Neutral hips stuff

[Hardartery]

You want to have your shoulders over your foot, between the ankle and the midfoot. Not ahead of the midfoot and not behind the ankles (On normal Squats, not accessory stuff). I really wouldn't worry much about where anything else lines up in between because that is totally dependent on your individual physique.

Regardless of the type of squat?

I should probably film myself to be sure, but when I do low bar squats, my shoulders are somewhere between my toes and my midfoot (so the barbell is perpendicular to my midfoot).

Ideally you are shooting for the bar to be between ankle and mid-foot, I typed shoulder but should have typed bar. I was visualizing and on my case the bar is typically on the rear delt shelf which equates to shoulder in my mental picture.

[AlanMackey]

You want to have your shoulders over your foot, between the ankle and the midfoot. Not ahead of the midfoot and not behind the ankles (On normal Squats, not accessory stuff). I really wouldn't worry much about where anything else lines up in between because that is totally dependent on your individual physique.

Regardless of the type of squat?

I should probably film myself to be sure, but when I do low bar squats, my shoulders are somewhere between my toes and my midfoot (so the barbell is perpendicular to my midfoot).

Ideally you are shooting for the bar to be between ankle and mid-foot, I typed shoulder but should have typed bar. I was visualizing and on my case the bar is typically on the rear delt shelf which equates to shoulder in my mental picture.

Got it, thanks!

[xng]

It seems like I am solidly on the mend now (fingers crossed). Squatting nontrivial weight again, not feeling bad news from my SI joint.

I thought of two things from earlier in the rehab process that might be relevant:

- Light sets of 15-20 on the hip abductor machine seemed to calm and relax the ouchy area
- Before the injury, I used to be able to crack some joint way down in my low back (no idea which one) by lying on my stomach and using my low-back/high-butt muscles to pull my tailbone toward my shoulder blades. While the injury was acute, doing that maneuver would hurt (from the center into the right/injured side) but not pop. Now that the injury is fading out, the maneuver doesn't really hurt, but feels tight and still doesn't pop. If I lose that crack in exchange for being able to use my back again, your terms are acceptable.

[DCR]

Some of those positions are at odds with each other when taken to their extremes, so you may need to adjust the amount you focus on that particular cue for each lift. In squats, if you overtuck your pelvis to stack the hips+ribs, you'll immediately lose it going into more back extension (like every crossfitter in my gym who hasn't taken powerlifting). For RDLs you need a little extension to send the hips back but not a ton.

Still working on this. What I’ve been doing is starting with Bromley’s squeeze quads, then glutes, then abs cue, and then releasing slowly and just enough to initiate the movement. With squats, that really means just the glutes. Doing so seems to assist in turning them right back on when necessary for the concentric - this is the first time that I’ve ever actually felt my glutes when squatting.

[xng]

Stronger By Science's latest article gave me an idea. Since low-bar squatting lets you catch the bounce higher, maybe those who are prone to ATG buttwink ought to squat low-bar, to squat higher without sacrificing the bounce. I feel like I've had an easier time controlling my low back / hip position when squatting low-bar.

I may just be looking for an excuse to drop-kick high-bar squats, and if that is so, then I should forget about excuses and do what I prefer; but it will be interesting to see whether/how the SI joint reacts differently!

[DCR]

Stronger By Science's latest article gave me an idea. Since low-bar squatting lets you catch the bounce higher, maybe those who are prone to ATG buttwink ought to squat low-bar, to squat higher without sacrificing the bounce. I feel like I've had an easier time controlling my low back / hip position when squatting low-bar.

I may just be looking for an excuse to drop-kick high-bar squats, and if that is so, then I should forget about excuses and do what I prefer; but it will be interesting to see whether/how the SI joint reacts differently!

I don't think I'm going to have time tomorrow, but I'm planning to fuck around with bar placement on Monday latest. I'm not sure that my low bar squat actually is a low bar squat, but perhaps more of a "low high bar" squat. I've considered myself to be low bar-ing for years after moving the bar down about two inches from where I once squatted, but the bar definitely still is sitting on my traps, rather than being pinned to my upper back, and I'm still able to go ass-to-grass with no issue. May explain why I've never felt the need to do anything else for leg development, especially lately after I switched from squatting in extension to not - my legs have been debilitatingly sore despite very low volume work.