okay so i 6’3 with fairly long femurs so the only comfortable way i can squat is with a wide stance.
This is a bit strange to explain so i hope i make sense. I’ve done 3 slow reps to demonstrate.
I feel fairly uncomfortable when i squat down as i’m trying to hit depth but can’t seem to do it. If you look you can see how far my toes are pivoted. If i point them straight i get entirely to unbalanced and fall backward but im not sure if they are too pivoted.
When im at the bottom i feel my ankles bend as im driving off the heel and inside of the foot so it feels like the outside wants to come up. Now i’ve thought that it could be my knees wanting to bend in but the same thing happens when i lower the weight.
Also any criticism would be nice. I know i’ve got some flexibility issues due to the butt winking ect.
but this ankle issue im worried is going to hurt me down the road. the highest ill go for sets is 315 because i dont know if it could lead to an injury or not.
It’s kind of hard to see how wide your stance is from that angle, and also to see what your feet and ankle do. If what I understand from your description is correct your knees come in a bunch as you come up and you feel like your ankles roll in too. To me that suggests you’re squatting too wide.
It does look like your knees come forward a ton though. When I used to squat wide, I had my feet angled over 45 degrees and kept my shins as close to vertical as I could. It wasn’t a great way to squat for a raw lifter, but even with a medium stance I have my feet out at 45 degrees or so.
You may find that a pair of grippy, flat soled shoes could help too. Chuck Taylor high tops are good, wrestling shoes are OK too. If you continue to squat wide, this grip and ankle support will help you up push outwards on the outsides of your feet which will help push your knees out rather than forward.
I’m not really seeing what you’re describing. I squat barefoot and the weight shifts around on my foot during the movement a little bit but I’ve always considered this normal. Your depth was fine and squatting with any worthwhile weight is inherently uncomfortable. Many squatters including myself squat with toes pointed outwards at varying angles.
Are you experiencing any specific pain or discomfort beyond expected DOMS? Why are you considering this to be a problem?
I don’t experience any pain but I took a video for a form check a month ago and noticed that my right foot does something odd. Last week I took another video from a different angle and my ankle looked like it was going to snap . well I found something called pronation . that seems to explain what’s happening to my right foot but I’m still not sure how I will fix it. Tha,ks for the replies, I’m going to try squat shoes or something flat to add support
The knees coming way out I fear I’ve never been able to prevent, dann long femurs.
If anyone has an opinion on foot angle of stance for a pronation problem feel free to chime in.
I’m still not sure you have anything to fix, especially if there’s no pain or discomfort going on.
I’m a big boy but my squat looks similar to yours. You can see my feet shift during the movement but this has not caused any problems for me whatsoever in 2.5 years of squatting in hideous toe shoes.
One of the cues I use is “spread the floor” which tightens up my legs and glutes but also shifts some of the weight to the inside of my foot. Again, I’ve always considered this normal for my squat style.
As an aside, my feet are much stronger after 2.5 years of barefoot squatting. I have a much more pronounced arch and my wet footprint is much smaller than it used to be.
Here’s what my feet look like taking 365 for a ride, done on Monday of this week. I think of driving through my heels during the movement, but plenty of weight shifts to the inside of my foot as well.
That you were overreacting somehow was my suspicion from the get-go. Figuring out your squat can be a tricky process, especially if you are doing it without the benefit of in-person coaching. Plenty of thoughts like yours popped into my head during this time. I was very unsure of myself. I had many people tell me to fix various things they believed I was doing wrong. That can really dampen your confidence.
Figure out your squat, become sure of yourself and then watch the lift take off. Good luck bud!
I could not agree more. Play around with stance, shoes, bar placement, grip width, etc until you find exactly what feels best. It’ll be worth the effort. For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t worry about assistance too much. GHR and front squats will probably last you for a while.
