TL;DR: pain in top of left thigh / outside of left hip, particularly when I lift my knee up/out or ‘squeeze’ my leg inwards.
A couple of weeks ago, I started to notice a bit of pain while squatting. This was after several weeks of higher volume than I’d ever done before, so I thought it was just some persistent soreness. After a few squatting sessions with minor pain, it got a bit worse and so I had to stop squatting mid-session.
I tried on subsequent sessions but it didn’t get better. Took 1.5 weeks off from squatting completely, but it actually got worse throughout that time. Previously, I could work up to a heavy single and just feel a bit of discomfort (then the volume work became impractical). Now, even trying to warm up is too painful - particularly at the deeper range of motion. I feel it when I walk or stretch.
It’s a sharp pain, usually on the outside of the top of my thigh, but it doesn’t seem to be in the exact same place every time. Deadlifting is relatively pain-free. I can reproduce the pain really easily while sat down by squeezing my leg inwards or lifting it up and out.
Sorry to hear you are dealing with this issue. This certainly sounds like a tendinopathy issue. Especially given rest seemed to make things worse for you. Have you tried modifying the load you are attempting to lift or shorten the range of motion to a tolerable portion of squatting?