Hip Pain w/ Squat

Hey guys, I know this probably sounds like something I should have found in the archives but I was suprised as you probably will be that this hasn’t already been explained away.

My friend is fairly new to lifting weights (over a year of training) but has just started squatting. Unfortunately he gets a dull pain in his hips (he can’t really say if it is the joint or the hip flexors) when his hips are about 90% extended.

I had him to several other movements and it appears as though any kind of hip extension under load (deadlifts, leg press, donkey kicks etc) gives him pain in that same range of motion (right about 160degrees angle between torso and thighs). He says the slower he moves through that point of the exercise the less painful it is and at best it’s about ripping off a bandaid level of bad - uncomfortable but bearable.

I can’t imagine it is a big deal but this is really perplexing me and I’m hoping someone has run into this before. Stretching doesn’t seem to help much but we’ve only just started. We’ve squatted on 3 seperate occaisions now and only once was this not an issue.

Essentially my buddy has a mysterious pain in his hips, its in a very small part of the range of motion for extension, at almost any external loading and does not give him grief during the eccentric portion of the exercises. Any ideas if this is a serious problem or just a case of tight hips and being new to squatting. (I don’t think it’s tendonitis since this is the only real leg work he has done and it appeared after taking a week off)

thanks in advance for your help

Well, seeing as how he is new to training, and probably not under huge weight, I doubt its an injury. What is/was his daily life like? Desk Jockey? If yes, he probably has tight hip flexors like practically every other American now. Just have him keep up the stretching, reinforce proper form, if a desk jocky, get up and walk around or stretch several times a day. The problem should subside, if it doesn’t, it would be a better bet to ask a physical therapist for advice/help.