Are You Hip Shifting While Squatting?
Hip shifting in the squat:
This week, we are talking about the side-to-side sway we sometimes see in a back squat, front squat, and even body weight squat. You should know, this hip shifting action is occurring in much more than just these movements. It can occur, asymmetrically, when we lunge, snatch, clean, run, and even walk. As you can tell, the asymmetry occurring here is happening all the time, it’s almost a state of being. So, what is it?
Biomechanics and Asymmetry:
We first need to understand the biomechanics of the hip, pelvis, spine, and rib cage. When we squat, we expect our pelvis to go straight downward with our sacrum and hip joints moving around the pelvis to create space for the femurs below it and lumbar spine above it to move. This allows us to maintain an upright position while maintaining our center of mass over our midfoot. If we can’t do this, we see many different variations of compensations. An example in the sagittal plane is excessive flexion of the trunk, where our torso comes way out in front of our hips. This happens when we cannot move our pelvis straight downward but instead must move it at an angle backwards. This creates the need to counterbalance the weight shift backwards with an upper body weight shift forward. Again, this can happen when we have a pelvis orientation issue like an anterior tilt, a lack of proper range of motion in the hips, sacrum and pelvis, lumbar spine, and ankles.
In the Frontal plane, we see compensations such as hip shift, the main topic for today. This can happen for the same reasons as above, but now due to asymmetrical deficiencies in range of motion. This could be an anterior orientation of the pelvis on the left side relative to the right, missing hip internal rotation range of motion on the right side compared to the left, or ankle dorsiflexion asymmetries. When this happens, we can have a shift in our weight or center of mass towards one side. Watch the video below for a video representation of this.
Hip Shift In The Squat Explained
What the Hip Shift Means:
Why do we weight shift from one side to the other? Well, when one of the scenarios above takes place, the hips and pelvis will search for a way to achieve the depth you are looking for. Further, when we have asymmetrical range of motion and orientations, we are biased towards a side that is more comfortable achieving the deep squat position AND creating force in that position.
Typically, the side we are shifting towards has more access to internal rotation, hip adduction, and extension on that side hip and pelvis. For example, let’s say we have a hip shift to the right. This means we are less capable of achieving these positions to an adequate degree on the left side, so we ask more of the right side (shifting deeper and doing more internal rotation and adduction) and less of the same thing on the left side (requiring more external rotation and abduction).
How Do I Address the Weight Shift in A Squat?
First, we need more information. Detailed and thorough biomechanics and movement testing is required to figure out the orientation of the pelvis from side to side, hip range of motion, low back mobility, ankle mobility, and more. If we were to take a broad approach to it, I do have a few things for you to try at home based purely off the weight shift.
Do these exercises and drills to push out of the side you weight shift towards…
-Drill 1: 90/90 hip lift
o Hold for 8 breath cycles.
-Drill 2: Side-lying glute max
o Lay on the side opposite your weight shift.
o Hold for 5 breath cycles or do 5 slow reps up and down, focusing on breathing.
Do these exercises and drills to improve your mobility for accepting weight and creating the range of motion needed to NOT have to weight shift towards the other side…
-Drill 1: Standing posterior hip capsule with adduction.
o Do only the leg opposite from the weight shift side.
o Hold for 5 breath cycles.
-Drill 2: Side-lying 90/90 hip rolls.
o Do only lying on the side opposite the weight shift.
o Do 8 reps with slow breathing back and forth.
Do this exercise to put it all together…
-Exercise 1: Lateral kickstand hinge
o Only hinge towards the side opposite the weight shift.
Conclusion:
The exercises above are designed to get you opening range of motion on the side that was missing it, creating the motor patterns on that side to accept weight, and creating motor patterns on the opposite side to stop pulling you into that side and learn to push out of that side. That last exercise to put it all together has you doing all these things at once. You can train these drills every day as a warmup, going for about 2 circuits of each section. After a couple weeks of this, retest your heavy squat and see how your hip shift has improved!
-Dr. Nick DC, TPI, CSCS
If you would like to learn more about your body, pain, and performance, send Dr. Nick an email at contact@integratedrpc.com or call at (585)478-4379, or schedule a FREE discovery visit at Contact.
P.S. to learn more on the biomechanics of hip internal and external rotation, visit the articles below:
Article 1: What is Internal Rotation?
Article 2: What Is External Rotation?
