Thanks for the replies everyone! I get most of my knowledge from the book
starting strength, from watching olympic lifters on youtube, reading various advices here and there, and thinking about the problem A LOT. i believe i have the bar in the correct position for a high-bar or olympic style squat. i've done plenty of low bar squats too, and i don't think they look any different (though I could be wrong, should get some videos). anyway i don't see any reason why i shouldn't be able to do high bar squats, though if someone has one i'd like to hear it.
No, he doesn't actually.
It's flexibility issue IMO. I'm gonna consult my friend who knows a little bit more about biomechanics.
please do!
also @ B_B_C:
usually i have very poor posture, but I've spent a lot of time learning how the spine is supposed to look, and how it reacts to different "mental cues." usually i believe my pelvis is rotated in the anterior direction. i don't know why this is -- could be because of weak abdominal engagement, tight hip flexors, or perhaps a herniated disc? whatever the case, in these videos, i try to correct this by rotating it back (you can even see it at the start of the third video, i think), and then i start the movement by imagining im rotating around my belly button, rather than my hips. this seems to keep my lumbar spine locked in a more neutral "slightly arched" position, and out of the "over arched" position which it's normally in, due to the aforementioned pelvic tilt.
i think i might have slight kyphosis, or exaggeration of the thoracic curve, which is why it appears like my middle / upper back rounds in the squats. people with normal spines can get their backs perfectly flat, and the back generally looks perfectly flat (from a side view) on a properly done high-bar squat, as far as i can tell. well, i can never, even standing straight up, get my back as flat as most people, so it may be that there's nothing i can do?
however, i could be wrong about all this. nonetheless i have a hard time believe it's a flexibility issue, for the simple reason that i am at least as flexibly (in the hips) as some of my friends who can squat just fine. also, it's hard for me to stretch my muscles. it seems like i can never actually get a stretch in the muscle belly, but rather just joint pain.
also @ chick
thanks for the advice. i forgot about controlling my head movement (which does tend to be all over the place) on these videos. however, i've done many experiments in the past looking at different places, and none of it really seems to help. also i was just doing these for the sake of getting video, this isn't a real workout at a gym... hence no rack.
