wow, i cant back squat

[nickolas388]

yeh...title says it all, i cant back squat for s***. iv literally been trying for almost 2 years now, i just cant do it. iv watched endless videos, read countless articles , and read a bunch of posts about squatting. i know exactly what to do with all the research iv done. i have my chuck taylors , my whole body is tight, iv tried going wider and more narrow with my feet, i grip the bar tight and pull my back together. i sit back and push up from my heels will making sure my knees dont go in. i keep my back in a natural position the entire time. i even tried box squats so im making sure i sit back and everything.

as i come up to perform the squat, im just not stable at all no matter how tight i try to keep my body. i feel like im going to fall back or even forward a lot of the times. im squatting as if im a person whos vastly overweight with weak legs. my body isn't strangely proportioned either, besides that i have longer than average arms. my flexibility is good also! i stretch after every workout (including legs) and i practice yoga. my flexibility is definitely above average..

i can FRONT squat all day without any issues. my whole body feels tighter and my form is on point. when i first started front squatting i perfected the form after trying it about 5 times. i can actually front squat more weight comfortably than i can back squat.

i want to work on getting a video to show you guys, but i dont know anyone at my gym who could take it for me yet. im still working on it though. has anyone had this problem where they just cant squat? its damn annoying. sorry for the rant, its just fresh on my mind because i was trying to squat today and failed to do it correctly once again.


thanks,



-nick

[allergic2rice]

really can't say much without a video.

anything else would be pure speculation

[Retoaded]

i am sure you have tried this since you have been trying so much, but have you actually gone a period of a few weeks where you stretched your hips hard every day? It has taken me 2.5 months to be able to squat parallel without my body trying to rock me forwards or backwards...and its all because I have stretched hard every day for about 4 or 5 weeks. squat to stand and sprinters stretches.

[chazzy1864]

Just set the camera on a nearby rack or drag a flat/adjustable bench over near you and set the camera on it.

[kanis999]

I'm in the same boat as you, OP, as far as the squat form goes. We're learning to correct bad habits we've had for years in as few sessions as possible. Unfortunately, these bad habits can't be fixed in a few sessions. Keep faith and keep practicing. You and I both know it'll be worth it in the long run.

A side note: I've noticed the more 'scientific' I get about correcting my squat form, the more I set myself up for failure. In other words, I overthink things and under practice. Just stick to applying only one or two cues each session and focus on what it feels like. Eventually you will be able to apply all cues unconsciously, but if you try to apply all the cues at once you are just going to confuse the crap out of your body.

[4ndrew]

Squatting has always been difficult for me. I used to put plates under my heels and that helped, but is not very safe. So, I changed my stance to be a little wider than shoulder width and toes pointed 45 degrees outward and now I can go ATG no problem. If I don't point my toes out and use a narrow stance, I will fall backwards.

I suggest posting a video of your stance so we can diagnose.

[justinvb_657]

Also in the same boat out of curiousity are yall flat footed? I'm very flat footed and have never had good balance

[4ndrew]

@justinvb_657:

I am not flat footed. My tibias are long though, so I think that has a lot to do with my difficulties (and I'd guess a lot of people)
I think that your femur & tibia ratio might play a big part in your squat stance.

[__Iceman__]

Take a vid and post. Otherwise just sounds like a flexibility/balance issue.

[DYTrainer]

Like others have said, need to increase flexibility. That is something that needs to be worked at. Also, do you need to back squat? If you dont, then why worry about it? I would just do exercises that come more naturally. That being said, I would still work on flexibility as it has many benefits.

[justinvb_657]

Well there goes my my excuse always thought maybe it was because I'm completely flatfooted that I couldent push without losing my balance

[IDrinkBloodLOL]

If front squatting feels good and back squatting sucks, why don't you just front squat?

Think about what you want squatting to accomplish. If it's leg development, that can be done in other ways. If it's posterior chain development, I'm pretty sure you could just deadlift and gain a comparable amount of posterior chain strength, especially considering that low bar squatting geometry is very similar to deadlifting geometry.

I don't think you'd lose out at all if you did deadlift/front squat instead of back squatting, in fact I bet you'd just get sick quads.

[nickolas388]

i am sure you have tried this since you have been trying so much, but have you actually gone a period of a few weeks where you stretched your hips hard every day? It has taken me 2.5 months to be able to squat parallel without my body trying to rock me forwards or backwards...and its all because I have stretched hard every day for about 4 or 5 weeks. squat to stand and sprinters stretches.

never stretched my hips directly,, not sure what kind of stretches i would do for that...

Just set the camera on a nearby rack or drag a flat/adjustable bench over near you and set the camera on it.

ill need to either borrow a camera because i dont have one, or have someone use my phone to record me. my phone wont be able to stand on its side to record me squatting.

I'm in the same boat as you, OP, as far as the squat form goes. We're learning to correct bad habits we've had for years in as few sessions as possible. Unfortunately, these bad habits can't be fixed in a few sessions. Keep faith and keep practicing. You and I both know it'll be worth it in the long run.

A side note: I've noticed the more 'scientific' I get about correcting my squat form, the more I set myself up for failure. In other words, I overthink things and under practice. Just stick to applying only one or two cues each session and focus on what it feels like. Eventually you will be able to apply all cues unconsciously, but if you try to apply all the cues at once you are just going to confuse the crap out of your body.

ya, that definitely makes sense not to think too much into it. thats how i started out though, i pretty much tried every which way.

Take a vid and post. Otherwise just sounds like a flexibility/balance issue.

gonna have to get a vid up. my flexibility is above average imo, iv been stretching for a while now. not sure about my balance though....

Like others have said, need to increase flexibility. That is something that needs to be worked at. Also, do you need to back squat? If you dont, then why worry about it? I would just do exercises that come more naturally. That being said, I would still work on flexibility as it has many benefits.

ill look into ways to increase my flexibility, but im sure its pretty good to begin with. i guess i dont NEED to back squat, its just frustrating that i have been trying it for so long with so many issues.

If front squatting feels good and back squatting sucks, why don't you just front squat?

Think about what you want squatting to accomplish. If it's leg development, that can be done in other ways. If it's posterior chain development, I'm pretty sure you could just deadlift and gain a comparable amount of posterior chain strength, especially considering that low bar squatting geometry is very similar to deadlifting geometry.

I don't think you'd lose out at all if you did deadlift/front squat instead of back squatting, in fact I bet you'd just get sick quads.

definitely leg development. whats posterior chain development though? i already do regular and romanian deads btw. im definitely more comfortable with the front squat, but just like the deadlift id like to be able to do more than 1 type of squat ya know.




thanks,




-nick