Here is a link to Monday’s squat workout. Please note they are incorrectly labeled as ‘high bar squats’ when in fact they are close-stance (heels about 6 inches apart) low bar squats.
I used to squat with a narrow stance like this, but moved my stance out wide because I was having depth problems. Now it seems the depth problems have been corrected, but, as I suspected, I am letting my lower back round severely at the bottom in order to attain depth. I say ‘as I suspected’ because I am the world’s least flexible person, especially in the hips, and I figured I must be doing something wrong to get the kind of depth displayed in these videos. What do you guys think-is this something I should work on correcting? Keep in mind I have been lifting for a lot of years and have achieved some decent totals with my (potentially dangerous, crappy) form. I know there is a lot of argument about rounding the back in the deadlift, but the consensus for the squat seems to be ‘back tight, chest up’. I think there was an article on here a while back about correcting lower back rounding in the squat.
Sorry, that’s a lot of text for one question-in summary, should I worry about my lower back rounding in the squat? If so, how do I correct it?
That might possibly be the worst lower back rounding i’ve seen. My first thought would be to pursue hip mobility, but hopefully somebody more knowlegable can help you out.
you are going a good amount below parrallel so i think rounding is expected, also why would you squat with heels six inches apart, sounds like murder to the knees
Your back doesn’t round too bad just above parallel. Just keep to that height and strengthen your core, exercises like non tripod, bar rollout and palloff press will allow for greater pelvic control. When doing these exercieses try keep your spine in neutral the entire time.
dont go so low. just go slightly below parallel. you dont need to bottom out your squats like that. rounding your back actually makes you weaker. i dont see hip mobility being an issue as you can get so low. you just shouldnt go that low.
Thanks for the replies so far. The close-stance squat is not something I am going to move to permanently, it is just a temporary chance of pace to alleviate some hip pain I have been having. The reason I go so low is simply force of habit and the fact that I feel I get some rebound effect from letting my gut hit my knees at the bottom (any other bigger lifters experience this?).
[quote]TunaMonkey wrote:
Thanks for the replies so far. The close-stance squat is not something I am going to move to permanently, it is just a temporary chance of pace to alleviate some hip pain I have been having. The reason I go so low is simply force of habit and the fact that I feel I get some rebound effect from letting my gut hit my knees at the bottom (any other bigger lifters experience this?).[/quote]
Maybe work on getting a bigger gut? That way you wouldn’t have to go so deep?
I actually have quite a bit of forward lean when I Squat, and I get that same sort of rebound effect that you are talking about.
I hesitate to give advice to someone who is SO much more experienced and successful a lifter than I am, but my squat used to look extremely similar to that. Squatting with a rounded lower back is dangerous because you get a lot more compressive force on the intervertebral discs, which can easily lead to low back pain and, if you’re unlucky, a herniated disc.
In Mike Robertson’s words, though, I’d consider this to be a “stiffness imbalance” between the hips and the low back. Your hips are too stiff (not enough mobility) and your lower back isn’t stiff enough (need more abdominal stabilization of the spine). So when you try to go deeper and deeper into the squat, since your hips are too stiff, you end up forcing mobility from your lower back instead.
Check out Mike Robertson and Eric Cressey’s articles - I’d advise going into the search bar and typing both of their names in, and you can read an entire list of all of the articles they both wrote. There are a lot of articles addressing this exact issue. If you have the money, you might even want to consider buying Magnificent Mobility. I haven’t purchased it myself, but I’ve heard a lot of people attest to how good it is.
[quote]Modi wrote:
TunaMonkey wrote:
Thanks for the replies so far. The close-stance squat is not something I am going to move to permanently, it is just a temporary chance of pace to alleviate some hip pain I have been having. The reason I go so low is simply force of habit and the fact that I feel I get some rebound effect from letting my gut hit my knees at the bottom (any other bigger lifters experience this?).
Maybe work on getting a bigger gut? That way you wouldn’t have to go so deep?
I actually have quite a bit of forward lean when I Squat, and I get that same sort of rebound effect that you are talking about.[/quote]
I have the same issue though not quite so bad. your gut has to go somewhere and with such a narrow stance it cant go between your legs. If you go to a wide stance your gut can go between your legs not pushing your spine back. it helped me out, especially if you wanna go ass-to-the-grass. and plus with a wider stance i feel it more in my glutes. of course the ultimate solution is simply lose the gut…
i know i am not an advanced or intermediate lifter but when i had this problem i done lots of arched back good mornings id work up to a 3rm while obviously keeping a tight arch and lots of Hyperextentions, fixed it for me.
LOTS AND LOTS of good mornings. And as others have said, focus on your flexibility at all three areas: hip, knee, and ankle. If any one of those joints is lacking, work on both dynamic and static flexibility.
