form check
- Thread starter iddc
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kjetil1234
Member
Less elbow flare on bench to get lats involved.
Squat video is sadly useless, can't see hip/back curvature nor how your knees track over your feet. Good strength though bro.
Deadlift, bar closer to feet and strengthen your lumbar erectors. Your low back is breaking when you're lifting of.
Hope this helps man
Squat video is sadly useless, can't see hip/back curvature nor how your knees track over your feet. Good strength though bro.
Deadlift, bar closer to feet and strengthen your lumbar erectors. Your low back is breaking when you're lifting of.
Hope this helps man
hewhoisripped
Active member
Bar path on BP SUCKS. Should be straight up and down.
Don't think you're breaking parallel on squats. I'd go lower. Also seeing the feet wiggle.
Deads look good but missing a tad of lat engagement
Don't think you're breaking parallel on squats. I'd go lower. Also seeing the feet wiggle.
Deads look good but missing a tad of lat engagement
iddc
Member
I do admit I've exaggerated my bar path on bp.
It does seem so in the video, I'm trying to stay at least parallel until my lower back is strong again but I'll get a better vid
Thanks
hewhoisripped
Active member
Lower the weight and get ATG.
iddc
Member
Will ATG squats benefit me more as as a powerlifter?
iddc
Member
kjetil1234
Member
Bar path in bench is fine.
Don't go lower in squat than what your mobility allows. work mobility parallel until you gradually get deeper.
Don't go lower in squat than what your mobility allows. work mobility parallel until you gradually get deeper.
tyga tyga
Legend
This.
Your bar path is fine. Should be a slight arch when pressing, especially if your shooting for PL.
Wrivest
Well-known member
incorrect... The BP is NOT a straight up and down lift. Bar path looked fine, just tighten up the grip on the bar, squeeze your upper back, you'll get less elbow wobble
NattyForLife
Well-known member
Had an article here on AM today about bench press bar path! Ha
Wrivest
Well-known member
saw that! Made me laugh when I saw this
herderdude
Well-known member
Bench: Get more lower body tightness. 99.9% of your weight should be on your traps and feet, your butt is only barely to touch to keep the lift legal. Bend the bar toward your feet as hard as you can, that will engage the lats. It also looks like you're dumping the bar instead of keeping it stacked over your wrists and elbows to get it to touch on your sternum instead of letting your elbows travel there. Don't worry about how tucked your elbows are or where the bar touches, worry about bending the bar and the rest will take care of itself.
Squats look pretty good, you'll likely need a bit more depth and you definitely need to get your back tighter. See your elbows fly up as you unrack? No bueno. Think like a lat pull down and bend the bar around yourself. You may have to drop the weight when you hit that depth or move your stance in a touch or both.
Deadlift: set up a little closer to the bar, it wants to roll back toward you as the first move rather than coming straight up. And don't do touch and go deadlift, it won't carry over to competition and I believe it's a different technique than that first dead stop rep from the floor.
I gave you a long list, but your technique is pretty sound. These little things will help you on your way. Update frequently or link to your log and you'll progress that much faster.
Squats look pretty good, you'll likely need a bit more depth and you definitely need to get your back tighter. See your elbows fly up as you unrack? No bueno. Think like a lat pull down and bend the bar around yourself. You may have to drop the weight when you hit that depth or move your stance in a touch or both.
Deadlift: set up a little closer to the bar, it wants to roll back toward you as the first move rather than coming straight up. And don't do touch and go deadlift, it won't carry over to competition and I believe it's a different technique than that first dead stop rep from the floor.
I gave you a long list, but your technique is pretty sound. These little things will help you on your way. Update frequently or link to your log and you'll progress that much faster.
kjetil1234
Member
Don't worry about elbow tuck, really? 
herderdude
Well-known member
Don't worry about elbow tuck, really?
Lol, kinda sorta. When I tuck without the intention of snapping the bar in half, it doesn't help me bench more or get tighter in the lats. IME, the external rotation from applying the cue properly puts the elbow exactly where it needs to be.
kjetil1234
Member
The "feel" you guys are talking about is obtained by cuing the client into perfection. One cue is not to let the elbows flare out, and as you said external rotation.
Neglecting it is a mistake IMO.
Neglecting it is a mistake IMO.
Rodja
Board Sponsor
Nobody is saying to neglect it, but it's something that has trickled down from geared benching when it's not truly applicable to raw benching. His J path is good, but the positioning is what is poor. What happens more often than not is that the wrist goes into full extension when the tuck is exaggerated because there's isn't enough support in the chain.
kjetil1234
Member
Couldn't disagree more. The lats act as a shoulder FLEXOR in the bottom position of a bench, IF there's sufficient tuck and external rotation. In turn it potentially yields huge pop of the bottom, which is why the raw benchers always speak highly of the importance of strong lats.
Now, flaring out too much WILL put the humerus in internal rotation and you'll lose the much of the tricep and lat power.
Now, flaring out too much WILL put the humerus in internal rotation and you'll lose the much of the tricep and lat power.
Rodja
Board Sponsor
You're not understanding what we're saying. Nobody is saying that shoulder flare isn't something to control/minimize. However, tucking and drifting has become far too emphasized for a raw bencher. I understand how to properly bench and the differences in technique from raw to single-ply to multi-ply is night and day. The top raw benchers do not have a significant tuck in their elbows. The problem with the OP is that he's too damn flat and isn't properly set up from the beginning of the lift. His elbow at the bottom is far beyond the bench and it's one of several things that need to be adjusted before adjusting any form of tucking. With raw benching, you can't load the lats nearly as much as a geared bench because the starting and touch positions are very, very different.
herderdude
Well-known member
Tuck and external rotation are absolutely not one and the same. The bend the bar cue, when done properly, forces external rotation and maximal lat involvement.
Trust me, I bench almost entirely with my lats, upper back, and delts. If you only tell someone to tuck their elbows and don't get them to activate their lats, you're doing them a huge disservice. Telling someone to tuck will NOT create external rotation torque, nor will it engage the lats/upper back.
Telling someone to bend the bar will create external rotation torque and engage the lats. And who cares where the elbows are if the socket is safe and the musculature is engaged? Fyi, the elbows will be slightly, but not overtucked.
Try this at home, put 90% of your 1RM on the bar, grip index finger on the rings, and bench with your upper arms pinned to your ribcage. If you can complete that rep, then I can coach you to a new PR in two minutes. I know this because I've done it several times with my training partners, all competitive powerlifters.
If you really want pop from your lats, bench with a shoulder width grip and tuck hard.
Here's an example of proper elbow positioning, something I had to learn by not worrying about my elbows:Invalid Link Removed
kjetil1234
Member
We mostly agree. However a greater tuck will give a bigger lat stretch at the bottom thus increasing it's potential, and this has been my point all along. The elbow position IS important. Obviously it's not the same as ER, however you'll usually see flare and internal rotation both (and you see this in OP)
Obviously the relative elbow to bench position will change if the Back arches more, but biomechanically it will remain the same in the scapula.
Of course I agree about the cues and upper back tightness. If you don't tighten the lats at the bottom, the tuck won't matter, as the lats aren't contracting.
I'm not talking about a significant tuck, but an adequate one.
Obviously the relative elbow to bench position will change if the Back arches more, but biomechanically it will remain the same in the scapula.
Of course I agree about the cues and upper back tightness. If you don't tighten the lats at the bottom, the tuck won't matter, as the lats aren't contracting.
I'm not talking about a significant tuck, but an adequate one.
kjetil1234
Member
Work on core tightness and arching and stop lifting your ass off the bench. Press with feet ass stomach lats and arms (bend bar) once you're ready to get it back up
Don't go past fatigue like that. Take a breath and do another set instead. Don't force yourself after losing explosiveness IMO
Don't go past fatigue like that. Take a breath and do another set instead. Don't force yourself after losing explosiveness IMO
asooneyeonig
Well-known member
to me there are lots of technical issues. it will be a lot easier to watch these to help you correct them than to try and type it all out.
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iddc
Member
the Elitefts series! these helped me move more into pl forms about a year ago. i have it all downloaded into my PC.
add a 5-3-1 e-book and videos of Animal athletes raw PL videos (R. hawthorne etc.) motivated me to PL.
iddc
Member
just did a quick search on hip flexors, these are the muscles in the upper inner and outer thigh?
the shoes i have are barefoots, almost completely flat soles
iddc
Member
ahh the kabukki warrior? i've got his video about butt wink.
i used to squat with a much more narrow stance ( about a few inches beyond shoulder width)
when i injured my lower back i switched back to a wider stance thinking that there would be less strain on my lower back.
iddc
Member
wow getting so much help guys, no i've got sean helping me out.
It's hard when you're the only one at the gym doing PL. you get absolutely no help on form.
i want to get my form to the most efficient. if all goes well and i don't re injure myself i plan on competing when i go back home for a vacation.
75kg weight class. that'll probably be mid next year.
It's hard when you're the only one at the gym doing PL. you get absolutely no help on form.
i want to get my form to the most efficient. if all goes well and i don't re injure myself i plan on competing when i go back home for a vacation.
75kg weight class. that'll probably be mid next year.
Rodja
Board Sponsor
Those are more of the adductors and abductors, respectively. The hip flexors are going to be at the top of the thigh where the quads meet the hip. One of the primary reasons for tightness is that people spend the majority of their day seated and not stretching both the hip flexors and quads. I'm a big proponent of doing walking lunges and Bulgarian split squats as they help to stretch the area along with multiple other benefits (e.g. stretching the outside portions of the glutes, stabilizing the knees, etc.).
NattyForLife
Well-known member
Agree with that! Unilateral work is so underrated by people and it shouldn't be!
iddc
Member
Thanks!! Looks like I'll be doing BSS again.
I had absolutely no clue that they were locking up; what would one feel if they were tight? And which part of the lift was it evident?
I "used to" spend most of my days seated, but for about 2months now I changed my desk to a standing one. With the intention of not overly loading the lumbar region.
compudog
Well-known member
That's what I thought too. He would do better if he were further under the bar. Someone said chin under the bar, I like that cue.
Rodja
Board Sponsor
Not sure on the foot issue as I can't really vision what you're trying to say, but your technique isn't bad. Focus more on pushing your knees out and spreading the floor to initiate the movement. If you do that properly, it should take care of the only problem that I see and that is your shoulders going over the bar. If you focus on really pushing the knees out, your hips won't be as low as well, which reduces the ROM.
iddc
Member
Sorry bout that, multi tasking plus some hard black coffee. Now that it has worn off I'm like "whaat??"
What I meant was when I did the sumo with that weight level my left foot would always come off the floor as I completed the lift.
Is it because the weight is too light? Or something's wrong?
I'll try to correct the form with socks this time, my shins were already cut in the vid
Rodja
Board Sponsor
If your toes are coming up at the top of the lift, that's not an issue. It means you're getting the proper position and pulling back. As the weight gets heavier, it likely won't keep happening.
iddc
Member
Problem is, it's the entire left foot. But yeah as it gets heavier my feet stay on the ground.
The force I generate on sumo feels a lot different from conventional; the pull feels stronger. But I've got to get that form correct.
Rodja
Board Sponsor
Without seeing it, it's only an educated guess. One thing that is happening is that you don't lock your knees at the top. You're almost hyperextending at the top and it's causing your knees to unlock.
Wrivest
Well-known member
Those flat edge plates drive me nuts! Looks like that is distracting your setup as well.
I know what you are talking about with the foot raising up...just takes practice and adjusting to the new balance it takes. It'll go away. Took me a few months and a few thousand reps to feel somewhat comfortable with sumo
I know what you are talking about with the foot raising up...just takes practice and adjusting to the new balance it takes. It'll go away. Took me a few months and a few thousand reps to feel somewhat comfortable with sumo
rob112
Well-known member
Was just reading through the thread and these guys gave you lots if good stuff(that I also watch). I just wanted to add to watch this video on squats. It has helped me personally a lot, plus I think Chad has great squat form and he can explain it well.
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kjetil1234
Member
The hip flexors are shortened and not stretched in a squat. Mobility is restricted by hams, calfs and adductors. Stretch these.
iddc
Member
You noticed too? damn edged plates piss me off too!