keep ur head up during squats. i like to pick a spot up on the wall and maintain eye contact.

forces me to keep my chest and my traps squeezed nice and tight

also for the love of god learn how to breath properly.

when getting in the squat position squeeze the middle of your back as much as possible while gripping as close as possible. lock your elbows in place, almost like you're doing a double bi pose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs_Ej32IYgo

26 minutes but its good

This post was edited by Purplepride9 on Dec 7 2015 12:04am

Re the breathing...are you not supposed to take a big breath and push out stomach before you Unrack and you do the same also before each rep (holding breath throughout the rep and exhaling at the top).

That's what I was trying to do.

Just trying to understand what I'm doing wrong with my breathing.

Oh and that Alan thrall video is exactly the video I watched. I was trying to follow his instructions.

This post was edited by PartyInMyPants on Dec 7 2015 09:31am

you shouldn't be distending your stomach.

inhalation and tighten your core before first movement, forced exhalation and contraction of the core all the way through second movement as you complete your lift

Isn't what this guy is doing "distending"? E.g. when you breath with diaphragm you are pushing out your stomach

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJX1CyjbMic

What I wasn't doing was the force exhalation...was just holding my breath...clearly wrong.

This post was edited by PartyInMyPants on Dec 7 2015 11:59am

distention is different than diaphragmatic breathing, don't focus on pushing out your stomach since this lacks the contracting of your rectus which creates ideal IAP to stabilize your spine, dont push out push down, its the same function as when you try to force a BM only with the addition of actively controlling your breathing,

exhalation on the second movement, i.e coming up out of a squat, you should keep the pressure from your inhale and forcibly exhale i.e blowing out candles

Yes you should push out as if you were trying to show a ''pregnant'' belly. You should do this while contracting to brace your stomach and it's even more useful when you are lifting with a belt.