I recently started training again after a very long layoff (longer than I’d ever trained in the first place) and I noticed as I increased the weight on squats, I started to do more of a squat morning. I’ve watched Alan Thrall’s video here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H94A_kayCJ0 – and I’m trying to follow the cues but I’m struggling to correct the good morning issue. I feel like I’m breaking at the hips and knees at the same time like he talks about, staying balanced throughout the descent, cut a bit off my depth, and trying to stay looking down (although in the video it does look like my head is looking up early, so maybe that’s it?) Could someone give me some pointers on what might be off here? Do I just need to drop the weight a bit to work on form or should I continue to increase weight while trying to practice fixing this issue?
Here’s my thoughts but Im just some guy in an unmoderated forum posting late at night because I’m avoiding my work.
- This squat morning is not that bad. Yes your hips rise faster than your chest but so what. I have seen much much worse. I think youre being overly self conscious about it.
- The weight seems to be distributed evenly over your foot. I do not see much if any heel or toe rise through out your set which is good.
- It does not appear that you are bracing at all. I see no change in your trunk as you prepare for each rep. Do a better job bracing. Brace harder than you ever thought you could. We should be able to see you brace.
- IDK maybe another cue that will help you with how you feel about your torso angle when squatting is to think “Proud Chest”
- Also keep your upper back tight. Rather than just letting the bar sit on your shoulders think about grabbing the bar with your shoulders.
- Also I do not think BM is down with the idea of “Dropping the weight to work on form”. Form while using weights that are heavier is part of the practice. I doubt practicing form at weight too low to drive stimulus is worth much for improving your forum at heavier weights. You should continue working with the appropriate load and work on your form while doing that.
Thanks for the thoughts, this is very helpful. I’m glad it doesn’t look as much like a good morning to you as I’m thinking, I think I’ve just been watching videos of my form too much and getting overly critical. I did make serious improvements after the Alan Thrall video, before that every rep looked like the last rep in that video except significantly worse. I’ll just keep working on it but not get too caught up on it.
- It does not appear that you are bracing at all. I see no change in your trunk as you prepare for each rep. Do a better job bracing. Brace harder than you ever thought you could. We should be able to see you brace.
This is probably accurate. I am trying to brace a bit but I think the weight just doesn’t feel that heavy on my back compared to what I was doing before and so it doesn’t feel like I have to brace as much before getting under it (whereas with the weights I was using before and at 15kg lower bodyweight, I would have crumpled just getting under the bar without bracing properly). I was also using a belt before which provides some tactile feedback for bracing, but I realized wearing a belt just makes lifting much less pleasant for me, so I’m putting it off until I start to stall out and then I’ll add it back. Still working with baby weights here so hopefully I’ve got a little while. I’ll try to focus more on bracing in the meantime though.
The other cues you mentioned are helpful, I will try those.
- Also I do not think BM is down with the idea of “Dropping the weight to work on form”.
That’s what I thought from things I’ve seen, but I also was worried about the possibility of something like… not developing my quads enough because I wasn’t using them properly in the lift and relying too much on my back, and then when I try to do it properly, my legs just not being strong enough for the weight I was working with before. But good to confirm, thank you, I’ll continue working on form as I increase weight.
This was all very helpful feedback, I appreciate it.