Left hip hike, high left shoulder. Odd squat. 20 y/o, help tremendously appreciated

[skyblitzer]

Hello Mark,
About 6 months ago, my buddy noticed that my squat was extremely odd. I sank really far into my right hip but not my left, causing a massive torque, a low right hip at the bottom, and an extremely ugly squat. I quickly noticed I had a significant pelvic tilt with the left hip being higher than the right and the left shoulder also higher than the right. My spine does not look straight at all compared to previous photos. For a while now, this has caused been a huge problem in my life because I am normally extremely active, and this has prevented me from doing anything I love. While not really painful, it is chronically in extreme discomfort. My hips for the past months have felt extremely odd and stuck, especially the left hip that no matter what I seem to do, I cannot sink into.

My hip internal rotation on the right side is great, and external is acceptable, but at end range motion it feels like my hip is popping in and out of socket. This right hip also almost always clicks when I externally rotate my leg. On the left however, the external is great, but the internal is abysmal. It is odd however, the only time my ir is normal is prone ir. Any other passive or active ir of my left leg, I have no rotation, my hips instantly compensate if I try. No matter what I do I cannot seem to open it up (capsule mobilization, stretching, planks, etc). My squat has improved but it is still horrendous, I cannot keep weight even on my feet, both feet pronate (especially the left) even though I can achieve great external rotation in the squat, and walking feels extremely odd. My right spinal erector is visibly engaged when I stand relaxed, I assume so that it compensates and tries its best to hold my sinking right hip up.

I have gotten several mris and xrays on my lumbar and hips, and a radiologist and hip specialist say my hips are completely normal, although I notice a decent lumbar lateral curve that I never used to have.

I have attached a picture of me standing completely relaxed,
VideoCapture_20180518-184809.jpg
A picture of what my squat first looked like
VideoCapture_20180506-101715.jpg
Hip 90/90 internal rotation with my right leg back, trying to face the camera
VideoCapture_20180519-133726.jpg
versus hip 90/90 with my left leg back, trying to face the camera
VideoCapture_20180519-133714.jpg
a picture of seated internal rotation
VideoCapture_20180519-133518.jpg

Also, when lying on my back and taking my knee to chest, my right leg follows in a straight line to my chest, but my left leg is forced into significant external rotation as it comes up. I ran out of my pictures for this post though haha.
I would really appreciate any thoughts as to what I can do to improve this. I have been obsessive with this issue for a while now to the point where it is probably unhealthy, but I really want to get better! Thank you so much

[Mark Rippetoe]

A situation of this type cannot be diagnosed on the internet.

[Aslin]

Maybe you are overthinking all of this. Similar imbalances happened to my form as I was overthinking things and trying to keep certain parts really tight and forgetting others. Maybe reset lighter focusing on just feeling everything tight and equal. Worked for me.

[JTT]

Not sure if my input is useful, but I've been dealing with similar issues when I started lifting.

I had uneven shoulders, low back and hips. Twisting motion in the squat and DL etc. Wasn't able to squat without my hips shifting like crazy. I had no mobility issues like you do tho.

No matter what I tried to do, I just couldn't squat normally for months. Until I found out my right leg is 1cm shorter which caused my untrained body to be completely out of alignment. I started to shim my right foot and my form gradually fixed itself over time, and 6 months later I can squat just fine. My shoulders/hips/low back now looks even. If I remove the shim just one workout my body is going back to the old fucked up form.

Did they measure your leg length when they did x-rays? If not, measure your legs (Mark has a good article on this site on how to do it yourself).

So from my own experience, you must rule out structural abnormalities and fix them or you will be beating a dead horse trying to fix something you cannot fix with just brain power.