Struggling with squats...
beck13boo
Posts: 5
I've been pointed here for sensible advice. Not wanting to occupy lots of your time so very happy for any "quick and dirty" comments and/or discussion!
Basics
Female, 5'1, 100lb, 31 years old, navy calculations suggest 16% body fat but being realistic think nearer 20% than 16%! I'm eating at maintenance which is 2000-2200 calories per day, I get about 60g per day of protein because I have GERD and I get terrible pain if I go over that mark no matter how cleverly I try and spread it out.
Been lifting weights for ~6 months. Struggling with squats. Got to 40kg reasonably quickly on the barbell and right knee started tracking out to the side and I was having trouble getting the whole way down. I deloaded, went back to basics, built back up and now having same problems at 32kg. I have to battle to get the whole way down and then my right knee wants to go out to the side on the way back up. I'm MUCH more comfortable with a wider stance and my form is decent, I'm weighting my heels, engaging glutes and abs etc. I'm doing 3 sets of 5.
By contrast I'm up to 3x10 of 60kg on hip thrusts and 3x10 of 70kg on glute bridges, and I can bench (3x5) 28kg which is almost as much as I can squat!
I don't do dead lifts because I have a bit of a block on them (worried about injuring myself) and I don't have a good enough floor to drop the barbell onto.
Any suggestions on where I might be going wrong with the squats? Or have I just capped out on my strength for the amount of protein I can safely consume?
Basics
Female, 5'1, 100lb, 31 years old, navy calculations suggest 16% body fat but being realistic think nearer 20% than 16%! I'm eating at maintenance which is 2000-2200 calories per day, I get about 60g per day of protein because I have GERD and I get terrible pain if I go over that mark no matter how cleverly I try and spread it out.
Been lifting weights for ~6 months. Struggling with squats. Got to 40kg reasonably quickly on the barbell and right knee started tracking out to the side and I was having trouble getting the whole way down. I deloaded, went back to basics, built back up and now having same problems at 32kg. I have to battle to get the whole way down and then my right knee wants to go out to the side on the way back up. I'm MUCH more comfortable with a wider stance and my form is decent, I'm weighting my heels, engaging glutes and abs etc. I'm doing 3 sets of 5.
By contrast I'm up to 3x10 of 60kg on hip thrusts and 3x10 of 70kg on glute bridges, and I can bench (3x5) 28kg which is almost as much as I can squat!
I don't do dead lifts because I have a bit of a block on them (worried about injuring myself) and I don't have a good enough floor to drop the barbell onto.
Any suggestions on where I might be going wrong with the squats? Or have I just capped out on my strength for the amount of protein I can safely consume?
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Replies
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Would need a video to make any helpful comments, there is a form videos sticky in this forum or you could post it here
I did wonder though ....I'm MUCH more comfortable with a wider stance and my form is decent,
Why not just squat a bit wider then?0 -
Sorry if that wasn't clear. I do squat with a wider stance because this is how I'm most comfortable.
I don't have anyone to take a video of me and it's not something I can easily video myself, which was partly why I was after general comments/suggestions of common issues so I can go away and investigate.0 -
As far as I know it's the hamstring and glutes that play the biggest part in stabilising the knee/how your knee tracks over your foot
I would add in some single leg exercises like fear foot elevated split squats and lunges and see how you get on. If you are much stronger/stable on your left leg then that's probably the answer.
Could be a mobility issue also if you can't get into a squat position like this then that needs to be looked at
http://s61.photobucket.com/user/Gubernatrix/
media/strength%20training/supported_squat.jpg.html0 -
That's perfect, thank you. I shall give the split squats a go and see how I get on.
It's not a mobility issue because I can get all the way into a deep squat with no problems, until the weights hit the 30kg mark anyway! I think I'm going to treat myself to a sports massage just to make sure I'm not harbouring tension anywhere though.0 -
When you say your knee is tracking out...is it going outside your toe?
How wide is your stance and how much at an angle are your toes?
As Hendrix indicated, it could well be a hamstring strength issue, but as it's only on one side, the single leg work should help a lot.
It's hard to be specific without a video - I always video my lifts - I just use my iphone and prop it against something.0 -
Right knee is going outside of toe yes Sara, but only on the way up. I can control the down no problem, it's shooting out on the way up, if I drop the weight then it doesn't happen.
Stance wise, I'm doing the 'barbell wide stance squat' from BC's strong curves book, purely as mentioned because I find this the most comfortable way to squat. Feet slightly wider than shoulders with feet at 45 degre angle.
I had a go at some body weight split squats yesterday and didn't notice any difference between right and left leg so I am going to try with dumbbells later to see if some weight highlights any differences.
I can try getting creative with iPhone and videoing squats, I literally just have the power cage in that room though so I'm going to have to get something to prop the phone on.0 -
I tend to turn my feet out a bit on squats too, but I'm getting better in that regard as I gain more flexibility in my hips. Ideally you should have toes facing forward as this lets you generate the most torque off the ground. It does take some work though.
I will just go down into a squat (bodyweight) and try to stay as long and as deep as I can. When I started I couldn't hold it for more than 10 seconds, now I can do it about 30-45 seconds.
I also do what our coaches call a gentleman's stretch. Get down on the floor and get your butt up against a wall, then swing your feet up like you are sitting and cross one leg over the other and (if needed) push your knee down. you will feel your hamstrings and your glutes stretching quite nicely. Then just let gravity drop your hips as the muscles continue to loosen. Hold it for one minute or so on each side.
I do both of these before every squat session.0 -
Ideally you should have toes facing forward as this lets you generate the most torque off the ground.
That's actually something heavily debatable/debated.0 -
I suspect I'm more likely to be suffering with over flexibility than under, I've practiced yoga for years and I always had a natural amount of flexibility. I have no problems with all the advanced yoga hip stretches, and my back bends are intimediate level so no tight hip flexors either. I have less stability through my right leg with dumbbell split squats, it takes me a few seconds for my body to organise and stabilise the leg, where as it comes much more naturally with the left. I'm going to drop the barbell squat weight to 30kg and incorporate some dumbbell split squats until my strength is up down that side and re weight from there. Thank you for the input!0
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Ideally you should have toes facing forward as this lets you generate the most torque off the ground.
That's actually something heavily debatable/debated.
Indeed, especially if you squat pretty wide keeping your feet pointed straight forward is not going to be good for your hips. You will see almost all wider stance squatters have their feet turned out.
Also worth saying this may be something that just goes in time once you build up general strength. My *kitten* used to shift to the left at the point of reversing out of the whole all the time then suddenly I just stopped doing it..I don't remember ever doing anything specific to fix it.0 -
Ideally you should have toes facing forward as this lets you generate the most torque off the ground.
That's actually something heavily debatable/debated.
While you can possibly generate more torque which is why you see some powerlifters do it - it is not good on the knees or hips and should not be looked to be done that way.0
This discussion has been closed.