Please form check my squat and DL

[bobcat51992]

Hello y’all! I’ve been posting my form checks here and y’all are a great help on my progress. I’m asking for your help again.

My squat is swaying. It sways to the left side when I descend and sways to right when I go up. Is it because of my form or some muscle imbalance? squat

The form check I posted for my deadlift lacks hip drive and proper form. I posted this on r/fitness and they said I am over extending my hips and arching my back. They didn’t give tips on how to improve tho so I need your help.

 

[kalayi]

@bobcat51992 On additional comment re: squat - you seem to have the pins too low on the rack, so that you have to crouch low to get under it & lift the weight initially. Try moving the pin up to the next slot & see if this is more comfortable for you. You’ll know if it’s better because un-racking/re-racking the bar should be easier.

 

[alexhunting]

@bobcat51992 Re: squat.

I can see the swaying, but from the back it’s harder to diagnose. Can you post another from the side? I’d like to see where the bar is positioned on your shoulders — is it on your neck or traps? Your upper body wobbles a bit, so make sure you’re actively pulling the bar down into your traps. Your elbows should point to the floor.

I can’t tell if you’re bracing. Take a big breath in and push out all around, like you have a belt on that’s slightly too big but you want it to stay up. Then squeeze your abs like you’re replicating a cough or a HUH sound. That’s bracing.

For the sway, it’s very slight, but I recommend adding in unilateral glute work for your glute meds. Banded side steps, clamshells, split squats, etc.

Re: DL

Honestly it’s hard to tell with your shirt. Your back could be overarched or that could be what neutral feels like for you. Neutral is a range, not a singular ideal. I have a hyperflexible lower back with some inward curve — not enough to be problematic but enough that my DL set up looks like I might be overarching. The crucial piece of this for you will be how it feels.

So, try some things. First, get on all fours and do some cat/cows from yoga. Find the in between where you have fully left one and have not yet entered the other. That is your neutral spine. Remember how it feels. Then, when you set up for deadlift, soften your knees, bend at your hips, and just imagine you have very long Gumby arms down to the bar. Grab the bar. Shift back a little if you need to in order to pull yourself into the bar. I like to imagine that the bar is fixed to the ground and I’m trying to sit back but I need to hang onto the bar not to fall on my ass.

You should feel your hamstrings and glutes firing just to maintain this position as you build tension to pull the bar off the floor. If you don’t feel that, your lower back might be hyperextended. If so, try tucking your pelvis a little just to see. Make absolutely sure that your mid- and upper back is flat. Absolutely no rounding allowed.

It took me a bit to learn how to keep both tension in my glutes and hamstrings and keep my mid-back elongated. But once I nailed that, I put like 25lbs on my DL in a single month.

Edit: You are hyperextending at lock out. This is very bad for your back. Just stand up. Emphasizing your glutes on set up should help with this.

 

[bobcat51992]

@alexhunting Thank you for your input. Here is my squat on the same day. I do brace at the top but I don’t know if I continue to brace when I go back up. I need to work on that more.

On my deadlift, i feel my hams and glutes firing when I go up but not when I’m preparing to lift. I’ll try the cat to cow and work on it.

 

[alexhunting]

@bobcat51992 Happy to help!

Your squat might be just a touch high on some reps. Bar placement seems fine, just try to keep your wrists straight.

Ah okay. I bet your back is a bit hyperextended then. I was just working on this with my coach. Try either shortening your ribs to your navel as another person suggested or when getting ready to break the bar off the floor (setting up), try tucking your pelvis just a tiny but and flattening out just the lumbar part of your spine. That’s what I have to do sometimes to fix my hyperextension. Don’t let your upper back collapse though. Your positioning there is great.

 

[itsnevertoolate]

@bobcat51992 Hi preparing to lift. i’ll try the cat to cow and work on it., I'm dad.

 

[angelbaby1977]

@bobcat51992 Squat:

The bar is sitting at the top of your neck. It should be sitting across the back of your shoulders. This is a wider space for it to balance on which might help with the swaying, and puts less pressure on your spine.

Also, squat lower. All the way down. Until you physically can't sit deeper. That's called ass to grass. Lower the weight to do this, it's harder.

Deadlift:
Brace your core. When your core is properly braced, you are unable to arch your back. To properly brace your core, take in a deep breath to the stomach (not the chest), then pose like your the angry hulk or pushing out a poop/baby. That feeling in your abs? That's braced. Practice until you can do it on demand. Maintain a braced core throughout the movement.

My cue for hip drive. Keep your shins straight throughout the movement. So from the start, where your shins would be at an angle in a squat, try and keep them straight. Then as you rise, think about thrusting your hips forward. On the way down, again keep shins vertical as you lower the bar, and only pull the hips back (i.e. knees don't come into the equation - they will naturally bend when their time comes!). This should have the bar moving in a straight line from the hips to the floor, not sliding along the quads.

Edit: brace your core for squats too. It will prevent butt wink (Google it)

 

[bobcat51992]

@angelbaby1977 Across the back like you do in lower bar squat? I have a hard time doing it because of my shoulder mobility. I prefer high bar for now but I think I’m placing it wrong like you said. Thanks for the input

 

[hiskid8883]

@bobcat51992 Re high bar vs low bar- If the bar is sitting on your upper back vs right on your neck/cervical spine, then your fine. Relevant video for low bar/high bar in case you need it. Also, there's no need to go ass to grass.

 

[angelbaby1977]

@hiskid8883 I've not heard of any benefits to not going ass to grass - can you expand on that?

 

[hiskid8883]

@angelbaby1977 Unless your sport requires that mobility/depth (Olympic lifting, etc), there's just no need to go/attempt to go that low, there's nothing really gained by doing it. Some people will never have the ability to go ATG regardless of how much they stretch, train, whatever because their anatomy just isn't built for that. Hip structure, femur length, etc is different in everyone and that's why there's so many different squat stances and why some people can never do ATG. If ATG works for you, that's great, but it doesn't provide any significant additional benefit that regular squats or squat variants can't provide.

 

[alexhunting]

@hiskid8883 This. Ass to grass is neither desirable nor achievable for everyone.

 

[elizabeth9973]

@bobcat51992 Here are some cues that might help,

For your squat:

-spread the floor apart with your feet, like you’re trying to rip a hole in the ground between them.

I say this because towards the bottom of your squat your left knee kind of buckles inward, very slightly. What I’m looking for with your knees is that they track over your middle toes throughout your squat.

For your deadlift:

-If I took a sharpie and draw a line from your bellybutton to your ribcage, I want you to shorten that line before starting your deadlift.

You are slightly arched throughout he movement. Shortening the apace between your belly button and rib cage will help you engage your core and find a nice neutral position.

-At the top, instead of humping the bar, just stand up as tall as you can.

You are overextending your hips a bit and bringing your shoulders back, I want you to stand straight up and squeeze a walnut between your buttcheeks at the top without losing your tallness.

I hope these help! Let me know if any of them aren’t clear

 

[iamlost30]

@elizabeth9973 Dude you helped me but my hardest part is BREATHING in that position. It’s like once I tighten the buttcheeks and bring my ribcage towards my belly button I can’t breathe right.

 

[elizabeth9973]

@iamlost30 The breathing part is tough! I struggled with that a ton too. A couple things you can do to improve breathing in that position, you can go onto all fours, find the same ribcage position and qork on taking deep beeaths there. Working on breathing in a deadbug position may be helpful as well.

 

[bobcat51992]

@elizabeth9973 Thank you! This is more than enough. I’ll do all this.