Fucked up the video titles, it is 3x3 NOT 5x3.
Hello everyone,
Squatting 67,5 kgs / 148 lbs
Vids are here and here if you care for a side view.
Allow me first to explain the limitations by body has:
I am a 25 year old female that weights around 60 kgs / 132 lbs, 163 cms / 5'4ft with a scoliosis that I can only define it as 'S' shaped, 35º on the torax, 35º on lombar. (Pic here if needed)
This scoliosis is noticeable only by the right shoulder blade that sticks out more than the left one. This implies that I am unable to do a low bar squat unfortunately. When low bar squatting anything above 30 kgs / 66 lbs, I feel an intense pain on that shoulder blade and need to stop, so I have to high bar squat. My scoliosis also has caused my vertebras to turn apparently.
Another thing I have are knee complications, mainly on my right knee, in this case a chondromalacia level two, a small osteochondroma and I think my bursitis is coming up again. Not sure if this is important or not but I decided to also expose this.
Third and last thing I remember: terrible ankle flexibility. That's self explanatory. Sorry for the list of unwanted conditions but I think this is really affecting how I squat, mainly my scoliosis.
I know my Squat needs to be corrected, to say the least, and I'm struggling with keeping my knees out and reaching proper depth. It's getting frustrating at this point so any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you for your time!
Fucked up the video titles, it is 3x3 NOT 5x3.
The bar should be lowered on your back by about it's diameter. Narrow your stance just a little bit and then really work on driving your knees out so they stay over your feet as opposed to caving in. You also need to stop them from going so far past your toes (you might benefit from using a TUBOW). At the start of the squat, break at the knees and hips at the same time and immediately aim your chest at the floor. Stop your knees from moving forward by the time you're halfway down and keep them in that position until you are halfway back up. Work on tightening up (especially your upper back).
Hey FitDeer
Quite a list. If you have to high bar, remember the master cue doesn't change. The bar should travel vertically along the midfoot axis. You're trying to use low bar mechanics with a high bar position. The torso stays more vertical in a high bar so it can remain in balance over midfoot. Depth requirement is the same though.
Bring your stance in 1-2 cm. It looks a bit wide, and it'll help with your knees out problem. Reduce the weight 10-15% and rerun it. This is too heavy to make the necessary corrections.
Get some lifting shoes. Please and thank you.
A lot of people think the low bar position is causing them pain because they have the bar *on* their scapula instead of *under* their scapula. Could you post a picture of you in a low bar position (from the rear) to confirm that you have tried putting the bar in the correct spot?
+1 on getting lifting shoes. If you end up low bar squatting then ankle mobility won't be an issue but the shoes are a HUGE help in terms of stability and arch support.
Thank you for your suggestions, I will try to check lifting shoes online seeing that they are not sold in stores in my country unfortunately.
I will also deload slightly as you suggested and see how that goes. Thanks again for your time.
I will record a video of a warm up so that you can see how the bar stands. I have tried more than once to do low bar, one of them assisted by someone who actually does Low Bar Squat so they have helped me position the bar correctly but just for the sake of it, I will make an updated thread on this. Thanks for your time!