Low bar back squat form check

[Salahudin]

Hi guys, due to my left knee feeling a little creaky, I have decided to now lowbar as I have read it produces less stress to knees in general, feedback and advice would be great

[chrisd]

Bar position is good, grip looks good.

You may be lowering your head more than you need to.
It is hard to see from this angle, but I think it's possible that you are flexing your lumbar a little at the bottom of the squat.

If you can keep your whole torso rigid, neck too, it can help you squat.

I'm being very particular here. If I saw that squat in the gym, I would think "Oh good, someone is squatting properly".

[Salahudin]

@chrisd next time I will try and correct my neck position and torso rigidity

[Blocky]

I think you should have your knees a little more forward at the bottom, and you should break at the hips and knees at the same time when you start your descent. It looks like you sit back a little too much at the start of your squat. But, overall - good work!

[Salahudin]

@Blocky hopefully it will be better next time thank you

[mgil]

Yeah, I’d cue “knees first” and let that sort things out. Looks too light.

[Salahudin]

Hope this is better I was focusing primarily on knees and correcting my gaze, unsure about my depth

[chrisd]

Better than anything I saw in the gym tonight.

You might still be leaning forward a little early, but I think that will sort itself out when you use a heavier weight and need to find your balance.

[Salahudin]

@chrisd Thank you, this gives me a little confidence that it looks ok, felt like I was in no mans land for a bit, high bar/ front would aggravate my knees and I was never really able to lowbar confident that im actually performing the movement correctly, hence the lighter weight, hopefully this will still be ok at higher weights.

[Salahudin]

Hi guys just an update would be helpful

[Wilhelm]

Clearly deep, imo, even with the low camera angle.

Reps have hips rising first, just slightly, with the upper back following, but really very well locked in back angle.
Still very good in my book.
I think some of us just squat more this way.

I absolutely have the same thing in my squat, and try to just keep it as locked in as i can, always trying for better, but as long as i'm not getting good morning action. or really bad bar path, i just figure my overalll average rep keeps getting better.

I think different people just have different squats.
My hips rise a bit first, and i think maybe they always will, to some degree.

I'm always looking for that set where everything moves in complete unison, but i'm done obsessing about if a rep or two aren't as good as the others.

You are squatting well.

Things i have worked on, are moving my grip in, very gradually over these last few years.
The aim being to help with upper back tightness.
But i literally moved in one finger width at a time, and would not move it again for many months.
Now i have my thumbs all the in to the last of the knurl before the inner smooth parts of the bar.

Don't try a grip that isn't comfortable for you though, just take it gradually.
No sense in causing elbow or shoulder problems gripping narrower than you are ready for.

Also bracing, and trying to stay tight as hell in the hole, even as the reps go on.
Again, just trying to make my overall average rep better.

[Salahudin]

Thanks, it really helps the confidence sometimes to have some feedback

[Salahudin]

A concern I now have is after watching this video on setting the back

When squatting I dont do this at all, I just take a big breath and hold it for the rep, I have tried to set the back like shown in the video in the link when trying air squats and I just end up feeling more awkward when trying to break from the hips and knees simultaneously

Also when squatting with my workers I feel like a need to push my hips forward a little at the top before breaking at the knees and hips simultaneously for each rep. For this light weight this is ok, but I'm worried about when the weight will be heavy if this will still be possible

Thanks

[mgil]

You don’t want lower back extension really. You want your lower back locked into a neutral position.

Also, Zack.

[Salahudin]

Starting strength legend zack evetts

[chrisd]

A concern I now have is after watching this video on setting the back

When squatting I dont do this at all, I just take a big breath and hold it for the rep, I have tried to set the back like shown in the video in the link when trying air squats and I just end up feeling more awkward when trying to break from the hips and knees simultaneously

Also when squatting with my workers I feel like a need to push my hips forward a little at the top before breaking at the knees and hips simultaneously for each rep. For this light weight this is ok, but I'm worried about when the weight will be heavy if this will still be possible

Thanks

I think that what you are doing is okay.

Other sources say that you should tighten your glutes before taking your breath and bracing. If you do that, your hips will go a little forward. Lots of people do this instinctively without being cued to do it.