squat - ass shifting to right

[tweakxc03]

So today I hit a PR for the squat at 225. For the first time though, I noticed that on the way down, my ass was starting to shift to the right a little bit and it almost seemed like my right shoulder was going down lower.

(yes, i was squatting in front of a mirror. so sue me. i don't do it all the time, and it helped me catch this.)

It did seem like I was able to correct it during the set without much of a problem.

So, the question is, do I go up to 230, or do I need to stay at 225 and make sure I correct this before going up? It seemed like it was just a knee positioning thing.

[strengthstarter]

So today I hit a PR for the squat at 225. For the first time though, I noticed that on the way down, my ass was starting to shift to the right a little bit and it almost seemed like my right shoulder was going down lower.

This happens to me on the way up a little bit as the weight gets heavy. I tend to shift over to my right side and my ass moves. I try to correct it and when I pay attention I can notice it, pause, and correct the movement. But for some reason I just end up trying to do it most of the time. Very annoying. I feel like it is caused by one leg wanting to push harder than the other.

Any cues for this would be appreciated.

[Phil Stevens]

You have a weakness or an imbalance. I shift hard to my right but that's due to a childhood injury that had my pelvic broken in 16 places, has lead to a degenerative hip, weakened the glute etc etc etc.

Anyway Im an extreme case but it is due to mainly a weakness and mobility problem in the left leg so I naturally sway to the right side.

Point being its likely your right side is stronger so you are leaning on it as the loads go up, and or you have a mobility issue on the left side. If it happens on the way up as well youll really have an idea that its a weakness. If one knees caves more then the other look at glutes things like that.

get someone competent to watch you so you can squat and have eyes on you and not have to try and watch and work at the same time

[tweakxc03]

It might also be something anatomical... I know that my right shoulder has a fairly substantial drop - it is about 1/4" to 1/2" lower than my left shoulder.

the shift seems to be only right before I get to the bottom of the squat, then on the way back up it seems to go away.

the trouble with a trained eye is actually finding one. many "trained" eyes would tell me to keep my head up, don't go below parallel, and don't push my knees out.

i'll see what i can do... it may also just be a strength imbalance, but i'm not sure how to fix this other than just practice.

[strengthstarter]

get someone competent to watch you so you can squat and have eyes on you and not have to try and watch and work at the same time

Thanks for the input. I have had someone watch and he can see it. For me, I feel the shift and once it happens I can correct it. But for some reason I have trouble preventing it from happening. I was thinking to try to imagine my legs kind of connected together such that they could only move symmetrically. I dunno. It is weird because even when I am trying not to do it, I sometimes do it.

[jayknow05]

Definitely get yourself on video, if you don't have a camera buy a cheap digicam that does video. That way you can post em on youtube and get everybody here to look at them. You can also watch in between sets which is very helpful.

[Phil Stevens]

It could be as well just a bit of neural inefficiency on the left side and muscular weakness. You have in time leaned on the right side a lot so now it is ingrained.

As long as there is NO pain in the movement etc you might try really shifting left instead of right as you warm up go the opposite way then hopefully when you go regular youll meet in the middle

for example OK we have points A B C

say you have a person who is at point C we want to gte them to point A, Momentarily we will take them all the way over to point A so then point B will then feel normal.

[tweakxc03]

one leg longer than the other is a possibility too. i had a orthopedic doc look at it one time but he never really said that i definitely have a leg length issue.

i've always noticed that the right leg of my pants seems to drag the ground when the left side doesn't. but, that could be nothing. it would make sense if my right hip is slightly lower than the other that it would make my right shoulder slightly lower as well.

the squats aren't hurting, so i'll just take some vids and see what i need to do.