Fixing Your Squat : Falling Forward, Butt Wink, Lower Back Pain 

i literally thought i was having a stroke @ 4:45

What was that in the middle? I thought I had been drugged or something. I was so confused.

who knew alan would have a militairy flashback midway through the video

You totally understand the beginner's problems, you are a good teacher, i admire that!

I wish I found this channel when I started 5 years ago instead of Mike Chang -.-

The Metallica/Type O Neg/Slayer interlude caught me off guard haha.

I've watched soo many squat videos and this is hands-down the best. The whole time, you'd explain something, then I'd think, "Ok. I get that. But wait - what about...?" and then you'd start talking about that very thing, as if you were in my brain seeing my questions. Very thorough. Thank you so much.

Did you smoke a bowl halfway through editing this?

Thank you Alan. You are my favorite RU-vidr

So, I just did my first set of proper squats. Thanks and ow.

Best squat video I’ve watched. Thanks!

I have never had such a thorough instruction on squatting! I'm no longer falling forward and my low back stopped hurting! THANK YOU!

Thanks Alan! Watched your Deadlift and Squat videos several times and I always find a new detail I was not doing... This time it was the correctly breathing and bracing. Did my squats yesterday with the correct breathing and bracing and my lower back never felt so good before. I was stunned this morning, when I woke up how well my lower back felt! No soreness and no tightness. Thank you for your high valuable videos and also for giving that metal touch into your videos! \m/

I love your direction and cues in all of your videos. They help me to be a better trainer for my clients but also a more kickass and safe athlete. Thanks so much, Alan! ^____^ RAWWRRR!

I have been on youtube researching all the information on the big three (squat, bench and deadlift) for more than couple of years and your videos are definitely the best i have found. Keep up the good work!

Love this video Allan. I've come back to it many times just to check myself and fix little things

This was super helpful. I'm a newbie lifter and I've struggled squating anything heavy. Thought I was just weak but now I'm thinking I'm making all of these mistakes. Going to video tape and analyze to see and fix it. Thanks!

The balancing act part and the part about losing tension will undoubtedly help me a lot thank you so so much I have been really stuck and I know it's technique and not strength.

Finding this channel is the best thing to happen to my squats and deadlifts. This video has has improved my squats a lot and more than ever look forward to leg days

Thank you for being here with me on my life journey Alan. Hope I can meet you some day. Also, thanks for putting the Bukowski clip in your video. Saw this video 3 years ago and realised this is how I came to know his work.

4:41 I thought I accidentally changed the speed

Alan, the only thing that UPSETS me about your channel, is that I JUST found out about it. I've learned more in the last 48 hours watching your videos only than what I have from randomly watching other youtubers. Keep it up brother!

What an easy guide to refer to whenever I'm squatting. You truly are one of the best fitness RU-vidrs I have ever seen. Keep up the great work.

Alan, just want to thank you for absolutely awesome and invaluable help! Your videos are the reason I'm resurrecting my barbell training... Keep the great work and be safe.

Damn, just changing my breathing helped my squat immensely. Thanks, bro, keep up the good work.

I'm so glad Omar featured Alan's channel recently. I've been learning a lot from this guy's channel. Informative and easy to understand. Great work Alan! Keep doing what you're doing.

This is by far the best video I’ve watched on RU-vid about squatting! Thank you

One of the best videos on squats I have ever seen! Thank you so much for explaining mechanics in an easy to understand way!

I really appreciate your videos brother. I am doing a similar thing to "untamed strength" on the east coast and always find your videos entertaining and informative

Thank you!!!!!!!! It was extremely helpful . I fall forward in my squats but after watching your video I'm excited to practice the breathing, keeping it tight, and not loosing balance ect... Thank you

This is everything I ever want from a fitness youtube channel. Alan has taught me how to lift properly over the years!

I know this vid came out years ago and idk if you get a chance to see all these comments but I've started working out about a month ago and squats were one of the most intimidating exercises for me. I know it's one of the basics, but with all the potential areas for bad form and hurting yourself it was off-putting, but this video was exactly what I needed to find, thanks for putting it out and just subbed to your channel!

Man, your videos are super on-point. TON of value in this one, sent it to all of my clients.

Blessings for a random Peter Steele tribute in a Squat video. RIP

This....... was EXCATLY what I have been looking for over 3 years. Thank you so much!

Best strength training channel by far. Great job Alan!

No one else on youtube explains it like Alan... Glad I sub'd.

So many classics so quickly my brain can't handle this amazingness

Best squat how to out there, I have watched this before my last 4 leg workouts and finally feel balanced! Today I concentrated on pressing my back into the bar on the way up and felt more power than just concentrating on my legs, thankyou!

This video is the most helpful thing I've ever seen as regards squatting, never realised how to brace properly and was having trouble with lower back pain as you say, so this was awesome advice! Love your channel man you're sick

This is just the info I've been looking for! I thought it was refreshing that you pointed out that the "drive through your heels" cue is a bit misleading. I know it's all over most instructional videos for squat form and I understand the idea, but for some reason the movement has never resonated with me when phrased that way. I like that you took the time to get more specific. I think it's a bit reductive to say just drive through your heels. It makes me feel like I need to drive up through the very edge of my heel and that creates imbalances. It kind of downplays the stability needed from your entire foot in my opinion. Can't wait to pay attention to these pointers next time I squat. Thanks!

type o negative and metallica that video montage was the best part

I’ve been lifting for three years now and this is the most helpful video I’ve seen even after I’ve tried to “master” the squat. Damn Ive learned what my squat needs even after years of doing this exercise!

Thanks for all the great and helpful videos Alan.

great video , thank you sir

yesterday, I farted when bracing for my squat. lol

Great vid, Alan! Your channel is always my go-to for any lifting questions I have.

One of the best instructors I've found. Gets to the point pretty quickly, and adds a lot of personality without being annoying, it's always relevant.

appreciate the video, dealing with the lower back issue. i believe im not bracing well

Hi Alan, I did a lot of research on proper form before I started weightlifting, especially for the squat. However, despite my best efforts, my knees really started hurting during daily activities, especially bike riding. My doctor tells me it was probably due to my legs HYPER-EXTENDING at the top of a squat. My knees (and elbows) can apparently bend further backwards than most people's. This has never been a problem for me before, but of course, things are a lot different with 200 pounds on your back. Even though I know what went wrong, the damage was done, and I am still undergoing physical therapy to fix my knees. Despite all my research, I never saw ANYTHING about not hyper-extending at the top of a squat. To make things more confusing, many sources say that you should lock your knees, which apparently means you should go to 180, but NOT "hyper-extend." However, this is rarely defined properly! I watched your whole 40 minute video on squatting, and I don't remember seeing anything about hyper-extending in there. Is this just an uncommon issue? Do you know anything about it? Could you address this in one of your future videos? Thanks!

Finally. I've been searching far and wide for something like this, thanks man!!

Thanks for this video. I seriously hurt my back during squats a few weeks ago and have been extremely timid about working them back in. I feel a lot more confident after your articulations & demos of where I went wrong and how to correct.

does every one who works out just develop the deep voice or is it just a gift

TYPE O!!! You been talkin with candito's edit man, aint ya.

best squat video i've seen in a while! very helpful! thanks a bunch Mr Thrall!

Best squat video ever! So clear and informative!!! Thanks!

I didn’t even know I had to breathe while squatting

That musical interlude! Type-O negative , fuck yeah!

Had a miserable time doing squats today, form was horrible in all the videos i took even at lower weight. Went through several squat tutorials on youtube before finding this one. This is definitely the best and addresses the problems i'm having. Thanks for the solid corrections, i'll be trying this out on leg day #2 this week. Semper Fi brother.

THANK YOU! This addressed so many issues. I will be watching this again and again.

I love you for featuring Type O Negative

I'll share my experience for anyone else with issues shifting onto their toes when pushing out of the hole. My issue was I was not moving my butt out backwards enough while going down as well as going back up. I was focusing too much on the verticality of the bar and I was basically moving straight down. This is the key reason why Alan isn't doing the "butt wink", because he is not maintaining the hips forward position as he is pushing out of the hole: the first thing he does is stick his butt back up seemingly before doing anything else. So, in my opinion, you might have been told "Push through your legs" or "Push through the floor", but I think that's a bad cue because it encourages your hips to roll forward as you push. Instead you want to lift your butt upwards first, and the rest follows naturally. Once I focused on that it immediately got tremendously easier to accomplish other important cues such as pushing my knees apart. Think of your hips as being pegged to the top of a wheel. To move them down you have to move them backwards first as the wheel turns. And then follow the same track with your hips as you go back up.

Never heard of this dude before but I'd say that this is best video about squating ever ! Simple, selfexplanatory, no BS talk around etc...

one of the best channels out there ! thanks alan! love all your vids, they helped me a lot

Former college athlete who avoided squatting like the plague, love to power clean, but hated squats. This video just sparked an interest to squat, lets see how this goes.

How to twerk with good form video pls

This is an amazing video. I always try to explain these ideas to friends/peers in the gym, but you put everything in a very clear manner - will definitely be sharing to others.

Really appreciate all the tips and corrections in this video. Have been struglling with my own squats lately, so this video here comes very handy.

Squats are deff my weak point. Idk why but I struggle to get really heavy. Love deadlifts though

i didn't get the random montage in the middle

I am following you now for quite a while Alan and you really helped me improve with my Deadlift and Squat. Especially with Squatting I was told to inhale while descending and to exhale while ascending. Of course descending wasn't the problem, but I always found me struggling with ascending. Now I know why. Thank you very much!

am 52 and trying to get back to doing full range squats, things were ok for a while and then knee soreness forced body weight only for a while. I will continue to try to reestablish full range even though most in the gym think its nuts. Am fully convinced that in the long run it will pay off. All other movements in the gym are full range and no one questions but when it comes to squats, all of a sudden its like you just brought up politics or religion.

Alan, please make a patreon page or something so I can throw my money at you.

Best lifting channel on youtube, thank you for uploading.

Wow... Just found out about your videos and i have to say: Great work! You explain everything in a totally understandable manner and you visualize it greatly with your "how-to" and "how-not-to" videos. AMAZING! Like a lot of the other commenters already said: I whish I found your videos before all the other online fitness crap that is out there! Especially concerning deadlifts and squats. Awesome stuff!

7:16 mate i think you got a semi

I'm learning how to squat properly by watching how my one year old girl does it when she picks her toys from the floor

This is a great vid. I have a lot of low back problems and am always worried about losing lifts forward and re-herniating discs, the notion of thinking about pushing up on the bar with the shoulders has got me pushing my hips forward consistently, no back pain. Great cue, thanks so much for posting.

Thank you for this video I had been having some form issues with my squats and after applying what I learned from this video my form has improved 100%. I still need work but now I know how to address those issues. Thanks Again!

Holy shit. The type-O montage tho

"if your foot has 4 corners"....

Gym Jesus strikes again, I watched 2 videos and I'm already subscribed, your ability to explain it to me so nicely beats every excuse I have for not having a body I want... keep it up the world needs you my friend.

Probably the best most useful squat video on the internets!

Is the lower back pain from squatting discussed in the video: a.) low back soreness for a few minutes right after a set b.) low back pain like for the next couple of days I ask because I get "a" every time I squat but I thought it was normal. Could this also be an indication I need to reform my form to perform good form for me? thanks for the inform! ation

I get so tired of my lifting bros telling me to exhale when at the bottom of the squat.

This was extremely informative and well put together. You went over everything I had questions about and your glute muscles prove that you know what you're talking about. Thank you very much!

Makes me smile to see a brother succeed and does what he loves and has passion.. Hooooorahh... And semperfi!

"Look at his butt just winking at me" lmao

I think I had a stroke at 4:45

I think this is the most useful video on squats I've ever scene. thank you for this.

This is the best video I've seen on squat form. I already knew I shouldn't do all these things yet I keep bending forward. Now I finally understand WHY so I understand better why I'm making the adjustments. Thanks a lot!

4:50 some jonnie candito tier shit here

What the fuck happened in the middle of the video; was that suppose to be there?

thank you so much. ive been putting off squatting for too long because of a poor experience with a training partner thinking his foot and bar position is universal fit for everyone (obviously not) and this videos inspired me to try again and practice. you’re a legend big love mate

Been squatting for 14 years and every session feels like I always have something new to learn about it. I wish these videos had been around back then

dude you are truly a weight lifting profet......

I was on my 3rd rep squatting today and leaned forward for a second and lost form and hurt my lower back, now I can barely walk, fucking sucks

The most helpful video I have ever watched. Thanks for the tips man!

best squat technique video I have ever watched. Sophisticated creation .

It’s not everyday I hear Bukowski in a workout tutorial