So yeah been training for few weeks/months and still can't lift 150 lbs at squats.

My stabiliser just wont take it.

any tips?

id suggest maybe keep going lighter, for what your body can handle
and slowly work your way up, eventually it will get easier.

you can try and build strength in your legs with leg press, and see how you do with that.

I can leg press for 360 lbs.

Started squat with 45 lbs plates (+ bar = roughly 130?)
Was too much, drop'd down to 35 lbs was still a bit too much.
Now I'm at 25 lbs and it seems okay. Honestly tho, I feel like its REALLY low for my height/weight/age

135 that is.
and it could be
but thats fine

its a marathon not a sprint, keep going with weekly progress being made and you'll nail it.
i was super fortunate with my stabilizers from competitive skateboarding where i went from 225 to 315 in a month or two.

worry about your form, and making progress either with reps or weight.
thats it.

Sadly skateboard didnt help me there

Aight I'll try this and keep track/update my topic

Another option is dumbbell squats. Deadlifts too, just because it's a different movement and you may find a bit more success there.

Here's a tip, and idk if it will help in your case. When you do the squat, imagine a straight line going up from the middle of your foot right to the bar (and above) for the entire exercise. The squat is a vertical lift against gravity, and any moment arm (distance the bar travels horizontally away from the imagined position) is going to make you work harder rather than more efficiently. The point of this reminder in your case is not to state the obvious but to point out that if you're imagining the squat right, you'll notice the key point of the lift comes from the hips as you come up out of the bottom position below parallel.

Therefore you want to work on activation of the hips. There are a few exercises you can do on a mat (or leaning against a wall) to activate the hips. Look them up and they may help. I can post some later if you struggle to find any, but I can't draw pictures because I'm absolute shit at it and I haven't yet found the love of drawing.

Definitely go lighter as Tear suggested. Use a broomstick if need be. Find out exactly where the chain of movement is failing. Is it an issue of flexibility, strength? Is it at the knees, the hips? Have someone check your form, because if you're checking your own form, there's a good chance you're not doing the squat right.

If you can post a video with a good side view and less importantly (but still helpfully) a good view from the front you can get more help.

great advice.
i always enjoyed the pretending im going to sit on a toilet idea, while trying to maintain a straight line as well.

In other countries people go ass to the grass to shit, I can only guess those folks have serious squat form.

Question @ OP: do you have any previous injuries preventing you from doing the squat? Also, a ton of people have tight hips, even without realizing it. There's a guy I know at basketball and his vert has skyrocketed since we started working on opening up his hips (sounded way wrong that way). Tight hammies and tight hips are the enemy of the squat, but they are incredibly common, partly because our culture is all about sitting down in front of desks.

I'm a bit confused by will have another read it later with some translation help XD

Thanks for the tips !



I'll try this




My hips might be tight, I dunno how to explain this but when I open my legs too much, I feel a lil pain.

Never had an injuries tho.

How can you start opening hips?

There are a few strategies:

- hip activation: this is more about getting the hips to respond to activity (mind-muscle connection) but it opens the hips because "aware" hips move better than sleepy hips
- stretching: this is mostly lungeing, frog stretch (looks as it sounds), hamstring stretches (ez to find online, but it's just like it sounds), and piriformis stretching
- foam rolling for self myofascial release. sounds sexual, it almost is.
- this next idea may help to unlock your IT band a bit. technically you can't stretch it much at all (despite all the "stretches" for it), but you can unstick it. there's something called a 4 point stretch. if you find it, it is the holy grail of IT band unglueing.
- adduction/abduction stretches and exercises (the girly machines in the gym)
- "ice skaters" (like euro stepping or lateral bounding)
- lateral agility training (even the wussy ladder stuff)

I put those mostly in order of best to worst. If you only do the last 3 things you're screwed because they can tighten you up. The point is that those things help mobility/opening the hips only via strengthening movement patterns and actual tissue. Doing so tighten you up, so they are an accessory for after you've done the other stuff.

You may also want to visit a good osteopath or chiropractor to explain your troubles with the squat and see if they can help you figure out exactly what's going on. Osteos do some alignment work and they often stretch people out. Chiropractors are in my opinion the unseen heroes of health and wellness in general, and a good chiro is possibly the most important health and fitness tool you'll ever have.

This post was edited by RewtheBrave on Oct 3 2016 12:18pm