Squat form check promtped by hip pain

[Rufus]

I've been experiencing some pain in my left hip/top of thigh area which seems to be brought on when I'm attempting to stand up from the bottom of the squat. I have read through the board for similar injuries or enquiries, I have tried some of the suggestions I've seen but up to now I still haven't been able to fully get rid of the pain. I thought it might be better for me to ask about it here.

- Age, Gender, current training status (new to training, experienced lifter, elite competitor, etc.)

38, male, started SS in Dec 2012

- Chief Complaint (what hurts and what makes it bad enough to seek help on the board)

The top of my left leg / hip area hurts when I'm attempting to stand up from the bottom of a squat.

- Narrative describing the mechanism of injury: In your own words, explain what happened, what you were doing, where it hurt, how long has it been since you first injured it

I can't think of a specific event where I caused an injury to occur, it has been troubling me since I returned to training after a holiday in December, gradually the pain has been increasing until it got to an almost unbearable level about 3 weeks ago.

- Pain (on a scale of 1-10),

Started off at about a 4 then gradually increased over time until it reached about a 7 or 8

- Describe the pain (burning, shooting, aching, deep, sharp)

A deep dull pain, like a dead leg, becoming sharper and more intense when I'm squatting or going up stairs.

- What makes it better?

Not squatting

- What makes it worse?

Standing up from the bottom position of a squat, going up stairs, getting up off a chair. When it was at it's worst I couldn't sleep on my left side and it would wake me up if I rolled onto it in the night.

- How do your symptoms behave throughout the day?

I mostly only feel a dull ache n my leg unless I'm climbing stairs or getting up off a chair.

- Signs and Symptoms (describe what the area looks like....swelling, bruising, etc.) and describe briefly what you can or can't do as a result of the injury

There are no visual symptoms, there is no swelling or bruising or redness in the area. I'm unable to train properly as a result of this injury as I can't squat heavy without the pain getting worse. It hasn't affected any of my other lifts, I am still able to deadlift (180kg) and power clean (77.5kg I'm not very good at these)

From reading other similar threads on the board, I've checked to make sure my foot position isn't too wide and I have tried using a TUBOW to make sure my knees aren't travelling too far forward. I haven't really had to change anything in my squat form whilst concentrating on it, in all fairness, my form might still be shite. Seeing as there are no SS coaches around here (I live in the UK) and everyone in my gym thinks I'm crazy for doing the LBBS I'm pretty much trying to correct myself from the book and filming on my phone.

I have also tried the ibuprofen protocol, the pain died down until I stopped taking it, since then it has returned but it is not as intense as it was prior to taking it.

Does anyone have any idea how I might be able to sort this out? I know something is wrong but I don't know what it is, or what to do to make it better and it's starting to get frustrating as it's been going on so long. Is it possible I've torn something and not realised when it happened?

That is the first post from my thread down in the recovery section, about some hip/leg pain I've recently been suffering from. There's been some good suggestions put forward and I'm starting to think that I may have tweaked my Iliopsoas, as stretching does seem to help get rid of the pain. The consistent advice in my other thread is to get a form check done, so here I am.

I filmed my sets today from the rear and the side, please help me put this right.

http://youtu.be/5CTwuvaOtWo
http://youtu.be/BuaLAu_6wT8

[Tom Campitelli]

Your stance is too narrow. You also have a tendency to let your knees slide forward at the bottom of each rep, which can irritate your hips pretty well over time. This will often take a while to resolve. You have been warned. My suggestions:

• Fix your stance. That may solve the knees going forward problem by itself.
• Consider doing some paused box squats. This will necessitate a deload and may well keep you out of your knees a bit.
• If you need a week or two off of squats to let things settle down, do so. Then start back in with box squats or light squats.
• Get a lacrosse ball and lay on it. See if you can find someplace that it hurts and work on your hip.
• Get a massage. Having somebody work on your hip may help.
• Stretch. It often doesn't help, but see if it does. I don't agree with Kelly Starrett on how to squat, but he does have some good hip stretches.

[Rufus]

I've been trying a slightly wider stance, it felt a bit weird at first, todays session felt more solid and it also feels like my leg isn't being aggravated as much with this new stance. Once I have fixed my stance width I'll really concentrate on stopping the knee slide.

Is this a better stance?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f12pE4jWtI

[Tom Campitelli]

That's about right. If you moved your feet an inch or so wider and pointed your toes out slightly more, it would be okay, too. Drive your knees out harder, too.

[Rufus]

Is this a better stance? I'm not noticing the pain in my leg so much but this feels really wide to me. I still need to work on keeping my knees out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1NR78Bky_s

[Tom Campitelli]

That stance width looks about right. Tough to say if you are below parallel from there, though.

[Rufus]

Now I know my stance is correct I can look to improve on the other areas of my squat where I might be messing up. The pain in my leg feels like it is improving, it's still there but it's a lot less noticeable now.

Here's a side view from todays session, I feel like I might have the weight too far forward on my toes here?

[Tom Campitelli]

Those look pretty good to me from here. Sometimes you bend your knees prior to initiating your rep. No need to do that. Might help with the knee pain, too. Then again, it might not.

[Rufus]

Thanks for your help, Tom. I'll work on stopping that knee bend whilst getting my work set weights back up again.