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EssCee
EssCee g Ess Cee
62 Post(s)
62 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Lose Fat Date Joined: May 5, 2015
Posted

I've watched a number of videos on front and back squat but wondering if my technique is right or wrong.

 

When I squat I seem to go right to the bottom (I think the term is ATG Ass To Grass) and then lift myself back up.

 

If I go just below my hips I usually find a mild pain around my left knee cap which makes me think I was doing something wrong somewhere which is why i turned to the ATG technique (if it is a technique)...... Any thoughts?? Continue with the way im doing things or workout what im doing wrong?

crood
crood a Chris P.
467 Post(s)
467 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Train for a sport Date Joined: August 8, 2014
Posted

Hello @EssCee,

Without seeing an actual video or im age of you squatting it is really hard to determine what you could be doing wrong.

 

  • If you have pain in the knee, this can come from your knees collapsing inwards instead of going outwards.
  • It could be because the angle of your shins is in a wrong position for your body composition (too much forward/too far over the knees or too straight/powerlifter style)
  • The issue can also come from somewhere completely different, like a twist or misalignment in the hip or spine, leading to an uneven movement pattern.
  • It could be the flexibility of your ankle joint not being flexible enough. The knee is rather a fold joint in the kinetic chain and driven by the movement of feet and hips, so these have a big influence on it.
  • And it also could be that you don't place the weight correctly on your feet (Flat, and towards the outter rims) and weaken your movement and joint patterns.
  • Foot position (are they slightly tilted outwards / about 30° max).
  • The weight could be too heavy and you simply can't support the load and getting pain when trying to stemm this back up. (especially when the tendons are loaded with a weight the muscle may bare but the tendons had no chance to adapt to)
  • Stopping / slowing down at a 90° angle and putting too much strain on the knees.
  • Last but not least it could of course also be something with your knee you already had, or recently caused. And injury or defect you werent aware of.

 

You see there really is a lot that could go wrong. the usual top 3 are collapsing knees, incorrect foot placement and incorrect load on the food, and the ankle joint collapsing inwards or it's back / for tilt being incorrect.

Pay close attention to your form. Go in front of a mirror, take much less weight, and watch yourself to find out what could be wrong.

You can also upload a video here and i am sure everybody will be happy to give comments and thoughts on it.

 

PS: also when doing the ass to grass - make sure you just don't go until you touch the back of your lower legs, or until you already do the so called 'buttwink'. Make sure you only go as deep as right 'before' you start to do that wink with your butt. We all have different flexibility and we all have a different 'deepest' point in a squat. Which can of course increase with training and especially with mobility training.

 

Cheers!

Admin + MS Athlete You will get nowhere, if you don't move :) - crood -
EssCee
EssCee g Ess Cee
62 Post(s)
62 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Lose Fat Date Joined: May 5, 2015
Posted

Thanks Crood great points above. I will monitor and video myself to see how im doing and pay close attention to my form. I think its collapsing knees as the pain was towards the inside of my knee cap.

 

Should a squat be ATG or where you go just below your hips and return back up? Either way when i train next i will try and see if i can figure it out if not i will post a video.

 

Thanks again

JoeHurricane
JoeHurricane p Jordan Matthews
1.5K Post(s)
1.5K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: December 12, 2013
Posted
Posted By: EssCee

Thanks Crood great points above. I will monitor and video myself to see how im doing and pay close attention to my form. I think its collapsing knees as the pain was towards the inside of my knee cap.

 

Should a squat be ATG or where you go just below your hips and return back up? Either way when i train next i will try and see if i can figure it out if not i will post a video.

 

Thanks again

Great tips from @Crood!

I would say aim to go ATG on your squats as often as you can. For regulation squats (for competitive squatting), you have to get hips and knees parallel I think, but if you can, focus on going ATG. More ROM means you'll potentially (but not absolutely necessarilly) be activating more muscle fibres.

Jordan

SHF Athlete MS Athlete Partial Fitness YouTuber
EssCee
EssCee g Ess Cee
62 Post(s)
62 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Lose Fat Date Joined: May 5, 2015
Posted
Posted By: JoeHurricane

Great tips from @Crood!

I would say aim to go ATG on your squats as often as you can. For regulation squats (for competitive squatting), you have to get hips and knees parallel I think, but if you can, focus on going ATG. More ROM means you'll potentially (but not absolutely necessarilly) be activating more muscle fibres.

Jordan

Great stuff guys..... Just to make sure when I'm going ATG is this video a good guide to follow http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BUOQoMpYvXk

JoeHurricane
JoeHurricane p Jordan Matthews
1.5K Post(s)
1.5K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: December 12, 2013
Posted
Posted By: EssCee

Great stuff guys..... Just to make sure when I'm going ATG is this video a good guide to follow http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BUOQoMpYvXk

Yeah that is pretty much it.

Here's another 'How To' for reference:


Jordan

SHF Athlete MS Athlete Partial Fitness YouTuber
EssCee
EssCee g Ess Cee
62 Post(s)
62 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Lose Fat Date Joined: May 5, 2015
Posted

I saw that video first but had the impression that SH is going just past his hips (the exercise that was causing me to have some mild pain) which is why i though ATG was the way forward for me .... I may have to post a video just to show you guys what im doing in case your trained eye can spot anything im doing wrong.

EssCee
EssCee g Ess Cee
62 Post(s)
62 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Lose Fat Date Joined: May 5, 2015
Posted

Heres a quick short video of a front squat..... what do you guys think. Only been doing this for a short while https://vid.me/YJyl

muscular strength
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