Hi,

I am new to Powerlifting and live in an area where there are no Powerlfting coaches. I also train alone so can't get any feedback while performing lifts. So can you guys and girls please critique my form for both lifts. I have my first meet on the 28th of Feb and would like to be as prepared as possible.

Squat - 160kg/352lbs - I plan to use this as my second lift for the meet.


Sumo Deadlift - 180kg/396lbs - I plan to use this as my second lift for the meet.


Thanks in advance for any help provided.

My advice is to go get the number of the chick by the dumbbell rack in your sumo vid!
On a serious note, squat looked good. Drop the hips more in the deadlift.
But seriously get the number.

When you squat, try to get your knees out instead of forward. I'll make it easier to get depth. That probably won't pass at most meets. On the deadlift, work on forcing your knees out to get your hips close to the bar and get your chest up.

The squat looks solid but I believe you will need a bit more depth. All Federations are different but most are looking for the joint/crease of the hip to be below the knee joint in the bottom position. Like others have posted....get your hips down and chest up on that deadlift. Be certain you feel that lift in your heels, not the ball of your foot. Best of luck in your upcoming meet.....they are a blast!!

Thanks guys,

So the take home points are:

Squat
I am not making depth, so to hit better depth I should try and push out my knees more during the descent.

Deadlift
Hips are too high, fix this by getting my chest up and pushing my knees out.

I'll keep working on it, and post again next Monday for the progress on my squat, and post on Friday for the progress on my deadlift.

dont bounce your feet around on the squat, get your stance and keep it tight and steady, assert yourself with the weight if your wiggling all around just standing with it its not gonna be tight the whole way down and up

Looks like you've received some good advice already. One point I would add is to really lock an arch into your back for the DL. Getting the hips down a little and chest up should help with this some. In my opinion, you need to get a better/tighter arch for the sumo DL than the conventional DL.

Another tip for you to help you on depth is to use those aerobic steps and set those up to the depth that is below parellel. If you continuously hit that depth with your hamstrings and or butt, you will have no problem hitting depth at the meets.

Good luck

Think "f*ck the bar" when you sumo deadlift, really get those hips close. And I just can't resist posting this clip here, the guy's form is so damn beautiful:

Here is my squat this week. I felt a bit weaker this week, not because of the form change though.
This is my squat @150kg/330lbs for a double. I tried to get my knees wide as I descended but it felt like I used more quad on the way back up. And looking back at the video it look like i am not sitting back enough. Let me know what you think?


I did this squat at the same weight after the double. I tried to sit back a bit more, still felt shit.

I think my squat form was pretty shocking yesterday because I wasn't initiating the movement with my hips as I usually do, I was starting by pushing the knees out. Found an article on EliteFTS written by Jim Wendler on technique for a raw squat. http://www.elitefts.com/...usal_friday.htm . He says to initiate the movement with your hips and sit back, then about half way down spread the knees and go down.

I will record my next week's squat and see how it goes.

Try to fire your glutes out of the hole. Watch the video and look at what your hips do on the way up. As you come out of the hole, your hips are shooting up and back, which puts you in a bad position. Your quads are firing to extend your knees, but you aren't extending the hips at the same time. Firing the glutes should keep your hips under you little better and put you in a better leverage position on the way up. Practice with submax weights to get the feel for it and then increase the weight over a few weeks.

compared to the first video you are hitting MUCH better depth which could explain why it didnt feel as easy.

On a non-related note, gotta love the guy trying to get some plates from the smith machine beside just before you walk the weight out (the last vid). I can forgive most gym etiquette slips but that one always gets me steamed...

Those last squats really did look better, nice!

I'd recommend working on your walkout too.

Stay tight and try to keep it to 2 or 3 steps.

You also waste a lot of energy taking multiple steps

Deadlift video from last Friday below. Tried my best to bring my hips to the bar, but I don't think i have the mobility for that because my hips still hurt.


I still felt week on Friday, so I am deloading this week to make sure I am right by the end of the month. I suppose it didn't help that I gave blood last week either.