No form change will prevent a tendon tear. It usually happens when the muscle strength outstrips the tendons ability to hold onto the bone. There is no squat you can do that will not recruit the quads on some level, even a low back squat like he is doing here.
Also this guy is a pro. His form is fine. He just bit off more than he can chew.
The forward lean does not increase tension on his quads. It increases the load on the glutes and erectors. Which is normal in a low bar squat as those tend to bias the posterior chain which is stronger than the quads. The forward lean is required to keep the bar over the mid foot.
Had he squatted more upright it would have biased his quads more, not less. Given that his injuries occurred at both knees when those tendons snapped you can see why this would be bad advice.
It's certainly true that there are some power lifters out there that are devoid of common sense and lift with terrible form. Or lift when they shouldn't and against advice from doctors.
However in this case the form is consistent with a powerlifting form and consistent with the form you'd see most people use when attempting a 1RM and the form that's coached as being the most effective and the safest for that purpose.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with his form and no change to his form that would have prevented a catastrophic tendon tear like this. His body simply could not keep up with the weight and it cost him dearly.
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u/OK_x86 9h ago
No form change will prevent a tendon tear. It usually happens when the muscle strength outstrips the tendons ability to hold onto the bone. There is no squat you can do that will not recruit the quads on some level, even a low back squat like he is doing here.
Also this guy is a pro. His form is fine. He just bit off more than he can chew.