Some quick comments off the top of my head. Tried posting them earlier but then my internet connection died.

1) You need to push back more by aggressively driving the head back against the bar and pushing the hips forward as soon as you begin the ascent (arch the weight up). Now you have a forward lean even at the top.

2) As you said, you need to sit back a lot more. On the box squat, the shins should be at least vertical. Actually, they shouldn’t move much during the duration of the lift. For a raw lifter, it is acceptable to push knees a little forward when not squatting off a box (i.e. Zercher), but in principle the action is at the hip, not the knee joint. It helps to spread the legs on decent so that you can actually sit down fairly straight. Don’t ask me how to do this though, I’m still learning… ;-)

3) Depth. You should do most of your DE squat work off a parallel box or lower to practice technique and drive out of the hole. Parallel for me is a 13”/33 cm box; given our similar build this should be about what you need as well. If possible, look into building a box, perhaps a little lower so that you can just raise it as needed but still use it for low box squats (around the 10” mark or so).

4) For the Zerchers, there are two main styles. Either squat down allowing the bar to hit the top of your quads or squat down with the bar passing in front of the knees. For the former style see this for great pictures:
http://www.finnishpower.net/powernews/muut/treenijutut/zercher250203/zercher.html

Here’s a good video link of Tommy Fannon on the box:
http://66.235.41.207/training/2003_WPC_Worlds/030930-705-box.wmv

The Westside Barbell Squatting Secrets video is wonderful for learning technique. Here’s a few excerpts from my humble review that you might find helpful:
http://tsampa.org/training/blog/archives/200310/index.php#000076

“Louie emphasises that a correct squat is essentially about pushing back against the bar preventing it from forcing the upper body down, i.e. arching the weight up instead of pushing it up with the legs. Proper technique boils down to pushing the stomach hard against the belt and driving the knees apart on descent, then coming up by pushing the chest out and driving the head into the bar. The shins are kept vertically straight throughout the movement. As a result the bar pretty much moves straight up and down without the all too common forward dip. Louie explains that keeping the feet pointed straight forward will allow more power to be generated from the hips, although it makes breaking parallel somewhat more difficult.”

You might want to try this to practice form:

“Many novice lifters have difficulty continously sitting back on lower boxes without at some point dropping straight down. To cure this the trainee begins by squatting off a high box. When he has good form an inch is pulled off the box forcing him to sit back further. Once his form is good at this level another inch is taken off, and so on until a very low box height is reached. When squatting with proper technique, form will actually improve the lower the box. This is because lower boxes force the lifter to sit back more and will put more stress on the hips and buttocks. Thus, Westsiders prefer to squat off fairly low boxes.”

I have many of the same problems you do on the box, so you’re definitively not alone in trying to grasp it.

-Kris

Posted by: Kris | October 31, 2004 2:56 PM

Thanks for that, very astute and insightful as always. Very much appreciated.

Your first point about driving the hips forward at the beginning of the ascent makes perfect sense; I think my focus up until now has been on lifting the weight rather than straightening up.

I also agree with the idea of making a box - then gradually reducing the height. By using a bench at a height above parallel I am slowly getting accustomed to an incorrect form.

I was hoping to get hold of the Westside Deadlift Secrets DVD (I don’t actually have a VCR, which rules out most of the collection) before deciding whether or not to acquire the squatting secrets one. Unfortunately the promise of a 24 delivery (from Elite Fitness) fooled me too, and I suspect I’m in for quite a long wait. It’s a pity these videos/DVDs are so hard to come by in this part of the world.

Plenty to think about, and my current plan is to keep squatting with around 60% of max for a few weeks until I can sort out the major technique flaws. I want to have reasonable form before I begin piling on the weight.

Posted by: Scott | November 1, 2004 8:27 PM