Barbell Bruising around hipbones after squats

[mjikia]

Good day to you sirs,

Right below obliques, on the hipbones, i get this slight bruising after squats, I used to blame this on the belt (Source of great discomfort, but I'm used to it at this point), and just ignored it, but yesterday I forgot my belt, so I went raw and the same thing happened. Obviously can't blame the belt anymore, so wondering how normal is this, It's not painful in anyway, I don't even feel it at all, just visual. The bruising is gone in the morning. Not particularly worried about it, but every horror story I hear about surgeries comes from people ignoring red flags, so just checking I guess.

 

[Anna C]

Haven't ever heard of that. I assume you're using a barbell since you posted this in the barbell forum, but exactly what kind of squats? Front squats? High bar back squats? Low bar back squats? Zercher squats? Are you wearing lifting shoes? Where do your knees tend to be at the bottom of the squat? What depth do you go to? Are you fairly slim build, or do you have extra weight? Do you take a breath and hold it for the squat (Valsalva)? Are your abdominal muscles engaged? How much weight are you squatting with and how hard is it for you?

Sorry, just a few questions...

 

[mjikia]

Yes Barbell, low-bar squats, I let my knees track forward to the toes. I hold my breath and then push it down, my abs are sore quite often so yeah, very engaged. Mobility is good, so a close grip, feet slightly wider than shoulders, very slightly, about 30 degrees in terms of feet placement. No lifting shoes (a bit too expensive for me and they are hard to find locally as well). Slim build at 6ft (181cm), 78 kilos, heaviest I've ever been, upper abs are showing in good lighting in terms of bodyfat. I went up to 120kilos in squats, but recently deloaded to 90kilos, since my form started really suffering, currently doing a lot of volume to dial in the form, concentrating on speed on the way up.

...now that you mention it, In terms of depth, depth was a bit inconsistent, minimum parallel though, but since I deloaded, I've been going deeper consistently, my quads have been sore somewhat, after I started doing that. maybe quad weakness that's catching up with me?

 

[Anna C]

Yes Barbell, low-bar squats, I let my knees track forward to the toes. I hold my breath and then push it down, my abs are sore quite often so yeah, very engaged. Mobility is good, so a close grip, feet slightly wider than shoulders, very slightly, about 30 degrees in terms of feet placement. No lifting shoes (a bit too expensive for me and they are hard to find locally as well). Slim build at 6ft (181cm), 78 kilos, heaviest I've ever been, upper abs are showing in good lighting in terms of bodyfat. I went up to 120kilos in squats, but recently deloaded to 90kilos, since my form started really suffering, currently doing a lot of volume to dial in the form, concentrating on speed on the way up.

...now that you mention it, In terms of depth, depth was a bit inconsistent, minimum parallel though, but since I deloaded, I've been going deeper consistently, my quads have been sore somewhat, after I started doing that. maybe quad weakness that's catching up with me?

Hmm, yeah, everything sound good. I don't see anything that would explain the bruising unless it was the belt and was leftover from the session before. Maybe in a warm-up set go extra slow through your whole range of motion and pay close attention to any contact or extra tension/pressure in that specific area as you squat. It's amazing how much can be happening and we're unaware of it when there's a really heavy weight on our back trying to staple us to the floor

Could always post a video for form check to see if there are any form tweaks you could make.

 

[Timo Keskitalo]

I would have blamed the belt also.. interesting. Maybe you lean forward very much? A video would certainly help.

 

[mjikia]

My shorts are too tight at the bottom of the squat. I feel like an idiot.

 

[Steve Freides]

Obviously can't blame the belt anymore

I wouldn't be so sure about that. Video of your squat, with and without belt, and picture of bruised area before and after squats, with and without belt, would be helpful, too.

-S-