Squat - favoring one side?

[Peter_k]

Sorry for all the questions. I hope I'm at least eliminating some from other people too.

I seem to favor one side when squatting (putting the weight on my left leg). Is there a good way to fix this? I'm worried that I might injure one leg if I keep adding weight and don't resolve it. I try to put my feet in a set position to keep the weight even, but it feels unnatural.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The vast majority of the time, an asymmetry like that is the result of uneven knees. Get somebody to watch you, or video yourself, from directly behind or directly in front, and check for your strong leg knee doing something different from the other one. It may be a subtle difference, but it will be noticeable. Then fix it.

The only time that this won't be true is if you have a short leg, which is actually not that uncommon.

[piratejon]

What's your recommendation if you do have a shorter leg?

[Mark Rippetoe]

You'll either have to shim your shoe or the platform.

[Peter_k]

I had someone watch me do squats, and I didn't realize how bad it looked. Basically, what happens is that one side of the bar ends up forward.

I tried to figure out what was causing it, and it seems like my torso must be shifting if the bar is moving forward on one side only. I guess that would happen if I was driving up with only one leg.

What would this tell you? Have you ever seen someone do this? I tried making more stance more even, but it doesn't solve the problem 100% (but this could be because I'm so used to favoring one side). Could I put my other foot slightly forward to counterbalance it, or push the other side of the bar forward as i drive up, maybe?

[Mark Rippetoe]

No, it involves your knee on that side, like I told you at the top of the thread. You have to keep your knee out, and this will make the squat symmetrical.

[MilkEnthusiast]

Mark,

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I have a similar question. Recently, the PT told me that he suspects a mild patellar tracking issue of the left knee. It's not really painful, it just clicks a little, so I'm still squatting as I try to take care of the situation. Do you suspect that this could be a cause of an uneven squat as described above? I'll try to get a video, but basically my hips make a small shift to the left out of the hole - not too noticeable unless you're looking for it, but it exists nonetheless. Thanks for any suggestions.

[Mark Rippetoe]

PTs seem to always suspect patellar tracking issues, because they think in terms of leg extension/leg curl training. If your knees are in line with your feet so that the femur is operating perfectly parallel to your tibia, the patellas will track straight. Just make sure your lined up correctly, and you may even have to try to get your knees outside your feet a little if you tend to track inside.

[MilkEnthusiast]

I finally put a video up on youtube. The quality is not very good, because the shot was taken vertically instead of horizontally, but I think you can see where the shifting takes place. It is most obvious on the 3rd rep.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PhDL6GF1YEE

Do you think the shifting of the hips on the ascent is anything to be concerned about? The more I look at the video, especially my knees, the more I seem to think that my adductors are very weak. Thanks for watching

[Mark Rippetoe]

Part of the problem is that your stance is very wide. It's wide enough than adductor extensibility, not strength, may be a factor. Unless you have a reason to squat that way, like you're going to a suited power meet, narrow your stance to shoulder-width heels so your muscular mechanics can normalize. Then we can tell what's wrong.

[Peter_k]

I think this may answer my original question as well.

My squat stance is a little bit narrower than this, but not much. I found that when I bring it in, it's easier to keep my knees out.

Just to be clear: does shoulder width mean the outside of shoulders are in line with the outside of the feet?

Also, from what I understand, the eccentric part of the movement is responsible for much of the soreness associated with squats. When you say push the knees out, does that mean mostly when going down, rather than up?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Shoulder width means the outside of the shoulders in line with the outside of the heels. And you push the knees out on the way down as well as on the way up if you're having problems with this.