A squat progression timeline
This post might help with people who are learning to squat and/or wanting to improve their technique. In the video below you can see my sister’s before and after comparison. There were a lot of things going on with her squat and her technique difference took approx 1.5 years to get to.
We don’t train together in person so we did 98% of this coaching online during one on one sessions. I have put videos from old to new and will go through some different things we worked on. You can match the date on the video with the date on the text of this post. I didn’t pick on all the errors of each video, just some main points.
As a personal trainer specialising in powerlifting, I bring expertise in addressing such issues both online and in-person. This is an example of the evidence based coaching and training that I provide either face to face in our gym in Taren Point or online.
Dec 2018 – This is how she was squatting initially, there was a lot of things going on such as –
Balance is all over the place, going in heels then toes then back to heels
Upper back / barbell grip is not tight + the bar looked a little too low on her back
Her bracing looks weak around the mid-section
Her put raises and chest falls forward a lot
She squatting too fast
She’s going into her knees a lot at the bottom
The weight is too heavy
Feb 2019 – Improving a bit
Upper back tightness is improving but hands are too far over barbell
Balance is improving but still sitting hips too far back at start of squat then she goes into her knees at the bottom
Chest is still falling forward but mid-section bracing is improving
Squat speed is more controlled and not so dumpy
July 2019 – Getting better
Upper back and mid-section tightness still improving
Looks much more controlled and balanced, not sitting back at the hips as much but still losing balance forward a little bit when coming back up
Not fully locking out at the top with hips under the barbell
Chest still falling forward a little bit, but getting better
November 2019 – About 1-2 weeks out from first powerlifting comp
By this time technique had improved a lot, and most of the work was about trying to hold technique under heavy loads. Sometimes people can have good technical knowledge to perform a good squat, but just aren’t strong / conditioned enough to hold technique under heavy loads.
Bracing improved a lot and chest isn’t falling forward so much
Squat is starting to look more straight up and down without losing a lot of balance
Sitting hips back a little too much at the start, would prefer to just sit straight down
Goes into knees at bottom a little bit on some reps, but it’s not horrible.
March 2020 – Getting stronger – She can control the bar better rather than the bar controlling her
By this point she knew everything what to do, there were no new cues, now it’s just practice
Still initiating the movement by breaking at the hips first
Getting much better at keeping knees back
Lock out is way better, hips under the bar now
Dec 2020 – Another comp – Hold nice technique under heavy loads + in a comp situation + get jacked.
Jan 2021 – Very good.
