Ever since I’ve squatted I’ve had one foot about three inches in front of the other one. Is this normal or am I settin myself up for aninjury? When I keep an even stance it feels extremely awkward.
Not a good ideia at all. The leg which is place upfront will recieve less hams work and more quad. With the other it’s the contrary. In the long run this will lead to muscle imbalances.
While there is a chance that you will get an injury I would expect that you’ll end up with some serious muscle imbalances in your quads and back. Go with lighter weight and do some deep squating and get a good stretch. Also try to do some lower back stretching. There’s a good chance you have some flexibility differences on your left vs right. Do you have any ideas as to what might have caused this if that is the case?
I injured the right side of my lower back squatting last feburary. My stance was funny prior to the injury though and I could full squat 405. Right now the heaviest I’ve tested myself at is 285 for three reps.
check your stance when not training. does one of your feet turn outward or in? you may have a tilted pelvis. or 1 leg longer than the other.
Well, you are seeing the first consequence of your changed stance - your max weight has come down a lot. The comments above about developing imbalances is correct. I had exactly the same problem, and further when coming down on a squat rep my hips would swing slightly to the side that was set back from the other side.
My ART/chiro picked up that I had a lot of tightness in the periformis and psoas muscles and worked on loosen them up. He said they got that way from years of poor form and injury. He got me doing hamstring and other stretches. This led to a major improvement in my form as well, such that my squat weights are going up steadily. So, I would have your mechanics looked at and see what they might find.
You may want to have it checked out, especially if you find it uncomfortable or difficult to put the other foot forward, but this method was actually suggested by a presenter at the last SWIS.
Are you referring to the homeostatic stance? I remember reading about that in an article here on T-mag (don’t remember which one). The author said that you could actually do more with one foot slightly in front, but didn’t mention anything about muscle imbalances (if my memory serves me correctly).
My right foot is always pointed at a funny angle due to an old skateboarding injury. I learned today that I can keep my feet nearly paralel to each other but the right foot insists on pointing out.
Not a good idea at all. I suspect you have either a leg length descrepancy, an injury to either the ankle, knee or hip and/or a curvature to your spinal column. Squatting this way will lead to extreme joint wear. Do you deadlift this way as well?
Bad idea. You should hire a powerlifting coach for a session and learn how to squat. You can also get a video tape (westside…) but coach should be better. I’m Assuming that there is nothing physically wrong with you (One leg shorter that the other…)