So I found a test for hip internal rotation. You basically lay on your back and bring your knees up making a 90* at the hip and knee joint and try to move your feet outwards causing internal rotation. I can’t even move a 1/4”. Like zero movement so that’s not good.
Yea my spine is all jacked up. Definitely got some anterior tilt going on down there.
A lack of internal rotation isn’t the end of the world for you, it just explains how and why you squat the way that you do. Same too with your anterior tilt. A lack of IR in hip flexion (like the test that you did) basically means that for you to squat to depth you’ll need to externally rotate and abduct, which you can see with how your feet and knees flare.
Some things that will really help you will be to work on your hip capsules, developing the ability to actively control your ability to rotate your hips (do a search for hip CARS - Controlled Articular Rotation - and start doing them every day) and working on exercising your hips (glutes, psoas, etc). You’ll probably find that doing this will reduce your pain and improve your mobility quite quickly.
And similarly, working a bit on your spinal alignment and motor control of your pelvis as you lift might open up your hips a bit more and help with any back pain you might be experiencing too.
I don’t think that this is the end for your squatting, just that you might need to be aware of the above and take a few active measures to be able to gain and maintain your ability to do them pain free.
Thanks for the reply man! I googled hip CARS and it definitely looks interesting. I will give it a shot for sure!
So I’ve been doing some stuff to improve hip mobility and I was able to squat with my feet close together and straight today. Still doesn’t feel great or strong, at all, but it’s a step in the right direction.
I still feel like my quads aren’t doing anything.
Video is of a 315 single in slo motion. Both angles are same rep.
@chris_ottawa @whang @MarkKO @Frank_C @IronOne @FlatsFarmer
And of course the video cuts off my fucking feet 
Par for the course here lately.
Here is a screen shot in the same video showing my foot positioning.
Everything looked good for my purposes. I know you said it didn’t feel great or strong, but did it hurt? How does this compare to your normal stance?
It feels a lot better than my normal stance. Definitely cut back on the pain. What’s weird is I still have the feeling of zero power. It’s like I have no idea what’s working to let me get the weight up if that makes sense.
Edit, I also don’t know how to get any deeper. It’s like from here nothing else below my waist will go lower
You could always pause at the bottom or do 1.5 rep squats (down, halfway up, down, all the way up). Those ought to let you know which muscles are doing the work via the burn and pump.
There are times that I don’t really feel any particular muscle working until I get to a fatigued state. I don’t worry about it. I’m usually sore somewhere the next day and that let’s me know.
Definitely looked pretty good, and major win is it didn’t hurt as much. I wouldn’t worry about not feeling a specific part working. I generally don’t either when I squat until I’m really fatigued.
The zero power feeling is probably just a matter of a new stance that you aren’t used to yet.
It’s weird. Like when I go to get up it’s like I have no idea what I’m doing. I just have to will the weight up and then it magically comes up 
This doesn’t sound all bad. When I squat with my normal stance it’s kind of similar, there isn’t one particular part of me doing more than another. Even with a wide or narrow stance all I feel is at some point my quads or hamstrings or hips working a little more than everything else.
Is the video slowed down?
Yes.
Definitely looks better to my beginner eyes. Pain free is a really really good sign. Of course it’ll feel weak at first since you made an change in technique, but every time I made a major change I found that the strength quickly came back. I just had to be patient with that change in technique. All technique changes I’ve done so far have been worth it honestly, even if it meant having to take off some (or a lot) of weight on the bar.
As for the technique itself, I’ll leave the commenting to those more experienced than I am. Anyway, really glad it’s pain free now
Oh just one thing, once you’re set with your preferred stance, you might want to start practicing keeping your head and neck more neutral. Right now its more on the extended side because you’re looking straight ahead
That’s a great point! I’m just so eager to see if it looks good
Dude this looks good. Pain free is awesome. As others have said, you’ll feel weird and a little weaker until your body is used to this. If you don’t feel any particular muscle doing the work, to me, that’s a sign your body is working as a whole to get the job done. Also, whang is right about keeping your head more neutral, it might make you lean a little more forward which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Overall glad to see you’re able to recognize an issue and fix it, best of luck man!
Shift your hips back slightly, and maybe a little more forward lean. Your hamstrings are right against your calves so there is no more room for knee flexion, you need to get more hip flexion. If your mobility is limited there then just keep working on it, you are almost there already.
What I do to maintain hip mobility so that I can hit depth (because I’m not naturally very flexible) is goblet squat stretches, every day. The point of holding a weight is just for counterbalance, you can use a 25lb plate or if you are at home just find something kind of heavy and sit into a full squat. What I do (got it form Squat University) is full squat 10 seconds, come up to around parallel and push knees out and squeeze glutes for 5 sec., back down for 10 sec., come up and rest for a moment then repeat. My mobility is better now so I jut do that twice and if I’m not squatting after I will do about 8-10 goblet squats, otherwise you could repeat the stretch 3-5 times.
Great job messing with your stance, those adjustments can be tough. Whatever you did worked well.
In my opinion, it’s time to think about your low abs and how far forward your knees are drifting.
Before you squat, tighten your lower abs. Pull your pubes closer to your belly button by squeezing low abs. This way when squat down your hips will stay under your shoulders a little more. Like you’ll be more upright.
As you descend your knees go forward, forward, forward. Like your legs are folding up out in front of you. Some forward motion is cool. But at some point you have to decide “that’s far enough” stop the forward motion and then bend your knees. Instead of sticking them forward, and little your shins keep moving, stop your knees, stop your shins, stop folding up, and bend your knees. Hold your knees in place and bend your knees to drop your hips.
Keep your abs engaged so your hips stay under your shoulders and you can drive up.
That’s interesting, me and you are giving completely opposite advice.
The way I see it, more upright means knees have to go even further forward because the bar has to stay over mid foot no matter what. The only way to stay more upright is a wider stance so that the hips don’t have to go as far back and the knees go out to the sides more than forward.
