Hey bro your squat's a little crooked

[Insectoid]

I've been messing around with low bar squatting again and have noticed that one side of the bar is very noticeably higher than the other when I squat. Here's a video:



It looks to me like the bar is decently level at the top of the squat but becomes crooked when I start the rep, leading me to think I'm doing something wrong during the eccentric as opposed to putting the bar on my back incorrectly (which I may very well be doing, but I think the bar would be crooked at the top if that was the case). I've experienced this before which, in hindsight, might have something to do with pain in my right elbow when I've done the LBBS in the past.

What do you guys think? It seems to me like I'm shifting to my left during the descent, for whatever reason.

[Sumo]

Are you seeing this issue with lower weight and during your warm-up? if it only shows up during heavy work sets then it would likely be a weight shift as a result of a strength imbalance or mobility issue. If you're seeing this during your light and warm-up sets you'd likely be looking at tightness or lack of tightness in upper body.

[KDW]

Can you get someone to video or take a picture of your low bar rack position up close? It looks like it is uneven on your shoulders from the beginning and it just leans more as you descend due to the change in back angle that happens in squatting.

[ChrisMcCarthy1979]

Yeah, it seems level at the very start and then it looks like you hold it askew as soon as you start squatting.

Another angle would be great...

[Insectoid]

Didn't get the chance to record anything during my last low bar session (gym was packed, staff didn't want me recording, time for a new gym, blah blah) but I did get this high bar video earlier in the week:

It looks like it is uneven on your shoulders from the beginning and it just leans more as you descend due to the change in back angle that happens in squatting.

I think you're totally right here. The above high bar video shows slight unevenness but it's not nearly as much as with low bar because of the more constant torso angle (with high bar).

Figuring out exactly what's causing this is tricky. I'll see if I can get videos/pictures of my rack position next week.

Are you seeing this issue with lower weight and during your warm-up? if it only shows up during heavy work sets then it would likely be a weight shift as a result of a strength imbalance or mobility issue. If you're seeing this during your light and warm-up sets you'd likely be looking at tightness or lack of tightness in upper body.

I'll record a few warmups next week. I did injure one of my hips (honestly don't remember which one) last March, so that may present itself as a tendency for me to shift to one side.

Another angle would be great...

Which angle?


Thanks for the help guys

[Testiclaw]

So every single one of my weightlifters (except one...) has a slight tilt on their bar when back squatting, less so with the front squat, and a few are quite pronounced with the overhead squat.

Outside of pin squats, I don't know if it's extremely problematic or not. I think these squats look fine, all things considered.

[ape288]

Could be the camera angle but it looks like the bar is not just tilted down on the left side but also tilted laterally as well, where the left side of the bar is drifted farther forward than the right side. I have the same issue, which in my case stems from a leg length discrepancy. If this isn't just the camera playing tricks on me here then it could indicate that your hips, and consequently your pelvis, are a little bit uneven as well, which could be due to one hip being more mobile than the other. Could also be due in part to a strength imbalance. Out of curiosity, is your left leg your dominant leg?

[ChrisMcCarthy1979]

Ah, I just meant any different angle, really.watxhing you Squat again reminds me that Jezza Uepa has a very similar style - takes out level then slowly cants over to the side - so it is a style you can progress with...if you are Jezza Uepa, anyway...

[Insectoid]

Are you seeing this issue with lower weight and during your warm-up? if it only shows up during heavy work sets then it would likely be a weight shift as a result of a strength imbalance or mobility issue. If you're seeing this during your light and warm-up sets you'd likely be looking at tightness or lack of tightness in upper body.

I'm seeing the issue at all weights, even while warming up.

Another angle would be great...

Here's a similar angle except it's from directly behind instead of oblique:



Here's a video from the side:



An interesting thing to note here is that my right knee seems to travel much farther forward than my left (the angle this video was shot from is going to accentuate that a bit, but I've seen it when recording directly from the side). This might be because my right ankle is capable of a bit more dorsiflexion than my left. I don't know why this is, aside from it just being a totally normal asymmetry, but I tried a few silly things (staggering my stance, pointing my right foot much farther outward than my left) and they didn't fix the bar tilt.

Could be the camera angle but it looks like the bar is not just tilted down on the left side but also tilted laterally as well, where the left side of the bar is drifted farther forward than the right side. I have the same issue, which in my case stems from a leg length discrepancy. If this isn't just the camera playing tricks on me here then it could indicate that your hips, and consequently your pelvis, are a little bit uneven as well, which could be due to one hip being more mobile than the other. Could also be due in part to a strength imbalance. Out of curiosity, is your left leg your dominant leg?

I am unsure if the bar is also tilted forward-and-backward. After seeing how tilted the bar is in one dimension, it'd be no surprise to me. I don't believe I have a (significant) leg length discrepancy but I've never been examined for one. Given the mobility difference in my ankles, it seems totally plausible that my hips are asymmetric in some way and I'd actually assume they are because of an hip injury I had a while back (lifting related, no trauma, but might still affect how I move?). Do you have a preferred, physical way to determine which leg is one's dominant leg? I'm right-handed, if that matters, and all the ex-phys diagnostic exams I'm finding on Google are weird questionnaires.

Can you get someone to video or take a picture of your low bar rack position up close? It looks like it is uneven on your shoulders from the beginning and it just leans more as you descend due to the change in back angle that happens in squatting.

I think you nailed it. Here's a video that shows my rack position from unrack to rerack:



It looks like my right shoulder is in a good bit more extension than my left (compare the difference in elbow position). The bar is fairly even when I unrack it but tilts even before the first rep starts. I think it's just a laziness/tightness thing on my part. Does anyone have any cues besides the obvious "pull your elbows down to your ribs"? Or does anyone suspect some other intervention is more appropriate (mobility work, etc)?

watxhing you Squat again reminds me that Jezza Uepa has a very similar style - takes out level then slowly cants over to the side - so it is a style you can progress with...if you are Jezza Uepa, anyway...

Hah! Time to gain 200lbs. Speaking of really strong lifters with uneven squats, I think I've seen videos of God-King David Ricks squatting with significant tilt.

[ape288]

Do you have a preferred, physical way to determine which leg is one's dominant leg? I'm right-handed, if that matters, and all the ex-phys diagnostic exams I'm finding on Google are weird questionnaires.

Get in stance like you're about to race somebody. The leg you naturally put forward will be the dominant leg. The body works as an X, so people who are right handed tend to be left legged, and vice versa.

[KDW]

I'm a good guesser

[KDW]

My guess is that heavier weight will either make it worse or make it better. Just keep an eye on it as you get stronger and add weight over time. It might just resolve itself.

[Asdatore]

My bar position looks and has always looked exactly like yours, slanted to the left. It never gave me any problems, I think it's due less mobility in my left shoulder.