Squat Technique Advice?

[Guest guest]

I need some serious help on my powerlifting squat form.

My squat max is 425 dead max 445 (conventional..weakness right off

the floor) bent legged GM max of 305 last year when my squat max was

around 365...so it is probably higher now.

I am 5'9 " and I squat sort of narrow/medium width….my heels are about

17 " apart with the toes turned out some. The bar is on my rear delts definitely

NOT up on top of my traps at all. The camera angle in the attacked video makes

it look higher than it is.

IMO my legs are somewhat " short " with my torso being somewhat longer.

The basic problem is I am not able to " sit back " this is with a bar

on my back or without. I can try to start back with the

butt/hips. This works to a degree…but then about 1/3rd of the way

down it seems like the hams are either too weak or too tight to allow

sitting back anymore.

At that point everything starts moving " forward " …basically the knees

go out over the toes etc….it ends up looking like an oly squat except

with the knees fairly far forward…..the butt tucks under at the

end. I can get PLENTY of depth but of course I end up with the knees

bent at probably over a 100 degree angle. So far my knees feel good

but they have been popping slightly in the bottom lately.

I want to fix this now before it gets any worse.

If I widen the stance more I think the form gets worse. Also, I am aware that I

am not keeping a great arch or " keeping the chest up " etc...but I feel this

isn't the root issue....more of an effect of the root issue.....because I can

keep an exagerrated arch etc but I would still fall over about halfway down if I

tried to sit

back.

Aren't short legged guys supposed to be able to squat well? Is there

anything in my body angles that would contribute to this? What

SHOULD a 5 & #399; " guy with slightly shorter legs/longer torso look like while

squatting (leaned over, or body erect, or what?)

Here is a thought….I haven't done leg curls in forever…I have done

RDL, hyperextensions, deadlifts…..I just did a month of SLDL….could

it be that my hams are weak on the end near the knee joint? (since I

haven't worked that " end " in a couple years at least). I have decent

strength at RDL, SLDL etc….but when I try to simulate a GHR on the 45

degree back extension we have, it is impossible. The second I

bend over at all I see that my hams are simply way too weak.

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Other possible clues

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Just physically looking at my build…my thighs are decent sized,

glutes big, but hams, where are they?? If I were a bodybuilder and did a leg

bicep pose there would be nothing there to look at. Also my calves are nothing

to brag about.

My front squats TOTALLY suck....I have to fight really hard on these

since I usually use forward body lean....same for zerchers

I have attached a video from aug 05…at the time it was a PR of

365. Believe it or not the form in the video is BETTER than what I

have now. Now the knees seem to go further forward (I am going

deeper, another habit I need to fix). Could it be that my

back/thighs are decently strong so my body is trying to use the

back/thighs more to compensate for weak hams?

Here is the video http://media.putfile.com/365-squat-form-Nov-05

Here is a pic from mid last year of a GM (yes I used gloves back

then)

http://www.techimo.com/photo/showphoto.php/photo/7884/cat/500/ppuser/4

15 seems my low back is decently strong

Here is a " posed " pic of me " squatting " with 135

http://www.techimo.com/photo/showphoto.php/photo/7861/cat/500/ppuser/4

15 my guess is that now the knees would be even farther forward and

usually I go like 2 " below parallel so there would be more knee bend

and butt " tuck under " as seen in a vid I took the other day (not

online yet)...and possibly even less back arch than in this posed pic.

Now I am stronger but the form seems worse….now I go more forward the

deeper I go….ended up with the knees way out forward and on the way

up the bar sort of has to do a little " s " shape backwards.

What to do to fix this issue? I am already adding leg curls.

May be box squats?? Though I don't think they simulate a raw squat very well it

seems they might help me as far as sitting back…at least I wouldn't fall onto

the floor.

I have a full meet coming up on Mar 25 (I compete raw, belt only).

Should I even bother continuing to do heavy squats using my current

poor form? Should I just use like 135 and work on sitting back as far

as possible and trying to gradually get deeper with it? even with a

bodyweight squat I would fall over if I tried to sit back with shins

fairly vertical. If I hold a medicine ball at arms length it might

be possible.

Should I just go on a hamstring blitz from now until the meet?

Thanks for any ideas or suggestions.

Randy

Danville, Va