Squat Check/Advice

[Adam Armstrong]

Coach(es),

I’m having pain in both legs from the knees up (mainly in the right) and I assume there is something wrong with my squat, or several things.

Background: 37-year-old 5’10” male. Several years of training under my belt but no real strength gains to speak of. Very injury prone with 4 slipped disks, two inguinal hernias, and several other odds and ends. I just finished the eleventh week of my LP. Only saw an SSC once at the beginning to get me started on the right path. Calories are roughly 3K a day with roughly 210g of protein on average. Sleep comes out to about 7 hours and 30 minutes a night. I’ve gained 20 lbs of body weight in the last 11 weeks and 2.8 inches on my waist.

Issue: Lifts were going good. I began to stall on my press at 110 lbs. but figured that is just normal. Squats felt great at 225 lbs. They felt super heavy at 230 lbs. and I barely finished 235 lbs. for three sets of five. All week I’ve been having pain in my thighs and knees, similar to the feeling of DOMS. The pain has woken me up a few times. I tried to play it safe this morning and drop the weight to 215 lbs and by the third rep of the first set I knew I couldn’t finish, the pain had my eyes watering. Even the warm up sets felt super heavy like my legs were just too tired to move the weight. The rest of the workout (bench press and deadlift) went perfect.

Here is a video of the third set of 5’s with 235 lbs. sorry for the angle, I grab what I can in the crowded gym and try to film for myself:


Any recommendations of what to work on and how much weight to drop or add is greatly appreciated.

[Steve Hill]

On your squats:

I see nothing here to cause the pain you are describing, except for *maybe* the fact that your knees are in continuous motion throughout the rep. You have to get your knees forward much sooner in the rep, and then fix them in place. The rest of the squat from that point is to sit back and bend over. Which you're not doing enough of. Secondly, these are all high. Third, everything is moving forward at the bottom, and you're ending up on your toes. Keep your weight on your mid-foot. This is why the knees have to be fixed sooner. You'd benefit from another session with your SSC, and probably would have been a good idea to go back 2-3 weeks into your progression to make sure things didn't get out of hand.

As to why things are getting hard. Well, squats get hard and stay hard. The measure is: Do you keep making progress? - not how you feel as to how hard they are.

More concerning is the pain, which speaks to recovery (although may also be due to the form issue spoken above - MAYBE).

Continual DOMS points to lack of recovery / over-training. First, you're going to need to clean up your diet. I have serious doubts on your 3k / day count, based on the weight you've put on. You need to read the "Clarification" article from Mark. Second, you have to figure out why you're not recovering. It may be that a 3x week program isn't in your cards. You can try the Advanced Novice program, or another program that has you making jumps 2x per *week*. And you also need to read the "First Three Questions" article on examining what you may be doing to prevent recovery.

[Adam Armstrong]

Steve,

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question and look at my form. It is really helpful, and I really appreciate it. I have reread both articles, contacted my SSC, and will tighten up my diet. I will do my best to correct my form on my own while I schedule out a time to see someone.

Thanks again.

-Adam