Squat: Butt-Shootin, Form Advice Needed

Training Powerlifting
1

Hi T-Nation!

I have been working on this squat issue for a long time now, never been able to fix it on my own, so now i seek help.

Age: 27, Weight: 65kg, Height: 172cm
Training: +5 years, mostly focusing on big lifts. Currently doing 3-split 6 times /week. Interested in strength in the big 3.
Current max lifts DL/SQ/BE: 145kg,110kg,100kg

I’ve squattet 135kg like a year ago at 70kg bw, squat looked the same then. But had a hip issue so laid off it for a good while and i’m good now. I was constantly super sore in my hip flexors, but rest and stretching hip flexors and glutes regularly helped. I still do a quick stretch every night. Now i’m working my way back up.
I squat semi lowbar.

Video: 90kg workset. Its my last working set on a heavy day:
youtu.be/rSskYjNQuSE

Issue:
As i see it. My butt shoots up and i kind of over-arch my mid back through the entire movement. I keep my chest up, but it kind of just creates more of an arch.
I would love to be much more straight, and “tucked in”.
To have my butt more under me, and not all over the place.

Because i shoot my hip up, i have the issue that my butt wiggles to the right when the weight gets heavy.
I can feel sore in my mid back the next day after a solid squat session, but other than that, the squat feels solid and smooth.

This is how it looks inside my head while i squat, and how i would like it to look. LOL. 5 Plate Squat - YouTube
When i squat light, i would say it looks like a mix between the 2 vids. Better, but i can still sniff the issue.

I can frontsquat like 95kg, so my backsquat is really not that much stronger. If that helps any?

Any ideas are MOST welcome.

I’ve tried different accessory work, different form, highbar, lowbar, different stance width, but i always end up with the same issue.

THANKS!

2

Learn to push your back into the bar out of the hole.

Strengthen your quads with supplemental work.

3

Build up your quads and learn how to get your lats and abs tight. Weak quads are the main reason for excessive forward lean.

4

Thanks guys! I think you’re right, that i need to learn how to push my back more directly into the bar. Instead of ass straight up.

It’s just easier when i write it than when i try it.

I took a vid from the side today on my heavy dead light squat day, if that helps anyone to spot some weakpoints that might be linked to the squat issue.

70kg x 10 SQ : - YouTube
130kg x 2 DL : youtu.be/_0w-a0qoiPA

I just can’t believe if it’s a quad issue. :confused: I’ve always thought of myself as being quite quad dominant. It feels like that.
Also when i look at the side vid, i feel i’m quite upright, but i still do the arch-back-butt-thing.

5

You have severe butt wink. Some is not a problem (although some people would disagree) but if your spine is actually going into flexion - and yours is - then that’s a potential injury waiting to happen. You are squatting well below parallel, but to do that you are allowing your back to round.

IPF is by far the strictest federation regarding squat depth, and even for them you are going unnecessarily low. Squat as low as you can without rounding your back. Your back goes into extension as you descend - I don’t believe that is a problem, maybe someone else has another opinion - but the problem is flexion at the bottom. Judging by your upright position, quads are not the issue, but maybe tightness and definitely trying to go too low are your issues.

6

buttwink. Not much you can do about it. Some people have this due to their hip anatomy.

I get a little bit of it when i go really deep. This is why i prefer to go parallel(among many other reasons).

you can help it by stretching the hip flexors and hamstrings. controlling the decent is also a big factor. Pull their weight down with your hip flexors rather than dropping your body downwards at the knee.

Getting your glutes activated more helps too.

This is from my personal experience. Judging by your proportions you have a fairly long torso which much have something to do with that as well.

7

I think you can improve on glute and ab strength. For your accessory work, do a lot of sumo deadlifts and make an effort to create constant tension in those areas throughout each rep - brace as hard as possible and make sure to feel tension in your hips. Over time those muscles will starting taking on more share of the workload. If doing something similar to 5/3/1, adding 5x10 sumo deadlifts after heavy squat work and 5x10 wide stance squat after deadlift work would probably yield the fastest progress for building those weaknesses.

With the wide stance squat, go as wide as you can while still being able to keep tight. For these accessory lifts, the goal is to build muscle and not to move as much weight as possible.

Edit: I forgot to add that the wide stance squat should be done with high bar. You can do front squats but I think it’ll be easier to fix the problem with high bar wide stance squat since you won’t have to worry about front squat technique. You’ll want to minimize forward lean (but still get your hip flexors involved). The goal is to get your abs, hip flexors, adductors and abductors working together.

8

Thanks so much for all the replies! Very awsome guys!

I agree, i buttwink too much. And i agree, that i think part of the reason is due to week hamstrings and glutes.

I dont try to squat excessively deep though. It’s just where i naturally bounce. But i’ll try to cut it at parallel instead. I’ll go down slower to try and control.

I do frontsquats as accessory on dead days, i’ll switch that to some glute heavy exercises.

Just bought some WL shoes aswell, since i think the extra heel and stability might help me buttwink less.