Watch his knees as he does this. They will be asymmetrical. Fix this asymmetry and his hips will straighten out. 95 pounds is not enough to hurt his back, but it needs to be fixed before he goes up.
Member
Uneven Squat - Ass shifts to the Right
Hi Coach,
My son and I started the SS program over the weekend, I had done it about 3 years ago and got to the 'Novice' level in all lifts, but am starting over again now.
In observing my sons squat (20 years old, 6'2", 210lbs, untrained) I noticed that halfway up his ass noticeably shifts to the right as he stood up while squatting 95 lbs... Ugly
Honestly it is scary to watch, it looks like a back injury about to happen.
A better description would be to say that as he pushes up, it appears his right leg, glute, etc. is stronger, and his pelvis tilts with the right side being a half inch or so higher than the left.
What is the best way to correct this? Reset to bodyweight or empty bar squats until he can lock down the ass-wiggle on the way up? Would a chiropractic visit to check alignment be a good idea? Are there other exercises that should be performed to try and get his strength and/or flexibility corrected?
There was also a little of the ass-shift on deadlifts, but not quite as pronounced.
Any suggestions are most appreciated!
Bowdirk
TMPHBITEU
Watch his knees as he does this. They will be asymmetrical. Fix this asymmetry and his hips will straighten out. 95 pounds is not enough to hurt his back, but it needs to be fixed before he goes up.
Member
Rip, this does not seem to be an overly rare instance. I have had the same problem, and have even read about others experiencing it on this board.
Emphasizing knees out has defintely helped me - although it's very difficult to concentrate on this and hip drive at the same time. Kind of a lot of focus on I guess.
Do you think the problem can be assisted by any stretches? I understand that if it's strictly a strength imbalance issue then focus on correct form is the answer, but could there be a flexibility component as well? Perhaps an old injury or just a tightness that it causing the issue.
Thanks for the read.
TMPHBITEU
Stretches don't help anything that is not caused by a flexibility asymmetry. And squats performed symmetrically will fix this as well.
Member
I think this kind of depends on what the problem is, though. I struggled with this for literally years before finally being diagnosed with a retroverted right hip (there are manual tests for this, and it was confirmed via x-ray). Much like an anatomical leg length discrepancy, the angle at which your femur projects from the acetabulum can be different on one side versus the other, such that one side is comparatively externally or internally rotated vs. the other at the same foot angle.Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe
Unlike a leg length discrepancy, though, there isn't a very clear fix for this. You can angle your feet differently such that the "effective" hip angle is the same, but the balance of forces still seems to produce some measure of asymmetry almost no matter what you do. Assuming it's not actually hurting you, I think some people are just stuck squatting a bit asymmetric, honestly.
After being diagnosed with this, I'm actually curious how common it is in the general population. I had certainly heard of leg length discrepancies before, but I don't hear a lot of people talk about variances in femoral version before I encountered this.
TMPHBITEU
I'm not aware of having seen it before. Who diagnosed you, and how did they know? Apparently the guy was experienced.
Member
I have the ass shifting problem as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0efCU3kdBg
I got a powerlifting coach to give me a diagnosis and he suggested that it might be a "pelvic upslip" (He had something similar).
He suggested box squats (Westside-style) where I really focused on reaching back with my left side. Videos seem to suggest its helping to keep a more even pelvis.
I'll be going to a chiropractor to get his opinion in a week or so. It seems their are a number of people with this issue (I see a few more threads using the search function).
Member
I'm in a doctoral program for PT (see previous thread complaining), and I had a few of my instructors examine me. I realize the fact that they're PT's might be a strike against them, but the primary guy who diagnosed this is the good kind of PT (i.e. mostly sensible advice, has worked with athletes for > 20 years etc). He performed "Craig's test," which seems to have a reasonable description at the following:
http://ahn.mnsu.edu/athletictraining...cialtests.html
However, I've realized for a while that I'm a mutant of some sort. I can externally rotate my right hip so far that my foot is literally > 180 degrees, but can't internally rotate it nearly as far as the left. As a youngster I'd occasionally walk with my right leg "backwards" like this to freak people out, as it looks like I disarticulated my hip or something.
After being diagnosed by the PT, I went to my brother in law, who is a competent sports medicine doc (DO), and had x-rays done to be sure. Sure enough, the various bony prominences on the upper right femur look to be at a different angle relative to the right at a fixed foot angle (slightly internally rotated on both sides, standard A/P view). There are actually some general differences in shape throughout the entire right pelvis vs. the left, actually.
I can get my squat symmetric to the point where the average person probably wouldn't notice, but a discerning eye can probably tell. Between the choice of squatting a little asymmetrically and just not squatting, I'd rather take the former. It is what it is, and minus gross reconstructive surgery, I'm not sure there is a real solution.
Anyways, I just posted this for people to be aware of it, because, like a leg length discrepancy, it's one of those variances that will obviously have implications for bilateral stuff involving the legs.
TMPHBITEU
Look at your knees and tell me what you see.
And that's good info, bdp.
Member
I thought it might be interesting to mention my personal experiences with a similar issue. A few years ago, I was in an accident that broke my left talus and required surgery (two screws). I was on crutches for five months, and my left leg experienced some muscle atrophy. As a result, when I began squatting I had my right leg stronger than my left, which became an issue. I got a couple of back injuries, one setting me back a few weeks, the other only two weeks, and I also got some kind of ligament pain in the outside of my right knee.
I opened up my copy of SS, and it was mentioned that imbalances couple be evened out (flexibility, strength) over time with attention to form. With some work and another read of the book, I managed to get my knees tracking evenly and my weight centered, which has prevented further back injury and slightly helped with the right knee pain (which is slow to recover, but seems to be doing so). What Rip says works.
Oh yeah, and thanks for writing the book. Looks like it saved my back and knees.
Posting Permissions