt because I’ve heard you build more core strength without it and you should only wear it on heavy sets
you need to break parallel, that’s it. I would recommend going to a meet in the fed you want to compete in, and just observe what depth generally gets white lights. You’re certainly going deeper than you need to right now.
I disagree with this. Wearing a belt helps me engage my core, because of the bio-feedback I get from it.
Most people wear a belt wrong, and that’s probably why they think this. If all you do is tighten the belt down as tight as you can, and squeeze your core, then yea, it might limit core engagement. But that’s not how it should be worn.
When I wear a belt, I want to be able to slide my hand between the belt and me. I expand into the belt to make it tight. That’s the key. That’s where the core engagement is. It’s a big belly breath that fills your abdomen up. You hold that breath for the duration of each rep to stay tight.
When I don’t wear a belt, it’s harder to tell if I’m appropriately bracing, because my abs aren’t expanding into anything. When I wear the belt, I can feel it, so I know I’m doing it right…
- YouTube Took your advice on wearing a belt, definitely feel my core more
So just in doing a couple of sets like that even wearing a belt I still feel a bit of a sharp pain in my lower back. I couldn’t do a 3rd set it felt like I was going to tear my QL when I did 1 rep of my 3rd set I had to stop. This is pretty fucking pathetic I can’t squat 135 with a belt without fucking up my lower back, I still have no idea what I’m doing wrong that’s causing this