05-25-21 08:09 AM - Post#910620    

Not sure if this is the right forum for this question.

I have a severe mobility restriction in one of my hips. Flexion, extension, and internal rotation are okay, but external rotation is about 30% of normal. It's a struggle to cross my legs and put that ankle on the other knee. I've done PT, stretching, etc. for years and nothing has ever made the slightest improvement - it would take surgery to make a difference.

So since there's no external rotation there, when I squat with a moderate or wider stance, or try to sumo deadlift, my spine twists in the direction of that hip. Twisting your spine under an axial load is obviously very bad and I've got the blown discs to show it.

But it seems like if I take a very narrow stance, with heels elevated significantly since my ankle mobility ain't so hot either, then I can squat 'ass to grass' as they say while remaining bolt upright and without twisting or shifting. Similarly, a narrow deadlift stance (if I ever deadlift again) actually makes more sense than sumo, in my head, even though I've seen a lot of guys who develop back issues adopt sumo instead of conventional.

It makes sense to me that since there's no mobility in the hip, the body is going to find it elsewhere - that's how I got injured in the first place. But rather than get the "missing" mobility from the spine, I can get it from the ankles.

What am I missing? Any thoughts? I am kind of thinking out loud with this post.

Edited by Rupert J. Nebblesworth III on 05-25-21 08:10 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

05-25-21 08:47 AM - Post#910621    

Low-bar back squat. It’ll feel far better than the high bar.

This is the exact same issue I have because of a fused ankle/FAI. Narrow, almost duck-footed stances in the squat and conventional deadlift, and squat shoes, allowed me to start lifting heavy again when I thought I was done forever.

In fact, it was sumo squatting to protect my back that gave me the FAI/torn up hip. Some bodies ain’t made for that stuff.

05-25-21 09:00 AM - Post#910622    

If there is no mobility here, the body will find it there.

That's a true point. I have a good PT, Mike, and this is his area. I will see him Thursday. I will strive to remember to ask.

My hips, titanium, have their own ideas about all of this...

Daniel John Just handing down what I was handed down... Make a Difference. Live. Love. Laugh. Balance work, rest, play and pray (enjoy beauty and solitude) Sleep soundly. Drink Water. Eat veggies and protein. Walk. Wear your seat belt. Don’t smoke. Floss your teeth. Put weights overhead. Pick weights off the floor. Carry weights. Reread great books. Say thank you

05-25-21 09:41 AM - Post#910630    

I also squat and deadlift with a very narrow stance and use an elevated heel on squats. Nothing wrong with that at all, go with what your body is telling you. I seriously can't even deadlift 225 sumo. The lift doesn't even make sense to me. You also don't see very many raw squatters take a wider than shoulder width stance and the majority are squatting in heels.

"The trouble about always trying to preserve the health of the body is that it is so difficult to do without destroying the health of the mind."~GK Chesterton

Hip Mechanics and Squats
05-25-21 02:00 PM - Post#910639    

I squat and deadlift narrow, much more than is normal. My feet are about hip width apart, and my hips are small. Also caught my cleans and snatches narrow too. My feet have never jumped out into a squat stance. Just feels ‘right’.

And then there is klokov. He’s a little bow legged, but his stance is very narrow.

Do what you can with what you got. Don’t try to force a certain posture because some self appointed guru’s say it’s the universally best way to do “x” activity.

Wide stance stuff has always destroyed my hips. I’ve tried, and always wave the white flag after a few weeks.

05-25-21 03:12 PM - Post#910645    

Head over to the "Knees Over Toes" guy on You Tube. You will find specific exercises to improve your ankle, hip and knee mobility.

I'd do that before trying to "work around" those issues to do some squats.

Mark it Zero.