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Ode to Squat... and 6 tips to improve technique

I don't have a trap bar. I do squats on Sunday an DL on Thursday. DL does not seem to bother my hips.

I don't think there is much wrong with my squat form. I am just old, have sat for hours playing video games, and my hips are immobile.

What I experience is more deep in the joint... it's not DOMS.

I can squat down to about parallel with no pain. The extra 2 inches or so is what is causing the problem. As I say when squatting down to the chair which the front is nearly a hand width below my knee and just lightly brush the chair, no 'significant' pain.

I have persisted with an extreme amount of mobility work for quite a while and noticed no significant difference. I intend to keep it going.

I have given this a while to sort itself out but I am kinda worried about my long term hip health now.
 
solarbear said:
I don't have a trap bar. I do squats on Sunday an DL on Thursday. DL does not seem to bother my hips.

I don't think there is much wrong with my squat form. I am just old, have sat for hours playing video games, and my hips are immobile.

What I experience is more deep in the joint... it's not DOMS.

I can squat down to about parallel with no pain. The extra 2 inches or so is what is causing the problem. As I say when squatting down to the chair which the front is nearly a hand width below my knee and just lightly brush the chair, no 'significant' pain.

I have persisted with an extreme amount of mobility work for quite a while and noticed no significant difference. I intend to keep it going.

I have given this a while to sort itself out but I am kinda worried about my long term hip health now.
Click to expand...

I would give lunge stretches a go and avoid squats for the time begin until you are more mobile
 
solarbear said:
No

I do goblets, lunges and bw squats with no dramas.
Click to expand...

Have you thought about starting again with just the bar and adding 2.5kg a session?
Would be curious to see at which point you started getting pain - if at all
 
I find my hips hurt squatting without the bar even (lots of sitting, very immobile), but I'm finding slow but sure improvements over time as i stretch into the position. It would probably help a lot if i didn't need to sit for 8 hours a day in front of a PC.
 
As said before I am 38.

I dunno exactly. I can do about 6-8 reps with 140. Maybe more. Haven't really pushed myself to do more than 7 with it.

Most of my worksets have been over 140 for about 4 or 5 months. Generally, I follow 5/3/1 and my final set of 5 is over 140 and most of the 3's and 1's. Given the monthly progression its been like this for a while. My current working weight is 170.
 
My current working weight is 170.

What does this mean 1 rep at 170kg?

Look, if you want advice you got to give good detail.
But based on your age and possible poor form over a long time I'd say you are better off reducing weight and increasing your rep's a target of 20 reps that you can just do and work from there.
Change every three months, low weight high, the higher weight lowers rep's the following 3 months.
 
Goosey said:
My current working weight is 170.

What does this mean 1 rep at 170kg?

.
Click to expand...

With 5/3/1 you start with 90% of your 1RM, as the weight you use to calculate your lifts from, and add 5kg each cycle. After about a year you may need to retest if you are getting close to failing. I used a 4RM as my start, as 90% is usually a 4RM. Has worked well for quite a while.

I may reset my weights either drop 10kg off the maxes and work back up or actually retest for a new 4RM.

I am not stupid as some people's replies seem to indicate nor do I feel like I have bad form. I am sure my form is not 100% perfect - Whose is? - but I have practiced quite a bit with lighter weights to perfect it and seems to be on par with many I have seen in videos. Quite simply, as I break parallel the hip opens up too much and there is a structural problem. I never had this problem till I read an article on Box Squatting 4 years ago, gave it a try and have suffered with this problem ever since.

I am currently leaning towards going back to using the little chair. Its about 15" tall and stops me just at parallel. I squatted for quite a while with the chair to mark the bottom of my squat and had minimal problems with my hips using it. A parallel squat is much better than no squat IMHO.

Mobility exercises have some effect, in that they allow me to squat with pretty good form and achieve a nice deep squat, but don't seem to help the 'day after' pain entirely. Maybe they reduce the day after pain by 50-75%, its hard to say as I have been doing them for years. If the pain was 50% greater I would feel like a cripple.
 
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Squats and hip/knee trouble

I’ve been squatting (training) now on and off for twenty (20) plus years. Done some ridiculous squat workouts when younger. I assume due to the testosterone surge squats give. Suffer a dicky knee and hip soreness now as I age.
I train weights four days per week and MMA train three days per week on “good” weeks. The MMA bridging, scrambling and boxing which rotates and works the hips I suspect has kept my hip soreness at bay. The hill runs seems to help my knee. When I stop all these the problems seem to reoccur. Also I now do some quite heavy power cleans which I suspect may be causing hip trouble – as the upper body gets stronger it forces the hips to work more???
I suspect its all a part of the use it or lose it principle. Keep the hips and associated areas active and stretched as you age. I used to get arthritis in my fingers from martial arts and boxing training when younger. Now that I use a keyboard all day no finger arthritis - suspect that keyboard fingers movement has stopped the arthritis symptoms. Other than the obvious getting up from the desk at work, I stretch and move alot. Some workplaces allow exercise balls instead of chairs, I’ve certainly considered it at home.
Never found lunges great for my knees, somewhat the opposite.
 
solarbear said:
Yeah I suspect 10h+ stretches of playing computer games have not helped me at all.
Click to expand...


Hey Solar. Couches are a coont for the core. That in itself will produce problems. Get a Kinect for Xbox! Great for entertaining too! or stand up and yell like I do when playing MW3.....my neighbors fear me:)
 
Solar. I twinged my back last week and didn't train Monday morning (MMA), poor training yesterday (weights), just got back from MMA training this morning and had hip soreness.............was it the lack of training Monday and Tuesday. Obviously alot of variables but..............lack of activity and limited stretching occurred monday, tuesday.
 
Solar, can you explain in more detail where this hip pain is. The sacrum takes quite a beating with wider squats, and some people don't recover well from that, creating chronic pain.
 
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