A Quick Fix That Will Make You Push (and Pull) More Weight
Jul 2nd, 2008 by Mehdi Posted in Weight Lifting
Squat vs. Deadlift. Image credit: Starting Strength 2nd edition.
The top picture is from the cover of Starting Strength and illustrates 2 technique essentials valid for most weight lifting exercises:
- You must keep the bar above the center of your feet.
- You must move the bar in a straight line.
Keeping the bar above the center of your feet ensures stability. Moving the bar in a straight line is more efficient: the shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line. Here’s how to push/pull the bar in a straight line.
Squat. You’ll always push the bar in a straight line on low bar Squats as long as you keep the bar above the center of your feet.
- Low Bar Position. If you put the bar higher, you’ll lean forward more and risk falling forward. Put the bar on top of your scapular spine.
- Push Your Hips Back. Squatting down kills posterior chain strength and moves the bar away from the center of your feet. Move your hips first.
Overhead Press. Your head is in the way when pressing overhead. Don’t press the bar diagonally. Get your head out of the way so the bar can go up.
- Tilt Head Back. Put the bar close to your clavicles with your elbows up. Look forward while tilting your head back so the bar can go up.
- Shift Torso Forward. Don’t stay behind the bar: get under the bar by shifting your torso forward as soon as the bar reaches forehead level.
Bench Press. Common mistake on the Bench Press is pressing the bar in a diagonal curve: toward your head. Straight line is shorter.
- Tuck Your Elbows. Safer on your shoulders. Tuck your elbows so they end up 45° to your torso rather than perpendicular to your body.
- Touch Your Lower Chest. Lower the bar against your xyphoid process. You can only do this if you keep your elbows tucked.
- Look at The Ceiling. The bar goes where you look. Don’t look at the bar. Fix a point at the ceiling where you want the bar to go.
Deadlift. Starting with the bar away from your shins puts your hips too low, is harder on your lower back, and makes you Deadlift in a \ line.
- Bar Against Shins. Avoid scraped shins by wearing long pants or pulling your socks. Bar against shins in the starting position.
- Keep The Bar Close to You. The closer the bar to your body, the easier the lift. Roll the bar over your thighs on the way up.
Power Clean. Similar error as for Deadlifts: starting the Power Clean with the bar away from your shins because you fear hitting your shins.
- Bar Against Shins. Avoid scraped shins by wearing long pants or pulling your socks. Bar against shins in the starting position.
- Pull from Mid-thigh Level. Don’t pull too soon. Weight until the bar reaches mid-thigh level to start the 2nd pull.
- Touch Your Shirt. The closer the bar, the easier to lift. Touch your shirt at chest level on the way up.
Realize human biomechanics prevent you to push or pull the bar in a perfectly straight line. Strive, however, for a straight bar path. Lower the weight to get used to the new technique if you pushed/pulled differently before.
Hi Mehdi,
The first image in the picture you posted shows exactly what I struggle with… knees in front of toes on the bottom part of the squat. I try so hard to keep my knees from going in front of my toes even a little bit (I have a short torso and really long legs), but this causes my lower back to round or my butt to go up in the air, causing me to lean forward. All posts I’ve seen stress not letting the knees go in front of the toes. Which way is correct? Is the picture okay form?
@Ben
Knee position depends on length of limbs, so you can’t work with that. Focus on pushing your hips back first on the way down, refer to this post: how NOT to Squat. Make sure the bar sits correctly, if it’s too high your back can round.
After reading Starting Strength, I realized my deadlift was suffering because the bar wasn’t over the middle of the foot - adjusting that has definitely helped my deadlift.
I’m curious to know how this works with rows? SS suggests to keep it over the middle of the foot, but I can’t do that (either I don’t feel balanced, or my knees are in the way) - is this a flexibility issue that I need to fix?
@Sifaan
On rows. Similar rules as for deadlifts: bar close to your body, the closer the bar, the easier the lift. Bar too far away, means you’ll tend to lose balance. If you can’t keep bar close to you, might be tight hams/posterior pelvic tilt, work on mobility.
@Ben
It is also very important to shove your knees out and make sure they line up with your toes the whole time. If you don’t do this when you go down enough, your torso will basically push your knees forward and prevent you from getting the stretch reflex on abductors. It also decreases your hamstrings tightness, which is crucial to the ascend.
Based on Mehdi’s recommendation, I recently bought a copy of Starting Strength. It’s great - if I had it 20 years ago, I would have known to keep my elbows tucked on bench press. It would have saved a lot of physio bills.
I’ve a question though. Starting Strength is clear about touching your chest with the bar on bench press. This seems to be mostly to exercise the full range and so you don’t just increase your cheat. In Scrawny to Brawny (who’s authors I also respect), they suggest that if you have long arms and don’t have a huge barrel chest, you should not lower the bar all the way because lowering your elbows that far below parallel is very hard on the shoulder capsule.
Any ideas?
There seems to be a slight discrepancy regarding bar position for squats in this post vs Starting Strength. In this post it says, “Put the bar on top of your scapular spine.” But, in Starting Strength, pg. 19, “Use the lower position, where the bar is carried just below the spine of the scapula, on top of the posterior deltoids.” Which is right?
@Stringy
Touch your lower chest (xyphoid process) on the bench. If you tuck your elbows and use a slight arch it should never be a problem to touch your chest that way. I have long arms/legs + short torso and I do it.
@Whitney
That’s ok. But watch out you don’t put the bar too low, otherwise you’ll lose the bar. Find the sweet spot through practice and use it.
@Whitney
After you experiment you will find the natural ’shelf’ in the low bar position. For me it’s ontop of the scaps. It helps to push your elbows back and keep your hands as close together as your shoulder flexibility allows. It makes a nice stable platform for the bar to rest on (it was only uncomfortable for a week or two for me when I changed from high bar). Shoulder dislocations helped a lot.