r/StartingStrength

I was offered a free workout at a private gym in my town when I inquired about a tour. The manager buzzed me in remotely. Pictures were at 6 pm on a Wednesday and I was the only one there. All of their strength equipment is Arsenal brand. All plates are iron York plates and there were plenty of all sizes, no broken barbell clips with no misplaced/disorderly plates on the plate trees. They have two full bathrooms with showers, toiletries, everything you would need. They also had two Peloton treadmills, a Hydrow rower, an infrared sauna, and a cold plunge. Free coffee, bottled water, two different types of protein shakes, three different types of energy drinks. It’s nice to see how the other half lives every once in a while.

I included my warm up set of 60kg for reference and to see if this is closer to how the squat should look? Because I am actively trying to improve the hip drive after watching all the videos etc but when I try the "chest to the floor" queue with 72.5kg, it feels absolutely horrible in the lower back (just all over really) and obviously the chest has to come up at some point. But for some reason it seems to be a rough transition from hips up --> pause -->chest up on some of these reps. Other reps, it's clear even to me there was limited hip drive and I moved over to using the legs more. I felt that even when lifting and I remember I just felt too weak and I almost automatically ended up doing this - I think this is more clear in the final set of 3 (3x5 75.5)

The warm up with 60 felt mostly ok from what I remember. First 1x5 was ok ish but felt like I had to grind them out. The final 3x5 was disgusting completely, nothing felt good and even walked away with a mild shooting/numbness from my shoulder through the arm after that, seems ok now.

For clarity I didn't record set 2x5.

Finally got it! Next is to complete it with zero movement in the legs.

270lbs DL
I filmed from the wrong side
Been doing NLP since 1/18/26

Any advice?

pr

3rd set

I think this is better. Grip better, balance better with flat (non squishy) shoe. It feels like the bar position is correct - any lower would have bar on the rear delts, rather than resting on top of delts and below traps. Head position better. Possibly better bracing with belt. This is last set of 5*100kg. Bar feels secure not slipping and wrists are pretty straight -;tried to keep back tight throughout.

I’d like to get a form check but also would like learn more about analyzing my own videos so I can better correct my form on the spot. Now with this set I can see a few things that I am doing wrong here. It looks like I am coming a little too forward on my feet and my heels lift up ever slightly. I also have trouble getting my wrists straight under the bar now matter where I hold it. I have my pinky’s on the inner knurl rings here and this is about as tight as I can get the bar on my back. The bar feels very stable here but it’s starting to give me elbow tendinitis. Another concern here is that I feel I might be pushing my knees out too wide. It’s hard to tell from this side view but I maybe doing that. There are probably other things wrong here and I’m sure you guys will tell me. This is not a lot of weight compared to most people in this program but it is a heavy working set for me. Squats are by far my worst lift and I’ve struggled to get them right for years. I progress fairly well with other lifts but am constantly having to take a step back with squats to work on form. When I do finally get it right all it takes is one inconsistent week where I miss a workout or two and totally forget what I did to get it right. Now I’ve read to keep on going even my form is off and that it’s better to get the lifts in than to get dropping the weight, so that is what I am doing now. It’s just starting to look sloppy as hell. Here we go.

Finally a 3 plate row
Form?

Waistline be damned, I wanna be stronk...

Hi, I think there is probably quite a lot wrong with this. The bar slipped upwards on back on the 5th rep. The weight is too heavy - I was testing today. I will drop down and practice at 90*5 for sets to build strength and technique. I can't get the bar lower or my hands closer at the moment. I can improve the left wrist position but I lost it during that set. Any help and tips would be great

Hey, here's an example of me failing a set,

3rd set of five

Not a big deal.I'll hit it next week

Working on lifting without a mirror to judge depth - I feel like a few of these might be a bit high. Also, I’ve been experiencing some dull aches in my left shoulder after squatting. It usually occurs once the weight gets racked. Maybe due to my chicken winging? It doesn’t really persist for more than 10-15ish minutes. Comments/critics welcomed.