Acute injury in anterior right hip during squatting

[LimieJosh]

As I mentioned in my first post, I have to assume quite a large toe-out in order to get below parallell unweighted. Could this be due to both hip socket shape and hamstring length? And should I only be squatting with a stance where I reach depth unweighted?

I have had a history of anterior hip pain in both hips that has really got in the way of my training for near ten years. I have found the key for me to keep the pain away is to get my knees out properly, or, probably more accurately, externally rotate my femurs properly. What is clear to me is that it takes a fair amount of time sitting in the bottom of a squat for me to be able to produce the position I'm looking for. When I start out with an empty bar there is a big difference between the position I am able to get my knees to as a result of my descent , and the position I need them to be in. So, at the bottom of each rep I simply hold the position and readjust into the position I am looking for, and then hold for another couple of seconds. With each rep the amount of adjustment needed gets less and less. By the time I am at 225lbs there is no adjustment needed at all.

So, one of the problems here may be that you only do unweighted squats when you are starting out, and, like me, and like most people, it takes you a little while to coax your body into being able to create the right position.

I am one of those guys who has spent more time over the last 10 years fucking around with bands to traction the hip socket, and rolling on various things to loosen up something than I have spent squatting. And none of this MWOD type work has worked even nearly as reliably and as quickly as simply spending enough time sitting at the bottom of the squat and forcing myself into the right position.

[jbackos]

A bit of advice. If you are performing 3 sets of five, the first set should NOT be a grinder. If the first set is a grinder what I would have you do is drop reps to 2 or 3 per set until you perform a total of 15 reps. This is why I prefer to use Prilepin's chars as an APPROXIMATE guideline. It allows for some degree of autoregulation.

Finally Ed Coan himself has repeatedly stated that one should ALWAYS leave 1 or 2 reps in the tank on EVERY set.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I prefer to correctly predict my sets based on my previous training, ensure that I am prepared to do that number, and then do it. Prelepin is a Russian, right?

[Particle]

Thanks for the replies so far. Regarding the comments as to whether the weight was too heavy; well, the weight was very heavy for me (and I screwed up and injured myself), but I'm on a simple linear progression, adding 5 lbs at a time, and squats have been heavy every training session since 200 lbs. What was different this time, though, is that I had reached a weight that I had previously deloaded from (due to elbow issues), so I was kind of expecting it to be a barrier. Combine that with a life that doesn't afford very good recovery, and I felt like I was going into the boxing ring with a guy twice my size. I got intimidated...

Let's see a couple squat videos. After this response, I'm more than happy to help.

Well, that a pleasure to hear! My last workout, I squatted 3 sets of 7 reps at 55 lbs, then 3 sets of 7 reps at 90 lbs, assuming a slightly larger toe-out (~40 degrees) and working on pushing my knees out. Pretty much pain free. Did you mean videos of these current (light weight) sets, or did you refer to videos of me squatting prior to the injury? I usually film from the rear oblique, but can get other angles if they're helpful (at least I'll try my best when filming in my "gym", which is essentially the size of a match box).
Thanks!

[Will Morris]

Thanks for the replies so far. Regarding the comments as to whether the weight was too heavy; well, the weight was very heavy for me (and I screwed up and injured myself), but I'm on a simple linear progression, adding 5 lbs at a time, and squats have been heavy every training session since 200 lbs. What was different this time, though, is that I had reached a weight that I had previously deloaded from (due to elbow issues), so I was kind of expecting it to be a barrier. Combine that with a life that doesn't afford very good recovery, and I felt like I was going into the boxing ring with a guy twice my size. I got intimidated...


Well, that a pleasure to hear! My last workout, I squatted 3 sets of 7 reps at 55 lbs, then 3 sets of 7 reps at 90 lbs, assuming a slightly larger toe-out (~40 degrees) and working on pushing my knees out. Pretty much pain free. Did you mean videos of these current (light weight) sets, or did you refer to videos of me squatting prior to the injury? I usually film from the rear oblique, but can get other angles if they're helpful (at least I'll try my best when filming in my "gym", which is essentially the size of a match box).
Thanks!

Let's start with your first set....rewatch the video and let me know what you see that isn't right about your squat.

[Particle]

My butt shoots up and knees extend at the initiation of ascent, which gets worse throughout the set. Also, there is some knee slide evident especially in the first two reps, and I think I set my knees later than recommended.

It is my understanding that both correlate with reduced hamstring tension; the former is evidence that I am not anchoring my pelvis to prevent the unloaded rising, the latter actually taking off hamstring tension by closing the knee angle. All in all it doesn't sound like a good recipe for correct hip drive.

[Particle]

Will,

I deloaded to the empty bar, and have been working my way up in weight about 10 pounds at a time. I have assumed a stance that is about as wide as before (~14 inches between the heels), but with more toe-out (about 40 degrees). There is no pain from the assumed impingement when squatting - although I can provoke it if needed - and the hip flexor pain is greatly reduced, and pretty much absent during squats. I focus on shoving my knees out, in addition to my previous issues with setting my knees early enough.

I've taken the liberty to upload a recent video of me squatting, now 155 lbs. I would appreciate any feedback you may have.
YouTube

[jbackos]

I prefer to correctly predict my sets based on my previous training, ensure that I am prepared to do that number, and then do it. Prelepin is a Russian, right?

Touche' - however the OP is NOT a russian.

[Will Morris]

Will,

I deloaded to the empty bar, and have been working my way up in weight about 10 pounds at a time. I have assumed a stance that is about as wide as before (~14 inches between the heels), but with more toe-out (about 40 degrees). There is no pain from the assumed impingement when squatting - although I can provoke it if needed - and the hip flexor pain is greatly reduced, and pretty much absent during squats. I focus on shoving my knees out, in addition to my previous issues with setting my knees early enough.

I've taken the liberty to upload a recent video of me squatting, now 155 lbs. I would appreciate any feedback you may have.
YouTube

You still have a bit of a tendency to drive your hips back a little more than necessary right at the very end of the descent. If you can rectify that, you'll be much better off. Overall, 1000x better than the first video I watched.