Squat, Deadlift, and Power Clean Check

[Joe Bernard]

First one is squats, second is power cleans, and third is deadlifts. All links are wfs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc7Sk_Npm6w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmaxFmW-8Ec
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9Zj27P1rQo

Some observations:

Squats- I am letting my knees slide forward a little at the bottom, probably need to shove my knees out more to fix this. Are the squats low enough? I failed on the third set after 2 reps, just want to make sure I am hitting proper depth.

Power Clean- I am not aggressive enough with whipping my elbows around, so I don't catch the bar in the rack position.

Deadlift- my back rounds, need to work on keeping chest up and lower back tight.

Anything I missed?

[Greg Privitera]

Squats:

Head is up too high. can't really tell about knees from that angle, but it looks like you might have too narrow a stance for your build. Not hitting depth here.

Take the weight down and work back up.

Power clean:

Jumping too early, too much "bump" off the mid thigh which is swinging the bar pretty far away. Don't really see much shrug, and elbows could use work as noted.

Deadlift:

Maybe its a flexibility issue cause you're not really starting with enough extension at the lumbar spine. Flat is becoming rounded rather than Arched becoming flat (the latter is pretty safe).

Again, try to take the weight down and work on your set up.

[Gonzalo Fernandez]

Squats- you are several inches too high, shove your knees out more and keep you chest up, especially on the way up. On the bright side, they look much better than the guy behind you who is doing half squats!

[Joe Bernard]

Originally Posted by Greg Privitera

Squats:

Head is up too high. can't really tell about knees from that angle, but it looks like you might have too narrow a stance for your build. Not hitting depth here.

Take the weight down and work back up.

Power clean:

Jumping too early, too much "bump" off the mid thigh which is swinging the bar pretty far away. Don't really see much shrug, and elbows could use work as noted.

Deadlift:

I'll widen my stance a bit and make sure to keep my head down Maybe its a flexibility issue cause you're not really starting with enough extension at the lumbar spine. Flat is becoming rounded rather than Arched becoming flat (the latter is pretty safe).

Again, try to take the weight down and work on your set up.

So that's why I keep moving forward in my power clean, never noticed that it was the reason why. For the deadlift I may just need to focus more on arching my back, I am pretty sure I can do it. I was pretty wiped before I did the set, got like 4 hours of sleep, so I might have been slacking in form. I'll take some weight off and post a video to see if my form improves, thanks for the advice.

Originally Posted by Gonzalo Fernandez

Squats- you are several inches too high, shove your knees out more and keep you chest up, especially on the way up. On the bright side, they look much better than the guy behind you who is doing half squats!

The guy is actually going pretty "deep" for the squats I normally see, some look like their lower body is doing a push press, pretty pathetic. Thanks for the advice.

[Graeme Howland]

A bit high on the squats but pretty close, they look pretty good overall, best of your 3 lifts.

Power cleans, as said you are jumping too soon and swinging the bar out infront. Practice hang cleans to emphasize the correct jumping position, be patient, slow down the first pull and faster elbows.

Deadlift, the problem is you are pulling yourself out of extension from the bar leaves the floor. You setup in a decent position, but then you round your back before the bar moves, this could cause injury in the future. Pull your back into tighter extension (think chest up, back arch), then squeeze the slack out of the bar (pull on it, but not enough to break it off the floor). Then pull your knees back to pull the bar off the floor, and push hips forward to lock it out. Focus on keeping your back extended the entire time.

[Joe Bernard]

I took off some weight for the squats (167.5 to 145) and deadlift (215-175) today and it went pretty well. Sadly, I forgot my camera at my dorm, so the only video I have is from my phone's camera with my friend taping me. Quality is not great, but I think I did a better job of keeping my back in extension, still could use a little work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ0pJRJBj8o (wfs)

Like you said Graeme, I need to pull the slack out of the bar before I lift it, so my back doesn't get pulled out of extension. Those two cues, plus pulling the slack out of the bar, shoudl make my form pretty solid. I'll post better videos after I squat on wednesday and deadlift on friday. Thanks for your help.

[Greg Privitera]

Looks better. Try "leaning back" with the bar a little more. Weight will transfer to your heels and your hips will act like a hinge.

[Joe Bernard]

Originally Posted by Greg Privitera

Looks better. Try "leaning back" with the bar a little more. Weight will transfer to your heels and your hips will act like a hinge.

Will do, thanks.

[Joe Bernard]

Got two vidoes of myself doing squats with 150lbs, first one is side view and second one is front view. I hit depth here, made sure to keep my chest up, and shoved my knees out more; I just need to work on the little bit of knee travel at the bottom. Both links are wfs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NCRpEDBra4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZkw52oH7_M

[Joe Bernard]

Got a better video of a set of deadlifts. I think they are pretty good, any advice is welcome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujFHLLW9gHo (wfs)