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Thread: Screwed up squat asymmetry

  1. #1
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    Default Screwed up squat asymmetry

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    Ok today i squatted for 120kg for 3x5 (nearly back to my old highest numbers of 2x5 at 25.5kg) so the weight wasn't that easy. I always knee i had some dodgy squat asymmetry but until i actually filmed it from behind today did i realise the extent of this. The camera is slightly tilted so it might make it look worse than it actually is, but even if you compare it with landmarks such as the safety bars, holes for the hooks and the hooks themselves you can definitely see my left side is significantly lower than my right. And this seems to get worse as the set goes on. I also think i seem to not squat equally between both legs but rather the hips are biased towards the right side. Any tips on how to cure this??

    120kg side view
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgOwhCXrKZI

    120kg back view
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R12g5FMnDWc

    PS. i had sort of tweaked my groin slightly earlier this week but i don't think it was due to squats but rather my bench on the monday in having too wide a stance or something. I don't think it contributed that significantly to this asymmetry, or was it caused by squatting like this, but i thought it worth mentioning just in case.

    And i want to throw in my last set of bench which i filmed. I seem to have gotten weaker (I had gotten up to 76.5kg for like 5/4/4 or something like that) but today i only got 4/5/4 for 74kg. Should i still try to increase 2.5kg next session?

    Bench - 74kg (side view)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bldA5AL1lA4

  2. #2
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    I dont think it looks like too much of a problem, I get the exactly the same asymettry when doing hard reps. My right leg is stronger, yet it seems the left hip is much better at comfortably getting depth and coming up again. The right side always goes screwy with max efforts.

    If you know that your legs are the same length, then it must be an issue in your hip. Id suggest doing some hip mobility drills and possibly trying ramping or back off sets, so you can do more volume at submax weight to practice perfect form.

  3. #3
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    Hi,

    yes, I can see the problem when I freeze the video at 0:18''. You are shifted to the right with the pelvis, and the shoulders are uneven.
    Your head looks straight though.

    Unfortunately I can't suggest anything more useful than concentrating on strict form with a much lower weight, to regain the feel for a straight squat.
    You could also try, but I do't know it this is practical, to really look down, bringing your knees in your field of vision. As you come up, you keep an eye on your knees, so that if they start shifting in the wrong way you know about it, and you can put them back on the correct path.

    IPB

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dastardly View Post
    I dont think it looks like too much of a problem, I get the exactly the same asymettry when doing hard reps. My right leg is stronger, yet it seems the left hip is much better at comfortably getting depth and coming up again. The right side always goes screwy with max efforts.

    If you know that your legs are the same length, then it must be an issue in your hip. Id suggest doing some hip mobility drills and possibly trying ramping or back off sets, so you can do more volume at submax weight to practice perfect form.
    Yeah i'm just worried that this will screw me up or cause me an injury either in the short or long term. I have never had my legs measured but to me they look even. You mentioned the hip mobility drills. Could you elaborate and maybe point out some of these drills.

    Quote Originally Posted by IlPrincipeBrutto View Post
    Hi,

    yes, I can see the problem when I freeze the video at 0:18''. You are shifted to the right with the pelvis, and the shoulders are uneven.
    Your head looks straight though.

    Unfortunately I can't suggest anything more useful than concentrating on strict form with a much lower weight, to regain the feel for a straight squat.
    You could also try, but I do't know it this is practical, to really look down, bringing your knees in your field of vision. As you come up, you keep an eye on your knees, so that if they start shifting in the wrong way you know about it, and you can put them back on the correct path.

    IPB
    Yeah i noticed the right hip shift and the uneven shoulders. I don't think it's to do with my knees because both stay out the whole time, but it seems that my hip seems to be biased towards the right. I'll try and take a vid of my warmups with lighter weight next session and see if i exhibit the same squat asymmetry or if it's only at more maximal weights.

    PS. does my bench look ok? I'm going to have to repeat that weight to get 3x5 don't I? Sigh, what an ego-killer :P

  5. #5
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    I've noticed a little asymmetry in some of videos of my harder sets so I'll be watching this thread with interest.

    At the 0:18 it looks like the center knurling is a little off-center or am I seeing things?

  6. #6
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    Dimas had a squat asymettry, but it didnt stop him being awesome!

    Ill look up some hip mobility stuff, Im not sure about the effectivenes anything specific have only started trying stuff myself.

  7. #7
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    Heck that's some strong stuff. But his asymmetry was barely obvious and I think mine is a lot worse >< But yeah if you find any hip mobility drills let me know. I think there's a recent thread in the training section about some mobility drills.

  8. #8
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    New squat videos. I don't see much of the bar asymmetry on my warmups but it reappeared on my work set. I still see that shifted right hip (or at least i think i do) on my warmup sets though.

    Pardon the crap music, just play it without sound.

    100kg x 2
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tdXGYOq7-M

    117.5kg x 1
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_-sok2gfEA

    122.5kg x 5
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFTsXsK4wiQ

    PS. i don't know if this is related, but as i mentioned earlier i had some groin pain. It's now seemed to have manifested into running down the middle of thigh primarily higher up near the hips. I've tried massaging it with a tennis ball and all that but it's starting to become a nuisance. Might be interfering slightly with my lifts.
    Last edited by confuzzl3don3; 08-30-2010 at 02:05 AM.

  9. #9
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    Hi confuzzl3don3,

    I'm intrigued by the little knee bounce thing you do before each rep. Is that something you are doing on purpose? It didn't seem so obvious on your older videos. Just curious...

    Everything else looks great to me, except for the head looking up. I seem to recall reading on a previous post that you prefer to look up on the ascent, so you've obviously played around with it and decided what works for you. I just know that for myself, at the sticking point on the ascent, if I look down it really helps me to push through. I think I was just empathising with you in the vid when you were struggling to push out of the hole and automatically cueing myself to "Look down, look down!", as though that would help you...

    It's kinda hard to tell in the vid, but are you are closing your eyes on the ascent?

    The asymmetry doesn't look like too much of an issue to me. We aren't perfect machines. Everyone's squat is probably a bit wonky.
    Last edited by bamzi; 08-30-2010 at 05:18 AM.

  10. #10
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    starting strength coach development program
    Thanks for the kind words bamzi. Yeah i've tried fudging around with the head thing a lot. If i look down my back angle starts to cave. However as you pointed out looking up can kill some hip drive. I think a good balance can be struck like how Gary pointed out in some other post of how he looks down to get out of the hole but will switch to looking up more as he struggles with the back angle. I think sometimes i just pre-empt the coming out of the hole, and so my head automatically shoots up as i'm telling myself "up, up". Old habits die hard.

    That knee bouncing thing at the top of each rep was something i sort of developed. As you pointed out my older vids didn't used to have it. I found that by fully extending the knee like that allowed me to get more of an eccentric stretch which would help with the pre-stretch of the muscle fibres before the concentric. Basically i found it seemed to help me get a better bounce and come out of the hole. It may be just pyschological, but that's what i've been doing for a while now.

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