Squats problem

Caveman1

Im having trouble getting my technique right when doing squats I have no problem sticking with it till I get it right, the thing is I was told that I should use the smith machine for squats till I get used to doing them, I looked up a few videos of smith machine squats on youtube and nearly all the comments say you shouldn't use a smith machine for squats, what are your thoughts on this ?

Any advice appreciated.

ray jay

You can't learn to free squat using the smith machine since it enforces a particular bar path. Here are two good video series on squatting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkF9QD7oCIA
http://www.youtube.com/user/johnnymnemonic2?feature=watch

A useful thing to do is to record yourself when you squat. If you post a video of one of your working sets, people here will give you some tips. You could also ask knowledgeable people in your gym for advice.

Caveman1

ray jay wrote: »

You can't learn to free squat using the smith machine since it enforces a particular bar path. Here are two good video series on squatting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkF9QD7oCIA
http://www.youtube.com/user/johnnymnemonic2?feature=watch

A useful thing to do is to record yourself when you squat. If you post a video of one of your working sets, people here will give you some tips. You could also ask knowledgeable people in your gym for advice.

I asked one of the trainers in the gym and I was told to place a 2.5kg weight under each heel when I'm doing them as I'm not flexible enough, have you heard of this before?

Burkatron

Caveman1 wrote: »

I asked one of the trainers in the gym and I was told to place a 2.5kg weight under each heel when I'm doing them as I'm not flexible enough, have you heard of this before?

Yeah plenty of people do this as it allows you drop deeper (bellow parallel) in your technique while keeping your alignment central. (edit: if you have any)Work on your ankle mobility & your hip flexibility while you learn to squat & it will hopefully right itself over time! Olympic lifting shoes have elevated heels for the same effect!

Caveman1

Burkatron wrote: »

Yeah plenty of people do this as it allows you drop deeper (bellow parallel) in your technique while keeping your alignment central. (edit: if you have any)Work on your ankle mobility & your hip flexibility while you learn to squat & it will hopefully right itself over time! Olympic lifting shoes have elevated heels for the same effect!

Do you recommend any exercises or stretches to do this?

Burkatron

Caveman1 wrote: »

Do you recommend any exercises or stretches to do this?

Squat specific
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XwKnk16Zbs
Kelly Starrett has tonne of stuff on the mobility Wod site, search around, you wont be sorry

Overall Mobility/stability work...I (loads of people do this) do a variation on these 90% of the time as part of my warmup before I train

http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1778726

Caveman1

Burkatron wrote: »

Squat specific
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XwKnk16Zbs
Kelly Starrett has tonne of stuff on the mobility Wod site, search around, you wont be sorry

Overall Mobility/stability work...I (loads of people do this) do a variation on these 90% of the time as part of my warmup before I train

http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1778726

Cheers ill give that a go

Burkatron

Caveman1 wrote: »

Cheers ill give that a go

Like any mobility/stability work you'll need to be patient to see any changes. I didn't see any improvements with the Mike Boyle stuff for over a month doing 1-2 rounds of it as part of my warm up 5 times a week!