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Thread: Tall female lifter in desperate need of squat help!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
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    5

    Default Tall female lifter in desperate need of squat help!

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    Hi Rip,

    I’m 30, female and have been doing SS for about 3 months, prior to which I was crossfitting on and off for a year. I am 5”11 with long legs, and am definitely challenged in the strength department – I also struggle with flexibility in the squat and I find it hard to get to parallel depth. In the past I used to do a lot of running (marathons) so I now have very tight calves and ankles. Thankfully I have seen the error in my ways and am now a converted lifter!

    I build strength very slowly so I have gone up very slowly in the lifts, but I still feel like I have a long way to go and want to get a lot stronger than I currently am. My heaviest squat sets were 52kg/115lbs before hurting my back recently. Now, I can barely squat the bar without feeling some pain in the left side of my lower back.
    To give you an idea of my proportions, my legs measure 40 inches from my hip bones to the floor and my torso is around 20 inches from the hip to shoulders. My arms are also very long (32 inches shoulder to finger tips) although I’m not sure if this has anything to do with it.

    I have read SS and have tried to research technique and watch the SS videos as much as possible. I train with my partner who is into SS also, but I’m at the point now where we don’t really know what to do and I would really appreciate some help in fixing the problems with my squat and subsequent lower back issues.

    I’m pretty sure my back injury was from over-extending and doing good mornings, but I know there are other issues going on, because a) As hard as I try to jam my knees out, I feel like my ankles and knees are pulling in the whole time I’m squatting and b) I have to stand with my feet really wide to get to parallel. If I try to squat with my knees shoulder width apart I fall backwards pretty quickly! I also feel like I’m leaning too far forward and my glutes are weak and tight. The bar path is also screwed up – it starts at being over mid foot, but by the time I reach the bottom of the squat it’s above my toes or slightly in front or my feet.

    When I do the squat stretch (feet have to be wide) I have to jam my elbows between my knees to keep them in the right place, they can’t stay there on their own.
    I feel like I know the correct form I should be doing, but for whatever reason (lack of flexibility and strength) I simply cannot prevent myself from caving in at the bottom of the squat and doing a good morning under any significant weight. I have recently purchased lifting shoes which seem to help, but something is still not right.

    Since I hurt my back, I’ve been icing, stretching and focusing a lot on flexibility (opening my ankles and hips). I’m also trying to practice holding my abs tight and engaging the lumbar spine to avoid over-extending my back while doing air squats as I wasn’t doing this before I injured it. I am also really focusing on the cues while getting ready to squat – eg bar in right position on scapula, elbows up, head down, abs tight, chest up, holding my breath, knees out etc) - All of these things seem to be helping the pain in my lower back, but my squat still sucks!

    I have a feeling my height and ‘lankiness’ may have something to do with these problems mentioned above, but I’ve struggled to find specific information relating to what I can do to improve. I would really appreciate some help in understanding what I need to do in order to get not only stronger, but also flexible. Ultimately, I’d just like to be able to perform the squat properly, and be able to progress with more weight, rather than be stalled at a very light weight as I feel I am at the moment.

    Thank you for your help!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    North Texas
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    53,557

    Default

    I think your primary problem has been your anthropometry and amateur coaches that lack the training and experience to deal with it. Where do you live?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
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    Default

    Coach, would you not think that her xfit background could be related to her form issues?

    Also, OP keep on going. I thought i would never be able to properly squat for the life of me... and all it took was some time and coaching.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    North Texas
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    Quote Originally Posted by iamgmo View Post
    Coach, would you not think that her xfit background could be related to her form issues?
    I thought I said that.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
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    Default

    I live in London, UK... I might look into getting some professional coaching at one of the British Weightlifting gyms. Can you recommend anyone in particular over here?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    North Texas
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    I hate to say this, but I seriously doubt anybody in a competitive weightlifting gym will have any idea about what to do with outlier anthropometry, since people such as yourself do not become competitive weightlifters. We don't have a coach in the London are that has registered on the board. Maybe someone can comment.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Camino, California, U.S.A.
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    I'm working with an lady that almost exactly matches your situation, just a bit younger. She was horribly tight and actually fell over during the first couple of air squats. Much (though not all) of her flexibility issues have been resolved through careful coaching and auxillary stretching. If you can't find a competent coach, you should at least post some film on here and get some feed-back. While all of this is challenging and will, sometimes, be a bit a bit disheartening - it will certainly be worthwhile and rewarding to stick with it.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
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    422

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    As a self taught lifter on anything, I can assure you this site and the Technique sub-forum along side this main board, combined with the book and some drive to learn would get you the results.
    Just take videos of all the sets, pass it on to your PC and analyze what's wrong during your meal after the workout.
    Every week or so upload it to the Technique Sub forums for critique and to this board every once in a few weeks also.

    Worked well for me, and it took me around 12 workouts to squat correctly maintaining lumbar extension, depth etc.- more than any human in know of.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
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    5

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    Thanks everyone, I'll get a video of my squat in the next few days and post it - appreciate your help on this! It has definitely been quite frustrating/disheartening not being able to squat properly, but determined to get it right and get stronger.

    I actually travel to NYC regularly for work and I'm going to be over there for a few days in early February - Could anyone recommend a coach there that I could organise to see for a one off session?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    North Texas
    Posts
    53,557

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    starting strength coach development program
    We have several coaches in NYC.

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