Brilliant Friends,
Peter sent me an update on his squats. It was awesome to see him making tweaks on his technique and form. Below are notes I sent him.
Thanks for sharing Peter!
Squats are looking much more solid from last time.
Strengths:
- Your grip on the bar is great. Shoulder and wrist flexibility are good, and upper back looks super tight. That is key!
- Squat #3 was great. 0:24. Good depth, good control, good spine alignment. Awesome man.
Improvements:
- Bottom of squats look more stable.
- You got rid of the butt wink.
Focus on hip mobility:
You’ve gotten a lot more stable at the bottom. There’s no sliding forward now, which is great. Now, you need to get more depth while still keeping your spine aligned. Squat 3 was solid. The others could be slightly deeper.
This was a constant battle for me: getting depth vs. keeping my back straight. The lower I went, the more my low back would want to curl under and do the butt wink.
It is all about hip mobility. Picture the thighs as needing to open up enough to lower yourself. If they can’t open up and outward enough, your back will bend to try to get you lower. So whatever the limitation of your hips, at that point your back will start to bend.
The tension is in your pelvis. Increasing your hip flexibility will enable you to go lower while you still keep your back in tact. It takes some time, but the result will feel amazing. Try this before training sessions. I do them religiously. You can watch the whole thing to get all the philosophy, I just marked it where the exercise starts.
Most importantly, keep the spine in line as you are doing now. The depth is about hip health and range of motion, but spine alignment is equally if not more important.
Live powerfully,
Steve
The Brilliant Beast Blog 