Squatting, Hip Depth, Femur Position

chris1816

http://startingstrength.com/articles/active_hip_2_rippetoe.pdf

Good read from Mark Rippetoe, as usual gets very technical but is one of the more solid breakdowns into understanding squat depth and mobility I have seen.

sandradev1

OMG Chris, there's too many words LOL. is there a video to watch?

I think it's probably in the book I bought, but great info you're passing on as always.

Thanks.

Nefetete

Thanks for posting, totally Rippetoe style long and detailed. I am still struggling my way through the book.

heatherloveslifting

I just finished reading his book section on squats, had a trainer check my form, and totally thought I was doing it right...and then took a video and clearly I'm not.

chris1816

I just finished reading his book section on squats, had a trainer check my form, and totally thought I was doing it right...and then took a video and clearly I'm not.

Curious, what were you doing wrong? Tracking too much forward? If so that is generally quickly fixed by widening the stance until that stops. Another good remedy is to do hip flexor stretches daily and right before squatting, in addition to mobility exercises. Try doing the below routine right before squatting and then do it.

http://youtu.be/x1ja4EFIKtc

heatherloveslifting

I just finished reading his book section on squats, had a trainer check my form, and totally thought I was doing it right...and then took a video and clearly I'm not.

Curious, what were you doing wrong? Tracking too much forward? If so that is generally quickly fixed by widening the stance until that stops. Another good remedy is to do hip flexor stretches daily and right before squatting, in addition to mobility exercises. Try doing the below routine right before squatting and then do it.

http://youtu.be/x1ja4EFIKtc

Thank you! Some of those look like a workout by themselves- and LOL at the panda bears! I think I am not going down low enough, also I'm just not "smooth". How many people are in this group?

ETA since you don't have thousands...here is my extremely unattractive video:
http://s88.beta.photobucket.com/user/burkin/media/B29DA776-AE8C-4115-A011-54EDEE0DACF2-3463-00000456EADE07E9_zpscb29c302.mp4.html

chris1816

I just finished reading his book section on squats, had a trainer check my form, and totally thought I was doing it right...and then took a video and clearly I'm not.

Curious, what were you doing wrong? Tracking too much forward? If so that is generally quickly fixed by widening the stance until that stops. Another good remedy is to do hip flexor stretches daily and right before squatting, in addition to mobility exercises. Try doing the below routine right before squatting and then do it.

http://youtu.be/x1ja4EFIKtc

Thank you! Some of those look like a workout by themselves- and LOL at the panda bears! I think I am not going down low enough, also I'm just not "smooth". How many people are in this group?

ETA since you don't have thousands...here is my extremely unattractive video:
http://s88.beta.photobucket.com/user/burkin/media/B29DA776-AE8C-4115-A011-54EDEE0DACF2-3463-00000456EADE07E9_zpscb29c302.mp4.html

Okay few things:

1) It was hard to tell but it seemed like you might have been pointing your feet out a little bit too much. Turn them inward more ever so lightly.

2) Try squatting barefoot, see how it feels, your shoes look like they have gigantic puffy soles.

3) Sit on a chair or couch, then stand up ,take a step or two forward and then sit back and down like you are compensating for the distance and trying to sit back down again. That is how you should lower yourself in the squat. You can go lower, I can see that, but you are coming back up seemingly as soon as you hit the beginning of the stretch reflex in your glutes and hamstrings. Rely on your glutes to do their job of pulling you back up and drive with your hips.

4) To help you get that depth and more actively engage the muscles involved, suck in a deep breath, tense your abs like you are about to get punched in the stomach, brace your back and squat. That core tension will give you more support and confidence in coming a bit lower and being able to come up out of the hole.

5) Once again, b-b-back that *kitten* up. If you mentally do that you will automatically squat a bit deeper. You at least want to hit parallel, don't worry about going *kitten* to grass.

heatherloveslifting

I just finished reading his book section on squats, had a trainer check my form, and totally thought I was doing it right...and then took a video and clearly I'm not.

Curious, what were you doing wrong? Tracking too much forward? If so that is generally quickly fixed by widening the stance until that stops. Another good remedy is to do hip flexor stretches daily and right before squatting, in addition to mobility exercises. Try doing the below routine right before squatting and then do it.

http://youtu.be/x1ja4EFIKtc

Thank you! Some of those look like a workout by themselves- and LOL at the panda bears! I think I am not going down low enough, also I'm just not "smooth". How many people are in this group?

ETA since you don't have thousands...here is my extremely unattractive video:
http://s88.beta.photobucket.com/user/burkin/media/B29DA776-AE8C-4115-A011-54EDEE0DACF2-3463-00000456EADE07E9_zpscb29c302.mp4.html

Okay few things:

1) It was hard to tell but it seemed like you might have been pointing your feet out a little bit too much. Turn them inward more ever so lightly.

2) Try squatting barefoot, see how it feels, your shoes look like they have gigantic puffy soles.

3) Sit on a chair or couch, then stand up ,take a step or two forward and then sit back and down like you are compensating for the distance and trying to sit back down again. That is how you should lower yourself in the squat. You can go lower, I can see that, but you are coming back up seemingly as soon as you hit the beginning of the stretch reflex in your glutes and hamstrings. Rely on your glutes to do their job of pulling you back up and drive with your hips.

4) To help you get that depth and more actively engage the muscles involved, suck in a deep breath, tense your abs like you are about to get punched in the stomach, brace your back and squat. That core tension will give you more support and confidence in coming a bit lower and being able to come up out of the hole.

5) Once again, b-b-back that *kitten* up. If you mentally do that you will automatically squat a bit deeper. You at least want to hit parallel, don't worry about going *kitten* to grass.

Okay thank you! :flowerforyou: