Squat depth woes

[rjack]

Hi, I'm new here but I have been lurking for a month or two. I'm 51 years old and I started SS about 2 months ago.

My problem is that I can't seem to get my squat depth below parallel. Here is what I have done so far:

1. I squat with a working set weight of 95 lbs 3x per week as the program describes. I was using more weight, but I backed off because I wasn't going below parallel.
2. I stretch every day using the squat stretch described in SS. I also do a variety of other stretches to help with hip mobility and hamstring flexibility.

Any other suggestions? Did any other old geezers like me have this problem? If so, how long did it take to become flexible enough to go below parallel?

I am making improvement, but it is painful and slow.

Thanks!

[MikeC1]

Keep doing your stretches each day, especially for your hamstrings. When you squatting, make sure you are pushing your knees out at the bottom of the squat so your legs don't jam up against your hip (or gut if you have one). Don't let your knees get too far forward, over your toes or maybe an inch or two forward is good.

[Scott Hanson]

rjack,

Make sure your stance isn't too wide. If not, a temporary solution is to elevate your heels slightly, either with WL shoes or by standing with your heels on small (2.5-5#) plates when squatting. Keep working the stretching. Try some PNF stretching. Check out www.mobilitywod.blogspot.com for more ideas on stretching and improving mobility. Do some dynamic hamstring stretching before lifting, like leg swings, tin soldier marches, toe touches. If you're making progress, everything's good.

Scott

[Bean1871]

rjack, Welcome, and check out this video on the squat by Dan John: http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...1301858251744# . Some good pointers on squat form, including the goblet squat. Rip has some helpful squat stuff on youtube, as well. Enjoy.

[rjack]

Guys,

Thanks for the advice. The videos gave me some excellent ideas!

[cheesedips]

how wide is too wide???did u say hips shouldnt touch legs/gut?

[Hour of Judgement]

I found 3 things helped:

1) I did bodyweight squats every day. Just one set of 6-8, so I wasn't compromising recovery. But I held the bottom position on each rep for a 20-30 count, and really focused on knees out. It seemed to help me get in a "groove" for the motion and the bottom position that I was targeting. And I seemed to keep the flexibility a it better from workout to workout.

2) This sort of thing will be different for each person, but when I visualize my knee path when doing the exercise, I think straight out to the sides. I used have the toes pointed out, and think about tracking the knees in line with the toes, as per the book. But when I thought that, I couldn't seem to get the depth. By thinking knees straight out to the sides, I seemed to be able to drop right down into full depth. (In actual fact, the knees are tracking in line with the toes - this just what I needed to think to make that happen.)

3) Let the bar push you down. I used to spend a lot of effort on controlling the bar path, with little success. I was very active on my descent, and always ended up too far forward, and always too high. Gravity is a great guide for the vertical bar path you want. On my descent, I now let the hips and knees be hinges, and let the bar push me straight down. And I get a much better bottom position.

[DoctorWho]

I'm 50 and stared SS a month ago, and also had a very hard time getting down without losing back position. I also had a hard time getting the bar on my shoulders, but that is another flexibility problem. What worked for me is making sure my shoulder blades are together (a little counterintuitive), making sure my stance is wide enough, and focusing on keeping my knees apart throughout. I video'd myself and was pleasantly surprised that it worked for me. I'm at, say, 25% body weight, so my gut might have been part of my problem. Note that my experience is that my feet were too narrowly spaced, rather than too widely spaced. Hope this helps.