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Thread: Squat form check, long-established hip discomfort

  1. #1
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    Oct 2010
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    Default Squat form check, long-established hip discomfort

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    Hi all! I'm female, 31, 5'3", 128 pounds. I've been lifting for more than a year, but have always had some problems with my left hip. Like most people, I don't have a coach, so I thought it would be worth posting videos to see if anyone can spot any problems in my form.

    I have been doing 5/3/1 for 2 months, but haven't been happy with my squats so I'm resetting and squatting 3x a week for now.

    This is a side view of 5x133 pounds.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SAKhQ5Q_ak#t=00m05s

    This is the same set from a rear angle.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdHkGyzg8-k#t=00m22s

    This is a video from a month or two ago at 5x152.5 so you can see what my form looks like with heavier weights. I failed my attempt the following workout at 155, so this is pretty much a 5 rep max for me.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-H-AYNrikMt#t=00m10s

    In general, the hip feels better when I'm active than when I'm not, so I have no plans to stop squatting. If anyone spots something that might be contributing to the left hip pain, or anything else I can improve on, I would really appreciate it.

  2. #2
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    Feb 2009
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    I don't see anything that would directly contribute to hip pain in these vids, but that being said, the first two are kinda dark so it's hard to really see anything. I think, if I was there and I was your coach, I'd be telling you to get your toes turned out a little more, and really concentrate hard on driving knees out, not because of your hip, but because it appears from the 3rd video that your depth is a little lacking (about a 1/2-1" maybe), and it looks like from the last vid that that's the reason. Your knee stability is fine, you just need more depth. Hard to judge on the 1st vid if you've corrected this due to the previously mentioned darkness. Some UGL Drylok paint in white will brighten those walls right up!

    As far as the hip goes, a sore hip can be from many reasons, which we won't be able to even guess at without more detail.

  3. #3
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    Oct 2010
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    Thanks for the advice Steve. The videos turned out darker than I had hoped, especialy the 2nd one which was taken with a crappy camera.

    Depth is one of the things I've been trying to address with the reset. I think it has improved some. I find if I try to go deeper than this, I tend to have a little forward knee drift. The idea of pointing toes out more and shoving knees out further for better depth makes sense.

    As far as the hip goes, it tends to hurt with external rotation movements. Also, if I don't warm up properly, I get a big pop (painless) in the joint at some point during a workout. I have no idea how to even figure out what's wrong, much less how to fix it or if it's even possible to fix. I don't think squats are causing the problem. I think my hip is messing up my squats more than my squats messing up my hip, if that makes sense.

  4. #4
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    Now that I re-watch the 2nd vid, you are not turning your left foot out as far as your right, and I am seeing some knee movement towards the inside. Let me ask you this: Is the pain preventing you from driving out your knees fully? Even subconsciously? You may need to have someone watch you squat and any time your knees start to move in, give you the cue "Knees out!" to remind you. Apart from that, the toes out at little more still applies. I think if you turn your right foot out just a bit more, and your left foot as far as your right, and make sure your knee tracks over your foot through the entire rep, your depth problem will solve itself.

    Of course, the left foot thing could be the dark video playing with my eyes.

    As to your pain, this doesn't sound like anything I'm familiar with. You may want to ask Rip in his forum. He's got a seminar this weekend, so you may have to wait a bit for a reply.

  5. #5
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    Mar 2008
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    I agree with Steve about your depth and turning the toes out and driving the knees outward more. Could you be more specific about your hip pain? Is it soft tissue related, or deeper in the joint? If you were to get on a foam roller, or a lacrosse ball, and explore putting body weight pressure on various parts of the hip, would you find something uniquely painful? If so, that's a good place to start. Also here are some things you can do for your hips if your pain is soft tissue related:

    http://mobilitywod.blogspot.com/2010...pain-cave.html

    http://mobilitywod.blogspot.com/2010...extension.html

  6. #6
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    Oct 2010
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    I would not be surprised if I was favoring the left side in some ways.

    I've been trying to fix this for a while. As part of my warmups, I've found lateral band walks important. If I do them, I don't get that pop in the left hip joint. Actual pain feels like an ache deep in the joint, but I can often get it to go away completely (temporarily) with a stretch like this where I then lean forward for the stretch.

    I have also done the foam roll/tennis ball thing. Hip flexors are always a bad spot, a little worse on the left. For glutes, areas right near the joint are worst. Piriformis seems to be a problem for lots of people, so that's my guess, but if I've learned one thing from trying to figure this out, it's that hip anatomy is complicated.

    I had to take 6 weeks off earlier this year, and the hip was far worse during this time of inactivity than it is when I work out regularly. Don't know what that means.

    I've been working around this for a long time, but it never goes away. I'll definitely try to point the toes out a bit more, and make sure the left matches the right. The hip mobility links are certainly worth a try as well.

    Thanks for taking the time to try to help me figure this out.

  7. #7
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    Nov 2010
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    starting strength coach development program
    Two words... Yin Yoga. Also, compared to many I see here, I think your squats look pretty darn good. I'll defer to the experts, but I'm surprised that you hit a wall. I eventually figured out for myself that in the past when I hit a wall, it wasn't due to form, but surprise-surprise, I wasn't eating enough, and was doing too much other stuff (running in my case). Good luck and see if you can find a yin yoga class... I guarantee it will help your hip!

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