I’ve never had a great back squat. For the last 3-4 months, I have only been doing front squats, since I tend to feel those better in my quads, and it keeps my back more erect. I’m 6’2" and pretty lanky, so the front squat helped a lot to target my quads and allow me to go super deep, safely. I was working with ~185-200 for work sets of 3-5 with solid form and depth, for reference. Not sure how it translates, but I leg press 10-12 plates for work sets as well, so this next part has me confused.
I just started CT’s Indigo Strength program this week. It has me doing back squat, bench, and dead as HFSW 4 days a week. The HFSW says to work with non-maximal loads, so I’ve been doing (high bar) back squat sets of 6 with 175, which shouldn’t be near maximal for me. I’ll start the set with some paused squats in the hole before doing the HFSW.
What I’m noticing is that I start to get some severe hip/pelvic “drift” as I start the ascent. It’s like my waist/hips shift to the right about 3-6", and looks and feels quite awkward. I’ve played with stance and foot placement, with slightly wider than shoulder width, feet pointed out a bit. My knees aren’t caving in or anything, its like my hips are just rotating. It’s quite frustrating, since 175 isn’t that heavy for me, but as my concentric gets more off-centered, it starts to get quite awkward. Plus, I don’t want to injure anything, obviously.
Is this the sign of a weak muscle or muscle group (maybe adductor/abductor)? Is it form/stance/foot related? Is it just too heavy?
I start by doing extra warm-up sets with 135, pausing in the hole and whatnot, and it doesn’t seem to help. The “drift” only seems to occur at 175+. Front squat form is still fine. Seems weird to me that it’d be too heavy, given what my front squat and leg press strength is.
Thanks for any help.