The most helpful cue I have yet seen, to prevent straightening up too early, came from Jonathon Sullivan. His 'wall of power' cue. Imagining your butt is touching a wall behind you at the bottom then sliding your butt up the wall, maintaining contact with the (imaginary) wall as you come up.
I had a bad habit of staring at myself during the squat. I noticed that most lifters look down, I've started to incorporate this man does it work wonders.
Absolutely excellent tutorial on hip drive. I just emailed this to myself so I can watch right before I squat each time. My knees are killing me because I have not been doing this right.
Though I thought i was doing this correctly on my own, I recently attended their squat and deadlift camp in Chicago. I had it WAY wrong. Bar position, elbows, torso angle AND not leading with my hips. The coaches were great and really helped me learn to replicate this very unnatural feeling movement.
8:30 “Drive your hips while your chest is pointed at the floor.” First time hearing that one. Souds a little awkward or new. I'll give it a try. Thanks.
The confusing part for many is the discussion at 9:00 and good mornings. You say "as long as your hips are not going back." Maybe it's the choice of word "going back" but what's the difference? Even this woman at about 9:10 when she stands up looks like her hips are going back.
If you are talking about the hips shooting up, and the upper back falling behind, you are right, that does happen with heavy weights. It's also the reason you cannot lift even heavier weights. If the hips are moving, and the bar isn't moving commensurate with the hips, work is not being done against the bar. It is therefore waste. If efficiency is the objective. If somebody is leaving the bar behind, you can always get pounds out of their squat by getting them to take the bar with them in training. The cues that help to prevent that breakdown in training, will help to prevent missed lifts at heavier lifts when maxing. You just won't see it because there will still be breakdown. That's the difference between form, and technique, you can see form, but you can't see technique. Training people in the pattern that they will break down to under a heavy enough load isn't inherently bad because you are not training strength athletes. It takes more technical precision to drive your back up against the bar while keeping it over the mid foot, as well as getting your hips through after you pass parallel, and most people could do without that complexity. I don't have a problem with what y'all have going on here as long as you call it what it is. This is a disadvantaged variation that is more accessible to recreational lifters. There isn't one world class squatter, raw or equipped that is trying to stay bent over as long as they can. There is not one that thinks it's okay if the hips are not moving commensurate with the barbell. The way y'all sell this variation it seems like you are implying that you found something everybody else missed. Even with the deadlift. They are pulling the slack out of the bar while getting into position, not starting in the wrong position because they didn't learn the starting strength method, Either that, or in strongman events deadlifts for reps get squattier because the low back doesn't clear metabolites as fast as the legs. Either that, or you have short armed, long torso lifters who have to start with their hips further back to line up their arms over the bar while keeping the bar in a good position. You didn't find the way when it comes to the deadlift either. You found a way, that normies can do. Laymen can learn all this now, so it's time to keep it real...
Huh, I definitely learned something here. I have that tendency to lift my chest too quick at the start. Going to try exaggerating the hip movement at the start next time I'm doing squats.
Excellent information and very little sales pitch. This shows exactly how, if you prove your knowledge of the subject, business will come in droves! Thanks for all you and the team at Starting Strength do to help us average people get strong.
This is one of the best explanations of what hip drive is and is not. The question I have after watching this is about the end of the squat movement: it looks like you end up doing a good morning at the end of the rep if you don't start to lift your chest earlier. Wouldn't that put a lot of strain on your lower back? Thoughts?
It loads the back, but I think they would say that we're trying to work the back so the loading is useful. To avoid back injury, the Valsalva maneuver is used along with an extended thoracic and lumbar spine. The breath is held and pushed against and the resulting pressure and muscle tightness support the spine.
what helps me on the upward phase is just to remember to keep the bar path straight. it makes me move my hips under me instead of trying to move my back upright.
I've been saying this for YEARS 😭😭😭 A striking power comes from your hips, grappling 100% necessitates strong hips, and in lifting engaging your core (hip drive) is the best way to maximize strength.
Hip drive is key!! Rarely mentioned. One thing about the squat. She is almost doing a good morning. While anatomy will dictate much of the upper body angles, I see way too many people sitting back on a squat. The knees and hips should break at the same time, not throwing the hips back. A squat is a great quad movement. By throwing the hips back, you lose so much of the quad activation. Hence, that lean forward and late hip movement. While I won’t say it’s bad to have some hop back movement, the weight should not be on the heels, but on the whole foot.
I've always been squatting that way feels like, and I always thought I'm putting too much strain on my lower back. I tried fixing it and I started having a bit of lower back pain out of nowhere, I was so confused I thought it was from the heavy RDLs that I was doing, I stopped them for 1 session, pain was still there, the next time I honestly had forgotten about my squat technique and I squatted the way I normally do which I noticed the next day when I had no pain and took a look at the recordings I had done and that's when I noticed I was squatting with my hips again, I got mad for a second that I had forgotten, but then a second later I was like "well damn, no back pain though, I guess I'll just keep doing them the way I've always done".
This video is awesome. Please make one just like this for the clean as well! Nervous about old injuries in my wrist and am hesitant to do the NLP because of it. Can’t call it an NLP without them!
Constructive Criticism: Too many words. The problem with saying too much is that people tune out, forget what was said, and worst of all the tendency to be self-contradictory (Ex: "the body adjusts itself" [1:20] then "the weight adjusts itself" [1:40]). People don't care about moment arms, fulcrums, the spine of the scapula, angles in degrees, etc. Unless they ask questions, the best directions are "butt back, chest down, knees out" [8:50]. I've read two editions of Starting Strength and have been using the program for over 10 years, so I fully understand the depth of knowledge being conveyed, but I think more people would be willing to try if the instructions were made more simple. Starting Strength videos should have at least three more orders of magnitude in views---because every single living body needs this program. "Stay Strong"
7:30 Just a question. This is the low bar squat position? I’m not really a fan of the high bar squat position. Although I know I should use that now and then. Yet you feel it on your knees a little with the high bar squat.
I'm now a bit confused, because somewhere else in the SS material (possibly the blue book?) the admonition was to _maintain_ the back angle attained at the bottom of the squat as the hips drive up vertically.
At 9:10, Nick says that losing back angle out of the bottom is okay, as long as the hips aren't moving back. I really struggle with letting the hips shoot back. Any advice or cues to fix that form fault?
When you set your knees at the beginning of the squat, they're gonna be above your toes more or less by the time you're halfway down. You wanna keep them there until you are halfway up. Your butt is shooting back because you are confusing hip drive with knee extension. If the hips go back it's because you extended the knees without acually moving up, and your back angle will be too horizontal. If you keep your knees over your toes as you come up, you will realize how to drive your hips or sacrum up instead of back, and maintain your back angle
When I do it the way he is teaching, I feel like I am doing a good morning at the top of the lift and the most difficult part of the lift is on the lower back. I've never felt injured from it, but is that normal? Conversely, if I hold myself more upright, I find the lift to be easier.
The way you feel and the way you look are two different things. Get some objective feedback by recording yourself and even better by asking a coach for a form check. It could be that your anthropometry makes it so that your back angle feels more vertical in order to be correct or it could be that you are simply bending over too much and shooting the hips back on the way up
Right, this is good for the majority of people but I take issue with how black and white this is presented. This is all in relation to how my existing muscle mass is distributed to begin with. Someone with proportionally strong quads and weaker posterior chain may actually be stronger with a slightly more upright position, and training (submaximally) with a more upright position will bias your quads over time and turn you into a more "quad dominant" lifter. Additionally, if you wish to squat deeper than parallel (something Starting Strength vehemently argues against with this arbitrary idea of "effective range of motion") then you have no choice but to substitute some of that hip drive for leg drive. Using footage of Clarence Kennedy to make this point is a bit disingenuous. He is well known for being posterior dominant and using his back a lot in all of his lifts. Look instead at his fellow countryman Eoin Murphy, who moves similar loads with an intentionally much more upright leg dominant form. Now, I agree most people tend to under-utilize their hips when squatting, and that over-emphasize it for some period of their training might help unlocking that balance between hips and knees more easily, but I disagree with the notion that "this is how you must squat to get stronnnnggg".
Dude, you just can't help but criticize every goddamn technique video in SS, just go do something else and admit you don't have enough brains to understand this 🤣
I appreciate the low bar squat as taught by SS. My question is, why do people have the tendency to want to get upright? If while under a near-maximal load, the body finds the most mechanically advantageous position, why fight against the tendency to get upright if that is what the body is attempting to do in order to move the load? Or, if being more bent over (say midway through the squat) is more advantageous, why does the body have a natural tendency to become more upright, given the body adjusts its position to complete the movement.
Because getting upright is the ingrained movement pattern that occurs when standing up from a squat. When you add a barbell and a bunch of load, the mechanical problem requires that you keep the hips loaded, unlike just standing up from chair or unweighted squat.
Brie can squat 315lbs and weighs 150lbs? Yoooooo, that’s more than me! I’m terrible at squats. I have no problem with dead lifts however squats give me trouble.
Only problem is when hips go up first out of the hole while looking down creates a good morning squat when the load gets heavier . The hips and chest won't go up at the same time.
The movement is exaggerated when shown with no or little load on the bar. They emphasize the fact that back angle needs to stay the same, which means hips and upper back come up at the same time with heavy enough weights. But because the moment arm is bigger on the hips, you are using the posterior chain to start the movement out of the hole. If you think about lifting your chest you end up not using that musculature. If you think about driving your hips/low back/sacrum up to the ceiling, you will use the muscles that kee the back angle horizontal while producing the most force. As Nick said, as long as the hips go UP and not back, it's ok if the chest has some delay in coming up
This is an apples to oranges comparison when using Clarence Kennedy videos as the "wrong" example. Kennedy squats high bar, so the mechanics are different. He also squats in excess of 600 lbs--in the video, he's got 595 lbs on the bar--so some slowing is normal at near maximal loads.
@@AllPainNoGains Watching Clarence squat 600lbs. makes a weakling like me want to throw in the towel. Like a beginner guitarist watching a proficient player. Not really, just the dude is a friggin beast.
Why are you using Clarence as an example of how not to squat, i.e., chest comes up, bar speed crashes. Clarence is probably one of the best squatters out there... It might not be an SS style low bar squat, however, I think it'd been better to use someone who is indeed using the SS low bar and failing to keep the chest down as an example to show how when the chest comes up, the bar speed crashes, and not Clarence Kennedy
Is he? He's very strong and he's good at moving a lot of weight, but to say he's "one of the best squatters" is silly if you mean that he has some kind of impeccable technique.
I am going to have to watch this video over and over again. When I do squats, I go down like it states in this video. But going up I have been doing it somewhat different. As my hips drives, my chest also begins to raise up. *** Would this be the cause of my knee pain?*** My medial meniscus on both knees is not happy with me right now.
Might be a kneeslide problem in the bottom. Back angle and knee position needs to be established before the bottom part of the movement so that the stretch reflex/bounce comes from the hip and not from knees sliding forward changing the leverage and thereby forces on the knee. Look for a movement when you rebound to see if there is some exagerated movement forward. Usually comes with a more vertical back angle(opening of the hip angle) aswell which both kills the momentum built by the stretch reflex from hip extensors. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
To everyone else, no it’s not. Notice placement of tattoo on left leg (Eddie doesn’t have this), and lack of tattoos on arms. Best to not mislead peeps 😉
Lifting the big toes for a while can force you back into the midfoot in balance. Most likely you are relaxing some of the hip musculatur when you try to reach for depth instead of embracing the tightness anticipating the stretch reflex and therefore also pushing the knees more than needed forward. The body often wants to do what's comfortable and easy instead of keeping tight. Typical que might be "Stay in the hip!", maybe even "Freeze the knees" when they are forward and out in correct position aswell. Please correct me if I am wrong(SSC).
I don’t get the looking down at the floor during a squat. Makes it look more like you’re doing a set of good mornings. I learned from national caliber powerlifters in the early 80s to keep your head up and look up, especially if you’re tall or thin. This keeps you more erect throughout the squat. Or so I was lead to believe.
I respect the starting strength way of teaching the squat but it is certainly on one end of the spectrum being fairly posterior chain dominant and focused on the highest squat weight possible. If you are not a powerlifter and just lifting for muscle mass and/or health, why wouldn't you make the squat more quad dominant (knee forward, more upright back angle) since the deadlift is already your main posterior chain builder?
1) Low-bar involves more muscles, ergo more weight, ergo more training stimulus 2) The high-bar squat puts more stress on your knees (and not the good kind of stress) 3) Big quads in the absence of a proportional upper body looks horrendous PS - I say this as someone who started off with the high-bar squat and still incorporate them into my training
Because we train movement patterns, not muscle groups. Lifting the highest weight is not the only criteria for SS, otherwise they'd be doing powerlifting stuff
i mean i agree. I train the program but when people look at this guy, they don’t think “oh he’s strong” . They think “he’s fat” haha Strength is great but you need composition as well.
11:27 I think there's a hidden motivation behind why they used Clarence Kennedy's footage as an example of how not to do squats. Two years ago, Zack Telander released a video exposing Mark Rippetoe's lack of knowledge about Olympic weightlifting, and the response they gave to that video was terribly poor. The video is called "Rip Responds to Confused RUclips Strength Coaches," and it's an example of how not to respond to valid criticism. Zack and Clarence are friends and have made many videos together. Those who follow Olympic weightlifting channels always agree on one thing: Mark Rippetoe is a great teacher for beginners, but falls short with more advanced athletes. It's a recurring joke among weightlifting coaches on RUclips to quote some of Mark Rippetoe's statements that demonstrate his lack of knowledge about the sport, and that's why I believe they used Clarence as a bit of payback.
That's interesting, I think I watched the same video. Rips comment I believe was "when was the last time the US has placed in Olympic weight lifting?" People can say what they want, but losing athletes and coaches don't get to brag until they win. Which I think is fair criticism.
@@djscottybez Less than two weeks ago, Miller Morris established a new world record, and Olivia Reeves achieved the highest snatch ever by an American. This is excellent news for the sport and suggests that Rippetoe's criticism might stem more from hubris than from a fair assessment. Ironically, his disdain for other methodologies lacks support from any significant achievements in the sport.
So you're saying Tom Platz is completely wrong..? Isn't it better to give people options that fit them and their structure, rather than saying "this is the only way"..?
No one said anything about Tom Platz. What we did do is make an argument for why doing it this way is most efficient. Up you to decide if you want to do things efficiently or not. We’re good with it either way.
It just doesn't make sense though because moving like that is NOT a "normal human movement pattern"... Normally we stay upright if we're carrying something on our backs.
I've been struggling for a long time with asymmetric squats. When the weight gets heavy, I push forward with my right hand, and load my front knee, and my right heel comes off the ground. I've tried tempo squats, lowering the weight, pause squats... but the problem persists at heavier weights.
You might have a leg length discrepancy, but first make sure you are doing everything right (bar position, grip, knee position, hip drive, stance). Post a form check on the starting strength forum. Fastest way to get an answer
I just don't get it.... I mean, that doesn't seem like "hip drive" to me. At one point you're basically fully loading the spine to lift the weight up to vertical. That will ABSOLUTELY destroy your discs. Especially if you have bulging diaca or hernias... This to me is plain BAD ADVICE (if she's doing it "correctly").
You're probably exxagerating the bending over. A lot of people do that at first. You bend over and forget you also have to bend your knees at the same time.
Squatting this way can also fuck up your lower back when your lifting heavy. What do you guys have to say to the fact that world record power lifters don't recommend rippitoes version of the squat?
"Not squatting this way can also fuck up your lower back when you're lifting heavy". Being an elite athlete does not necessary mean that you have the correct grasp of biomechanics and also check out the 3 excercise criteria and what demographic the SS method approaches.
I find this method better for my back - and much more comfortable for my knees. If I do get a sore lower back it’s usually because I’m not keeping everything squeezed up and tight, or I haven’t got my knees out early enough.
There has been a lot of new information on squatting since SS came out. Depth, butt wink, hip work - technique shown in this film is pretty awful by modern standards and there are better ways to do it.
Lol, modern standards. As if human beings changed in the last 20 years. This is not engeneering. They figured out what the best way to Squat to get strong is, and why. And that's it. Not everything needs to be updated like an I-Phone
@@Francesco-cj3oi Modern standards of teaching how to squat are different from what is SS teaching. Rip squat never was any good, now there is just more evidence to prove it. Squat however you like, but there are better ways to do it.
@@Mathias_NB Most of the squats in the video is acceptable for a novice, but terrible for a strength coach. Shooting from the hip is a mistake that will need to be unlearned if you want to progress. Just type in Rippetoe squat critique and tons of materials will pop up.
You misspelled hip DRAHVE.
Knowing hip drive is connected to back angle is very helpful. I'll need to watch this every 4 months as a reminder.
I have tried using hip drive for about four months and tried regular squats for 4 months. For me a regular squat is best. Everyone is different
The most helpful cue I have yet seen, to prevent straightening up too early, came from Jonathon Sullivan. His 'wall of power' cue. Imagining your butt is touching a wall behind you at the bottom then sliding your butt up the wall, maintaining contact with the (imaginary) wall as you come up.
I had a bad habit of staring at myself during the squat. I noticed that most lifters look down, I've started to incorporate this man does it work wonders.
Absolutely excellent tutorial on hip drive. I just emailed this to myself so I can watch right before I squat each time. My knees are killing me because I have not been doing this right.
Nick really is a great teacher.
This is only strengthening my resolve to preach Starting Strength to any gym trainee I talk to
Nick is such a good teacher. Even if we have never see him lift!
He posted some rack pulls to IG yesterday
Heh greengo, you no question my leeefteeeng!
I mean, idk who you would rather see lift, but between the two people in this video, my choice is clear lol
@@dadbod488 100%! They make Bre sit in on the podcast for the same reason! 🤣
@@ministryofanti-feminism1493ust casual racism. Nice. 😐
Though I thought i was doing this correctly on my own, I recently attended their squat and deadlift camp in Chicago. I had it WAY wrong. Bar position, elbows, torso angle AND not leading with my hips. The coaches were great and really helped me learn to replicate this very unnatural feeling movement.
Has it improved your progress?
@@glumberty1 yes, but I’m recovering from pneumonia and a 30 lb weight loss (that I worked hard to gain over the last year) so my weights are down
Honestly their way,of squatting isn't the only way to Squat. Even bri didn't get it right until the third try in the video 😅
8:30
“Drive your hips while your chest is pointed at the floor.”
First time hearing that one. Souds a little awkward or new. I'll give it a try. Thanks.
The confusing part for many is the discussion at 9:00 and good mornings. You say "as long as your hips are not going back." Maybe it's the choice of word "going back" but what's the difference? Even this woman at about 9:10 when she stands up looks like her hips are going back.
If you are talking about the hips shooting up, and the upper back falling behind, you are right, that does happen with heavy weights. It's also the reason you cannot lift even heavier weights. If the hips are moving, and the bar isn't moving commensurate with the hips, work is not being done against the bar. It is therefore waste. If efficiency is the objective.
If somebody is leaving the bar behind, you can always get pounds out of their squat by getting them to take the bar with them in training. The cues that help to prevent that breakdown in training, will help to prevent missed lifts at heavier lifts when maxing. You just won't see it because there will still be breakdown. That's the difference between form, and technique, you can see form, but you can't see technique.
Training people in the pattern that they will break down to under a heavy enough load isn't inherently bad because you are not training strength athletes. It takes more technical precision to drive your back up against the bar while keeping it over the mid foot, as well as getting your hips through after you pass parallel, and most people could do without that complexity.
I don't have a problem with what y'all have going on here as long as you call it what it is. This is a disadvantaged variation that is more accessible to recreational lifters.
There isn't one world class squatter, raw or equipped that is trying to stay bent over as long as they can. There is not one that thinks it's okay if the hips are not moving commensurate with the barbell. The way y'all sell this variation it seems like you are implying that you found something everybody else missed. Even with the deadlift. They are pulling the slack out of the bar while getting into position, not starting in the wrong position because they didn't learn the starting strength method, Either that, or in strongman events deadlifts for reps get squattier because the low back doesn't clear metabolites as fast as the legs. Either that, or you have short armed, long torso lifters who have to start with their hips further back to line up their arms over the bar while keeping the bar in a good position.
You didn't find the way when it comes to the deadlift either. You found a way, that normies can do. Laymen can learn all this now, so it's time to keep it real...
You're not very bright, are you 😂
@@djscottybez attempt your refutation or be dismissed as a troll.
Thank god someone had the guts to call him on his bullshit. Thanks 1002.
Huh, I definitely learned something here. I have that tendency to lift my chest too quick at the start. Going to try exaggerating the hip movement at the start next time I'm doing squats.
If the load is heavy enough it won't look exaggerated
Nick is an excellent teacher. I’ve learned a lot from him.
Excellent information and very little sales pitch. This shows exactly how, if you prove your knowledge of the subject, business will come in droves! Thanks for all you and the team at Starting Strength do to help us average people get strong.
Greta video! Congratulations on the development of the material for this video. Great explanation, precising the "how" and the "why"
Who is Greta
This is one of the best explanations of what hip drive is and is not. The question I have after watching this is about the end of the squat movement: it looks like you end up doing a good morning at the end of the rep if you don't start to lift your chest earlier. Wouldn't that put a lot of strain on your lower back? Thoughts?
It loads the back, but I think they would say that we're trying to work the back so the loading is useful. To avoid back injury, the Valsalva maneuver is used along with an extended thoracic and lumbar spine. The breath is held and pushed against and the resulting pressure and muscle tightness support the spine.
It does, but apparently that doesn't mean you will get injured from it. It seems counter intuitive to me. I'm still not convinced.
what helps me on the upward phase is just to remember to keep the bar path straight. it makes me move my hips under me instead of trying to move my back upright.
I've been saying this for YEARS 😭😭😭
A striking power comes from your hips, grappling 100% necessitates strong hips, and in lifting engaging your core (hip drive) is the best way to maximize strength.
Hip drive is key!! Rarely mentioned. One thing about the squat. She is almost doing a good morning. While anatomy will dictate much of the upper body angles, I see way too many people sitting back on a squat. The knees and hips should break at the same time, not throwing the hips back. A squat is a great quad movement. By throwing the hips back, you lose so much of the quad activation. Hence, that lean forward and late hip movement. While I won’t say it’s bad to have some hop back movement, the weight should not be on the heels, but on the whole foot.
Cállate!
Nick is a genius at explaining weight lifting!
I've always been squatting that way feels like, and I always thought I'm putting too much strain on my lower back. I tried fixing it and I started having a bit of lower back pain out of nowhere, I was so confused I thought it was from the heavy RDLs that I was doing, I stopped them for 1 session, pain was still there, the next time I honestly had forgotten about my squat technique and I squatted the way I normally do which I noticed the next day when I had no pain and took a look at the recordings I had done and that's when I noticed I was squatting with my hips again, I got mad for a second that I had forgotten, but then a second later I was like "well damn, no back pain though, I guess I'll just keep doing them the way I've always done".
This video is awesome. Please make one just like this for the clean as well! Nervous about old injuries in my wrist and am hesitant to do the NLP because of it. Can’t call it an NLP without them!
Constructive Criticism:
Too many words. The problem with saying too much is that people tune out, forget what was said, and worst of all the tendency to be self-contradictory (Ex: "the body adjusts itself" [1:20] then "the weight adjusts itself" [1:40]). People don't care about moment arms, fulcrums, the spine of the scapula, angles in degrees, etc. Unless they ask questions, the best directions are "butt back, chest down, knees out" [8:50].
I've read two editions of Starting Strength and have been using the program for over 10 years, so I fully understand the depth of knowledge being conveyed, but I think more people would be willing to try if the instructions were made more simple. Starting Strength videos should have at least three more orders of magnitude in views---because every single living body needs this program.
"Stay Strong"
7:30
Just a question.
This is the low bar squat position? I’m not really a fan of the high bar squat position. Although I know I should use that now and then. Yet you feel it on your knees a little with the high bar squat.
Not sure how I still manage to learn something after reading the book and all these videos I’ve watched. 🤣 Great job sir.
It was so helpful when Nick illustrated the lengths of the two moment arms (knees to bar, and bar to hips) with his hands.
I'm now a bit confused, because somewhere else in the SS material (possibly the blue book?) the admonition was to _maintain_ the back angle attained at the bottom of the squat as the hips drive up vertically.
Oh my! I can't wait for the inane babbling of the haters of this excellent content.
11:12
“Keeping the Chest down as you drive your hips”
Yup. Whenever I raise my head or look up while I hip raise I lose my balance.
This is an excellent video
Well done. Droves the point.
Emphasize the hip to move the load up from the bottom. Thank you
Need this NOW..🔑 Thank u for patiently explaining all I/ Others needs 2 Know..
Finally a video with Bree in it and not just the thumbnail!
Thank you, Nick!
this one did it for me. I finally got the back angle concept.
Bre is my spirit animal.
Fantastically explained!
The gentleman that they showed with the very low hip on the deadlift was that Ed Coan
Thank you, this is reassuring.
I thought I was keeping my back too horizontal too long.
At 9:10, Nick says that losing back angle out of the bottom is okay, as long as the hips aren't moving back. I really struggle with letting the hips shoot back. Any advice or cues to fix that form fault?
If you're an intermediate lifter, pause squats
When you set your knees at the beginning of the squat, they're gonna be above your toes more or less by the time you're halfway down. You wanna keep them there until you are halfway up.
Your butt is shooting back because you are confusing hip drive with knee extension. If the hips go back it's because you extended the knees without acually moving up, and your back angle will be too horizontal.
If you keep your knees over your toes as you come up, you will realize how to drive your hips or sacrum up instead of back, and maintain your back angle
Nick's 'stache game is on point.
8:00 I like how he used a vezhun for his example of a heavy squat
When I do it the way he is teaching, I feel like I am doing a good morning at the top of the lift and the most difficult part of the lift is on the lower back. I've never felt injured from it, but is that normal? Conversely, if I hold myself more upright, I find the lift to be easier.
The way you feel and the way you look are two different things. Get some objective feedback by recording yourself and even better by asking a coach for a form check. It could be that your anthropometry makes it so that your back angle feels more vertical in order to be correct or it could be that you are simply bending over too much and shooting the hips back on the way up
I've been staying upright, I now know I'm wrong, thank you so much, I'm excited to try and hit my goal of 225.
Upright is correct
This video will lead to back damage
Squat 101 - brace the core to protect your spine
Great,all new to me! Thank you!
Excellent explanation
I would love to be able to have Clarence's crashing bar speed with 300 kgs on my back though.
The guy is the best example of a genetic freak
Great video Nick!
What are your credentials and/or degrees in the exercise sciences.
None. Fortunately.
It shows.
@@kurtschulten5369ouch
Fantastic video and extra points for having footage of Clarence0 at 8:01 - the Harry Potter of Squatters :)
Amazing content.
Right, this is good for the majority of people but I take issue with how black and white this is presented. This is all in relation to how my existing muscle mass is distributed to begin with. Someone with proportionally strong quads and weaker posterior chain may actually be stronger with a slightly more upright position, and training (submaximally) with a more upright position will bias your quads over time and turn you into a more "quad dominant" lifter. Additionally, if you wish to squat deeper than parallel (something Starting Strength vehemently argues against with this arbitrary idea of "effective range of motion") then you have no choice but to substitute some of that hip drive for leg drive.
Using footage of Clarence Kennedy to make this point is a bit disingenuous. He is well known for being posterior dominant and using his back a lot in all of his lifts. Look instead at his fellow countryman Eoin Murphy, who moves similar loads with an intentionally much more upright leg dominant form.
Now, I agree most people tend to under-utilize their hips when squatting, and that over-emphasize it for some period of their training might help unlocking that balance between hips and knees more easily, but I disagree with the notion that "this is how you must squat to get stronnnnggg".
Dude, you just can't help but criticize every goddamn technique video in SS, just go do something else and admit you don't have enough brains to understand this 🤣
I appreciate the low bar squat as taught by SS.
My question is, why do people have the tendency to want to get upright?
If while under a near-maximal load, the body finds the most mechanically advantageous position, why fight against the tendency to get upright if that is what the body is attempting to do in order to move the load? Or, if being more bent over (say midway through the squat) is more advantageous, why does the body have a natural tendency to become more upright, given the body adjusts its position to complete the movement.
Because getting upright is the ingrained movement pattern that occurs when standing up from a squat. When you add a barbell and a bunch of load, the mechanical problem requires that you keep the hips loaded, unlike just standing up from chair or unweighted squat.
Thank you.
Thank You
Brie can squat 315lbs and weighs 150lbs? Yoooooo, that’s more than me!
I’m terrible at squats. I have no problem with dead lifts however squats give me trouble.
Only problem is when hips go up first out of the hole while looking down creates a good morning squat when the load gets heavier . The hips and chest won't go up at the same time.
The movement is exaggerated when shown with no or little load on the bar.
They emphasize the fact that back angle needs to stay the same, which means hips and upper back come up at the same time with heavy enough weights.
But because the moment arm is bigger on the hips, you are using the posterior chain to start the movement out of the hole. If you think about lifting your chest you end up not using that musculature. If you think about driving your hips/low back/sacrum up to the ceiling, you will use the muscles that kee the back angle horizontal while producing the most force.
As Nick said, as long as the hips go UP and not back, it's ok if the chest has some delay in coming up
This is an apples to oranges comparison when using Clarence Kennedy videos as the "wrong" example. Kennedy squats high bar, so the mechanics are different. He also squats in excess of 600 lbs--in the video, he's got 595 lbs on the bar--so some slowing is normal at near maximal loads.
So the heavy male lifting example is wrong form?
8:01 Ah, Clarence, my squatter role model!
Not fair to show him in this video! Makes me want to quit!
@@gregjeanfreau8027 care to explain what you're talking about?
@@AllPainNoGains Watching Clarence squat 600lbs. makes a weakling like me want to throw in the towel. Like a beginner guitarist watching a proficient player. Not really, just the dude is a friggin beast.
@@gregjeanfreau8027 just think how much more he could squat if he leaned over and used his hips more.
@@gregjeanfreau8027 He juiced.....
That videography 😗👌
Why are you using Clarence as an example of how not to squat, i.e., chest comes up, bar speed crashes. Clarence is probably one of the best squatters out there... It might not be an SS style low bar squat, however, I think it'd been better to use someone who is indeed using the SS low bar and failing to keep the chest down as an example to show how when the chest comes up, the bar speed crashes, and not Clarence Kennedy
Is he? He's very strong and he's good at moving a lot of weight, but to say he's "one of the best squatters" is silly if you mean that he has some kind of impeccable technique.
I am going to have to watch this video over and over again. When I do squats, I go down like it states in this video. But going up I have been doing it somewhat different. As my hips drives, my chest also begins to raise up. *** Would this be the cause of my knee pain?*** My medial meniscus on both knees is not happy with me right now.
Might be a kneeslide problem in the bottom. Back angle and knee position needs to be established before the bottom part of the movement so that the stretch reflex/bounce comes from the hip and not from knees sliding forward changing the leverage and thereby forces on the knee. Look for a movement when you rebound to see if there is some exagerated movement forward. Usually comes with a more vertical back angle(opening of the hip angle) aswell which both kills the momentum built by the stretch reflex from hip extensors.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
@@Hast91 thanks. I will study that on myself and see if improvement with my knees happen.
Just be on your entire foot not on heel as you go up !
Is that Eddie Hall at 10:30 in the background? 😂
Yes.
To everyone else, no it’s not. Notice placement of tattoo on left leg (Eddie doesn’t have this), and lack of tattoos on arms. Best to not mislead peeps 😉
I am so confused. I see her hips coming up first. But I see video after video saying hips should not come up first in the squat. Which is correct?
When I use hip drive, the weight shifts from midfoot to toes. Any cues to correct this? Thanks!
Lifting the big toes for a while can force you back into the midfoot in balance. Most likely you are relaxing some of the hip musculatur when you try to reach for depth instead of embracing the tightness anticipating the stretch reflex and therefore also pushing the knees more than needed forward. The body often wants to do what's comfortable and easy instead of keeping tight. Typical que might be "Stay in the hip!", maybe even "Freeze the knees" when they are forward and out in correct position aswell.
Please correct me if I am wrong(SSC).
Post a form check on the forum
I don’t get the looking down at the floor during a squat. Makes it look more like you’re doing a set of good mornings. I learned from national caliber powerlifters in the early 80s to keep your head up and look up, especially if you’re tall or thin. This keeps you more erect throughout the squat. Or so I was lead to believe.
Try it.
Platz did what you say and worked for him. Maybe because he was so short.
I used to do it your way and this is way better for me.
Does bre ever leg press?
I respect the starting strength way of teaching the squat but it is certainly on one end of the spectrum being fairly posterior chain dominant and focused on the highest squat weight possible. If you are not a powerlifter and just lifting for muscle mass and/or health, why wouldn't you make the squat more quad dominant (knee forward, more upright back angle) since the deadlift is already your main posterior chain builder?
1) Low-bar involves more muscles, ergo more weight, ergo more training stimulus 2) The high-bar squat puts more stress on your knees (and not the good kind of stress) 3) Big quads in the absence of a proportional upper body looks horrendous
PS - I say this as someone who started off with the high-bar squat and still incorporate them into my training
Because we train movement patterns, not muscle groups. Lifting the highest weight is not the only criteria for SS, otherwise they'd be doing powerlifting stuff
i mean i agree. I train the program but when people look at this guy, they don’t think “oh he’s strong” . They think “he’s fat” haha Strength is great but you need composition as well.
Starting strength PLUS BJJ????? Im going to shut up and tap out right now.😮
Imagine the creation of a vertical skidmark on a wall. Keep consistent contact with said wall throughout the manoeuvre and drive dat ass up.
Hip DRAAAAHHVEE
Nah i squat high bar.. up right throughout..
8:02 is that the Irish vegan lad, Clarence?
11:27 I think there's a hidden motivation behind why they used Clarence Kennedy's footage as an example of how not to do squats. Two years ago, Zack Telander released a video exposing Mark Rippetoe's lack of knowledge about Olympic weightlifting, and the response they gave to that video was terribly poor. The video is called "Rip Responds to Confused RUclips Strength Coaches," and it's an example of how not to respond to valid criticism. Zack and Clarence are friends and have made many videos together. Those who follow Olympic weightlifting channels always agree on one thing: Mark Rippetoe is a great teacher for beginners, but falls short with more advanced athletes. It's a recurring joke among weightlifting coaches on RUclips to quote some of Mark Rippetoe's statements that demonstrate his lack of knowledge about the sport, and that's why I believe they used Clarence as a bit of payback.
That's interesting, I think I watched the same video. Rips comment I believe was "when was the last time the US has placed in Olympic weight lifting?"
People can say what they want, but losing athletes and coaches don't get to brag until they win.
Which I think is fair criticism.
@@djscottybez Less than two weeks ago, Miller Morris established a new world record, and Olivia Reeves achieved the highest snatch ever by an American. This is excellent news for the sport and suggests that Rippetoe's criticism might stem more from hubris than from a fair assessment. Ironically, his disdain for other methodologies lacks support from any significant achievements in the sport.
Nick looks a little bit like King Hippo from Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. (Not a hater.)
So you're saying Tom Platz is completely wrong..? Isn't it better to give people options that fit them and their structure, rather than saying "this is the only way"..?
No one said anything about Tom Platz. What we did do is make an argument for why doing it this way is most efficient. Up you to decide if you want to do things efficiently or not. We’re good with it either way.
The only reason you were given "options" is marketing.
Tom squatted purely for max quad development for bodybuilding.
It just doesn't make sense though because moving like that is NOT a "normal human movement pattern"... Normally we stay upright if we're carrying something on our backs.
came for clarence
I don’t know really looks like a squat-morning to me.
I've been struggling for a long time with asymmetric squats. When the weight gets heavy, I push forward with my right hand, and load my front knee, and my right heel comes off the ground. I've tried tempo squats, lowering the weight, pause squats... but the problem persists at heavier weights.
Get a TUBOW
You might have a leg length discrepancy, but first make sure you are doing everything right (bar position, grip, knee position, hip drive, stance). Post a form check on the starting strength forum. Fastest way to get an answer
Applicable to both low and high bar squats?
Starting strength only recommend Low bar.
@@Mukation not true
Yes. 8:10 you can see Clarence Kennedy doing high bar
@@jocaingles8464 Yes it is. Squat however you like, but Rippetoe is a lowbar stan
@@Mukation rip talked about when high bar is applicable. I squat low bar, but starting strength doesn't exclude highbar in all cases
How does this technique apply to the high bar position?
Excellent
Based
4:23 hip draaaaaahhve
Love the info I just hate the way y'all squat 😂
Great video , she has awesome legs
Is Bre's womAndroid software ChatGPT integrated?
Bree ❤
Pretty good teknique
Why he don't look like he lift
Because your eyes are trained for superficiality.
I just don't get it.... I mean, that doesn't seem like "hip drive" to me. At one point you're basically fully loading the spine to lift the weight up to vertical. That will ABSOLUTELY destroy your discs. Especially if you have bulging diaca or hernias... This to me is plain BAD ADVICE (if she's doing it "correctly").
None of what you said is true
@@brianmcg321Oh really? Please, explain.
All this makes my buttwink worse and goodmorning taking a toll on my back.
You're probably exxagerating the bending over. A lot of people do that at first. You bend over and forget you also have to bend your knees at the same time.
Squatting this way can also fuck up your lower back when your lifting heavy. What do you guys have to say to the fact that world record power lifters don't recommend rippitoes version of the squat?
"Not squatting this way can also fuck up your lower back when you're lifting heavy". Being an elite athlete does not necessary mean that you have the correct grasp of biomechanics and also check out the 3 excercise criteria and what demographic the SS method approaches.
Doesn’t matter what they “recommend”. What’s described in this video is what they actually do whether they want to or not.
The only way to make your lower back stronger is to load it.
I find this method better for my back - and much more comfortable for my knees. If I do get a sore lower back it’s usually because I’m not keeping everything squeezed up and tight, or I haven’t got my knees out early enough.
@@Hast91 alright, I see your point
Heeup drahve
I only clicked on this to look at Brie.
There has been a lot of new information on squatting since SS came out. Depth, butt wink, hip work - technique shown in this film is pretty awful by modern standards and there are better ways to do it.
Lol, modern standards. As if human beings changed in the last 20 years. This is not engeneering. They figured out what the best way to Squat to get strong is, and why. And that's it. Not everything needs to be updated like an I-Phone
@@Francesco-cj3oi Modern standards of teaching how to squat are different from what is SS teaching. Rip squat never was any good, now there is just more evidence to prove it. Squat however you like, but there are better ways to do it.
@@Big_Black_Clocklike how?
@@Mathias_NB Most of the squats in the video is acceptable for a novice, but terrible for a strength coach. Shooting from the hip is a mistake that will need to be unlearned if you want to progress. Just type in Rippetoe squat critique and tons of materials will pop up.
@@Mathias_NB ruclips.net/video/Uv_DKDl7EjA/видео.htmlsi=ICc2cbrNkrvsAlqt
Great video. However, Bre's sullen RBF does tend to distract from Nick's excellent articulation of the movement.