Why your back (or hip/knee/shoulder) hurts when you squat
yes i've seen a squat hurt a shoulder
When I meet any new client (regardless of injury) I always check hip range of motion.
It is especially helpful if that person likes to squat, and it tells me one thing:
Do you even have the range of motion to DO what you are trying to do.
Squatting (the exercise) is a very unnatural movement and is not a one size fits all.
My most recent client has low back pain, and squats increase his pain (so do hinges/deadlifts, but that’s a story for a different email).
Fixing his pain is easy, we just do these things from this previous post:
Fixing his squat is a different thing. My go-to test to assess this is a modified hip scour.
Here’s my actual client and his actual hip ROM
I suggest you do this on yourself EVEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE PAIN since this will help you find YOUR optimal squat stance and depth for YOUR body.
You may need someone to assist you. I’m here if you need professional help.
Two things stand out in the video.
#1 How wide his knees need to be
Look at where his knees are relative to his shoulders. When he squats, his feet will need to be wide enough to accomplish this.
Hip rotation matters too, but standing wider often corrects for this.
#2 How much hip flexion he has (side view)
His hip flexion is about 100-110 degrees (eyeball test). BUT, he can’t actually use it unless he was COMPLETELY upright.
Every degree he leans forward is that much LESS hip flexion he has.
So, the deeper he gets, that motion is not coming from his hips, it’s coming from somewhere else.
That somewhere else? His back.
This is a very COMMON problem
Guys will hurt themselves squatting too deep and too narrow instead of going to therapy
The trend I see is taller guys usually have less hip flexion, so they can’t squat as deep. But they sure as shit try…
The solution?
Seems obvious. Stand wider, don’t go as deep.
You can also elevate your heels, which helps you stay MORE upright. This means you need LESS hip flexion.
Are squats worth it?
This is unpopular but the squat risk:reward isn’t worth it for a lot of people and you can get the same benefit from single leg exercises (lunges, split squats) or just use the leg press machine.
If you like them and just can’t quit them, at least buy weightlifting shoes so you have an elevated heel. Stop with this squat bare footed nonsense - only a small % of people have the body type to actually make this happen.
This is great! My husband and I have an ongoing conversation about the value of single leg work. He likes to tell me how he can press 600 lbs on the leg press, but when he does Bulgarian splits with a modest amount of weight he can’t walk for a week. He’s very quad-biased which is why leg press is so easy for him, but when his legs are isolated it’s super hard. He’s gradually coming around to trying different ways of working out.