Squats kill my hips - JP Fitness Forums

joshman · 09-08-2004, 09:26 AM

I've been having on/off trouble with my hips ever since I started squatting below parallel. It started when I employed box squatting with a very wide stance to about 10". For about three weeks afterwards, I could not repeat that ROM without a very precise pain in the middle of each hip socket.

To adjust, I've started sqautting with my legs and toes angled at about 30-45 degrees from my body. This has almost completely cured the pain, but yesterday the pain came back despite my changed form.

My current routine has me squatting heavy twice a week (it's the Bill Starr routine), and light onec a week. But, because of some outside factors I've been spreading the training week over 8-9 days, so it really ends up with me training every three days. I'm saying this not because I need to be reminded of how wussified that lifting schedule is, but because I don't think that squatting frequency is the issue.

I've had a really tough time learning how to squat comfortably (3 years, and still can't get it right) and would greatly appreciate any pointers or suggestions.

Extra info:
- I did deep front squats instead with no problem
- The pain happens after hitting a deep depth, but it continues throughout almost any ROM for about five minutes.
- The pain is most intense at very deep to about parallel.
- I don't have a belly.
- I do have a rather large @ss.
- I'm 6' tall
- I have a 32" inseam
- I believe I have low knees (the length of my femur is proportionally longer than an avg person; conversely, the length of my shin is shorter than most).

Thanks for the help,
Josh

The last two were for

bryanc · 09-09-2004, 09:34 AM

Was your pain onset sudden (can you attribute it to starting on a specific day/workout?) or was it a more gradual onset?

Do you have the same pain when squatting down (same range of motion), without weights, without a bar over your shoulders? Describe this pain, if any.

If not, do you have the same pain when squatting (same range of motion) with a light weight (say, only the bar and a bit of weight for counterbalance)?

Does the pain occur in your first rep, or after a few reps? Or after you've finished your workout?

DKing · 09-09-2004, 09:58 AM

How wide is your stance? Any super tight muscles you know of around the hip? What does your warmup look like?

Bryan can most likely offer a lot more info than me on this one but I know these three things really killed my hips. I was too wide for a suitless squatter, my hips were super tight and I wasn't warming up enough. Once if fixed those things I lost a lot of the pain but mine was never as intense as yours.

Danny

joshman · 09-09-2004, 12:26 PM

Was your pain onset sudden (can you attribute it to starting on a specific day/workout?) or was it a more gradual onset?

======= Sudden. After a particularly wide set of squats, the next set hurt.

Do you have the same pain when squatting down (same range of motion), without weights, without a bar over your shoulders? Describe this pain, if any.

If not, do you have the same pain when squatting (same range of motion) with a light weight (say, only the bar and a bit of weight for counterbalance)?

======= It hurts a little without a bar. I have a max 1RM of ~270, and 135 hurt so bad on Monday that I had to drop the bar. The pain feels like someone is jabbing a crowbar into the middle of my hip socket. It is very specific and sharp, and it comes on quickly the closer I get to bottom.

Does the pain occur in your first rep, or after a few reps? Or after you've finished your workout?

======= Assuming it's the first workout I've done with squats in a couple of weeks, the pain is minor (1/10), if any, and starts on the first rep.

======= The NEXT workout, the first rep is a 7/10 pain, and this remains for the rest of the routine, if I continue.

How wide is your stance? Any super tight muscles you know of around the hip? What does your warmup look like?

======= My stance is around 35-40" wide from the middel of each foot.

======= If anything is tight it will be my hams, from what I can tell.

======= My warm-up is ten to fifteen minutes of pushing my manual lawn mower around a pretty hilly yard. I try to use large strides and go as fast as possible. If I'm squatting, my warm-up will include starting at a light set of 135.

Thanks for the help, guys.

bryanc · 09-14-2004, 04:59 PM

It's time to go and see the doctor. Ignore sharp, deep pains at your own peril. It could be a number of things, none of which can be verified via messageboard.

joshman · 10-01-2004, 09:58 AM

Update: I've been keeping my feet closer together and this pain has gone away completely. But by increasing the width of my stance by only three or four inches I can cause this pain again.

Very strange. Is this impending doom? It would seem to hint at some tight muscles in my mind.

What type of doctor can I go to see about this stuff? I'd like to make sure that I don't come away with advice that everyone will scoff at on this board.

Thanks,
Josh