Frustrated with barbell back squats

[kenjisan70]

@graceadele I'm short but my legs are all femur. And I've decided back squats are not for me. I'm about to start a new cycle of SBS and I'll be subbing in something else - possibly bulgarian split squats, because arthritis in my toes makes lunging really painful. I'm not planning to compete, so why must I back squat, I said to myself. Also everyone else here said it to me haha.

 

[cfdude]

@graceadele Same here! Tall and all leg. I really like the idea of other exercises to feel progress. I’m. A big fan of the Bulgarian split squat with all the variations. But it still do my duty of squats once a week to keep up on technique

 

[ambermyersj]

@graceadele I could've written this myself. I'm a tall gal with all legs, with the length mainly in the femurs, and it sucks how awkward it is for me to squat.

 

[santana27]

@ortho What's your sport/fitness background?

 

[joshhatescheese]

@ortho Have you tried low back squats? Sit the bar further down your back? Helps massively with depth. I also find it more comfortable.

Also do bench squats, squat onto a bench behind you, just a light touch and back up. It’s like a psychological comfort blanket cos you know the bench is there.

Also other ways to build your squat - paused squats and 1.5’s. Paused squat - use lighter weight that you can manage but literally pause in the deep squat for 2-3 seconds. This is great at improving strength.

1.5’s are basically 1 squat but you don’t come fully out of it, you keep constant tension, so only come half way out of the squat and then squat back down again. These are hard but mighty effective.

 

[benjy_lastsonofthewest]

@ortho I'm with you. It took me 8 months to finally get past 65lbs even though my lower body is way strong - I was benching more than that. It was absolutely a mental block for me. I had gotten so frustrated about how hard they were for me (something about my hip or ankle mobility makes it so the standard foot position doesn't work at all) that it got built up in my head as something I just "couldn't" do. Eventually I broke through it, in part by experimenting with foot placement. As long as I kept solid form in my back and knees I am less strict about foot placement. My squat skyrocketed to over my bodyweight quickly after that (but then I burnt out and stopping lifting). I'm just getting back to lifting now after a 5 year hiatus and I'm dreading squats and also feel like it's fine if I don't want to do them. there are so many other ways to get strong if you decide it's not your thing. Because I burnt out so badly on it, I wanna stick to things that push my strength without stressing me psychically.

 

[nessa1234]

@ortho I’m with you, I don’t have a solution so I apologize.
I love squats but I feel inadequate, trying to remedy what is my anatomy, and what’s my shortcomings (like mobility)
I know my legs are strong, I do full ROM on hack squat and leg press with considerably heavy weight but a back squat I can get to parallel and not a bit further without failing!!
It kinda sucks, I’ve stopped progressively overloading my back squat because I feel like I’ll never get low enough to be acceptable form, and then I don’t feel confidence, and like it’s not enough. I mean I know parallel is ok, but everyone boasts ass to grass as the valid way. I’m just starting to feel like I’m literally incapable of doing so with weight on my back

On the flip side, I saw a video from Eugene Teo and I loved what he said about squatting isn’t one size fits all, and what works for you works for you.
If you already work on ankle mobility and hip mobility, Have you tried elevating your heels?

 

[leadbyexample12]

@nessa1234 Agreed, once I saw this video from Eugene Teo I stopped trying to make my squat look like (or be the same weight as) other people. We are all different and have our own strengths and weaknesses.

 

[nessa1234]

@leadbyexample12 Yep! That’s the video!
It made me feel a lot better about myself. I love Eugene, his videos are awesome.

 

[kimber77]

@ortho I had the same issue for a long time. I tend to slack on squats and maybe attempt once a week at the beginning of a workout so I don’t fatigue.

But I found that I lacked mobility and flexibility to hit depth so I’ve been working on that. Also dropped the weight in favor of form. I would recommend the same and also incorporating different kinds of squats like goblet with heels raised.

 

[meritfromgrace]

@kimber77 Form> weights (always)

 

[kalnhoja]

@ortho I feel this. I’ve always been awful with squats, I lose strength so fast, and get the anxiety/dread. Things that helped:

-well for one, I stopped doing them for a while. For like, 3 years. Regardless of how ubiquitous barbell squats are in the weightlifting world, you don’t have to do them. Once I reframed them in my mind as unnecessary, it was helpful mentally. I still did deadlifts, heavy ass goblet squats, leg press, split squats and lunges.

-once I decided to add them back in, all that non-barbell back squat work actually did carry over in strength. Not 100% of course, but I expected to feel weaker than I did. So I started doing more “focused” squat work - box squats, paused squats, 1 ¼ rep squats. Versions that reinforced my ability to hold tension and have strength at the bottom of the rep. Then after a few cycles of these, I started doing regular tempo again. They feel better than they ever did before and I am able to consistently add weight!

 

[lena27]

@ortho Are you training with a coach now, do you wear a belt, do you brace, have you tried finding a proper stance width, do you do accessory work? There's a lot of factors that come into this.

 

[ortho]

@lena27 No coach, no belt, yes brace, yes stance width, yes accessory work.
Yeah I’m starting to realise that there’s a lot of factors going into a barbell squat, so many people do them being able to bang out 100kg+ sets with ease, and it seems such a staple movement that I forget how technical it is

 

[lena27]

@ortho I'd consider investing in a belt and following a program for any barbell work. gl!

 

[danielfromcanada]

@ortho So, I want to bring up genetics. And I am mentioning this exclusive of muscle strength, being sick, etc.

The shape of your body and it's proportions has a HUGE impact on how squats feel, how much you can squat, and what your mechanics should look like.

This article:

https://physiqz.com/workout-plans/how-your-genetics-are-affecting-your-squat-form/

And these videos:

Understanding these concepts is useful. So, before you think it's something you're doing or not doing, it might be genetics. You may never be able to "squat ass to grass" and that's perfectly fine. I know I can't.

That said, it's also normal to lose strength when you get sick. Let your body recover. And don't forget to take rest/deload weeks on regular intervals.

 

[ortho]

@danielfromcanada Thanks for that, definitely worth reminding myself that life happens and your gains take a backseat while things get back on track I don’t really care much about squatting ass to grass actually, but at least breaking parallel would be great, and I think my anatomy should allow for it. I just need to figure out how to keep my form in higher weights that’s all

 

[josephkenm]

@ortho My personal opinion would be to get your form right first. Ass to grass may be overkill, but you want to break parallel. Try squatting to a box, or a few 45 lb bumper plates stacked up. Try a few sets of a challenging weight at 5 reps. Next squat session, try a lower target; use either a smaller box or one less plate on the stack. Repeat until depth is satisfactory. You might even have to try the cycle over again with a heavier weight and the tallest target. You can actually go your whole life training like this if you’d prefer, unless your goal is competing in powerlifting where judges will scrutinize your depth.

Other things to consider: wear a belt or lift on a small incline or in heels. Bracing is important and a belt helps; above a certain weight I do not feel secure/stable/braced enough to hit depth without a belt. You might try putting 2.5 lb plates under your feet or see if the gym you lift at has any wedges. If you feel better squatting like that, you might want to invest in a weightlifting shoe with a heel.

Other things to consider are your goals. If you’re looking to get stronger in an absolute sense, you may need to consider that your progress in max reps and max weight are going to be different. A strength program will have you putting a little more weight on the bar with every session, but doing fewer reps, until you get to a pint where you’re testing what a heavy single rep is for you. If your goal is hypertrophy, the approach will be different. In fact, if you’re looking to grow your quads, using a machine like a hack squat or pendulum squat will pay off better since you’re stabilized by the machine; your body can put more work into moving through the quads than stabilizing the load on your back. Plenty of people go through life without doing bb back squats! No shame in not doing them if they don’t serve your goal.

 

[doctrine]

@ortho I’m in the same boat but my anxieties about form stem from having lower back pain in the past due to improper form. Are you experiencing pain or are you just a perfectionist?

 

[ortho]

@doctrine No pain for me thankfully. Just a perfectionist, trying to follow the art of squatting deeper lol. I usually find that I can go to parallel or slightly below parallel up to around 70kg, then I struggle to maintain that depth in higher weights and I couldn’t figure out why