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Kettlebell Turning a Weakness into a Strength: The Squat

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SuperGirevik

SuperGirevik

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I recently made it a goal to attack my weakness, the squat. I used to try to squat deep but felt a little pain in my hip area and it made squatting dreadful. But I was determined to overcome this obstacle.

I started to apply the “lock and rock” (link) to my squat and did the some half-kneeling pulses (link) suggested by @Brett Jones. I also did some rocking movements shown in this Original Strength video.

Then I disciplined myself by making sure I never skipped the prying goblet squat in my daily training.

One thing that helped a lot was adjusting how wide I was positioning my feet. I used to think that I needed to position my feet wide to open up my hips and allow for a deeper descent. But then one day I tried a narrower stance, about shoulder width, and I noticed I was able to go low without pain. I can even stay deep in my squat and breath calmly... until arms tire from holding the kettlebell. My back felt straight but I noticed after a while, my back was starting to feel slightly sore. So that’s when I started to take pictures and I do in fact curve my back a bit in the lowest point.

Here is my latest progress...

887749_B4-9237-400_A-8_D03-_DCD7_A24_DA671.jpg


I noticed when I extend my arms out (a drill I learned from Louka Kurcer), I seem to maintain my back in a better upright position... and as a bonus, my core is on fire.

93699734-_F7_CA-4_F93-_B0_F5-765_F3_FF49877.jpg


I’d love to get any feedback or tips to get a better squat and finally turn my weakness into a strength. Thanks in advance :)
 
SuperGirevik said:
I recently made it a goal to attack my weakness, the squat. I used to try to squat deep but felt a little pain in my hip area and it made squatting dreadful. But I was determined to overcome this obstacle.

I started to apply the “lock and rock” (link) to my squat and did the some half-kneeling pulses (link) suggested by @Brett Jones. I also did some rocking movements shown in this Original Strength video.

Then I disciplined myself by making sure I never skipped the prying goblet squat in my daily training.

One thing that helped a lot was adjusting how wide I was positioning my feet. I used to think that I needed to position my feet wide to open up my hips and allow for a deeper descent. But then one day I tried a narrower stance, about shoulder width, and I noticed I was able to go low without pain. I can even stay deep in my squat and breath calmly... until arms tire from holding the kettlebell. My back felt straight but I noticed after a while, my back was starting to feel slightly sore. So that’s when I started to take pictures and I do in fact curve my back a bit in the lowest point.

Here is my latest progress...

887749_B4-9237-400_A-8_D03-_DCD7_A24_DA671.jpg


I noticed when I extend my arms out (a drill I learned from Louka Kurcer), I seem to maintain my back in a better upright position... and as a bonus, my core is on fire.

93699734-_F7_CA-4_F93-_B0_F5-765_F3_FF49877.jpg


I’d love to get any feedback or tips to get a better squat and finally turn my weakness into a strength. Thanks in advance :)
Click to expand...

Nice work, additional soft tissue work through your calves and posterior hips can also make a big difference - only if you have a deficit to begin with of course. Lacrosse ball laying on your back is ideal for hips. I quite like the bonesaw by Kelly Starrett for calves.
 
A little lower back curve in a deep squat is not a terrible thing as long as it is also the first thing to straighten out as you ascend. Whether you do or do not have a curve, assume you do (everybody does to some extent) and as you come up make sure you attempt to straighten that up first as you come up, whether or no it is needed. If you come up with that bend and straighten it out at the top is where you will get into trouble.

I love my decksquats, loaded and unloaded for grooving the deep squat. Also, as you have noticed I find feet closer together for squat, further apart for DL, Good Mornings works best.

Holding an unloaded deep squat and all the stuff you are already doing will continue to pay off. Start with maintaining posture and balance with no load and work from there. Duck walks also helpful. You need to make that deep squat part of your natural vocabulary.

The principle you have discovered with your loaded deep squat is used often by folks when when doing loaded pistols - pushing the load away from center allows less lumbar curve.

Keep in mind, when Swings, squats etc are dissected at slow mo, even well instructed folk have deviation in the lumbar, nobody keeps it dead neutral - is something to strive for.
 
A few of my go to strategies that haven't already been mentioned (in no particular order):

-- Cossacks (unloaded, loaded, supported, freestanding, band-assisted).

--Band-assisted squats. Anchor a heavy band in front of you at about waist level by attaching it to a power rack, doorknob or door anchor, or whatever. Step into the band and position it behind the hips. Step back to stretch the band. Squat. The band tension pulls your hips forward and allows you to squat deeply without leaning forward. The same set up works for cossacks and split squat/lunge hip flexor stretches. You can do various overhead reaches and neck and t-spine rotations in the bottom position.

--Goblet squat TOP of the knee prying. Go down to your maximum depth and place your elbows on TOP of your knees (rather than inside, as prying is usually done). Push down with your elbows against the top your knees and try to lift your chest and extend your spine. Alternate the pushing down/extending with relaxing and you may find you can go A LOT lower than you started.

--Squat hip rotations, such as in this video from Ido Portal (the whole video is good, but the move I'm referring to starts at 43 seconds):


--Goblet squat front raise. Use a light bell, descend to the bottom, extend the arms fully, straight to the front, then raise the arms as high as possible, ideally into an "overhead goblet squat" (personally, I can't get close to this), then lower the bell and stand up.

--Bootstrapper hamstring stretch. Relaxing the hamstrings with this stretch seems to make deep squatting much easier:

Squat all the way down with your feet together, rolling onto the balls of your feet, with hamstrings resting against calves and leaning forward with your chest against your thighs, basically a cannonball position.

Make fists and place your knuckles flat on the floor, outside your feet. You can also do it with your feet farther apart (toes turned out as much as necessary) and your arms inside your thighs (as if you were preparing to do a frog stand).

Keeping your knuckles pressed against the floor, straighten your legs as far as you can and roll back onto your whole foot. Keep pushing with your legs for about 30 seconds, keeping your knuckles pressed into the floor the whole time.

Bend your legs and go back into a squat, then stand up.

Test your toe touch before and after and note any changes in the range of motion.

It's just a tricky way of using a contract/relax contrast method, but the fact that the hands and feet are both fixed and supported in position seems to give it a more dramatic and immediate effect than most other stretches I've tried or used with others. I've had people go from barely being able to touch below knee level to touching their toes in one session using this drill.

My best guess is that your nervous system subconsciously feels safe in this position and allows the hamstrings to relax. Whereas in a lot of other stretches, the end range of the stretch feels subconsciously threatening and your nervous system resists allowing an increased range of motion.​
 
My squat has improved a lot by following @Steve W. 's ideas above. Doing squat get ups helped a lot as well.

I also like sitting down in the squat for a few minutes. When I do this, I pay a lot of attention on how I set up the squat. I first bend down like the bottom of a swing with the hamstrings fully stretched. Then I bend my ankles to full range of motion, since my center of mass is forward, it helps force the dorsiflexion. I might even put my elbow on my knees to help. And then I squat down, keeping fully stretched hamstrings. This helps a lot imo.
 
Bret S. said:
@SuperGirevik
I noticed the right big toe is off the floor in both pics, don't know if you know it but it probably points to a foot/ankle mobility pinch point?
Click to expand...
good catch, that's often from maximal contraction of the dorsiflexors recruiting extensor hallucis longus. Basically trying to pull your body over the ankle by using the shin muscles. You can see the extensor digitorum tendons trying to do the same thing. Since it's happening mainly on the right, it does suggest something is happening on that side
 
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@North Coast Miller - Unfortunately I still can't get into an unloaded deep squat (I still need the weight for counterbalance). Thanks for recommending deck-squats, I never heard of them before.

@Steve W. - Thanks for that wealth of information and drills. I haven't tried any of those, so I'm excited to incorporate them into my training. Actually I just tried the bootstrapper hamstring stretch and noticed I touched my toes easily... whereas before I had to pulse my way down.

@Oscar - The squat get-up looks challenging but I'll try it with a light kettlebell.

@Bret S. - Can I do anything to overcome that or is that just a limitation I have to live with?

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to help me out. I really appreciate it (y)
 
Bret S. said:
@SuperGirevik
I noticed the right big toe is off the floor in both pics, don't know if you know it but it probably points to a foot/ankle mobility pinch point?
Click to expand...
Yes, good catch.

This could indicate a mobility problem, but it could also just be a matter of form and attention.

We often emphasize staying back on the heels during squatting and hinging because people have a tendency to roll their weight forward, but that often leads to overcompensation the other way.

As part of maintaining a strong sense of rooting, I strive to stay balanced over my whole foot and to maintain that balanced weight distribution throughout the ROM. If I have a rep or set where I don't feel well-balanced and solidly rooted, I can usually correct it just by being more mindful of my weight distribution throughout a rep. This goes for swings and snatches as well (both trying to stay balanced and being able to correct it by being more mindful).
 
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Specific to the goblet squat - make sure the point of the elbow (olecranon process) hits the vastus medialis (tear drop shaped muscle just above and medial to the knee) - this will give you a solid point to pry from and make sure you don't go too deep through the back.
you have the middle of your tricep slid down all the way to the inside of the knee.

A video might also reveal some things to look at.
 
SuperGirevik said:
@Bret S. - Can I do anything to overcome that or is that just a limitation I have to live with?
Click to expand...
I'm no mobility expert, just a drive by student. One thing I'll give you is OS rocking, I have a big toe joint locked up for years from MA board breaking. I thought it would never loosen up again until I started rocking, it's not as good as the other side but some mobility has returned so I'll continue the rocking.
The same may help you if you rock on the toes and also the tops of your feet. There are many sources to tap for mobility on the forum and elsewhere.
I'm working through some things I got from Kelly Starrett's 'Ready to Run' book.
 
@Brett Jones - Thanks for correction! I'm going to try some of the drills mentioned above and try to keep I'll definitely share a video soon.

@Bret S. - Thanks! I actually started to do some OS rocking recently. It definitely helps loosen this up.
 
@Brett Jones, here is a video. I haven’t had a chance to practice most of the drills above but I figured I show a video now before I develop any bad habits.

I did notice that using a heavier bell (32kg in this case) helped. I’m assuming because I didn’t need to stretch out my arms as much to counterbalance myself. This allowed me to keep my arms closer to my chest, which in turn helped keep myself more upright.

I tried to keep my elbows closer to the knees as you suggested. On a positive note, I felt no back fatigue or hip pain :)

 
Looks better - stop with the elbows even higher on the VM - "pointy part" hits the VM

Brett
 
This is my latest progress...



I must admit, I do prefer cast-iron kettlebells for goblet squats. It's not easy to grab the horns on a competition bell.
 
Brett Jones said:
Looks better - stop with the elbows even higher on the VM - "pointy part" hits the VM

Brett
Click to expand...

One of my favourite Weightlifting stretches is the Russian Baby Maker. You pry with the elbows closer to the groin. Prying on the proximal ends of the thigh has more of a hip opening effect for me than pushing out on the distal end near the knee.

In a Prying Goblet Squat I prefer to pry the groin apart.

Is there an advantage, in your opinion, to prying the knees apart, over the groin apart, in the bottom of a Goblet Squat?

I guess one will be able to pry move forcefully on the distal ends with better leverage.
 
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