Jacob Form Check -- 10/03/2008

by **jacob** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 8:00 pm

Any comments appreciated.
Especially BP, because if there's something wrong with my form that explains why it's bothering my shoulder, I'd be very happy to know

Thanks!
Squat

Bench Press

Power Clean

by **Mehdi** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:41 pm

Back is severely rounding on Squats. Probably tight hamstrings. Workin on hip mobility?
Bench Press: lower the bar more to your lower chest, so your elbows end up somewhere at 45° vs. your torso. right now bar is too high, elbows too high. Most important on bench press is keeping your shoulder-blades back & down. Squeeze them hard & keep it there.
Power Cleans:

back is bent, push chest more forward.

elbows are bent. use hook grip and relax your forearms. Pull form the upper-back/traps.

by **jacob** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:25 pm

Thanks for the comments, Mehdi. Definitely lots to work on.
Yes, the back rounding on squats is obvious now. This is why it's good to video yourself, I guess, because I didn't feel that at all. My hamstrings are not particularly tight, though ... I can touch my toes no prob and sitting down with one leg extended I can reach a couple inches past my toes.
Definitely need to work on hip mobility ... I've been feeling a lot of tightness (and some soreness) in the hip flexors. Could that be causing the problem?
Anyways, I'll probably drop the weight a bit on squats and work on that form issue.

by **Mehdi** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:38 pm

Most people just need to work on hip mobility. with all the sitting we do, you just need to. If you feel tightness in hip flexors, start with the hip mobility. also get better shoes

by **D_hadley** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:02 am

About the squat:

I'm having the same problem with my back rounding too.
The other day, someone told me that when you are on your way up you should look towards the ceiling as far as you can, and try to get your back to follow.I feel like its helping.

by **paul** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:07 am

was that ammonia you were sniffing in the power clean video?

by **jacob** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:08 am

No, cocaine

Just kidding. Itchy nose gets me in trouble more often than I'd like.

by **paul** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:11 am

oh haha. yeah it looked like it could have been ammonia since you jump a little after it. but yeah i also have the back rounding issue on squats too. it sucks

by **jacob** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:15 am

Jump is me setting my feet to the right width ... should probably just memorize it. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has to fix lower back rounding issues. I was so looking forward to hitting body weight in a couple of workouts, but I think it makes sense to drop 10% of the squat weight and really make sure I'm squatting in good form. No point in getting injured ...

by **jacob** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 2:44 am

Mehdi,
I've got a couple of scheduled days with no workouts, so I've been working on hamstring and hip flexibility in hopes of repairing the severe lower back rounding you spotted in the bottom of my squat.
My question is, should I keep going with the progressive loading while working on the form change, or should I deload the squat to some degree to make sure I have it right before moving up again?
I'm also going to pick me up some "chuck taylors" as you call them (we call them Converse All-Stars here, in Canada).
Thanks for the help!

by **Mehdi** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 11:21 am

Light weights always work best to improve your technique. You decide.
The all stars are named after the american basketball player Chuck Taylor. He made them popular (most sold basketball shoe ever)

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