I haven’t done squats in decades and I wanted to post a video. I have been practicing form lately and thought I would get feedback. I’d love to get pointers on things I’m doing right and wrong. Also, I want to make sure I’m not butt winking. It’s hard to tell on myself. I don’t think I see any but I want to get others’ opinions.
Going to start off by saying your form is fine, but you asked for feedback so don’t get put off by it.
Watch the bar path:
I can’t tell where the bar is on your back, but it looks like it needs to go a tad lower. Not sure where your feet are either, but you might appreciate slightly wider footing.
Also, you’re having trouble with stability at the bottom of the movement, which is common. Try lowering weight a bit and pausing for 0.5-1sec (could be longer) at the bottom of your training reps… should help you gain the stability needed here.
Back looks straight, depth looks just there but would recommend going deeper during training if you intend to do any meets. Wouldn’t hurt to go deeper regardless, but squat depth is much less important if not going for 3 white lights.
For power (lifting the most weight) your form is greatly lacking, IMO.
You are squatting “down.” Think squatting “back.”
As you near the bottom the bar is moving forward. Your knees are too far over your toes.
As @Andrewgen_Receptors suggests, I too believe your squat stance is too narrow for your structure.
@RT_Nomad and @Andrewgen_Receptors
Right on. My goal is not to compete. I’m just trying to get as big and strong as I can without getting hurt. Both of y’all point out that I’m going forward and I definitely felt that. In my second rep in that video, I even see that I went forward right at the beginning of my way back up. I could feel a diagonal in the bar travel, which is what prompted me to record and solicit feedback. I’ll try a wider stance. I’ll also try to pause at the bottom. I’m not that flexible so I’ll work on getting deep. I feel like if I sit back more in my squat I’ll fall backward. Will a wider stance take care of this too? Also should my toes point straight forward or angle out a little?
Imagine a semi-circle. As you widen your stance your thighs will rotate in a circular arc. Your toes should point in the same direction as the angle of your hip joint and knee. Is this half way clear?
Work on hip flexibility.
Try holding onto something a perform the lower portion of the squat with no weight.
You don’t look like you are close to falling backward. Have you fallen backwards yet? I have. I must say, it is an odd feeling.
It should help, but test it and see.
They can point out, but do so as little as possible. This doesn’t mean you have to go full parallel, just that you don’t want to go wider than needed… more forward is better, until it isn’t.
I don’t agree on this. When your knee moves naturally, your toes should be pointed in the line of path that your knee moves.
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Actually i agree 100% here, but i think in different terms. If feet are wider than hips, your toes likely can’t point straight forward - but everyone’s built different.
I visualize a line from the hip joint to the ankle, my knees should fit inside that line and toes should extend that line mostly straight (maybe with a slight bias inwards). Foot position determines toe angle IMO, but it’s cool if we disagree.
@RT_Nomad @Andrewgen_Receptors I have been practicing different stances and different foot positions and it feels most natural to open the foot stance more as the stance gets wider. It seems to follow the line (knee bending in line with where the toes are pointing) described in yalls posts. There is definitely a “naturally right” feel. I am not sure how much deeper and straighter I’m getting but it doesnt feel uncomfortable. I will try to video myself again with these adjustments and post it when I get back to the weights. Sometimes living room practice isn’t the same as in the rack.
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Alright @RT_Nomad @Andrewgen_Receptors I stretched my hips. I tried to get my bar a tid bit lower on my shoulders. I widened my stance and tried to sit into the squat more. Here is what I think are my easiest and hardest reps. Also, I felt like I went a lot deeper but will defer to y’all and any interested others.
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These both looked great man. You keep squatting like that and you’ll be putting my numbers to shame.
Depth is solid, back is stiff, bar path is great.
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IMO, try a little wider. You might be at your ideal squat stance, but you should try wider some. You might be more efficient with a wider stance.
It would be helpful to have a front (or back) video too.
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@RT_Nomad Here is before and after widening the stance a little more.
As you can tell, the reps were a little more challenging with the wider stance. I’m not sure if that is because of a problem caused by the wider stance or because it was a better/harder workout for the leg. Nothing felt painful or uncomfortable.
Give it a little more time. If you have two squat days, do one day your current stance and the other day the wider stance. If it doesn’t get easier in 4 to 6 weeks, the wider stance may not be for you.
Can you post a side view video of both stances? I want to see where your knees travel.
I hit legs again Friday so I’ll try to get both from the side then. Thanks for all the help and tips so far by the way.
@RT_Nomad Here is the side view for both stances. Second video is the wider stance. Both are the same set and same exact camera angle. The bottom rack bar is very close to my leg/knee plane at the bottom of my squat and might be a good reference. Or it might make it difficult I don’t know.
Your wider stance seems to be getting a little easier. But your narrower stance still looks easier.
I would keep doing both stances for a while. When you grow more accustomed to the wider stance, you might find you are stronger wide.
Also, never look to one side or the other when squatting (and almost all other lifts too). You could get trigger point flare up in your neck and/or traps.
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Will do. I never knew that about the neck. I was watching bar travel. I will cease that practice now. Thanks for the warning!