My Squat Quest

[CeDubya]

To make a long story short, I've never been able to squat properly. It's never felt comfortable and I can't dip to even near paraell. Years of stretching and practice have yielded nothing. Today I found out why.

On Monday, I reaggrivated an old hamstring injury that made my lower back go numb while doing dead lifts. I immediately stopped, took the night off work, and sought out an Active Release Technique practioner. I called a chiropractic clinic (Salama Chiropractic Center in Greensboro) and scheduled an appointment. I had some x-rays taken, received some wet-heat/electro-stim to my lower back. I went back in the next day (today), had more x-rays taken, and found out some pretty grievous ****.

Apparantly, due to a combination of bad genetics and poor posture from an adolescent sedentary lifestyle (before my sophmore year of highschool, I stayed inside and played video games constantly), my spinal collumn has become slightly disformed. Working at UPS may have also caused this. I also have a very visible hump (I've always had it, probably again from poor posture) in my spinal column when I slouch, which really sucks. The arch in my back isn't properly aligned and one of the discs in my lower spine is beginning to show some signs of wear and tearr.

I spoke to the Doctor, and I'm beginning a vigorous posture alignment/spinal adjustment/flexibility program beginning tomorrow. Hopefully, over the course of the next two months my flexibility will improve along with my posture and spinal position. This program will involve chiropractic spinal alignment, hamstring flexibility/loosening, and physical therapy. If my hamstrings are more stubborn than the doctor believes them to be, I'll receive ART. The program will consist of three visits per week for the first month, with two visits per week the second month, depending on visible progress.

Before you all ask why I didn't seek a second opinion, or say chiropractors are a sham, I'll explain my logic. First, the doctor I'll be working with is a body builder himself. One of the main goals in my program is going to focus on allowing me to finally squat correctly. Secondly, years of stretching have done nothing. Third, my posture, arch, and hamstrings need to be fixed before I suffer permanent damage. I want to be able to stand up straight when I'm forty.

I'll be using this thread to track my progress in physical therapy, along with how I feel. Hopefully, someone with the same problem as me will find this useful and know what to do if everything works out for me. I'm also in the middle of a cut as I post this, so I'll probably post my workouts (won't be able to do back and leg day days for a while, depending on doc's orders, but I'll probably add in a lot more cardio.)

[DJohnson]

It took me about a year to get my squat past parallel because of my hamstrings. I was in Tae Kwon Do for years and there was a ridiclous amount of stretching but I was never able to touch my toes with my legs straight, yet I could put my leg behind my head when turned sideways.

Anyways, how I did it:

Stretches: Standard sit down, put one leg out and try touch toe with opposite arm and hold. That kind of stuff.

Squats: Set the catch and put your legs about 1.5 shoulder widths. So really wide for a squat. Make sure your legs go outwards and not inwards or you'll injure yourself.

First of all you want to just find the depth. Grab the catches and go down to parallel. You'll be off balance and want to fall backwards but just hold yourself in place. This will stretch exactly what you want to stretch.

MAKE SURE your heels are planted solidly on the ground. Never squat on your tippy toes or you'll find the reason they're "tippy".

Now, the second thing is to put enough weight on the bar that it isn't a challenge, yet its enough weight to push you down lower than you could normally squat with bodyweight. I started at 135lbs and kept 135lbs for more and more reps, but every time I squatted I went lower and lower and put my legs closer and closer together. Make sure the posture of your back is like the "super nerd with glasses". Shoulder blades together and butt way out so you have big arch in your lower back.

Now, once you get to the point that you're doing a proper squat with that weight, start upping the weight. It may take a while because you'll be using muscles you didn't use with non-parallel squats but over time you'll be completely cured.

Hopefully that can do it and you won't have to go through surgery. Good luck.

[CeDubya]

I went in for my second adjustment and treatment session today. The cracking wasn't quite so loud, which means some progress is being made. Still somewhat sore from yesterday, especially in my middle and lower back. Work tonight should be fun. Still losing weight by eating right, and I haven't been in the gym since Monday. I'm down to 297 lbs, haven't been this weight in over two years.