Squat issue

[Steve Hill]

Coach,

I have a condition (ha!) that has caused a bony deposit on the neck of my femur. The upshot of this is that when I squat as described in SS, I'm experiencing impingement of the labrum between the deposit and the acetabulum, which causes pain and restricted movement the next few days due to crushing / tearing of the labrum.

So here's my problem: first off, I was taught to squat with the bad in what I'd call a "mid" position, not all the way up on the neck, but not quite as low as described in SS. This causes a more upright position, which, when combined with a narrower stance (used to relieve the impingement / pain) has me thinking that I'm doing more of a leg-press movement rather than a squat as described in SS.

I'd like to post a video, but don't want to waste your time. I'll be going back in the gym on Monday, and trying to align my squat more like that as described in SS. Ill take some video of that as well.

Not bragging, just so you know where I'm coming from: I'm a two-time US Elite National champion track cycling (kilometer TT). I believe that Aaron may know of me, though we've never met. In trying to adapt to this "new to me" style of squatting, I'm fighting against 15 years of lifting, apparently, the wrong way. Be patient with me!

Thoughts?

[Mark Rippetoe]

My thoughts are that if you have an osteophyte on your femoral neck that impinges the soft tissue of the hip joint, it may not matter where the bar sits on your back. If you can't get the movement arranged so that you can safely use the whole ROM, you need to either get the spur removed or stop squatting. If you're anything like Aaron, I suspect that the first option will be the one you will choose to explore.

[Steve Hill]

Following up...

So I actually tried (again) and here's the results (sorry about the length of time from start of the vid to actual squatting - my vid editing software has decided that it's the off-season)...

For reference, here's a high-bar set @ 315 from March '08:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIKlaM3SrOA

After some practice sets @ 45 & 135 (which were pretty embarrassing to look at at first), here's an SS set @ 225:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbhQW1IDEAY

For giggles, here's 225# from the rear:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RtG84pW_j0

And @ 315. Yes, I know, I'm looking up too much. Yes, there's a mirror. No, it won't go away (and there's no other place to squat in the gym, but I'll fix the head position):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oikjl1rgAiY


Things that I see:

1) It appears to me that I still have some issues with forward knee movement at the bottom.
2) Head, as mentioned above
3) I'm having some flexibility issues with my shoulders - I've seperated both at varying times. I'm working on that.
4) I think I'm actually leaning my upper back forward a bit - IMO due to the problems I have with the hand / wrist / elbow and bar position.
5) On my high-bar squats, I was lacking depth on a few of the reps. This was fixed last year. This is just the only video I have of them.

Question: Do I have the bar too low? After looking at these, and going through a basic anatomy lesson with my wife, I think I may have the bar too low. It certainly feels really low, but that may just be 15+ years of high-bar squatting.

Thoughts?

As far as the surgery issue: Not right now. It's not limiting ROM, it just hurts sometimes after a workout. Wider stance with a high-bar squat seems to irritate it more than a narrower stance. It was not irritated at all (or very little) after my workout on Monday (which produced the videos above). But I only went to 315, as the contact points on my shoulders were starting to hurt from being in heavy contact with the bar in a manner that they are not used to yet.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The low-bar squats look better than fine. So I guess your hip situation is not really a problem. So let's talk about the titty bars in Atlanta. Are they as good as everybody says? I really don't go to titty bars that often, almost never actually, since it seems too much like going to an expensive restaurant, sitting down, reading the menu for a couple of hours, spending a bunch of money on tea, and leaving without eating. Don't you agree?

[Steve Hill]

Dude, are you my long lost brother?

The titty bar situation in the ATL (you have to call Atlanta "The ATL" now - it's the cool, in thing. At least according to the mayor's $2.5 mil advertising boondoggle) is BOOMING. There are some seriously hot women out there. Of course, you can throw away serious cash at the tit-o-rama as well. They specialize in seperating a mark and his dinero painlessly (at the time, anyway). DO NOT EVER take a credit card into an Atlanta titty bar.

Seriously, come to ATL to do a Basic Barbell cert class (so I can take it and not have to travel) and we'll go exploring.

[Mark Rippetoe]

We're there 5/30-31.

[chriso]

Steve, if you really do have Femoral Acetabular Impingement (that's the bone spur on your femoral neck impinging your acetabular labrum), it's important, as Coach Rip already stated, to either get it fixed (what I would do) or stop squatting.
If left untreated, no only is there a high likelyhood of labral tear, but also a high likelyhood of articular damage (that's injury to the joint surfaces themselves). Once that starts, the end point is total joint replacement at a young age. . .something you want to avoid if possible.

I'd listen to your Ortho on this one.

chris o