Squats - Why Do My Hams Hurt Most?

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Just did my first barbell squats in over 2 years. Perfect form, (taken and memorised from exrx.net) and only a light wieght - 95 pounds - 3 sets of 10.

My hams and inner thighs always feel it more than my quads.

I do go arse to grass, literally, arse an inch from touching the ground.

But isn’t it the quads doing most of the lifting compared to where I feel it most - the hams, glutes and inner thighs?

So why donlt my quads hurt as much.

Back in the day a few yrs back when I did 6 months of 5 x 5 and then a few months of 20 rep breathing squats it was still the same - inner thighs and hams literally fcuked, whilst the squads felt just a little worked but okay and bugger all in the calves.

Is this normal? Is this good or bad?

Cheers all.

Squats are my lower body push compound on my ‘A’ workout of my 3 x a week full body. On the ‘B’ workout I do deadlifts as my lower pull compound and add calf raises 3 x 10 as supplemental.

Workout goes - mon / wed / fri - ABA / BAB

Quads getting enough or add leg press on ‘B’ day?

2

It could be your body structure, if you have longer femurs than squats will hit the posterior chain a lot harder. Try to stay as upright as possible and see if that helps.

No big deal, if that’s the case just add in some quad dominant work like leg press, hack squat, leg extensions, and lunges/ split squats.

3

Well I do have sorta short legs. I’m only 172cm or around 5 foot 7-8 inches.

My thigh bone - femur - IS longer than my shin bone - tibia.

I just squat arse to grass and use a ‘just ever-so slightly- less than shoulder width’ stance with toes slightly pointed outwards. I try very hard so that my knees do not go over my toes at any point, especially the bottom of the squat. Also try very hard to make sure knees do not flare out at any point.

I really wait at the bottom, squeeze my glutes and push through my heels.

Quads DO feel used but nowhere like as much as my hams do.

4

Have you experimented with high-bar versus low-bar squats to see if it makes any difference for you?

5

I find that my high-bar ATG squats hit the posterior chain for me as well, which I don’t really mind. I always finish my squat workouts with some narrow stance front squats to hit the quads more directly.

6

Hamstrings/glutes are stronger movers, and quality powerlifters will almost always tell you your posterior chain is your greatest asset in a strong squat. My quads never get sore from back squats.

So, whether or not this is good for YOU depends on your goals. Is your goal simply bigger squat numbers? If so, it doesn’t sound like there’s any problems. You’re naturally lifting with your most powerful muscle groups. If you have bodybuilding goals, and you’re simply looking for big quads, you may want to incorporate hack squats, front squats, or leg press as supplemental movements.

Since you’re a beginner, I would recommend sticking to doing squats just they way you are for quite awhile, and just keep progressing, see where it takes you. If you’re working with 95lbs, even as a lighter weight, you’re not very strong, and squats can be a great tool for building large, strong legs. You can refine your programming later once you’ve had some significant gains.

Also keep in mind, soreness is not the goal in weight lifting. Results are. You don’t have to feel sore the next day to achieve results. Soreness is NOT the best indicator of effectiveness of a workout.

7

hamstring+adductor+abductor soreness is the only downside about squatting

8

[quote]flipcollar wrote:
Hamstrings/glutes are stronger movers, and quality powerlifters will almost always tell you your posterior chain is your greatest asset in a strong squat. My quads never get sore from back squats.

So, whether or not this is good for YOU depends on your goals. Is your goal simply bigger squat numbers? If so, it doesn’t sound like there’s any problems. You’re naturally lifting with your most powerful muscle groups. If you have bodybuilding goals, and you’re simply looking for big quads, you may want to incorporate hack squats, front squats, or leg press as supplemental movements.

Since you’re a beginner, I would recommend sticking to doing squats just they way you are for quite awhile, and just keep progressing, see where it takes you. If you’re working with 95lbs, even as a lighter weight, you’re not very strong, and squats can be a great tool for building large, strong legs. You can refine your programming later once you’ve had some significant gains.

Also keep in mind, soreness is not the goal in weight lifting. Results are. You don’t have to feel sore the next day to achieve results. Soreness is NOT the best indicator of effectiveness of a workout.[/quote]
Great post.

9

I always get brutal DOMS in my hamstrings from any squat variation. You just kind of get used to it after a while.

I heard a theory that the tighter the muscle, the more likely it is to get DOMS. It’s certainly true in my case; I have really tight hamstrings, pecs and traps and those are the only three areas I ever get DOMS

10

Inner thigh/ hamstring :

Probaby referring to adductor magnus.

Magnus works pretty hard during the bounce.

If you pause the weight on some pins at the bottom you probly wont get as much doms.

11

[quote]leon36 wrote:

I try very hard so that my knees do not go over my toes at any point, especially the bottom of the squat. Also try very hard to make sure knees do not flare out at any point.

I really wait at the bottom, squeeze my glutes and push through my heels.
.[/quote]

Lot of thinking going on with this man while he squats.

12

Front squats=more quad work.

13

[quote]strangemeadow wrote:
Front squats=more quad work.[/quote]

^^^THIS^^^

Try narrow stance front squats. You should feel all quads. If you need place some plates under your heels, but only if you have mobility issues with your ankles. I’m the same way, I never get any pump or soreness in quads from back squats…all glutes and hams for me!

14

[quote]kakno wrote:

[quote]flipcollar wrote:
Hamstrings/glutes are stronger movers, and quality powerlifters will almost always tell you your posterior chain is your greatest asset in a strong squat. My quads never get sore from back squats.

So, whether or not this is good for YOU depends on your goals. Is your goal simply bigger squat numbers? If so, it doesn’t sound like there’s any problems. You’re naturally lifting with your most powerful muscle groups. If you have bodybuilding goals, and you’re simply looking for big quads, you may want to incorporate hack squats, front squats, or leg press as supplemental movements.

Since you’re a beginner, I would recommend sticking to doing squats just they way you are for quite awhile, and just keep progressing, see where it takes you. If you’re working with 95lbs, even as a lighter weight, you’re not very strong, and squats can be a great tool for building large, strong legs. You can refine your programming later once you’ve had some significant gains.

Also keep in mind, soreness is not the goal in weight lifting. Results are. You don’t have to feel sore the next day to achieve results. Soreness is NOT the best indicator of effectiveness of a workout.[/quote]
Great post.[/quote]

Yeah agreed. As long as my quads grow - back b’bell squats will be my ‘A’ day lower compund for a long time to come yet.

One problem is we have no power rack at the gym. We do have a pretty high rack on our incline bench though, so you can sit on the back support of the inc bench, get the bar over your back and stand up easily enough. Will see how high I can get to with that (best was around 200lbs few years back for 20 breathing squats where the last rep nearly kills you) before needing to try a non barbell squat variation.

I coulda done more then 90 lbs but this was my first time doing real squats in years and after knee problems, so I’m taking them and the deads nice and careful. Honest, guvn’er.

Luckilly the deads and squats seemt o be making the knee problems just vanish. Which is nice, mayne.

15

I’m not a fan of plates under the feet because it makes me feel unstable and lose my connection to the ground and muscles. I’d just use a stable shoe with a hard sole with a high heel. Like work boots or an old pair of dress shoes that’s comfortable enough.

16

See if only going to parallel emphasizes quads more.

17

No worries guys, the hams are just more sensitive to doms I think, the quads felt it the day after. They were real tight and I think they are one of my stronger points (used to bike ride,d o hill sprints and step sprints a lot) so they didn’t hurt or feel sore but I stretched em and could feel they had been worked good.

My friend says - a good squat or dead session, you feel doms the next day.

A REALLY good squat or deads session and you feel it two days later and it hurts and surprises you like all buggery!

18

If you’re not already, consider foam rolling. My legs feel so much better after starting foam rolling them regularly (though I do have various imbalance issues that aren’t helping).

19

Not sure what foam rolling is. Busy morning no time to google, could you elaborate.

20

Hard foam tube, lie on it in various positions and move around. Self-massage, basically.

I bought one of these (think CT also recommended them): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RUMBLE-ROLLER-ORIGINAL-BLUE-FULL-SIZE-15CM-x-77-5CM-/350486870069?pt=UK_Sporting_Goods_Exercise_Fitness_Fitness_Accessories_ET&hash=item519aa53835#ht_1650wt_1039