As the title says, I cannot maintain proper form or posture once I start to descend into my squat. I’ve tried a number of different mobility exercises and techniques. I’ve hurt my lower back a few times, pretty badly from leaning too far forward because I’m unable to keep my toros upright and my feet planted. Is there anything that anyone could recommend or should I just drop back squats and do unilateral exercises instead?
Are you squatting high bar or low bar?
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I had problems squatting to parallel or below, I just opted for: 1) oly shoes or plates under heels 2) shifting to half squat. As for #1, improves mechanics instantly. I imagine it would get you back to squatting more safely, then you can work on ankle/hip mobility on the side.
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Both. Highbar seems to be a much more pain free alternative. When I spread my feet further out for low bar it feels like all the weight is concentrated on my lower back. I strained my QL pretty badly a couple of months ago, I couldn’t even do goblet squats. Once I start to get a quarter of the way down in the descent of my squat it just feels like there’s nowhere for my legs to go and I start leaning forward and my back rounds. It’s hard to keep my feet planted as well unless I point them out at a ridiculous angle. Ive done foam rolling, voodoo flossing, and lots of different stretches and mobility drills to address all of my imbalances, posture and weaknesses and I’ve seen very little to no improvement in my squats. I can’t front or back squat without it hurting my lower back but I can do any other leg exercise that isn’t compressing my spine from the top just fine
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Is it bad to do that?
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I’m not sure, my feet have to be pointed out at almost a 180 degree angle in order to keep my feet planted and I still can’t reach parallel depth without leaning forward and straining my back
I’m a little taller than you and gave up on back squatting. Now I just front squat. It’s much better on my back and I can hit depth far easier.
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This is basically the last time I’m going to try and make back squats work for my anatomy/biomechanics. I’m going to do a ton of ankle, hip, lumbar and thoracic mobility work and whatever else anyone else suggests and see if I I can make back squats work. If I strain my back again I have to call it quits and acknowledge by body isn’t designed to perform this lift
Out of curiousity, how much are you squatting?
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I managed to get up to 345 for a 1rm before my second to last QL strain. As of right now my 1rm is probably 235-250 if I could squat pain free (which I’m not sure of because I haven’t dared to try). I’ve done nothing but single leg squat variations, back extensions, leg curls and leg extensions for the past 2 months. I should also mention that I was never the kind of guy that would max out often at all, I’d always go for a 3rm or a 5rm to predict my 1rm. Most of my squat work was done between 60-85% of my perceived 1rm. My deadlift was my strongest lift, I pulled 515 before my second to last QL strainas well. Deadlifts have never hurt or strained my lower back, I have longer arms so I’m able to get into a really good position despite my awkwardly longer legs
I’ve gotten up to 335 for 3 several times, then end up straining my back and taking 1-2 months off. That’s why I completely stopped doing back squats. I don’t care about powerlifting, so it wasn’t a hard decision.
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I’ve never competed but I was looking forward to trying to compete as my bench and deadlift kept progressing relatively well, but my squat just stalls and keeps injuring my lower back preventing me from doing almost any exercises for a while
Your feet should NOT be pointed out that far. Knees should generally track in line with your feet. Couple easy tricks: stand facing a wall with your toes about 2-3 inches away from the wall. Have a bench behind you at parallel depth and squat until you can do it without falling on your ass or smashing your face into the wall.
Then, work on your goblet squats. Brush your elbows along the inside of your knees.
Finally, I don’t like the plate under heels or half squat. Plate under heels just puts more strain on the knees and doesn’t address ankle or hip mobility issues, and half squats are worse for the body than parallel ones.
If you want a challenge, put mini plates (2.5 lbs) under your TOES (not the ball of your foot, just your toes). This will stop you shifting your weight onto your toes and teach you to drive through your heels.
I’m 6’4, with long legs, and your height has nothing to do with your problem, 1. Because you’re not that tall, and 2. Because there are much taller people lifting much more weight.
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So I tried the box squats while facing a wall as you prescribed along with the plate over toes squats. I couldn’t perform a single solid rep in either of them but I did 5 sets of each and I definitely got a little better with each set. After that I did some very light breathing high bar squats with 5 second pauses at the bottom to try and stretch my ankles and hips with weight. My form was the best it’s been in a while and my feet were relatively straight compared to my normal crab stance. Going to keep doing this routine a couple times a week along with other hip and ankle stretches on other days and hopefully it cures my horrible form and lower back strains. Also since I’m almost your height with long legs, do you position your feet at shoulder width or a little bit wider?
I read through the thread but I might have missed it–what type of shoe do you wear while squatting? Just out of curiosity.
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Typically just a regular sneaker, sometimes I will squat barefoot
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I’m wary to recommend squatting in some sort of raised heel, only because it’ll be more of a crutch than a tool. If and when you’re able to squat to parallel or below pain-free, barefoot, then I recommend buying some powerlifting or olympic lifting shoes. I’ve been going through phases where I do olympic lifts, and I usually would just squat in them afterwards. It kind of feels like a cheat code sometimes.
To put it more concisely, if you’re able to solve your back issues and improve your mobility, then some sort of raised heel shoe could help a lot. It makes high bar much easier.
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I was considering the oly shoes for a while honestly but I wasn’t sure if they would help. Aside from my ankles my hips are pretty tight and immobile as well. Maybe once I can squat more efficiently I will invest in some
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I would never use the vast majority of sneakers for any lifts that transfer the weight into the ground through them. Like squats, standing presses, powerlifting style bench press, etc.
Converse Chuck Taylors work great for this and are a relatively cheap option. Of course Oly and PL shoes will work.
The problem is that you get the wait on your heel and as you descend and then try to pop back up the heel of most sneakers will spring you forward. No bueno.
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I think you are right, as all of my sneakers are running sneakers it’s probably contributing to me leaning forward
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