***Gym Exercise Guide, and Form Discussion/Feedback***
- Thread starter icecold
- Start date
I think the OHP and the BORs will make more sense as you slowly add weight. At the moment the BORs just aren't heavy enough to stress your back, but you probably don't want to load them up too quickly. Definitely try slow negatives, but make sure your shoulders are back.
The deadlifts actually look pretty good and it's clear you've remembered most of the coaching points, apart from the last video where you completely lose your upper back on the set up. On of the reasons you weren't feeling them as much is that you were basically doing a lot of singles rather than sets of 5. It's a confidence thing, you were fine with me pushing you, now you just need to work on speeding up your set up and rep turn over.
The deadlifts actually look pretty good and it's clear you've remembered most of the coaching points, apart from the last video where you completely lose your upper back on the set up. On of the reasons you weren't feeling them as much is that you were basically doing a lot of singles rather than sets of 5. It's a confidence thing, you were fine with me pushing you, now you just need to work on speeding up your set up and rep turn over.
Firstly, that music is just awful.Okay so I'm on the fourth week of Stronglift 5x5 right now and thought I'd best post here (especially consdiering I was recommended to). Yesterday was Squats, Overhead Press and Deads, I'm bound to be doing a fair bit wrong so please help me out.
So, let's see how bad I'm doing.
/should be up in 5
Would it be worth recording tomorrows? (Squat, Bench Press and Barbell Rows)
Your squat and deadlift stance is crazy wide.
Please watch the videos in the OP and try again.
Better, but you're over extending your spine in your set up, losing that position as you approach depth, and then reversing the process on the way up.
You also don't seem to have much torque going through your hips. Externally rotate femurs and spread the floor.
I don't actually mean that you should be bending your spine (it looks nice and neutral), I'm talking about your chest dropping due to your hips rising a bit too early.
For you this is kind of a good sign though, as you're posterior chain now seems to be working better. You now need to balance it out with a big drive from your quads. Think about pushing the floor away with your feet. Oh, and you probably don't need your toes up any more.
For you this is kind of a good sign though, as you're posterior chain now seems to be working better. You now need to balance it out with a big drive from your quads. Think about pushing the floor away with your feet. Oh, and you probably don't need your toes up any more.
Try to keep your weight on your heels and your knees back, that usually fixes lowering the bar.
To fine tune it we'll need a video.
Also, if you're getting back twinges I'd suggest that there is something going on with your squat that you aren't aware of.
To fine tune it we'll need a video.
Also, if you're getting back twinges I'd suggest that there is something going on with your squat that you aren't aware of.
Stop doing that weird thing with your back before you do a rep. You're cranking your spine all over the place.
Forget about chest up as a cue, just try and keep your torso vertical.
Yes, again, you're flossing your spine. Stop lifting your chest up; the way you currently interpret that is to extend your lumbar.
You need to do a lot of thoracic mobility.
*so close*
Why is this guy also going into extension before the each rep
Why is no squatting tutorial perfect
Neat
The two stand out problems I can see are spine position related.
You're not doing a great job of keeping your back straight or generally avoiding spinal movement. When you squat you shunt your hips back by going into lumbar extension rather than a lovely hip hinge, and then your tight hips yank your spine into flexion. Having one of these issues is bad, having both is worse. Imagine all of the front to back and back to front squashing that you're putting your disks through, and smashing into extension like that means you're probably going bone on bone (huehuehue).
Solution: Think about spreading the floor with your feet and getting more external rotation in your legs while keeping your back straight at all times. This will give you more glute activation which will actually help unload your lumbar.
Your RDLs are kind of just poor partial deadlifts. You aren't keeping your knees back and your back isn't flat, which is causing you to over extend at lockout because otherwise you don't think the bar is in front of your shoulders. In reality, your hips and knees aren't fully locked out still. You also seem to be aiming for that glorious hip pop at the top. I keep trying to hammer this point home, but I totally understand people's misconception here...:
DO NOT AIM FOR A BIG HIGH SPEED LOCKOUT AT THE TOP OF A DEADLIFT OR SIMILAR EXERCISE.
Wtf, right? The problem is that the vast majority of people do not perform these movements with a flat back. Aiming to clatter the bar with your hip thrust with a bent back can seriously mess up the whole movement pattern and end up being a huge stumbling block to getting a fluid and strong movement.
What you should be aiming for, in order of priority:
1) A flat back
2) A braced core
3) Hip extension using the hamstrings and glutes
4) Keep your weight slightly to the rear of your mid foot (lifting the toes can be a useful learning cue, but a poor way to lift in general)
Those the important things for getting the right training effect (posterior chain activation and spine neutrality prioritisation). Smashing the bar with your hips is a product of getting that stuff right, and you can't get that stuff right by aiming for hip pop first. Make sense?
Your pendlay rows would also benefit from a better spinal position, but you need to think about your shoulders too. You are actually internally rotating and dumping your shoulders forward and up (towards your head) at the top. You want slight thoracic (upper back) extension, while keeping your head and lumbar neutral, and you need to keep your shoulders neutral (not quite pinned back) and squeezed down towards your back pockets.
Well that was a long post. Enough for now. You're welcome.
You're not doing a great job of keeping your back straight or generally avoiding spinal movement. When you squat you shunt your hips back by going into lumbar extension rather than a lovely hip hinge, and then your tight hips yank your spine into flexion. Having one of these issues is bad, having both is worse. Imagine all of the front to back and back to front squashing that you're putting your disks through, and smashing into extension like that means you're probably going bone on bone (huehuehue).
Solution: Think about spreading the floor with your feet and getting more external rotation in your legs while keeping your back straight at all times. This will give you more glute activation which will actually help unload your lumbar.
Your RDLs are kind of just poor partial deadlifts. You aren't keeping your knees back and your back isn't flat, which is causing you to over extend at lockout because otherwise you don't think the bar is in front of your shoulders. In reality, your hips and knees aren't fully locked out still. You also seem to be aiming for that glorious hip pop at the top. I keep trying to hammer this point home, but I totally understand people's misconception here...:
DO NOT AIM FOR A BIG HIGH SPEED LOCKOUT AT THE TOP OF A DEADLIFT OR SIMILAR EXERCISE.
Wtf, right? The problem is that the vast majority of people do not perform these movements with a flat back. Aiming to clatter the bar with your hip thrust with a bent back can seriously mess up the whole movement pattern and end up being a huge stumbling block to getting a fluid and strong movement.
What you should be aiming for, in order of priority:
1) A flat back
2) A braced core
3) Hip extension using the hamstrings and glutes
4) Keep your weight slightly to the rear of your mid foot (lifting the toes can be a useful learning cue, but a poor way to lift in general)
Those the important things for getting the right training effect (posterior chain activation and spine neutrality prioritisation). Smashing the bar with your hips is a product of getting that stuff right, and you can't get that stuff right by aiming for hip pop first. Make sense?
Your pendlay rows would also benefit from a better spinal position, but you need to think about your shoulders too. You are actually internally rotating and dumping your shoulders forward and up (towards your head) at the top. You want slight thoracic (upper back) extension, while keeping your head and lumbar neutral, and you need to keep your shoulders neutral (not quite pinned back) and squeezed down towards your back pockets.
Well that was a long post. Enough for now. You're welcome.
there is always something wrong with his coachings. The good:
- wooden dowel is a great learning tool, highly recommended
- good head/neck position
- decent stab at dealing with shoulder external rotation and lat activation
- the fixes will result in decent PC activation
The bad
- coaching lumbar extension, while relevant in some cases, is a bad general cue due to the vast number of people who end up in over extension
- breaking at the knees first at the top (??!)
- not getting the best lat activation
- not dealing with a few other minor issue with that individual
Fixes
- Cue slight thoracic extension with a flat lower back, and use the lats/core to anchor in the whole system
This should naturally lead to healthy lumbar positioning, which will have some extension anyway.
- Screw shoulders hard externally down towards the hips, maintaining spine position
Boom, lats working
- From the top position, break at the hips sending your arse backwards while keeping your knees over your ankles
If you don't do this, you're likely to find your knees in the way on the way down. Once the bar is at your knees (the exact position will depend on limb lengths), maintain back angle and descend the rest of the way by sending your knees forwards.
Stretch your quads, adductors, hamstrings and glutes.
Seriously. There are some stretches for the IT band, but if you're accumulating tightness there it's likely that it's a downstream affect of the bigger muscles of the hips and knees.