ITT: Lifting cues that personally helped you

Post 'em whether you figured them out yourself or you read them online.

Squat:
>push hips back as as hard as you can while at the same time pushing your back upwards (single biggest improvement to my squat)
>don't keep legs to far out apart, but point your feet out at an outwards angle
>when taking the bar off the hooks, get in a powerful stance and push hard

Deadlift:
>lean backwards and use more legs
>hold onto the bar with as much of your hand as possible, and not with just your fingers

OHP:
>keep your asscheeks clenched throughout the lift
>stick your hips forward and chest back at the bottom of the lift and then pull your hips back when pushing up
>push more with the outerside of the palm (below the pinky finger)

Bench, once your shoulders are tight flex your lats and push up to unrack so you don't lose tightness.

This one is so specific it probarbly doesn't help anyone but me.

When swimming freestyle, you flick your feet much in the same way you flick your hand when throwing a playing card.

Interesting. Will have to try this

For bench and OHP I find that when I squeeze the living bejesus out of the bar, it helps me finish the top end of the rep.

Squat:
>Never lose tension at the bottom. Go as low as you can mantain that tension.
>When you start to come up, don't let your knees go backwards. Your knees should stay in the same point for the majority of the lift.

These two are useful when trying to avoid 'squatmornings'. My form is far from perfect but at least i can keep my balance better while coming out of the hole.

Squat:
>Push your knees outward to prevent them from breaking in

Deadlift
>When you think you cant do the weight/rep just keep pulling and dont be a pussy

Really though. I was stuck at the same weight on deadlift because i didnt push my self and would quit before i should. Just get mad or something and grind out the rep.

>OHP
>when lowering the bar after a rep, keep your elbows pointed forward, not off the side
>this helps you get back into the starting position better
>the starting position should be a nice little shelf formed by resting your triceps on your lats

What a painful way to die.

4u

kinda ya.

your body is used to a certain power (work/speed)

its gonna feel so off when you throw that ratio off.

>hold onto the bar with as much of your hand as possible, not just your fingers.
No.
With pressing you want the bar closest to your wrist as possible. With pulling movements you want the bar closest to your fingers as possible within your palm while being able to maintain a good grip. This prevents the bar from slipping due to your skin folds in your hand acting like a buffer and prevents the majority of calluses. Also, with your squatting cue about pushing hips back, how the fuck do you have trouble getting the bar DOWN? Literally gravity is on your side holy shit. Do you just do negatives? Fuck me.

I tried this and my grip was about give out. Strained my lower back. It's not bad; I can row and shit, just not deadlift for right now.

only do this if you're certain your form is 100% perfect

try also scrunching up your toes to force yourself to balance on your midfoot, also hip drive.

this, but i will mention while lowering the bar, if you try and stretch the bar outwards toward the side of the rack, you'll naturally avoid flaring your arms and have a naturally more stable grip as your forearms come in contact with your bis and your tris contact with your lats. then when pushing up try breaking the bar in half by rotating your wrists inward, this will activate the delts more

I don't have any trouble getting the bar down. I have trouble staying tight if I don't stick my hips back.

Heard someone say once in a video, to engage the lats on deadlift, pretend you're squeezing an orange with your armpits. Seems to work for me.

Also, on a personal note, the ceiling of my gym is made of stucco or something and right above the bench is a spot that looks kind of like a face. So when I bench press, the drive up is cued by "block out the face" and that helps me maintain proper bar path.

When benching, your elbows should sit out at 60° from your sides at the bottom of the lift.

>that visual cue
Rippetoe would be proud.

>anything standing

chest out, butt out.

>cable rows, lat pulldowns

pretend you're trying to squeeze a pencil between your shoulder blades

My favorite squat cue to keep upright out of the hole.

>imagine there's a dude right behind you, you don't want to grind your asshole right into his crotch do you?

In case you do though replace it with something my faggot friend prefers to imagine there's a giant tarantula trying to nip him there

That poor ram. Reminds me of these stupid things.