Hip Shift in Squat

Hi guys can someone help me with my hip shift. I’ve tried everything from tibial mobility to hip mobility and releasing my glutes but nothing seems to work. Lifts shown are 60% or less of 1rm.

High bar 105kg :
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NdtuicwpNfn33YKXdhviEmyBpqRFkR7O/view?usp=sharing

Low bar 125kg :
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M-4YPs2fe11P8cPgIhVX3Bj_c-H_Mue0/view?usp=sharing

This could be a result of the camera angle, but it appears that the bar is uneven on your back to begin with.

Looks to me like it’s real - the bar is not parallel to the chin-up bar, nor is it perpendicular to the uprights of the rack.

@busteddog, keep videoing yourself and work on getting used to an even bar placement. You can also do a lot of rear delt and upper back work to try and correct the imbalances in the structure you set the bar on.

Whether or not this is because of the bar placement OP does seem to favour their left leg. Fix bar placement first, and then evaluate if you are favouring either leg.

Personally, I think he favours the right

But that doesn’t really matter because

Is spot on advice imo

Yeah my right leg is actually stronger than rhe left by a fair bit. I have a few videos where the bar is actually centered I’ll post them here.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C5ImMqPYM4o_g_ZEBG-m_1NKef5rBuP3/view?usp=drivesdk

That’s a good visual. I was looking at the descent, where it appeared to me as if he shifted towards his left foot. Whether that means he’s strongest there and wants to offload his right, or he’s weakest there so he seeks the best leverages with that limb, is beyond my analytical abilities

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The bar is still uneven at the top, then levels out through your descent, overcorrecting in the hole to lean the opposite way, before leaning back the original way at the top again. I think if you correct this you should see a difference. Your body will work toward equilibrium if it doesn’t start in equilibrium.

The only other thing I can see is that your right ankle looks to be more mobile than your left, allowing your right knee to travel more forward and load your right leg more.

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Can u elaborate more about the right ankle? I really want to know whats wrong with it but cant seem to find out for the longest time

Truthfully, your biggest issue is your bar placement. The ankle issue is a final 5% correction. You’re changing your torso angle throughout your squat as your body tries to balance the force of the uneven bar.

But to fix your ankles, stretch both Achilles’ tendons religiously for awhile and try and get them to even out.

I read it as an inability to access internal rotation on the leg he shifts away from.

Through 60-120° of hip flexion, the hip must internally rotate. If the hip cannot IR effectively, it then moves into horizontal abduction as a compensation. On a global scale, this “pushes” the pelvis over to the other side, producing a hip shift.

@garagerocker13 in my experience, this also explains why the R ankle appears more mobile than the left, and is able to track straight over the toes whilst the L ankle has to evert (meaning the knee tracks outside the toe). A hip that doesn’t IR does not permit its ankle to pronate and dorsiflex.

Thx for the replies. So essentially i need to work on internal hip rotation on my left side right?

Assuming bar placement is not the issue, improving hip IR on the left should help.

This is a good start:

Alright ill give it a shot! Thx alot for all the help! :slight_smile:

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Another thing I’d suggest, and this alone will not fix your problem but it could help given that the bar placement is getting fixed along with your hip issues.
Box Squats
It’s nothing fancy, but with sitting on the box, you can have more confidence in the descent which can allow more focus on your form, it’ll help you judge if your hips are in the centre, provided you stand equally apart from the box with each foot.
Also, if you have someone you train with or trust enough and trains in your environment, you can have them help you assess if everything is aligned as you descent, sit on the box, and through your ascent. Pausing on the box will also allow you to correct things before ascending if you yourself notice anything feeling off.

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Ok ill keep that in mind! Thanks!

By chance you have any shoulder mobility issues?

Nope but my physio told me that my left lat is weaker than the right by quite a bit.

What I would do is a slow, controlled descent, 3-5 seconds, pause at the bottom, record work sets and review between sets to see how it looks vs. how it feels and adjust as necessary.

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I had pretty much an identical problem but the reverse. It’s likely a problem with your medial glutes. Check this out: Fixing Hip Shift in the Squat-JTSstrength.com - YouTube

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