A Guide To Better Squatting
The set up and movement
Before we start, make sure that your footwear is correct. You either need shoes with a hard flat sole, or you need to go barefoot. If you have lifting shoes then fine, but do not squat in trainers.
1) Fix your feet at around 10 degrees of turn out.
2) Have your feet just wider than shoulder width apart.
3) Ensure the bar is in a stable position, it shouldn't be rolling up or down your back.
4) To initiate the movement, brace your core, break at the hip and begin sitting back. Focus on getting your knees out as soon as they start to bend, the wider the better. This should be a conscious effort for the entire rep.
5) Aim to sink your hip crease below your knee.
6) Be active and have good tension in your core and glutes. This should make your lower back stiffer and reduce rounding. Active glutes (particularly glute medius, on the side) both facilitates a better hip/femur (and by extension knees out) relationship thus reducing lower back rounding by creating more "space" to descend into, and also makes for a stronger squat. Make sure your lock out fully and bring your hips through.
7) Try to maintain your "chest up" position, your spine shouldn't be undergoing any flexion or extension throughout the lift. Engage your lats hard and pull the bar onto your back.
8) The weight should not be on your toes. You should be driving through your heals while gripping with your feet and trying to spread the floor.
Problem solving
Some of those things will either be difficult to achieve or will make things look or feel worse at first, so here's what you need to do for each step:
1) Easy to actually do, but will probably cause problems. Your knees need to travel radially out from midline, and if you're missing healthy range in your ankle the only place your shins (and therefore knees) can go is inside the plane set by your heal/big toe, collapsing the foot. In general, you should test this and see how your feet/ankles behave and ensure that, while your feet stay parallel and active and flat (in terms of weight distribution), your knees can go diagonally out at around 40 degrees as far forwards as the line of your big toe.
DO NOT PUT ANYTHING UNDER YOUR HEELS TO COMPENSATE.
To fix any limitations, work through this stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBt5F2mMUtU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkepajNHiDw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLj_VkfQzJI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKewdExgRh4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gwgm3s2EQ0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCFlfgCqpK8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMQL7_HNV_Y
2) Just do it
3)
http://stronglifts.com/squat-bar-position/
4) Now that we’ve fixed point 1 (right?!), any problems here should be down to tight medial hamstrings/adductors and poor medial glute activation.
To fix tightness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBHzXF-mVjY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3FZhTwubn4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OrCVT9N9kM
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Other problems, such as a tight TFL, should be tackled by the mobilisations later on. [/FONT]We’ll fix glutes next...
5) Problems here will probably result in the pelvis tilting under at the bottom, which puts the lower back at risk of injury. This should now be a function of hamstring/glute length and hip orientation.
Hammies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdPfxLXm55Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rj5YOleets
Hip flexors/quads:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EiUquYdyPU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxhyEDDzQ20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUKhljDYOZM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4nWPeyDfNM – bit of glutes too
Glutes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWfnAUsYUTI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoXIIVywwic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY31J5BeKrg
6) Make sure that you’re doing your core exercises, and work through some basic glute activation exercises. A lot of this can be solved by just being more conscious of driving the hips through at the top.
Glute activation:
Start with basic glute bridges (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qC-PxNcNlI, abs tight and toes up – minimise hamstring involvement) , progressing to uni-laterial movement by hooking one foot over the opposite knee and adding weights held on the lower abs. You can then incorporate pull throughs, and clams (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTIFLKEjypY)
7) This is probably a matter of just doing it, but many of you will also have stiff thoracic spines.
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/07/episode-294365-shoulder-what-to-fix-first-and-wii-mob.html
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2010/09/free-your-scap-free-your-mind.html
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/03/episode-209365-free-your-ribs-your-mind-will-follow.html
IMPORTANT POINT: When working on your thoracic spine, what will often happen is that your lumbar (lower back) or cervical (neck) spine will flex/extend to compensate for a stiff t-spine. Do not let this happen, as this neutralises the effect on your t-spine. For example, when foam rolling your t-spine, don't let your lumbar region extend, keep your belly tight and your glutes switched on. This also means the bottom of your ribs shouldn’t be sticking up as you extend over the roller, and you should make sure that your neck is in line with the rest of your spine (i.e. not looking way over head).
8) See point one for ankle range of motion problems.
This is also a good video series (apart from the stuff about looking up):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkF9QD7oCIA&feature=BFa&list=PL0FCC7D1D4A896FF5&lf=results_main
As said, it just felt 'pumped' during the session, uncomfortably pumped, since then it's not changed really with the pain, goes every so often and varies day to day.
