Squat shoulder asymmetry

[Vatche Kazarian]

Age: 21
BW: 180 lbs
Height: 5'5"


Been trying to fix my squat for many months now. My upper body has been twisting at the shoulders and my right leg does more of the lifting. This has caused me to tweak my low back on the right side numerous times with weights as heavy as 280 lbs. The injury usually took a week or two to subside each time. I believe this is due to my right shoulder being in more extension than my left and my inability to get my right elbow close to my body leaving me looser on that side. You can also see in the video that as I set my grip my right hand slides further out due to the limitation. Sorry there isn't much weight on the bar as this is roughly all I can do right now because 140 lbs recently hurt me as I was unnaturally trying to correct for the twisting of the bar which was counterproductive. I know the angle isn't what you guys usually want but I thought it would demonstrate the likely root of the problem with the grip. A different camera angle would show the twisting better. Other than that, I believe my technique is pretty good.
Tired of being weak and appreciate any advise you coaches have. Thanks

[Tom Campitelli]

You are not badly asymmetrical, at least not from the angle your provided. If I squint, your right shoulder may be slightly forward, but had you not mentioned it, I doubt I would have seen it. Your stance is definitely too wide, however, and that weight is too light for us to say much about your squat. Please read the sticky for advice on these matters. This is now the third or fourth thread in a row when I have asked posters to read the sticky, too.

[Vatche Kazarian]

I did read the sticky and was reluctant to post but thought you might still have something to say about my shoulder position, my mistake. Over the past week I added some weight and also brought my stance in a bit which helped. My right leg is frequently in pain (not during the squats) usually the quadriceps or glutes and sometimes hamstrings.
Here is 180 lbs. I have managed it better as of late but here my right wrist is in flexion. You can't see too much asymmetry from this angle but you probably want a more big picture view first so here it is. From a side angle I see that the plates are more forward on the right side. Squat check 2 - YouTube

[Tom Campitelli]

I did read the sticky

Yet you get me a video shot from the front with 30 seconds of you setting up before any squatting occurs. I will leave it as an exercise to you to figure out why I don't believe you read the sticky.

From a side angle I see that the plates are more forward on the right side. Squat check 2 - YouTube

Everyone is asymmetrical if you look closely enough. The bar does not sit symmetrically across my shoulders either. Wanna know what the fix is? There is none. I am slightly asymmetrical. I also have at least two herniated discs in my low back. The solution is to train and to move as well as you can. You are not meaningfully asymmetrical. Seriously.

Stop raising your elbows on your descent. It is causing you to round your upper back. Maintain good posture as you descend and keep your elbows in place.

[Bill Been]

Every once in a while the reason for my irritation at the functional movement/corrective exercise world distills down to the nub. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the OP, yet he has studied his video and scanned his own feels until he found something "wrong". Now he's convinced he's got "an asymmetry" and that his right leg is working harder than his left. And look how hesitant he is to accept the brute "yeah maybe, but so what?...." of his "problem".

This is an excellent display of how that subset of the industry has quite literally defined a problem into existence. Once they defined a problem into existence, they defined its seriousness into the category of dire consequence. So successful has this rather recent campaign been that a very large number of beginner trainees are now convinced that "all this" needs to be straightened out before they can progress.

[Vatche Kazarian]

Yet you get me a video shot from the front with 30 seconds of you setting up before any squatting occurs. I will leave it as an exercise to you to figure out why I don't believe you read the sticky.

I thought a front oblique angle would still be adequate, more of an angle was difficult to capture given the space. Ok fine you got me but did I have to trim off the walkout as well?

Everyone is asymmetrical if you look closely enough. The bar does not sit symmetrically across my shoulders either. Wanna know what the fix is? There is none. I am slightly asymmetrical. I also have at least two herniated discs in my low back. The solution is to train and to move as well as you can. You are not meaningfully asymmetrical. Seriously.

Stop raising your elbows on your descent. It is causing you to round your upper back. Maintain good posture as you descend and keep your elbows in place.

I understand that some asymmetry is normal and fine. I was never looking to correct any asymmetry for its own sake without further reason. I was just looking for why I kept getting hurt despite having pretty good technique overall and thought that was the probable cause. Technical improvements (particularly grip) have straightened out my squat and the advise you have given will help further so thank you for that.

[Vatche Kazarian]

Every once in a while the reason for my irritation at the functional movement/corrective exercise world distills down to the nub. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the OP, yet he has studied his video and scanned his own feels until he found something "wrong". Now he's convinced he's got "an asymmetry" and that his right leg is working harder than his left. And look how hesitant he is to accept the brute "yeah maybe, but so what?...." of his "problem".

This is an excellent display of how that subset of the industry has quite literally defined a problem into existence. Once they defined a problem into existence, they defined its seriousness into the category of dire consequence. So successful has this rather recent campaign been that a very large number of beginner trainees are now convinced that "all this" needs to be straightened out before they can progress.

The corrective exercise world bothers me too, especially since I coach the SS model and have to compete with that bullshit. That is not what I am resorting to and I don't think there is much "wrong" with me. I just came here for advise on how to move better. Repeated injury is what brought me to examine what is going on further. You guys don't have the full picture as my squat was much more visibly asymmetrical before and it has been a successful work in progress. I was just looking for guidance.

[Tom Campitelli]

Ok fine you got me but did I have to trim off the walkout as well?

Well, I would hate to inconvenience you in any way.