I’m worried about my squat form. I’ve recently had a ligament torn in my knee so have only just got back to squatting. If anyone can give any advice that would be much appreciated. I feel that I’m lacking upper back tightness so am going to see a physio about shoulder flexibility and ankle mobility due to the side effects of my knee strain. Anyways any criticism would help. Thanks in advance.
Video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J6Pe8elUk_SQQ_LDAzbciiNpMf3i8Hg7/view?usp=drivesdk
Video won’t play
Here’s another link to the video: Squats - YouTube
Well, it’s not great. There are a few things you need to sort out.
First up, learn how to brace properly. This should help
Second, stop sticking your butt out to start the descent. Push your hips back instead, like doing an RDL.
Third, although it’s also part of bracing, squeeze your lats and make a double chin. That’ll lock your upper back in nicely. The cue squeeze oranges in your armpits works well.
You look like you need to work a lot on your stability. At the knees, through the core, basically everywhere.
Try pause and tempo squats in your assistance.
Depth looks good from this angle.
How did you fuck up your knee originally? Was it squat related? Is it feeling alright now or is it feeling like there’s some pressure in places you don’t want it
Bam
I play rugby, got hit with an awkward tackle and knee bent the wrong way
Thanks, not sure if I understand pushing the hips back. How would I get about this?
Will work on that, thanks
Push your butt back. You should feel your hamstrings load.
I think it’s a bad idea for a beginner to be using weightlifting shoes. In my opinion, it makes sense to develop proper mobility in the ankles first, then put on weight lifting shoes to ease the burden eventually. But right now, even those shoes aren’t enough to mask your immobility, your heels are still coming off the ground.
I believe there’s a lot of value in learning to embrace the discomfort of a deep, flat footed, full squat. When I was learning to squat, one of the best things I did was spend a lot of time, not necessarily at the gym, sitting in a full squat, with my heels on the ground. You could do this for 20 seconds at a time, a minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes. Basically, turn it into a progression as you become more comfortable with the position. This will help tremendously when you start adding weight to the squat.
You also need to force your knees out laterally more, and open up your hips, rather than just shooting your knees forward. You can also practice this by pushing your knees out with like your elbows/arms when you’re practicing sitting in the bottom portion of the squat at home.
I’m currently trying to develop more ankle mobility. Thanks for the suggestion on what to do. I used to be able to squat comfortably in flats, but my left ankle was hurt in the same fall as my knee. I’ll definitely be working on the flexibility though, thanks.
In addition to that, your feet are also collapsing medially/inward. Are you flat footed?
Yeah I am
Knew it. We have the same problem. Focus on pushing your knees out specially on the ascent and “grasping” the floor with your big toe and heel to maintain the arch
Will try to do that, thanks.