I have the same problem when going heavy. I will try the big toe trick. This past weak I just added doing front squats to the mix. Currently I will alternate back squat with front squat during my leg day. Back in the day (college football) when I could go way heavy the biggest key was to have the whole body ready for the heavy loads. This means training the abs and all of the back etc, which has been mentioned in this thread.
The other thing that would help a ton is letting some one with expertise see a video of you squatting. The strength coaches helped a bunch by watching us squat and critiquing every little thing about our form. I am new to these parts so I have no clue who would be an expert, but LSUOWERDC sounds like he knows what he is talking about. Best of luck with Squating!
I did the toe wiggling trick today and it forced me solid back on my heels. I did lower my weights but I did extra reps and my form felt good all the way through.
I have no idea why things went goofy out of nowhere. It was very frustrating.
I think next time I will go up in weight again, but there was a friend of mine working at my gym now, so I will have someone that will be able to see my mistakes.
You already mentioned two problems, tight hip flexors/hamstrings. What are you doing to address these?
Static stretching might not be a good thing if you already have tight hammies, get some art done in that area to take out some knots and start foam rolling THEN compliment with the stretching.
For tight hip flexors i like lunges. Do you sit a lot? Try to stand up/change your posture every once in awhile.
Additionally are you working your glutes? Remember to drive with your glutes/hammies in the hole. Again try the dumbbell lunges and give the glute ham raise a shot. If you don’t have the machine in your gym you can try this improvisation:
You already mentioned two problems, tight hip flexors/hamstrings. What are you doing to address these?
Static stretching might not be a good thing if you already have tight hammies, get some art done in that area to take out some knots and start foam rolling THEN compliment with the stretching.
For tight hip flexors i like lunges. Do you sit a lot? Try to stand up/change your posture every once in awhile.
Additionally are you working your glutes? Remember to drive with your glutes/hammies in the hole. Again try the dumbbell lunges and give the glute ham raise a shot. If you don’t have the machine in your gym you can try this improvisation:
Forward to 1.16
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wow thanks for the links! Thanks for the suggestions
I am a desk dweller so I sit for 10-hours a day.
my gym has a glut ham raise machine which I don’t use very often but I will do it now.
looks like this thread has gone quiet, but here’s my two cents-
as someone born with the third world squat flexibility, i don’t have any flexibility or mobility issues, but i did use to rock forward when i first got strong enough to squat around my bodyweight ~170. having gone heavier since then, this problem has not come back since, so i was glad about that.
what i did:
-moved my grip in closer
-chest up during the drive
-squeeze back of head into traps
-focus on tight back during the setup
-flex glutes at the top of the lift.
[quote]bearshark wrote:
looks like this thread has gone quiet, but here’s my two cents-
as someone born with the third world squat flexibility,
happy squatting![/quote]
You lose that 3rd world advantage when you become a desk jockey
To October Girl:
Anyone yet mention going through Rippetoe’s Book Starting Strength? Great read for squatting tips & techniques - as a stretch I also stretch the tibialis muscles in the front of the leg - works wonders on increasing squat depth & flexibility.
To also assist in the portion of the lift descending I also cant/tilt my pelvis forward to prevent rounding of the back as much as possible, (“stacking vertebrae” a good analogy here?) trying to eliminate the squat becoming a horrific good morning/squat hybrid.
Free your toes! Chest up, tight close as possible grip, etc.
Thanks for the suggestions. I will give the closer grip a try and try stretching the tibialis. I am still having balance issues but I think it has to do with my inner ear.
I am rocking forward less, but I am not quite completely set into my heels. I am relearning, but that isn’t such a bad thing. One thing I have noticed is that I am paying a lot more attention during my lift, not just trying to hurry and push, so that is good. It is much more of an effort when I am concentrating on keeping every thing tight during the whole move.
I find that concentrating on my shoulder position helps with the balance issue. If I keep my shoulders high and back as far as possible, the weight distribution on my feet is good.
