I cant squat, help required

[bagge677]

I literally cant squat, i dunno why. Im always feeling alot of pressure and some pain in the lower back while squatting. My problems are the following: I decided to picture them on MS paint to make it easier for people to understand.

stats: almost 190 lbs. 10-12% BF, lifting since 2 years with alot of bad training regimes, almost 1 year of cutting *sigh* etc..; started squatting a few months ago. Trying to give my best at form as i know its very important, however my back just doesnt approve.


1) Cannot go below parallel without my back turning. I can only do this at best

View squats lol for pic.

2) If i manage to keep my back straigt, its leaning extremely forward. A trainer told me about this and said it puts unnecessary pressure on my back

View squats back pic for that.

3) Everytime i go down on the squat i feel a strain in my quads to my groin. Best i can describe it is under my quads thers a huge muscle/sinew which i can really feel straining when i go down.

View the pic quad tendon for better visualization.

Hope you know what i mean, basically when i go down i feel it strained, i think its the hip flexors ??

Can anybody help me with whats wrong here ? I just cant to get a proper squat form, to have less pressure on my back and more work for my legs. Should i just stop doing Squats and focus on stretching muscles needed for squats and developing back etc with machines and then try again, or is it something that can be fixed while squatting?

If more information is needed, ill provide it. Sorry at my terrible painting skills, hope i could paint it well enough so people can understand what i mean.

Edit: just reviewed the pics, just disregard the knee posture lol, i dont have problems with my knees, its just my bakc icant handle lol

[nickotine18]

I literally cant squat, i dunno why. Im always feeling alot of pressure and some pain in the lower back while squatting. My problems are the following: I decided to picture them on MS paint to make it easier for people to understand.

stats: almost 190 lbs. 10-12% BF, lifting since 2 years with alot of bad training regimes, almost 1 year of cutting *sigh* etc..; started squatting a few months ago. Trying to give my best at form as i know its very important, however my back just doesnt approve.


1) Cannot go below parallel without my back turning. I can only do this at best

View squats lol for pic.

2) If i manage to keep my back straigt, its leaning extremely forward. A trainer told me about this and said it puts unnecessary pressure on my back

View squats back pic for that.

3) Everytime i go down on the squat i feel a strain in my quads to my groin. Best i can describe it is under my quads thers a huge muscle/sinew which i can really feel straining when i go down.

View the pic quad tendon for better visualization.

Hope you know what i mean, basically when i go down i feel it strained, i think its the hip flexors ??

Can anybody help me with whats wrong here ? I just cant to get a proper squat form, to have less pressure on my back and more work for my legs. Should i just stop doing Squats and focus on stretching muscles needed for squats and developing back etc with machines and then try again, or is it something that can be fixed while squatting?

If more information is needed, ill provide it. Sorry at my terrible painting skills, hope i could paint it well enough so people can understand what i mean.

Edit: just reviewed the pics, just disregard the knee posture lol, i dont have problems with my knees, its just my bakc icant handle lol

Have you tried a wider stance? I was having a hard time getting parallel too until I widen my stance.

[ironwill2008]

Can anybody help me with whats wrong here ?

No.

If you expect to get form help, post vids of you actually Squatting. One from the side and one from front or back.

[ImStarvinMarvin]

as soon as I saw "I literally can't squat" i stopped reading.

Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.

Trust me, do your research, watch videos, Rippetoe in particular. No I'm not riding the SS bandwagon, but the man knows his stuff.

Then get off the forums, go to the gym, and stretch the fawk out of your hammies and calves, EVERY SINGLE DAY.

I'm not trying to be mean but I'm in the same boat as you buddy. I'm sooo mechanically odd-shaped and squats seemed impossible with my levers, but you gotta stretch man. I'm not talking about holding you leg behind your back for 10 seconds and alternating, I'm talking about growing a sac, walking into the yoga room with all the cardio bunnies, swallowing your pride, and taking that ass to the mat for a good 30 minute stretching session. I'm already hitting parallel on my squats because of this.

Just do it bro. Good luck

[DCSpartan]

do goblet squats, that seems to teach the movement pretty naturally.

[tidnab]

It sounds like:

1. Your groin and hips are not flexible enough. Do a search for "hip mobility, squat" and you will find tons of helpful info.

2. You do not do a good job of keeping your chest up (this is what is causing you to lean over). When you are setting up to unrack the bar, place your hands in a relatively close grip (just outside shoulder width), push your chest out and up, and drive your traps into the bar so that it is snug against your traps and your upper back is tight. It should now be much easier to keep your chest up during the squat and this will keep you more upright.

[bagge677]

Have you tried a wider stance? I was having a hard time getting parallel too until I widen my stance.

been standing shoulder wide, and i already have quite wide shoulders.

No.

If you expect to get form help, post vids of you actually Squatting. One from the side and one from front or back.

ill try to get vids possible

as soon as I saw "I literally can't squat" i stopped reading.

Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.

Trust me, do your research, watch videos, Rippetoe in particular. No I'm not riding the SS bandwagon, but the man knows his stuff.

Then get off the forums, go to the gym, and stretch the fawk out of your hammies and calves, EVERY SINGLE DAY.

I'm not trying to be mean but I'm in the same boat as you buddy. I'm sooo mechanically odd-shaped and squats seemed impossible with my levers, but you gotta stretch man. I'm not talking about holding you leg behind your back for 10 seconds and alternating, I'm talking about growing a sac, walking into the yoga room with all the cardio bunnies, swallowing your pride, and taking that ass to the mat for a good 30 minute stretching session. I'm already hitting parallel on my squats because of this.

Just do it bro. Good luck

i started stretching hip flexors already, but that just seems way too less.

It sounds like:

1. Your groin and hips are not flexible enough. Do a search for "hip mobility, squat" and you will find tons of helpful info.

2. You do not do a good job of keeping your chest up (this is what is causing you to lean over). When you are setting up to unrack the bar, place your hands in a relatively close grip (just outside shoulder width), push your chest out and up, and drive your traps into the bar so that it is snug against your traps and your upper back is tight. It should now be much easier to keep your chest up during the squat and this will keep you more upright.

will try to focus on the chest thing tomorrow

[Adept85]

i just had a 20 minute discussion with a personal trainer on the exact topic, i cannot do it either, im 6 foot 2 in height and weigh 98kg and i don't have the best posture either.. i realised i am able to squat properly with my elbows facing inwards, but when i point them out , i cannot do them.. i just posted a topic about this then realised u posted one, so yeah try squatting with ur elbows facing inwards .. the PT gave me a long stick and got me to hold on the ends of the stick on both sides and then twist it around to my back also side ways while bringing your hand over the back of your head, bringing the stick to the other side... i noticed if i push in the back of my shoulder it is painful.. apparently its tight shoulder and back muscles and u gotta loosen it up

[mljs54]

STRETCH. It's key if you're feeling pain because the pain will make you lose good form/tightness since your mind starts thinking about the pain and thus your back/core starts relaxing which explains the back failing when you try to go parellel. For squats you're using a lot of different muscles and thus going to want to stretch your (to name a few):

Quads
Hams
Groin
Hip flexor
Rotator cuff

Search youtube for a number of good stretching examples for the above muscles. I started doing ~30 mins of stretching at home prior to hitting the gym and it's helped a ton on my squat.