A tricky question about form during the squat

[Aslin]

I have been dealing with a fairly annoying back injury for the past two months or so. I get sciatic pain, it has gotten much better in general but it's still there, especially in the mornings.

I am into my third week of running the Starr rehab, started off doing 25s, then dropped to 15s, then 10s, and now I'm doing 8s with 120kg. Feels good.

I have really focused on improving my form - I will get a camera and move my squat rack into my garden so I can film myself at the right angles so you guys can properly check out my form, I cant send in a decent video at the moment as my garage is too small.

So my question, I have decided to change up my stance by widening my feet. This seems to make it easier to stay more vertical in the hole and to not bend over and come out of extension. While doing this, I experienced a new sensation, my hips felt far more open in the hole, it's hard to explain but I could feel my hips and femurs coming out to the side of me when before it felt like they were tight under my butt with my narrower stance. Basically, I'm not sure if this is the correct sensation to feel or not.

While this new position feels more comfortable (and I'm aware that comfort is seldom what you're looking for with technique), I don't want to be doing something risky to my back. Does this new sensation I've described sound like OK form to you guys? Again, apologies, I know this question is very vague and probably not worth your time. if you require a video of my form I will try and post one asap.

[Michael Wolf]

A wider stance will generally yield a more vertical torso at the bottom in a low bar squat. But you can, and should, be in extension with a moderate stance as well, and you certainly shouldn't be squatting "folding down like an accordion" as it sounds like you were doing. But it's hard to say more without seeing your squat.

[Aslin]

Thanks for the response Michael, and for entertaining this rather vague question.

I'm trying to imagine what "folding down like an accordion" looks like. I presume you mean legs to narrow and loss of extension in the bottom position. I will get a video up over the weekend and post it here if the thread is still open.

Thanks again, Matt.

[Michael Wolf]

Thanks for the response Michael, and for entertaining this rather vague question.

I'm trying to imagine what "folding down like an accordion" looks like. I presume you mean legs to narrow and loss of extension in the bottom position. I will get a video up over the weekend and post it here if the thread is still open.

Thanks again, Matt.

Knowing how strong your squats were, it's hard to imagine you were actually doing it exactly as you described, but it's possible - as we often observe, some people can get really good at doing things inefficiently or less efficiently.

I thought of the accordion as a descriptive term after reading something about squatting by Dan John, probably about 5 years ago. He was talking about the idea that we squat (correctly) between our legs, not by bending our legs and folding down on top of them. He was talking about the high bar squat, IIRC, but the idea holds true for low bar and shoving the knees out as well. I guess the accordion imagery wasn't as good as I imagined.

[Aslin]

He was talking about the idea that we squat (correctly) between our legs, not by bending our legs and folding down on top of them. He was talking about the high bar squat, IIRC, but the idea holds true for low bar and shoving the knees out as well.

Yes, this is what i have been feeling since I have widened my stance very slightly and really focused on knees out - squatting between the legs. Previously it did feel a lot like the accordion analogy as you have described. I feel I am on the right path to having a much better looking squat.

Thanks.