Does your Butt wink squatting?

Squats are awesome and an important component to that strength and conditioning program we should all be doing, but done poorly, it can cause vs prevent injury. . Whether you are using a barbell in a back or front squat, with a dumbbell or kettlebell in a goblet squat, or any other variation, they’re a fantastic exercise that can be progressed or regressed nearly infinite different ways to produce different results from maximum strength through explosive power, from mobility to balance and everything in between.

One aspect of the squat that tends to get analyzed to death is the dreaded butt wink. This is when the person gets close to the bottom of their squat and their hips go through a posterior tilt and their tailbone tucks under them, creating a mild flexion in the lumbar spine

The main issue with a butt wink isn’t the fact that the hips get rolled forward, but that the lumbar spine goes through a extension-flexion-extension cycle with additional load placed on top of it. This is a very common mechanism for disc injuries, SI joint issues  and the increased stabilization demands of the ligamental support system through the region to try to keep your spine from exploding all over itself.

Why is this happening? – are your hamstrings tight or gluts tight?  Lack of stability? Have you been taught properly? What is you technique and skill development??

A major factor involved in limiting squat depth before a butt wink occurs is something very few people talk about. Hip socket depth, which is an anatomical variant that can’t be stretched, trained, or undone without surgery, is one of the main biomechanical influencers in how low you can go into a squat before you essentially run out of range of motion and have to find it elsewhere, say from the lumbar spine.

Done correctly and progressively squats are a great exercise, keep the depth modified till you have the technique mastered, and if you wish to go deeper in the squat be sure you have your gluts and hamstring length and strength adequate, your trunk / lumbo-pelvic stability trained progressively to handle the load, then go on and reap all the benefits this functional movement will bring…

 

 

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