Squat stance too narrow

[bigbonustoday]

Hi -

I've been squatting on my own for a while. I started out with the correct, shoulder-width stance (for me, feet about 12in apart). But as my squat went up in weight, my knees started to cave in more and it became harder to keep them out. But if I squat in a narrower stance, it'd be harder for the knees to cave in (since they start out closer) and I'm able to squat more weight as a result. So my squat stance became narrower over time. Eventually it got to the point where it's just a little wider than my deadlift stance. I didn't realize this could be an issue until now.

I did some reading and this article says that the main issue with a narrow stance is depth. I'm somewhat underweight and don't have any issue reaching full depth at a narrower stance.

Potentially related to this - I've been having some pain in my IT band lately. A sports medicine doctor told me it's due to weak glutes.

My question - can a narrow squat stance leave out glutes and cause weakness there?

Thank you.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The glutes are hip extensors. Hip extension is the primary action in the squat. And I guess you paid the "sports medicine doctor" to tell you this.

Post a video and let's get this over with.

[Maybach]

The effort required to drive your knees out ends up going into extension of the hips. If you narrow your stance so that your adductors can remain slack, they cannot contribute to hip extension. You pretty much have to be doing something very wrong.

[bigbonustoday]

The glutes are hip extensors. Hip extension is the primary action in the squat. And I guess you paid the "sports medicine doctor" to tell you this.

Post a video and let's get this over with.

Pls see video below. Thank you Rip.
Squat x5 2024-09-25 - YouTube

Btw I tried hard to upload the video as video not short on YouTube per guideline but wasn’t able to do it. Hope the above still works.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Standard high-bar squat.

[Jason Donaldson]

Btw I tried hard to upload the video as video not short on YouTube per guideline but wasn’t able to do it. Hope the above still works.

Required reading before posting , General Filming Guidelines, the section with the red header - the code block shows you how to alter the URL of your video to post it as an actual video and not a short.