Sharp Hip Pain When Squatting

Bigger Stronger Leaner Injuries and Rehab
1

hi guys, ive been experiencing a really sharp stabbing like pain in my left hips when i squat deep. ive just recently started squatting atg (around2-3 months ago), and am currently running starting strength which requries me to squat 3 times a week.

the pain is most prominent in the concentric part of the movement, when im about to push out of the hole. and sometimes it might even cause me to lean to one side due to the pain. however, there is no pain in regular bodyweight squats, just when there is an enough load on my back, the stabbing pain comes.

heres a video of my squats if you need to check the form

i’ve tried almost everything, doing defranco’s limber 11 before squatting, doing glute exercises before squatting, not stretching hip flexors before squatting, stretching hip flexors before squatting, feet wider apart, feet closer in, feet pointed out more but its still hurting when i squat a heavy enough weight and when i squat low.

so i decided to search on possible causes of the hip pain, and there seems to be so many that im not even sure which i am experiencing. im not really sure whether its hip flexor pain, anterior femoral glide, hip impingement or whatever. but i try to do this test on myself and there was a deep sharp pain when i try to do internal rotation of my left hip. something like this.

i realised this is a hip impingement test, but ive read up online and it stated that people with hip impingement have this since birth, but i’ve only recently started feeling this pain when i squat deep, never before when i play soccer, run track, or play rugby.

is there any way to remedy this situation? i’m trying to lay off squats for awhile now, but still doing starting strength cause i like how simple it is. currently im replacing squats with leg extensions, hamstring curls and leg presses which dont cause any pain to my hips at all. i’ve also included glute exercises to strengthen my glutes further.

i really wanna start squatting again and i would really appreciate whatever help you guys could offer me!

2

Where in your hips do you feel pain?

I mean, the hip is a very general area with lots of muscles and moving parts…

3

i couldnt really pin point where exactly the pain is coming from, but its almost as if its coming from the joint itself, where my legs meet my lower abdomen.

4

AH man this sucks. I have had similar situation. I could never pinpoint exactly what the problem was as I didn’t see a Dr. and finding a Dr. who knows his shit regarding individuals like us is hard. What I did was work on overall hip mobility. I hit it every possible angle. Then I stopped squatting and my main leg movement went from the bb squat to single leg leg presses focusing on full range of movement and really trying to get the blood in the muscles. I did this for a couple months went back to squatting and had no problems. I don’t know if this would work for you but it couldn’t hurt. You will still grow and get strong and you hopefully wont hurt yourself so it could be worth a shot.

BTW the pain I had was in the joint area almost felt as if it was in the joint itself and I felt the stinging pain bad when I did hip adducter machine so I figured it had something to do with those muscles involved in that movement.

5

[quote]A-rod wrote:
AH man this sucks. I have had similar situation. I could never pinpoint exactly what the problem was as I didn’t see a Dr. and finding a Dr. who knows his shit regarding individuals like us is hard. What I did was work on overall hip mobility. I hit it every possible angle. Then I stopped squatting and my main leg movement went from the bb squat to single leg leg presses focusing on full range of movement and really trying to get the blood in the muscles. I did this for a couple months went back to squatting and had no problems. I don’t know if this would work for you but it couldn’t hurt. You will still grow and get strong and you hopefully wont hurt yourself so it could be worth a shot.

BTW the pain I had was in the joint area almost felt as if it was in the joint itself and I felt the stinging pain bad when I did hip adducter machine so I figured it had something to do with those muscles involved in that movement. [/quote]

thanks man, finally someone who has experienced the same thing as me! and i’ll try doing single leg movements for the meantime. currently i’ve rested for 5 days and it already seems to feel much better. i think im gonna let it rest for a few more weeks just to be sure

anyways, does anyone else know how to prevent this pain from arising? is it due to a muscular imbalance or issit because of squatting too much( 3x a week ). id really appreciate it if anyone could give advice on how to prevent it so i dont have to keep on stalling on my squats due to pain.

6

[quote]rafsanjaniii wrote:
i couldnt really pin point where exactly the pain is coming from, but its almost as if its coming from the joint itself, where my legs meet my lower abdomen. [/quote]

Can you tell whether it’s in the inside of your hips, near your groin, or at the back near to the glutes?

I had pains near my groin area when I squatted before, but it went away as I toyed around with stance and the depth of my squat.

The genuine experts on the forum might be able to help better if you can pinpoint which muscle it is.

7

Foam roll the hell out of your legs. Most importantly, do this. DeFrancosTraining.com - Piriformis myofascial release - YouTube

8

[quote]magick wrote:

[quote]rafsanjaniii wrote:
i couldnt really pin point where exactly the pain is coming from, but its almost as if its coming from the joint itself, where my legs meet my lower abdomen. [/quote]

Can you tell whether it’s in the inside of your hips, near your groin, or at the back near to the glutes?

I had pains near my groin area when I squatted before, but it went away as I toyed around with stance and the depth of my squat.

The genuine experts on the forum might be able to help better if you can pinpoint which muscle it is.[/quote]

The pain feels somewhr inbetween the joint and the groin, but nowhere near the back or glutes.

9

can you figure out how to reproduce the sensation without weight?

then one idea on rehab is to do that at less intensity (slightly decreased range of motion and / or intensity / speed of movement) so it is uncomfortable but not painful… then that rehab movement will… help rehab you.

quadruped rocking?

you should be able to find this via youtube…

can you do a lunge to the side so it is deep like a full squat… then alter the angle of the straight leg… so it is out front like a pistol (but on the ground… then shift your support leg to alter the angle (hold onto something if you need)… you might be able to find a tweak in one of the tendons of the groin.

i dont’ really know… just having a guess…

10

[quote]rafsanjaniii wrote:
The pain feels somewhr inbetween the joint and the groin, but nowhere near the back or glutes.
[/quote]

My completely uneducated guess would that your adductor muscle is freaking out when the weight goes above a certain point. It’s simply not strong enough.

Try sticking to a weight that is challenging, but not painful. Just squat nice and slow with that weight for about two weeks, then try squatting the weight that gave you pain again. See what happens.

11

I am having the exact same issue as you and I am using strong lifts 5X5 as well. I am skipping squats tonight and will start them again at a lower weight on Monday and try what magick suggested. Use a weight that is challenging but does not cause pain for two weeks and then re-try my problem weight. I will post an update on here if I find a way to squat without the pain so you might be able to try it and see if it works for you as well.

Good Luck!
Steve