hey guys just wondering if i can get any advice.
I was just checking my squat technique side on in the mirror during my workout.
i found when im trying 2 go really deep my bum is rolling under and causing my lower back to bend so im losing my straight back/lordosis. To describe it, it looks like my sacrum is pulling my arse under my legs.
Maybe like some anterior tilt problem???
anyone experienced this or can help. apart from that my squat seems alright and i am getting fairly deep but still no where near squating my max.
Tight hamstrings and tight glutes can both do this, however… I have pretty flexible hips and my back rounds every time unless I set my back. Here are some cues I have learned to use from other coaches.
Lift your chest up
Puff your chest out
Lift your ribcage up
Arch your lower back
Arch your upper back
You need to get the back set over emphasize thoracic extension, this way when you get down in the squat you will probably not have this over emphasized thoracic extension anymore, you will just have normal posture, but you really really have to lift that ribcage up, arch that upper back, because when you start to significantly tail tuck prematurely you are fucked, alot of people just keep lifting and adding more plates and thinking they are getting stronger, they are but not in the right way, they are not getting any drive from the hips,
they have lost the benefit (or much of it) of the hamstrings and glutes contributing to the drive upward, the stress has shifted to the quads (which is not good), squats are a hip exercise assisted by the quads not a “Im gonna do Quads today” exercise, (front squats diff story). Additionally, the lower back curls around under just like you said being pulled by your pelvis. The lower back is not meant to be very mobile it is meant to support.
Now your problem may very well be flexibility but it is not going to fix your squat, you have to work on what I said above to get it down pat.
I had the same problem. After a lot of hard work, I can now go just below parallel without rounding, but I can’t go ATG yet. It’s really hard to squat correctly.
It helps a lot if you stretch your hamstrings and hip flexors as often as you can. I spend at least 15 minutes stretching after every workout.
It also helps to strengthen your core if it’s weak. If, for example, you can squat 400 lbs but you can only GM 225, you need to strengthen your back. Abs are equally important. Pull down abs and incline sit ups are good ab exercises.
Front squats are great for strengthening your core and learning how to keep your back arched.
Thanks heaps guys.
appreciate it heaps.
yeh thought it myt have something 2 do with flexibility
its really only when i try 2 get really low but its still bothering me as i dont want 2 ruin my back.
[quote]darfy wrote:
Thanks heaps guys.
appreciate it heaps.
yeh thought it myt have something 2 do with flexibility
its really only when i try 2 get really low but its still bothering me as i dont want 2 ruin my back.
thanks again guys.
ill work on it for sure.[/quote]
You have to get the back arch down. Stretching the glutes and hamstrings should also help. But you will never ever squat well until you get the back arch down.
Let me give you an example. There are some guys at my gym that are pretty damn strong, alot more muscle than me, Im 6’4" 215. Alot of these guys are 215 at 5’10". Anyway I see them do other lifts bench pullups etc… very strong, especially on bench, much stronger than I am (for now).
But then you get to the squat. Now here is an exercise that will judge you and really tell if you are on point. Not many people cannot practice squatting and add it haphazardly to leg workouts as casually as they would add bicep curls. So, this one guy I am thinking of does some squats. Now this is a guy that easily reps 225 on the incline press.
Anyway he puts 225 on the bar and he goes ass 2 grass alright, and after the set he says to me “Yea, I dont squat that much anymore and dont go above 2 plates because it bothers my back”… I think to myself yea because you have no fucking clue what you are doing, his back was rounding way before parallel and he went ass 2 grass, no wonder his back hurts.
Shitty Shitty form. Got to work on the back arch. If you get the back arch down and cant sink all the way down, you have to CONISISTENTLY read everyday, stretch you glutes hamstrings and calves/soleus. The Squat RX videos are good too, check them out.
I have yet to ever see a full squat in person or on video that this does not occur to some degree. Practice with a light bar to see what your best form is and then keep that form on your heavier lifts and you will do just fine.
We are not talking degrees here. It should be very obvious to the trained eye if the back is rounding enough to make it almost impossible to get drive from the glutes.
This is a very extreme example and this guy has some clips of himself doing 225 that look like shit to but this guy is a real dickhead, squatting like this after a back injury. I guess he couldnt quite make the connection between his shitty form and his injury.
