Wife can't squat to depth

[Nockian]

It's time for her to have some coaching. You have succeeded in avoiding this so far. We wrote a book about how to coach the squat, and somehow the method has escaped your attention.

Bollox.

I made it plain at the start that she was unable to reach depth conventionally-the very first part of learning to squat in the SS book. I even taught my 80 year old mum to do it using the basics of setting stance, foot angle, back angle and shoving the knees out, but my wife can't manage it. I had one of the more experienced guys in the gym take a look-he was also perplexed by it.

Should I have tried harder to right the issue at the beginning ? sure-but then I was still learning the basics and correcting for myself. The book didn't have any specific remedy for what I was seeing and at the beginning she was really only playing at lifting with the equipment I have at home. It's only now, as she has started to take it more seriously, that it needed a thorough re-appraisal. Hence here.

[Nockian]

What kind of annoys me, Nockian, is that I made a fairly long, detailed post trying to help answer your Q way back in the first place, and because I've seen you post thoughtfully elsewhere on the forum, assumed you'd done your due diligence and made my entire post based on the premise that you were more or less trying to work within the model and method outlined in SS, and just needed some guidance on the application, which is a totally reasonable thing. I still don't question your motives or sincerity, but it appears from the continuation of this thread that you have really, really just not tried at all to do things the way Rip painstakingly laid out in great detail in the book. Not that you tried and it didn't work, so you needed some help, but it seems pretty clear now that you've been doing something else the whole time, which makes my entire original reply basically a waste of both our time. So I'm a little annoyed.

Use the blue book. I can't tell you how many people's squats I've fixed simply by following the steps outlined there and making sure they were actually following them and not just going through it by rote.

Sorry you feel that way. I don't see it like that and disagree with that assessment but, again, regardless, thank you for your help.

[Michael Wolf]

Sorry you feel that way. I don't see it like that and disagree with that assessment but, again, regardless, thank you for your help.

Maybe so - maybe I'm misinterpreting, an unfortunately frequent consequence of text-only communication on a forum between two people who have never spoken face to face. Possible. I also don't think you're posting in bad faith. Maybe this is all just a well meaning guy who isn't a professional coach, doing his best with his wife, who doesn't really want to be coached, but kinda wants a bit of guidance within narrow bounds. But I just don't get the sense that you've really gone through the SS teaching method in detail, starting with sorting out the bottom position with no weight at all, as detailed in the book.

[Nockian]

Maybe so - maybe I'm misinterpreting, an unfortunately frequent consequence of text-only communication on a forum between two people who have never spoken face to face. Possible. I also don't think you're posting in bad faith. Maybe this is all just a well meaning guy who isn't a professional coach, doing his best with his wife, who doesn't really want to be coached, but kinda wants a bit of guidance within narrow bounds. But I just don't get the sense that you've really gone through the SS teaching method in detail, starting with sorting out the bottom position with no weight at all, as detailed in the book.

Yes, a reluctant coach, I don't have the experience to sort out what I'm seeing and the book isn't a great deal of help in that respect. I did try early on, but it just wasn't happening and, as I thought she wasn't particularly serious, I just let her front squat. Now I realise I'm either going to help her sort it out, or just point at the book and tell her to get on with it. Marital harmony suggests the former and as I enjoy the time with her so it isn't a chore, but I needed pointers on the unusual folding foot, falling over thing. The way I taught myself and my 80 year old mum to squat to depth was fine, because it conformed with the books instructions, but my wife's problem looks totally different.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Video? Isn't that the normal approach here?

[Nockian]

Video? Isn't that the normal approach here?

Well you do have your rules [These are the coaches rules and the coaches can always exercise discretion -- ed.] on the coaches QA forum Mark, but if you are saying you will waive them in this instance, then I will post a video.

[Michael Wolf]

After 3 pages of back and forth, ya man, just post the video.

[Nockian]

After 3 pages of back and forth, ya man, just post the video.

Thank you.

[stef]

Thank you.

Please. The one I asked you for on page one.

[Nockian]

Please. The one I asked you for on page one.

Stef, can you tell me which angles and approach needed for the video ? I'm usually watching from the front 45 degrees. I've had her doing multiple stances, foot angles and I observe the same phenomena of this kind of caving in of the knee and inward rotation of the foot on each occasion. Sometimes it's marginally better, but it's always there to some degree. I'm trying to avoid posting 30 videos showing multiple stances and angles of view.