Apparently I can't squat for squat

[Polaris]

I came to this miserable conclusion yesterday when I did multiple sets and tried to pinpoint the problem area around my hips for my upcoming physio appointment. I deloaded to 40 and 45 kg (from the 55-60 I had been at previously) and kind of felt around my legs as I squatted. I noticed I still couldn't really feel it in my glutes even though I should, so I decided to video myself.

 

Admittedly I was a bit worn out at that point because it was the fourth or fifths set, but watching that video I wanted to bang my head against the squat rack. For one, I wasn't going until parallel, and two, I leaned down/front quite a lot. My back stayed straight, but it's like my upper back went down the last couple of inches when my butt didn't. //Edit: My inner thighs are quite DOMS-y today, butt isn't.

 

I'm devastated. I thought I knew how to squat, because I did back when I started - I had two people check my form. At some point, something's happened. I don't know if it's physical or psychological, because when I put a box behind me and tried BW box squats with it, and it got me just till parallel. But when I put the barbell on my shoulders, I couldn't make my butt touch the box. Just couldn't. I felt like I'll tip backward if I do - the same feeling might contribute to my excessive leaning to the front. Partially it's because of the problem pain in my groin/front thigh that I'm seeing the physio for, but it wasn't so bad that it would have prevented me from going an inch or two lower.

 

I wanna cry and scream and throw the barbell out of the window. I can't because it's not mine and the gym's below ground level, so I guess I'll just cry.

 

In any case, my physio appointment is tomorrow, hopefully she can help me with that issue. After that, next week, I'll probably have to deload again and figure out how to

• get over that mind block and squat just a bit lower
• keep my back in a more upwards position
• how to hit the d¤&n glutes (this is super important, because one of the focuses of my soon-to-start bulk is some srs glute mass gainz)
• start rehabbing whatever's causing that thigh pain
• pick up the shards of my ego and try to glue them back together

[Bullroarer Took]

Form is more a journey than a destination.   Maybe folks with years and years get to the point they don't think about form at all.  But for us mere mortals it seems form always seems to slip and need brought back inline. 

[Noname123]

Always working on form. The thing is you found the issue. I'd start with the bar and focus on form until you feel comfortable with the entire movement again. Video yourself, make sure you're happy with it and then start adding weight. The weight doesn't mean a thing if you're not working what you want to work!

 

It takes time and everyone goes through this, just step back relax and take the challenge head on, you got this!

[Polaris]

Thanks, guys. *sniff* It just hits me really hard when I think I got something and then it turns out I don't. I thought good lifting form worked the same way as a taekwon-do technique, that once you properly learn the move you keep doing it right by muscle memory. Then again, the same moves don't keep getting harder and harder like in lifting...

 

I saw the physio. Good news is that mobility or muscle tightness is not the issue as I thought; on the contrary, I'm still hypermobile as fk and need to make sure I don't abuse that. Bad news is that my left hip is lower than the right, which might be the culprit behind the pain and balance issues. She tested me by making me do goblet squats with my arms straight holding a dumbbell, and I can get ATG on that. Literally, she told me to go as low as I can, so I ended up sitting on the floor, no stretching or warm-up required. I stared up at her and said, "I can get down here but it hurts a bit", and she's like "O___O Yeah well most people can't go that low just like that"

 

Now I just need to figure out why I'm not doing it with back squats and why I'm leaning forward so much. I was prescribed goblet squats for warm-up, abductors with low pulley and the machine, and deloading back to the bar to get my technique down. And pilates about once a week, because I arch my back when I squat and it should help with that.

[Noname123]

Thanks, guys. *sniff* It just hits me really hard when I think I got something and then it turns out I don't. I thought good lifting form worked the same way as a taekwon-do technique, that once you properly learn the move you keep doing it right by muscle memory. Then again, the same moves don't keep getting harder and harder like in lifting...

 

I saw the physio. Good news is that mobility or muscle tightness is not the issue as I thought; on the contrary, I'm still hypermobile as fk and need to make sure I don't abuse that. Bad news is that my left hip is lower than the right, which might be the culprit behind the pain and balance issues. She tested me by making me do goblet squats with my arms straight holding a dumbbell, and I can get ATG on that. Literally, she told me to go as low as I can, so I ended up sitting on the floor, no stretching or warm-up required. I stared up at her and said, "I can get down here but it hurts a bit", and she's like "O___O Yeah well most people can't go that low just like that"

 

Now I just need to figure out why I'm not doing it with back squats and why I'm leaning forward so much. I was prescribed goblet squats for warm-up, abductors with low pulley and the machine, and deloading back to the bar to get my technique down. And pilates about once a week, because I arch my back when I squat and it should help with that.

 

Try both high-bar and low-bar positions? Maybe trying to hit a high-bar position will correct the over-lean of the chest.

[Polaris]

Try both high-bar and low-bar positions? Maybe trying to hit a high-bar position will correct the over-lean of the chest.

That's good advice. I think I squatted high-bar when I (re)started, but I tried to switch to low-bar after being told it's better for glute development or something. (Is it? Is the difference significant?) So there may definitely be some causality there.

[TMedina]

My understanding, and I'm happy to be wrong, is that low bar allows for more weight, whereas high bar lets you hit better range of motion - ATG is more feasible with high bar than it is with a low bar.

 

In order to keep the low bar over your heels, you have to lean forward a lot more - hence the better range of motion with high bar.

 

Two observations from personal experience: I find I drop my chest rather than my glutes when I'm consciously fixating on going low.  

 

And as much as I love squats, I've never felt a burn in the glutes.  You might consider dead lifts and weighted glute bridges and/or hip thrusts instead.

 

Good luck!