squat tech

[Welsh power house]

I tend to stick my ass out and sort of lean forwrds...my back is very falt and does not hurt at all when i squat, but it seems my ass is the only thing that gorws form squats.
The guys i train with tend to sit down into the squat more and keep thier backs more upright and locked all the way.
I find this very hard to do, but should i try and adopt this form?

I was thinking of dropping the weight right the way down and working on the form and techneque, any advise would be great!!!

 

[Blood&Iron]

There is a tendency for tall trainees to do what you describe. I'm of average height(5'11") and I sometimes end up doing the same thing myself. If I'm not careful my squats begin to resemble good mornings more than anything. My first recommendation is to pick up Stuart McRobert's book on weight training technique which easily has the best discussion of form I've seen in print, for squatting and for many other major lifts. Other than that my suggestions are that you make sure you are using a fairly wide stance. Also point your toes out at approx. 30 degrees. Begin with just the bar and adjust the width of your stance and the amount of toe flare until you can both keep your back fairly upright and minimize, though not eliminate, the forward motion of your knees. Also don't let the bar slip too low on your back. Make sure your hips are rising and your back straightening simultaneously. Also look ahead or slightly up. And always keep your back slightly arched. Do not let it round. Hope some of this helps.

 

[gymtime]

The "sticking your ass out" part is good. That means your back is arched. The leaning forward part is bad. Like B&I said, it's a very common, if not the most common mistake people make. I've done squats for years and still catch myself doing that once in a while.

Lot of good suggestions there, especially looking upward during the motion. Also, I'd suggest lowering your weight if you have to. Good form on a squat is much more important.

 

[Stryc-9]

Good advice here!

I also suggest that you stay conscious of your elbow position - specifically - try to keep your arms in line with your torso and ensure that your elbows aren't flaring out to the back...

 

[Island Son]

I'm 6' 2". On squats my feet are more than shoulder width apart, and toes are pointed out around 30 deg. Hands are as far apart as they can get with being crushed when I rack the weight. Bar is high up on my back sitting on my traps. There's a small comfort zone; too high puts weight on the neck, too low makes my wrists roll backwards (painfully) which makes it hard to keep the weight still. Maybe this is why you're leaning forward?
BTW I can't do proper squats with just the bar, only at 135 with some weight pushing me down, does my foot width, bar placement and handgrip fall into place. When I'm at the bottom of the rep starting upwards, it feel just short of falling over backwards. I push through the heels to stand up straight.
Hope it helps..... or you can criticize if I'm doing anything wrong.