OK, just a little venting here. I finally thought that my form on squats was getting really good. Started lifting heavier weights and once I was at 225, noticed pain in my hips, either posas or ligaments underneath. Only have pain when in parallel or full squat. Feels like muscle is over worked rather than form.
Pretty sure its due to my not being as upright as I thought and having the bar move too far forward. Started with the top and moved down checking my form and think I have it narrowed down to ankle mobility (which makes sense as I’ve injured my ankles many times over the years). So now I will work on fixing my ankle mobility.
**Question: How long should I wait before resuming squats due to the pain? Is this an indicator that I need to back off completely or just go lighter as I adjust form? I will be switching from high bar to low bar exclusively for the time being as not as much flexibility is needed.
Loaded question. Since you have no idea what is the cause, get to know what is actually “hurting” (strain? overtrained? tight hips? etc).
Look into deFranco’s Agile 8.
R.I.C.E.
Deload and work on form.
when you work out, there should be no pain. If there is, stop and get it fixed. In the meantime, find something that doesn’t hurt (front squat? sissy? change to lunges until better? etc)
A low bar squat is going to require you to lean over more to maintain bar position over your feet. It will also engage the hips/hamstrings more than a high bar squat. You might also try a front squat as this will allow you to maintain a more vertical posture and will disengade the hips/hamstrings. Try both to see what works best from a pain standpoint. Using shoes with a heel - weightlifting shoes, not running shoes - may help if it is an ankle mobility issue.
It could be that your posterior chain us just very weak, and you are overstressing it by doing full back squats. If this is the case, the best solution is to back off the weight so that you can build it up slowly.