I have read every article on squat butt wink and still cant figure it out. Today I had it bad at lower warm up weight. When I went for my last set of the 5/3/1 cycle (95% of my training max) it seemed to disappear? I could use yalls help.
The video above is a warm up set, lots of winking
this set of 305 I only needed to get 1 rep but I got 4. The ammonia capsule almost went up my noise I was inhaling so hard. I see regulation depth and not too much wink. What gives? Where did the wink go? Maybe the wink is more of a Journey fan?
Not part of your post, but not sure about depth. Looks questionable. And do you always use wraps, even at 305 lbs?
[quote]Ecchastang wrote:
Not part of your post, but not sure about depth. Looks questionable. And do you always use wraps, even at 305 lbs?[/quote]
Thanks for the comments. I paused the video at the bottom and it looked ok to me but I am pretty new to lifting. The camera was pointing down a little so maybe that is part of the problem. On a 3 week 5/3/1 cycle I use wraps on the last set of the 3 and 1 week. So most of the time I do not use wraps. I only use a belt on these sets also
You’re squatting deeper in the first video, probably explains everything
Awesome power rack
Save the hype up stuff for competition, you’re doing 5/3/1 - why do you need any external help when lifting 95% of 90% of your max?
[quote]Max8950 wrote:
this set of 305 I only needed to get 1 rep but I got 4. The ammonia capsule almost went up my noise I was inhaling so hard. I see regulation depth and not too much wink. What gives? Where did the wink go? Maybe the wink is more of a Journey fan?[/quote]
I gotta ask, why are you using an ammonia cap on a training lift? I don’t really see a benefit in getting psyched up in training, and find it tends to make me weaker through out my training cycle rather than stronger.
And I would say the biggest difference is in one set you are wearing a belt, and in another you aren’t. That’s most likely the contributing factor.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
[quote]Max8950 wrote:
this set of 305 I only needed to get 1 rep but I got 4. The ammonia capsule almost went up my noise I was inhaling so hard. I see regulation depth and not too much wink. What gives? Where did the wink go? Maybe the wink is more of a Journey fan?[/quote]
I gotta ask, why are you using an ammonia cap on a training lift? I don’t really see a benefit in getting psyched up in training, and find it tends to make me weaker through out my training cycle rather than stronger.
And I would say the biggest difference is in one set you are wearing a belt, and in another you aren’t. That’s most likely the contributing factor.[/quote]
If I can get 4 reps instead of the required 1 I think I am getting stronger. Thats why I use the caps on my last set of the training cycle.
How does the belt effect the wink? Maybe I should not go down as far on my warm up sets and use the belt a little bit more? I dont want to hurt my back with too much winking. thanks for the advise so far.
[quote]Max8950 wrote:
If I can get 4 reps instead of the required 1 I think I am getting stronger. Thats why I use the caps on my last set of the training cycle.
How does the belt effect the wink? Maybe I should not go down as far on my warm up sets and use the belt a little bit more? I dont want to hurt my back with too much winking. thanks for the advise so far.
[/quote]
But you are not getting 4 reps under the same conditions you are getting the 1 rep. In one instance, you are in an emotionally heightened state, and in another, you are not. I would not say those are comparable situations.
I find it is much more beneficial for me to be able to develop my strength in an unpsyched state such that, when I DO psyche up, I am even stronger, rather than attempt to train myself to be able to psyche up better in training. If you hit a PR in the latter state it becomes difficult to determine if you got stronger or simply were more excited than previous attempts.
I would say the belt affects the lift because you are able to pressurize the core better when properly using a belt.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
[quote]Max8950 wrote:
If I can get 4 reps instead of the required 1 I think I am getting stronger. Thats why I use the caps on my last set of the training cycle.
How does the belt effect the wink? Maybe I should not go down as far on my warm up sets and use the belt a little bit more? I dont want to hurt my back with too much winking. thanks for the advise so far.
[/quote]
But you are not getting 4 reps under the same conditions you are getting the 1 rep. In one instance, you are in an emotionally heightened state, and in another, you are not. I would not say those are comparable situations.
I find it is much more beneficial for me to be able to develop my strength in an unpsyched state such that, when I DO psyche up, I am even stronger, rather than attempt to train myself to be able to psyche up better in training. If you hit a PR in the latter state it becomes difficult to determine if you got stronger or simply were more excited than previous attempts.
I would say the belt affects the lift because you are able to pressurize the core better when properly using a belt.[/quote]
Is there anything you think I can do to reduce the wink when I am not wearing a belt? Maybe my core is too weak? Maybe my hips or hammies too tight?
I would just wear the belt personally, unless you have some specific reason you need to squat without a belt.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
I would just wear the belt personally, unless you have some specific reason you need to squat without a belt.[/quote]
I dont have a specific reason. I get a lot of conflicting info on this topic. Some say if you wear a belt your core will not be strong. Since a belt seems to help my form a lot I think I will try to use it more often and see if the wink goes away.
[quote]Max8950 wrote:
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
I would just wear the belt personally, unless you have some specific reason you need to squat without a belt.[/quote]
I dont have a specific reason. I get a lot of conflicting info on this topic. Some say if you wear a belt your core will not be strong. Since a belt seems to help my form a lot I think I will try to use it more often and see if the wink goes away. [/quote]
I say that if you go from squatting 305 with a belt to 505 with a belt, your core will definitely get stronger. I cannot imagine how it would not.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
I would just wear the belt personally, unless you have some specific reason you need to squat without a belt.[/quote]
I am trying to do whatever I can to get strong over the next 7 years. I dont know what I dont know. I want to have a 1500 raw total at 242 pounds by Dec 2020.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
[quote]Max8950 wrote:
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
I would just wear the belt personally, unless you have some specific reason you need to squat without a belt.[/quote]
I dont have a specific reason. I get a lot of conflicting info on this topic. Some say if you wear a belt your core will not be strong. Since a belt seems to help my form a lot I think I will try to use it more often and see if the wink goes away. [/quote]
I say that if you go from squatting 305 with a belt to 505 with a belt, your core will definitely get stronger. I cannot imagine how it would not.[/quote]
thats a good point.
[quote]Max8950 wrote:
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
[quote]Max8950 wrote:
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
I would just wear the belt personally, unless you have some specific reason you need to squat without a belt.[/quote]
I dont have a specific reason. I get a lot of conflicting info on this topic. Some say if you wear a belt your core will not be strong. Since a belt seems to help my form a lot I think I will try to use it more often and see if the wink goes away. [/quote]
I say that if you go from squatting 305 with a belt to 505 with a belt, your core will definitely get stronger. I cannot imagine how it would not.[/quote]
thats a good point. [/quote]
I will add the caveat that you should of course still be working your core heavily during that time period, but with actual core work, just the same as you would do if you squatted without a belt.
I don’t get it. You don’t have a “buttwink”. In case you have it’s minimal and should not hinder your progress.
I would though as T3hPwnisher says stop psyching up before a working set at the gym.
I see two reasons, both of which have been mentioned in some capacity:
You’re going deeper on the warm-up set than you are on the heavy set. There’s a pretty tight correlation between range of motion and compensation.
The knee wraps and belt you’ve added on the second set are allowing for a more upright posture in the bottom of the movement. There’s more horizontal movement in your barpath on the first than the second, so your lower back is compensating for the mobility your hips don’t have.
[quote]TB284 wrote:
I see two reasons, both of which have been mentioned in some capacity:
You’re going deeper on the warm-up set than you are on the heavy set. There’s a pretty tight correlation between range of motion and compensation.
The knee wraps and belt you’ve added on the second set are allowing for a more upright posture in the bottom of the movement. There’s more horizontal movement in your barpath on the first than the second, so your lower back is compensating for the mobility your hips don’t have.[/quote]
So on my second video the bar is going more straight up and down? What do you think the best way would be for me to increase my hip mobility? I have tried the Agile 8 and some other stretchs but nothing programed like my weight exercises.
Also so when I lean over more in the 1st video why does that cause my back to round? I dont know a lot about this.
[quote]Max8950 wrote:
So on my second video the bar is going more straight up and down? What do you think the best way would be for me to increase my hip mobility? I have tried the Agile 8 and some other stretchs but nothing programed like my weight exercises.
Also so when I lean over more in the 1st video why does that cause my back to round? I dont know a lot about this. [/quote]
Just stick to the agile 8 and maybe some extra foam rolling, you could also do some deep pause-squats with a light warm up weight too (like 135lbs)and just sit in the bottom position for a few seconds. I usually do this on my first warm up set and it seems to help me loosen up and get deeper on the rest of my sets.
When you lean over, your back rounds because the weight has more leverage on the weaker middle-upper back muscle as opposed to when you stay more upright you keep the load more vertical on your spine.
[quote]Max8950 wrote:
So on my second video the bar is going more straight up and down? What do you think the best way would be for me to increase my hip mobility? I have tried the Agile 8 and some other stretchs but nothing programed like my weight exercises.
Also so when I lean over more in the 1st video why does that cause my back to round? I dont know a lot about this. [/quote]
First, something to keep in mind: “butt wink” isn’t quite as big of a deal as some people make it out to be. Flexion of the lumbar spine under load isn’t ideal, but small degrees aren’t particularly dangerous. Watch some Olympic lifters squat; their asses tuck under them constantly, especially on front squats. (where the load is, not coincidentally, distributed more towards the front of the foot) I wouldn’t sweat it, personally.
Unless your camera angle is drastically different, you definitely come further forward in the first video. For hip mobility, Agile 8 is probably your best bet as-is, but that might be approaching the problem from the wrong direction. If you could keep the weight on your heels throughout the descent, effectively eliminating the forward lean that causes the rounding, you’d have a straighter barpath with the mobility you’ve got now.
When your bar path shifts forward, your center of gravity changes. The load is shifted to the front of your feet, and your hips push further back to compensate. With your hamstrings fully extended, your hips don’t have the mobility to allow you to get deeper, so they “borrow” some from your lower back, which is forced into flexion.