Hello friends, so finally I decided to do a video to show that I cant go down in squats.
This is my personal hell.
Every time I try to squat I need to put a little platform right down my heels to not fall backwards.
I made this video showing that for some reason I cant bend at all, nor when I force that bending, I end falling backwards irremediably.
Can someone give me tips with this problem? Is very appreciated.
Stretch your ankles at least 5 times a week. It takes a minimum of 2 minutes to cause change to soft tissue. Stretch each ankle for 3-5 minutes every day. Practice squatting afterwards. Invest in some olympic weightlifting shoes. Use a resistance band, wrap one end around a pole, stand inside of it, put the free end on your ass and squat. It will help keep you upright and you can stretch your ankles freely from that position as well. It takes time to build ankle mobility.
Is there any reason in particular you are arching your lower back so hard?
Your feet look very straight forward. Try pointing them out at an angle.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
Is there any reason in particular you are arching your lower back so hard?
Your feet look very straight forward. Try pointing them out at an angle.[/quote]
Was thinking the same thing. Your really over extending. Just sit down and push your knees out.
You have absolutely no core engagement when squat, that’s why you can’t support yourself when you get low. That is why your back arches immediately when you start your squat, if your abs were tight you wouldn’t have nearly as much lumbar nor thoracic movement. It also explains why you fall over when you get to the bottom, in the short spot where you drop down at the end, you do a complete but wink. Your muscles are not contracting and you have no base, hence why you are wobbly and fall.
A few pointers. Find someone in real life who will help you. Surely there is someone who is knowledgeable in squatting who can help.
Next up, do not start the squat but shooting your hips back, this will cause you to arch your back, as you start reaching backwards with your hips instead of pulling yourself down. Instead start with pulling your knees outwards, that way at least you will be starting the movement with your glutes and creating enough space for you to lower your hips down.
Next thing is learn how to engage your core, at the bottom of your squat you should be bracing your abs like you are defending yourself from a punch and pulling up on your pelvic floor.
You can practice by holding onto something and sitting down into a squat and completely relaxed, you should be able to sit there just fine. if your heels come up then open up your stance. spread your feet and knees, but not too much. sit at the bottom and get comfortable. Then squeeze your glutes and abs (remember bracing for a punch) this should automatically lift you up a few inches. This will be the bottom of your squat for now. This is the lowest point from where you can control your core while you squat.
practice holding that spot, if it is above your knees so be it, but I guarantee that it will be lower and with better form than where you are squatting now. Once you can hold it, practice squatting up to 85% lockout and back down, taking 3 to 5 seconds in each direction really feeling out what is going on.
From there hold onto a weight, i.e. goblet squat, and keep on goblet squatting until 15 reps with a with a weight that you can barely hold onto. From there you will be mostly ready to back squat properly.
it looks like you might have some mobility issues but probably not as much as you think. biggest thing looks like you just need to learn how to squat. you have a lot of things to fix and having someone teach you in person will be a big help. a few lessons with a good coach will do a lot more than trying to fix the problem through the forums.
First, don’t over arch. Try to keep a more neutral spine. This should allow you to go deeper with the same amount of hip mobility because you are reducing anterior tilt in your hips while squatting.
Next, try not to sit back so much. Try to squat down between your legs more. Your knees may need to track farther forward, but if you do this you should stay more upright in your torso and need less hip mobility to get to depth. You may need to add some heel height and work on your ankle mobility. The other part that can help this is to really get your balance back over your heels. A forward balance can cause more forward lean at your hips and necessitate even more mobility in your hips to go deeper. You should get deeper with a larger angle between your torso and femurs.
Last, try adjusting your stance (though I can’t really see how wide you are). Try narrower (maybe even really narrow, you may again need to add heel to do this depending on ankle mobility) and try different amounts of turn in/out with your feet. The cold hard mechanical fact is that many people absolutely must squat with a narrow stance. Quite literally depending on your hip and femur geometry, at your lowest point in the video, your femur may be contacting your hip. If it is, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING you can do with that setup to go any lower without just rounding your back forward or dislocating your hips. If this is the case, at the bottom you are trying to stay arched while hitting a mechanical stop on at your hip joint. Now you?d be trying to stay arched while mechanically the only joints able to move to get deeper is your spine.
So you mean to tell me that your entire life you have been hovering over the toilet to take a shit because you cant get any lower than that huh? makes sense.
Either way your making this to complicated. Your ankles and hips are obviously tight and need to be stretched out. I am all for breaking at the hips and sitting back when you squat how ever you seem to be over doing that while not opening your hips up at the same time. You need to force your knees open and out and sit between them. You need to start sitting down a little more and sitting back a little less. I suggest wall Squats helped me and most I know well. Stand with your toes about 2-3" away from the wall and then squat down. This will force you to open your hips and stay tall or else you will drag your face on the wall.
Guys, thanks very much for your apreciations. I loled hard with the toilet thing.
I will put all your tips in practice and see how it goes.
[quote]Reed wrote:
So you mean to tell me that your entire life you have been hovering over the toilet to take a shit because you cant get any lower than that huh? makes sense.
[/quote]
AHAHAHA!
Wall squats will definitely help in teaching you how to stay tall by keeping your chest up but it doesn’t guarantee that you will use your lats and abs properly. A form of front squats like goblet squats or holding a weight plate straight in front of you will force you to use those muscles to stay upright to resist the moment caused by the weight being forward of your center of mass. I would recommend one of the two movements above while pausing at the bottom (using light weights and only focusing on muscle contraction). Keep your shoulders down and focus on keeping you lats, chest and abs tight to stay tall. It doesn’t hurt to practice packing the neck either.
Worry about feet placement later. You just need to have your knees track over your toes and open your hips - the stance width and angle of your feet can be adjusted but aren’t that important right now. Over time you’ll adjust to get into the best position for yourself. Torso tightness trumps stance width and feet angle when learning to squat. Adjustments in the latter can be made down the road to maximize leverage performance.
[quote]lift206 wrote:
Wall squats will definitely help in teaching you how to stay tall by keeping your chest up but it doesn’t guarantee that you will use your lats and abs properly. A form of front squats like goblet squats or holding a weight plate straight in front of you will force you to use those muscles to stay upright to resist the moment caused by the weight being forward of your center of mass. I would recommend one of the two movements above while pausing at the bottom (using light weights and only focusing on muscle contraction). Keep your shoulders down and focus on keeping you lats, chest and abs tight to stay tall. It doesn’t hurt to practice packing the neck either.
Worry about feet placement later. You just need your knees to track over your toes - the stance width and angle of your feet can be adjusted but aren’t that important right now. Torso tightness trumps stance width and feet angle when learning to squat. Adjustments in the latter can be made down the road to maximize leverage performance.[/quote]
As long as his hips are physically capable of moving to positions needed for his current foot placement, that’s fine. Otherwise, leaving them where they are may make squatting physically impossible.
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
As long as his hips are physically capable of moving to positions needed for his current foot placement, that’s fine. Otherwise, leaving them where they are may make squatting physically impossible.[/quote]
Yes that’s true. He definitely needs to get into a position that allows him to hit depth. I’m just saying that he shouldn’t force himself to fit the mold of narrow, medium or wide stance because he’ll figure out what he’s strongest at further down the road. He can try them all to see what feels best but it’s not set in stone where his stance will end up. I made that mistake myself of forcing myself to squat wide when narrow stance worked better, but I also know my stance could change in the future. A better way to say it is to prioritize torso tightness before stance width.
I did edit the previous post to mention keeping the hips open but it was probably just after your replied.
Wow thanks guys. I just started to do this:
2 x 2 minutes a day
Also, grabbing the desk and doing the squat movement forcing myself to contracting abs and throw hips forward, 2 x 2 minutes too, and fuck I noticed that this is the dynamic I shoud follow because my hipa , my abs and my position seemed to be in proper form.
^^^ That’s great to hear. Keep doing that for awhile so it becomes muscle memory. Eventually you should incorporate contraction of your lats and chest, and packing the neck to stay tall because that’s what you’ll need to do when you squat and deadlift. It would have been nice if I learned that sooner.
A rigid torso should be emphasized in practically every lift where it isn’t the prime mover. Richard Hawthorne mentioned working the core hard in every single lift he does and that makes perfect sense since that amount of time under tension with such focus on the stabilizer muscles prepare him for world record weights.
Guys, im very pleased with your help.
I have been doing the flexiblity exercises and now I can do this:
What do you think?
^^^ Looks like great progress. Keep it up. You’ll eventually get to a point where the movement looks smooth while in motion and completely still at the bottom.