Back Squat Critique

[Bryan Castro]

Hi everyone,

I haven't done this in a few years, so I'm a little nervous, but here goes. I would appreciate any feedback on the back squat (low bar).

I think these are okay, but I'm wondering if I'm leaning forward a little too much at the bottom. Also, I'm not totally sure where to look. Friends have told me to just to focus on a spot in front of me, but I don't know if there's a specific distance to look.

Here is the youtube link (work and family friendly): https://youtu.be/A29GyAVILXo

I added the music as I just discovered I could add music to the video (so you can't hear my breathing and stuff. Also, these are fairly heavy for me (I'm weak I know), so in the second set particularly it is a little difficult for me to stand up. I just mention that so you don't think these are warm-up sets for me.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks!
Bryan

[Shawn M Wilson]

Honestly your form in my opinion isn't bad at all.

You do come a little forward but you do a great job siting back into it and keeping your back straight. Also appreciate the fact you got a breath and got tight before each squat.

I would do some ankle flexibility to help with the forward part but a lot of guys I know with a low bar squat usually come forward a little more.

How close was this to your 1 rep max?

[Dare Vodusek]

One thing I noticed, again, I might be wrong, so correct me!

Your bar placement on the back is neither high or low, it seems in between.

I would place the bar more up, closer to the neck, like this fellow: http://cdn.builtlean.com/wp-content/...ck-squat-2.jpg or this https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OAlUrcnNTZ0/maxresdefault.jpg

you can also opt and go for a low bar position, like this: http://www.dieselcrew.com/wp-content...02-300x224.jpg but this is more for powerlifters as you may see from the upper pic of the Chinese weightlifter.

so decide which way you wanna go and then correct bar position, imo.

links WFS

[Bryan Castro]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I really appreciate it.

Dare: I haven't tested my 1RM in a few years - as I had knee surgery (ACL and meniscus) a couple years ago and I've only done back squat for the last month or so since then. Admittedly, I probably had some fear of starting back up again since surgery.

Shawn: As for bar position, this is my low bar position. The bar is resting on my rear delts, which I thought was the position. I feel if I put it any lower I wouldn't be able to hold it in place with my arms. But I"ll look at the videos you reference and compare it to what I'm doing.

I'll post a follow-up video maybe in a few weeks after working on your feedback and see how it looks.

Thanks,
Bryan

[Bryan Castro]

Originally Posted by Dare Vodusek

One thing I noticed, again, I might be wrong, so correct me!

Your bar placement on the back is neither high or low, it seems in between.

I would place the bar more up, closer to the neck, like this fellow: http://cdn.builtlean.com/wp-content/...ck-squat-2.jpg or this https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OAlUrcnNTZ0/maxresdefault.jpg

you can also opt and go for a low bar position, like this: http://www.dieselcrew.com/wp-content...02-300x224.jpg but this is more for powerlifters as you may see from the upper pic of the Chinese weightlifter.

so decide which way you wanna go and then correct bar position, imo.

links WFS

Shawn: I think part of the part is that my traps are not very large, so the bar looks higher than it is on my back. So I need to build more muscle back there so the bar position is more defined.

[Michael A. Jones]

Your bar placement on the back is neither high or low, it seems in between.


I would concur with Dare on bar placement. Aside from that, your form and depth were solid. Good job!

Michael

[Bryan Castro]

Thanks guys for your comments. Today, I tried moving the bar a little lower. I'll try to get some pictures or videos after I've experimented with it. I eventually want to do high bar back squat as well, but I want to get my overall strength up with the low bar squat for a while.

[Marshall Flagg]

Originally Posted by Bryan Castro

Thanks guys for your comments. Today, I tried moving the bar a little lower. I'll try to get some pictures or videos after I've experimented with it. I eventually want to do high bar back squat as well, but I want to get my overall strength up with the low bar squat for a while.

Then do high bar now. No sense messing about with low bar. High bar translates better into pretty much every other squatty, olympicy lifty thing. Do whatever feels good to you but you should do an Olympic/high bar squat. Unless you want to be a powerlifter and just want to move as much weight as possible, then do low bar.

But you should probably train high bar.

[Dare Vodusek]

Agree.

Do high bar back squat and front squats and there will be enough strength gains needed on the long run.

[Bryan Castro]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll try some and post a video. I haven't specifically tried high bar squat much, so the feedback will be very helpful.