Squat imbalance

[logo8925]

Hello,

I have been having trouble with squats since ever.
The issue is that the barbell on my left side always goes over the midfoot and travels forward. On the other hand, the right side travels nicely over the midfoot.

I also feel like it's harder to hit depth on the left side. There's definitely something to the balance aspect but I think I am on the whole foot keeping the balance over midfoot. Even when I try to put the weight on the left heel it doesn't change the bar from going over the left foot.

Has any of you experienced this? At this point I am desperate. I hit my PRs 180kg and 230kg deadlift two years ago and since I haven't made any progress as I have to take time off the training every time I get to heavier squats because my right knee starts to hurt(most likely just tendonitis) and then it also affects the deadlift. I was thinking of running the starting strength linear progression to improve the squat technique. First I have to solve the squat issue.

Any suggestions help. Thank you, VM!

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Can you post a video, preferably with weight, instead? Hard to say anything on an empty barbell set shot from two different angles. You might have to cue yourself to "pull" or "keep" your left side back during the descent. Alternatively, you might try turning your left toe out more than you think you should. The barbell also looks a smidgen high for a low bar squat, but I cannot swear to it from two still images.

I would absolutely not recommend doing LP to "improve your squat technique", especially in the context of someone who is 1) not brand new to training, and 2) has some right knee pain.

[logo8925]

Thanks for quick response.
I apologize for not including the videos.
I tried to edit the post later but I wasn't able to. Probably because it has been under review.

Thanks for all the suggestions.
You might have to cue yourself to "pull" or "keep - I don't think that's working for me. Most likely I don't know how to cue it properly.

Alternatively, you might try turning your left toe-out more than you think you should - I think this improved the bar path and ability for me to sit more evenly into the hips. But it seems weird

The barbell also looks a smidgen high for a low bar squat, but I cannot swear to it from two still images. - I also sometimes get this feeling from the videos. But I think I am putting the bar on my back more or less evenly.
I forgot to make a video from the back. So I included an older one. I have the barbell above and supported on the rear delts. There's some hip (balance) shift visible, maybe because of not having the toe out on the left side.

I would absolutely not recommend doing LP to "improve your squat technique", especially in the context of someone who is 1) not brand new to training, and 2) has some right knee pain. - Thanks, I will take that into account.



This is my regular squat stance.


This is the stance after I toe out the left more.


Looking at it now the toes out on the left looks more even. Even though the first stance feels more natural.

Squat just with the bar
Right side
Left side

Squat, left side, 90kg, 5reps
Squat, right side, 90kg, 5reps

An older video of 1RM
Squat, Left side, 170Kg, 1RM - I swear if this was filmed from the right side it would look nearly perfect. Yet from the left side it looks terrible. (Looks like I am high bar squatting from the left and low bar from the right)

After applying left toe out
Squat, left side, 120kg, 5reps, left toe out
Squat, right side, 120kg, 5reps, left toe out

Thanks for the toe out a suggestion I tried it and there definitely was an improvement. Even though it feels weird at the beginning but otherwise it felt like I was sitting in between my hips more evenly.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Yea so, these don't look bad....but they're still high from both sides. I think you're bending over too far for where the barbell is on your back. With that in mind, you can do either of the following:

1) Keep bar in same place, push knees further forward and out during descent.
2) Move bar down lower, keep knees in roughly same spot.

Either way, I'd tell you to go a bit slower during your descent to really try and bury each rep.