 Let's talk about hip pain when squatting. So this is something that I am very familiar with and I'll start you out with a little anecdote So I was powerlifting back in my early early 20s 1920 21 area And I really enjoyed it. I really like the idea of getting really strong, right? And I thought that the the power lifts there the squat bench and deadlift were a very good measure of that So it's cool and it's fun. It's maybe not that cool depending on who you are But it was a lot of fun, right I I got away from it though, and I don't do it anymore because after my second powerlifting meet I remember going to my friend's house for a party later that night and We were outside chatting in the relatively cold Indiana winter and I laid on the ground and keep in mind I am allergic to basically everything and the grass is definitely one of those things And I laid in the grass because my hips and my SI and my low back area was just so Lit up. It was so painful At that point I decided powerlifting was probably not what I needed to be doing and I kind of got away from it and I squatted for a little while longer after that and I tinkered around with some things and I found some ways to alleviate some of the aches and pains that I was feeling longer term with my hips And so I want to go through some of those with you today. So You have to think about what joint are you loading? Okay, so I need to have one I need to have the endurance to support everything and Then I can start to think about building strength So that was one of my mistakes that I was doing I was really focused on strength because I thought ones twos and threes the singles doubles and triples were heavy And that's what I should be doing But it wasn't giving me the foundation that I needed to then build that strength at the top of that pyramid Right that performance pyramid that we talk about all the time so Make sure you have the the requisite foundation now After that right we can look at the joint angles of a squat and instead of saying Oh, this is the angle that it that people are the strongest in we can say what works for me So I liked to squat really wide because I had the mobility there and I would bend over a lot I would use a really low bar position to try to shorten my leverage away from my my back Because I would always feel like I was caving in my mid back and I thought that would help So limiting that leverage should theoretically put less torque on the spine There were other things wrong so that didn't end up working out But I had a really low bar back squat and I bent over a lot my knees almost didn't even come forward at all Now when I do that though Sure, I take some stress off the back and sure I take some torque away from the hip, but I'm adding it by bending over more So you have to think if I bend over more I load the hip more I free up the knee Which is theoretically a weaker joint so powerlifting I should be in a low bar I should be bent over. I should be using the hips, right? But if you're having hip pain when you're squatting, especially if you were like me and you're 19 doing it You probably need to try a different position So a position that I eventually moved towards let me do like a three-quarter thing here So I was pretty wide. I was pretty low bar and I was pretty bent over and I was also pretty extended through my back because I heard chest up is a good cue and later found out that I don't really believe in that anymore after I Toiled through it a little bit, but I was in this position, right? And so I have this extension in my back that's putting extra stress here You see how it bends my hips when I do that unbent bent unbent bent Okay, and I was bending over more putting extra torque on this hip region So how do I modify that? Well, I brought my stance in a little bit more Maybe just outside shoulder width. I still had my toes turned out a little bit And I squatted down, but I let my knees come forward a little bit So the magic of this is when you unlock that dorsiflexion you feel your heel more Even though you're not bent over so much, right? Even though I was already staying on my heels when I did my wide low bar squat I can feel my heel more because the muscles that go around it are stretching Okay, and when I feel my heel I can drive through my heel because I know where it is And when I feel my heel and when I'm driving through my heel, I know I'm getting good all quad contraction I'm getting good hamstring and then as long as I get away from this and finish like this I know that I'm getting that proximal hamstring the close hamstring upper hamstring and the glute area to help me finish my lift Okay, so that's one way to to really modify your squat to Still train some load and still make sure again make sure we're laying that foundation getting that endurance first, but That's a good modification bringing the stance in a little bit taking some stress off the hip joint giving a little bit more Congruency we didn't really talk about that but the the socket that the hip joint sits in is more covering of the The femur the femoral bone as I squat down like this Okay, as long as my feet are in When I'm out here it kind of screws out and the front of the hip joint shows to the rest of the world Or to the camera in front of you And here I get more congruency, right? So I disperse the forces a little better throughout the joint so The next thing when dealing with hip pain is when you're squatting is maybe you don't need to squat If you're if you're limited on depth Or let's say if you're limited on depth, but you're not limiting your depth If I can't get low here without keeping my heels down But I still try to force myself down and I end up shifting forward that puts more stress on the hip flexors And can pinch the hip joints I don't want to go through anatomy of that. I just want to say this is what can happen, right? If you're feeling a lot of tightness here a lot of pressure here or like you're limited here Then I want you to reevaluate Where your weight is when you're squatting, okay? Make sure you're not shifting forward like this With your ankles collapsing your knees collapsing in Make sure you're staying with your feet flat It's okay to let your knee bend a little bit as long as you're still pushing through your heel. Okay Knees going over the toes is okay as long as you're still pushing through the heel Most people do not so general rule of thumb is keep your knees behind your toes But again, if you're having hip pain, you don't necessarily want to be totally vertical shin because that puts a lot of stress here Um, last thing that I want to mention is make sure you're warming up So I don't want you to have to feel like you need to warm up for half an hour for doing anything But as long as you get those tissues a little warmer, maybe you use some like Compression shorts to keep that area warmer Those can lubricate the joints and keep you feeling a little bit better. That's more of a Of band-aid kind of fix not really addressing what may be going on Usually when you're getting a lot of hip pain and squatting There's some sort of mobility thing that you can Clear up some people have had trauma and that doesn't work for them though. So Don't take this as advice. This is just something that maybe you can try I'm not trying to fix your hip pain. I'm just saying you can modify some things See if they help and if they don't make sure you seek out a physical therapist in your area that you can trust Right and if you don't know one just reach out to me and we'll try to find you one