Squat help?

[mrzap]

I currently squat under the smith machine because I am bad at regular squats, but I am willing to give them a shot again.

Last time I tried normal squats I had a bitch of a time keeping my balance. Like on the way back up I felt as if I was going to fall backward. What should I do to compensate?

Generally do taller people have more trouble with squats? (i'm almost 6'4")

 

[WarriorPL]

Make sure your knees are above your toes and your shoulders above that. Lean forward but not too much.

 

[TxRugby_8]

yes, tall people generally have trouble with squatting. try putting 10lbs. plates under your heals.

cheers

 

[Fatty4You]

I used to do a lot of smith sqauts. Now i am back on squats. I think the smith squats where bad for my knees, but when i got back to barbell squats, i had better form and flexability. Or maybe that was just cause i started streching.

Anyway, i find that one thing i can do to help with my form and ballance is, take an emtpy barbell, and put it on your shoulders. But then instead of placing your hands on the bar, kinda stick them out strait to the sides and just kinda rest your hands on top of the bar [but no bending in the elbow]. This helped my keep my back strait and practice going down and up. Then as i learned to balance, i was able to grab the bar regular style with better form.

Also, as always, keep your head UP!! I pick something high to stare at while i do squats.

-Fatty

 

[needsize]

Make sure the bar isnt sitting too high up on your traps. The higher the bar, the higher your centre of gravity, which makes it hard to keep your balance. I sit it at the bottom of my traps which keeps a nice low centre of gravity

 

[spatts]

I don't even know where to start....

Please get rid of the smith machine squats, and don't put plates under your feet. You just need to learn how to squat, and not find ways to get around it. There are alot of tall power lifters out there that squat just fine.

First, go read the "squat" sticky on the powerlifting board. 2nd, try box squatting to learn proper form. Get a wide stance, press your knees out, and sit back. It looks like this:

365 Squat

Goodmorning the bar out of the rack. Walk the bar back, or start using a monolift (if it's available to you). Before you even lift the bar out, the traps should be squeezed together, pull the bar down on you like you're going to break it over your back. Get a nice wide stance, and a tight arch. Don't start with your knees hard locked. Don't bend your legs...just right there in between. Try to keep the bar moving in a straight line up and down, and preferably over your hips. Then, just sit back. This is REALLY a back and forth movement, not up and down. The stronger your posterior chain, the more you will squat. Use your hamstrings to lower yourself (tip from Bob Youngs). Concentrate on keeping your knees out wide/pressing them apart. To ascend, drive your neck into the bar (looking forward, not up) and flex your glutes/hams to stand up. Spread the floor apart with your feet the whole time. Feet should stay flat, knees over ankles and out wide, bar over the hips.

 

[b fold the truth]

What else can I say that Spatts didn't say perfectly?????

B True

 

[2Shy]

Yes, listen to Spatts! She, Gladiola and many, many, many others gave me tons of great advice on this subject over on the Women's Board not too long ago.

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=192738

I'm still building up to just squatting with the bar (okay, everyone can stop laughing now. ) but one of the tips that really helped me with my balance problem was:

Think of it more as a front to back movement than up and down. I.E., stick your butt back and then down.

When I do this, everything else seems to fall into place.

 

[DrBones]

You could try taking your shoes off too so your not tilted forward like a lot of shoes do to you

 

[spatts]

Good call, Dr. Bones. I squat in Chuck Taylors. Wrestling shoes are good too.

 

[makedah]

If you're having trouble keeping your balance it's probably because your core muscles aren't ready for the move yet. (Think of it as a squishy column - your torso - trying to hold up a roof.) Beef up your standing ab moves and low back work.

And good mornings, good mornings, good mornings.

I have long legs (esp. thigh) and a short torso, so I have a decent amount of forward lean when I squat. But that's physics and not because I can't support the bar. Well, at least usually...

 

[Haz]

Hey Spatts, do you train squats with the same stance as you do in the video. I ask, because its much wider then I would normally go.

 

[spatts]

Yep. We all squat W I D E .

 

[bignate73]

i squat med/wide. enough to get me in the hole with a good alignment of my knees and toes. my OL shoes help me sit alot better than my squishy new balance. (and i thought they were stiff until yesterday). i can go ATF with a narrow stance too but my ass sticks out too much then on the way up. my stance now is a good blend of glute/ham and quad emphasis. a good balance for my goals/purposes.

thats not to say that a round of box squats arent beneficial to me from time to time. hehehe.