Squat causing Hip Flexor pain..

[Shanecutler51]

Basically took a week off from squatting after last time I tried I couldn't sit back far enough due to my hip flexor bothering me. Wish I had something to record and post a vid to show my form on here. Basically I sit back and my knees are about even with my toes but I have to lean forward quit a bit since I am quite tall to keep my center of balance in the right place(which I think is causing more strain on my hip flexors). I'm not leaning so far it is a good morning or anything of that sort. Unsure what could be causing me to injure my hip flexors during squats. Any ideas on what this could be? I also feel like I'm not using my glutes and hamstrings enough.

[freeride88]

Are you box squatting or free squatting? What sort of weight causes this pain, low weight or a max effort? What sort of shoes are you wearing?

[Shanecutler51]

just regular squatting. I usually get the pain after or during heavy squat days. Around 5 rep range. I do 4 sets total besides 3 warm up sets working up to the weight. I usually just squat in basketball shoes. When I get the pain I just do leg presses/extensions. The next week after heavy squat day I try warming up and it's just slight pain in my hip flexors as I push my hips back but the slight pain prevents me from being able to complete the motion.

[bigred90]

id start with foam rolling(if you dont have one invest 10 bucks) and some stretching. Maybe take a week off of heavy squats, just do some wide box squats just to see if it helps stretch it out. If it really hurts, id see a doctor. I had hip tendonitis for a while, and box squats+stretching rly helped me get my hips feeling good.

[rawPL]

ive had the same pains you described from squatting on and off for the last 1.5 yrs. my initial reaction was to just squat through the pain, which became absolutely debilitating very quickly. i have taken control of it by now with extended warmups. dynamic legs swings are the best for loosening it up - just do them before and between every set when squatting and even in your off days. taking a few days off to rehab wont hurt either. goodluck, i feel your pain.

[freeride88]

Like the above poster, I found that I wasn't warming up enough when I was a bit new to lifting. I began to start every workout by walking on the treadmill, no matter how else I was planning to warm up. Even five minutes on the treadmill at a walk gets the blood flowing, and then some bodyweight squats and some leg swings might do the trick. I would take a bit of time off from squatting, maybe a week or two, then come back and warm up SERIOUSLY and start with relatively light weight. As long as you aren't feeling any pain, work back up in weight slowly.

[Shanecutler51]

Thanks a ton for the tips guys. Probably wasn't warming up enough since I usually just put 135 on the bar and squat it about 5 times for my warm up, then 225 then 315 then call the warm up good =/

[bigred90]

yea, usually the amount of warm up i do was depending on how tight i felt but usually id do

5 minutes on a bike
barx10
135x5(maybe another set if i feel tight)
225x5
and just do my stretches between them. mountain climbers and leg swings are a good dynamic stretch to do to loosen the hips up.

[UhhWhatever]

Narrow up your squat stance if it's wide.
Stretch your hip flexors.
Warm up better.