Ask HN: Have you successfully learn the barbel exercises without a coach?

Read Starting Strength. It is important to read it in order to understand what makes a squat, bench or deadlift form safe, and to understand that safe and efficient lift will look different depending of your proportions (ie. it is not necessarily a form error or safety issue if you don't look like platonic idea of a squat form when squatting).

As for video material, in YouTube: "Calgary Barbell", "Juggernaut Training Systems", "Starting Strength".

IMHO nothing comes close to finding a power lifting gym and lifting with them. The overall mood is usually helpful, encouraging, friendly and energetic. It is a high concentration of deep barbell experience. On the down side they focus exclusively on the competitive lifts so you have to be aware of that bias. You won't get much help on the standing press.

You'll be learning form the rest of your life. I've been at it 12 years and I still make adjustments.

Both Starting Strength and the website stronglifts.com will give you more information than you can handle. It can take years to really appreciate what they are telling you. So the three things are practice, practice and practice.

Some observer is crucial. I had a coach for a year but he missed a lot that I figured out later. Any training partner of any experience is better than none. They watch you and you watch them and you teach each other.

But the most important thing for a beginner is to begin. An untrained individual cannot move enough weight to hurt themselves fast (that comes later lol). Good luck and enjoy that sweet feeling!

I also highly recommend pretty much anything from Renaissance Periodization (YouTube, more on their website, but that's paid).

They cover a lot of theory, mostly about hypertrophy rather than strength, but really high quality stuff!

Also just stay skeptical, many 'universal' truths by people like Mark Rippetoe and friends are questionable. Starting strength is still a great resource for getting through the initial beginner stage though.

Read Starting Strength, start light and practice. Film yourself lifting and review your own technique.

I started by doing the moves with no wait on the bar.