Thread: squats and weight

Also how much does the bar weigh and how when expressing myself do I say how much weight i am lifting.Meaning do I include the bar's weight as well.

In general the olympic bar weighs ~45 lbs. (there are some light weight bars that weigh 25 and 30 lbs.... best to weigh so you know for sure) Yes, include the weight of the bar in your totals.

Bars 45lbs, yes include the bar in weights. Your core is weak if its causing you to lean foward.

You can try placing the bar lower on your shoulders to force the weight over your heels more. When pushing up concentrate on keeping your back upright and keep weight distributed evenly with your feet. Not just on the balls.

Dont use the smith.

Originally Posted by nsimmons

Bars 45lbs, yes include the bar in weights. Your core is weak if its causing you to lean foward.

You can try placing the bar lower on your shoulders to force the weight over your heels more. When pushing up concentrate on keeping your back upright and keep weight distributed evenly with your feet. Not just on the balls.

Dont use the smith.

Mr. Smith

• Have you ever seen anyone base his entire workout around the Smith Machine? Most savvy lifters are well versed in the limitations (and evils) of the Smith machine. However, Mr. Smith treats it like a long lost relative and tries to spend as much time on or around it as possible.
  Bench press? Check. Squat? Check. Incline press? Check. Upright row and lean way back? Check. Extra shearing on his joints? Check. Injury? On its way.

Originally Posted by redser

I am new and when doing squats using just the bar I can only lift 50 lbs ie 2 25lb plates.
When I went up to 35 plates I felt my knee give in.
I know about form i am quite tall 5 11 (195 lbs wt.) and find it hard to keep my head directly above my feet.I always keep my back straight and look up to the ceiling, but Ifind my head "heads" towards the toes .

Do not look up. Keep your head so that you are looking straight ahead. If you need to look down for some reason, move your eyes, not the entire head.

I would use just the bar initially until your form improves. Practice until you get it right.

And remember to push the hips back.

Excessive forward lean is usually a result of tight hip flexors and weak core musculature. I'm not talking rectus abdominus here either. In fact, the rectus abdominus is sometimes so tight that it is pulling your thoracic cavity down toward the floor. I'm referring to intrinsic core stabilizers like the internal obliques and multifidus.

The glutes are usually weak as well, and they are synergistically dominated by other hip extensors/abductors. That means that your hamstrings, adductor magnus, piriformis, and TFL may all be tight and/or overactive. This synergistic dominance leads to an anteriorly tilted pelvis, and subsequently causes anterior weight bearing.

Sometimes your calves are also tight/overactive and your anterior tibialis is weak. This caues you to shift your center of gravity forward as you descend because your heels are coming off the ground, which can also lead to forward lean.

Try squatting with some 10 pound plates under your heels. Does this improve or fix the problem? If so, then you most likely need to improve ankle mobility and work your way up. If not, then it points toward tight hip flexors and weak synergistically dominated glutes. It may be a combination of both.

So what am I saying?

Stretch and foam roll your hip flexors, TFL, piriformis, adductors, and calves. Start doing planks/stability movements and rotational core exercises. Start doing some glute activation work. You can check out my guide to warming up to get an idea as to what exactly I mean with activation work, and there is also some information that P-funk posted in the sticky about stretching and flexiblity regarding foam rolling. Also, stop doing crunches/situps if you are doing them currently.

Thanks for all the replys.

I would like to know how to take pieces of the text like you have done so I can reply to the points you guys bring up.


I am off to find out what foam roll is.

Thanks for all the help cos Ive had a back injury some damaged discs when I was younger .I fell off a balcony and damaged 3 in the lower lumbar region.

so far I have what is arthritic stenosis of the spine.
A flare up causes inflamation and a celebrex for a couple of days brings down the inflamation but I have stayed away from the squats and dead lifts as a result of being very afraid to mess around with something that has not being bothering me although I know that I haven't been able to strengthen the back or resume road running at all in years.

I am 38 yrs old.and have alittle 2yr old and just know I have to get fit and stronger to be able to do things with him.

Also, stop doing crunches/situps if you are doing them currently.[/QUOTE]


why is that

Try squatting with some 10 pound plates under your heels. Does this improve or fix the problem?

will this not keep me toward the front of my feet thus putting pressure on my knees instead of the big quad muscle doing the work.

Also do i really have to go to parrallel.I see a lot of bad form in my gym but also good and of any of them I rarely sdee them going to parrallel.Is it becaause the weights they are using too much.

Originally Posted by redser

Also, stop doing crunches/situps if you are doing them currently.


why is that

Because one of the reasons for excessive forward lean is often a tight and overactive rectus abdominus. This leads to synergistic dominance over the other core stabilizing musculature. Doing crunches won't do anything but exacerbate the situation.

Originally Posted by redser

Try squatting with some 10 pound plates under your heels. Does this improve or fix the problem?

will this not keep me toward the front of my feet thus putting pressure on my knees instead of the big quad muscle doing the work.

Also do i really have to go to parrallel.I see a lot of bad form in my gym but also good and of any of them I rarely sdee them going to parrallel.Is it becaause the weights they are using too much.

It's just a test with your bodyweight, or possibly an empty barbell if you want to fully simulate a back squat. The idea is to try and narrow it down, by process of elimination, as to what your problem is. If putting the plates under your feet totally fixes the problem, then that means tight ankles are most likely the culprit. If it improves the problem but doesn fix it, then it is probably part of the problem, but you have issues at your hips/pelvis as well that need to be ironed out.

Why wouldn't you goto parallel? Do you stop short on your bench presses, curls, rows, etc? The reason people don't squat deep most of the time is because they are pussies. I can squat a shitload more weight if I stop at 70 degrees and don't have to work through the most difficult part of the lift where the levers are the longest, but I prefer to go through the entire movement and stimulate a wider range of musculature.

I have a question...

I lean forward some....when I squat PL style...I can pretty much not lean forward at all...when i squat Oly style...I lean forward a good bit more. Is this natural? Is this a problem?? Should I go back to PL style??

Originally Posted by PWGriffin

I have a question...

I lean forward some....when I squat PL style...I can pretty much not lean forward at all...when i squat Oly style...I lean forward a good bit more. Is this natural? Is this a problem?? Should I go back to PL style??

That's odd, you should be getting more forward lean PL style. It depends how much forward lean. Some is acceptable.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

That's odd, you should be getting more forward lean PL style. It depends how much forward lean. Some is acceptable.

A wider stance is more comfortable for me, but the oly style puts way more emphasis on my quads...My hips take over PL style.

I am naturally VERY tight though....could be an issue pulling me forward....as I squat very deep all the time.

Thanks cowpimp for all the help.

Originally Posted by redser

Thanks cowpimp for all the help.

I hope it helps you. It might a few weeks before you start to notice serious improvement, but keep at it. If you need and help or have questions about what I suggested, please feel free to ask.

Originally Posted by PWGriffin

A wider stance is more comfortable for me, but the oly style puts way more emphasis on my quads...My hips take over PL style.

I am naturally VERY tight though....could be an issue pulling me forward....as I squat very deep all the time.

I don't like the wide stance as much unless I stop at parallel, which I don't like. Have someone watch you squat. Your torso is supposed to be close to parallel with the angle that your lower legs run at when you get low. See if it stays within that boundary.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

I don't like the wide stance as much unless I stop at parallel, which I don't like. Have someone watch you squat. Your torso is supposed to be close to parallel with the angle that your lower legs run at when you get low. See if it stays within that boundary.

Sounds about right. I was a little paranoid. I went heavy last time on back squats. I lost concentration I think...didn't keep my core tight enough. What I THINK happened is I pushed my hips back a little early in the lift...I might take a video of me squatting and deadlifting for shits and giggles. Let u guys rip me apart.

Originally Posted by PWGriffin

Sounds about right. I was a little paranoid. I went heavy last time on back squats. I lost concentration I think...didn't keep my core tight enough. What I THINK happened is I pushed my hips back a little early in the lift...I might take a video of me squatting and deadlifting for shits and giggles. Let u guys rip me apart.

I always initiate a squat by pushing my hips back before I break at the knees, though they happen in quick succession.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

I always initiate a squat by pushing my hips back before I break at the knees, though they happen in quick succession.

I do too...but my hips came up too quickly during the lift...Imagine deadlifting, and hips coming up too quickly and stiff leggin it the rest of the way. It looked like the squatting version of that. **this was on the last set....I made a considerable jump in weight. I am very confident that under normal circumstances that this won't happen again. If it starts to, I'll back off the weight.

yea just practice up with light weight and you will get the form down and while doing that you will get stronger and will be able to bump the weight up. just dont bump up the weight to fast you dont want to cause stress on your back/knees or if any the very minimum.

Originally Posted by KataKlysm954

yea just practice up with light weight and you will get the form down and while doing that you will get stronger and will be able to bump the weight up. just dont bump up the weight to fast you dont want to cause stress on your back/knees or if any the very minimum.

eh...my back's plenty strong....I rep 205 on good mornings. I'm not worried about hurting myself as I am placing the emphasis where it's supposed to be.

I did legs yesterday and was able to do the 45lb plates 6-8 reps no problem on my last lift.I started at the bar and worked up thru the 25lb plate and then the 35lb plate.Well no problem is a lie .I struggled at rep 6 to 8 but I think the real reason may have been pure and simple NO BLOODY STRENGTH I hate to say.

But the improvement is there and 'cos the form is good I have no back problems after so I feel i'm doing them right.

So it's good to see some improvement and because I'm recording I can see if I am improving.

see u have already made some gains welldone redser...