***Gym Exercise Guide, and Form Discussion/Feedback***

sigma said:
50kg bench press

http://s896.photobucket.com/albums/...10-95AE-8E5C3CFAA9A6-265-0000002249776E72.mp4

I noticed that my elbows are moving forward (towards my legs) as I progress through the set, is this normal?
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Looking at the video I recon this is a simple causality of you being so far up the bench, I know that if I am too close / feel to close to the supports when pressing I have to shift down in fear of the bar hitting the supports. Perhaps try positioning yourself a bit lower on the bench ( further to the right of screen in the video ) and see if that may help?
 
It's actually a perfectly healthy line for his elbows to take, in general. What isn't ideal is that he doesn't keep the bar over his elbows, which manifests with a slightly non-vertical forearm. This will increase stress on the shoulders slightly.
 
Went to the gym with Freefaller yesterday and he was kind enough to video my squat form so I thought I'd post it up for any comments or advice. He did point out that my upper back is rounding so that's something I need to work on but is there anything else I should be watching out for?
 
I'd say watch your lower back from rounding personally, at the bottom of the rep I am referring to :)

Just make sure that you engage your whole upper back, engage the lats, pull the bar down in to you.

I'll let the more experience people comment so don't take my thoughts literally :p Some people squat with their butts tucking like that fine.
 
I agree his depth Is deep, i cant go that deep without rounding, i believe that is due to my tight hamstrings however.

As you say though, probably rounds due to the chain breaking at the top along with the added depth?
 
Thanks for the comments so far, I'll have to watch my upper back and potentially also that I'm not going too deep although perhaps if I can sort the rounding issue that will help minimise any tuck at the bottom of the rep.
 
Can someone check my lower back on this please:


It looks/feels to me like it's rounding forwards, if that makes sense?

EDIT: mind you, that doesn't really show it..And I can't think of how to describe it properly either
 
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Delvis said:
Can someone check my lower back on this please:
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From an entirely non-technical point of view it looks as if you're finding that as you hit the bottom your forwards lean is making it awkward to drive from the lowest point and you're swaying slightly as you try to counteract that. It might be entirely natural and I sometimes feel like I'm struggling myself to keep myself in check but I don't know enough to comment properly.

Good effort on persevering with the eighth rep too, I thought it might have been a lost cause for a few seconds.

At least those were my thoughts on a first watch, on a second it didn't seem quite so noticeable. Feel free to ignore it anyway as there's much better able to advise.
 
Cheers dude :) I agree though, I do sometimes end up leaning too far forward and it puts some pressure on the lumbar because of it while I stop myself from falling over :o Happened today on one of my sets.

Haha, yeah, that last rep was a right grind :D
 
Your back looks good to me, no rounding, as the weight is heavy your leaning forwards a little more to get out of the hole, and your butt is coming up first. I get this as well, and it's a case of really focusing on chest up, sitting back in to the squat and driving out of the hole, and engaging the glutes :)
 
Delvis...i would say you need to put all your weight on your heels, keep it on your heals and push from your heals. The minute weight goes on your toes, the weight can and will come forward which is giving you the forward movements, making it harder. If you doing it properly..you can just about raise your toes off the ground and still squat. It should perrty much be a straight up and down movement. Try it without weights..or even just bar for a bit.

I forgot about this thread...can someone help a deadlift noob out a bit with some pointers :) Feels OK..but looks pretty crap to me :/

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=23337809&postcount=19
 
Toxic, those are pretty decent. Your back is far from an ideal level of straightness in your lumbar region, but there is zero movement going on which is great.

Try and make sure that you set up with a flatter back. Queues like "belly out", "chest up" etc etc can be useful, but ultimately you want a completely neutral spine.


Nice squats Delvis! Despite there not being a lot of movement in your back, you are definitely tending towards flexing your spine. Knowing your issues, I bet this is a case of getting your glutes working properly. Spread the floor as you set up, and screw your feet into the ground (knees out!) for the duration of the rep, ESPECIALLY at the bottom.
 
cheers Ice...It was the initial setup that looked like my back was rounded even though I thought and felt like it was straight that I was a bit unhappy about. You can see in the second vid I tried to force my butt back/down in an attept to straighten a bit, which did help a little. Anyway..something to work on.
Syla..good vid..Ill take some notes :)
 
Syla5 said:
Your back looks good to me, no rounding, as the weight is heavy your leaning forwards a little more to get out of the hole, and your butt is coming up first. I get this as well, and it's a case of really focusing on chest up, sitting back in to the squat and driving out of the hole, and engaging the glutes :)
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Cheers mate. Yeah, think it's a failure point considering I struggle to do 100kg the other week let alone this week. I keep forgetting to think about chest up, so I'll try and remember it now.

icecold said:
Nice squats Delvis! Despite there not being a lot of movement in your back, you are definitely tending towards flexing your spine. Knowing your issues, I bet this is a case of getting your glutes working properly. Spread the floor as you set up, and screw your feet into the ground (knees out!) for the duration of the rep, ESPECIALLY at the bottom.
Click to expand...

Aye, thats what I want to avoid! Flexing Mr.Spine :D Think I need a couple more pointers ;)

toxic said:
Delvis...i would say you need to put all your weight on your heels, keep it on your heals and push from your heals. The minute weight goes on your toes, the weight can and will come forward which is giving you the forward movements, making it harder. If you doing it properly..you can just about raise your toes off the ground and still squat. It should perrty much be a straight up and down movement. Try it without weights..or even just bar for a bit.
Click to expand...

Cheers toxic, yeah, that's what I'm supposed to do anyway :p Just a matter of keeping it in mind I guess and everything tight as hell. Thank you :)
 
Watch that on my phone and forgot to reply!

They look pretty good, but I'd be interested in seeing what happens at depth. Be careful of your knees collapsing at the bottom, be sure to externally rotate your femurs from the top and spread the floor.
 
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