Knees forward?

[airwick11]

Last workout I did 200x3x5 and experienced a pain in what could best be described as the front of my hip, almost torwards the groin. Also a pain and popping in my knees while squatting. This workout I kept the same weight and the pain was a little worse, so i dropped the weight to 185 and took a video because i had never done so. Any input is appreciated!

On a humorous side note, immediately after taking this video a very old man told me to keep my eyes on the ceiling because the weight would follow my eyes.

[li4alex]

Well yeah, your knees are definitely coming forward at the bottom. You're getting very low and cutting off the squat once you get past parallel might help address the problem, as will thinking of the cue "knees out." You're also losing lumbar extension at the bottom, almost certainly due to the depth you're getting, which is the expression of looseness that letting your knees come forward is a symptom of.

Edit: Your feet look like they are pointed really far out, although it's a bit hard to be sure, given the angle.

[Steve Hill]

First, please read the sticky on how to video. There's a reason we posted it, and the main reason is so we can help you.

1) To build on what alex points out above (re: toes), here's one reason why we ask you to video as we do in the sticky: I cannot tell from this angle exactly why, but watch your feet at the bottom of your squat. They are rolling in. One of a few reasons for this, the most likely being your toes are too far out, which we cannot tell from this angle, another is that you are not jamming your knees out hard enough, which is difficult to tell from this angle, and also that your feet are too far apart, [i]which we cannot tell from this angle. Or a combination of all three.

2) It appears your knees are going a little bit too far forward. Hard to tell without seeing you from the perspective we recommend in the sticky. We never lay down on the floor and look up at people squatting. Usually we're standing, so we're used to looking from an elevation just a bit higher than your cleverly placed camera.

3) As alex pointed out, you're so deep that it is evident, even when observing from the floor, that you are way too deep. Have you read SS:BBT? This is probably the primary reason your knees hurt - you are forcing your knees forward to go this deep. This kills hamstring involvement in the squat. Just below parallel means just below. The method taught in SS:BBT is not ass-to-grass squatting.

4) I will disagree with alex on the losing lumbar extension - you're doing fine.

5) I will now point out the single most heinous issue with your video: How you have the safeties set on the rack. You are going to really fuck yourself up if you ever have to dump the weight with the safeties set like that, because the bar WILL travel down them once you drop it on them. You might be flexible enough to not have it drag you along for the ride, compacting you as it goes, but then, maybe not.