Critique my lifts

M

mcFreid

0
Here is nearly everything I did today (chin-ups and dips are not shown because I couldn't find a good area to place my camera on). Please tell me everything wrong with what I am doing.















Thanks,
Michael
 
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Squats- Not too bad. A bit shaky perhaps. Also, it looks like your back rounds a bit in the hole, but it's hard to see because the rack is in the way.
It's hard to say anything about the movement of the knees in relation to the toes and hip and bar placement because of the side angle. But your elbows are pointing out behind you, they should point down along side the body. This can be hard to do if you place the bar incorrectly since you will feel the need to create a shelf by extending your elbows behind you.

Deadlift. Looks like your hips are rising faster than your shoulders. Try to keep them rising at the same rate. This could be because your glutes are weak and you raise the hips to get tension on the hams so that they can help more with the hip flexion.

Bench press. I see you're retracting your shoulder blades, that's good. You're not using leg drive, why not? Depending on your goal, your bench might need a lot of work. If it is to bench press maximum amounts of weights you should adopt more of a powerlift technique (tucking the elbows more, bigger arch, feet further back for leg drive, and lowering the bar lower on your stomach, pushing it out to reduce the ROM). If it's just to get big pecs then what you're doing now isn't that bad. Though it is hard to see what is going on at the shoulder at the bottom part of the ROM since the plates are in the way.

shoulder presses look fine to me.
so do the rows

pushups-
your butt is sticking up. Also, your elbows are flared to the side, I'd want to tuck them in a bit more..

that's just what I can see from a quick glance.

Also, the squats and deads look a bit weird, but I think it's the kind of thing that will get better with practice.
 
Thanks for the very informative reply!

Squats: I'll work on that back rounding. I think it is slight, but I believe I see what you mean. I'll also work on the elbows to get them pointed down. You mentioned though that this would be difficult if I am incorrectly placing the bar. I wasn't sure though, are you saying I am incorrectly placing the bar? If so, how?

Deadlifts: Yeah I see this too and it's something I've been working on for awhile. I'll keep at it.

Bench: My goal is to be both stronger and have big pecs. Is it not possible to do both? If so, what combination of changes should I make?

Pushups: I've been working on these awhile. I can't seem to find the equilibirium where my lower back does not sink and my butt is not sticking up. Every time I try to not stick my butt up my lower back sinks into a giant valley. I'll keep working at it but any special "tricks" that you may know would be great. I'll also try out what you said about the elbows, maybe that will help some.

Thanks Again,
Michael
 
Flex the glutes and focus on pushing your hips forward, like you do when you hump someone :p and flex the abs.

The bar might be incorrectly positioned. If I were you I'd just play around with it a bit and see where it is comfortable. Remember to retract the shoulder blades when you squat, that should help create a shelf for the bar. Otherwise I think there is a video in the squat RX (check out the technique articles sticky) that adresses bar placement.. but I'm not sure
 
Which movement is your first sentence referring to. I assume squats or deadlifts, or both?

Hmm, the bar is comfortable where I position it so I don't think I'll change that. I will do the elbow thing though and maybe that alone will solve the uncertainty with the positioning.
 
I'm talking about the pushups. Thought it sort of goes for the lock out on the deadlift aswell but I wouldn't sweat that since if you now start thinking about humping someone you might end up with a posterior pelvic tilt on the deadlift, which you don't want.
 
Well to go along with the humping theme, I don't get how that should be true for the pushup movement. Shouldn't my butt be level with my shoulders? If I'm driving my hips forward it would cause my back to sink, no?
 
oh not like that. hmm.. don't know quite how to explain it. tilt your pelvic posteriorly compared to what it is in that vid of the pushups.
 
Squat- Move your hands in on the squat to make a shelf with your upper back muscles. Rest the bar on the shelf made by your rear delts. Get tighter. Take a big breath before you start the lift. Stay tight out of the rack. Walk out deliberately and with more control. Keep your core tight when walking out. Get ready before you squat, make every rep controlled. It looks like you're looking up. Look straight ahead when you squat, drive your neck into your traps.

T-Nation.com | Olympic vs. Powerlifting Squats

YouTube - Squat and DL (3/27/2009)

I like the way this guy squats. Also, check out his bench, as it is a similar set up I describe below.

Dead- Try out a narrower stance. Don't look at yourself on the dead, turn around so your back is to the mirror and learn to feel out the lift. I would like to see more hamstring loading. You look like you're trying to squat the bar. When you're putting the weight down, try to maybe RDL down. Meaning, bend at the hip more than at the knee.

YouTube - Jouko Ahola Deadlift

Bench- More leg drive and tuck those elbows. Stay tight.

YouTube - EliteFTS.com - Bench Press Exercise index DVD promo
 
Karky: I see exactly what you mean by that pic. Thank you and I'll work on it.

LeiYunFat: Excellent videos! Thanks much for all of the various tips. They all make good sense to me and I'll try my best to start making the changes as soon as my next lifting session. I've gotten so much advice though that I think it's going to be hard for me to incorporate everything new at once, but I'll do my best and overtime I have no doubt I'll get it perfect.

Thanks again,
Michael
 
LeiYunFat said:
Dead- Try out a narrower stance. Don't look at yourself on the dead, turn around so your back is to the mirror and learn to feel out the lift. I would like to see more hamstring loading. You look like you're trying to squat the bar. When you're putting the weight down, try to maybe RDL down. Meaning, bend at the hip more than at the knee.
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Yep. Same thought from this part of the world lol

Turn around first of all. When you grab the bar(grip is a personal choice) dont immediately start the lift. Prepare yourself and take a knee and get a good grip if you have to. The ready position of the dead lift looks almost like you sitting in a chair,



....But me personally i will sit deeper than that picture. The lower your butt goes the better "loaded" your legs will be like Lei said which will give you more explosion when you start the lift.

You looked ok as you ended the lift but always remember to to end with your chest out and shoulders back. When your done and at the top of the lift, this is where me and Lei differ, i just drop the weight. I mean there is no need to lightly sit it back down so i will drop it.
 
I do the same at the end of the lift. After lockout, I ride it back down, but it looked like OP was trying not to slam the weights around.
 
mcFreid said:
Karky: I see exactly what you mean by that pic. Thank you and I'll work on it.

LeiYunFat: Excellent videos! Thanks much for all of the various tips. They all make good sense to me and I'll try my best to start making the changes as soon as my next lifting session. I've gotten so much advice though that I think it's going to be hard for me to incorporate everything new at once, but I'll do my best and overtime I have no doubt I'll get it perfect.

Thanks again,
Michael
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The big thing to take away is to not be afraid to experiment with different ways of lifting, to see what works for you. I personally hate ultra wide squatting. I suspect that it is best for geared lifting, but I digress. Find a way that works for you. Everything we provided is more or less just a guide. But you will get far using the methods already established and working from there.
 
Thanks for the encouraging words :D. Just a quick comment with the deadlift. I do tend to go slow on the downward motion as I like to feel control in the movement. I know some people don't and just drop it, but is there any disbenefit to going slow?
 
mcFreid said:
I do tend to go slow on the downward motion as I like to feel control in the movement. I know some people don't and just drop it, but is there any disbenefit to going slow?
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Not that i can think of other than you will get tired quicker. After you get it up you will expend energy helping it go back down slowly. But i noticed you where using normal plates. Does you training facility offer rubber plates?

Once you get into heavy lifting you will never want to "help" it back down. I remember when i first pulled 500 for 1 rep when i got it up my brain went " good job, now let go!!!!!!"
 
You will notice your spinal erectors and hams will be worked a bit more, if you're doing it right. The trade off is deadlifting will be a lot harder. Since you're trying to control the weight twice as long, risk for injury is likely to be higher. I say just drop it/ride it down if you're going heavy. If you're doing RDL's or deads for reps yeah, control it.
 
K, I don't think I'm going to worry much about the lowering motion on the deadlifts. It seems as I increase the weight to what I am more capable of the slight issue will fix itself.

-Michael
 
Excder said:
Not that i can think of other than you will get tired quicker. After you get it up you will expend energy helping it go back down slowly. But i noticed you where using normal plates. Does you training facility offer rubber plates?

Once you get into heavy lifting you will never want to "help" it back down. I remember when i first pulled 500 for 1 rep when i got it up my brain went " good job, now let go!!!!!!"
Click to expand...

Until you get to the power lifting stage, I recommend a two count down (or with gravity), and a one count up (against gravity).

Why? It all has to do with eccentric (muscle lengthening) vs concentric (muscle shortening) muscle contractions. It's believed that more micro-tears to the basic functional unit of muscle occur during eccentric contractions. Eccentric contractions typically occur when moving with gravity. Additional to this hypothesis is that these micro-tears stimulate the body's response to build more muscle. So while you are in a strength/muscle building phase of your training, emphasizing eccentric muscle contraction is beneficial because you are maximizing that micro-tear response.

As for critiquing your lifts:

Squats: My only concern here is that I observed a bit of a "bounce" at the bottom point of a couple of your repetitions. Bouncing places an undue amount of strain on the tendons and ligaments, particularly at the knee, and uses the spring force of the muscles, ligaments, and tendons to assist the up portion of the squat, essentially cheating the lift. It only happened once or twice, but just something to be aware of. I also concur with previous recommendation to close down your grip on the bar in order to create the "deltoids shelf" on which to rest the bar.

Deadlift: As you progress through a set, I noticed that the weights were coming down before your butt and waist. This is significant as it means that your back is supporting more of the weight than your legs are during the down phase. Keep the weight moving at the same speed as your hips. The weights shouldn't hit the ground before your lower body reaches the end of the down-phase of the lift (ideally, it happens at the exact same time).

Dumbbell rows: This is more of a personal preference for me, probably because I've sustained a critical neck injury in my life, but if you are able to maintain your posture in doing so, try to focus on a point out ahead of you on the floor, not on your reflection in a mirror. It is a more neutral and comfortable position for your neck and head. That being said, form is everything, so if you need the immediate feedback from the mirror, then go with what you're doing.

Knuckle push-ups: As already stated, you have too much arch in your lower back, which is likely resulting in your raised butt. Compare to doing abdominal planks, where you suck in your abs, flatten your back, and hold that position. That is the posture that you should still strive for during push-ups of any sort. By pulling in your abdominal wall, you help to flatten your back which will in turn flatten your body.

Keep up the good work and best of luck on your program!
 
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