Hi all,
I’ve never been able to squat very well and thought that squatting to higher than parallel was normal for someone like me (6’4") and that I’d never be able to get below parallel. However, my new strength coach says I can’t squat below parallel because I have tight hip flexors and a weak left adductor. Has anyone ever had this issue? What did you do to correct it? And, how long until you were able to squat below parallel?
Thank you!
I never could squat well either. I just put weight on a bar and started going as deep as I could. I had to take a blow to my ego when I dropped off weight I was doing to be able to get depth. I would think maybe some fom rolling beforehand. And there is a video called magnificent mobilty which you can find on the Elitefts website, there have some great stretching on there. I just started getting lower a little bit ago. For me it was long slow process, but once you get lower, it will feel great. Just go slow and expect a few months to get where you are going. Dont rush and patience is a virtue.\
I had the same issue, but i’m 19 years old haha. After recovering from knee surgery i had horribly tight hip flexors and quads. The basic quad stretch and the attacked hip flexor stretch will save your life. I’ve been able to put a decent amount of weight on my squat since.
The fact of the matter is you are going to have to stretch, and stretch, and stretch. I had to do constant stretching for about a month for pain to go away when squatting, and still cannot squat without stretching fully first.
Hip mobility warm ups also work wonders:
@1:50 in the video: This stretch helped relieve about all of my knee pain, just FYI.
And i would reccomend you foam roll before and after every workout until you get there, because stretching alone will not work.
EDIT:
Picture i meant to put up^
[quote]Joeybags wrote:
Hi all,
I’ve never been able to squat very well and thought that squatting to higher than parallel was normal for someone like me (6’4") and that I’d never be able to get below parallel. However, my new strength coach says I can’t squat below parallel because I have tight hip flexors and a weak left adductor. Has anyone ever had this issue? What did you do to correct it? And, how long until you were able to squat below parallel?
Thank you![/quote]
You’re too tall to squat. Do very heavy leg presses and deadlifts. Tall guys shouldn’t squat.
If you insist, do 1.5 reps with a lighter weight (that means your reps are 1.5 reg reps).
[quote]Headhunter wrote:
[quote]Joeybags wrote:
Hi all,
I’ve never been able to squat very well and thought that squatting to higher than parallel was normal for someone like me (6’4") and that I’d never be able to get below parallel. However, my new strength coach says I can’t squat below parallel because I have tight hip flexors and a weak left adductor. Has anyone ever had this issue? What did you do to correct it? And, how long until you were able to squat below parallel?
Thank you![/quote]
You’re too tall to squat. Do very heavy leg presses and deadlifts. Tall guys shouldn’t squat.
If you insist, do 1.5 reps with a lighter weight (that means your reps are 1.5 reg reps).
[/quote]
This is bullshit.
My training partner is 6-5", a basketball player, and never squatted before. I had him squatting to parallel with great form in a few sessions.
OP- you will need to work on mobility/flexibility regularly. This site is full of great advice for this kind of stuff. Especially look up Mike Roberts and Eric Cressey. Additionally, go to Dan John’s website and watch his lecture on squatting. There’s a ton of stuff on squatting/mobility on this site alone.
Shorty, I know a guy who’s 6’ 7’ and he’s doing just fine with squatting 440+. Like the others say - train yourself to squat properly and get any flexibility issues worked out.
Practice without the bar. In a rack holding on if need be. If you can’t get into position with no load it isn’t going to happen with a heavy bar on your back. Keep working at it and you’ll get there.
It could be a number of things. There definitely is a height at which squatting becomes extremely difficult if not impossible to do efficiently. That is definitely not 6’4" though, I’m 6’4" and used to squat perfectly. Of course it depends on the way your body is built, leg to torso length etc… I can’t squat very well right now because I have a tight left TFL, Psoas, and glute, its not a huge issue but I know it is there since I have been able to squat perfectly before.
When you are taller its becomes more important to have all your ducks in a row. Its not as simply as foam rolling before you squat though, it usually takes soft tissue work, dynamic stretching and static stretching.
A good way to tell whether you will be able to squat is if you can correctly perform a number of different glute exercises, glute bridges, single leg glute bridges, etc… And by perform them I dont just mean have the ability to lift your hips, I mean you have to actually feel your glutes squeeze your hips up powerfully, and you also shouldn’t feel any restrictions on the front side.
Oh and I forgot to mention, your strength coach sounds pretty good. The issues he pointed out are pretty common, but only a knowledgeable person would point that out. Whatever you do, dont think that just practicing squatting will fix this problem.
I agree with the critics here. A LOT of people say, believe, that they “just can’t squat.” It’s bull in my opinion 99% of the time. I have a buddy that said “squatting is impossible” for him for many years. His hips are different, his back hurts, etc., every excuse. He has a big upper body and skinny legs. He was whining once again a few months ago about how his legs won’t grow. I told him he has to do squats or just accept having skinny legs for life. I guess after 25 years of hearing me repeat that a million times, plus my own pretty decent legs finally convinced him. He tried squats several times over the years, but since he never did them regularly, compared to the rest of his body, his legs were VERY weak. So when he squatted he was always trying to do too much weight (which for him was anything over 100 lbs). I told him to just do higher reps with the bar, and DO THEM RIGHT. Now, about 4 months later, he LOVES squats. He’s up to 185 for about 6 quality reps. He isn’t Hercules, but his legs are growing. Turns out he COULD do squats.
Squats are HARD work and it’s easier to say “I can’t” rather than “It’s too hard.” Not trying to be mean, just offering some “tough love.”
Hi, Im 6ft1 and use to have problems squating, what helped was doing overhead or snatch squats, it helps with flexibility and also just general strength and posture needed for proper back squat. When u first do this exercise it can be humbling, even with just the bar or a broom handle, you will probably feel really unbalanced doing it but eventually u will overcome this. Once u can do these with a bit of weight then start some light back squats, i would even try front squats with the overhead squats for awhile. To start i would do a couple of light sets everytime u go to the gym, when they start getting heavier then add it to your leg routine. Overhead Squat - Bodyweight x 15 reps - YouTube
see what this chick can do, when u can do that u will be able to back squat properly and have a good set of delts and core strength. Its actually an assistance lift for oly lifters in the snatch(exercise snatch that is)
cheers