No-one can accuse of you not being enthusiastic in your workouts, that’s for sure!!
Like MR said, take a video from the side so you can see if you lower back is rounding.
Great effort, especially at your body weight.
Guys,
Look at the guys’ torso in relation to his legs; he’s never going to have a straight up and down squat style. As well, he said he’s training for powerlifting, so that’s going to bring in more forward lean as well. The only postural thing he can do is stand a little more erect from the start; moving the bar up on the traps is going to increase the distance between the bar and the hips, and decrease the amount of weight he’ll move in competition.
Check out this site (http://www.irongame.com/) and download Nick Tylutki; the guy is a stud squatter (788@220) and his torso comes over a little bit as well. He still keeps his lordosis throughout, yet his body is trying to shift the weight from the weaker legs to the stronger back.
If you check out EC and I’s “Overcoming Lousy Leverages” piece, you’ll see that we recommend lots of leg work to alleviate this compensation. Even in my pic, my chest looks caved over/leaned over d/t my leverages…some things in life you just can’t change!
Regardless, best of luck and keep training hard!
Stay strong
MR
[quote]beefcakemdphd wrote:
I can assure you, there was no ‘bouncing off of the pins’.
beef[/quote]
You are descending with a good amount of speed and the bar is hitting the pins. There definitely appears to be some bouncing.
Just squat in a rack where you don’t have to hit the pins.
Turn the volume up and listen carefully. Since I descend quickly you should be able to hear the bar crash against the pins. Do you?
beef
I don’t think you bounce off the pins, but you certainly bounce! 
So here’s a question that I have:
(Warning: Please don’t think I’m hijacking the thread, but I took a video of myself a few days ago and was going to post it, but after reading through this thread I’ve picked up some pointers I’ll be applying to my own squat before filming it again.)
I tend to go down at a medium speed, then stop at the bottom before starting to come up. Should I be “bouncing” a little?
I have the bar higher up than Beef, so I don’t lean forward that much, but after I saw the video of myself I think it is still too much. Can anyone say how much is too much?
Beef, it’s great to see a light guy like you lifting heavy (well, it seems heavy to me!). Keep it up man, and good luck with the competition!
Olympic lifters use a bounce and so do powerlifters. I descend as fast as I am able to keep my form and speed up the descent at the end.
beef
[quote]beefcakemdphd wrote:
I have problems when I get fatigued, my hips come up fast and I use my back to muscle the weight up.[/quote]
So why not stop squatting when you become fatigued so you don’t learn to break form when you’re working hard?
Just to clairify my earlier point, I wasn’t worried that you were going to hurt yourself - it’s just a matter of efficency. Both driving your traps back and driving with your hips and legs will get the bar up faster and in a more efficient path than keeping the back at the same angle to the ground for a significant portion of the lift.
Of course, can’t tell if you can do that while keeping the bar over the middle or back of your feet without a side view
-Dan
I don’t consider the technique in the video a major break in form. If I had other problems such as my knees internally rotating as I come up or favoring a side I would consider backing off of the reps. There are times at contest where I do get out of the groove and good morning the weight up. Ah, such is the nicety of having a strong back.
I will get side video next week.
beef
hey bud,
I’ve dealt with the same obstacles in regards to squat form and sequence of applied force. Now, with that said, I preform Oly squats with soled shoes which makes a difference and let me explain mine and my coach’s belief…
The typical powerlifting squat is all heels, this is why the posterior chain is more involved. If you roll(slightly and I mean SLIGHTLY) to your toes at the bottom, which is natural with a more narrow stance, the quads are the initial powerhouse immediatly following the “bounce”.
IMHO, I think you need to continue focusing on driving from the heels but make sure that the power being generated drives your hips up not back. You are robbing yourself of power by bouncing you ass back and then doing a goodmorning. If you learn to return your chest to its original position immediatly after the “bounce” you will experience more overall power in the completion of the squat. By power I mean the best balance using explosive ability and strength capability.
When you are violently throwing your ass back you are losing the upward momentum when you then have to focus on bringing your chest back into proper position. Try it the way I am prescribing and you will notice that you will more than likey get to the mid-point slower than before (which I am reffering to as the moment inwhich your squat begins to resemble a GoodMorning)BUT, the overall time to complete the full lift is faster which = more powerful.
This is my 2 cents, hope it can help - JonJon
Nice squat tip by Christian T. today. This or something similar might be very helpful in this situation.
Mike:
I checked out the Nick Tylutki video as you suggested. Agreed, he is a stud squatter!
My analysis is that he has a slight hitch forward coming out of the hole… which he quickly corrects. He definitely has a strong lower back that he uses to his advantage. I really think that a HUGE difference between his squat form and Beef’s is that Tylutki has a much slower descent… he is very much under control (plus he uses a wider stance). Also, the hitch forward at the bottom is quickly corrected and not maintained as he rises.
Just my 2 cents. I intend to look at more of the videos on that site. Thanks!
Man I have to say good job. Personally I’d slow down a bit but man you were bangin them out. That spotter sucked, do not have him spot you on something heavy.
[quote]Mike Robertson wrote:
Guys,
Look at the guys’ torso in relation to his legs; he’s never going to have a straight up and down squat style. As well, he said he’s training for powerlifting, so that’s going to bring in more forward lean as well. The only postural thing he can do is stand a little more erect from the start; moving the bar up on the traps is going to increase the distance between the bar and the hips, and decrease the amount of weight he’ll move in competition.
Check out this site (http://www.irongame.com/) and download Nick Tylutki; the guy is a stud squatter (788@220) and his torso comes over a little bit as well. He still keeps his lordosis throughout, yet his body is trying to shift the weight from the weaker legs to the stronger back.
If you check out EC and I’s “Overcoming Lousy Leverages” piece, you’ll see that we recommend lots of leg work to alleviate this compensation. Even in my pic, my chest looks caved over/leaned over d/t my leverages…some things in life you just can’t change!
Regardless, best of luck and keep training hard!
Stay strong
MR[/quote]
Robertson,
Nick Tylutki should be severly insulted at your even remotely comparing his squat form to that of Beef. Tylutki leans forward perhaps 1/5 the angle that Beef does. Anyone who checks out his video at irongame.com can see that. Wake up!
Brad
Beefcake,
That was your ‘first’ set?? I started sweating watching you! I definitely admire your flexibility, intensity, & the balls to post it on the site but i have 2 suggestions for you:
- slow down on the way down because stopping a FALLING weight uses too much energy. Lower under control (medium speed) so you can line up your power base for explosion upward
- point your elbows toward the floor NOT behind you & keep your head still. (Your spinal alignment follows your head!) This will help keep your lower back strait. With the exceptional flexibility you have in your hips you’ll notice the leverage difference right away because it will recruit your more powerful glutes.
I rested more than 5 minutes between sets. Trust me, right before set 3 my legs, glutes, and lower back were killing me.
beef
If you guys want to see a fast squat look for Rob Wagner’s squats at irongame.com. Shane Hamman had ‘divebomb’ squats as well.
beef
I checked it out the site but couldn’t Hammond or Wagner’s open (i got sound but no picture). I did get Stan Morris’ open & his style similar to the style i use but like i said i keep my elbows aimed down. I’ve squatted 500lbs at a bodyweight of 182lbs though i’m bigger now & no longer squat that heavy anymore.
Let me add that i am by far no powerlifter. Most of the guys who taught me how to squat were heavy squatters (including my buddy who at a bodyweight of 210lbs squats with 6 plates per side for reps), & we all squat in that style. Admittedly we don’t go as deep as you, but we all go to parallel. Also, we are drug free (damn!) due to the fact we are drug tested at work.
I wasn’t saying they were identical, I was merely showing that other lifters have some forward lean when squatting as well. I think everyone knows I have a huge amount of respect for Tylutki and youself (if you are the Big Brad that I think you are). No offense was meant here.
Regardless, I was just showing that there isn’t one, perfect way to squat. Everyone has their own quirks and intricacies, it’s being able to develop YOUR OWN perfect squatting style dependent on your body type and leverages that is imperative.
Stay strong
MR
[quote]BigBrad wrote:
Robertson,
Nick Tylutki should be severly insulted at your even remotely comparing his squat form to that of Beef. Tylutki leans forward perhaps 1/5 the angle that Beef does. Anyone who checks out his video at irongame.com can see that. Wake up!
Brad[/quote]