Starting Strength video - Rippetoe?

I was watching the video Starting Strength, I think it was by Rippetoe.

Im not sure what to think about his squat technique.

He said the following
1. Look down (helps with the hip drive he said)
2. Drive with the hips not the chest

Im thinking putting such a huge emphasis on driving with the hips will cause people to raise the hips first and then do a back extension to finish it off.

Plus with looking down, wouldnt that make it harder to keep the arch in your back?

The people in the video demoing did have good form.
Although at the very bottom, it looks like they round their lower back a bit, which maybe is natural since they were getting down to parallel.

Thoughts?

ive always been told when squatting to look up makes no sense to me to be lookking down

jkd_guy - Im thinking putting such a huge emphasis on driving with the hips will cause people to raise the hips first and then do a back extension to finish it off.



Plus with looking down, wouldnt that make it harder to keep the arch in your back?

  I thought the technique was odd at first but I was coached on it for a while and now I wouldn't do it any other way. You drive with the hips but not to the point of turning it into a good morning. It took me some practice to get it down but now it's a really easy groove to get into.



You're looking at the floor but your head/neck remains  straight or in line with your spine

 If you've got the vid, I'd also recommend getting the book. There he goes into more detail with drawings and angles about it all. (Many of the gurus here recommend that book too)

And yeah, as others above already mentioned, you're not really looking "down" as in down in front of you, but rather downward few feet in front so that you can keep a straight line between your spine, neck and head.



(edited for extra info - actually, if you don't mind reading stuff on your pc, there is a torrent file out there called "Starting Strength", which has the vid broken down into avis, and then his books in pdf format (Starting Strength and Practical Programming.)

The thing about lifting to keep in mind: the technique tends to change ever so slightly the more you progress.

A technique is bound to change, once things get heavy.

WOW - blast from the past.

So I'm watching the deadlift video...only about 2.5 years after I started the series (I wonder if the posters above are even still here...)

I noticed he is telling the people NOT to drop the hips. His technique is:
1. Middle of foot under bar
2. Bar an inch in front of your shins
3. Do not move hips down - Bend over and grip bar
4. Drop Shins to bar (hips do not drop)
5. Lift Chest Up (hips do not drop)
6. Pull

To ME...it seems that by not dropping the hips, it makes it VERY tough to raise the chest.
I noticed a lot of the ppl demo-ing has a slight bend in their lower back because of this.

I know, I know...the "chest up" portion of his technique is supposed to help them keep the arch...but
To ME...the lower you drop the hips, the easier it is to raise your chest/the easier it is to keep an arch in your lower back.

Thoughts on not dropping the hips?

jkd_guy - WOW - blast from the past.


I noticed he is telling the people NOT to drop the hips.

His technique is:
1. Middle of foot under bar
2. Bar an inch in front of your shins
3. Do not move hips down - Bend over and grip bar
4. Drop Shins to bar (hips do not drop)
5. Lift Chest Up (hips do not drop)
6. Pull

To ME...it seems that by not dropping the hips, it makes it VERY tough to raise the chest.

Thoughts on not dropping the hips?



Yeah it is difficult. In the SS model dropping the hips causes a reaction down the chain moving you and the bar out of optimal position for pulling.

I dropped my hips a bit at first cause it was really tough raising the chest up but I eventually got to where I could do it as he instructs.

Anyone seen the 3rd ed. of SS? Is there a lot of new/extra stuff? Phone Post

^^^^^I have a copy of it.

In general there isn't that much different in the model. There's some new stuff on the lay back style of OH pressing they teach now. Also there are much better drawings and photos explaining the hows and whys and written instructions that are more clear.