This isn’t a black or white goal, surely OP can do both. Working on the squat is clearly the most functional way to accomplish the goal, but sometimes it may be counterproductive. OP needs to find a way to integrate both.
woah woah woahhh…okay chill out guys!
alright so i squatted again last 2 days ago, and i kept on focusing on driving upwards with my glutes on the ascent, and surprisingly there was MUCH MUCH lesser pain than the ones that i did in the vid that i posted. i was even able to squat for 6 sets of 5, and only 1 or 2 reps( out of the whole workout) had a slight discomfort, but the degree of pain/discomfort wasnt as bad as the last set of the vid that i uploaded. and they were low bar back squats so im kinda happy at the progress lol.
from all of this i realised a few things, what alexus kept trying to point out to me about ‘‘sitting into the hip flexors and initiating the ascent with the glutes’’ finally made sense to me. i realised that previously, even tho my form looks quite okay from the vid, i realised that i always had the pain in my hips when the weight on the bar shifted to the front of my foot (even tho its very slight). I realised that i wasnt activating much of my glutes and hamstrings in my ascent previously, and sitting in a few inches deeper in my squat really helped me to feel the posterior chain more.
as for sento’s advice, the lower back mobility stretches that you advised helped to loosen up my lower back greatly. i dont feel as tight anymore, and standing for long periods of time doesnt hurt my lower back as much as it used to. the only reason why i was very reluctant to try out high bar squats is cause i think my mobility’s pretty bad. and i really wanted to squat again pain-free again, my progress in deadlifts is slowing down really badly, and i think its cause of not being able to do squats for 4-5 months i guess?
as for now i think im gonna stick to doing both mobility drills and sticking to 40kg squats for atleast another 2 or 3 weeks more. thanks for all the help guys!! im finally able to squat again!!! (i hope)
[quote]rafsanjaniii wrote:
woah woah woahhh…okay chill out guys!
alright so i squatted again last 2 days ago, and i kept on focusing on driving upwards with my glutes on the ascent, and surprisingly there was MUCH MUCH lesser pain than the ones that i did in the vid that i posted. i was even able to squat for 6 sets of 5, and only 1 or 2 reps( out of the whole workout) had a slight discomfort, but the degree of pain/discomfort wasnt as bad as the last set of the vid that i uploaded. and they were low bar back squats so im kinda happy at the progress lol.
from all of this i realised a few things, what alexus kept trying to point out to me about ‘‘sitting into the hip flexors and initiating the ascent with the glutes’’ finally made sense to me. i realised that previously, even tho my form looks quite okay from the vid, i realised that i always had the pain in my hips when the weight on the bar shifted to the front of my foot (even tho its very slight). I realised that i wasnt activating much of my glutes and hamstrings in my ascent previously, and sitting in a few inches deeper in my squat really helped me to feel the posterior chain more.
as for sento’s advice, the lower back mobility stretches that you advised helped to loosen up my lower back greatly. i dont feel as tight anymore, and standing for long periods of time doesnt hurt my lower back as much as it used to. the only reason why i was very reluctant to try out high bar squats is cause i think my mobility’s pretty bad. and i really wanted to squat again pain-free again, my progress in deadlifts is slowing down really badly, and i think its cause of not being able to do squats for 4-5 months i guess?
as for now i think im gonna stick to doing both mobility drills and sticking to 40kg squats for atleast another 2 or 3 weeks more. thanks for all the help guys!! im finally able to squat again!!! (i hope)
[/quote]
Great news! Hope it continues to improve. Keep us updated. 
…Nobody likes to do their front loaded plate squats.
[quote]alexus wrote:
…Nobody likes to do their front loaded plate squats.
[/quote]
lol sorryyyy!! but your advice really helped in the back squats tho. thanks alot. will keep you guys updated on my rehab!
I have chronic lower back cramping and terrible anterior pelvic tilt. It really messes with me during squats. I can deadlift 565 or do 400+ for reps and my back is fine. But if I do REPS of heavy squats, I cramp up then I’m screwed as I can barely walk around the gym without being in pain. Currently in middle of Smolov mesocycle, and cramping ususally shows up 15-20 reps into a routine. Cramping is much worse without a few days rest. It gets aggravated easily. Wish I could find a way to lick this. I already do hip flexor stretching because I work on vertical jumping. I do high bar back squats.