Taller ladies with very long femurs - Does Squatting Ever Get Easier?

[misshendry]

@faithfulsteward7 I'm 6'2" with a lot of mobility issues from narrow hips and long femurs, and I'm also a former trainer.

Wide stance, feet pointed slightly outwards, keep your knees going in line with the way your feet are pointed. Really stick your ass out when coming down, and it's perfectly fine to let your knees go past your toes.

Also spend time at the end of your workout working on stretching your achilles and glutes. It makes a really big difference after a few months in your range of motion. Working in these helped my squat form a ton.

Achilles stretch: https://exrx.net/Stretches/Soleus/FloorBoard

Glute stretch: https://exrx.net/Stretches/GluteusMaximus/Lying

 

[faithfulsteward7]

@misshendry Thank you!!

 

[kathyw]

@faithfulsteward7 I’m president of my local Long Femur Club chapter, nice to know ya! I got the double whammy of insanely long femurs and absurdly short torso, so I know this struggle all too well. Your trainer sounds new and inexperienced, or ignorant. I’d get a new trainer because even with all that aside; you doubt your trainer and you have to be able to trust them.

A wider stance than you’d expect and/or heel elevation will surely help a ton getting you to or even below parallel. Really working on your ankle mobility can help a ton too. I recommend looking up Eugene Teo’s plate loaded squat stance progression to help you find and get comfortable with an ideal stance for your build and then you can load weight from there once you’ve gotten into a groove that feels good for you.

Squatting still isn’t my strength, but I’m progressing with weight and my moderate weights (equal to my body weight!) feel like butter these days. If you put the work in they won’t feel bad forever, I promise.

 

[leadbyexample12]

@kathyw Agreed on Eugene Teo, he has a good one on anatomy and long femurs here.

Also don't be afraid to try other squat movements. For me front squat feels much better, even the split squats everyone likes to hate on feel ok. My back squat sucks but it does come along, very very slowly, but sometimes that makes it even more rewarding.

 

[healedinchrist275]

@kathyw fellow long femur, short torso girly checking in. i have the triple whammy of weak hips on top of that, so i really struggle with wide stance squats.

one thing that helped me was playing around with bar positioning and grip. i used to think that i had to squat low bar for glute gains, which was causing me to lean forward excessively and struggle to even hit parallel, but once i started resting the bar on my traps i was able to improve my depth noticeably.

 

[kathyw]

@healedinchrist275 Yeah, in a perfect world I’d low bar because it’s far more comfortable and secure to hold the bar there (my shoulder mobility requires a NARROW grip on the bar for high bar) but I’m not built for that. So I squat high bar and low bar my good mornings haha

 

[greaterthanorequalto]

@faithfulsteward7 Heel lifts helped me - just a couple of small plates. I also have very tight calf muscles so stretching those every day helped.

Ultimately though I still don't enjoy squats. I increasingly do Bulgarians or lunges instead.

Now deadlifts on the other hand...

 

[thomasw59]

@greaterthanorequalto Deadlifts are my favorite and definitely my strongest lift.

 

[mommaulia]

@faithfulsteward7 I am also mostly limbs with a pathetically short torso and squats and bench are not a vibe for me but since I want to compete in PL I've had to figure it out.

That being said, I only squat low bar so that I can bend my torso forward more, I wear squat shoes and my knees track out at about a 45 degree angle because my hip capsule just cannot hit depth otherwise.

 

[amber11e]

@faithfulsteward7 your trainer is bad. clearly she doesn't know different anatomy and leverages. mine was bad too. i have long femur and when i asked him about it, he kept saying "just stop leaning forward" BITCH I CANT HELP IT. I HAVE LONG LEGS. if i dont lean forward I feel like I'm going to fall on my ass.

what helped is using a wider stance (wider than you think) and elevated heels. Also if you're new to the gym, there's plenty other workouts to grow the quads, it doesnt have to be barbell squats. The best alternative to bbb squats is Bulgarian Split Squats which I started doing instead. I also occasionally do front squats as I find it easier than back squats. You can also try low bar squats. And if you have one in your gym, hack squats.

 

[hillsongperth]

@faithfulsteward7 I’m tall and mostly femur also. I had so much trouble maintaining stability while squatting on the descent specifically, and terrible knee pain during and after, that I saw an exercise physiologist for help.

What they recommended was looping a resistance band just above my knees for support. Some purists aren’t fond of this idea for various reasons, but it’s what helped me go from barely doing bodyweight squats properly, to being able to do barbell squats so low my butt almost touches the floor.

I know you didn’t mention knee pain but still, nothing to lose by letting you know it could be worth a shot. Good luck.

 

[brendag]

@faithfulsteward7 Is this why I hate squatting lol

 

[thelordismyshepherdloljks]

@faithfulsteward7 It might be helpful to video yourself and get a form check here - it's easier to offer tips when we can see the movement.

I also have long femurs so I understand your pain - squats are like my least fave even after all years of doing them.

Based on what you said, I'd say perhaps check in on the body parts above and below your hips -- meaning ankles and calves and core and back.

Ankle mobility can have a big limiting factor for squats. You can try elevating your heels to make it easier to get deeper in your squat, while also working on improving your ankle mobility.

Core - are you bracing and do you have decent upper body strength? Lack of can lead to more forward lean cod your upper body just can't bear the load. There's also packing your lats and setting a strong upper back to hold the bar.

Nothing wrong with a wider squat, if that feels better.

For me, squats really are a neverending project in terms of tweaking form and finding what works. There are loads of really helpful videos and resources: check out people like Squat University or Juggernaut Training and do your own homework.

But if you really don't want to squat, there are squat alternatives like the leg press or single leg work which are less technical and frustrating.

 

[daughterofchrist2008]

@faithfulsteward7 Hi! I’m a 6’1 (185cm) woman and squats were suuuuper hard for me until I switched to front squats! Something about the weight distribution over my very long legs just totally changed the game. Don’t get too hung up on doing one particular exercise - if it doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t work. There’s a thousand ways to skin a cat, and even more ways to grow your glutes!

Edit to say: I also had a physio do a glute release on me and wow, I did not realise how much my tight/wonky glutes were messing me up.

 

[leadbyexample12]

@daughterofchrist2008 Yeah I wish I would have listened to this advice sooner.

 

[michellegen34]

@daughterofchrist2008 Front squats are the fucking best. After I started doing them instead, I gained a lot of insight into my own movements, which subsequently helped me work out my technical issues with back squats.

 

[kate22]

@daughterofchrist2008 Yes, I am tall with long femurs and front squats are so much easier for me too. The movement just feels right.

 

[kmb3rlym]

@faithfulsteward7 A wide stance with knees tracking over your toes is fine, if I tried to squat without my knees coming forward I’d just fall over. Just make sure that your knees aren’t caving inwards.
You could try a lower bar position which might enable you to keep your back a little higher. You could try raising your ankles with lifting shoes or a small plate and see if it makes a difference. I’ve progressed with my squat after a plateau and something that has really helped is heavy lifts on machines (leg extension/curl/press). Would recommend!

 

[faithfulsteward7]

@kmb3rlym Thanks!

I’ve taken to super setting by using the leg press first, then performing a goblet squat. I still have very meh depth but I’ve at least found that mind muscle connection is aided by leg pressing first, and going straight to the goblet. I’ve found putting some thin plates under my feet does help but not a whole bunch.

I think part of it is my trainer being really obsessive about not letting my knees move forward at all. At one point she would hold them in place and not allow any forward movement, which really means I need the widest stands known to man. I almost feel like sending her literature on why it’s ok especially for long femurs but I don’t want to be an ass lol. I’m definitely getting gradually deeper as the weeks go by and my machine leg work is progressing, but just watching myself squat in the mirror, I know I’m only ever going to be getting parallel at best. I feel like my anatomy requires what a lot of people consider is a poor form squat (forward lean, knees forward) and it’s hard as a newbie to feel confident in that.

 

[michellegen34]

@faithfulsteward7 I wouldn't pay for a person that's just straight up wrong. She's not helping you, and that stuff will just actively discourage you from squatting, since they don't feel right. Small femur people can squat without tracing much ahead of their toes, but most people don't, and that's totally fine and normal. It's the angle of your back/legs and general balance that really matters. Once those are right, squats will feel right.