Am i going deep enough in my squats, does my form look ok? i have to use a smithy as we don't have barbells at our gym.

couldn't rotate the video, sorry, here it is http://s277.photobucket.com/albums/kk52/addwells/?action=view&current=MOV00051.flv

Am i going deep enough in my squats, does my form look ok? i have to use a smithy as we don't have barbells at our gym.



Smith works best if you move feet about 6-8" in front of bar. This allows a full squat and you will track better. keep feet at shoulder width, turned out slightly. Are you doing 8-12 reps or what?:cool:

i will move my feet further forward next time, cheers

The video is from today, i did 8,8,8, the same every week, i just asked a friend to record the first 3 only.

The last 3-4 reps in a set i take longer pauses between reps, is that ok? should i drop the weight so i can be consistant with pauses between reps? does it matter? i have seen good growth thus far anyway

ta

Keep your feet where they are or move them very slightly forward, not 6-8" in front of the bar. Your depth looks fine. It looks like you relax your lower back somewhat at the bottom. Keep it tighter -- though moving the feet forward slightly might eliminate this, as it may be an artifact of the constrained ROM into which the Smith forces you. Pauses between reps are fine, but it's also good to be consistent.

ok, thanks for the back tip, will try my best to do so next week

i will move my feet further forward next time, cheers

The video is from today, i did 8,8,8, the same every week. The last 3-4 reps in a set i take longer pauses between reps, is that ok? should i drop the weight so i can be consistant with pauses between reps? does it matter? i have seen good growth thus far anyway

My idea of proper form would not have rest between reps in a squat. A compound pushing exercise like Squats and Presses do not pause in the extended or the flexed position. Also not locking knees or elbows.:bb:

My idea of proper form would not have rest between reps in a squat.

If you're only going for 8-12, (which seems to be your normal set construction), then there should be no need for rest.

Once you get past something like 25 squat reps, it's pretty hard to get all you can get from the muscles without taking extra breaths to circulate the necessary oxygen. This is because once you have trained a decent muscle mass, you can easily do work at well over your VO2max, (obviously not for very long). So if you are going for strength endurance and conditioning, then pauses are necessary or else you aren't using enough weight.

Keep your feet where they are or move them very slightly forward, not 6-8" in front of the bar.

There turns out to be no good answer to this. My brother the powerlifter has a Smith machine at home and he squatted in it for over a decade. Eventually he concluded that no matter where he put his feet, it ended up a compromise that wouldn't last. He's turned the safety rails around on it and now squats a barbell instead.

Among the various unsuccessful foot placements he used, I think getting the feet out in front of the bar was one he used the most.

My brother the powerlifter has a Smith machine at home and he squatted in it for over a decade.

Why would a powerlifter want to squat in a smith machine?