I recently stumbled onto this site and I am amazed at the depth of info! Hopefully I can apply some to my own weight lifting goals and aspirations.
I don’t plan to compete in any full meets but I would like to try a raw push/pull. My squat is terrible due to a complete lack of hip mobility and a messed up knee. Despite several shoulder injuries I have what I think is a decent bench for my body weight. Like a lot of muscle heads out there I used to lift like a moron, eschewing form in an effort to move the most weight possible and I’ve accrued a lot of injuries because of it.
Basically I’m looking to start over as far as form goes and build my strength for the bench and sumo deadlift. When I squat with a wide power lifting stance I CAN’T go down below parallel, there is extreme pressure and pain in my hip joints and they basically lock up.
In order to go deep I have to place my feet no more than 6" apart which puts a lot of stress on my knees and is how I messed up my knee in the first place. Oddly I can deadlift without these things affecting me, I’m just really weak due to a lack of leg strength.
My lifts as of now (at 175 b/w, goal is 165 b/w):
Bench = 265 lbs for 9 reps (I’ll check my 1rm this Saturday, hoping for 350)
Squat = Pansy…no more than 185 lbs for sets of 10
Sumo deadlift = 330 lbs 1rm
I dunno what you want out of this post exactly haha. If you actually want help with form, post up some videos so we can check out what you look like now.
All I can say based on what you’ve already posted… start stretching your damn hips. If you can’t squat pain-free, there is a problem. IF you know the problem is hip mobility, make that a priority. Do hip mobility work every single leg day (which better be at least twice a week) until you can squat below parallel, with a stance that doesn’t hurt your knees.
I’ve been a muscle head on and off for the past 20 years or so. I’ve been stronger in the other lifts in the past but I got greedy then got hurt. My upper body strength has always come easy and once built I don’t seem to lose it, at least not much or very quickly.
let us get a video of your wide squat and your normal squat (preferably side view taking from just above ground level) also is there anything we should know about concerning your knees, hips, or back. Another helpful thing would be a pic of your feet in each stance (if you have a training partner have him take a pic while you squat but if not just set up two cameras and record from the front and side simultaneously.
I have a similar discrepancy between my bench and squat (although not as severe as yours). I’m curious, are you pidgeon toed? I am and because of this I lose a lot of strength when I squat wide. My chiro thinks I have deep hip sockets. I also am stronger when I squat insde shoulder width.
@ cj: I’ll see about getting some video this weekend. When I was 21 (12 years ago!) I dropped well below parallel with 405 on my back and got stuck. I had no spotter and no safety bars in the rack (no bones about it, I was an idiot) something wrenched and popped in my left knee and it hasn’t been quite right since. I just hobbled for a while and tried to work around it.
I tore my left rotator cuff the day of my high school graduation showing off on the incline bench. The seat was too low so I had to reach back and lift the bar up and forward to get it into position. I’ve had a few shoulder dislocations since but it hasn’t happened for over a decade. When I squat I have to place my hands on the collars. If I try to go any narrower my lack of flexibility puts the weight in my hands instead of on my back. Also due to my tight shoulder girdles I have to place the bar ridiculously high. I’ve gone round and round with my lifting partner about this;
“Bring your hands in…”
I do so and now I’m holding the bar so it’s not even touching my neck.
“Lower the bar…”
I scoot my hands out, and the bar settles down onto my traps.
“Bring your hands in…”
“Mother#@cker, I CAN’T!!!” lol
@Mytch: Not pigeon toed. What’s really weird is my right foot points slightly more outward than my left.
